diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 9194-8.txt | 10831 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 9194-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 206327 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 9194.txt | 10831 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 9194.zip | bin | 0 -> 206218 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/72dlg10.txt | 10794 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/72dlg10.zip | bin | 0 -> 205606 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/82dlg10.txt | 10794 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/82dlg10.zip | bin | 0 -> 205704 bytes |
11 files changed, 43266 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9194-8.txt b/9194-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..780d3bb --- /dev/null +++ b/9194-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10831 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Second Deluge + +Author: Garrett P. Serviss + +Posting Date: August 24, 2012 [EBook #9194] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 14, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECOND DELUGE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Erica Jacobson, Sandra Brown, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + + + + + + + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + +By + +Garrett P. Serviss + +1912 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" [Page 106] ] + + + +FOREWORD + + +What is here set down is the fruit of long and careful research among +disjointed records left by survivors of the terrible events described. +The writer wishes frankly to say that, in some instances, he has +followed the course which all historians are compelled to take by using +his imagination to round out the picture. But he is able conscientiously +to declare that in the substance of his narrative, as well as in every +detail which is specifically described, he has followed faithfully the +accounts of eyewitnesses, or of those who were in a position to know the +truth of what they related. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. COSMO VERSÁL + + II. MOCKING AT FATE + + III. THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + IV. THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + V. THE THIRD SIGN + + VI. SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + VII. THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + VIII. STORMING THE ARK + + IX. THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + X. THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + XI. "A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + XII. THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + XIII. STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + XIV. THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + XV. PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + XVI. MUTINY IN THE ARK + + XVII. THE _JULES VERNE_ + +XVIII. NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + XIX. TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + XX. THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + XXI. "THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + XXII. THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + +XXIII. ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + XXIV. THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + XXV. NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + XXVI. NEW AMERICA + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" + +"THE GREAT BATTLESHIP ... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL-RIBBED WALLS" + +"IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE" + +"AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF GENERAL GRANT" + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +COSMO VERSÁL + + +An undersized, lean, wizen-faced man, with an immense bald head, as +round and smooth and shining as a giant soap-bubble, and a pair of beady +black eyes, set close together, so that he resembled a gnome of amazing +brain capacity and prodigious power of concentration, sat bent over a +writing desk with a huge sheet of cardboard before him, on which he was +swiftly drawing geometrical and trigonometrical figures. Compasses, +T-squares, rulers, protractors, and ellipsographs obeyed the touch of +his fingers as if inspired with life. + +The room around him was a jungle of terrestrial and celestial globes, +chemists' retorts, tubes, pipes, and all the indescribable apparatus +that modern science has invented, and which, to the uninitiated, seems +as incomprehensible as the ancient paraphernalia of alchemists and +astrologers. The walls were lined with book shelves, and adorned along +the upper portions with the most extraordinary photographs and drawings. +Even the ceiling was covered with charts, some representing the sky, +while many others were geological and topographical pictures of the face +of the earth. + +Beside the drawing-board lay a pad of paper, and occasionally the little +man nervously turned to this, and, grasping a long pencil, made +elaborate calculations, covering the paper with a sprinkling of +mathematical symbols that looked like magnified animalcula. While he +worked, under a high light from a single window placed well up near the +ceiling, his forehead contracted into a hundred wrinkles, his cheeks +became feverous, his piercing eyes glowed with inner fire, and drops of +perspiration ran down in front of his ears. One would have thought that +he was laboring to save his very soul and had but a few seconds of +respite left. + +Presently he threw down the pencil, and with astonishing agility let +himself rapidly, but carefully, off the stool on which he had been +sitting, keeping the palms of his hands on the seat beside his hips +until he felt his feet touch the floor. Then he darted at a book-shelf, +pulled down a ponderous tome, flapped it open in a clear space on the +floor, and dropped on his knees to consult it. + +After turning a leaf or two he found what he was after, read down the +page, keeping a finger on the lines, and, having finished his reading, +jumped to his feet and hurried back to the stool, on which he mounted so +quickly that it was impossible to see how he managed it--without an +upset. Instantly he made a new diagram, and then fell to figuring +furiously on the pad, making his pencil gyrate so fast that its upper +end vibrated like the wing of a dragon-fly. + +At last he threw down the pencil, and, encircling his knees with his +clasped arms, sank in a heap on the stool. The lids dropped over his +shining eyes, and he became buried in thought. + +When he reopened his eyes and unbent his brows, his gaze happened to be +directed toward a row of curious big photographs which ran like a +pictured frieze round the upper side of the wall of the room. A casual +observer might have thought that the little man had been amusing himself +by photographing the explosions of fireworks on a Fourth of July night; +but it was evident by his expression that these singular pictures had no +connection with civic pyrotechnics, but must represent something of +incomparably greater importance, and, in fact, of stupendous import. + +The little man's face took on a rapt look, in which wonder and fear +seemed to be blended. With a sweep of his hand he included the whole +series of photographs in a comprehensive glance, and then, settling his +gaze upon a particularly bizarre object in the center, he began to speak +aloud, although there was nobody to listen to him. + +"My God!" he said. "That's it! That Lick photograph of the Lord Rosse +Nebula is its very image, except that there's no electric fire in it. +The same great whirl of outer spirals, and then comes the awful central +mass--and we're going to plunge straight into it. Then quintillions of +tons of water will condense on the earth and cover it like a universal +cloudburst. And then good-by to the human race--unless--unless--I, Cosmo +Versál, inspired by science, can save a remnant to repeople the planet +after the catastrophe." + +Again, for a moment, he closed his eyes, and puckered his hemispherical +brow, while, with drawn-up knees, he seemed perilously balanced on the +high stool. Several times he slowly shook his head, like a dreaming owl, +and when his eyes reopened their fire was gone, and a reflective film +covered them. He began to speak, more deliberately than before, and in a +musing tone: + +"What can I do? I don't believe there is a mountain on the face of the +globe lofty enough to lift its head above that flood. Hum, hum! It's no +use thinking about mountains! The flood will be six miles deep--six +miles from the present sea-level; my last calculation proves it beyond +all question. And that's only a minimum--it may be miles deeper, for no +mortal man can tell exactly what'll happen when the earth plunges into a +nebula. + +"We'll have to float; that's the thing. I'll have to build an ark. I'll +be a second Noah. But I'll advise the whole world to build arks. + +"Millions might save themselves that way, for the flood is not going to +last forever. We'll get through the nebula in a few months, and then the +waters will gradually recede, and the high lands will emerge again. +It'll be an awful long time, though; I doubt if the earth will ever be +just as it was before. There won't be much room, except for fish--but +there won't be many inhabitants for what dry land there is." + +Once more he fell into silent meditation, and while he mused there came +a knock at the door. The little man started up on his seat, alert as a +squirrel, and turned his eyes over his shoulder, listening intently. The +knock was repeated--three quick sharp raps. Evidently he at once +recognized them. + +"All right," he called out, and, letting himself down, ran swiftly to +the door and opened it. + +A tall, thin man, with bushy black hair, heavy eyebrows, a high, narrow +forehead, and a wide, clean shaven mouth, wearing a solemn kind of +smile, entered and grasped the little man by both hands. + +"Cosmo," he said, without wasting any time on preliminaries, "have you +worked it out?" + +"I have just finished." + +"And you find the worst?" + +"Yes, worse than I ever dreamed it would be. The waters will be six +miles deep." + +"Phew!" exclaimed the other, his smile fading. "That is indeed serious. +And when does it begin?" + +"Inside of a year. We're within three hundred million miles of the +watery nebula now, and you know that the earth travels more than that +distance in twelve months." + +"Have you seen it?" + +"How could I see it--haven't I told you it is invisible? If it could be +seen all these stupid astronomers would have spotted it long ago. But +I'll tell you what I have seen." + +Cosmo Versál's voice sank into a whisper, and he shuddered slightly as +he went on: + +"Only last night I was sweeping the sky with the telescope when I +noticed, in Hercules and Lyra, and all that part of the heavens, a +dimming of some of the fainter stars. It was like the shadow of the +shroud of a ghost. Nobody else would have noticed it, and I wouldn't if +I had not been looking for it. It's knowledge that clarifies the eyes +and breeds knowledge, Joseph Smith. It was not truly visible, and yet I +could see that it was there. I tried to make out the shape of the +thing--but it was too indefinite. But I know very well what it is. See +here"--he suddenly broke off--"Look at that photograph." (He was +pointing at the Lord Rosse Nebula on the wall). "It's like that, only +it's coming edgewise toward us. We may miss some of the outer spirals, +but we're going smash into the center." + +With fallen jaw, and black brows contracted, Joseph Smith stared at the +photograph. + +"It doesn't shine like that," he said at last. + +The little man snorted contemptuously. + +"What have I told you about its invisibility?" he demanded. + +"But how, then, do you know that it is of a watery nature?" + +Cosmo Versál threw up his hands and waved them in an agony of +impatience. He climbed upon his stool to get nearer the level of the +other's eyes, and fixing him with his gaze, exclaimed: + +"You know very well how I know it. I know it because I have demonstrated +with my new spectroscope, which analyzes extra-visual rays, that all +those dark nebulae that were photographed in the Milky Way years ago are +composed of watery vapor. They are far off, on the limits of the +universe. This one is one right at hand. It's a little one compared with +them--but it's enough, yes, it's enough! You know that more than two +years ago I began to correspond with astronomers all over the world +about this thing, and not one of them would listen to me. Well, they'll +listen when it's too late perhaps. + +"They'll listen when the flood-gates are opened and the inundation +begins. It's not the first time that this thing has happened. I haven't +a doubt that the flood of Noah, that everybody pretends to laugh at now, +was caused by the earth passing through a watery nebula. But this will +be worse than that; there weren't two thousand million people to be +drowned then." + +For five minutes neither spoke. Cosmo Versál swung on the stool, and +played with an ellipsograph; Joseph Smith dropped his chin on his breast +and nervously fingered the pockets of his long vest. At last he raised +his head and asked, in a low voice: + +"What are you going to do, Cosmo?" + +"I'm going to get ready," was the short reply. + +"How?" + +"Build an ark." + +"But will you give no warning to others?" + +"I'll do my best. I'll telephone to all the officials, scientific and +otherwise, in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. I'll write +in every language to all the newspapers and magazines. I'll send out +circulars. I'll counsel everybody to drop every other occupation and +begin to build arks--but nobody will heed me. You'll see. My ark will be +the only one, but I'll save as many in it as I can. And I depend upon +you, Joseph, to help me. From all appearances, it's the only chance that +the human race has of survival. + +"If I hadn't made this discovery they would all have been wiped out like +miners in a flooded pit. We may persuade a few to be saved--but what an +awful thing it is that when the truth is thrust into their very faces +people won't believe, won't listen, won't see, won't be helped, but will +die like dogs in their obstinate ignorance and blindness." + +"But they will, they must, listen to you," said Joseph Smith eagerly. + +"They _won't_, but I must _make_ them," replied Cosmo Versál. +"Anyhow, I must make a few of the best of them hear me. The fate of a +whole race is at stake. If we can save a handful of the best blood and +brain of mankind, the world will have a new chance, and perhaps a better +and higher race will be the result. Since I can't save them all, I'll +pick and choose. I'll have the flower of humanity in my ark. I'll at +least snatch that much from the jaws of destruction." + +The little man was growing very earnest and his eyes were aglow with the +fire of enthusiastic purpose. As he dropped his head on one side, it +looked too heavy for the stemlike neck, but it conveyed an impression of +immense intellectual power. Its imposing contour lent force to his +words. + +"The flower of humanity," he continued after a slight pause. "Who +composes it? I must decide that question. Is it the billionaires? Is it +the kings and rulers? Is it the men of science? Is it the society +leaders? Bah! I'll have to think on that. I can't take them all, but +I'll give them all a chance to save themselves--though I know they won't +act on the advice." + +Here he paused. + +"Won't the existing ships do--especially if more are built?" Joseph +Smith suddenly asked, interrupting Cosmo's train of thought. + +"Not at all," was the reply. "They're not suited to the kind of +navigation that will be demanded. They're not buoyant enough, nor +manageable enough, and they haven't enough carrying capacity for power +and provisions. They'll be swamped at the wharves, or if they should get +away they'd be sent to the bottom inside a few hours. Nothing but +specially constructed arks will serve. And _there's_ more trouble +for me--I must devise a new form of vessel. Heavens, how short the time +is! Why couldn't I have found this out ten years ago? It's only to-day +that I have myself learned the full truth, though I have worked on it so +long." + +"How many will you be able to carry in your ark?" asked Smith. + +"I can't tell yet. That's another question to be carefully considered. I +shall build the vessel of this new metal, levium, half as heavy as +aluminum and twice as strong as steel. I ought to find room without the +slightest difficulty for a round thousand in it." + +"Surely many more than that!" exclaimed Joseph Smith. "Why, there are +ocean-liners that carry several times as many." + +"You forget," replied Cosmo Versál, "that we must have provisions enough +to last for a long time, because we cannot count on the immediate +re-emergence of any land, even the most mountainous, and the most +compressed food takes space when a great quantity is needed. It won't do +to overcrowd the vessel, and invite sickness. Then, too, I must take +many animals along." + +"Animals," returned Smith. "I hadn't thought of that. But is it +necessary?" + +"Absolutely. Would you have less foresight than Noah? I shall not +imitate him by taking male and female of every species, but I must at +least provide for restocking such land as eventually appears above the +waters with the animals most useful to man. Then, too, animals are +essential to the life of the earth. Any agricultural chemist would tell +you that. They play an indispensable part in the vital cycle of the +soil. I must also take certain species of insects and birds. I'll +telephone Professor Hergeschmitberger at Berlin to learn precisely what +are the capitally important species of the animal kingdom." + +"And when will you begin the construction of the ark?" + +"Instantly. There's not a moment to lose. And it's equally important to +send out warnings broadcast immediately. There you can help me. You know +what I want to say. Write it out at once; put it as strong as you can; +send it everywhere; put it in the shape of posters; hurry it to the +newspaper offices. Telephone, in my name, to the Carnegie Institution, +to the Smithsonian Institution, to the Royal Society, to the French, +Russian, Italian, German, and all the other Academies and Associations +of Science to be found anywhere on earth. + +"Don't neglect the slightest means of publicity. Thank Heaven, the money +to pay for all this is not lacking. If my good father, when he piled up +his fortune from the profits of the Transcontinental Aerian Company, +could have foreseen the use to which his son would put it for the +benefit--what do I say, for the benefit? nay, for the _salvation_--of +mankind, he would have rejoiced in his work." + +"Ah, that reminds me," exclaimed Joseph Smith. "I was about to ask, a +few minutes ago, why airships would not do for this business. Couldn't +people save themselves from the flood by taking refuge in the +atmosphere?" + +Cosmo Versál looked at his questioner with an ironical smile. + +"Do you know," he asked, "how long a dirigible can be kept afloat? Do +you know for how long a voyage the best aeroplane types can be +provisioned with power? There's not an air-ship of any kind that can go +more than two weeks at the very uttermost without touching solid earth, +and then it must be mighty sparing of its power. If we can save mankind +now, and give it another chance, perhaps the time will come when power +can be drawn out of the ether of space, and men can float in the air as +long as they choose. + +"But as things are now, we must go back to Noah's plan, and trust to the +buoyant power of water. I fully expect that when the deluge begins +people will flock to the high-lands and the mountains in air-ships--but +alas! that won't save them. Remember what I have told you--this flood is +going to be six miles deep!" + +The second morning after the conversation between Cosmo Versál and +Joseph Smith, New York was startled by seeing, in huge red letters, on +every blank wall, on the bare flanks of towering sky-scrapers, on the +lofty stations of aeroplane lines, on bill-boards, fences, +advertising-boards along suburban roads, in the Subway stations, and +fluttering from strings of kites over the city, the following +announcement: + + THE WORLD IS TO BE DROWNED! + + Save Yourselves While It Is Yet Time! + Drop Your Business: It Is of No Consequence! + Build Arks: It Is Your Only Salvation! + The Earth Is Going To Plunge into a Watery + Nebula: There Is No Escape! + Hundreds of Millions Will Be Drowned: You Have + Only a Few Months To Get Ready! + For Particulars Address: Cosmo Versál, + 3000 Fifth Avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MOCKING AT FATE + + +When New York recovered from its first astonishment over the +extraordinary posters, it indulged in a loud laugh. Everybody knew who +Cosmo Versál was. His eccentricities had filled many readable columns in +the newspapers. Yet there was a certain respect for him, too. This was +due to his extraordinary intellectual ability and unquestionable +scientific knowledge. But his imagination was as free as the winds, and +it often led him upon excursions in which nobody could follow him, and +which caused the more steady-going scientific brethren to shake their +heads. They called him able but flighty. The public considered him +brilliant and amusing. + +His father, who had sprung from some unknown source in southeastern +Europe, and, beginning as a newsboy in New York, had made his way to the +front in the financial world, had left his entire fortune to Cosmo. The +latter had no taste for finance or business, but a devouring appetite +for science, to which, in his own way, he devoted all his powers, all +his time, and all his money. He never married, was never seen in +society, and had very few intimates--but he was known by sight, or +reputation, to everybody. There was not a scientific body or association +of any consequence in the world of which he was not a member. Those +which looked askance at his bizarre ideas were glad to accept pecuniary +aid from him. + +The notion that the world was to be drowned had taken possession of him +about three years before the opening scene of this narrative. To work +out the idea, he built an observatory, set up a laboratory, invented +instruments, including his strange spectroscope, which was scoffed at by +the scientific world. + +Finally, submitting the results of his observations to mathematical +treatment, he proved, to his own satisfaction, the absolute correctness +of his thesis that the well-known "proper motion of the solar system" +was about to result in an encounter between the earth and an invisible +watery nebula, which would have the effect of inundating the globe. As +this startling idea gradually took shape, he communicated it to +scientific men in all lands, but failed to find a single disciple, +except his friend Joseph Smith, who, without being able to follow all +his reasonings, accepted on trust the conclusions of Cosmo's more +powerful mind. Accordingly, at the end of his investigation, he enlisted +Smith as secretary, propagandist, and publicity agent. + +New York laughed a whole day and night at the warning red letters. They +were the talk of the town. People joked about them in cafés, clubs, at +home, in the streets, in the offices, in the exchanges, in the +street-cars, on the Elevated, in the Subways. Crowds gathered on corners +to watch the flapping posters aloft on the kite lines. The afternoon +newspapers issued specials which were all about the coming flood, and +everywhere one heard the cry of the newsboys: _"Extra-a-a! Drowning of +a Thousand Million people! Cosmo Versál predicts the End of the +World!"_ On their editorial pages the papers were careful to discount +the scare lines, and terrific pictures, that covered the front sheets, +with humorous jibes at the author of the formidable prediction. + +_The Owl,_ which was the only paper that put the news in half a +column of ordinary type, took a judicial attitude, called upon the city +authorities to tear down the posters, and hinted that "this absurd +person, Cosmo Versál, who disgraces a once honored name with his +childish attempt to create a sensation that may cause untold harm among +the ignorant masses," had laid himself open to criminal prosecution. + +In their latest editions, several of the papers printed an interview +with Cosmo Versál, in which he gave figures and calculations that, on +their face, seemed to offer mathematical proof of the correctness of his +forecast. In impassioned language, he implored the public to believe +that he would not mislead them, spoke of the instant necessity of +constructing arks of safety, and averred that the presence of the +terrible nebula that was so soon to drown the world was already manifest +in the heavens. + +Some readers of these confident statements began to waver, especially +when confronted with mathematics which they could not understand. But +still, in general, the laugh went on. It broke into boisterousness in +one of the largest theaters where a bright-witted "artist," who always +made a point of hitting off the very latest sensation, got himself up in +a lifelike imitation of the well-known figure of Cosmo Versál, topped +with a bald head as big as a bushel, and sailed away into the flies with +a pretty member of the ballet, whom he had gallantly snatched from a +tumbling ocean of green baize, singing at the top of his voice until +they disappeared behind the proscenium arch: + + "Oh, th' Nebula is coming + To drown the wicked earth, + With all his spirals humming + 'S he waltzes in his mirth. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, + Get ready to embark, + And skip away to safety + With Cosmo and his ark. + + "Th' Nebula is a direful bird + 'S he skims the ether blue! + He's angry over what he's heard, + 'N's got his eye on you. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "When Nebulas begin to pipe + The bloomin' O.H.[subscript]2 + Y'bet yer life the time is ripe + To think what you will do. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He'll tip th' Atlantic o'er its brim, + And swamp the mountains tall; + He'll let the broad Pacific in, + And leave no land at all. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He's got an option on the spheres; + He's leased the Milky Way; + He's caught the planets in arrears, + 'N's bound to make 'em pay. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc." + +The roars of laughter and applause with which this effusion of +vaudeville genius was greeted, showed the cheerful spirit in which the +public took the affair. No harm seemed to have come to the "ignorant +masses" yet. + +But the next morning there was a suspicious change in the popular mind. +People were surprised to see new posters in place of the old ones, more +lurid in letters and language than the original. The morning papers had +columns of description and comment, and some of them seemed disposed to +treat the prophet and his prediction with a certain degree of +seriousness. + +The savants who had been interviewed overnight, did not talk very +convincingly, and made the mistake of flinging contempt on both Cosmo +and "the gullible public." + +Naturally, the public wouldn't stand for that, and the pendulum of +opinion began to swing the other way. Cosmo helped his cause by sending +to every newspaper a carefully prepared statement of his observations +and calculations, in which he spoke with such force of conviction that +few could read his words without feeling a thrill of apprehensive +uncertainty. This was strengthened by published dispatches which showed +that he had forwarded his warnings to all the well-known scientific +bodies of the world, which, while decrying them, made no effective +response. + +And then came a note of positive alarm in a double-leaded bulletin from +the new observatory at Mount McKinley, which affirmed that during the +preceding night _a singular obscurity_ had been suspected in the +northern sky, seeming to veil many stars below the twelfth magnitude. It +was added that the phenomenon was unprecedented, but that the +observation was both difficult and uncertain. + +Nowhere was the atmosphere of doubt and mystery, which now began to hang +over the public, so remarkable as in Wall Street. The sensitive currents +there responded like electric waves to the new influence, and, to the +dismay of hard-headed observers, the market dropped as if it had been +hit with a sledge-hammer. Stocks went down five, ten, in some cases +twenty points in as many minutes. + +The speculative issues slid down like wheat into a bin when the chutes +are opened. Nobody could trace the exact origin of the movement, but +selling-orders came tumbling in until there was a veritable panic. + +From London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, flashed dispatches +announcing that the same unreasonable slump had manifested itself there, +and all united in holding Cosmo Versál solely responsible for the +foolish break in prices. Leaders of finance rushed to the exchanges +trying by arguments and expostulations to arrest the downfall, but in +vain. + +In the afternoon, however, reason partially resumed its sway; then a +quick recovery was felt, and many who had rushed to sell all they had, +found cause to regret their precipitancy. The next day all was on the +mend, as far as the stock market was concerned, but among the people at +large the poison of awakened credulity continued to spread, nourished by +fresh announcements from the fountain head. + +Cosmo issued another statement to the effect that he had perfected plans +for an ark of safety, which he would begin at once to construct in the +neighborhood of New York, and he not only offered freely to give his +plans to any who wished to commence construction on their own account, +but he urged them, in the name of Heaven, to lose no time. This produced +a prodigious effect, and multitudes began to be infected with a nameless +fear. + +Meanwhile an extraordinary scene occurred, behind closed doors, at the +headquarters of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Joseph Smith, +acting under Cosmo Versál's direction, had forwarded an elaborate +_précis_ of the latter's argument, accompanied with full +mathematical details, to the head of the institution. The character of +this document was such that it could not be ignored. Moreover, the +savants composing the council of the most important scientific +association in the world were aware of the state of the public mind, and +felt that it was incumbent upon them to do something to allay the alarm. +Of late years a sort of supervisory control over scientific news of all +kinds had been accorded to them, and they appreciated the fact that a +duty now rested upon their shoulders. + +Accordingly, a special meeting was called to consider the communication +from Cosmo Versál. It was the general belief that a little critical +examination would result in complete proof of the fallacy of all his +work, proof which could be put in a form that the most uninstructed +would understand. + +But the papers, diagrams, and mathematical formulae had no sooner been +spread upon the table under the knowing eyes of the learned members of +the council, than a chill of conscious impuissance ran through them. +They saw that Cosmo's mathematics were unimpeachable. His formulae were +accurately deduced, and his operations absolutely correct. + +They could do nothing but attack his fundamental data, based on the +alleged revelations of his new form of spectroscope, and on telescopic +observations which were described in so much detail that the only way to +combat them was by the general assertion that they were illusory. This +was felt to be a very unsatisfactory method of procedure, as far as the +public was concerned, because it amounted to no more than attacking the +credibility of a witness who pretended to describe only what he himself +had seen--and there is nothing so hard as to prove a negative. + +Then, Cosmo had on his side the whole force of that curious tendency of +the human mind which habitually gravitates toward whatever is +extraordinary, revolutionary, and mysterious. + +But a yet greater difficulty arose. Mention has been made of the strange +bulletin from the Mount McKinley observatory. That had been incautiously +sent out to the public by a thoughtless observer, who was more intent +upon describing a singular phenomenon than upon considering its possible +effect on the popular imagination. He had immediately received an +expostulatory dispatch from headquarters which henceforth shut his +mouth--but he had told the simple truth, and how embarrassing that was +became evident when, on the very table around which the savants were now +assembled, three dispatches were laid in quick succession from the great +observatories of Mount Hekla, Iceland, the North Cape, and Kamchatka, +all corroborating the statement of the Mount McKinley observer, that an +inexplicable veiling of faint stars had manifested itself in the boreal +quarter of the sky. + +When the president read these dispatches--which the senders had taken +the precaution to mark "confidential"--the members of the council looked +at one another with no little dismay. Here was the most unprejudiced +corroboration of Cosmo Versál's assertion that the great nebula was +already within the range of observation. How could they dispute such +testimony, and what were they to make of it? + +Two or three of the members began to be shaken in their convictions. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Professor Alexander Jones, "but this is very +curious! And suppose the fellow should be right, after all?" + +"Right!" cried the president, Professor Pludder, disdainfully. "Who ever +heard of a watery nebula? The thing's absurd!" + +"I don't see that it's absurd," replied Professor Jones. "There's plenty +of proof of the existence of hydrogen in some of the nebulae." + +"So there is," chimed in Professor Abel Able, "and if there's hydrogen +there may be oxygen, and there you have all that's necessary. It's not +the idea that a nebula may consist of watery vapor that's absurd, but it +is that a watery nebula, large enough to drown the earth by condensation +upon it could have approached so near as this one must now be without +sooner betraying its presence." + +"How so?" demanded a voice. + +"By its attraction. Cosmo Versál says it is already less than three +hundred million miles away. If it is massive enough to drown the earth, +it ought long ago to have been discovered by its disturbance of the +planetary orbits." + +"Not at all," exclaimed Professor Jeremiah Moses. "If you stick to that +argument you'll be drowned sure. Just look at these facts. The earth +weighs six and a half sextillions of tons, and the ocean one and a half +quintillions. The average depth of the oceans is two and one-fifth +miles. Now--if the level of the oceans were raised only about 1,600 +feet, practically all the inhabited parts of the world would be flooded. +To cause that increase in the level of the oceans only about one-eighth +part would have to be added to their total mass, or, say, one-seventh +part, allowing for the greater surface to be covered. That would be one +thirty-thousandth of the weight of the globe, and if you suppose that +only one-hundredth of the entire nebula were condensed on the earth, the +whole mass of the nebula would not need to exceed one three-hundredth of +the weight of the earth, or a quarter that of the moon--and nobody here +will be bold enough to say that the approach of a mass no greater than +that would be likely to be discovered through its attraction when it was +three hundred million miles away." + +Several of the astronomers present shook their heads at this, and +Professor Pludder irritably declared that it was absurd. + +"The attraction would be noticeable when it was a thousand millions of +miles away," he continued. + +"Yes, 'noticeable' I admit," replied Professor Moses, "but all the same +you wouldn't notice it, because you wouldn't be looking for it unless +the nebula were visible first, and even then it would require months of +observation to detect the effects. And how are you going to get around +those bulletins? The thing is beginning to be visible now, and I'll bet +that if, from this time on, you study carefully the planetary motions, +you will find evidence of the disturbance becoming stronger and +stronger. Versál has pointed out that very thing, and calculated the +perturbations. This thing has come like a thief in the night." + +"You'd better hurry up and secure a place in the ark," said Professor +Pludder sarcastically. + +"I don't know but I shall, if I can get one," returned Professor Moses. +"You may not think this is such a laughing matter a few months hence." + +"I'm surprised," pursued the president, "that a man of your scientific +standing should stultify himself by taking seriously such balderdash as +this. I tell you the thing is absurd." + +"And I tell you, _you_ are absurd to say so!" retorted Professor +Moses, losing his temper. "You've got four of the biggest telescopes in +the world under your control; why don't you order your observers to look +for this thing?" + +Professor Pludder, who was a very big man, reared up his rotund form, +and, bringing his fist down upon the table with a resounding whack, +exclaimed: + +"I'll do nothing so ridiculous! These bulletins have undoubtedly been +influenced by the popular excitement. There has possibly been a little +obscurity in the atmosphere--cirrus clouds, or something--and the +observers have imagined the rest. I'm not going to insult science by +encouraging the proceedings of a mountebank like Cosmo Versál. What +we've got to do is to prepare a dispatch for the press reassuring the +populace and throwing the weight of this institution on the side of +common sense and public tranquillity. Let the secretary indite such a +dispatch, and then we'll edit it and send it out." + +Professor Pludder, naturally dictatorial, was sometimes a little +overbearing, but being a man of great ability, and universally respected +for his high rank in the scientific world, his colleagues usually bowed +to his decisions. On this occasion his force of character sufficed to +silence the doubters, and when the statement intended for the press had +received its final touches it contained no hint of the seeds of discord +that Cosmo Versál had sown among America's foremost savants. The next +morning it appeared in all the newspapers as follows: + + _Official Statement from the Carnegie Institution_ + + In consequence of the popular excitement caused by the + sensational utterance of a notorious pretender to scientific + knowledge in New York, the council of this institution + authorizes the statement that it has examined the alleged + grounds on which the prediction of a great flood, to be caused + by a nebula encountering the earth, is based, and finds, as all + real men of science knew beforehand, that the entire matter is + simply a canard. + + The nebulae are not composed of water; if they were composed of + water they could not cause a flood on the earth; the report that + some strange, misty object is visible in the starry heavens is + based on a misapprehension; and finally, the so-called + calculations of the author of this inexcusable hoax are baseless + and totally devoid of validity. + + The public is earnestly advised to pay no further attention to + the matter. If there were any danger to the earth--and such a + thing is not to be seriously considered--astronomers would know + it long in advance, and would give due and official warning. + +Unfortunately for the popular effect of this pronouncement, on the very +morning when it appeared in print, thirty thousand people were crowded +around the old aviation field at Mineola, excitedly watching Cosmo +Versál, with five hundred workmen, laying the foundations of a huge +platform, while about the field were stretched sheets of canvas +displaying the words: + + THE ARK OF SAFETY + Earnest Inspection Invited by All + Attendants will Furnish Gratis Plans for Similar + Constructions + Small Arks Can Be Built for Families + Act While There Is Yet Time + +The multitude saw at a glance that here was a work that would cost +millions, and the spectacle of this immense expenditure, the evidence +that Cosmo was backing his words with his money, furnished a silent +argument which was irresistible. In the midst of all, flying about among +his men, was Cosmo, impressing every beholder with the feeling that +intellect was in charge. + +Like the gray coat of Napoleon on a battlefield, the sight of that +mighty brow bred confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + +The utterance of the Carnegie Institution indeed fell flat, and Cosmo +Versál's star reigned in the ascendent. He pushed his preparations with +amazing speed, and not only politics, but even the war that had just +broken out in South America was swallowed up in the newspapers by +endless descriptions of the mysterious proceedings at Mineola. Cosmo +still found time every day to write articles and to give out interviews; +and Joseph Smith was kept constantly on the jump, running for +street-cars or trains, or leaping, with his long coat flapping, into and +out of elevators on ceaseless missions to the papers, the scientific +societies, and the meetings of learned or unlearned bodies which had +been persuaded to investigate the subject of the coming flood. Between +the work of preparation and that of proselytism it is difficult to see +how Cosmo found time to sleep. + +Day by day the Ark of Safety rose higher upon its great platform, its +huge metallic ribs and broad, bulging sides glinting strangely in the +unbroken sunshine--for, as if imitating the ominous quiet before an +earthquake, the July sky had stripped itself of all clouds. No +thunder-storms broke the serenity of the long days, and never had the +overarching heavens seemed so spotless and motionless in their cerulean +depths. + +All over the world, as the news dispatches showed, the same strange calm +prevailed. Cosmo did not fail to call attention to this unparalleled +repose of nature as a sure prognostic of the awful event in preparation. + +The heat became tremendous. Hundreds were stricken down in the blazing +streets. Multitudes fled to the seashore, and lay panting under +umbrellas on the burning sands, or vainly sought relief by plunging into +the heated water, which, rolling lazily in with the tide, felt as if it +had come from over a boiler. + +Still, perspiring crowds constantly watched the workmen, who struggled +with the overpowering heat, although Cosmo had erected canvas screens +for them and installed a hundred immense electric fans to create a +breeze. + +Beginning with five hundred men, he had, in less than a month, increased +his force to nearer five thousand, many of whom, not engaged in the +actual construction, were preparing the materials and bringing them +together. The ark was being made of pure levium, the wonderful new metal +which, although already employed in the construction of aeroplanes and +the framework of dirigible balloons, had not before been used for +shipbuilding, except in the case of a few small boats, and these used +only in the navy. + +For mere raw material Cosmo must have expended an enormous sum, and his +expenses were quadrupled by the fact that he was compelled, in order to +save time, practically to lease several of the largest steel plants in +the country. Fortunately levium was easily rolled into plates, and the +supply was sufficient, owing to the discovery two years before of an +expeditious process of producing the metal from its ores. + +The wireless telegraph and telephone offices were besieged by +correspondents eager to send inland, and all over Europe and Asia, the +latest particulars of the construction of the great ark. Nobody followed +Cosmo's advice or example, but everybody was intensely interested and +puzzled. + +At last the government officials found themselves forced to take +cognizance of the affair. They could no longer ignore it after they +discovered that it was seriously interfering with the conduct of public +business. Cosmo Versál's pressing orders, accompanied by cash, displaced +or delayed orders of the government commanding materials for the navy +and the air fleet. In consequence, about the middle of July he received +a summons to visit the President of the United States. Cosmo hurried to +Washington on the given date, and presented his card at the White House. +He was shown immediately into the President's reception-room, where he +found the entire Cabinet in presence. As he entered he was the focus of +a formidable battery of curious and not too friendly eyes. + +President Samson was a large, heavy man, more than six feet tall. Every +member of his Cabinet was above the average in avoirdupois, and the +heavyweight president of the Carnegie Institution, Professor Pludder, +who had been specially invited, added by his presence to the air of +ponderosity that characterized the assemblage. All seemed magnified by +the thin white garments which they wore on account of the oppressive +heat. Many of them had come in haste from various summer resorts, and +were plainly annoyed by the necessity of attending at the President's +command. + +Cosmo Versál was the only cool man there, and his diminutive form +presented a striking contrast to the others. But he looked as if he +carried more brains than all of them put together. + +He was not in the least overawed by the hostile glances of the +statesmen. On the contrary, his lips perceptibly curled, in a +half-disdainful smile, as he took the big hand which the President +extended to him. As soon as Cosmo Versál had sunk into the embrace of a +large easy chair, the President opened the subject. + +"I have directed you to come," he said in a majestic tone, "in order the +sooner to dispel the effects of your unjustifiable predictions and +extraordinary proceedings on the public mind--and, I may add, on public +affairs. Are you aware that you have interfered with the measures of +this government for the defense of the country? You have stepped in +front of the government, and delayed the beginning of four battleships +which Congress has authorized in urgent haste on account of the +threatening aspect of affairs in the East? I need hardly say to you that +we shall, if necessary, find means to set aside the private agreements +under which you are proceeding, as inimical to public interests, but you +have already struck a serious blow at the security of your country." + +The President pronounced the last sentence with oratorical unction, and +Cosmo was conscious of an approving movement of big official shoulders +around him. The disdain deepened on his lips. + +After a moment's pause the President continued: + +"Before proceeding to extremities I have wished to see you personally, +in order, in the first place, to assure myself that you are mentally +responsible, and then to appeal to your patriotism, which should lead +you to withdraw at once an obstruction so dangerous to the nation. Do +you know the position in which you have placed yourself?" + +Cosmo Versál got upon his feet and advanced to the center of the room +like a little David. Every eye was fixed upon him. His voice was steady, +but intense with suppressed nervousness. + +"Mr. President," he said, "you have accused me of obstructing the +measures of the government for the defense of the country. Sir, I am +trying to save the whole human race from a danger in comparison with +which that of war is infinitesimal--a danger which is rushing down upon +us with appalling speed, and which will strike every land on the globe +simultaneously. Within seven months not a warship or any other existing +vessel will remain afloat." + +The listeners smiled, and nodded significantly to one another, but the +speaker only grew more earnest. + +"You think I am insane," he said, "but the truth is you are hoodwinked +by official stupidity. That man," pointing at Professor Pludder, "who +knows me well, and who has had all my proofs laid before him, is either +too thick-headed to understand a demonstration or too pig-headed to +confess his own error." + +"Come, come," interrupted the President sternly, while Professor Pludder +flushed very red, "this will not do! Indulge in no personalities here. I +have, strained a point in offering to listen to you at all, and I have +invited the head of the greatest of our scientific societies to be +present, with the hope that here before us all he might convince you of +your folly, and thus bring the whole unfortunate affair promptly to an +end." + +"_He_ convince _me_ !" cried Cosmo Versál disdainfully. "He is +incapable of understanding the A, B, C of my work. But let me tell you +this, Mr. President--there are men in his own council who are not so +blind. I know what occurred at the recent meeting of that council, and I +know that the ridiculous announcement put forth in its name to deceive +the public was whipped into shape by him, and does not express the real +opinion of many of the members." + +Professor Pludder's face grew redder than ever. + +"Name one!" he thundered. + +"Ah," said Cosmo sneeringly, "that hits hard, doesn't it? You want me to +name _one_; well, I'll name _three_. What did Professor +Alexander Jones and Professor Abel Able say about the existence of +watery nebula, and what was the opinion expressed by Professor Jeremiah +Moses about the actual approach of one out of the northern sky, and what +it could do if it hit the earth? What was the unanimous opinion of the +entire council about the correctness of my mathematical work? And what," +he continued, approaching Professor Pludder and shaking his finger up at +him--"_what have you done with those three dispatches from Iceland, +the North Cape, and Kamchatka, which absolutely confirmed my +announcement that the nebula was already visible?_" + +Professor Pludder began stammeringly: + +"Some spy--" + +"Ah," cried Cosmo, catching him up, "_a spy_, hey? Then, you admit +it! Mr. President, I beg you to notice that he admits it. Sir, this is a +conspiracy to conceal the truth. Great Heaven, the world is on the point +of being drowned, and yet the pride of officialism is so strong in this +plodder--Pludder--and others of his ilk that they'd sooner take the +chance of letting the human race be destroyed than recognize the truth!" + +Cosmo Versál spoke with such tremendous concentration of mental energy, +and with such evident sincerity of conviction, and he had so plainly put +Professor Pludder to rout, that the President, no less than the other +listening statesmen, was thrown into a quandary. + +There was a creaking of heavily burdened chairs, a ponderous stir all +round the circle, while a look of perplexity became visible on every +face. Professor Pludder's conduct helped to produce the change of moral +atmosphere. He had been so completely surprised by Cosmo's accusation, +based on facts which he had supposed were known only to himself and the +council, that he was unable for a minute to speak at all, and before he +could align his faculties his triumphant little opponent renewed the +attack. + +"Mr. President," he said, laying his hand on the arm of Mr. Samson's big +chair, which was nearly on a level with his breast, and speaking with +persuasive earnestness, "you are the executive head of a mighty +nation--the nation that sets the pace for the world. It is in your power +to do a vast, an incalculable, service to humanity. One official word +from you would save millions upon millions of lives. I implore you, +instead of interfering with my work, to give instant order for the +construction of as many arks, based upon the plans I have perfected, as +the navy yard can possibly turn out. Issue a proclamation to the people, +warning them that this is their only chance of escape." + +By a curious operation of the human mind, this speech cost Cosmo nearly +all the advantage that he had previously gained. His ominous suggestion +of a great nebula rushing out of the heavens to overwhelm the earth had +immensely impressed the imagination of his hearers, and his +uncontradicted accusation that Professor Pludder was concealing the +facts had almost convinced them that he was right. But when he mentioned +"arks," the strain was relieved, and a smile broke out on the broad face +of the President. He shook his head, and was about to speak, when Cosmo, +perceiving that he had lost ground, changed his tactics. + +"Still you are incredulous!" he exclaimed. "But the proof is before you! +Look at the blazing heavens! The annals of meteorology do not record +another such summer as this. The vanguard of the fatal nebula is already +upon us. The signs of disaster are in the sky. But, note what I +say--this is only the _first_ sign. There is another following on +its heels which may be here at any moment. To heat will succeed cold, +and as we rush through the tenuous outer spirals the earth will +alternately be whipped with tempests of snow and sleet, and scorched by +fierce outbursts of solar fire. For three weeks the atmosphere has been +heated by the inrush of invisible vapor--but look out, I warn you, for +the change that is impending!" + +These extraordinary words, pronounced with the wild air of a prophet, +completed the growing conviction of the listeners that they really had a +madman to deal with, and Professor Pludder, having recovered his +self--command, rose to his feet. + +"Mr. President," he began, "the evidence which we have just seen of an +unbalanced mind--" + +He got no further. A pall of darkness suddenly dropped upon the room. An +inky curtain seemed to have fallen from the sky. At the same time the +windows were shaken by tremendous blasts of wind, and, as the electric +lights were hastily turned on, huge snowflakes, intermingled with +rattling hailstones, were seen careering outside. In a few seconds +several large panes of glass were broken, and the chilling wind, +sweeping round the apartment, made the teeth of the thinly clad +statesmen chatter, while the noise of the storm became deafening. The +sky lightened, but at the same moment dreadful thunderpeals shook the +building. Two or three trees in the White House grounds were struck by +the bolts, and their broken branches were driven through the air and +carried high above the ground by the whirling winds, and one of them was +thrown against the building with such force that for a moment it seemed +as if the wall had been shattered. + +After the first stunning effect of this outbreak of the elements had +passed, everybody rushed to the windows to look out--everybody except +Cosmo Versál, who remained standing in the center of the room. + +"I told you!" he said; but nobody listened to him. What they saw outside +absorbed every faculty. The noise was so stunning that they could not +have heard him. + +We have said that the air lightened after the passage of the first pall +of darkness, but it was not the reappearance of the sun that caused the +brightening. It was an awful light, which seemed to be born out of the +air itself. It had a menacing, coppery hue, continually changing in +character. The whole upper atmosphere was choked with dense clouds, +which swirled and tumbled, and twisted themselves into great vortical +rolls, spinning like gigantic millshafts. Once, one of these vortexes +shot downward, with projectile speed, rapidly assuming the terrible form +of the trombe of a tornado, and where it struck the ground it tore +everything to pieces--trees, houses, the very earth itself were ground +to powder and then whirled aloft by the resistless suction. + +Occasionally the darkness returned for a few minutes, as if a cover had +been clapped upon the sky, and then, again, the murk would roll off, and +the reddish gleam would reappear. These swift alternations of +impenetrable gloom and unearthly light shook the hearts of the +dumfounded statesmen even more than the roar and rush of the storm. + +A cry of horror broke from the onlookers when a man and a woman suddenly +appeared trying to cross the White House grounds to reach a place of +comparative safety, and were caught up by the wind, clinging desperately +to each other, and hurled against a wall, at whose base they fell in a +heap. + +Then came another outburst of lightning, and a vicious bolt descended +upon the Washington Monument, and, twisting round it, seemed to envelop +the great shaft in a pulsating corkscrew of blinding fire. The report +that instantly followed made the White House dance upon its foundations, +and, as if that had been a signal, the flood-gates of the sky +immediately opened, and rain so dense that it looked like a solid +cataract of water poured down upon the earth. The raging water burst +into the basement of the building, and ran off in a shoreless river +toward the Potomac. + +The streaming rain, still driven by the wind, poured through the broken +windows, driving the President and the others to the middle of the room, +where they soon stood in rills of water soaking the thick carpet. + +They were all as pale as death. Their eyes sought one another's faces in +dumb amazement. Cosmo Versál alone retained perfect self-command. In +spite of his slight stature he looked their master. Raising his voice to +the highest pitch, in order to be heard, he shouted: + +"These are the first drops of the Deluge! Will you believe now?" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + +The tempest of hail, snow, lightning, and rain, which burst so +unexpectedly over Washington, was not a local phenomenon. It leveled the +antennae of the wireless telegraph systems all over the world, cutting +off communication everywhere. Only the submarine telephone cables +remained unaffected, and by them was transmitted the most astonishing +news of the ravages of the storm. Rivers had careered over their banks, +low-lying towns were flooded, the swollen sewers of cities exploded and +inundated the streets, and gradually news came in from country districts +showing that vast areas of land had been submerged, and hundreds +drowned. + +The downfall of rain far exceeded everything that the meteorological +bureaus had ever recorded. + +The vagaries of the lightning, and the frightful power that it +exhibited, were especially terrifying. + +In London the Victoria Tower was partly dismantled by a bolt. + +In Moscow the ancient and beautiful Church of St. Basil was nearly +destroyed. + +The celebrated Leaning Tower of Pisa, the wonder of centuries, was flung +to the ground. + +The vast dome of St. Peter's at Rome was said to have been encased +during three whole minutes with a blinding armor of electric fire, +though the only harm done was the throwing down of a statue in one of +the chapels. + +But, strangest freak of all, in New York a tremendous bolt, which seems +to have entered the Pennsylvania tunnel on the Jersey side, followed the +rails under the river, throwing two trains from the track, and, emerging +in the great station in the heart of the city, expanded into a +rose-colored sphere, which exploded with an awful report, and blew the +great roof to pieces. And yet, although the fragments were scattered a +dozen blocks away, hundreds of persons who were in the stations suffered +no other injury than such as resulted from being flung violently to the +floor, or against the walls. + +Cosmo Versál's great ark seemed charmed. Not a single discharge of +lightning occurred in its vicinity, a fact which he attributed to the +dielectric properties of levium. Nevertheless, the wind carried away all +his screens and electric fans. + +If this storm had continued the predicted deluge would unquestionably +have occurred at once, and even its prophet would have perished through +having begun his preparations too late. But the disturbed elements sank +into repose as suddenly as they had broken out with fury. The rain did +not last, in most places, more than twenty-four hours, although the +atmosphere continued to be filled with troubled clouds for a week. At +the end of that time the sun reappeared, as hot as before, and a +spotless dome once more over-arched the earth; but from this time the +sky never resumed its former brilliant azure--there was always a strange +coppery tinge, the sight of which was appalling, although it gradually +lost its first effect through familiarity. + +The indifference and derision with which Cosmo's predictions and +elaborate preparations had hitherto been regarded now vanished, and the +world, in spite of itself, shivered with vague apprehension. No +reassurances from those savants who still refused to admit the validity +of Cosmo Versál's calculations and deductions had any permanent effect +upon the public mind. + +With amusing inconsequence people sold stocks again, until all the +exchanges were once more swept with panic--and then put the money in +their strong boxes, as if they thought that the mere possession of the +lucre could protect them. They hugged the money and remained deaf to +Cosmo's reiterated advice to build arks with it. + +After all, they were only terrified, not convinced, and they felt that, +somehow, everything would come out right, now that they had their +possessions well in hand. + +For, in spite of the scare, nobody really believed that an actual deluge +was coming. There might be great floods, and great suffering and loss, +but the world was not going to be drowned! Such things only occurred in +early and dark ages. + +Some nervous persons found comfort in the fact that when the skies +cleared after the sudden downpour brilliant rainbows were seen. Their +hearts bounded with joy. + +"The 'Bow of Promise!'" they cried. "Behold the unvarying assurance that +the world shall never again be drowned." + +Then a great revival movement was set on foot, starting in the +Mississippi valley under the leadership of an eloquent exhorter, who +declared that, although a false prophet had arisen, whose delusive +prediction was contrary to Scripture, yet it was true that the world was +about to be punished in unexpected ways for its many iniquities. + +This movement rapidly spread all over the country, and was taken up in +England and throughout Protestant Europe, and soon prayers were offered +in thousands of churches to avert the wrath of Heaven. Multitudes thus +found their fears turned into a new direction, and by a strange +reaction, Cosmo Versál came to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist who +was seeking to mislead mankind. + +Just at this juncture, to add to the dismay and uncertainty, a grand and +fearful comet suddenly appeared. It came up unexpectedly from the south, +blazed brightly close beside the sun, even at noonday, and a few nights +later was visible after sunset with an immense fiery head and a broad +curved tail that seemed to pulsate from end to end. It was so bright +that it cast shadows at night, as distinct as those made by the moon. No +such cometary monster had ever before been seen. People shuddered when +they looked at it. It moved with amazing speed, sweeping across the +firmament like a besom of destruction. Calculation showed that it was +not more than 3,000,000 miles from the earth. + +But one night the wonder and dread awakened by the comet were magnified +a hundredfold by an occurrence so unexpected and extraordinary that the +spectators gasped in amazement. + +The writer happens to have before him an entry in a diary, which is, +probably, the sole contemporary record of this event. It was written in +the city of Washington by no less a person than Professor Jeremiah +Moses, of the Council of the Carnegie Institution. Let it tell its own +story: + +"A marvelous thing happened this night. I walked out into the park near +my house with the intention of viewing the great comet. The park on my +side (the west), is bordered with a dense screen of tall trees, and I +advanced toward the open place in the center in order to have an +unobstructed sight of the flaming stranger. As I passed across the edge +of the shadow of the trees--the ground ahead being brilliantly +illuminated by the light of the comet--I suddenly noticed, with an +involuntary start, that I was being preceded by a _double shadow_, +with a black center, which forked away from my feet. + +"I cast my eyes behind me to find the cause of the phenomenon, and saw, +to my inexpressible amazement, that _the comet had divided into +two_. There were two distinct heads, already widely separated, but +each, it seemed to me, as brilliant as the original one had been, and +each supplied with a vast plume of fire a hundred degrees in length, and +consequently stretching far past the zenith. The cause of the double +shadow was evident at once--but what can have produced this sudden +disruption of the comet? It must have occurred since last evening, and +already, if the calculated distance of the comet is correct, the parts +of the severed head are 300,000 miles asunder!" + +Underneath this entry was scribbled: + +"Can this have anything to do with Cosmo Versál's flood?" + +Whether it had anything to do with the flood or not, at any rate the +public believed that it had. People went about with fear written on +their faces. + +The double shadows had a surprising effect. The phantasm was pointed +out, and stared at with superstitious terror by thousands every night. +The fact that there was nothing really mysterious about it made no +difference. Even those who knew well that it was an inevitable optical +result of the division of the bright comet were thrilled with +instinctive dread when they saw that forked umbra, mimicking their every +movement. There is nothing that so upsets the mind as a sudden change in +the aspect of familiar things. + +The astronomers now took their turn. Those who were absolutely +incredulous about Cosmo's prediction, and genuinely desirous of allaying +the popular alarm, issued statements in which, with a disingenuousness +that may have been unintentional, they tried to sidetrack his arguments. + +Professor Pludder led the way with a pronunciamento declaring that "the +absurd vaporings of the modern Nostradamus of New York" had now +demonstrated their own emptiness. + +"A comet," said Professor Pludder, with reassuring seriousness, "cannot +drown the earth. It is composed of rare gases, which, as the experience +of Halley's comet many years ago showed, are unable to penetrate the +atmosphere even when an actual encounter occurs. In this case there +cannot even be an encounter; the comet is now moving away. Its division +is not an unprecedented occurrence, for many previous comets have met +with similar accidents. This comet happened to be of unusual size, and +the partition of the head occurred when it was relatively nearby--whence +the startling phenomena observed. There is nothing to be feared." + +It will be remarked that Professor Pludder entirely avoided the real +issue. Cosmo Versál had never said that the comet would drown the earth. +In fact, he had been as much surprised by its appearance as everybody +else. But when he read Professor Pludder's statement, followed by others +of similar import, he took up the cudgels with a vengeance. All over the +world, translated into a dozen languages, he scattered his reply, and +the effect was startling. + +"My fellow-citizens of the world in all lands, and of every race," he +began, "you are face to face with destruction! And yet, while its +heralds are plainly signaling from the sky, and shaking the earth with +lightning to awaken it, blind leaders of blind try to deceive you! + +"They are defying science itself! + +"They say that the comet cannot touch the earth. That is true. It is +passing away. I myself did not foresee its coming. It arrived by +accident, _but every step that it has made through the silent depths +of space has been a proclamation of the presence of the nebula_, +which is the real agent of the perdition of the world! + +"Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens? You have all +noticed it. Why that blinding brightness which the comet has displayed, +exceeding all that has ever been beheld in such visitors. The +explanation is plain: the comet has been feeding on the substance of the +nebula, which is rare yet because we have only encountered some of its +outlying spirals. + +"But it is coming on with terrible speed. In a few short months we shall +be plunged into its awful center, and then the oceans will swell to the +mountaintops, and the continents will become the bottoms of angry seas. + +"When the flood begins it will be too late to save yourselves. You have +already lost too much precious time. I tell you solemnly that not one in +a million can now be saved. Throw away every other consideration, and +try, try desperately, to be of the little company of those who escape! + +"Remember that your only chance is in building arks--arks of levium, the +metal that floats. I have sent broadcast plans for such arks. They can +be made of any size, but the larger the better. In my own ark I can take +only a selected number, and when the complement is made up not another +soul will be admitted. + +"I have established all my facts by mathematical proofs. The most expert +mathematicians of the world have been unable to detect any error in my +calculations. They try to dispute the data, but the data are already +before you for your own judgment. The heavens are so obscured that only +the brightest stars can now be seen." (This was a fact which had caused +bewilderment in the observatories.) "The recent outburst of storms and +floods was the second sign of the approaching end, and the third sign +will not be long delayed--and after that the deluge!" + +It is futile to try to describe the haunting fear and horror which +seized upon the majority of the millions who read these words. Business +was paralyzed, for men found it impossible to concentrate their minds +upon ordinary affairs. Every night the twin comets, still very bright, +although they were fast retreating, brandished their fiery scimitars in +the sky--more fearful to the imagination now, since Cosmo Versál had +declared that it was the nebula that stimulated their energies. And by +day the sky was watched with anxious eyes striving to detect signs of a +deepening of the menacing hue, which, to an excited fancy, suggested a +tinge of blood. + +Now, at last, Cosmo's warnings and entreaties bore practical fruit. Men +began to inquire about places in his ark, and to make preparations for +building arks of their own. + +He had not been interfered with after his memorable interview with the +President of the United States, and had pushed his work at Mineola with +redoubled energy, employing night gangs of workmen so that progress was +continuous throughout the twenty-four hours. + +Standing on its platform, the ark, whose hull was approaching +completion, rose a hundred feet into the air. It was 800 feet long and +250 broad--proportions which practical ship-builders ridiculed, but +Cosmo, as original in this as in everything else, declared that, taking +into account the buoyancy of levium, no other form would answer as well. +He estimated that when its great engines were in place, its immense +stores of material for producing power, its ballast, and its supplies of +food stowed away, and its cargo of men and animals taken aboard, it +would not draw more than twenty feet of water. + +Hardly a day passed now without somebody coming to Cosmo to inquire +about the best method of constructing arks. He gave the required +information, in all possible detail, with the utmost willingness. He +drew plans and sketches, made all kinds of practical suggestions, and +never failed to urge the utmost haste. He inspired every visitor at the +same time with alarm and a resolution to go to work at once. + +Some did go to work. But their progress was slow, and as days passed, +and the comets gradually faded out of sight, and then the dome of the +sky showed a tendency to resume its natural blueness, the enthusiasm of +Cosmo's imitators weakened, together with their confidence in his +prophetic powers. + +They concluded to postpone their operations until the need of arks +should become more evident. + +As to those who had sent inquiries about places in Cosmo's ark, now that +the danger seemed to be blowing away, they did not even take the trouble +to answer the very kind responses that he had made. + +It is a singular circumstance that not one of these anxious inquirers +seemed to have paid particular attention to a very significant sentence +in his reply. If they had given it a little thought, it would probably +have set them pondering, although they might have been more puzzled than +edified. The sentence ran as follows: + +"While assuring you that my ark has been built for the benefit of my +fellow men, I am bound to tell you that I reserve absolutely the right +to determine who are truly representative of _homo sapiens_." + +The fact was that Cosmo had been turning over in his mind the great +fundamental question which he had asked himself when the idea of trying +to save the human race from annihilation had first occurred to him, and +apparently he had fixed upon certain principles that were to guide him. + +Since, when the mind is under great strain through fear, the slightest +relaxation, caused by an apparently favorable change, produces a rebound +of hope, as unreasoning as the preceding terror, so, on this occasion, +the vanishing of the comets, and the fading of the disquieting color of +the sky, had a wonderful effect in restoring public confidence in the +orderly procession of nature. + +Cosmo Versál's vogue as a prophet of disaster was soon gone, and once +more everybody began to laugh at him. People turned again to their +neglected affairs with the general remark that they "guessed the world +would manage to wade through." + +Those who had begun preparations to build arks looked very sheepish when +their friends guyed them about their childish credulity. + +Then a feeling of angry resentment arose, and one day Cosmo Versál was +mobbed in the street, and the gamins threw stones at him. + +People forgot the extraordinary storm of lightning and rain, the split +comet, and all the other circumstances which, a little time before, had +filled them with terror. + +But they were making a fearful mistake! + +With eyes blindfolded they were walking straight into the jaws of +destruction. + +Without warning, and as suddenly almost as an explosion, the _third +sign_ appeared, and on its heels came a veritable Reign of Terror! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE THIRD SIGN + + +In the middle of the night, at New York, hundreds of thousands +simultaneously awoke with a feeling of suffocation. + +They struggled for breath as if they had suddenly been plunged into a +steam bath. + +The air was hot, heavy, and terribly oppressive. + +The throwing open of windows brought no relief. The outer air was as +stifling as that within. + +It was so dark that, on looking out, one could not see his own +doorsteps. The arc-lamps in the street flickered with an ineffective +blue gleam which shed no illumination round about. + +House lights, when turned on, looked like tiny candles inclosed in thick +blue globes. + +Frightened men and women stumbled around in the gloom of their chambers +trying to dress themselves. + +Cries and exclamations rang from room to room; children wailed; +hysterical mothers ran wildly hither and thither, seeking their little +ones. Many fainted, partly through terror and partly from the difficulty +of breathing. Sick persons, seized with a terrible oppression of the +chest, gasped, and never rose from their beds. + +At every window, and in every doorway, throughout the vast city, +invisible heads and forms were crowded, making their presence known by +their voices--distracted householders striving to peer through the +strange darkness, and to find out the cause of these terrifying +phenomena. + +Some managed to get a faint glimpse of their watches by holding them +close against lamps, and thus noted the time. It was two o'clock in the +morning. + +Neighbors, unseen, called to one another, but got little comfort from +the replies. + +"What is it? In God's name, what has happened?" + +"I don't know. I can hardly breathe." + +"It is awful! We shall all be suffocated." + +"Is it a fire?" + +"No! No! It cannot be a fire." + +"The air is full of steam. The stones and the window-panes are streaming +with moisture." + +"Great Heavens, how stifling it is!" + +Then, into thousands of minds at once leaped the thought of _the +flood!_ + +The memory of Cosmo Versál's reiterated warnings came back with +overwhelming force. It must be the _third sign_ that he had +foretold. _It had really come!_ + +Those fateful words--"the flood" and "Cosmo Versál"--ran from lip to +lip, and the hearts of those who spoke, and those who heard, sank like +lead in their bosoms. + +He would be a bold man, more confident in his powers of description than +the present writer, who should attempt to picture the scenes in New York +on that fearful night. + +The gasping and terror-stricken millions waited and longed for the hour +of sunrise, hoping that then the stygian darkness would be dissipated, +so that people might, at least, see where to go and what to do. Many, +oppressed by the almost unbreathable air, gave up in despair, and no +longer even hoped for morning to come. + +In the midst of it all a collision occurred directly over Central Park +between two aero-expresses, one coming from Boston and the other from +Albany. (The use of small aeroplanes within the city limits had, for +some time, been prohibited on account of the constant danger of +collisions, but the long-distance lines were permitted to enter the +metropolitan district, making their landings and departures on specially +constructed towers.) These two, crowded with passengers, had, as it +afterward appeared, completely lost their bearings--the strongest +electric lights being invisible a few hundred feet away, while the +wireless signals were confusing--and, before the danger was apprehended, +they crashed together. + +The collision occurred at a height of a thousand feet, on the Fifth +Avenue side of the park. Both of the airships had their aeroplanes +smashed and their decks crumpled up, and the unfortunate crews and +passengers were hurled through the impenetrable darkness to the ground. + +Only four or five, who were lucky enough to be entangled with the +lighter parts of the wreckage, escaped with their lives. But they were +too much injured to get upon their feet, and there they lay, their +sufferings made tenfold worse by the stifling air, and the horror of +their inexplicable situation, until they were found and humanely +relieved, more than ten hours after their fall. + +The noise of the collision had been heard in Fifth Avenue, and its +meaning was understood; but amid the universal terror no one thought of +trying to aid the victims. Everybody was absorbed in wondering what +would become of himself. + +When the long attended hour of sunrise approached, the watchers were +appalled by the absence of even the slightest indication of the +reappearance of the orb of day. There was no lightening of the dense +cloak of darkness, and the great city seemed dead. + +For the first time in its history it failed to awake after its regular +period of repose, and to send forth its myriad voices. It could not be +seen; it could not be heard; it made no sign. As far as any outward +indication of its existence was concerned the mighty capital had ceased +to be. + +It was this frightful silence of the streets, and of all the outer +world, that terrified the people, cooped up in their houses, and their +rooms, by the walls of darkness, more than almost any other +circumstance; it gave such an overwhelming sense of the universality of +the disaster, whatever that disaster might be. Except where the voices +of neighbors could be heard, one could not be sure that the whole +population, outside his own family, had not perished. + +As the hours passed, and yet no light appeared, another intimidating +circumstance manifested itself. From the start everybody had noticed the +excessive humidity of the dense air. Every solid object that the hands +came in contact with in the darkness was wet, as if a thick fog had +condensed upon it. This supersaturation of the air (a principal cause of +the difficulty experienced in breathing) led to a result which would +quickly have been foreseen if people could have had the use of their +eyes, but which, coming on invisibly, produced a panic fear when at last +its presence was strikingly forced upon the attention. + +The moisture collected on all exposed surfaces--on the roofs, the walls, +the pavements--until its quantity became sufficient to form little +rills, which sought the gutters, and there gathered force and volume. +Presently the streams became large enough to create a noise of flowing +water that attracted the attention of the anxious watchers at the open +windows. Then cries of dismay arose. If the water had been visible it +would not have been terrible. + +But, to the overstrained imagination, the bubbling and splashing sound +that came out of the darkness was magnified into the rush of a torrent. +It seemed to grow louder every moment. What was but a murmur on the +ear-drum became a roar in the excited brain-cells. + +Once more were heard the ominous words, "The flood!" + +They spread from room to room, and from house to house. The wild scenes +that had attended the first awakening were tame in comparison with what +now occurred. Self-control, reason--everything--gave way to panic. + +If they could only have _seen_ what they were about! + +But then they would not have been about it. Then their reason would not +have been dethroned. + +Darkness is the microscope of the imagination, and it magnifies a +million times! + +Some timorously descended their doorsteps, and feeling a current of +water in the gutter, recoiled with cries of horror, as if they had +slipped down the bank of a flooded river. As they retreated they +believed that the water was rising at their heels! + +Others made their way to the roofs, persuaded that the flood was already +inundating the basements and the lower stories of their dwellings. + +Women wrung their hands and wept, and children cried, and men pushed and +stumbled about, and shouted, and would have done something if only they +could have seen what to do. That was the pity of it! It was as if the +world had been stricken blind, and then the trump of an archangel had +sounded, crying: + +"Fly! Fly! for the Avenger is on your heels!" + +How could they fly? + +This awful strain could not have lasted. It would have needed no deluge +to finish New York if that maddening pall of darkness had remained +unbroken a few hours longer. But, just when thousands had given up in +despair, there came a rapid change. + +At the hour of noon light suddenly broke overhead. Beginning in a round +patch inclosed in an iridescent halo, it spread swiftly, seeming to melt +its way down through the thick, dark mass that choked the air, and in +less than fifteen minutes New York and all its surroundings emerged into +the golden light of noonday. + +People who had expected at any moment to feel the water pitilessly +rising about them looked out of their windows, and were astonished to +see only tiny rivulets which were already shriveling out of sight in the +gutters. In a few minutes there was no running water left, although the +dampness on the walls and walks showed how great the humidity of the air +had been. + +At the same time the oppression was lifted from the respiratory +apparatus, and everybody breathed freely once more, and felt courage +returning with each respiration. + +The whole great city seemed to utter a vast sigh of relief. + +And then its voice was heard, as it had never been heard before, rising +higher and louder every moment. It was the first time that morning had +ever broken at midday. + +The streets became filled, with magical quickness, by hundreds of +thousands, who chattered, and shouted, and laughed, and shook hands, and +asked questions, and told their experiences, and demanded if anybody had +ever heard of such a thing before, and wondered what it could have been, +and what it meant, and whether it would come back again. + +Telephones of all kinds were kept constantly busy. Women called up their +friends, and talked hysterically; men called up their associates and +partners, and tried to talk business. + +There was a rush for the Elevated, for the Subways, for the street +auto-cars. The great arteries of traffic became jammed, and the noise +rose louder and louder. + +Belated aero-expresses arrived at the towers from East and West, and +their passengers hurried down to join the excited multitudes below. + +In an incredibly brief time the newsboys were out with extras. Then +everybody read with the utmost avidity what everybody knew already. + +But before many hours passed there was real news, come by wireless, and +by submarine telephone and telegraph, telling how the whole world had +been swept by the marvelous cloak of darkness. + +In Europe it had arrived during the morning hours; in Asia during the +afternoon. + +The phenomena had varied in different places. In some the darkness had +not been complete, but everywhere it was accompanied by extraordinary +humidity, and occasionally by brief but torrential rains. The terror had +been universal, and all believed that it was the _third sign_ +predicted by Cosmo Versál. + +Of course, the latter was interviewed, and he gave out a characteristic +manifesto. + +"One of the outlying spirals of the nebula has struck the earth," he +said. "But do not be deceived. It is nothing in comparison with what is +coming. _And it is the LAST WARNING that will be given!_ You have +obstinately shut your eyes to the truth, _and you have thrown away +your lives!_" + +This, together with the recent awful experience, produced a great +effect. Those who had begun to lay foundations for arks thought of +resuming the work. Those who had before sought places with Cosmo called +him up by telephone. But only the voice of Joseph Smith answered, and +his words were not reassuring. + +"Mr. Versál," he said, "directs me to say that at present he will allot +no places. He is considering whom he will take." + +The recipients of this reply looked very blank. But at least one of +them, a well-known broker in Wall Street, was more angered than +frightened: + +"Let him go to the deuce!" he growled; "him and his flood together!" + +Then he resolutely set out to bull the market. + +It seems incredible--but such is human nature--that a few days of bright +sunshine should once more have driven off the clouds of fear that had +settled so densely over the popular mind. Of course, not everybody +forgot the terrors of the _third sign_--they had struck too deep, +but gradually the strain was relaxed, and people in general accepted the +renewed assurances of the savants of the Pludder type that nothing that +had occurred was inexplicable by the ordinary laws of nature. The great +darkness, they averred, differed from previous occurrences of the kind +only in degree, and it was to be ascribed to nothing more serious than +atmospheric vagaries, such as that which produced the historic Dark Day +in New England in the year 1780. + +But more nervous persons noticed, with certain misgivings, that Cosmo +Versál pushed on his operations, if possible more energetically than +before. And there was a stir of renewed interest when the announcement +came out one day that the ark was finished. Then thousands hurried to +Mineola to look upon the completed work. + +The extraordinary massiveness of the ark was imposing. Towering +ominously on its platform, which was so arranged that when the waters +came they should lift the structure from its cradle and set it afloat +without any other launching, it seemed in itself a prophecy of impending +disaster. + +Overhead it was roofed with an oblong dome of levium, through which rose +four great metallic chimneys, placed above the mighty engines. The roof +sloped down to the vertical sides, to afford protection from in-bursting +waves. Rows of portholes, covered with thick, stout glass, indicated the +location of the superposed decks. On each side four gangways gave access +to the interior, and long, sloping approaches offered means of entry +from the ground. + +Cosmo had a force of trained guards on hand, but everybody who wished +was permitted to enter and inspect the ark. Curious multitudes +constantly mounted and descended the long approaches, being kept moving +by the guards. + +Inside they wandered about astonished by what they saw. + +The three lower decks were devoted to the storage of food and of fuel +for the electric generators which Cosmo Versál had been accumulating for +months. + +Above these were two decks, which the visitors were informed would be +occupied by animals, and by boxes of seeds and prepared roots of plants, +with which it was intended to restore the vegetable life of the planet +after the water should have sufficiently receded. + +The five remaining decks were for human beings. There were roomy +quarters for the commander and his officers, others for the crew, +several large saloons, and five hundred sets of apartments of various +sizes to be occupied by the passengers whom Cosmo should choose to +accompany him. They had all the convenience of the most luxurious +staterooms of the trans-oceanic liners. Many joking remarks were +exchanged by the visitors as they inspected these rooms. + +Cosmo ran about among his guests, explaining everything, showing great +pride in his work, pointing out a thousand particulars in which his +foresight had been displayed--but, to everybody's astonishment, he +uttered no more warnings, and made no appeals. On the contrary, as some +observant persons noticed, he seemed to avoid any reference to the fate +of those who should not be included in his ship's company. + +Some sensitive souls were disturbed by detecting in his eyes a look that +seemed to express deep pity and regret. Occasionally he would draw +apart, and gaze at the passing crowds with a compassionate expression, +and then, slowly turning his back, while his fingers worked nervously, +would disappear, with downcast head, in his private room. + +The comparatively few who particularly noticed this conduct of Cosmo's +were deeply moved--more than they had been by all the enigmatic events +of the past months. One man, Amos Blank, a rich manufacturer, who was +notorious for the merciless methods that he had pursued in eliminating +his weaker competitors, was so much disturbed by Cosmo Versál's change +of manner that he sought an opportunity to speak to him privately. Cosmo +received him with a reluctance that he could not but notice, and which, +somehow, increased his anxiety. + +"I--I--thought," said the billionaire hesitatingly, "that I ought--that +is to say, that I might, perhaps, inquire--might inform myself--under +what conditions one could, supposing the necessity to arise, obtain a +passage in your--in your ark. Of course the question of cost does not +enter in the matter--not with me." + +Cosmo gazed at the man coldly, and all the compassion that had recently +softened his steely eyes disappeared. For a moment he did not speak. +Then he said, measuring his words and speaking with an emphasis that +chilled the heart of his listener: + +"Mr. Blank, the necessity has arisen." + +"So you say--so you say--" began Mr. Blank. + +"So I say," interrupted Cosmo sternly, "and I say further that this ark +has been constructed to save those who are worthy of salvation, in order +that all that is good and admirable in humanity may not perish from the +earth." + +"Exactly, exactly," responded the other, smiling, and rubbing his hands. +"You are quite right to make a proper choice. If your flood is going to +cause a general destruction of mankind, of course you are bound to +select the best, the most advanced, those who have pushed to the front, +those who have means, those with the strongest resources. The masses, +who possess none of these qualifications and claims--" + +Again Cosmo Versál interrupted him, more coldly than before: + +"It costs nothing to be a passenger in this ark. Ten million dollars, a +hundred millions, would not purchase a place in it! Did you ever hear +the parable of the camel and the needle's eye? The price of a ticket +here is an irreproachable record!" + +With these astonishing words Cosmo turned his back upon his visitor and +shut the door in his face. + +The billionaire staggered back, rubbed his head, and then went off +muttering: + +"An idiot! A plain idiot! There will be no flood." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + +After a day or two, during which the ark was left open for inspection, +and was visited by many thousands, Cosmo Versál announced that no more +visitors would be admitted. He placed sentinels at all entrances, and +began the construction of a shallow ditch, entirely inclosing the +grounds. Public curiosity was intensely excited by this singular +proceeding, especially when it became known that the workmen were +stringing copper wires the whole length of the ditch. + +"What the deuce is he up to now?" was the question on everybody's lips. + +But Cosmo and his employees gave evasive replies to all inquiries. A +great change had come about in Cosmo's treatment of the public. No one +was any longer encouraged to watch the operations. + +When the wires were all placed and the ditch was finished, it was +covered up so that it made a broad flat-topped wall, encircling the +field. + +Speculation was rife for several days concerning the purpose of the +mysterious ditch and its wires, but no universally satisfactory +explanation was found. + +One enterprising reporter worked out an elaborate scheme, which he +ascribed to Cosmo Versál, according to which the wired ditch was to +serve as a cumulator of electricity, which would, at the proper moment, +launch the ark upon the waters, thus avoiding all danger of a fatal +detention in case the flood should rise too rapidly. + +This seemed so absurd on its face that it went far to quiet apprehension +by reawakening doubts of Cosmo's sanity--the more especially since he +made no attempt to contradict the assertion that the scheme was his. + +Nobody guessed what his real intention was; if people had guessed, it +might have been bad for their peace of mind. + +The next move of Cosmo Versál was taken without any knowledge or +suspicion on the part of the public. He had now established himself in +his apartments in the ark, and was never seen in the city. + +One evening, when all was quiet about the ark, night work being now +unnecessary, Cosmo and Joseph Smith sat facing one another at a square +table lighted by a shaded lamp. Smith had a pile of writing paper before +him, and was evidently prepared to take copious notes. + +Cosmo's great brow was contracted with thought, and he leaned his cheek +upon his hand. It was clear that his meditations were troublesome. For +at least ten minutes he did not open his lips, and Smith watched him +anxiously. At last he said, speaking slowly: + +"Joseph, this is the most trying problem that I have had to solve. The +success of all my work depends upon my not making a mistake now. + +"The burden of responsibility that rests on my shoulders is such as no +mortal has ever borne. It is too great for human capacity--and yet how +can I cast it off? + +"I am to decide who shall be saved! _I_, _I_ alone, _I_, +Cosmo Versál, hold in my hands the fate of a race numbering two thousand +million souls!--the fate of a planet which, without my intervention, +would become simply a vast tomb. It is for _me_ to say whether the +_genus homo_ shall be perpetuated, and in what form it shall be +perpetuated. Joseph, this is terrible! These are the functions of deity, +not of man." + +Joseph Smith seemed no longer to breathe, so intense was his attention. +His eyes glowed under the dark brows, and his pencil trembled in his +fingers. After a slight pause Cosmo Versál went on: + +"If I felt any doubt that Providence had foreordained me to do this +work, and given me extraordinary faculties, and extraordinary knowledge, +to enable me to perform it, I would, this instant, blow out my brains." + +Again he was silent, the secretary, after fidgeting about, bending and +unbending his brows, and tapping nervously upon the table, at last said +solemnly: + +"Cosmo, you _are_ ordained; you must _do the work._" + +"I must," returned Cosmo Versál, "I know that; and yet the sense of my +responsibility sometimes covers me with a cloud of despair. The other +day, when the ark was crowded with curiosity seekers, the thought that +not one of all those tens of thousands could escape, and that hundreds +of millions of others must also be lost, overwhelmed me. Then I began to +reproach myself for not having been a more effective agent in warning my +fellows of their peril. Joseph, I have miserably failed. I ought to have +produced universal conviction that I was right, and I have not done it." + +"It is not your fault, Cosmo," said Joseph Smith, reaching out his long +arm to touch his leader's hand. "It is an unbelieving generation. They +have rejected even the signs in the heavens. The voice of an archangel +would not have convinced them." + +"It is true," replied Cosmo. "And the truth is the more bitter to me +because I spoke in the name of science, and the very men who represent +science have been my most determined opponents, blinding the people's +eyes--after willfully shutting their own." + +"You say you have been weak," interposed Smith, "which you have not +been; but you would be weak if you now shrank from your plain duty." + +"True!" cried Cosmo, in a changed voice. "Let us then proceed. I had a +lesson the other day. Amos Blank came to me, puffed with his pillaged +millions. I saw then what I had to do. I told him plainly that he was +not among the chosen. Hand me that book over there." + +The secretary pushed a large volume within Cosmo's reach. He opened it. +It was a "Year-Book of Science, Politics, Sociology, History, and +Government." + +Cosmo ran over its pages, stopping to read a few lines here and there, +seeming to make mental notes. After a while he pushed the book aside, +looked at his companion thoughtfully, and began: + +"The trouble with the world is that morally and physically it has for +thousands of years grown more and more corrupt. The flower of +civilization, about which people boast so much, nods over the stagnant +waters of a moral swamp and draws its perilous beauty from the poisons +of the miasma. + +"The nebula, in drowning the earth, brings opportunity for a new birth +of mankind. You will remember, Joseph, that the same conditions are said +to have prevailed in the time of Noah. There was no science then, and we +do not know exactly on what principles the choice was made of those who +should escape; but the simple history of Noah shows that he and his +friends represented the best manhood of that early age. + +"But the seeds of corruption were not eliminated, and the same problem +recurs to-day. + +"I have to determine whom I will save. I attack the question by +inquiring who represent the best elements of humanity? Let us first +consider men by classes." + +"And why not by races?" asked Smith. + +"I shall not look to see whether a man is black, white, or yellow; +whether his skull is brachycephalic or dolichocephalic," replied Cosmo. +"I shall look inside. No race has ever shown itself permanently the +best." + +"Then by classes you mean occupations?" + +"Well, yes, for the occupation shows the tendency, the quintessence of +character. Some men are born rulers and leaders; others are born +followers. Both are necessary, and I must have both kinds." + +"You will begin perhaps with the kings, the presidents?" + +"Not at all. I shall begin with the men of science. They are the true +leaders." + +"But they have betrayed you--they have shut their eyes and blindfolded +others," objected Joseph Smith, as if in extenuation. + +"You do not understand me," said Cosmo, with a commiserating smile. "If +my scientific brethren have not seen as clearly as I have done, the +fault lies not in science, but in lack of comprehension. Nevertheless, +they are on the right track; they have the gist of the matter in them; +they are trained in the right method. If I should leave them out, the +regenerated world would start a thousand years behind time. Besides, +many of them are not so blind; some of them have got a glimpse of the +truth." + +"Not such men as Pludder," said Smith. + +"All the same, I am going to save Pludder," said Cosmo Versál. + +Joseph Smith fairly jumped with astonishment. + +"You--are--going--to--save--Pludder," he faltered. "But he is the worst +of all." + +"Not from my present view-point. Pludder has a good brain; he can handle +the tools; he is intellectually honest; he has done great things for +science in the past. And, besides, I do not conceal from you the fact +that I should like to see him convicted out of his own mouth." + +"But," persisted Smith, "I have heard you say that he was--" + +"No matter what you have heard me say," interrupted Cosmo impatiently. +"I say now that he shall go with us. Put down his name at the head of +the list." + +Dumfounded and muttering under his breath, Smith obeyed. + +"I can take exactly one thousand individuals, exclusive of the crew," +continued Versál, paying no attention to his confidant's repeated +shaking of his head. "Good Heavens, think of that! One thousand out of +two thousand millions! But so be it. Nobody would listen to me, and now +it is too late. I must fix the number for each class." + +"There is one thing--one curious question--that occurs to me," put in +Smith hesitatingly. "What about families?" + +"There you've hit it," cried Cosmo. "That's exactly what bothers me. +There must be as many women as men--that goes without saying. Then, too, +the strongest moral element is in the women, although they don't weigh +heavily for science. But the aged people and the children--there's the +difficulty. If I invite a man who possesses unquestionable +qualifications, but has a large family, what am I to do? I can't crowd +out others as desirable as he for the sake of carrying all of his +stirpes. The principles of eugenics demand a wide field of selection." + +Cosmo Versál covered his eyes, rested his big head on his hands, and his +elbows on the table. Presently he looked up with an air of decision. + +"I see what I must do," he said. "I can take only four persons belonging +to any one family. Two of them may be children--a man, his wife, and two +children--no more." + +"But that will be very hard lines for them--" began Joseph Smith. + +"Hard lines!" Cosmo broke in. "Do you think it is easy lines for me? +Good Heavens, man! I am forced to this decision. It rends my heart to +think of it, but I can't avoid the responsibility." + +Smith dropped his eyes, and Cosmo resumed his reflections. In a little +while he spoke again: + +"Another thing that I must fix is an age limit. But that will have to be +subject to certain exceptions. Very aged persons in general will not +do--they could not survive the long voyage, and only in the rare +instances where their experience of life might be valuable would they +serve any good purpose in reëstablishing the race. Children are +indispensable--but they must not be too young--infants in arms would not +do at all. Oh, this is sorry work! But I must harden my heart." + +Joseph Smith looked at his chief, and felt a twinge of sympathy, +tempered by admiration, for he saw clearly the terrible contest in his +friend's mind and appreciated the heroic nature of the decision to which +the inexorable logic of facts had driven it. + +Cosmo Versál was again silent for a long time. Finally he appeared to +throw off the incubus, and, with a return of his ordinary decisiveness, +exclaimed: + +"Enough. I have settled the general principle. Now to the choice." + +Then, closing his eyes, as if to assist his memory, he ran over a list +of names well known in the world of science, and Smith set them down in +a long row under the name of "Abiel Pludder," with which he had begun. + +At last Cosmo Versál ceased his dictation. + +"There," he said, "that is the end of that category. I may add to or +subtract from it later. According to probability, making allowance for +bachelors, each name will represent three persons; there are +seventy-five names, which means two hundred and twenty-five places +reserved for science. I will now make a series of other categories and +assign the number of places for each." + +He seized a sheet of paper and fell to work, while Smith looked on, +drumming with his fingers and contorting his huge black eyebrows. For +half an hour complete silence reigned, broken only by the gliding sound +of Cosmo Versál's pencil, occasionally emphasized by a soft thump. At +the end of that time he threw down the pencil and held out the paper to +his companion. + +"Of course," he said, "this is not a complete list of human occupations. +I have set down the principal ones as they occurred to me. There will be +time to correct any oversight. Read it." + +Smith, by force of habit, read it aloud: + + No. of Probable No. +Occupation Names of Places + +Science (already assigned) 75 225 +Rulers 15 45 +Statesmen 10 30 +Business magnates 10 30 +Philanthropists 5 15 +Artists 15 45 +Religious teachers 20 60 +School-teachers 20 60 +Doctors 30 90 +Lawyers 1 3 +Writers 6 18 +Editors 2 6 +Players 14 42 +Philosophers 1 3 +Musicians 12 36 +Speculative geniuses 3 9 +"Society" 0 0 +Agriculture and mechanics 90 270 + ____ ____ + Totals 329 987 +Special reservations 13 + ____ + Grand total, places 1000 + +Several times while Joseph Smith was reading he raised his eyebrows, as +if in surprise or mental protest, but made no remark. + +"Now," resumed Cosmo when the secretary had finished, "let us begin with +the rulers. I do not know them as intimately as I know the men of +science, but I am sure I have given them places enough. Suppose you take +this book and call them over to me." + +Smith opened the "year-book," and began: + +"George Washington Samson, President of the United States." + +"He goes. He is not intellectually brilliant, but he has strong sense +and good moral fiber. I'll save him if for no other reason than his veto +of the Antarctic Continent grab bill." + +"Shen Su, Son of Heaven, President-Emperor of China." + +"Put him down. I like him. He is a true Confucian." + +Joseph Smith read off several other names at which Cosmo shook his head. +Then he came to: + +"Richard Edward, by the grace of God, King of Great--" + +"Enough," broke in Cosmo; "we all know him--the man who has done more +for peace by putting half the British navy out of commission than any +other ruler in history. I can't leave him out." + +"Achille Dumont, President of the French republic." + +"I'll take him." + +"William IV, German Emperor." + +"Admitted, for he has at last got the war microbe out of the family +blood." + +Then followed a number of rulers who were not lucky enough to meet with +Cosmo Versál's approval, and when Smith read: + +"Alexander V, Emperor of all the Russias," the big head was violently +shaken, and its owner exclaimed: + +"There will be many Russians in the ark, for tyranny has been like a +lustration to that people; but I will carry none of its Romanoff seeds +to my new world." + +The selection was continued until fifteen names had been obtained, +including that of the new, dark-skinned President of Liberia, and Cosmo +declared that he would not add another one. + +Then came the ten statesmen who were chosen with utter disregard to +racial and national lines. + +In selecting his ten business magnates, Cosmo stated his rule: + +"I exclude no man simply because he is a billionaire. I consider the way +he made his money. The world must always have rich men. How could I have +built the ark if I had been poor?" + +"Philanthropists," read Smith. + +"I should have taken a hundred if I could have found them," said Cosmo. +"There are plenty of candidates, but these five [naming them] are the +only genuine ones, and I am doubtful about several of them. But I must +run some chances, philanthropy being indispensable." + +For the fifteen representatives of art Cosmo confined his selection +largely to architecture. + +"The building instinct must be preserved," he explained. "One of the +first things we shall need after the flood recedes is a variety of all +kinds of structures. But it's a pretty bad lot at the best. I shall try +to reform their ideas during the voyage. As to the other artists, they, +too, will need some hints that I can give them, and that they can +transmit to their children." + +Under the head of religious teachers, Cosmo remarked that he had tried +to be fair to all forms of genuine faith that had a large following. The +school-teachers represented the principal languages, and Cosmo selected +the names from a volume on "The Educational Systems of the World," +remarking that he ran some risk here, but it could not easily be +avoided. + +"Doctors--they get a rather liberal allowance, don't they?" asked Smith. + +"Not half as large as I'd like to have it," was the response. "The +doctors are the salt of the earth. It breaks my heart to have to leave +out so many whose worth I know." + +"And only one lawyer!" pursued Joseph. "That's curious." + +"Not in the least curious. Do you think I want to scatter broadcast the +seeds of litigation in a regenerated world? Put down the name of Chief +Justice Good of the United States Supreme Court. He'll see that equity +prevails." + +"And only six writers," continued Smith. + +"And that's probably too many," said Cosmo. "Set down under that head +Peter Inkson, whom I will engage to record the last scenes on the +drowning earth; James Henry Blackwitt, who will tell the story of the +voyage; Jules Bourgeois, who can describe the personnel of the +passengers; Sergius Narishkoff, who will make a study of their +psychology; and Nicolao Ludolfo, whose description of the ark will be an +invaluable historic document a thousand years hence." + +"But you have included no poets," remarked Smith. + +"Not necessary," responded Cosmo. "Every human being is a poet at +bottom." + +"And no novelists," persisted the secretary. + +"They will spring up thicker than weeds before the waters are half +gone--at least, they would if I let one aboard the ark." + +"Editors--two?" + +"That's right. And two too many, perhaps. I'll take Jinks of the +_Thunderer_, and Bullock of the _Owl._" + +"But both of them have persistently called you an idiot." + +"For that reason I want them. No world could get along without some real +idiots." + +"I am rather surprised at the next entry, if you will permit me to speak +of it," said Joseph Smith. "Here you have forty-two places reserved for +players." + +"That means twenty-eight adults, and probably some youngsters who will +be able to take parts," returned Cosmo, rubbing his hands with a +satisfied smile. "I have taken as many players as I conscientiously +could, not only because of their future value, but because they will do +more than anything else to keep up the spirits of everybody in the ark. +I shall have a stage set in the largest saloon." + +Joseph Smith scowled, but held his peace. Then, glancing again at the +paper, he remarked that there was but one philosopher to be provided +for. + +"It is easy to name him," said Cosmo. "Kant Jacobi Leergeschwätz." + +"Why he?" + +"Because he will harmlessly represent the metaphysical _genus_, for +nobody will ever understand him." + +"Musicians twelve?" + +"Chosen for the same reason as the players," said Cosmo, rapidly writing +down twelve names because they were not easy to pronounce, and handing +them to Smith, who duly copied them off. + +When this was done Cosmo himself called out the next +category--"'speculative geniuses.'" + +"I mean by that," he continued, "not Wall Street speculators, but +foreseeing men who possess the gift of looking into the 'seeds of time,' +but who never get a hearing in their own day, and are hardly ever +remembered by the future ages which enjoy the fruits whose buds they +recognized." + +Cosmo mentioned two names which Joseph Smith had never heard, and told +him they ought to be written in golden ink. + +"They are _sui generis_, and alone in the world. They are the most +precious cargo I shall have aboard," he added. + +Smith shrugged his shoulders and stared blankly at the paper, while +Cosmo sank into a reverie. Finally the secretary said, smiling with +evident approval this time: + +"'Society' zero." + +"Precisely, for what does 'society' represent except its own vanity?" + +"And then comes agriculture and mechanics." + +For this category Cosmo seemed to be quite as well prepared as for that +of science. He took from his pocket a list already made out and handed +it to Joseph Smith. It contained forty names marked "cultivators, +farmers, gardeners," and fifty "mechanics." + +"At the beginning of the twentieth century," he said, "I should have had +to reverse that proportion--in fact, my entire list would then have been +top-heavy, and I should have been forced to give half of all the places +to agriculture. But thanks to our scientific farming, the personnel +employed in cultivation is now reduced to a minimum while showing +maximum results. I have already stored the ark with seeds of the latest +scientifically developed plants, and with all the needed agricultural +implements and machinery." + +"There yet remain thirteen places 'specially reserved,'" said Smith, +referring to the paper. + +"I shall fill those later," responded Cosmo, and then added with a +thoughtful look, "I have some humble friends." + +"The next thing," he continued, after a pause, "is to prepare the +letters of invitation. But we have done enough for to-night. I will give +you the form to-morrow." + +And all this while half the world had been peacefully sleeping, and the +other half going about its business, more and more forgetful of recent +events, and if it had known what those two men were about it would +probably have exploded in a gust of laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + +Cosmo Versál had begun the construction of his ark in the latter part of +June. It was now the end of November. The terrors of the _third +sign_ had occurred in September. Since then the sky had nearly +resumed its normal color, there had been no storms, but the heat of +summer had not relaxed. People were puzzled by the absence of the usual +indications of autumn, although vegetation had shriveled on account of +the persistent high temperature and constant sunshine. + +"An extraordinary year," admitted the meteorologists, "but there have +been warm falls before, and it is simply a question of degree. Nature +will restore the balance and in good time, and probably we shall have a +severe winter." + +On the 31st of November, the brassy sky at New York showed no signs of +change, when the following dispatch, which most of the newspapers +triple-leaded and capped with stunning headlines, quivered down from +Churchill, Keewatin: + + During last night the level of the water in Hudson Bay rose + fully nine feet. Consternation reigned this morning when + ship-owners found their wharves inundated, and vessels straining + at short cables. The ice-breaker "Victoria" was lifted on the + back of a sandy bar, having apparently been driven by a heavy + wave, which must have come from the East. There are other + indications that the mysterious rise began with a "bore" from + the eastward. It is thought that the vast mass of icebergs set + afloat on Davis's Strait by the long continued hot weather + melting the shore glaciers, has caused a jam off the mouth of + Hudson Strait, and turned the Polar current suddenly into the + bay. But this is only a theory. A further rise is anticipated. + +Startling as was this news, it might not, by itself, have greatly +disturbed the public mind if it had not been followed, in a few hours, +by intelligence of immense floods in Alaska and in the basin of the +Mackenzie River. + +And the next day an etherogram from Obdorsk bordered on the grotesque, +and filled many sensitive readers with horror. + +It is said that in the vast tundra regions of Northern Siberia the +frozen soil had dissolved into a bottomless slough, from whose depths +uprose prehistoric mammoths, their long hair matted with mud, and their +curved tusks of ivory gleaming like trumpets over the field of their +resurrection. The dispatch concluded with a heart-rending account of the +loss of a large party of ivory hunters, who, having ventured too far +from the more solid land, suddenly found the ground turning to black +ooze beneath their feet, and, despite their struggles, were all engulfed +within sight of their friends, who dared not try to approach them. + +Cosmo Versál, when interviewed, calmly remarked that the flood was +beginning in the north, because it was the northern part of the globe +that was nearest the heart of the nebula. The motion of the earth being +northward, that end of its axis resembled the prow of a ship. + +"But this," he added, "is not the true deluge. The Arctic ice-cap is +melting, and the frozen soil is turning into a sponge in consequence of +the heat of friction developed in the air by the inrush of nebulous +matter. The aqueous vapor, however, has not yet touched the earth. It +will begin to manifest its presence within a few days, and then the +globe will drink water at every pore. The vapor will finally condense +into falling oceans." + +"What would you advise people to do?" asked one of the reporters. + +The reply was given in a perfectly even voice, without change of +countenance: + +"_Commit suicide_! They have practically done that already." + +It was nearly two weeks later when the first signs of a change of +weather were manifested in middle latitudes. It came on with a rapid +veiling of the sky, followed by a thin, misty, persistent rain. The heat +grew more oppressive, but the rain did not become heavier, and after a +few days there would be, for several consecutive hours, a clear spell, +during which the sun would shine, though with a sickly, pallid light. + +There was a great deal of mystification abroad, and nobody felt at ease. +Still, the ebullitions of terror that had accompanied the earlier +caprices of the elements were not renewed. People were getting used to +these freaks. + +In the middle of one of the clear spells a remarkable scene occurred at +Mineola. + +It was like a panorama of the seventh chapter of Genesis. + +It was the procession of the beasts. + +Cosmo Versál had concluded that the time was come for housing his +animals in the ark. He wished to accustom them to their quarters before +the voyage began. The resulting spectacle filled the juvenile world with +irrepressible joy, and immensely interested their elders. + +No march of a menagerie had ever come within sight of equaling this +display. Many of the beasts were such as no one there had ever seen +before. Cosmo had consulted experts, but, in the end, he had been guided +in his choice by his own judgment. Nobody knew as well as he exactly +what was wanted. He had developed in his mind a scheme for making the +new world that was to emerge from the waters better in every respect +than the old one. + +Mingled with such familiar creatures as sheep, cows, dogs, and barn-yard +fowls, were animals of the past, which the majority of the onlookers had +only read about or seen pictures of, or perhaps, in a few cases, heard +described in childhood, by grandfathers long since sleeping in their +graves. + +Cosmo had rapidly collected them from all parts of the world, but as +they arrived in small consignments, and were carried in closed vans, +very few persons had any idea of what he was doing. + +The greatest sensation was produced by four beautiful horses, which had +been purchased at an enormous price from an English duke, who never +would have parted with them--for they were almost the last living +representatives of the equine race left on the earth--if financial +stress had not compelled the sacrifice. + +These splendid animals were dapple gray, with long white tails, and +flowing manes borne proudly on their arching necks, and as they were led +at the head of the procession, snorting at the unwonted scene about +them, their eyes bright with excitement, prancing and curvetting, cries +of admiration and rounds of applause broke from the constantly growing +throngs of spectators. + +Those who had only known the horse from pictures and sculptures were +filled with astonishment by its living beauty. People could not help +saying to themselves: + +"What a pity that the honking auto, in its hundred forms of mechanical +ugliness, should have driven these beautiful and powerful creatures out +of the world! What could our forefathers have been thinking of?" + +A few elephants, collected from African zoölogical gardens, and some +giraffes, also attracted a great deal of attention, but the horses were +the favorites with the crowd. + +Cosmo might have had lions and tigers, and similar beasts, which had +been preserved, in larger numbers than the useful horse, but when Joseph +Smith suggested their inclusion he shook his head, declaring that it was +better that they should perish. As far as possible, he averred, he would +eliminate all carnivores. + +In some respects, even more interesting to the onlookers than the +animals of the past, were the animals of the future that marched in the +procession. Few of them had ever been seen outside the experimental +stations where they had been undergoing the process of artificial +evolution. + +There were the stately white Californian cattle, without horns, but of +gigantic stature, the cows, it was said, being capable of producing +twenty times more milk than their ancestral species, and of a vastly +superior quality. + +There were the Australian rabbits, as large as Newfoundland dogs, though +short-legged, and furnishing food of the most exquisite flavor; and the +Argentine sheep, great balls of snowy wool, moving smartly along on legs +three feet in length. + +The greatest astonishment was excited by the "grand astoria terrapin," a +developed species of diamond-back tortoise, whose exquisitely sculptured +convex back, lurching awkwardly as it crawled, rose almost three feet +above the ground; and the "new century turkey," which carried its beacon +head and staring eyes as high as a tall man's hat. + +The end of the procession was formed of animals familiar to everybody, +and among them were cages of monkeys (concerning whose educational +development Cosmo Versál had theories of his own) and a large variety of +birds, together with boxes of insect eggs and chrysalids. + +The delight of the boys who had chased after the procession culminated +when the animals began to ascend the sloping ways into the ark. + +The horses shied and danced, making the metallic flooring resound like a +rattle of thunder; the elephants trumpeted; the sheep baaed and crowded +themselves into inextricable masses against the guard-rails; the huge +new cattle moved lumberingly up the slope, turning their big white heads +inquiringly about; the tall turkeys stretched their red coral necks and +gobbled with Brobdingnagian voices; and the great terrapins were +ignominiously attached to cables and drawn up the side of the ark, +helplessly waving their immense flappers in the air. + +And when the sensational entry was finished, the satisfied crowd turned +away, laughing, joking, chattering, with never a thought that it was +anything more than the most amusing exhibition they had ever seen! + +But when they got back in the city streets they met a flying squadron of +yelling newsboys, and seizing the papers from their hands read, in big +black letters: + + "AWFUL FLOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI! + + "Thousands of People Drowned! + + "THE STORM COMING THIS WAY!" + +It was a startling commentary on the recent scene at the ark, and many +turned pale as they read. + +But the storm did not come in the way expected. The deluging rains +appeared to be confined to the Middle West and the Northwest, while at +New York the sky simply grew thicker and seemed to squeeze out moisture +in the form of watery dust. This condition lasted for some time, and +then came what everybody, even the most skeptical, had been secretly +dreading. + +The ocean began to rise! + +The first perception of this startling fact, according to a newspaper +account, came in a very strange, roundabout way to a man living on the +outskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city had +spread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay. + +About three o'clock in the morning, this man, who it appears was a +policeman off duty, was awakened by scurrying sounds in the house. He +struck a light, and seeing dark forms issuing from the cellar, went down +to investigate. The ominous gleam of water, reflecting the light of his +lamp, told him that the cellar was inundated almost to the top of the +walls. + +"Come down here, Annie!" he shouted to his wife. "Sure 'tis Cosmo Versál +is invadin' the cellar with his flood. The rats are lavin' us." + +Seeing that the slight foundation walls were crumbling, he hurried his +family into the street, and not too soon, for within ten minutes the +house was in ruins. + +Neighbors, living in equally frail structures, were awakened, and soon +other undermined houses fell. Terror spread through the quarter, and +gradually half the city was aroused. + +When day broke, residents along the water-front in Manhattan found their +cellars flooded, and South and West Streets swimming with water, which +was continually rising. It was noted that the hour was that of +flood-tide, but nobody had ever heard of a tide so high as this. + +Alarm deepened into terror when the time for the tide to ebb arrived and +there was no ebbing. On the contrary, the water continued to rise. The +government observer at the Highlands telephoned that Sandy Hook was +submerged. Soon it was known that Coney Island, Rockaway, and all the +seaside places along the south shore of Long Island were under water. +The mighty current poured in through the Narrows with the velocity of a +mill-race. The Hudson, set backward on its course, rushed northward with +a raging bore at its head that swelled higher until it licked the feet +of the rock chimneys of the Palisades. + +But when the terror inspired by this sudden invasion from the sea was at +its height there came unexpected relief. The water began to fall more +rapidly than it had risen. It rushed out through the Narrows faster than +it had rushed in, and ships, dragged from their anchorage in the upper +harbor, were carried out seaward, some being stranded on the sandbanks +and shoals in the lower bay. + +Now again houses standing on made ground, whose foundations had been +undermined, fell with a crash, and many were buried in the ruins. + +Notwithstanding the immense damage and loss of life, the recession of +the waters immediately had a reassuring effect, and the public, in +general, was disposed to be comforted by the explanation of the weather +officials, who declared that what had occurred was nothing more than an +unprecedentedly high tide, probably resulting from some unforeseen +disturbance out at sea. + +The phenomenon had been noted all along the Atlantic coast. The chief +forecaster ventured the assertion that a volcanic eruption had occurred +somewhere on the line from Halifax to Bermuda. He thought that the +probable location of the upheaval had been at Munn's Reef, about halfway +between those points, and the more he discussed his theory the readier +he became to stake his reputation on its correctness, for, he said, it +was impossible that any combination of the effects of high and low +pressures could have created such a surge of the ocean, while a volcanic +wave, combining with the regular oscillation of the tide, could have +done it easily. + +But Cosmo Versál smiled at this explanation, and said in reply: + +"The whole Arctic ice-cap is dissolved, and the condensation of the +nebula is at hand. But there is worse behind. When the wave comes back +it will rise higher." + +As the time for the next flood-tide grew near, anxious eyes were on the +watch to see how high the water would go. There was something in the +mere manner of its approach that made the nerves tingle. + +It speeded toward the beaches, combing into rollers at an unwonted +distance from shore; plunged with savage violence upon the sands of the +shallows, as if it would annihilate them; and then, spreading swiftly, +ran with terrific speed up the strand, seeming to devour everything it +touched. After each recoil it sprang higher and roared louder and grew +blacker with the mud that it had ground up from the bottom. Miles inland +the ground trembled with the fast-repeated shocks. + +Again the Hudson was hurled backward until a huge bore of water burst +over the wharves at Albany. Every foot of ground in New York less than +twenty feet above the mean high tide level was inundated. The +destruction was enormous, incalculable. Ocean liners moored along the +wharves were, in some cases, lifted above the level of the neighboring +streets, and sent crashing into the buildings along the water-front. + +Etherograms told, in broken sentences, of similar experiences on the +western coasts of Europe, and from the Pacific came the news of the +flooding of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and, +in fact, every coast-lying town. On the western coast of South America +the incoming waves broke among the foothills of the Andes. + +It was as if the mighty basins of the world's two greatest oceans were +being rocked to and fro, sending the waters spinning from side to side. + +And to add to the horror of the situation, every volcano on the globe +seemed to burst simultaneously into activity, probably through the +effects of the invasion of sea water into the subterranean fire, while +the strain of the unwonted weight thrown upon the coasts broke open the +tectonic lines of weakness in the earth's crust, causing the most +terrible earthquakes, which destroyed much that the water could not +reach. + +From Alaska to Patagonia, from Kamchatka through Japan to the East +Indies, from Mount Hecla to Vesuvius, Etna, and Teneriffe, the raging +oceans were bordered with pouring clouds of volcanic smoke, hurled +upward in swift succeeding puffs, as if every crater had become the +stack of a stupendous steam-engine driven at its maddest speed; while +immense rivers of lava flamed down the mountain flanks and plunged into +the invading waters with reverberated roarings, hissings, and explosions +that seemed to shake the framework of the globe. + +During the second awful shoreward heave of the Atlantic a scene occurred +off New York Bay that made the stoutest nerves quiver. A great crowd had +collected on the Highlands of the Navesink to watch the ingress of the +tidal wave. + +Suddenly, afar off, the smoke of an approaching ocean liner was seen. It +needed but a glance to show that she was struggling with tremendous +surges. Sometimes she sank completely out of sight; then she reappeared, +riding high on the waves. Those who had glasses recognized her. Word ran +from mouth to mouth that it was the great _Atlantis_, the mightiest +of the ocean monarchs, of a hundred thousand tons register, coming from +Europe, and bearing, without question, many thousands of souls. + +She was flying signals of distress, and filling the ether with her +inarticulate calls for help, which quavered into every radiograph +station within a radius of hundreds of miles. + +But, at the same time, she was battling nobly for herself and for the +lives of her passengers and crew. From her main peak the Stars and +Stripes streamed in the tearing wind. There were many in the watching +throngs who personally knew her commander, Captain Basil Brown, and who +felt that if any human being could bring the laboring ship through +safely, he could. Aid from land was not to be thought of for a moment. + +As she swiftly drew nearer, hurled onward by the resistless surges with +the speed of an express train, the captain was recognized on his bridge, +balancing himself amid the lurches of the vessel; and even at that +distance, and in those terrible circumstances, there was something in +his bearing perceptible to those who breathlessly watched him, through +powerful glasses, which spoke of perfect self-command, entire absence of +fear, and iron determination to save his ship or die with her under his +feet. + +It could be seen that he was issuing orders and watching their +execution, but precisely what their nature was, of course, could only be +guessed. His sole hope must be to keep the vessel from being cast +ashore. There was no danger from the shoals, for they were by this time +deeply covered by the swelling of the sea. + +Slowly, slowly, with a terrific straining of mechanic energies, which +pressed the jaws of the watchers together with spasmodic sympathy, as if +their own nervous power were cooperating in the struggle, the gallant +ship bore her head round to face the driving waves. From the ten huge, +red stacks columns of inky black smoke poured out as the stokers crammed +the furnaces beneath. It was man against nature, human nerve and +mechanical science against blind force. + +It began to look as if the _Atlantis_ would win the battle. She was +now fearfully close to the shore, but her bow had been turned into the +very eye of the sea, and one could almost feel the tension of her steel +muscles as she seemed to spring to the encounter. The billows that split +themselves in quick succession on her sharp stem burst into shooting +geysers three hundred feet high. + +The hearts of the spectators almost ceased to beat. Their souls were +wrapped up with the fate of the brave ship. They forgot the terrors of +their own situation, the peril of the coming flood, and saw nothing but +the agonized struggle before their eyes. With all their inward strength +they prayed against the ocean. + +Such a contest could not last long. Suddenly, as the _Atlantis_ +swerved a little aside, a surge that towered above her loftiest deck +rushed upon her. She was lifted like a cockleshell upon its crest, her +huge hull spun around, and the next minute, with a crash that resounded +above the roar of the maddened sea, she was dashed in pieces. + +At the very last moment before the vessel disappeared in the whirling +breakers, to be strewed in broken and twisted bits of battered metal +upon the pounding sands, Captain Basil Brown was seen on the commander's +bridge. + +No sooner had this tragedy passed than the pent-up terror broke forth, +and men ran for their lives, ran for their homes, ran to _do +something_--something, but what?--to save themselves and their dear +ones. + +For now, at last, they _believed!_ + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +STORMING THE ARK + + +There was to be no more respite now. The time of warnings was past. The +"signs" had all been shown to a skeptical and vacillating world, and at +last the fulfillment was at hand. + +There was no crying of "extras" in the streets, for men had something +more pressing to think of than sending and reading news about their +distresses and those of their fellow-men. Many of the newspapers ceased +publication; every business place was abandoned; there was no thought +but of the means of escape. + +But how should they escape? And whither should they fly? + +The lower lying streets were under water. The Atlantic still surged back +and forth as if the ocean itself were in agony. And every time the waves +poured in they rose higher. The new shores of the bay, and the new +coasts of Long Island and New Jersey, receding inward hour by hour, were +strewn with the wrecks of hundreds of vessel of all kinds which had been +caught by the surges and pitilessly hurled to destruction. + +Even if men did not yet fully believe in Cosmo Versál's theory of a +whelming nebula, they were terrified to the bottom of their souls by the +conviction, which nobody could resist, that the vast ice-fields of the +north, the glaciers of Greenland, the icy mountains of Alaska, had +melted away under the terrible downpour of heat, and were swelling the +oceans over their brims. And then a greater fear dropped like a blanket +upon them. Some one thought of the _antarctic ice._ + +The latest dispatches that had come, before the cessation of all +communication to the newspapers, had told of the prevalence of stifling +heat throughout the southern hemisphere, and of the vast fleets of +antarctic icebergs that filled the south seas. The mighty deposits of +ice, towering to mountain heights, that stretched a thousand miles in +every direction around the south pole were melting as the arctic ice had +melted, and, when the water thus formed was added to the already +overflowing seas, to what elevation might not the flood attain! + +The antarctic ice was known to be the principal mass of frozen water on +the globe. The frigid cap of the north was nothing in comparison with +it. It had long been believed that that tremendous accumulation +unbalanced the globe and was the principal cause of the unsteadiness of +the earth's axis of rotation. + +Every fresh exploration had only served to magnify the conception of the +incredible vastness of that deposit. The skirts of the Antarctic +Continent had proved to be rich in minerals wherever the rocks could +find a place to penetrate through the gigantic burden of ice, and the +principal nations had quarreled over the possession or control of these +protruding bits of wealth-crammed strata. But behind the bordering +cliffs of ice, rising in places a thousand feet above the level of the +sea, and towering farther inland so high that this region was, in mean +elevation, the loftiest on the planet, nothing but ice could be seen. + +And now that ice was dissolving and flowing into the swollen oceans, +adding billions of tons of water every minute! + +Men did not stop to calculate, as Cosmo Versál had done, just how much +the dissolution of all the ice and permanent snow of the globe would add +to the volume of the seas. He knew that it would be but a drop in the +bucket--although sufficient to start the flood--and that the great thing +to be feared was the condensation of the aqueous nebula, already +beginning to enwrap the planet in its stifling folds. + +The public could understand the melting ice, although it could not fully +understand the nebula; it could understand the swelling sea, and the +raging rivers, and the lakes breaking over their banks--and the terror +and despair became universal. + +But what should they _do?_ + +Those who had thought of building arks hurried to see if the work might +not yet be completed, but most of them had begun their foundations on +low land, which was already submerged. + +Then a cry arose, terrible in its significance and in its +consequences--one of those cries that the vanished but unconquerable god +Pan occasionally sets ringing, nobody can tell how: + +"Cosmo's ark! Get aboard! Storm it!" + +And thereupon there was a mighty rush for Mineola. Nobody who caught the +infection stopped to reason. Some of them had to wade through water, +which in places was knee-deep. They came from various directions, and +united in a yelling mob. They meant to carry the ark with a rush. They +would not be denied. As the excited throngs neared the great vessel they +saw its huge form rising like a mount of safety, with an American flag +flapping over it, and they broke into a mighty cheer. On they sped, +seized with the unreason of a crowd, shouting, falling over one another, +struggling, fighting for places, men dragging their wives and children +through the awful crush, many trampled helpless under the myriads of +struggling feet--driving the last traces of sanity from one another's +minds. + +The foremost ranks presently spied Cosmo Versál, watching them from an +open gangway sixty feet above their heads. They were dismayed at finding +the approaches gone. How should they get into the ark? How could they +climb up its vertical sides? + +But they would find means. They would re-erect the approaches. They +would _get in somehow_. + +Cosmo waved them off with frantic gesticulations; then, through a +trumpet, he shouted in a voice audible above the din: + +"Keep back, for your lives!" + +But they paid no attention to him; they rushed upon the raised wall, +surrounding the field where Cosmo had buried his mysterious lines of +wire. Then the meaning of that enigmatical work was flashed upon them. + +As the first to arrive laid their hands upon the top of the low wall +they fell as if shot through the brain, tumbling backward on those +behind. Others pushed wildly on, but the instant they touched the wall +they too collapsed. Wicked blue-green sparks occasionally flashed above +the struggling mass. + +The explanation was clear. Cosmo, foreseeing the probability of a +despairing attack, had surrounded the ark with an impassable electric +barrier. The sound of a whirring dynamo could be heard. A tremendous +current was flowing through the hidden wires and transmitting its +paralyzing energy to the metallic crest of the wall. + +Still those behind pushed on, until rank after rank had sunk helpless at +the impregnable line of defense. They were not killed--at least, not +many--but the shock was so paralyzing that those who had experienced its +effects made no further attempts to cross the barrier. Many lay for a +time helpless upon the sodden ground. + +Cosmo and Joseph Smith, who had now appeared at his side, continued to +shout warnings, which began to be heeded when the nature of the obstacle +became known. The rush was stopped, and the multitude stood at bay, +dazed, and uncertain what to do. Then a murmur arose, growing louder and +more angry and threatening, until suddenly a shot was heard in the midst +of the crowd, and Cosmo was seen to start backward, while Joseph Smith +instantly dodged out of sight. + +A cry arose: + +"Shoot him! That's right! Shoot the devil! He's a witch! He's drowning +the world!" + +They meant it--at least, half of them did. It was the logic of terror. + +Hundreds of shots were now fired from all quarters, and heads that had +been seen flitting behind the various portholes instantly disappeared. +The bullets rattled on the huge sides of the ark, but they came from +small pistols and had not force enough to penetrate. + +Cosmo Versál alone remained in sight. Occasionally a quick motion showed +that even his nerves were not steady enough to defy the whistling of the +bullets passing close; but he held his ground, and stretched out his +hand to implore attention. + +When the fusillade ceased for a moment he put his trumpet again to his +lips and shouted: + +"I have done my best to save you, but you would not listen. Although I +know that you must perish, I would not myself harm a hair of your heads. +Go back, I implore you. You may prolong your lives if you will fly to +the highlands and the mountains--but here you cannot enter. _The ark +is full._" + +Another volley of shots was the only answer. One broad-shouldered man +forced his way to the front, took his stand close to the wall, and +yelled in stentorian tones: + +"Cosmo Versál, listen to me! You are the curse of the world! You have +brought this flood upon us with your damnable incantations. Your +infernal nebula is the seal of Satan! Here, beast and devil, here at my +feet, lies my only son, slain by your hellish device. By the Eternal I +swear you shall go back to the pit!" + +Instantly a pistol flashed in the speaker's hand, and five shots rang in +quick succession. One after another they whistled by Cosmo's head and +flattened themselves upon the metal-work behind. Cosmo Versál, +untouched, folded his arms and looked straight at his foe. The man, +staring a moment confusedly, as if he could not comprehend his failure, +threw up his arms with a despairing gesture, and fell prone upon the +ground. + +Then yells and shots once more broke out. Cosmo stepped back, and a +great metallic door swung to, closing the gangway. + +But three minutes later the door opened, and the mob saw two +machine-guns trained upon them. + +Once more Cosmo appeared, with the trumpet. + +"If you fire again," he cried, "I shall sweep you with grapeshot. I have +told you how you can prolong your lives. Now go!" + +Not another shot was fired. In the face of the guns, whose terrible +power all comprehended, no one dared to make a hostile movement. + +But, perhaps, if Cosmo Versál had not set new thoughts running in the +minds of the assailants by telling them there was temporary safety to be +found by seeking high ground, even the terror of the guns would not have +daunted them. Now their hopefulness was reawakened, and many began to +ponder upon his words. + +"He says we must perish, and yet that we can find safety in the hills +and mountains," said one man. "I believe half of that is a lie. We are +not going to be drowned. The water won't rise much higher. The flood +from the south pole that they talk about must be here by this time, and +then what's left to come?" + +"The nebula," suggested one. + +"Aw, the nebula be hanged! There's no such thing! I live on high ground; +I'm going to keep a sharp outlook, and if the water begins to shut off +Manhattan I'll take my family up the Hudson to the Highlands. I guess +old Storm King'll keep his head above. That's where I come from--up that +way. I used to hear people say when I was a boy that New York was bound +to sink some day. I used to laugh at that then, but it looks mighty like +it now, don't it?" + +"Say," put in another, "what did the fellow mean by saying the ark was +_full_? That's funny, ain't it? Who's he got inside, anyway?" + +"Oh, he ain't got nobody," said another. + +"Yes, he has. I seen a goodish lot through the portholes. He's got +somebody, sure." + +"A lot of fools like himself, most likely." + +"Well, if he's a fool, and they's fools, what are _we_, I'd like to +know? What did you come here for, hey?" + +It was a puzzling question, and brought forth only a sheepish laugh, +followed by the remark: + +"I guess we fooled ourselves considerable. We got scared too easy." + +"Maybe you'll feel scared again when you see the water climbing up the +streets in New York. I don't half like this thing. I'm going to follow +his advice and light out for higher ground." + +Soon conversation of this sort was heard on all sides, and the crowd +began to disperse, only those lingering behind who had friends or +relatives that had been struck down at the fatal wall. It turned out +that not more than one or two had been mortally shocked. The rest were +able to limp away, and many had fully recovered within five minutes +after suffering the shock. In half an hour not a dozen persons were in +sight from the ark. + +But when the retreating throngs drew near the shores of the Sound, and +the East River, which had expanded into a true arm of the sea, and found +that there had been a perceptible rise since they set out to capture the +ark, they began to shake their heads and fear once more entered their +hearts. + +Thousands then and there resolved that they would not lose another +instant in setting out for high land, up the Hudson, in Connecticut, +among the hills of New Jersey. In fact, many had already fled thither, +some escaping on aeros; and hosts would now have followed but for a +marvelous change that came just before nightfall and prevented them. + +For some days the heavens had alternately darkened and lightened, as +gushes of mist came and went, but there had been no actual rain. Now, +without warning, a steady downpour began. Even at the beginning it would +have been called, in ordinary times, a veritable cloudburst; but it +rapidly grew worse and worse, until there was no word in the vernacular +or in the terminology of science to describe it. + +It seemed, in truth, that "all the fountains of the great deep were +broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." The water thundered +upon the roofs, and poured off them in torrents. In five minutes every +sloping street had become an angry river, and every level place a +swelling lake. People caught out of doors were almost beaten to the +ground by the force of the water falling upon them as if they had been +standing under a cataract. + +In a short time every cellar and every basement was filled to +overflowing, and in the avenues the flood, lapping every instant higher +upon the doorsteps and the walls, rushed by with frightful roarings, +bearing in its awful embrace pieces of furniture, clothing, bedding, +washed out of ground-floor rooms--and, alas! human beings; some +motionless, already mercifully deprived of life, but others struggling +and shouting for aid which could not be given. + +So terrible a spectacle no one had ever looked upon, no one had ever +imagined. Those who beheld it were too stunned to cry out, too +overwhelmed with terror and horror to utter a word. They stood, or fell +into chairs or upon the floor, trembling in every limb, with staring +eyes and drooping jaws, passively awaiting their fate. + +As night came on there was no light. The awful darkness of the _third +sign_ once more settled upon the great city, but now it was not the +terror of indefinite expectation that crushed down the souls of men and +women--it was the weight of doom accomplished! + +There was no longer any room for self-deception; every quaking heart +felt now that the nebula had come. _Cosmo Versál had been right!_ + +After the water had attained a certain height in the streets and yards, +depending upon the ratio between the amount descending from the sky and +that which could find its way to the rivers, the flood for the time +being rose no higher. The actual drowning of New York could not happen +until the Hudson and the East River should become so swollen that the +water would stand above the level of the highest buildings, and turn the +whole region round about, as far as the Orange hills, the Ramapo +Mountains, the Highlands, and the Housatonic hills, into an inland sea. + +But before we tell that story we must return to see what was going on at +Mineola. Cosmo Versál, on that awful night when New York first knew +beyond the shadow of a doubt, or the gleam of a hope, that it was +doomed, presided over a remarkable assembly in the grand saloon of his +ark. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + +How did it happen that Cosmo Versál was able to inform the mob when it +assailed the ark that he had no room left? + +Who composed his ship's company, whence had they come, and how had they +managed to embark without the knowledge of the public? + +The explanation is quite simple. It was all due to the tremendous +excitement that had prevailed ever since the seas began to overflow. In +the universal confusion people had to think of other things nearer their +doors than the operations of Cosmo Versál. Since the embarkation of the +animals the crowds had ceased to visit the field at Mineola, and it was +only occasionally that even a reporter was sent there. Accordingly, +there were many hours every day when no curiosity-seekers were in sight +of the ark, and at night the neighborhood was deserted; and this state +of affairs continued until the sudden panic which led to the attack that +has been described. + +Cosmo Versál, of course, had every reason to conceal the fact that he +was carefully selecting his company. It was a dangerous game to play, +and he knew it. The consequence was that he enjoined secrecy upon his +invited guests, and conducted them, a few at a time, into the ark, +assuring them that their lives might be in peril if they were +recognized. And once under the domain of the fear which led them to +accept his invitation, they were no less anxious than he to avoid +publicity. Some of them probably desired to avoid recognition through +dread of ridicule; for, after all, the flood might not turn out to be so +bad as Cosmo had predicted. + +So it happened that the ark was filled, little by little, and the public +knew nothing about it. + +And who composed the throng which, while the awful downpour roared on +the ellipsoidal cover of the ark, and shook it to its center and while +New York, a few miles away, saw story after story buried under the +waters, crowded Cosmo's brilliantly lighted saloon, and raised their +voices to a high pitch in order to be heard? + +Had all the invitations which he dictated to Joseph Smith after their +memorable discussion, and which were sent forth in the utmost haste, +flying to every point of the compass, been accepted, and was it the +famous leaders of science, the rulers and crowned heads who had passed +his critical inspection that were now knocking elbows under the great +dome of levium? Had kings and queens stolen incognito under the shelter +of the ark, and magnates of the financial world hidden themselves there? + +It would have been well for them all if they had been there. But, in +fact, many of those to whom the invitations had gone did not even take +the trouble to thank their would-be savior. A few, however, who did not +come in person, sent responses. Among these was the President of the +United States. Mr. Samson's letter was brief but characteristic. It +read: + +To COSMO VERSÁL, ESQ. + +Sir: + +The President directs me to say that he is grateful for your invitation, +and regrets that he cannot accept it. He is informed by those to whose +official advice he feels bound to listen, that the recent extraordinary +events possess no such significance as you attach to them. + +Respectfully, FOR THE PRESIDENT, + +JAMES JENKS, Secretary. + +It must be remembered that this letter was written before the oceanic +overflow began. After that, possibly, the President and his advisers +changed their opinion. But then communication by rail was cut off, and +as soon as the downpour from the sky commenced the aero express lines +were abandoned. The airships would have been deluged, and blown to +destruction by the tremendous gusts which, at intervals, packed the +rain-choked air itself into solid billows of water. + +None of the rulers of the old world responded, but about half the men of +science, and representatives of the other classes that Cosmo had set +down on his list, were wise enough to accept, and they hurried to New +York before the means of transit by land and sea were destroyed. + +Among these were Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, +Austrians, Poles, people from the Balkan states, Swedes, Danes, +Russians, and a few from India, China, and Japan. The clatter of their +various tongues made a very Babel inside the ark, when they talked to +one another in groups, but nearly all of them were able to speak +English, which, after many years of experiment, had been adopted as the +common language for transacting the world's affairs. + +There was another letter, which Cosmo read with real regret, although +hardly with surprise. It was from Professor Pludder. Instead of +expressing gratitude for the invitation, as the President, trained in +political blandiloquence, had done, Professor Pludder indulged in +denunciation. + +"You are insane," he said. "You do not know what you are talking about. +Your letter is an insult to science. These inundations" (this, too, was +written before the sky had opened its flood-gates) "are perfectly +explicable by the ordinary laws of nature. Your talk of a nebula is so +ridiculous that it deserves no reply. If any lunatic accepts your absurd +invitation, and goes into your 'ark,' he will find himself in Bedlam, +where he ought to be." + +"I guess you were right," Cosmo remarked to Joseph Smith, after reading +this outburst. "Pludder would not contribute to the regeneration of +mankind. We are better off without him." + +But Cosmo Versál was mistaken in thinking he had heard the last of Abiel +Pludder. The latter was destined to show that he was hardly a less +remarkable specimen of _homo sapiens_ than the big-headed prophet +of the second deluge himself. + +As soon as it became evident that there would be room to spare in the +ark, Cosmo set at work to fill up the list. He went over his categories +once more, but now, owing to the pressure of time, he was obliged to +confine his selections to persons within easy reach. They came, nearly +all, from New York, or its vicinity; and since these last invitations +went out just on the eve of the events described in the last two +chapters, there was no delay in the acceptances, and the invitees +promptly presented themselves in person. + +Cosmo's warning to them of the necessity of secrecy was superfluous, for +the selfishness of human nature never had a better illustration than +they afforded. The lucky recipients of the invitations stole away +without a word of farewell, circumspectly disappearing, generally at +night, and often in disguise; and when the attack occurred on the ark, +there were, behind the portholes, many anxious eyes cautiously staring +out and recognizing familiar faces in the mob, while the owners of those +eyes trembled in their shoes lest their friends might succeed in forcing +an entrance. After all, it was to be doubted if Cosmo Versál, with all +his vigilance, had succeeded in collecting a company representing +anything above the average quality of the race. + +But there was one thing that did great credit to his heart. When he +found that he had room unoccupied, before adding to his lists he +consented to take more than two children in a family. It was an immense +relief, for--it must be recorded--there were some who, in order to +qualify themselves, had actually abandoned members of their own +families! Let it also be said, however, that many, when they found that +the conditions imposed were inexorable, and that they could only save +themselves by leaving behind others as dear to them as their own lives, +indignantly refused, and most of these did not even reply to the +invitations. + +It was another indication of Cosmo's real humanity, as well as of his +shrewdness, that, as far as they were known, and could be reached, the +persons who had thus remained true to the best instincts of nature were +the first to receive a second invitation, with an injunction to bring +their entire families. So it happened that, after all, there were aged +men and women, as well as children in arms, mingled in that remarkable +assemblage. + +It will be recalled that thirteen places had been specially reserved, to +be filled by Cosmo Versál's personal friends. His choice of these +revealed another pleasing side of his mind. He took thirteen men and +women who had been, in one capacity or another, employed for many years +in his service. Some of them were old family servants that had been in +his father's house. + +"Every one of these persons," he said to Joseph Smith, "is worth his +weight in gold. Their disinterested fidelity to duty is a type of +character that almost became extinct generations ago, and no more +valuable leaven could be introduced into the society of the future. +Rather than leave them, I would stay behind myself." + +Finally there was the crew. This comprised one hundred and fifty +members, all of them chosen from the body of engineers, mechanics, and +workmen who had been employed in the construction of the ark. Cosmo +himself was, of course, the commander, but he had for his lieutenants +skilled mariners, electrical and mechanical engineers, and men whom he +himself had instructed in the peculiar duties that would fall to them in +the navigation and management of the ark, every detail of which he had +laboriously worked out with a foresight that seemed all but superhuman. + +All of the passengers and crew were aboard when the baffled mob +retreated from Mineola, and some, when that danger was past, wished to +descend to the ground, and go and look at the rising waters, which had +not yet invaded the neighborhood. But Cosmo absolutely forbade any +departures from the ark. The condensation of the nebula, he declared, +was likely to begin any minute, and the downpour would be so fierce that +a person might be drowned in the open field. + +It came even sooner than he had anticipated, with the results that we +have already noted in New York. At first many thought that the ark +itself would be destroyed, so dreadful was the impact of the falling +water. The women and children, and some of the men, were seized with +panic, and Cosmo had great difficulty in reassuring them. + +"The flood will not reach us for several hours yet," he said. "The level +of the water must rise at least a hundred feet more before we shall be +afloat. Inside here we are perfectly safe. The ark is exceedingly strong +and absolutely tight. You have nothing to fear." + +Then he ordered an ingenious sound-absorbing screen, which he had +prepared, to be drawn over the great ceiling of the saloon, the effect +of which was to shut out the awful noise of the water roaring upon the +roof of the ark. A silence that was at first startling by contrast to +the preceding din prevailed as soon as the screen was in place. + +Amid a hush of expectancy, Cosmo now mounted a dais at one end of the +room. Never before had the intellectual superiority of the man seemed so +evident. His huge "dome of thought," surmounting his slight body, +dominated the assembly like the front of Jove. Chairs near him were +occupied by Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, Professor +Alexander Jones, and the two "speculative geniuses" whom he had named to +Joseph Smith. These were Costaké Theriade, of Rumania, a tall, dark, +high-browed thinker, who was engaged in devising ways to extract and +recover interatomic energy; and Sir Wilfred Athelstone, whose specialty +was bio-chemistry, and who was said to have produced amazing results in +artificial parthenogenesis and the production of new species. + +As soon as attention was concentrated upon him, Cosmo Versál began to +speak. + +"My friends," he said, "the world around us is now sinking beneath a +flood that will not be arrested until America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and +Australia have disappeared. We stand at the opening of a new age. You +alone who are here assembled, and your descendants, will constitute the +population of the new world that is to be. + +"In this ark, which owes its existence to the foreseeing eye of science, +you will be borne in safety upon the bosom of the battling waters, and +we will disembark upon the first promising land that reappears, and +begin the plantation and development of a new society of men and women, +which, I trust, will afford a practical demonstration of the principles +of eugenics. + +"I have, as far as possible, and as far as the pitiful blindness of +mankind permitted me to go, selected and assembled here representatives +of the best tendencies of humanity. You are a chosen remnant, and the +future of this planet depends upon you. + +"I have been fortunate in securing the companionship of men of science +who will be able to lead and direct. The ark is fully provisioned for a +period which must exceed the probable duration of the flood. I have +taken pains not to overcrowd it, and every preparation has been made for +any contingencies which may arise. + +"It is inexpressibly sad to part thus with the millions of our +fellow-beings who would not heed the warnings that were lavished upon +them; but, while our hearts may be rent with the thought, it is our duty +to cast off the burden of vain regrets and concentrate all our energies +upon the great work before us. + +"I salute," he continued, raising his voice and lifting a glass of wine +from the little table before him, "the world of the past--may its faults +be forgotten--and the world of the future--may it rise on the wings of +science to nobler prospects!" + +He poured out the wine like a libation; and as his voice ceased to echo, +and he sank into his seat, an uncontrollable wave of emotion ran over +the assembly. Many of the women wept, and the men conversed in whispers. +After a considerable interval, during which no one spoke above his +breath, Professor Able Abel arose and said: + +"The gratitude which we owe to this man"--indicating Cosmo Versál--"can +best be expressed, not in words, but by acts. He has led us thus far; he +must continue to lead us to the end. We were blind, while he was full of +light. It will become us hereafter to heed well whatever he may say. I +now wish to ask if he can foresee where upon the re-emerging planet a +foothold is first likely to be obtained. Where lies our land of +promise?" + +"I can answer that question," Cosmo replied, "only in general terms. You +are all aware that the vast table-land of Tibet is the loftiest region +upon the globe. In its western part it lies from fourteen to seventeen +or eighteen thousand feet above the ordinary level of the sea. Above it +rise the greatest mountain peaks in existence. Here the first +considerable area is likely to be uncovered. It is upon the Pamirs, the +'Roof of the World,' that we shall probably make our landing." + +"May I ask," said Professor Abel Able, "in what manner you expect the +waters of the flood to be withdrawn, after the earth is completely +drowned?" + +"That," was the reply, "was one of the fundamental questions that I +examined, but I do not care to enter into a discussion of it now. I may +simply say that it is not only upon the disappearance of the waters that +our hopes depend, but upon circumstances that I shall endeavor to make +clear hereafter. The new cradle of mankind will be located near the old +one, and the roses of the Vale of Cashmere will canopy it." + +Cosmo Versál's words made a profound impression upon his hearers, and +awoke thoughts that carried their minds off into strange reveries. No +more questions were asked, and gradually the assemblage broke up into +groups of interested talkers. + +It was now near midnight. Cosmo, beckoning Professor Abel Able, +Professor Alexander Jones, and Professor Jeremiah Moses to accompany +him, made his way out of the saloon, and, secretly opening one of the +gangway doors, they presently stood, sheltering themselves from the +pouring rain, in a position which enabled them to look toward New York. + +Nothing, of course, was visible through the downpour; but they were +startled at hearing fearful cries issuing out of the darkness. The rural +parts of the city, filled with gardens and villas, lay round within a +quarter of a mile of the ark, and the sound, accelerated by the +water-charged atmosphere, struck upon their ears with terrible +distinctness. Sometimes, when a gust of wind blew the rain into their +faces, the sound deepened into a long, despairing wail, which seemed to +be borne from afar off, mingled with the roar of the descending +torrent--the death-cry of the vast metropolis! + +"Merciful Heaven, I cannot endure this!" cried Professor Moses. + +"Go to my cabin," Cosmo yelled in his ear, "and take the others with +you. I will join you there in a little while. I wish to measure the rate +of rise of the water." + +They gladly left him, and fled into the interior of the ark. Cosmo +procured an electric lamp; and the moment its light streamed out he +perceived that the water had already submerged the great cradle in which +the ark rested, and was beginning to creep up the metallic sides. He +lowered a graduated tape into it, provided with an automatic register. +In a few minutes he had completed his task, and then he went to rejoin +his late companions in his cabin. + +"In about an hour," he said to them, "we shall be afloat. The water is +rising at the rate of one-thirtieth of an inch per second." + +"No more than that?" asked Professor Jones with an accent of surprise. + +"That is quite enough," Cosmo replied. "One-thirtieth of an inch per +second means two inches in a minute, and ten feet in an hour. In +twenty-four hours from now the water will stand two hundred and forty +feet above its present level, and then only the tallest structures in +New York will lift their tops above it, if, indeed, they are not long +before overturned by undermining or the force of the waves." + +"But it will be a long time before the hills and highlands are +submerged," suggested Professor Jones. "Are you perfectly sure that the +flood will cover them?" + +Cosmo Versál looked at his interlocutor, and slowly shook his head. + +"It is truly a disappointment to me," he said at length, "to find that, +even now, remnants of doubt cling to your minds. I tell you that the +nebula is condensing at its maximum rate. It is likely to continue to do +so for at least four months. In four months, at the rate of two inches +per minute, the level of the water will rise 28,800 feet. There is only +one peak in the world which is surely known to attain a slightly greater +height than that--Mount Everest, in the Himalayas. Even in a single +month the rise will amount to 7,200 feet. That is 511 feet higher than +the loftiest mountain in the Appalachians. In one month, then, there +will be nothing visible of North America east of the Rockies. And in +another month they will have gone under." + +Not another word was said. The three professors sat, wide-eyed and +open-mouthed, staring at Cosmo Versál, whose bald head was crowned with +an aureole by the electric light that beamed from the ceiling, while, +with a gold pocket pencil, he fell to figuring upon a sheet of paper. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + +While Cosmo Versál was calculating, from the measured rise of the water, +the rate of condensation of the nebula, and finding that it added +twenty-nine trillion two hundred and ninety billion tons to the weight +of the earth every minute--a computation that seemed to give him great +mental satisfaction--the metropolis of the world, whose nucleus was the +island of Manhattan, and every other town and city on the globe that +lay near the ordinary level of the sea, was swiftly sinking beneath the +swelling flood. + +Everywhere, over all the broad surface of the planet, a wail of despair +arose from the perishing millions, beaten down by the water that poured +from the unpitying sky. Even on the highlands the situation was little +better than in the valleys. The hills seemed to have been turned into the +crests of cataracts from which torrents of water rushed down on all sides, +stripping the soil from the rocks, and sending the stones and bowlders +roaring and leaping into the lowlands and the gorges. Farmhouses, barns, +villas, trees, animals, human beings--all were swept away together. + +Only on broad elevated plateaus, where higher points rose above the general +level, were a few of the inhabitants able to find a kind of refuge. By +seeking these high places, and sheltering themselves as best they could +among immovable rocks, they succeeded, at least, in delaying their fate. +Notwithstanding the fact that the atmosphere was filled with falling water, +they could yet breathe, if they kept the rain from striking directly in +their faces. It was owing to this circumstance, and to some extraordinary +occurrences which we shall have to relate, that the fate of the human race +was not precisely that which Cosmo Versál had predicted. + +We quitted the scene in New York when the shadow of night had just fallen, +and turned the gloom of the watery atmosphere into impenetrable darkness. +The events of that dreadful night we shall not attempt to depict. When the +hours of daylight returned, and the sun should have brightened over the +doomed city, only a faint, phosphorescent luminosity filled the sky. It +was just sufficient to render objects dimly visible. If the enclosing +nebula had remained in a cloud-like state it would have cut off all light, +but having condensed into raindrops, which streamed down in parallel lines, +except when sudden blasts of wind swept them into a confused mass, the +sunlight was able to penetrate through the interstices, aided by the +transparency of the water, and so a slight but variable illumination was +produced. + +In this unearthly light many tall structures of the metropolis, which had +as yet escaped the effects of undermining by the rushing torrents in the +streets, towered dimly toward the sky, shedding streams of water from every +cornice. Most of the buildings of only six or eight stories had already +been submerged, with the exception of those that stood on the high grounds +in the upper part of the island, and about Spuyten Duyvil. + +In the towers and upper stories of the lofty buildings still standing in +the heart of the city, crowds of unfortunates assembled, gazing with +horror at the spectacles around them, and wringing their hands in helpless +despair. When the light brightened they could see below them the angry +water, creeping every instant closer to their places of refuge, beaten +into foam by the terrible downpour, and sometimes, moved by a mysterious +impulse, rising in sweeping waves which threatened to carry everything +before them. + +Every few minutes one of the great structures would sway, crack, crumble, +and go down into the seething flood, the cries of the lost souls being +swallowed up in the thunder of the fall. And when this occurred within +sight of neighboring towers yet intact, men and women could be seen, some +with children in their arms, madly throwing themselves from windows and +ledges, seeking quick death now that hope was no more! + +Strange and terrible scenes were enacted in the neighborhood of what had +been the water-fronts. Most of the vessels moored there had been virtually +wrecked by the earlier invasion of the sea. Some had been driven upon the +shore, others had careened and been swamped at their wharves. But a few had +succeeded in cutting loose in time to get fairly afloat. Some tried to go +out to sea, but were wrecked by running against obstacles, or by being +swept over the Jersey flats. Some met their end by crashing into the +submerged pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Others steered up the course +of the Hudson River, but that had become a narrow sea, filled with floating +and tossing debris of every sort, and all landmarks being invisible, the +luckless navigators lost their way, and perished, either through collisions +with other vessels, or by driving upon a rocky shore. + +The fate of the gigantic building containing the offices of the municipal +government, which stood near the ancient City Hall, and which had been the +culminating achievement of the famous epoch of "sky-scrapers," was a thing +so singular, and at the same time dramatic, that in a narrative dealing +with less extraordinary events than we are obliged to record it would +appear altogether incredible. + +With its twoscore lofty stories, and its massive base, this wonderful +structure rose above the lower quarter of the city, and dominated it, like +a veritable Tower of Babel, made to defy the flood. Many thousands of +people evidently regarded it in that very light, and they had fled from all +quarters, as soon as the great downpour began, to find refuge within its +mountainous flanks. There were men--clerks, merchants, brokers from the +downtown offices--and women and children from neighboring tenements. + +By good chance, but a few weeks before, this building had been fitted with +a newly invented system of lighting, by which each story was supplied with +electricity from a small dynamo of its own, and so it happened that now the +lamps within were all aglow, lightening the people's hearts a little with +their cheering radiance. + +Up and up they climbed, the water ever following at their heels, from floor +to floor, until ten of the great stages were submerged. But there were more +than twice as many stages yet above, and they counted them with unexpiring +hope, telling one another, with the assurance of desperation, that long +before the flood could attain so stupendous an altitude the rain would +surely cease, and the danger, as far as they were concerned, would pass +away. + +"See! See!" cries one. "It is stopping! It is coming no higher! I've been +watching that step, and the water has stopped! It hasn't risen for ten +minutes!" + +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" yells the crowd behind and above. And the glad cry is +taken up and reverberated from story to story until it bursts wildly out +into the rain-choked air at the very summit. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! We are saved! The flood has stopped!" + +Men madly embrace each other. Women burst into tears and hug their children +to their breasts, filled with a joy and thankfulness that can find no +expression in words. + +"You are wrong," says another man, crouching beside him who first spoke. +"It has not stopped--it is still rising." + +"_What_! I tell you it _has_ stopped," snaps the other. "Look at that step! +It stopped right below it." + +"_You've been watching the wrong step_. It's rising!" + +"You fool! Shut your mouth! I say it has _stopped_." + +"No, it has not." + +"It has! It has!" + +"Look at _that_ step, then! See the water just now coming over it." + +The obstinate optimist stares a moment, turns pale, and then, with an oath, +strikes his more clear-headed neighbor in the face! And the excited crowd +behind, with the blind instinctive feeling that, somehow, he has robbed +them of the hope which was but now as the breath of life to them, strike +him and curse him, too. + +But he had seen only too clearly. + +With the steady march of fate--two inches a minute, as Cosmo Versál had +accurately measured it--the water still advances and climbs upward. + +In a little while they were driven to another story, and then to another. +But hope would not down. They could not believe that the glad news, which +had so recently filled them with joy, was altogether false. The water +_must_ have stopped rising _once_; it had been _seen_. Then, it would +surely stop _again_, stop to rise no more. + +Poor deluded creatures! With the love of life so strong within them, they +could not picture, in their affrighted minds, the terrible consummation to +which they were being slowly driven, when, jammed into the narrow chambers +at the very top of the mighty structure, their remorseless enemy would +seize them at last. + +But they were nearer the end than they could have imagined even if they had +accepted and coolly reasoned upon the facts that were so plain before them. +And, after all, it was not to come upon them only after they had fought +their way to the highest loft and into the last corner. + +A link of this strange chain of fatal events now carries us to the spot +where the United States Navy Yard in Brooklyn once existed. That place was +sunk deep beneath the waters. All of the cruisers, battleships, and other +vessels that had been at anchor or at moorings there had gone under. One +only, the boast of the American navy, the unconquerable _Uncle Sam_, which, +in the last great war that the world had known, had borne the starry flag +to victories whose names broke men's voices and filled their eyes with +tears of pride, had escaped, through the incomparable seamanship of Captain +Robert Decatur, who had been her commander for thirty years. + +But though the _Uncle Sam_ managed to float upon the rising flood, she +was unable to get away because of the obstructions lodged about the great +bridges that spanned the East River. A curious eddy that the raging +currents formed over what was once the widest part of that stream kept +her revolving round and round, never departing far in any direction, +and, with majestic strength, riding down or brushing aside the floating +timbers, wooden houses, and other wreckage that pounded furiously against +her mighty steel sides. + +Just at the time when the waters had mounted to the eighteenth story of the +beleaguered Municipal Building, a sudden change occurred in these currents. +They swept westward with resistless force, and the _Uncle Sam_ was +carried directly over the drowned city. First she encountered the cables of +the Manhattan Bridge, striking them near the western tower, and, swinging +round, wrenched the tower itself from its foundations and hurled it beneath +the waters. + +Then she rushed on, riding with the turbid flood high above the buried +roofs, finding no other obstruction in her way until she approached the +Municipal Building, which was stoutly resisting the push of the waves. + + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT BATTLESHIP... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE +STEEL-RIBBED WALLS"] + + +Those who were near the windows and on the balconies, on the eastern side +of the building, saw the great battleship coming out of the gray gloom +like some diluvian monster, and before they could comprehend what it was, +it crashed, prow on, into the steel-ribbed walls, driving them in as if +they had been the armored sides of an enemy. + +So tremendous was the momentum of the striking mass that the huge vessel +passed, like a projectile, through walls and floors and partitions. But as +she emerged in the central court the whole vast structure came thundering +down upon her, and ship and building together sank beneath the boiling +waves. + +But out of the awful tangle of steel girders, that whipped the air and the +water as if some terrible spidery life yet clung to them, by one of those +miracles of chance which defy all the laws of probability and reason, a +small boat of levium, that had belonged to the _Uncle Sam_, was cast forth, +and floated away, half submerged but unsinkable; and clinging to its +thwarts, struggling for breath, insane with terror, were two men, the sole +survivors of all those thousands. + +One of them was a seaman who had taken refuge, with a crowd of comrades, +in the boat before the battleship rushed down upon the building. All of +his comrades had been hurled out and lost when the blow came, while his +present companion was swept in and lodged against the thwarts. And so +those two waifs drove off in the raging waves. Both of them were bleeding +from many wounds, but they had no fatal hurts. + +The boat, though filled with water, was so light that it could not sink. +Moreover, it was ballasted, and amid all its wild gyrations it kept right +side up. Even the ceaseless downpour from the sky could not drive it +beneath the waves. + +After a while the currents that had been setting westward changed their +direction, and the boat was driven toward the north. It swept on past +toppling skyscrapers until it was over the place where Madison Square once +spread its lawns, looked down upon by gigantic structures, most of which +had now either crumbled and disappeared or were swaying to their fall. Here +there was an eddy, and the boat turned round and round amid floating debris +until two other draggled creatures, who had been clinging to floating +objects, succeeded by desperate efforts in pulling themselves into it. +Others tried but failed, and no one lent a helping hand. Those who were +already in the boat neither opposed nor aided the efforts of those who +battled to enter it. No words were heard in the fearful uproar--only +inarticulate cries. + +Suddenly the current changed again, and the boat, with its dazed occupants, +was hurried off in the direction of the Hudson. Night was now beginning +once more to drop an obscuring curtain over the scene, and under that +curtain the last throes of drowning New York were hidden. When the sun +again faintly illuminated the western hemisphere the whole Atlantic +seaboard was buried under the sea. + +As the water rose higher, Cosmo Versál's Ark at last left its cradle, and +cumbrously floated off, moving first eastward, then turning in the +direction of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Cosmo had his engines in operation, +but their full power was not developed as soon as he had expected, and +the great vessel drifted at the will of the currents and the wind, the +latter coming now from one side and now from another, rising at times to +hurricane strength and then dying away until only a spanking breeze swept +the ever-falling rain into swishing sheets. Occasionally the wind failed +entirely, and for many minutes at a time the water fell in vertical +streams. + +At length the motive power of the Ark was developed, and it began to obey +its helm. From the shelter of a "captain's bridge," constructed at the +forward end of the huge levium dome that covered the vessel, Cosmo Versál, +with Captain Arms, a liberally bewhiskered, veteran navigator in whose +skill he confided, peered over the interminable waste of waters. There was +nothing in sight except floating objects that had welled up from the +drowned city and the surrounding villages. Here and there the body of an +animal or a human being was seen in the tossing waves, and Cosmo Versál +sadly shook his head as he pointed them out, but the stout mariner at his +side chewed his tobacco, and paid attention only to his duties, shouting +orders from time to time through a speaking-tube, or touching an electric +button. + +Cosmo Versál brought a rain-gage and again and again allowed it to fill +itself. The story was always the same--two inches per minute, ten feet per +hour, the water mounted. + +The nebula had settled down to regular work, and, if Cosmo's calculations +were sound, there would be no intermission for four months. + +After the power of the propellers had been developed the Ark was steered +southeastward. Its progress was very slow. In the course of eight hours +it had not gone more than fifty miles. The night came on, and the speed +was reduced until there was only sufficient way to insure the command of +the vessel's movements. Powerful searchlights were employed as long as +the stygian darkness continued. + +With the return of the pallid light, at what should have been daybreak, +Cosmo and his navigator were again at their post. In fact, the former +had not slept at all, keeping watch through the long hours, with +Captain Arms within easy call. + +As the light became stronger, Cosmo said to the captain: + +"Steer toward New York. I wish to see if the last of the tall buildings on +the upper heights have gone under." + +"It will be very dangerous to go that way," objected Captain Arms. "There +are no landmarks, and we may strike a snag." + +"Not if we are careful," replied Cosmo. "All but the highest ground is now +buried very deep." + +"It is taking a fool's risk," growled Captain Arms, through his brush, but +nevertheless he obeyed. + +It was true that they had nothing to go by. The air was too thick with +water, and the light too feeble for them to be able to lay their course +by sighting the distant hills of New Jersey which yet remained above the +level of the flood. Still, by a kind of seaman's instinct, Captain Arms +made his way, until he felt that he ought to venture no farther. He had +just turned to Cosmo Versál with the intention of voicing his protest +when the Ark careened slightly, shivered from stem to stern, and then +began a bumping movement that nearly threw the two men from their feet. + +"We are aground!" cried the captain, and instantly turned a knob that set +in motion automatic machinery which cut off the engines from the +propellers, and at the same time slowed down the engines themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + +The Ark had lodged on the loftiest part of the Palisades. It was only after +long and careful study of their position, rendered possible by occasional +glimpses of the Orange Hills and high points further up the course of the +Hudson, that Cosmo Versál and Captain Arms were able to reach that +conclusion. Where New York had stood nothing was visible but an expanse of +turbid and rushing water. + +But suppose the hard trap rocks had penetrated the bottom of the Ark! It +was a contingency too terrible to be thought of. Yet the facts must be +ascertained at once. + +Cosmo, calling Joseph Smith, and commanding him to go among the frightened +passengers and assure them, in his name, that there was no danger, hurried, +with the captain and a few trusty men, into the bowels of the vessel. They +thoroughly sounded the bottom plates. No aperture and no indentation was +to be found. + +But, then, the bottom was double, and the outer plates might have been +perforated. If this had happened the fact would reveal itself through the +leakage of water into the intervening space. To ascertain if that had +occurred it was necessary to unscrew the covers of some of the manholes in +the inner skin of levium. + +It was an anxious moment when they cautiously removed one of these covers. +At the last turns of the screw the workman who handled it instinctively +turned his head aside, and made ready for a spring, more than half +expecting that the cover would be driven from his hands, and a stream of +water would burst in. + +But the cover remained in place after it was completely loosened, and until +it had been lifted off. A sigh of relief broke from every breast. No water +was visible. + +"Climb in there, and explore the bottom," Cosmo commanded. + +There was a space of eighteen inches between the two bottoms, which were +connected and braced by the curved ribs of the hull. A man immediately +disappeared in the opening and began the exploration. Cosmo ordered the +removal of other covers at various points, and the exploration was extended +over the whole bottom. He himself passed through one of the manholes and +aided in the work. + +At last it was determined, beyond any doubt, that even the outer skin was +uninjured. Not so much as a dent could be found in it. + +"By the favor of Providence," said Cosmo Versál, as his great head emerged +from a manhole, "the Ark has touched upon a place where the rocks are +covered with soil, and no harm has come to us. In a very short time the +rising water will lift us off." + +"And, with my consent, you'll do no more navigating over hills and +mountains," grumbled Captain Arms. "The open sea for the sailor." + +The covers were carefully replaced, and the party, in happier spirits, +returned to the upper decks, where the good news was quickly spread. + +The fact was that while the inspection was under way the Ark had floated +off, and when Cosmo and the captain reached their bridge the man who had +been left in charge reported that the vessel had swung halfway round. + +"She's headed for the old Atlantic," sung out Captain Arms. "The sooner +we're off the better." + +But before the captain could signal the order to go ahead, Cosmo Versál +laid his hand on his arm and said: + +"Wait a moment; listen." + +Through the lashing of the rain a voice penetrated with a sound between a +call and a scream. There could be no doubt that it was human. The captain +and Cosmo looked at one another in speechless astonishment. The idea that +any one outside the Ark could have survived, and could now be afloat amid +this turmoil of waters, had not occurred to their minds. They experienced +a creeping of the nerves. In a few minutes the voice came again, louder +than before, and the words that it pronounced being now clearly audible, +the two listeners could not believe their ears. + +"Cosmo Versál!" it yelled. "Cosmo-o-o Ver-sá-al! A billion for a share! A +_billion_, I say, a _bil-li-on_ for a share!" + +Then they perceived a little way off to the left something which looked +like the outline of a boat, sunk to the gunwales, washed over by every +wave; and standing in it, up to their waists in water, were four men, one +of whom was gesticulating violently, while the others seemed dazed and +incapable of voluntary movement. + +It was the boat of levium that had been thrown out of the wreckage when the +battleship ran down the Municipal tower, and we must now follow the thread +of its adventures up to the time of its encounter with the Ark. + +As the boat was driven westward from the drowned site of Madison Square it +gradually freed itself from the objects floating around, most of which soon +sunk, and in an hour or two its inmates were alone--the sole survivors of a +dense population of many millions. + +Alone they were in impenetrable darkness, for, as we have said, night had +by this time once more fallen. + +They floated on, half drowned, chilled to the bone, not trying to speak, +not really conscious of one another's presence. The rain beat down upon +them, the waves washed over them, the unsinkable boat sluggishly rose and +fell with the heaving of the water, and occasionally they were nearly flung +overboard by a sudden lurch--and yet they clung with desperate tenacity to +the thwarts, as if life were still dear, as if they thought that they might +yet survive, though the world was drowned. + +Thus hours passed, and at last a glimmer appeared in the streaming air, and +a faint light stole over the face of the water. If they saw one another, +it was with unrecognizing eyes. They were devoured with hunger, but they +did not know it. + +Suddenly one of them--it was he who had been so miraculously thrown into +the boat when it shot out of the tangle of falling beams and walls--raised +his head and threw up his arms, a wild light gleaming in his eyes. + +In a hoarse, screaming voice he yelled: + +"Cosmo Versál!" + +No other syllables that the tongue could shape would have produced the +effect of that name. It roused the three men who heard it from their +lethargy of despair, and thrilled them to the marrow. With amazed eyes they +stared at their companion. He did not look at them, but gazed off into the +thick rain. Again his voice rose in a maniacal shriek: + +"Cosmo Versál! Do you hear me? Let me in! A billion for a share!" + +The men looked at each other, and, even in their desperate situation, felt +a stir of pity in their hearts. They were not too dazed to comprehend that +their companion had gone mad. One of them moved to his side, and laid a +hand upon his shoulder, as if he would try to soothe him. + +But the maniac threw him off, nearly precipitating him over the side of +the submerged boat, crying: + +"What are _you_ doing in my boat? Overboard with you! I am looking for +Cosmo Versál! He's got the biggest thing afloat! Securities! Securities! +Gilt-edged! A _billion_, I tell you! Here I have them--look! Gilt-edged, +every one!" and he snatched a thick bundle of papers from his pocket and +waved them wildly until they melted into a pulpy mass with the downpour. + +The others now shrank away from him in fear. Fear? Yes, for still they +loved their lives, and the staggering support beneath their feet had become +as precious to them as the solid earth. They would have fought with the +fury of madmen to retain their places in that half-swamped shell. They were +still capable of experiencing a keener fear than that of the flood. They +were as terrified by the presence of this maniac as they would have been +on encountering him in their homes. + +But he did not attempt to follow them. He still looked off through the +driving rain, balancing himself to the sluggish lurching of the boat, and +continuing to rave, and shout, and shake his soaked bundle of papers, +until, exhausted by his efforts, and half-choked by the water that drove in +his face, he sank helpless upon a thwart. + +Then they fell back into their lethargy, but in a little while he was on +his feet again, gesticulating and raging--and thus hours passed on, and +still they were afloat, and still clinging to life. + +Suddenly, looming out of the strange gloom, they perceived the huge form of +the Ark, and all struggled to their feet, but none could find voice but the +maniac. + +As soon as he saw the men, Cosmo Versál had run down to the lowest deck, +and ordered the opening of a gangway on that side. When the door swung +back he found himself within a few yards of the swamped boat, but ten feet +above its level. Joseph Smith, Professor Moses, Professor Jones, Professor +Able, and others of the passengers, and several of the crew, hurried to his +side, while the rest of the passengers crowded as near as they could get. + +The instant that Cosmo appeared the maniac redoubled his cries. + +"Here they are," he yelled, shaking what remained of his papers. "A +billion--all gilt-edged! Let me in. But shut out the others. They're +only little fellows. They've got no means. They can't float an enterprise +like this. Ah, you're a bright one! You and me, Cosmo Versál--we'll +squeeze 'em all out. I'll give you the secrets. We'll own the earth! I'm +_Amos Blank!_" + +Cosmo Versál recognized the man in spite of the dreadful change that had +come over him. His face was white and drawn, his eyes staring, his head +bare, his hair matted with water, his clothing in shreds--but it was +unmistakably Amos Blank, a man whose features the newspapers had rendered +familiar to millions, a man who had for years stood before the public as +the unabashed representative of the system of remorseless repression of +competition, and shameless corruption of justice and legislation. After the +world, for nearly two generations, had enjoyed the blessings of the reforms +in business methods and social ideals that had been inaugurated by the +great uprising of the people in the first quarter of the twentieth +century, Amos Blank, and lesser men of his ilk, had swung back the +pendulum, and re-established more firmly than ever the reign of monopoly +and iniquitous privilege. + +The water-logged little craft floated nearer until it almost touched the +side of the Ark directly below the gangway. The madman's eyes glowed with +eagerness, and he reached up his papers, continually yelling his refrain: +"A billion! Gilt-edged! Let me in! Don't give the rabble a show!" + +Cosmo made no reply, but gazed down upon the man and his bedraggled +companions with impassive features, but thoughtful eyes. Any one who knew +him intimately, as Joseph Smith alone did, could have read his mind. He was +asking himself what he ought to do. Here was the whole fundamental question +to be gone over again. To what purpose had he taken so great pains to +select the flower of mankind? Here was the head and chief of the offense +that he had striven to eliminate appealing to him to be saved under +circumstances which went straight to the heart and awoke every sentiment of +humanity. + +Presently he said in as low a voice as could be made audible: + +"Joseph, advise me. What should I do?" + +"You were willing to take Professor Pludder," replied Smith evasively, but +with a plain leaning to the side of mercy. + +"You know very well that that was different," Cosmo returned irritably. +"Pludder was not morally rotten. He was only mistaken. He had the +fundamental scientific quality, and I'm sorry he threw himself away in +his obstinacy. But this man--" + +"Since he is _alone_," broke in Joseph Smith with a sudden illumination, +"he could do no harm." + +Cosmo Versál's expression instantly brightened. + +"You are right!" he exclaimed. "By himself he can do nothing. I am sure +there is no one aboard who would sympathize with his ideas. Alone, he is +innocuous. Besides, he's insane, and I can't leave him to drown in that +condition. And I must take the others, too. Let down a landing stage," he +continued in a louder voice, addressing some members of the crew. + +In a few minutes all four of the unfortunates, seeming more dead than live, +were helped into the Ark. + +Amos Blank immediately precipitated himself upon Cosmo Versál, and, seizing +him by the arm, tried to lead him apart, saying in his ear, as he glared +round upon the faces of the throng which crowded every available space. + +"Hist! Overboard with 'em! What's all this trash? Shovel 'em out! +They'll want to get in with us; they'll queer the game!" + +Then he turned furiously upon the persons nearest him, and began to push +them toward the open gangway. At a signal from Cosmo Versál, two men +seized him and pinioned his arms. At that his mood changed, and, +wrenching himself loose, he once more ran to Cosmo, waving his bedraggled +bundle, and shouting: + +"A billion! Here's the certificates--gilt-edge! But," he continued, with +a cunning leer, and suddenly thrusting the sodden papers into his pocket, +"you'll make out the receipts first. I'll put in _five_ billions to make +it a sure go, if you won't let in another soul." + +Cosmo shook off the man's grasp, and again calling the two members of the +crew who had before pinioned his arms, told them to lead him away, at the +same time saying to him: + +"You go with these men into my room. I'll see you later." + +Blank took it in the best part, and willingly accompanied his conductors, +only stopping a moment to wink over his shoulder at Cosmo, and then he +was led through the crowd, which regarded him with unconcealed +astonishment, and in many cases with no small degree of fear. As soon as +he was beyond earshot, Cosmo directed Joseph Smith to hurry ahead of the +party and conduct them to a particular apartment, which he designated at +the same time, saying to Smith: + +"Turn the key on him as soon as he's inside." + +Amos Blank, now an insane prisoner in Cosmo Versál's Ark, had been the +greatest financial power in the world's metropolis, a man of iron nerve and +the clearest of brains, who always kept his head and never uttered a +foolish word. It was he who had stood over the flight of steps in the +Municipal Building, coolly measuring with his eye the rise of the water, +exposing the terrible error that sent such a wave of unreasoning joy +through the hearts of the thousands of refugees crowded into the doomed +edifice, and receiving blows and curses for making the truth known. + +He had himself taken refuge there, after visiting his office and filling +his pockets with his most precious papers. How, by a marvelous stroke of +fate, he became one of the four persons who alone escaped from New York +after the downpour began is already known. + + +The other men taken from the boat were treated like rescued mariners +snatched from a wreck at sea. Every attention was lavished upon them, and +Cosmo Versál did not appear to regret, as far as they were concerned, that +his ship's company had been so unexpectedly recruited. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + +We now turn our attention for a time from the New World to the Old. What +did the thronging populations of Europe, Africa, and Asia do when the signs +of coming disaster chased one on another's heels, when the oceans began to +burst their bonds, and when the windows of the firmament were opened? + +The picture that can be drawn must necessarily be very fragmentary, +because the number who escaped was small and the records that they left +are few. + +The savants of the older nations were, in general, quite as incredulous +and as set in their opposition to Cosmo Versál's extraordinary out-givings +as those of America. They decried his science and denounced his +predictions as the work of a fool or a madman. The president of the Royal +Astronomical Society of Great Britain proved to the satisfaction of most +of his colleagues that a nebula could not possibly contain enough water +to drown an asteroid, let alone the earth. + +"The nebulae," said this learned astronomer, amid the plaudits of his +hearers, "are infinitely rarer in composition than the rarest gas left +in the receiver of an exhausted air-pump. I would undertake to swallow +from a wineglass the entire substance of any nebula that could enter the +space between the earth and the sun, if it were condensed into the liquid +state." + +"It might be intoxicating," called out a facetious member. + +"Will the chair permit me to point out," said another with great gravity, +"that such a proceeding would be eminently rash, for the nebulous fluid +might be highly poisonous." ["Hear! Hear!" and laughter.] + +"What do you say of this strange darkness and these storms?" asked an +earnest-looking man. (This meeting was held after the terrors of the +_third sign_ had occurred.) + +"I say," replied the president, "that that is the affair of the +Meteorological Society, and has nothing to do with astronomy. I dare say +that they can account for it." + +"And I dare say they can't," cried a voice. + +"Hear! Hear!" "Who are you?" "Put him out!" "I dare say he's right!" "Cosmo +Versál!" Everybody was talking at once. + +"Will this gentleman identify himself?" asked the president. "Will he +please explain his words?" + +"That I will," said a tall man with long whiskers, rising at the rear end +of the room. "I am pretty well known. I----" + +"It's Jameson, the astrologer," cried a voice. "What's _he_ doing here?" + +"Yes," said the whiskered man, "it's Jameson, the astrologer, and he has +come here to let you know that Cosmo Versál was born under the sign Cancer, +the first of the watery triplicity, and that Berosus, the Chaldean, +declared----" + +An uproar immediately ensued; half the members were on their feet at once; +there was a scuffle in the back part of the room, and Jameson, the +astrologer, was hustled out, shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Berosus, the Chaldean, predicted that the world would be drowned when +all the planets should assemble in the sign Cancer--_and where are they +now?_ Blind and stupid dolts that you are--_where are they now?"_ + +It was some time before order could be restored, and a number of members +disappeared, having followed Jameson, the astrologer, possibly through +sympathy, or possibly with a desire to learn more about the prediction of +Berosus, the father of astrology. + +When those who remained, and who constituted the great majority of the +membership, had quieted down, the president remarked that the interruption +which they had just experienced was quite in line with all the other +proceedings of the disturbers of public tranquillity who, under the lead +of a crazy American charlatan, were trying to deceive the ignorant +multitude. But they would find themselves seriously in error if they +imagined that their absurd ideas were going to be "taken over" in England. + +"I dare say," he concluded, "that there is some _scheme_ behind it all." + +"Another American 'trust'!" cried a voice. + +The proceedings were finally brought to an end, but not before a modest +member had risen in his place and timidly remarked that there was one +question that he would like to put to the chair--one thing that did not +seem to have been made quite clear--"Where _were_ the planets now?" + +A volley of hoots, mingled with a few "hears!" constituted the only +reply. + +Scenes not altogether unlike this occurred in the other great learned +societies--astronomical, meteorological, and geological. The official +representatives of science were virtually unanimous in condemnation of +Cosmo Versál, and in persistent assertion that nothing that had occurred +was inexplicable by known laws. But in no instance did they make it clear +to anybody precisely what were the laws that they invoked, or how it +happened that Cosmo Versál had been able to predict so many strange things +which everybody knew really had come to pass, such as the sudden storms and +the great darkness. + +We are still, it must not be forgotten, dealing with a time anterior to the +rising of the sea. + +The Paris Academy of Sciences voted that the subject was unworthy of +serious investigation, and similar action was taken at Berlin, St. +Petersburg, Vienna, and elsewhere. + +But among the people at large universal alarm prevailed, and nothing was +so eagerly read as the dispatches from New York, detailing the proceedings +of Cosmo Versál, and describing the progress of his great levium ark. In +England many procured copies of Cosmo's circulars, in which the proper +methods to be pursued in the construction of arks were carefully set forth. +Some set to work to build such vessels; but, following British methods of +construction, they doubled the weight of everything, with the result that, +if Cosmo had seen what they were about he would have told them that such +arks would go to the bottom faster than to the top. + +In Germany the balloon idea took full possession of the public mind. +Germany had long before developed the greatest fleet of dirigible balloons +in existence, preferring them to every other type of flying apparatus. It +was reported that the Kaiser was of the opinion that if worst came to worst +the best manner of meeting the emergency would be by the multiplication of +dirigibles and the increase of their capacity. + +The result was that a considerable number of wealthy Germans began the +construction of such vessels. But when interviewed they denied that they +were preparing for a flood. They said that they simply wished to enlarge +and increase the number of their pleasure craft, after the example of the +Kaiser. All this was in contemptuous defiance of the warning which Cosmo +Versál had been careful to insert in his circulars, that "balloons and +aeros of all kinds will be of no use whatever; the only safety will be +found in arks, and they must be provisioned for at least five years." + +The most remarkable thing of all happened in France. It might naturally +have been expected that a Frenchman who thought it worth his while to take +any precautions against the extinction of the human race would, when it +became a question of a flood, have turned to the aero, for from the +commencement of aerial navigation French engineers had maintained an +unquestionable superiority in the construction and perfection of that kind +of machine. + +Their aeros could usually fly longer and carry more dead weight than those +of any other nation. In the transoceanic aero races which occasionally took +place the French furnished the most daring and the most frequently +successful competitors. + +But the French mind is masterly in appreciation of details, and Cosmo +Versál's reasons for condemning the aero and the balloon as means of +escaping the flood were promptly divined. In the first place it was seen +that no kind of airship could be successfully provisioned for a flight of +indefinite length, and in the second place the probable strength of the +winds, or the crushing weight of the descending water, in case, as Cosmo +predicted, a nebula should condense upon the earth, would either sweep an +aero or a balloon to swift destruction, or carry it down into the waves +like a water-soaked butterfly. + +Accordingly, when a few Frenchmen began seriously to consider the +question of providing a way of escape from the flood--always supposing, for +the sake of argument, that there would be a flood--they got together, under +the leadership of an engineer officer named Yves de Beauxchamps, and +discussed the matter in all its aspects. They were not long in arriving at +the conclusion that the best and most logical thing that could possibly be +done would be to construct a _submarine_. + +In fact, this was almost an inevitable conclusion for them, because before +the abandonment of submarines in war on account of their _too_ great +powers of destruction--a circumstance which had also led to the prohibition +of the use of explosive bombs in the aerial navies--the French had held +the lead in the construction and management of submersible vessels, even +more decisively than in the case of aeros. + +"A large submarine," said De Beauxchamps, "into whose construction a +certain amount of levium entered, would possess manifest advantages over +Versál's Ark. It could be provisioned to any extent desired, it would +escape the discomforts of the waves, winds, and flooding rain, and it +could easily rise to the surface whenever that might be desirable for +change of air. It would have all the amphibious advantages of a whale." + +The others were decidedly of De Beauxchamps's opinion, and it was +enthusiastically resolved that a vessel of this kind should be begun at +once. + +"If we don't need it for a flood," said De Beauxchamps, "we can employ it +for a pleasure vessel to visit the wonders of the deep. We will then make +a reality of that marvelous dream of our countryman of old, that prince of +dreamers, Jules Verne." + +"Let's name it for him!" cried one. + +"Admirable! Charming!" they all exclaimed. "_Vive le 'Jules Verne'!_" + +Within two days, but without the knowledge of the public, the keel of the +submersible _Jules Verne_ was laid. But we shall hear of that remarkable +craft again. + +While animated, and in some cases violent, discussions were taking place +in the learned circles of Europe, and a few were making ready in such +manner as they deemed most effective for possible contingencies, waves of +panic swept over the remainder of the Old World. There were yet hundreds +of millions in Africa and Asia to whom the advantages of scientific +instruction had not extended, but who, while still more or less under the +dominion of ignorance and superstition, were in touch with the _news_ of +the whole planet. + +The rumor that a wise man in America had discovered that the world was +to be drowned was not long in reaching the most remote recesses of the +African forests and of the boundless steppes of the greater continent, +and, however it might be ridiculed or received with skeptical smiles in +the strongholds of civilization, it met with ready belief in less +enlightened minds. + +Then, the three "signs"--the first great heat, the onslaught of storm and +lightning, and the _Noche Triste_, the great darkness--had been world-wide +in their effects, and each had heightened the terror caused by its +predecessor. Moreover, in the less enlightened parts of the world the +reassurances of the astronomers and others did not penetrate at all, or, +if they did, had no effect, for not only does bad news run while good news +walks, but it talks faster. + +It will be recalled that one of the most disquieting incidents in America, +immediately preceding the catastrophal rising of the oceans, was the +melting of the Arctic snows and ice-fields, with consequent inundations +in the north. This stage in the progress of the coming disaster was +accentuated in Europe by the existence of the vast glaciers of the Alps. +The Rocky Mountains, in their middle course, had relatively little snow and +almost no true glaciers, and consequently there were no scenes of this kind +in the United States comparable with those that occurred in the heart of +Europe. + +After the alarm caused by the great darkness in September had died out, and +the long spell of continuous clear skies began, the summer resorts of +Switzerland were crowded as they had seldom been. People were driven there +by the heat, for one thing; and then, owing to the early melting of the +winter's deposit of snow, the Alps presented themselves in a new aspect. + +Mountain-climbers found it easy to make ascents upon peaks which had always +hitherto presented great difficulties on account of the vast snow-fields, +seamed with dangerous crevasses, which hung upon their flanks. These were +now so far removed that it was practicable for amateur climbers to go where +always before only trained Alpinists, accompanied by the most experienced +guides, dared to venture. + +But as the autumn days ran on and new snows fell, the deep-seated glaciers +began to dissolve, and masses of ice that had lain for untold centuries in +the mighty laps of the mountains, projecting frozen noses into the valleys, +came tumbling down, partly in the form of torrents of water and partly in +roaring avalanches. + +The great Aletsch glacier was turned into a river that swept down into the +valley of the Rhône, carrying everything before it. The glaciers at the +head of the Rhône added their contribution. The whole of the Bernese +Oberland seemed to have suddenly been dissolved like a huge mass of sugar +candy, and on the north the valley of Interlaken was inundated, while the +lakes of Thun and Brientz were lost in an inland sea which rapidly spread +over all the lower lands between the Alps and the Swiss Jura. + +Farther east the Rhine, swollen by the continual descent of the glacier +water, burst its banks, and broadened out until Strasburg lay under water +with the finger of its ancient cathedral helplessly pointing skyward out +of the midst of the flood. All the ancient cities of the great valley from +Basle to Mayence saw their streets inundated and the foundations of their +most precious architectural monuments undermined by the searching water. + +The swollen river reared back at the narrow pass through the Taunus range, +and formed a huge eddy that swirled over the old city of Bingen. Then it +tore down between the castle-crowned heights, sweeping away the villages +on the river banks from Bingen to Coblentz, lashing the projecting rocks +of the Lorelei, and carrying off houses, churches, and old abbeys in a +rush of ruin. + +It widened out as it approached Bonn and Cologne, but the water was still +deep enough to inundate those cities, and finally it spread over the plain +of Holland, finding a score of new mouths through which to pour into the +German Ocean, while the reclaimed area of the Zuyder Zee once more joined +the ocean, and Amsterdam and the other cities of the Netherlands were +buried, in many cases to the tops of the house doors. + +West and south the situation was the same. The Mer de Glace at Chamonix, +and all the other glaciers of the Mont Blanc range, disappeared, sending +floods down to Geneva and over the Dauphiny and down into the plains of +Piedmont and Lombardy. The ruin was tremendous and the loss of life +incalculable. Geneva, Turin, Milan, and a hundred other cities, were +swept by torrents. + +The rapidity of this melting of the vast snow-beds and glaciers of the +Alps was inconceivable, and the effect of the sudden denudation upon the +mountains themselves was ghastly. Their seamed and cavernous sides stood +forth, gaunt and naked, a revelation of Nature in her most fearful aspects +such as men had never looked upon. Mont Blanc, without its blanket of snow +and ice, towered like the blackened ruin of a fallen world, a sight that +made the beholders shudder. + +But this flood ended as suddenly as it had begun. When the age-long +accumulations of snow had all melted the torrents ceased to pour down from +the mountains, and immediately the courageous and industrious inhabitants +of the Netherlands began to repair their broken dikes, while in Northern +Italy and the plains of Southeastern France every effort was made to +repair the terrible losses. + +Of course similar scenes had been enacted, and on even a more fearful +scale, in the plains of India, flooded by the melting of the enormous icy +burden that covered the Himalayas, the "Abode of Snow." And all over the +world, wherever icy mountains reared themselves above inhabited lands, +the same story of destruction and death was told. + +Then, after an interval, came the yet more awful invasion of the sea. + +But few details can be given from lack of records. The Thames roared +backward on its course, and London and all central England were inundated. +A great bore of sea-water swept along the shores of the English Channel, +and bursting through the Skager Rack, covered the lower end of Sweden, and +rushed up the Gulf of Finland, burying St. Petersburg, and turning all +Western Russia, and the plains of Pomerania into a sea. The Netherlands +disappeared. The Atlantic poured through the narrow pass of the Strait of +Gibraltar, leaving only the Lion Rock visible above the waves. + +At length the ocean found its way into the Desert of Sahara, large +areas of which had been reclaimed, and were inhabited by a considerable +population of prosperous farmers. Nowhere did the sudden coming of the +flood cause greater consternation than here--strange as that statement +may seem. The people had an undefined idea that they were protected by a +sort of barrier from any possible inundation. + +It had taken so many years and such endless labor to introduce into the +Sahara sufficient water to transform its potentially rich soil into arable +land that the thought of any sudden superabundance of that element was far +from the minds of the industrious agriculturalists. They had heard of the +inundations caused by the melting of the mountain snows elsewhere, but +there were no snow-clad mountains near them to be feared. + +Accordingly, when a great wave of water came rushing upon them, surmounted, +where it swept over yet unredeemed areas of the desert, by immense clouds +of whirling dust, that darkened the air and recalled the old days of the +simoom, they were taken completely by surprise. But as the water rose +higher they tried valiantly to escape. They were progressive people, and +many of them had aeros. Besides, two or three lines of aero expresses +crossed their country. All who could do so immediately embarked in +airships, some fleeing toward Europe, and others hovering about, gazing +in despair at the spreading waters beneath them. + +As the invasion of the sea grew more and more serious, this flight by +airship became a common spectacle over all the lower-lying parts of Europe, +and in the British Isles. But, in the midst of it, the heavens opened their +flood-gates, as they had done in the New World, and then the aeros, flooded +with rain, and hurled about by contending blasts of wind, drooped, +fluttered, and fell by hundreds into the fast mounting waves. The nebula +was upon them! + +In the meantime those who had provided arks of one kind or another, tried +desperately to get them safely afloat. All the vessels that succeeded in +leaving their wharves were packed with fugitives. Boats of every sort were +pressed into use, and the few that survived were soon floating over the +sites of the drowned homes of their occupants. + +Before it was too late Yves de Beauxchamps and his friends launched their +submarine, and plunged into the bosom of the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + +We return to follow the fortunes of Cosmo Versál's Ark. + +After he had so providentially picked up the crazed billionaire, Amos +Blank, and his three companions, Cosmo ordered Captain Arms to bear away +southeastward, bidding farewell to the drowned shores of America, and +sailing directly over the lower part of Manhattan, and western Long +Island. The navigation was not easy, and if the Ark had not been a +marvelously buoyant vessel it would not long have survived. At the +beginning the heavy and continuous rain kept down the waves, and the +surface of the sea was comparatively smooth, but after a while a curious +phenomenon began to be noticed; immense billows would suddenly appear, +rushing upon the Ark now from one direction and now from another, canting +it over at a dangerous angle, and washing almost to the top of the huge +ellipsoid of the dome. At such times it was difficult for anybody to +maintain a footing, and there was great terror among the passengers. But +Cosmo, and stout Captain Arms, remained at their post, relieving one +another at frequent intervals, and never entrusting the sole charge of +the vessel to any of their lieutenants. + +Cosmo Versál himself was puzzled to account for the origin of the mighty +billows, for it seemed impossible that they could be raised by the wind +notwithstanding the fact that it blew at times with hurricane force. But +at last the explanation came of itself. + +Both Cosmo and the captain happened to be on the bridge together when they +saw ahead something that looked like an enormous column as black as ink, +standing upright on the surface of the water. A glance showed that it was +in swift motion, and, more than that, was approaching in a direct line +toward the Ark. In less than two minutes it was upon them. + +The instant that it met the Ark a terrific roaring deafened them, and the +rounded front of the dome beneath their eyes disappeared under a deluge of +descending water so dense that the vision could not penetrate it. In +another half minute the great vessel seemed to have been driven to the +bottom of the sea. But for the peculiar construction of the shelter of the +bridge its occupants would have been drowned at their posts. As it was they +were soaked as if they had been plunged overboard. Impenetrable darkness +surrounded them. + +But the buoyant vessel shook itself, rolled from side to side, and rose +with a staggering motion until it seemed to be poised on the summit of a +watery mountain. Immediately the complete darkness passed, the awful +downpour ceased, although the rain still fell in torrents, and the Ark +began to glide downward with sickening velocity, as if it were sliding +down a liquid slope. + +It was a considerable time before the two men, clinging to the supports of +the bridge, were able to maintain their equilibrium sufficiently to render +it possible to utter a few connected words. As soon as he could speak with +reasonable comfort Cosmo exclaimed: + +"Now I see what it is that causes the billows, but it is a phenomenon that +I should never have anticipated. It is all due to the nebula. Evidently +there are irregularities of some kind in its constitution which cause the +formation of almost solid masses of water in the atmosphere--suspended +lakes, as it were--which then plunge down in a body as if a hundred +thousand Niagaras were pouring together from the sky. + +"These sudden accessions of water raise stupendous waves which sweep off +in every direction, and that explains the billows that we have +encountered." + +"Well, this nebular navigation beats all my experience," said Captain Arms, +wiping the water out of his eyes. "I was struck by a waterspout once in +the Indian Ocean, and I thought that that capped the climax, but it was +only a catspaw to this. Give me a clear offing and I don't care how much +wind blows, but blow me if I want to get under any more lakes in the sky." + +"We'll have to take whatever comes," returned Cosmo, "but I don't think +there is much danger of running directly into many of these downpours as +we did into this one. Now that we know what they are, we can, perhaps, +detect them long enough in advance to steer out of their way. Anyhow, +we've got a good vessel under our feet. Anything but an ark of levium +would have gone under for good, and if I had not covered the vessel with +the dome there would have been no chance for a soul in her." + +As a matter of fact, the Ark did not encounter any more of the columns of +descending water, but the frequent billows that were met showed that they +were careering over the face of the swollen sea in every direction. + +But there was another trouble of a different nature. The absence of sun +and stars deprived them of the ordinary means of discovering their place. +They could only make a rough guess as to the direction in which they were +going. The gyrostatic compasses gave them considerable assistance, and +they had perfect chronometers, but these latter could be of no use without +celestial observations of some kind. + +At length Cosmo devised a means of obtaining observations that were of +sufficient value to partially serve their purpose. He found that while +the disk of the sun was completely hidden in the watery sky, yet it was +possible to determine its location by means of the varying intensity of +the light. + +Where the sun was a concentrated glow appeared, shading gradually off on +all sides. With infinite pains Cosmo, assisted by the experience of the +captain, succeeded in determining the center of the maximum illumination, +and, assuming that to represent the true place of the sun, they got +something in the nature of observations for altitude and azimuth, and +Captain Arms even drew on his chart "Sumner lines" to determine the +position of the Ark, although he smiled at the thought of their absurd +inaccuracy. Still, it was the best they could do, and was better than +nothing at all. + +They kept a log going also, although, as the captain pointed out, it was +not of much use to know how fast they were traveling, since they could not +know the precise direction, within a whole point of the compass, or perhaps +several points. + +"Besides," he remarked, "what do we know of the currents? This is not the +old Atlantic. If I could feel the Gulf Stream I'd know whereabouts I was, +but these currents come from all directions, and a man might as well try +to navigate in a tub of boiling water." + +"But we can, at least, keep working eastward," said Cosmo. "My idea is +first to make enough southing to get into the latitude of the Sahara +Desert, and then run directly east, so as to cross Africa where there are +no mountains, and where we shall be certain of having plenty of water under +our keel. + +"Then, having got somewhere in the neighborhood of Suez, we can steer +down into the region of the Indian Ocean, and circle round south of the +Himalayas. I want to keep an eye on those mountains, and stay around the +place where they disappear, because that will be the first part of the +earth to emerge from the flood and it is there that we shall ultimately +make land." + +"Well, we're averaging eight knots," said the captain, "and at that rate +we ought to be in the longitude of the African coast in about twenty days. +How high will the water stand then?" + +"My gages show," replied Cosmo, "that the regular fall amounts to exactly +the same thing as at the beginning--two inches a minute. Of course the +spouts increase the amount locally, but I don't think that they add +materially to the general rise of the flood. Two inches per minute means +4,800 feet in twenty days. That'll be sufficient to make safe navigation +for us all the way across northern Africa. We'll have to be careful in +getting out into the Indian Ocean area, for there are mountains on both +sides that might give us trouble, but the higher ones will still be in +sight, and they will serve to indicate the location of the lower ranges +already submerged, but not covered deeply enough to afford safe going over +them." + +"All right," said Captain Arms, "you're the commodore, but if we don't +hang our timbers on the Mountains of the Moon, or the Alps, or old Ararat, +I'm a porpoise. Why can't you keep circling round at a safe distance, in +the middle of the Atlantic, until all these reefs get a good depth of +water on 'em?" + +"Because," Cosmo replied, "even if we keep right on now it will probably +take two months, allowing for delays in getting round dangerous places, +to come within sight of the Himalayas, and in two months the flood will +have risen nearly 15,000 feet, thus hiding many of the landmarks. If we +should hold off here a couple of months before starting eastward nothing +but the one highest peak on the globe would be left in sight by the time +we arrived there, and that wouldn't be anything more than a rock, so that +with the uncertainty of our navigation we might not be able to find it at +all. I must know the spot where Tibet sinks, and then manage to keep in +its neighborhood." + +That ended the argument. + +"Give me a safe port, with lights and bearings, and I'll undertake to hit +it anywhere in the two hemispheres, but blow me if I fancy steering for +the top of the world by dead reckoning, or no reckoning at all," grumbled +the captain. + +At night, of course, they had not even the slight advantage that their +observations of the probable place of the sun gave them when it was above +the horizon. Then they had to go solely by the indications of the compass. +Still, they forged steadily ahead, and when they got into what they deemed +the proper latitude, they ran for the site of the drowned Sahara. + +After about a week the billowing motion caused by the descent of the "lakes +in the sky" ceased entirely, to their great delight, but the lawless nebula +was now preparing another surprise for them. + +On the ninth night after their departure from their lodgment on the +Palisades Cosmo Versál was sleeping in his bunk close by the bridge, where +he could be called in an instant, dreaming perhaps of the glories of the +new world that was to emerge out of the deluge, when he was abruptly +awakened by the voice of Captain Arms, who appeared to be laboring under +uncontrollable excitement. + +"Tumble up quicker'n you ever did in your life!" he exclaimed, his big +brown beard wagging almost in Cosmo's face. "The flood's over!" + +Cosmo sprang out of bed and pulled on his coat in a second. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"Look for yourself," said the captain, pointing overhead. + +Cosmo Versál glanced up and saw the sky ablaze with stars! The rain had +entirely ceased. The surface of the sea was almost as smooth as glass, +though rising and falling slowly, with a long, rolling motion. The Ark +rode steadily, shivering, like an ocean liner, under the impulse of its +engines, and the sudden silence, succeeding the ceaseless roar of the +downpour, which had never been out of their ears from the start of the +voyage, seemed supernatural. + +"When did this happen?" he demanded. + +"It began not more than five minutes ago. I was just saying to myself that +we ought to be somewhere near the center of the old Atlantic as it used to +be, and wondering whether we had got our course laid right to go fairly +between the Canaries and the Cape de Verdes, for I didn't want to be +harpooned by Gogo or the Peak of Teneriffe, when all of a sudden there +came a lightening in the nor'east and the stars broke out there. + +"I was so set aback that I didn't do anything for two or three minutes but +stare at the stars. Then the rain stopped and a curtain seemed to roll off +the sky, and in a minute more it was clear down to the horizon all around. +Then I got my wits together and ran to call you." + +Cosmo glanced around and above, seeming to be as much astonished as the +captain had been. He rubbed his huge bald dome and looked all round again +before speaking. At last he said: + +"It's the nebula again. There must be a hole in it." + +"Its whole bottom's knocked out, I reckon," said the captain. "Maybe it's +run out of water--sort o' squeezed itself dry." + +Cosmo shook his head. + +"We are not yet in the heart of it," he said. "It is evident to me now that +what I took for the nucleus was only a close-coiled spiral, and we're run +out of that, but the worst is yet to come. When we strike the center, then +we'll catch it, and there'll be no more intermissions." + +"How long will that be?" inquired Captain Arms. + +"It may be a week, and it may be a month, though I hardly think it will be +so long as that. The earth is going about twelve miles a second--that's +more than a million miles a day--directly toward the center of the nebula. +It has taken ten days to go through the spiral that we have encountered, +making that about ten million miles thick. It's not likely that the gap +between this spiral and the nucleus of the nebula is more than thirty +million miles across, at the most; so you see we'll probably be in the +nucleus within a month, and possibly much less than a month." + +Captain Arms took a chew of tobacco. + +"We can get our bearings now," he remarked. "Look, there's the moon just +rising, and on my word, she is going to occult Aldebaran within an hour. +I'll get an observation for longitude, and another on Polaris for latitude. +No running on submerged mountains for us now." + +The captain was as good as his word, and when his observations had been +made and the calculations completed he announced that the position of the +Ark was: Latitude, 16 degrees 10 minutes north; longitude, 42 degrees 28 +minutes west. + +"Lucky for us," he exclaimed, "that the sky cleared. If we'd kept on as +we were going we'd have struck the Cape de Verdes, and if that had +happened at night we'd probably have left our bones on a drowning volcano. +We ought to have been ten or twelve degrees farther north to make a safe +passage over the Sahara. What's the course now? Are you still for running +down the Himalaya mountains?" + +"I'll decide later what to do," said Cosmo Versál. "Make your northing, +and then we'll cruise around a little and see what's best to be done." + +When day came on, brilliant with sunshine, and the astonished passengers, +hurrying out of their bunks, crowded about the now opened gangways and the +portholes, which Cosmo had also ordered to be opened, and gazed with +delight upon the smooth blue sea, the utmost enthusiasm took possession of +them. + +The flood was over! + +They were sure of it, and they shook hands with one another and +congratulated themselves and hurrahed, and gave cheers for the Ark and +cheers for Cosmo Versál. Then they began to think of their drowned homes +and of their lost friends, and sadness followed joy. Cosmo was mobbed by +eager inquiries wherever he made his appearance. + +Was it all over for good? Would the flood dry up in a few days? How long +would it be before New York would be free of water? Were they going right +back there? Did he think there was a chance that many had escaped in boats +and ships? Couldn't they pick up the survivors if they hurried back? + +Cosmo tried to check the enthusiasm. + +"It's too early for rejoicing," he assured them. "It's only a break in +the nebula. We've got a respite for a short time, but there's worse +coming. The drowning of the world will proceed. We are the only +survivors, except perhaps some of those who inhabited the highlands. +Everything less than 2,400 feet above the former level of the sea is now +under water. When the flood begins again it will keep on until it is +six miles deep over the old sea margins." + +"Why not go back and try to rescue those who you say may have found +safety on the highlands?" asked one. + +"I have chosen my company," he said, "and I had good reasons for the +choice I made. I have already added to the number, because simple humanity +compelled me, but I can take no more. The quantity of provisions aboard +the Ark is not greater than will be needed by ourselves. If the rest of +the world is drowned it is not my fault. I did my best to warn them. +Besides, we could do nothing in the way of rescue even if we should go +back for that purpose. We could not approach the submerged plateaus. We +would be aground before we got within sight of them." + +These words went far to change the current of feeling among the +passengers. When they learned that there would be danger for themselves +in the course that had been proposed their humanity proved to be less +strong than their desire for self-preservation. Nevertheless, as we shall +see, the Ark ultimately went back to America, though not for any reason +that had yet been suggested. + +Meanwhile the unexpected respite furnished by the sudden cessation of the +downpour from the sky had other important results, to which we now turn. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + +When Professor Abiel Pludder indited his savage response to Cosmo +Versál's invitation to become one of the regenerators of mankind by +embarking in the Ark, he was expressing his professional prejudice rather +than his intellectual conviction. As Cosmo had remarked, Pludder had a +good brain and great scientific acuteness, and, although he did not +believe in the nebular theory of a flood, and was obstinately opposed to +everything that was not altogether regular and according to recognized +authority in science, yet he could not shut his eyes to the fact that +something was going wrong in the machinery of the heavens. But it annoyed +him to find that his own explanations were always falsified by the event, +while Cosmo Versál seemed to have a superhuman foreglimpse of whatever +happened. + +His pride would not allow him to recede from the position that he had +taken, but he could not free himself from a certain anxiety about the +future. After he had refused Cosmo Versál's invitation, the course of +events strengthened this anxiety. He found that the official +meteorologists were totally unable to account for the marvelous vagaries +of the weather. + +Finally, when the news came of tremendous floods in the north, and of the +overflowing of Hudson Bay, he secretly determined to make some +preparations of his own. He still rejected the idea of a watery nebula, +but he began to think it possible that all the lowlands of the earth might +be overflowed by the sea, and by the melting of mountain snows and +glaciers, together with deluging rainfall. After what had passed, he could +not think of making any public confession of his change of heart, but his +sense of humanity compelled him to give confidential warning to his friends +that it would be well to be prepared to get on high ground at a moment's +notice. + +He was on the point of issuing, but without his signature, an official +statement cautioning the public against unprecedented inundations, when the +first tidal wave arrived on the Atlantic coast and rendered any utterance +of that kind unnecessary. People's eyes were opened, and now they would +look out for themselves. + +Pludder's private preparations amounted to no more than the securing of a +large express aero, in which, if the necessity for suddenly leaving +Washington should arise, he intended to take flight, together with +President Samson, who was his personal friend, and a number of other close +friends, with their families. He did not think that it would be necessary, +in any event, to go farther than the mountains of Virginia. + +The rising of the sea, mounting higher at each return, at length convinced +him that the time had come to get away. Hundreds of air craft had already +departed westward, not only from Washington, but from New York, +Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and other seaboard cities, before +Professor Pludder assembled his friends by telephone on the Capitol +grounds, where his aero was waiting. + +The lower streets of the city were under water from the overflow of the +Potomac, which was backed up by the influx of the Atlantic into Chesapeake +Bay, and the most distressing scenes were enacted there, people fleeing in +the utmost disorder toward higher ground, carrying their children and some +of their household goods, and uttering doleful cries. Many, thinking that +the best way to escape, embarked in frail boats on the river, which was +running up-stream with frightful velocity, and rising perceptibly higher +every second. Most of these boats were immediately overturned or swamped. + +If the start had been delayed but a little longer, the aero would have been +mobbed by the excited people, who uttered yells of disappointment and rage +when they saw it rise from its tower and sail over the city. It was the +last airship that left Washington, and it carried the last persons who +escaped from the national capital before the downpour from the atmosphere +began which put an end to all possibility of getting away. + +There were on board, in addition to a crew of three, twenty-two persons. +These included President Samson, with his wife and three children, seven +other men with their families, making, together, sixteen persons, and +Professor Pludder, who had no family. + +More because they wished to escape from the painful scenes beneath them +than because they deemed that there was any occasion for particular haste, +they started off at high speed, and it was probably lucky for them that +this speed was maintained after they had left Washington out of sight. +They rapidly approached the Blue Ridge in the neighborhood of Luray, and +Pludder was about to order a landing there as night was approaching, when +with great suddenness the sky filled with dense clouds and a tremendous +downpour began. This was the same phenomenon which has already been +described as following closely the attack at New York on Cosmo Versál's +Ark. + +The aero, luckily, was one of the best type, and well covered, so that they +were protected from the terrible force of the rain, but in the tumult there +could be no more thought of descending. It would have been impossible to +make a landing in the midst of the storm and the pouring water, which +rushed in torrents down the mountainside. Professor Pludder was a brave man +and full of resources when driven into a corner. Being familiar with the +construction and management of aeros, for he had been educated as an +engineer, he now took charge of the airship. + +Within twenty minutes after the sky had opened its batteries--for the rain +had almost the force of plunging shot--a mighty wind arose, and the aero, +pitching, tossing, and dipping like a mad thing, was driven with frightful +speed eastward. This wild rush continued for more than an hour. By this +time it was full night, and the pouring rain around them was as +impenetrable to the sight as a black wall. + +They had their electric lamps inside, and their searchlights, but it was +impossible to tell where they were. Pludder turned the searchlight +downward, but he could not make out the features of the ground beneath +them. It is likely that they were driven at least as far as Chesapeake Bay, +and they may have passed directly over Washington. + +At last, however, the wind slewed round, and began to blow with +undiminished violence from the northeast. Plunging and swerving, and +sometimes threatened with a complete somersault, the aero hurried away in +its crazy flight, while its unfortunate inmates clung to one another, and +held on by any object within reach, in the endeavor to keep from being +dashed against the metallic walls. + +The crew of the aero were picked men, but no experience could have +prepared them for the work which they now had to do. Without the ready +brain of Professor Pludder to direct their efforts, and without his +personal exertions, their aerial ship would have been wrecked within a +quarter of an hour after the storm struck it. He seemed transformed into +another person. Hatless and coatless, and streaming with water, he worked +like a demon. He was ready at each emergency with some device which, under +his direction, had the effect of magic. + +A hundred times the aero plunged for the ground, but was saved and turned +upward again just as it seemed on the point of striking. Up and down, +right and left, it ran and pitched and whirled, like a cork in a whirlpool. +Sometimes it actually skimmed the ground, plowing its way through a +torrent of rushing water, and yet it rose again and was saved from +destruction. + +This terrible contest lasted another hour after the turning of the wind, +and then the latter died out. Relieved from its pressure, the aero ran on +with comparative ease. Professor Pludder, suspecting that they might now +be getting into a mountainous district, made every effort to keep the +craft at a high elevation, and this, notwithstanding the depressing force +of the rain, they succeeded in doing. After the dying out of the wind they +kept on, by the aid of their propellers, in the same direction in which it +had been driving them, because, in the circumstances, one way was as good +as another. + +The terrible discomfort of the President and his companions in the cabin +of the aero was greatly relieved by the cessation of the wind, but still +they were in a most unfortunate state. The rain, driven by the fierce +blasts, had penetrated through every crevice, and they were drenched to +the skin. No one tried to speak, for it would have been almost impossible +to make oneself heard amid the uproar. They simply looked at one another +in dismay and prayed for safety. + +Professor Pludder, not now compelled to spend every moment in the +management of the craft, entered the cabin occasionally, pressed the hand +of the President, smiled encouragingly on the women and children, and did +all he could, in pantomime, to restore some degree of confidence. Inside, +the lights were aglow, but outside it was as dark as pitch, except where +the broad finger of the searchlight, plunging into the mass of tumbling +water, glittered and flashed. + +The awful night seemed endless, but at last a pale illumination appeared +in the air, and they knew that day had come. The spectacle of the skyey +deluge was now so terrible that it struck cold even to their already +benumbed hearts. The atmosphere seemed to have been turned into a mighty +cataract thundering down upon the whole face of the earth. Now that they +could see as well as hear, the miracle of the preservation of the aero +appeared incredible. + +As the light slowly brightened, Professor Pludder, constantly on the +outlook, caught a glimpse of a dark, misty object ahead. It loomed up so +suddenly, and was already so close, that before he could sufficiently +alter the course of the aero, it struck with such violence as to crush +the forward end of the craft and break one of the aeroplanes. Everybody +was pitched headforemost, those inside falling on the flooring, while +Pludder and the three men of the crew were thrown out upon a mass of +rocks. All were more or less seriously injured, but none was killed or +totally disabled. + +Pludder sprang to his feet, and, slipping and plunging amid the downpour, +managed to get back to the wreck and aid the President and the others to +get upon their feet. + +"We're lodged on a mountain!" he yelled. "Stay inside, under the shelter +of the roof!" + +The three men who, together with the professor, had been precipitated out +among the rocks, also scrambled in, and there they stood, or sat, the most +disconsolate and despairing group of human beings that ever the eye of an +overseeing Providence looked down upon. + +The President presented the most pitiable sight of all. Like the rest, +his garments were sopping, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was ghastly, +and his tall silk hat, which he had jammed down upon his brow, had been +softened by the water and crushed by repeated blows into the form of a +closed accordion. Of the women and children it is needless to speak; no +description could convey an idea of their condition. + +In these circumstances, the real strength of Professor Abiel Pludder's +mind was splendidly displayed. He did not lose his head, and he +comprehended the situation, and what it was necessary to do, in a flash. +He got out some provisions and distributed them to the company, in some +cases actually forcing them to eat. With his own hands he prepared coffee, +with the apparatus always carried by express aeros, and made them drink +it. + +When all had thus been refreshed he approached President Samson and +shouted in his ear: + +"We shall have to stay here until the downpour ceases. To guard against the +effects of a tempest, if one should arise, we must secure the aero in its +place. For that I need the aid of every man in the party. We have, +fortunately, struck in a spot on the mountain where we are out of the way +of the torrents of water that are pouring down through the ravines on +either side. We can make our lodgment secure, but we must go to work +immediately." + +Stimulated by his example, the President and the others set to work, and +with great difficulty, for they had to guard their eyes and nostrils from +the driving rain, which, sometimes, in spite of their precautions, nearly +smothered them, they succeeded in fastening the aero to the rocks by means +of metallic cables taken from its stores. When this work was finished they +returned under the shelter of the cabin roof and lay down exhausted. So +worn out were they that all of them quickly fell into a troubled sleep. + +It would be needless to relate in detail the sufferings, mental and +physical, that they underwent during the next ten days. While they were +hanging there on the mountain the seaboard cities of the world were +drowned, and Cosmo Versál's Ark departed on the remarkable voyage that has +been described in a former chapter. They had plenty of provisions, for the +aero had been well stored, but partly through precaution and partly because +of lack of appetite they ate sparingly. The electric generators of the aero +had not been injured in the wreck of the craft, and they were able to +supply themselves with sufficient heat, and with light inside the cabin at +night. + +Once they had a strange visitor--a half-drowned bear, which had +struggled up the mountain from its den somewhere below--but that was the +only living creature beside themselves that they saw. After gazing +wistfully at the aero from the top of a rock the poor bear, fighting the +choking rain with its soaked paws, stumbled into one of the torrents that +poured furiously down on each side, and was swept from their sight. + +Fortunately, the wind that they had anticipated did not come, but +frequently they saw or heard the roaring downpours of solid watery +columns like those that had so much astonished Cosmo Versál and Captain +Arms in the midst of the Atlantic, but none came very near them. + +Professor Pludder ventured out from time to time, clambering a little way +up and down the projecting ridge of the mountain on which they were lodged, +and at length was able to assure his companions that they were on the +northwestern face of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak of the Appalachian +range. With the aid of his pocket aneroid, making allowance for the +effect of the lifting of the whole atmosphere by the flood, and summoning +his knowledge of the locality--for he had explored, in former years, all +the mountains in this region--he arrived at the conclusion that their +place of refuge was elevated about four thousand feet above the former +level of the sea. + +At first their range of vision did not allow them to see the condition of +the valleys below them, but as the water crept higher it gradually came +into view. It rose steadily up the slopes beneath, which had already been +stripped of their covering of trees and vegetation by the force of the +descending torrents, until on the tenth day it had arrived almost within +reach. Since, as has just been said, they were four thousand feet above +the former level of the sea, it will be observed that the water must +have been rising much more rapidly than the measurements of Cosmo Versál +indicated. Its average rate of rise had been three instead of two inches +per minute, and the world was buried deeper than Cosmo thought. The cause +of his error will be explained later. + +The consternation of the little party when they thus beheld the rapid +drowning of the world below them, and saw no possibility of escape for +themselves if the water continued to advance, as it evidently would do, +cannot be depicted. Some of them were driven insane, and were with +difficulty prevented by those who retained their senses from throwing +themselves into the flood. + +Pludder was the only one who maintained a command over his nerves, +although he now at last _believed in the nebula_. He recognized that there +was no other possible explanation of the flood than that which Cosmo Versál +had offered long before it began. In his secret heart he had no expectation +of ultimate escape, yet he was strong enough to continue to encourage his +companions with hopes which he could not himself entertain. + +When, after nightfall on the tenth day, the water began to lap the lower +parts of the aero, he was on the point of persuading the party to clamber +up the rocks in search of the shelter above, but as he stepped out of the +door of the cabin to reconnoiter the way, with the aid of the searchlight +which he had turned up along the ridge, he was astonished to find the rain +rapidly diminishing in force; and a few minutes later it ceased entirely, +and the stars shone out. + +The sudden cessation of the roar upon the roof brought everybody to their +feet, and before Professor Pludder could communicate the good news all +were out under the sky, rejoicing and offering thanks for their +deliverance. The women were especially affected. They wept in one +another's arms, or convulsively clasped their children to their breasts. + +At length the President found his voice. + +"What has happened?" he asked. + +Professor Pludder, with the new light that had come to him, was as ready +with an explanation as Cosmo Versál himself had been under similar +circumstances. + +"We must have run out of the nebula." + +"The nebula!" returned Mr. Samson in surprise. "Has there been a nebula, +then?" + +"Without question," was the professor's answer. "Nothing but an encounter +with a watery nebula could have had such a result." + +"But you always said----" began the President. + +"Yes," Pludder broke in, "but one may be in error sometimes." + +"Then, Cosmo Versál----" + +"Let us not discuss Cosmo Versál," exclaimed Professor Pludder, with a +return of his old dictatorial manner. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + +Morning dawned brilliantly on Mount Mitchell and revealed to the +astonished eyes of the watchers an endless expanse of water, gleaming and +sparkling in the morning sunlight. It was a spectacle at once beautiful +and fearful, and calculated to make their hearts sink with pity no less +than with terror. But for a time they were distracted from the awful +thoughts which such a sight must inspire by anxiety concerning themselves. +They could not drive away the fear that, at any moment, the awful clouds +might return and the terrible downpour be resumed. + +But Professor Pludder, whose comprehension of the cause of the deluge was +growing clearer the more he thought about it, did not share the anxiety +of the President and the others. + +"The brightness of the sky," he said, "shows that there is no considerable +quantity of condensing vapor left in the atmosphere. If the earth has run +out of the nebula, that is likely to be the end of the thing. If there is +more of the nebulous matter in surrounding space we may miss it entirely, +or, if not, a long time would elapse before we came upon it. + +"The gaps that exist in nebulae are millions of miles across, and the +earth would require days and weeks to go such distances, granting that it +were traveling in the proper direction. I think it altogether probable +that this nebula, which must be a small one as such things go, consists +of a single mass, and that, having traversed it, we are done with it. We +are out of our troubles." + +"Well, hardly," said the President. "Here we are, prisoners on a mountain, +with no way of getting down, the whole land beneath being turned into a +sea. We can't stay here indefinitely. For how long a time are we +provisioned?" + +"We have compressed food enough to last this party a month," replied +Professor Pludder; "that is to say, if we are sparing of it. For water we +cannot lack, since this that surrounds us is not salt, and if it were we +could manage to distil it. But, of course, when I said we were out of our +troubles I meant only that there was no longer any danger of being +swallowed up by the flood. It is true that we cannot think of remaining +here. We must get off." + +"But how? Where can we go?" + +Professor Pludder thought a long time before he answered this question. +Finally he said, measuring his words: + +"The water is four thousand feet above the former level of the sea. There +is no land sufficiently lofty to rise above it this side of the Colorado +plateau." + +"And how far is that?" + +"Not less than eleven hundred miles in an air line." + +The President shuddered. + +"Then, all this vast country of ours from here to the feet of the Rocky +Mountains is now under water thousands of feet deep!" + +"There can be no doubt of it. The Atlantic Coast States, the Southern +States, the Mississippi Valley, the region of the Great Lakes, and Canada +are now a part of the Atlantic Ocean." + +"And all the great cities--gone! Merciful Father! What a thought!" + +The President mused for a time, and gradually a frown came upon his brow. +He glanced at Professor Pludder with a singular look. Then his cheek +reddened, and an angry expression came into his eyes. Suddenly he turned +to the professor and said sternly: + +"You said you did not wish to discuss Cosmo Versál. I should not think +you would! Who predicted this deluge? Did _you_?" + +"I----" began Professor Pludder, taken aback by the President's manner. + +"Oh, yes," interrupted the President, "I know what you would say. You +didn't predict it because you didn't see it coming. But _why_ didn't +you see it? What have we got observatories and scientific societies +for if they can't _see_ or _comprehend_ anything? Didn't Cosmo Versál +warn you? Didn't he tell you where to look, and what to look for? Didn't +he show you his proofs?" + +"We thought they were fallacious," stammered Professor Pludder. + +"You _thought_ they were fallacious--well, _were_ they fallacious? Does +this spectacle of a nation drowned look 'fallacious' to you? Why didn't +you study the matter until you understood it? Why did you issue +officially, and with my ignorant sanction--may God forgive me for my +blindness!--statement after statement, assuring the people that there was +no danger--statements that were even abusive toward him who alone should +have been heard? + +"And yet, as now appears, you knew nothing about it. Millions upon millions +have perished through your obstinate opposition to the truth. They might +have saved themselves if they had been permitted to listen to the many +times reiterated warnings of Cosmo Versál. + +"Oh, if _I_ had only listened to him, and issued a proclamation as he urged +me to do! But I followed _your_ advice--_you_, in whose learning and +pretended science I put blind faith! _Abiel Pludder, I would not have upon +my soul the weight that now rests on yours for all the wealth that the lost +world carried down into its watery grave!_" + +As the President ceased speaking he turned away and sank upon a rock, +pressing his hands upon his throat to suppress the sobs that broke forth +despite his efforts. His form shook like an aspen. + +The others crowded around excitedly, some of the women in hysterics, and +the men not knowing what to do or say. Professor Pludder, completely +overwhelmed by the suddenness and violence of the attack, went off by +himself and sat down with his head in his hands. After a while he arose +and approached the President, who had not moved from his place on the +rock. + +"George," he said--they had known each other from boyhood--"I have made a +terrible mistake. And yet I was not alone in it. The majority of my +colleagues were of my opinion, as were all the learned societies of +Europe. No such thing as a watery nebula has ever been known to science. +It was inconceivable." + +"Some of your colleagues did not think so," said the President, looking +up. + +"But they were not really convinced, and they were aware that they were +flying in the face of all known laws." + +"I am afraid," said the President dryly, "that science does not know all +the laws of the universe yet." + +"I repeat," resumed Professor Pludder, "that I made a fearful mistake. I +have recognized the truth too late. I accept the awful burden of blame +that rests upon me, and I now wish to do everything in my power to +retrieve the consequences of my terrible error." + +The President arose and grasped the professor's hand. + +"Forgive me, Abiel," he said, with emotion, "if I have spoken too much in +the manner of a judge pronouncing sentence. I was overwhelmed by the +thought of the inconceivable calamity that has come upon us. I believe +that you acted conscientiously and according to your best lights, and it +is not for any mortal to judge you for an error thus committed. Let us +think only of what _we_ must do now." + +"To that thought," responded Professor Pludder, returning the pressure of +the President's hand, "I shall devote all my energy. If I can save only +this little party I shall have done something in the way of atonement." + +It was a deep humiliation for a man of Professor Pludder's proud and +uncompromising nature to confess that he had committed an error more +fearful in its consequences than had ever been laid at the door of a human +being, but Cosmo Versál had rightly judged him when he assured Joseph +Smith that Pludder was morally sound, and, in a scientific sense, had +the root of the matter in him. When his mental vision was clear, and +unclouded by prejudice, no one was more capable of high achievements. + +He quickly proved his capacity now, as he had already proved it during +the preceding, adventures of the President's party. It was perfectly plain +to him that their only chance was in getting to Colorado at the earliest +possible moment. The eastern part of the continent was hopelessly buried, +and even on the high plains of the Middle West the fury of the downpour +might have spread universal disaster and destroyed nearly all the +vegetation; but, in any event, it was there alone that the means of +prolonging life could be sought. + +With the problem squarely before his mind, he was not long in finding a +solution. His first step was to make a thorough examination of the aero, +with the hope that the damage that it had suffered might be reparable. He +had all the tools that would be needed, as it was the custom for express +aeros to carry a complete equipment for repairs; but unfortunately one of +the planes of the aero was wrecked beyond the possibility of repair. He +knew upon what delicate adjustments the safety of the modern airship +depended, and he did not dare undertake a voyage with a lame craft. + +Then the idea occurred to him of trying to escape by water. The aero was +a machine of the very latest type, and made of levium, consequently it +would float better than wood. + +If the opposition of shipbuilders, incited and backed by selfish interests, +had not prevented the employment of levium in marine construction, millions +of lives might now have been saved; but, as we have before said, only a +few experimental boats of levium had been made. + +Moreover, like all aeros intended for long trips, this one had what was +called a "boat-bottom," intended to enable it to remain afloat with its +burden in case of an accidental fall into a large body of water. Pludder +saw that this fact would enable him to turn the wreck into a raft. + +It would only be necessary to reshape the craft a little, and this was the +easier because the aero was put together in such a manner with screw-bolts +and nuts that it could be articulated or disarticulated as readily as a +watch. He had entire confidence in his engineering skill, and in the +ability of the three experienced men of the crew to aid him. He decided to +employ the planes for outriders, which would serve to increase the +buoyancy and stability. + +As soon as he had completed his plan in his mind he explained his +intentions to the President. The latter and the other members of the party +were at first as much startled as surprised by the idea of embarking on a +voyage of eleven hundred miles in so questionable a craft, but Professor +Pludder assured them that everything would go well. + +"But how about the propulsion?" asked Mr. Samson. "You can't depend on the +wind, and we've got no sails." + +"I have thought that all out," said Pludder. "I shall use the engine, and +rearrange one of the aerial screws so that it will serve for a propeller. +I do not expect to get up any great speed, but if we can make only as much +as two miles an hour we shall arrive on the borders of the Colorado upland, +five thousand feet above sea, within about twenty-three days. We may be +able to do better than that." + +Nobody felt much confidence in this scheme except its inventor, but it +appeared to be the only thing that could be done, and so they all fell to +work, each aiding as best he could, and after four days of hard work the +remarkable craft was ready for its adventurous voyage. + +Professor Pludder had succeeded even better than he anticipated in +transforming one of the aerial screws into a propeller. Its original +situation was such that it naturally, as it were, fell into the proper +place when the "hull" was partly submerged, and, the blades being made of +concentric rows of small plates, there was no difficulty in reducing them +to a manageable size. The position of the engine did not need to be +shifted at all. + +The "outriders," made up of the discarded planes, promised to serve their +purpose well, and the cabin remained for a comfortable "deck-house." A +rudder had been contrived by an alteration of the one which had served for +guiding the aero in its flights. + +The water was close to their feet, and there was no great difficulty in +pushing the affair off the rocks and getting it afloat. The women and +children were first put aboard, and then the men scrambled in, and Pludder +set the motors going. The improvised propeller churned and spluttered, +but it did its work after a fashion, and, under a blue sky, in dazzling +sunshine, with a soft southerly breeze fanning the strange sea that +spread around them, they soon saw the bared rocks and deeply scored +flanks of Mount Mitchell receding behind them. + +They were delighted to find that they were making, at the very start, no +less than three miles an hour. Pludder clapped his hands and exclaimed: + +"This is capital! In but little over two weeks we shall be safe on the +great plains. I have good hope that many have survived there, and that we +shall find a plenty of everything needed. With the instruments that were +aboard the aero I can make observations to determine our position, and I +shall steer for the Pike's Peak region." + +When the party had become accustomed to their situation, and had gained +confidence in their craft by observing how buoyantly it bore them, they +became almost cheerful in their demeanor. The children gradually lost all +fear, and, with the thoughtless joy of childhood in the pleasures and +wonders of the present moment, amused themselves in the cabin, and about +the deck, which had been surrounded with guard lines made of wire cable. + +The water was almost waveless, and, if no storm should arise, there +appeared to be no reason for anxiety concerning the outcome of their +adventure. But as they drove slowly on over the submerged range of the +Great Smokies, and across the valleys of Eastern Tennessee, and then over +the Cumberland range, and so out above the lowlands, they could not keep +their thoughts from turning to what lay beneath that fearful ocean. And +occasionally something floated to the surface that wrenched their +heart-strings and caused them to avert their faces. + +Professor Pludder kept them informed of their location. Now they were over +central Tennessee; now Nashville lay more than three thousand feet beneath +their keel; now they were crossing the valley of the Tennessee River; now +the great Mississippi was under them, hidden deep beneath the universal +flood; now they were over the highlands of southern Missouri; and now over +those of Kansas. + +"George," said Professor Pludder one day, addressing the President, with +more emotion than was often to be detected in his voice, "would you like +to know what is beneath us now?" + +"What is it, Abiel?" + +"Our boyhood home--Wichita." + +The President bowed his head upon his hands and groaned. + +"Yes," continued Professor Pludder musingly, "there it lies, three thousand +feet deep. There is the Arkansas, along whose banks we used to play, with +its golden waters now mingling feebly with the mighty flood that covers +them. There is the schoolhouse and the sandy road where we ran races +barefoot in the hot summer dust. There is your father's house, and mine, +and the homes of all our early friends--and where are _they?_ Would to God +that I had not been so blind!" + +"But there was another not so blind," said the President, with something +of the condemnatory manner of his former speech. + +"I know it--I know it too well now," returned the professor. "But do not +condemn me, George, for what I did not foresee and could not help." + +"I am sorry," said the President sadly, "that you have awakened these old +memories. But I do not condemn you, though I condemn your science--or your +lack of science. But we can do nothing. Let us speak of it no more." + +The weather was wonderful, considering what had so recently occurred. No +clouds formed in the sky, there was only a gentle breeze stirring, at +night the heavens glittered with starry gems, and by day the sun shone so +hotly that awnings were spread over those whose duties required them to be +employed outside the shelter of the cabin. The improvised propeller and +rudder worked to admiration, and some days they made as much as eighty +miles in the twenty-four hours. + +At length, on the fourteenth day of their strange voyage, they caught +sight of a curiously shaped "pike" that projected above the horizon far to +the west. At the same time they saw, not far away toward the north and +toward the south, a low line, like a sea-beach. + +"We are getting into shallow water now," said Professor Pludder. "I have +been following the course of the Arkansas in order to be sure of a +sufficient depth, but now we must be very careful. We are close to the +site of Las Animas, which is surrounded with land rising four thousand +feet above sea-level. If we should get aground there would be no hope for +us. That pike in the distance is Pike's Peak." + +"And what is that long line of beach that stretches on the north and +south?" asked the President. + +"It is the topographic line of four thousand feet," replied the +professor. + +"And we shall encounter it ahead?" + +"Yes, it makes a curve about Las Animas, and then the land lies at an +average elevation of four thousand feet, until it takes another rise +beyond Pueblo." + +"But we cannot sail across this half-submerged area," said the President. + +"There are depressions," Professor Pludder responded, "and I hope to be +able to follow their traces until we reach land that still lies well +above the water." + +Near nightfall they got so close to the "beach" that they could hear the +surf, not a thundering sound, but a soft, rippling wash of the slight +waves. The water about them was ruddy with thick sediment. Professor +Pludder did not dare to venture farther in the coming darkness, and he +dropped overboard two of the aero's grapples, which he had heavily +weighted and attached to wire cables. They took the ground at a depth of +only ten feet. There was no wind and no perceptible current, and so they +rode all night at anchor off this strangest of coasts. + +At daybreak they lifted their anchors, and went in search of the +depressions of which the professor had spoken. So accurate was his +topographic knowledge and so great his skill, that late in the afternoon +they saw a tall chimney projecting above the water a little ahead. + +"There's all that remains of Pueblo," said Professor Pludder. + +They anchored again that night, and the next day, cautiously approaching +a bluff that arose precipitously from the water, their hearts were +gladdened by the sight of three men, standing on a bluff, excitedly +beckoning to them, and shouting at the top of their voices. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MUTINY IN THE ARK + + +We left Cosmo Versál and his arkful of the flower of mankind in the midst +of what was formerly the Atlantic Ocean, but which had now expanded over +so many millions of square miles that had once been the seats of vast +empires that to an eye looking at it with a telescope from Mars it would +have been unrecognizable. + +All of eastern North America, all of South America to the feet of the +Andes, all but the highest mountains of Europe, nearly all of Africa, +except some of the highlands of the south, all of northern and +southwestern Asia, as well as the peninsula of India, all of China and +the adjacent lands and islands except the lofty peaks, the whole of +Australia, and the archipelagoes of the Pacific, had become parts of the +floor of a mighty ocean which rolled unbroken from pole to pole. + +The Great Deep had resumed its ancient reign, and what was left of the +habitable globe presented to view only far separated islands and the +serrated tops of such ranges as the Alps, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, +and the Andes. The astonished inhabitants of the ocean depths now swam +over the ruins of great cities, and brushed with their fins the chiseled +capitals of columns that had supported the proudest structures of human +hands. + +We have seen how the unexpected arrest of the flood had left Cosmo +uncertain as to the course that he ought to pursue. But he did not long +remain in doubt. He was sure that the downpour would be resumed after an +interval which at the most could not exceed a few weeks, and he resolved +to continue his way toward the future land of promise in Asia. + +But he thought that he would have time to turn his prow in the direction +of Europe, for he felt a great desire to know by actual inspection to what +height the water had attained. He was certain that it could not be less +than he had estimated--the indications of his rain-gage had been too +unvarying to admit of doubt on that point--but he had no means of direct +measurement since he could not sound the tremendous depths beneath the +Ark. + +After long meditation on the probable effects of the descending columns of +water which he had seen, he concluded that they might have added more +rapidly than he first supposed to the increase of the general level. +Besides, he reflected that there was no proof that the general downpour +might not have been greater over some parts of the earth than others. All +these doubts could be dissipated if he could get a good look at some lofty +mountain range, such as the Sierra Nevada of Spain, or the Pyrenees, or, +if he could venture within sight of them, the Alps. + +So he said to Captain Arms: + +"Steer for the coast of Europe." + +The fine weather had produced a good effect upon the spirits of the +company. Not only were the ports and the gangways all open, but Cosmo +ordered the temporary removal of rows of adjustable plates on the sides of +the vessel, which transformed the broad outer gangways, running its whole +length, into delightful promenade decks. There, in cozy chairs, and +protected with rugs, the passengers sat, fanned by a refreshing breeze, +and dazzled by the splendor of the ocean. + +They recalled, by their appearance, a shipload of summer tourists bound +for the wonders and pleasures of foreign parts. This likeness to a +pleasure cruise was heightened by the constant attentions of the crew, +under Cosmo's orders, who carried about refreshing drinks and lunches, +and conducted themselves like regular ocean "stewards." + +It seemed impossible to believe that the world had been drowned, and some +almost persuaded themselves that the whole thing was a dream. + +It must not be supposed that the thousand-odd persons who composed this +remarkable ship's company were so hard-hearted, so selfish, so forgetful, +so morally obtuse, that they never thought of the real horror of their +situation, and of the awful calamity that had overwhelmed so many millions +of their fellow-creatures. They thought of all that only too seriously +and in spite of themselves. The women especially were overwhelmed by it. +But they did not wish to dwell upon it, and Cosmo Versál did not wish that +they should. + +At night he had musicians play in the grand saloon; he distributed books +among the passengers from a large library which he had selected; and at +last he had the stage set, and invited his friends, the players, to +entertain the company. + +But he would have no plays but those of Shakespeare. + +There were, probably, not half a dozen persons in the Ark who had ever +seen representations of these great dramas, and very few who had read them, +so that they had the advantage of complete novelty. + +The play selected for the first representation was the tragedy of "King +Lear," a strange choice, it would, at first sight, seem, but Cosmo Versál +had a deep knowledge of human nature. He knew that only tragedy would be +endured there, and that it must be tragedy so profound and overmastering +that it would dominate the feelings of those who heard and beheld it. It +was the principle of immunizing therapeutics, where poison paralyzes +poison. + +It came out as he anticipated. The audience, unused to such depth of +dramatic passion, for the plays to which they had been accustomed had been +far from the Shakespearian standard, was wholly absorbed in the +development of the tragedy. It was a complete revelation to them, and they +were carried out of themselves, and found in the sympathy awakened by this +heart-crushing spectacle of the acme of human woe an unconscious solace for + their own moral anguish. + +Afterward Cosmo put upon the stage "Hamlet," and "Othello," and "Macbeth," +and "Coriolanus," and "Julius Caesar," but he avoided, for the present, the +less tragic dramas. And all of them, being new to the hearers, produced an +enormous effect. + +On alternate nights he substituted music for the drama, and, as this was +confined to the most majestic productions of the great masters of the past, +many of whose works, like those of Shakespeare, had long been neglected if +not forgotten, their power over the spirits of the company was, perhaps, +even more pronounced. + +Cosmo Versál was already beginning the education of his chosen band of +race regenerators, while he mused upon the wonders that the science of +eugenics would achieve after the world should have reemerged from the +waters. + +One of the most singular effects of the music was that produced upon the +insane billionaire, Amos Blank. He had been confined in the room that +Cosmo had assigned to him, and was soothed, whenever Cosmo could find time +to visit him, with pretended acquiescence in his crazed notion that the +trip of the Ark was part of a scheme to "corner" the resources of the +world. + +Cosmo persuaded him that the secret was unknown except to themselves, and +that it was essential to success that he (Blank) should remain in +retirement, and accordingly the latter expressed no desire to leave his +place of imprisonment, which he regarded as the headquarters of the +combination, passing hours in covering sheets of paper with columns of +figures, which he fancied represented the future profits of the +enterprise. + +One night when a symphony of Beethoven was to be played, Cosmo led Amos +Blank through the crowded saloon and placed him near the musicians. He +resisted at first, and when he saw the crowd he drew back, exclaiming: + +"What? Not overboard yet?" + +But Cosmo soothed him with some whispered promise, and he took his seat, +glancing covertly around him. Then the instruments struck up, and +immediately fixed his attention. As the musical theme developed his eyes +gradually lost their wild look, and a softened expression took its place. +He sank lower in his seat, and rested his head upon his hand. His whole +soul seemed, at last, to be absorbed in the music. When it was finished +Blank was a changed man. + +Then Cosmo clearly explained to him all that had happened. + +After the first overwhelming effect of his reawakening to the realities +of his situation had passed, the billionaire was fully restored to all +his faculties. Henceforth he mingled with the other passengers and, as if +the change that had come over his spirit had had greater results than the +simple restoration of sanity, he became one of the most popular and useful +members of Cosmo Versál's family of pilgrims. + +Among the other intellectual diversions which Cosmo provided was something +quite unique, due to his own mental bias. This consisted of "conferences," +held in the grand saloon, afternoons, in the presence of the entire +company, at which the principal speakers were his two "speculative +geniuses," Costaké Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone. They did not care +very much for one another and each thought that the time allotted to the +other was wasted. + +Theriade wished to talk continuously of the infinite energy stored up in +the atoms of matter, and of the illimitable power which the release of +that energy, by the system that he had all but completed, would place at +the disposition of man; and at the same time Sir Athelstone could with +difficulty be held in leash while he impatiently awaited an opportunity to +explain how excessively near he had arrived to the direct production of +protoplasm from inanimate matter, and the chemical control of living cells, +so that henceforth man could people or unpeople the earth as he liked. + +One evening, when everybody not on duty was in bed, Captain Arms, with his +whiskers fairly bristling, entered Cosmo's cabin, where the latter was +dictating to Joseph Smith, and softly approaching his chief, with a furtive +glance round the room, stooped and whispered something in his ear. A +startled, though incredulous, expression appeared on Cosmo's face, and he +sprang to his feet, but before speaking he obeyed a sign from the captain +and told Smith to leave the room. Then he locked the door and returned to +his table, where he dropped into a chair, exclaiming in a guarded voice: + +"Great Heaven, can this be possible! Have you not made a mistake?" + +"No," returned the captain in a stridulous whisper, "I have made no +mistake. I'm absolutely sure. If something is not done instantly we are +lost!" + +"This is terrible!" returned Cosmo, taking his head in his hands. "You +say it is that fellow Campo? I never liked his looks." + +"He is the ringleader," replied the captain. "The first suspicion of what +he was up to came to me through an old sailor who has been with me on many +a voyage. He overheard Campo talking with another man and he listened. +Trust an old sea dog to use his ears and keep himself out of notice." + +"And what did they say?" + +"Enough to freeze the marrow in your bones! Campo proposed to begin by +throwing 'old Versál' and me into the sea, and then he said, with us gone, +and nobody but a lot of muddle-headed scientists to deal with, it would be +easy to take the ship; seize all the treasure in her; make everybody who +would not join the mutiny walk the plank, except the women, and steer for +some place where they could land and lead a jolly life. + +"'You see,' says Campo, 'this flood is a fake. There ain't going to be no +more flood; it's only a shore wash. But there's been enough of it to fix +things all right for us. We've got the world in our fist! There's millions +of money aboard this ship, and there's plenty of female beauty, and we've +only got to reach out and take it.'" + +Cosmo Versál's brow darkened as he listened, and a look that would have +cowed the mutineers if they could have seen it came into his eyes. His +hand nervously clutched a paper-knife which broke in his grasp, as he said +in a voice trembling with passion: + +"They don't _know_ me--_you_ don't know me. Show me the proofs of this +conspiracy. Who are the others? Campo and his friend can't be alone." + +"Alone!" exclaimed the captain, unconsciously raising his voice. "There's +a dozen as black-handed rascals in it as ever went unswung." + +"Do you know them?" + +"Jim Waters does." + +"Why haven't you told me sooner? How long has it been going on?" + +"Almost ever since the deluge stopped, I think; but it was only last night +that Waters got on the track of it, and only now that he told me. This +fellow that Waters heard Campo talking to is plainly a new recruit. I say +there are a dozen, because Waters has found out that number; but I don't +know but that there may be a hundred." + +"How did these wretches get aboard?" demanded Cosmo, fiercely opening and +shutting his fists. + +"Excuse me," said the captain, "but that is up to you to say." + +"So it is," replied Cosmo, with a grim look; "and it's 'up to me' to say +what'll become of them. I see how it is, they must have got in with the +last lot that I took--under assumed names, very likely. I've been more +than once on the point of calling that man Campo up and questioning him. I +was surprised by his hangdog look the first time I saw him. But I have +been so busy." + +"You'll have to get busy in another sense if you mean to save this ship +and your life," said the captain earnestly. + +"So I shall. Are you armed? No? Then take these--and use 'em when I give +the word." + +He handed the captain two heavy automatic pistols, and put a pair in his +own side pockets. + +"Now," he continued, "the first thing is to make sure that we've got the +right men--and _all of them_. Call in Joseph Smith." + +The captain went to the door, and as he approached it there was a knock. +He turned the key and cautiously opened a crack to look out. The door was +instantly slammed in his face, and six men rushed in, with Campo, a burly, +black-browed fellow, at their head. Three of the men threw the captain on +his back, and pinioned his hands before he could draw a weapon, while +Campo and the others sprang toward Cosmo Versál, Campo pointing a pistol +at his head. + +"It's all up, Mr. Versál!" cried Campo with a sneer. "I'll take command of +this ship, and you'll go fish for nebulas." + +Cosmo had one advantage; he was behind his desk, and it was a broad and +long one, and placed almost against the wall. They could not get at him +without getting round the desk. Campo did not fire, though he might have +shot Cosmo in his tracks; but evidently he was nourishing the idea of +making him walk the plank. With a sign he commanded his co-conspirators +to flank the desk at each end, while he kept Cosmo covered with his +pistol. + +But with a lightning movement, Cosmo dropped under the desk, and, favored +by his slight form and his extreme agility, darted like a cat past Campo's +legs, and, almost before the latter could turn round, was out of the open +door. Campo fired at the retreating form, but the bullet went wide of the +mark. The pistol was practically noiseless, and the sound reached no ears +in the staterooms. + +It happened that a switch controlling the lights in the gangway was on the +wall by Cosmo's door, and in passing he swiftly reached up and turned it +off. Thus he was in complete darkness, and when Campo darted out of the +door he could not see the fugitive. He could hear his footsteps, however, +and with two of his companions he rushed blindly after him, firing two or +three shots at random. But Cosmo had turned at the first cross passage, +and then at the next, this part of the Ark being a labyrinth of corridors, +and the pursuers quickly lost all trace of him. + +Campo and his companions made their way back to Cosmo's cabin, where their +fellows were guarding Captain Arms. They found the switch in the passage +and turned on the light. They were almost immediately joined by several +other conspirators conducting Joseph Smith, bound and gagged. They held a +short consultation, and Campo, with many curses, declared that Cosmo +Versál must be caught at all hazards. + +"The big-headed fiend!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "Let me get my +grippers on him and I'll squelch him like a bug!" + +They threw Joseph Smith into the room beside the helpless captain, after +taking the latter's pistols, locked the door from the outside, and +hurried off on their search. In the passages they encountered several +more of their friends. They now numbered fifteen, all armed. This may +seem a small number to undertake to capture the Ark; but it must be +remembered that among the thousand-odd inmates, exclusive of the crew, +only about one in three was a man, and the majority of these were +peaceable scientists who, it was to be presumed, had no fight in them. + +At any rate, Campo, with the reckless courage of his kind, felt confident +that if he could get Cosmo Versál, with the captain and Joseph Smith, out +of the way, he could easily overmaster the others. He had not much fear +of the crew, for he knew that they were not armed, and he had succeeded +in winning over three of their number, the only ones he had thought +at all dangerous, because he had read their character. More than half +the crew were employed about the engines or on the animal deck, and most +of the others were simply stewards who would not stand before the pistols. + +But, while the mutineers were hurriedly searching the corridors, Cosmo +had run straight to the bridge, where he found two of his men in charge, +and whence he sent an electric call to all the men employed in the +navigation of the vessel. They came running from various directions, but +a dozen of them were caught in the passages by the mutineers and bound +before they could comprehend what had happened. Seven, however, succeeded +in reaching the bridge, and among these was Jim Waters. + +"There's a mutiny," said Cosmo. "We've got to fight for our lives. Have +you got arms?" + +Not one had a weapon except Waters, who displayed a pistol half as long +as his arm. + +"Here, Peterson, take this," said Cosmo, handing a pistol to one of the +two mariners who had been on the bridge. "They will be here in a minute. +If Campo had been a sailor, he'd have had possession here the first thing. +I'll turn off all lights." + +With that he pressed a button which put out every lamp in the ark. But +there was a full moon, and they concealed themselves in the shadows. + +Presently they heard the mutineers approaching, stumbling and cursing in +the darkness. Cosmo directed Peterson and Waters to place themselves at +his side, and told them to fire when he gave the word. + +The next instant four men appeared crossing a moonlit place at the foot of +the steps on the outside of the dome. + +"Wait," whispered Cosmo. "The pistols go at a pull. We can sweep down a +dozen in ten seconds. Let them all get in sight first." + +Half a minute later there were twelve men climbing the steps and cautiously +looking up. + +"Fire!" cried Cosmo, setting the example, and three streams of blue flame +pulsated from the bridge. The sound of the bullets striking made more +noise than the explosions. + +Five or six of the men below fell, knocking down their comrades, and a +loud curse burst from the lips of Campo, who had a bullet through his arm. + +The mutineers tumbled in a heap at the bottom, and instantly Cosmo, +switching on all lights, led the way down upon them. His men, who had no +arms, seized anything they could get their hands on that would serve to +strike a blow, and followed him. + +The conspirators were overwhelmed by the suddenness and fury of the attack. + +Four of them were killed outright and five were wounded, one so severely +that he survived only a few hours. + +Cosmo's quick and overwhelming victory was due to the fact that the +mutineers, in mounting the steps, could not see him and his men in the +shadows, and when the automatic weapons, which fired three shots per +second by repeated pressure of the trigger, from a chamber containing +twenty-one cartridges, once opened on them they could do nothing in the +hail of missiles, especially when crowded together on the steps. + +Campo was the only one who had any fight left in him. He struck Cosmo a +blow on the head that felled him, and then darted out upon the forepart +of the dome, running on the cleats, and made his way to the top. + +Cosmo was on his feet in a second and rushing in pursuit, closely followed +by Jim Waters. The fugitive ran for the ratlines leading to the lookout on +the central mast. He climbed them like a squirrel, and the man in the +cro'nest, amazed at the sight below him, stared at the approaching +mutineer, unable to utter a cry. Campo, who, as the moonbeams showed, now +had a knife in his teeth, rapidly approached, and the lookout shrank in +terror. But before Campo could reach the cro'nest, a blinding light +dazzled his eyes. Cosmo had shouted an order to Peterson to run back to +the bridge and turn a searchlight upon the mast. Then Campo heard a +thundering voice below him: + +"Take another step and I'll blow you into the sea!" + +He glanced below, and saw Cosmo and Waters covering him with their +pistols. + +"Not another step!" roared Cosmo again. "Come down, and I'll give you a +trial for your life." + +Campo hesitated; but, seeing that he could be shot down, and finding a +gleam of hope in Cosmo's words, he turned and came slowly down. The +moment he touched the bottom he was seized by Waters and another man, +and, under Cosmo's directions, his hands were bound behind his back. + +Ten minutes later the members of the crew who had been caught by the +mutineers in the gangways were all unbound, and then Cosmo broke open the +door of his cabin, the key having been lost or thrown away by Campo, and +the captain and Joseph Smith were released. + +"Well, we've got 'em," said Cosmo grimly to the captain. "The mutiny is +at an end, and there'll never be another." + +In the meantime many of the passengers had been aroused by the unaccustomed +noises, although the pistols had not made enough sound to be heard from +the place where they were fired. Nightcapped heads appeared on all sides, +and some, in scanty clothing, were wandering in the passageways, demanding +what the trouble was. Cosmo, the captain, and Joseph Smith reassured them, +saying that there was no danger, and that something had happened which +would be explained in the morning. + +The prisoners--and the whole fifteen were finally captured--were locked up +in a strong room, and a surgeon was sent to dress their wounds. Cosmo +Versál and the captain resumed their accustomed places on the bridge, +where they talked over the affair, and Cosmo explained his plans for the +morrow. + +"I'll give him his trial, as I promised," Cosmo said in conclusion, "and +you'll see what it will be. _Mutiny aboard this Ark!_" And he struck the +rail a violent blow with his fist. + +The next morning directly after breakfast Cosmo called all passengers and +crew into the grand saloon, where many wondering looks were exchanged and +many puzzling questions asked. When the mutineers, with hands tied behind +their backs and their many bandages on arms and legs, were led in, +exclamations of astonishment were heard, and some of the timid ones shrank +away in fear. + +Cosmo lost no time with preliminaries. + +"These men," he said, taking his stand upon the platform, "have mutinied +and tried to capture the Ark. This fellow"--pointing to Campo--"was the +concocter and leader of the plot. He intended to throw me and Captain +Arms, and all of you whom he did not wish to retain for his fiendish +purposes, into the sea. But Heaven has delivered them into our hands. I +have promised them a trial, and they shall have it. But it will be a +trial in which justice shall not be cheated. I find that a moral poison +has stolen into this selected company, and I will eliminate it for once +and all." + +The expressions of amazement and alarm redoubled in intensity. + +"Professor Abel Able, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, +Costaké Theriade," Cosmo continued, "you will please come forward to act +as members of the jury, of which I name myself also a member. I shall be +both judge and juror here, but I will hear what the rest of you may have +to say." + +The men named stepped forward with some evidences of embarrassment, and +Cosmo gravely gave them seats beside him. Then he commanded that the +prisoners should confront the jury, and, heavily guarded, they were led to +the front. + +The brutishness of Campo's face had never struck the passengers who had +seen him before as it did now. He looked a veritable jailbird. At the same +time he was evidently in terror for his life. He muttered something which +nobody understood. + +Cosmo, who had informed himself of all the circumstances from Waters, and +by privately questioning the others, had satisfied himself that the entire +scheme of the mutiny was of Campo's contrivance, and that they had been led +into it solely by his persuasion and threats, ordered Waters to speak. The +seaman told a straight story of what he had heard and seen. Cosmo himself +then related the events of the night. When he had finished he turned to +Campo and demanded what he had to say. + +Campo again muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to defend +himself, simply saying: + +"You promised me a trial." + +"And haven't I given you a trial?" demanded Cosmo with flashing eyes. "You +thought you held the world in your grasp. It is _I_ that hold it in _my_ +grasp, and _you_, too! You were going to make us 'walk the plank.' It is +_you_ who are going to walk it! Is that the verdict?" (turning to the four +jurymen). + +Some of them nodded, some simply stared at Cosmo, surprised by the +vehemence of his manner. + +"Enough," he said. "As to you," addressing the other prisoners, "you have +had your lesson; see that you don't forget it! Release them, and lead Campo +to the promenade deck." + +Nobody thought that Cosmo would literally execute his threat to make the +mutineer walk the plank, but, as he had told Captain Arms, they didn't know +him. They were about to see that in Cosmo Versál they had not only a +prophet, a leader, and a judge, but an inexorable master also. + +A plank was prepared and placed sloping from the rail. + +"Walk!" said Cosmo firmly. + +To everybody's surprise Campo, with blinded eyes, started immediately up +the plank, followed its full length with quick, unfaltering step, and +plunging from the end, disappeared in the sea. + +Many had turned away, unable to look, but many also saw the tragedy to the +end. Then a profound sigh was heard from the whole company of the +spectators. As they turned away, talking in awed voices, they felt, as +never before, that the world had shrunk to the dimensions of the Ark, and +that Cosmo Versál was its dictator. + +That same afternoon Cosmo arranged one of his "conferences," and nobody +dared to be absent, although all minds were yet too much excited to follow +the discussions which few could understand. But at length Costaké Theriade +concentrated their attention by a wild burst of eloquence about the wonders +of the inter-atomic forces. Sir Athelstone, unable to endure the applause +that greeted his rival, abruptly sprang to his feet, his round face red +with anger, and shouted: + +"I say, you know, this is twaddle!" + +"Will the Englishman interrupt not?" cried Theriade, with his eyes ablaze. +"Shall I project not the Sir Englishman to the feeshes?" + +He looked as if he were about to try to execute his threat, and Sir +Athelstone assumed a boxing attitude; but before hostilities could begin a +loud shout from the deck, followed by cries and exclamations, caused +everybody to rush out of the saloon. + +Those who succeeded in getting a glimpse over the shoulders of the members +of the crew, who were already lined up along the only portion of the +bulwarks available for seeing the part of the ocean on which attention +seemed to be fixed, stared open-mouthed at a round-backed mass of shining +metal, with a circular aperture on the top, the cover of which was canted +to one side, and there stood a man, waving a gold-laced red kepi, and +bowing and smiling with great civility. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE _JULES VERNE_ + + +The swell of the sea caused the strange-looking craft to rise and sink a +little, and sometimes the water ran bubbling all around the low rim of the +aperture, in the center of which the red-capped man stood, resting on some +invisible support, repeating his salutations and amicable smiles, and +balancing his body to the rocking of the waves with the unconscious +skill of a sailor. + +The Ark was running slowly, but it would very soon have left the stranger +in its wake if he had not also been in motion. It was evident that the +object under his feet must be a submersible vessel of some kind, although +it was of a type which Captain Arms, standing beside Cosmo on the bridge, +declared that he had never set eyes on before. It lay so low in the water +that nothing could be seen of its motive machinery, but it kept its place +alongside the Ark with the ease of a dolphin, and gradually edged in closer +and closer. + +When it was so near that he could be heard speaking in a voice hardly +raised above the ordinary pitch, the man, first again lifting his cap with +an easy gesture, addressed Cosmo Versál by name, using the English language +with a scarcely perceptible accent: + +"M. Versál, I offer you my felicitations upon the magnificent appearance of +your Ark, and I present my compliments to the ladies and gentlemen of your +company." + +And then he bowed once more to the passengers, who were almost crowding +each other over the side in their eagerness to both see and hear. + +"Thank you," responded Cosmo, "but who are you?" + +"Capitaine Yves de Beauxchamps, of the French army." + +"Where's the navy, then?" blurted out Captain Arms. + +De Beauxchamps glanced at the speaker a little disdainfully, and then +replied gravely: + +"Alas! At the bottom of the sea--with all the other navies." + +"And how have you escaped?" demanded Cosmo Versál. + +"As you see, in a submersible." + +"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Cosmo. "And you have been in the sea ever +since the beginning of the flood?" + +"Since the first rise of the ocean on the coast at Brest." + +"Have you no companions?" + +"Six--in truth, seven." + +"Astonishing!" said Cosmo Versál. "But I heard nothing of the preparation +of a submersible. In fact, the idea of such a thing never occurred to me. +You must have made your preparations secretly." + +"We did. We did not share your certainty, M. Versál, concerning the arrival +of a deluge. Even when we embarked we were not sure that it would be more +than an affair of the coasts." + +"But you must be on the point of starvation by this time. The flood has +only begun. This cessation is but for a time, while we are passing a gap in +the nebula. You will come aboard the Ark. I had chosen my company, but your +gallant escape, and the ability that you have shown, prove that you are +worthy to aid in the re-establishment of the race, and I have no doubt that +your companions are equally worthy." + +The Frenchman bowed politely, and with a slight smile replied: + +"I believe, M. Versál, that the _Jules Verne_ is as safe and comfortable, +and proportionately as well provisioned, as your Ark." + +"So you call it the _Jules Verne?_" returned Cosmo, smiling in his turn. + +"We were proud to give it that name, and its conduct has proved that it is +worthy of it." + +"But you will surely come aboard and shake hands, and let us offer you a +little hospitality," said Cosmo. + +"I should be extremely happy to pay my compliments to the ladies," +responded De Beauxchamps, "but I must postpone that pleasure for the +present. In the meantime, however, I should be glad if you would lower a +landing stage, and permit me to send aboard the seventh member of our +party, who, I venture to think, may find the Ark a more comfortable abode +than our submersible." + +"And who may that person be?" + +"_The King of England._" + +Exclamations of surprise and wonder were heard on all sides. + +"Yes," resumed the Frenchman, "we picked up his majesty the first day after +the deluge began to descend from the sky." + +"I will lower a ladder at once," Cosmo called out, and immediately ran down +to the lowest deck, commanding his men to make haste. + +The _Jules Verne_ was skillfully brought close up to the side of the Ark, +so that the visible part of her rounded back was nearly in contact with the +bottom of the companion-ladder when it had been lowered. The sea was so +calm that there was little difficulty in executing this maneuver. De +Beauxchamps disappeared in the depths of the submersible, and after a few +minutes re-emerged into sight, supporting on his arm a stout, rather short +man, whose face, it was evident, had once been full and ruddy, but now it +was pale and worn. + +"It is he!" exclaimed an English member of Cosmo's company to some of his +fellow-countrymen who had forced their way to the front. + +_"It is the king!"_ + +And then occurred a singular thing, inspired by the marvelous circumstances +of this meeting of the sovereign of a drowned kingdom, upon the bosom of +the waters that had destroyed it, with the mere handful which remained +alive out of all the millions of his subjects. + +These loyal Englishmen bared their heads (and there were three women among +them) and sang, with a pathos that surely the old hymn had never expressed +before, their national anthem: "God Save the King." + +The effect was immense. Every head aboard the Ark was immediately +uncovered. De Beauxchamps removed his cap, and one or two bared heads could +be seen peering out of the interior of the submersible below him. As the +king was steadied across to the bottom of the companion-ladder, the voices +of the singers rose louder, and many of the other passengers, moved by +sympathy, or carried away by epidemic feeling, joined in the singing. Never +had any monarch a greeting like that! Its recipient was moved to the depths +of his soul, and but for the aid given him would have been unable to ascend +the swaying steps. + +As he was assisted upon the deck, the song ceased and a great cheer broke +forth. There were tears in his eyes, and he trembled in every limb, when he +returned the welcoming pressure of Cosmo Versál's hand. + +The moment he saw that the king was safely aboard the Ark, De Beauxchamps, +with a farewell salutation, disappeared into the interior of the _Jules +Verne_, and the submersible sank out of sight as gently as if it had been a +huge fish that had come to the top of the sea to take a look about. + +After the sensation caused by the arrival of the English monarch aboard the +Ark had somewhat quieted down, and after his majesty had had an opportunity +to recover himself, Cosmo Versál invited his new guest to tell the story of +his escape. They were seated in Cosmo's cabin, and there were present +Joseph Smith, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, and Amos +Blank, beside several other members of the ship's company, including two of +the loyal Englishmen who quite naturally had been the first to strike up +the national anthem on seeing their rescued king. + +Richard Edward, or Richard IV as he was officially entitled, was one of the +best kings England ever had. He was popular not only because of his almost +democratic manners and the simplicity of his life, but more because he was +a great lover of peace. We have already seen how he was chosen, solely on +that account, to be of the number of the rulers invited to go in the Ark. +He had not even replied to Cosmo's invitation, but that was simply because, +like everybody about him in whom he placed confidence, he regarded Cosmo +Versál as a mere mountebank, and thought that there was no more danger of a +flood that would cover the earth than of the fall of the moon out of the +sky. + +Before responding to Cosmo's request he made a gracious reference to the +indifference with which he had formerly treated his present host. + +"I am sorry, Mr. Versál," he said, with a deprecatory smile, "that I did +not sooner recognize the fact that your knowledge surpassed that of my +scientific advisers." + +"Your majesty was not alone," replied Cosmo gravely, turning with his +finger a small globe that stood on his desk. "From all these deep-sunken +continents" (waving his hand toward the globe), "if the voices once heard +there could now speak, there would arise a mighty sound of lament for that +great error." + +The king looked at him with an expression of surprise. He glanced from +Cosmo's diminutive figure to his great overhanging brow, marked with the +lines of thought, and a look of instinctive deference came into his eyes. + +"But," continued Cosmo Versál, "it is bootless to speak of these things +now. I beg that your majesty will condescend to enlighten us concerning the +fate of that great kingdom, of ancient renown, over which you so worthily +reigned." + +An expression of deepest pain passed across the face of Richard Edward. For +some moments he remained buried in a mournful silence, and many sighs came +from his breast. All looked at him with profound commiseration. At last he +raised his head, and said, sorrowfully and brokenly: + +"My kingdom is drowned--my subjects have perished, almost to the last +soul--my family, my gracious consort, my children--all, all--gone!" + +Here he broke down, and could speak no more. Not a word was heard, for a +time in the room, and the two Englishmen present wept with their +unfortunate king. + +Cosmo Versál was no less deeply moved than the others. He sat, for a while, +in complete silence. Then he arose and, going to the king, put his hand +upon his shoulder, and talked to him long, in a low, consoling voice. At +last the broken-spirited monarch was able to suppress his emotions +sufficiently to recite, but with many interruptions while he remastered +his feelings, the story of his woes and of his marvelous escape. + +"Sir Francis Brook," he said, "prepared a barge, when the water invaded +London, and in that barge we escaped--her royal majesty, our children, and +a number of members of the royal household. The barge was the only vessel +of levium that existed in England. Sir Francis had furnished and +provisioned it well, and we did not think that it would be necessary to go +farther than to some high point in the interior. Sir Francis was of the +opinion that Wales would afford a secure refuge. + +"It was a terrible thing to see the drowning of London, the sweeping of the +awful bore that came up the Thames from the sea, the shipping wrecked by +the tearing waves, the swirl of the fast-rising water round the immense +basin in which the city lay, the downfall of the great +buildings--Westminster Abbey was one of the first that succumbed--the +overturned boats, and even great vessels floating on their sides, or +bottom up, the awful spectacle of the bodies of the drowned tossing in +the waves--all these sights were before our horrified eyes while the +vast eddy swept us round and round until the water rose so high that we +were driven off toward the southwest. + +"That we should have escaped at all was a miracle of miracles. It was the +wonderful buoyancy of the levium barge that saved us. But the terrors of +that scene can never fade from my memory. And the fearful sufferings of +the queen! And our children--but I _cannot_ go on with this!" + +"Calm yourself, your majesty," said Cosmo sympathetically. "The whole +world has suffered with you. If we are spared and are yet alive, it is +through the hand of Providence--to which all of us must bow." + +"We must have passed over Surrey and Hampshire," the king resumed, "the +invasion of the sea having buried the hills." + +"I am surprised at that," said Cosmo. "I did not think that the sea had +anywhere attained so great an elevation before the nebula condensed. At +New York the complete drowning of the city did not occur until the +downpour from the sky began." + +"Oh! that deluge from the heavens!" cried the king. "What we had suffered +before seemed but little in comparison. It came upon us after night; +and the absolute darkness, the awful roaring, the terrific force of the +falling water, the sense of suffocation, the rapid filling of the barge +until the water was about our necks--these things drove us wild with +despair. + +"I tried to sustain my poor queen in my arms, but she struggled to seize +the children and hold them above the water, and in her efforts she escaped +from my hands, and henceforth I could find her no more. I stumbled about, +but it was impossible to see; it was impossible to hear. At last I fell +unconscious face downward, as it afterward appeared, upon a kind of bench +at the rear end of the barge, which was covered with a narrow metallic +roofing, and raised above the level of the bulwarks. It was there that I +had tried to shelter the queen and the children. + +"In some way I must have become lodged there, under the awning, in such a +position that the pitching of the barge failed to throw me off. I never +regained consciousness until I heard a voice shouting in my ear, and felt +some one pulling me, and when I had recovered my senses, I found myself in + the submersible." + +"And all your companions were gone?" asked Cosmo, in a voice shaking with +pity. + +"Yes, oh, Lord! All! They had been swept overboard by the waves--and would +that I had gone with them!" + +The poor king broke down again and sobbed. After a long pause Cosmo asked +gently: + +"Did the Frenchman tell you how he came upon the barge?" + +"He said that in rising to the surface to find out the state of things +there the submersible came up directly under the barge, canting it in such +a way that I was rolled out and he caught me as I was swept close to the +opening." + +"But how was it that the downpour, entering the submersible, when the cover +was removed, did not fill it with water?" + +"He had the cover so arranged that it served as an almost complete +protection from the rain. Some water did enter, but not much." + +"A wonderful man, that Frenchman," said Cosmo. "He would be an acquisition +for me. What did he say his name was? Oh, yes, De Beauxchamps--I'll make a +note of that. I shouldn't wonder if we heard of him again." + +Cosmo Versál was destined to encounter Yves de Beauxchamps and his +wonderful submersible _Jules Verne_ sooner, and under more dramatic +circumstances than he probably anticipated. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + +After the English king had so strangely become a member of its company the +Ark resumed its course in the direction of what had once been Europe. The +spot where the meeting with the _Jules Verne_ had occurred was west of Cape +Finisterre and, according to the calculations of Captain Arms, in longitude +fifteen degrees four minutes west; latitude forty-four degrees nine minutes +north. + +Cosmo decided to run into the Bay of Biscay, skirting its southern coast in +order to get a view of the Cantabrian Mountains, many of whose peaks, he +thought, ought still to lie well above the level of the water. + +"There are the Peaks of Europa," said Captain Arms, "which lie less than +twenty miles directly back from the coast. The highest point is eight +thousand six hundred and seventy feet above sea level, or what used to be +sea level. We could get near enough to it, without any danger, to see how +high the water goes." + +"Do you know the locality?" demanded Cosmo. + +"As well as I know a compass-card!" exclaimed the captain. "I've seen the +Europa peaks a hundred times. I was wrecked once on that coast, and being +of an inquiring disposition, I took the opportunity to go up into the range +and see the old mines--and a curious sight it was, too. But the most +curious sight of all was the shepherdesses of Tresvido, dressed just like +the men, in homespun breeches that never wore out. You'd meet 'em anywhere +on the slopes of the Pico del Ferro, cruising about with their flocks. And +the cheese that they made! There never was any such cheese!" + +"Well, if you know the place so well," said Cosmo, "steer for it as fast as +you can. I'm curious to find out just how high this flood has gone, up to +the present moment." + +"Maybe we can rescue a shepherdess," returned the captain, chuckling. +"She'd be an ornament to your new Garden of Eden." + +They kept on until, as they approached longitude five degrees west, they +began to get glimpses of the mountains of northern Spain. The coast was all +under deep water, and also the foothills and lower ranges, but some of the +peaks could be made out far inland. At length, by cautious navigation, +Captain Arms got the vessel quite close to the old shore line of the +Asturias, and then he recognized the Europa peaks. + +"There they are," he cried. "I'd know 'em if they'd emigrated to the middle +of Africa. There's the old Torre de Cerredo and the Peńa Santa." + +"How high did you say the main peak is?" asked Cosmo. + +"She's eight thousand six hundred and seventy feet." + +"From your knowledge of the coast, do you think it safe to run in closer?" + +"Yes, if you're sure the water is not less than two thousand four hundred +feet above the old level we can get near enough to see the water-line on +the peaks, from the cro'nest, which is two hundred feet high." + +"Go ahead, then." + +They got closer than they had imagined possible, so close that, from the +highest lookout on the Ark, they were able with their telescopes to see +very clearly where the water washed the barren mountainsides at what seemed +to be a stupendous elevation. + +"I'm sorry about your shepherdesses," said Cosmo, smiling. "I don't think +you'd find any there to rescue if you could get to them. They must all +have been lost in the torrents that poured down those mountains." + +"More's the pity," said Captain Arms. "That was a fine lot of women. +There'll be no more cheese like what they made at Tresvido." + +Cosmo inquired if the captain's acquaintance with the topography of the +range enabled him to say how high that water was. The captain, after long +inspection, declared that he felt sure that it was not less than four +thousand feet above the old coast line. + +"Then," said Cosmo, "if you're right about the elevation of what you call +the Torre de Cerredo there must be four thousand six hundred and seventy +feet of its upper part still out of water. We'll see if that is so." + +Cosmo made the measurements with instruments, and announced that the result +showed the substantial accuracy of Captain Arms's guess. + +"I suspected as much," he muttered. "Those tremendous downpours, which may +have been worse elsewhere than where we encountered them, have increased +the rise nearly seventy per cent, above what my gages indicated. Now that I +know this," he continued, addressing the captain: "I'll change the course +of the Ark. I'm anxious to get into the Indian Ocean as soon as possible. +It would be a great waste of time to go back in order to cross the Sahara, +and with this increase of level it isn't necessary. We'll just set out +across southern France, keeping along north of the Pyrenees, and so down +into the region of the Mediterranean." + +Captain Arms was astonished by the boldness of this suggestion, and at +first he strongly objected to their taking such a course. + +"There's some pretty high ground in southern France," he said. "There's the +Cevennes Mountains, which approach a good long way toward the Pyrenees. Are +you sure the depth of water is the same everywhere?" + +"What a question for an old mariner to ask!" returned Cosmo. "Don't you +know that the level of the sea is the same everywhere? The flood doesn't +make any difference. It seeks its level like any other water." + +"But it may be risky steering between those mountains," persisted the +captain. + +"Nonsense! As long as the sky is clear you can get good observations, and +you ought to be navigator enough not to run on a mountain." + +Cosmo Versál, as usual, was unalterable in his resolution--he only changed +when he had reasons of his own--and the course of the Ark was laid, +accordingly, for the old French coast of the Landes, so low that it was now +covered with nearly four thousand feet of water. The feelings of the +passengers were deeply stirred when they learned that they were actually +sailing over buried Europe, and they gazed in astonishment at the water +beneath them, peering down into it as if they sought to discover the +dreadful secrets that it hid, and talking excitedly in a dozen languages. + +The Ark progressed slowly, making not more than five or six knots, and on +the second day after they dropped the Peńas de Europa they were passing +along the northern flank of the Pyrenees and over the basin in which had +lain the beautiful city of Pau. The view of the Pyrenees from this point +had always been celebrated before the deluge as one of the most remarkable +in the world. + +Now it had lost its beauty, but gained in spectacular grandeur. All of +France, as far as the eye extended, was a sea, with long oceanic swells +slowly undulating its surface. This sea abruptly came to an end where it +met the mountains, which formed for it a coast unlike any that the hundreds +of eyes which wonderingly surveyed it from the Ark had ever beheld. + +Beyond the drowned vales and submerged ranges, which they knew lay beneath +the watery floor, before them, rose the heads of the Pic du Midi, the Pic +de Ger, the Pic de Bigorre, the Massif du Gabizos, the Pic Monné, and +dozens of other famous eminences, towering in broken ranks like the +bearskins of a "forlorn hope," resisting to the last, in pictures of +old-time battles. + +Here, owing to the configuration of the drowned land it was possible for +the Ark to approach quite close to some of the wading mountains, and Cosmo +seized the opportunity to make a new measure of the height of the flood, +which he found to be surely not less than his former estimates had shown. + +Surveying with telescopes the immense shoulders of the Monné, the Viscos, +the d'Ardiden, and the nearer heights, when they were floating above the +valley of Lourdes, Cosmo and the captain saw the terrible effects that had +been produced by the torrents of rain, which had stripped off the +vegetation whose green robe had been the glory of the high Pyrenees on the +French side. + +Presently their attention was arrested by some moving objects, and at a +second glance they perceived that these were human beings. + +"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Cosmo Versál. "There are survivors here. They have +climbed the mountains, and found shelter among the rocks. I should not have +thought it possible." + +"And there are women among them," said Captain Arms, lowering his +telescope. "You will not leave them there!" + +"But what can I do?" + +"Lower away the boats," replied the captain. "We've got plenty of them." + +"There may be thousands there," returned Cosmo, musing. "I can't take them +all." + +"Then take as many as you can. By gad, sir, _I'll_ not leave 'em!" + +By this time some of the passengers who had powerful glasses had discovered +the refugees on the distant heights, and great excitement spread throughout +the Ark. Cries arose from all parts of the vessel: + +"Rescue them!" "Go to their aid!" "Don't let them perish!" + +Cosmo Versál was in a terrible quandary. He was by no means without +humanity, and was capable of deep and sympathetic feeling, as we have seen, +but he already had as many persons in the Ark as he thought ought to be +taken, considering the provision that had been made, and, besides, he could +not throw off, at once, his original conviction of the necessity of +carefully choosing his companions. He remained for a long time buried in +thought, while the captain fumed with impatience and at last declared that +if Cosmo did not give the order to lower away the boats he would do it +himself. + +At length Cosmo, yielding rather to his own humane feelings than to the +urging of others, consented to make the experiment. Half a dozen levium +launches were quickly lowered and sent off, while the Ark, with slowed +engines, remained describing a circle as near the mountains as it was safe +to go. Cosmo himself embarked in the leading boat. + +The powerful motors of the launches carried them rapidly to the high slopes +where the unfortunates had sought refuge, and as they approached, and the +poor fugitives saw that deliverance was at hand, they began to shout, and +cheer, and cry, and many of them fell on their knees upon the rocks and +stretched their hands toward the heavens. + +The launches were compelled to move with great caution when they got near +the ragged sides of the submerged mountains (it was the Peyre Dufau on +which the people had taken refuge), but the men aboard them were determined +to effect the rescue, and they regarded no peril too closely. At last +Cosmo's launch found a safe landing, and the others quickly followed it. + +When Cosmo sprang out on a flat rock a crowd of men, women, and children, +weeping, crying, sobbing, and uttering prayers and blessings, instantly +surrounded him. Some wrung his hands in an ecstasy of joy, some embraced +him, some dropped on their knees before him and sought to kiss his hands. +Cosmo could not restrain his tears, and the crews of the launches were +equally affected. + +Many of these people could only speak the patois of the mountains, but some +were refugees from the resorts in the valleys below, and among these were +two English tourists who had been caught among the mountains by the sudden +rising of the flood. They exhibited comparative _sang froid_, and served as +spokesmen for the others. + +"Bah Jove!" exclaimed one of them, "but you're welcome, you know! This has +been a demnition close call! But what kind of a craft have you got out +there?" + +"I'm Cosmo Versál." + +"Then that's the Ark we've heard about! 'Pon honor, I should have +recognized you, for I've seen your picture often enough. You've come to +take us off, I suppose?" + +"Certainly," replied Cosmo. "How many are there?" + +"All that you see here; about a hundred, I should say. No doubt there are +others on the mountains round. There must have been a thousand of us when +we started, but most of them perished, overcome by the downpour, or swept +away by the torrents. Lord Swansdown (indicating his companion, who bowed +gravely and stiffly) and myself--I'm Edward Whistlington--set out to walk +over the Pyrenees from end to end, after the excitement about the great +darkness died out, and we got as far as the Marboré, and then running down +to Gavarnie we heard news of the sea rising, but we didn't give too much +credit to that, and afterward, keeping up in the heights, we didn't hear +even a rumor from the world below. + +"The sky opened on us like a broadside from an aerial squadron, and how we +ever managed to get here I'm sure I can hardly tell. We were actually +_carried_ down the mountainsides by the water, and how it failed to drown +us will be an everlasting mystery. Somehow, we found ourselves among these +people, who were trying to go _up_, assuring us that there was nothing +but water below. And at last we discovered some sort of shelter here--and +here we've been ever since." + +"You cannot have had much to eat," said Cosmo. + +"Not _too_ much, I assure you," replied the Englishman, with a melancholy +smile. "But these people shared with us what little they had, or could +find--anything and everything that was eatable. They're a devilish fine +lot, I tell you! + +"When the terrible rain suddenly ceased and the sky cleared," he resumed, +"we managed to get dry, after a day or two, and since then we've been +chewing leather until there isn't a shoe or a belt left. We thought at +first of trying to build rafts--but then where could we go? It wasn't any +use to sail out over a drowned country, with nothing in sight but the +mountains around us, which looked no better than the one we were barely +existing on." + +"Then I must get you aboard the Ark before you starve," said Cosmo. + +"Many have died of starvation already," returned Whistlington. "You can't +get us off a moment too quick." + +Cosmo Versál had by this time freed himself of every trace of the +reluctance which he had at first felt to increasing the size of his ship's +company by adding recruits picked up at random. His sympathies were +thoroughly aroused, and while he hastened the loading and departure of the +launches, he asked the Englishmen who, with the impassive endurance of +their race, stayed behind to the last, whether they thought that there were +other refugees on the mountains whom they could reach. + +"I dare say there are thousands of the poor devils on these peaks around +us, wandering among the rocks," replied Edward Whistlington, "but I fancy +you couldn't reach 'em." + +"If I see any I'll try," returned Cosmo, sweeping with his powerful +telescope all the mountain flanks within view. + +At last, on the slopes of the lofty Mont Aigu across the submerged valley +toward the south, he caught sight of several human figures, one of which +was plainly trying to make signals, probably to attract attention from the +Ark. Immediately, with the Englishmen and the remainder of those who had +been found on the Peyre Dufau, he hastened in his launch to the rescue. + +They found four men and three women, who had escaped from the narrow valley +containing the _bains de Gazost_, and who were in the last stages of +starvation. These were taken aboard, and then, no more being in sight, +Cosmo returned to the Ark, where the other launches had already arrived. + +And these were the last that were rescued from the mighty range of the +Pyrenees, in whose deep valleys had lain the famous resorts of Cauterets, +the Eaux Bonnes, the Eaux Chaudes, the Bagničres de Luchon, the Bagničres +de Bigorre, and a score of others. No doubt, as the Englishmen had said, +thousands had managed to climb the mountains, but none could now be seen, +and those who may have been there were left to perish. + +There was great excitement in the Ark on the arrival of the refugees. The +passengers overwhelmed them with kind attentions, and when they had +sufficiently recovered, listened with wonder and the deepest sympathy to +their exciting tales of suffering and terror. + +Lord Swansdown and Edward Whistlington were amazed to find their king +aboard the Ark, and the English members of the company soon formed a sort +of family party, presided over by the unfortunate monarch. The rescued +persons numbered, in all, one hundred and six. + +The voyage of the Ark was now resumed, skirting the Pyrenees, but at an +increasing distance. Finally Captain Arms announced that, according to his +observations, they were passing over the site of the ancient and populous +city of Toulouse. This recalled to Cosmo Versál's memory the beautiful +scenes of the fair and rich land that lay so deep under the Ark, and he +began to talk with the captain about the glories of its history. + +He spoke of the last great conqueror that the world had known, Napoleon, +and was discussing his marvelous career, and referring to the fact that he +had died on a rock in the midst of that very ocean which had now swallowed +up all the scenes of his conquests, when the lookout telephoned down that +there was something visible on the water ahead. + +In a little while they saw it--a small moving object, which rapidly +approached the Ark. As it drew nearer both exclaimed at once: + +"The _Jules Verne!_" + +There could be no mistaking it. It was riding with its back just above the +level of the sea; the French flag was fluttering from a small mast, and +already they could perceive the form of De Beauxchamps, standing in his old +attitude, with his feet below the rim of the circular opening at the top. +Cosmo ordered the Stars and Stripes to be displayed in salute, and, greatly +pleased over the encounter, hurried below and had the companion-ladder made +ready. + +"He's got to come aboard this time, anyhow!" he exclaimed. "I'll take no +refusal. I want to know that fellow better." + +But this time De Beauxchamps had no thought of refusing the hospitalities +of the Ark. As soon as he was within hearing he called out: + +"My salutations to M. Versál and his charming fellow-voyagers. May I be +permitted to come aboard and present myself in person? I have something +deeply interesting to tell." + +Everybody in the Ark who could find a standing-place was watching the +_Jules Verne_ and trying to catch a glimpse of its gallant captain, and to +hear what he said; and the moment his request was preferred a babel of +voices arose, amid which could be distinguished such exclamations as: + +"Let him come!" "A fine fellow!" "Welcome, De Beauxchamps!" "Hurrah for the +_Jules Verne!_" + +King Richard was in the fore rank of the spectators, waving his hand to his +preserver. + +"Certainly you can come aboard," cried Cosmo heartily, at the same time +hastening the preparations for lowering the ladder. "We are all glad to see +you. And bring your companions along with you." + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + +De Beauxchamps accepted Cosmo Versál's invitation to bring his +companions with him into the Ark. The submersible was safely moored +alongside, where she rode easily in company with the larger vessel, and +all mounted the companion-ladder. The Frenchman's six companions were +dressed, like himself, in the uniform of the army. + +"Curious," muttered Captain Arms in Cosmo's ear, "that these _soldiers_ +should be the only ones to get off--and in a vessel, too. What were the +seamen about?" + +"What were _our_ seamen about?" returned Cosmo. "How many of _them_ got +off? I warned them that ships would not do. But it was a bright idea of +this De Beauxchamps and his friends to build a submersible. It didn't +occur to me, or I would have advised their construction everywhere for +small parties. But it would never have done for us. A submersible would +not have been capacious enough for the party I wanted to take." + +By this time the visitors were aboard, and Cosmo and the others who +could get near enough to grasp them by the hand greeted them effusively. +King Richard received De Beauxchamps with emotion, and thanked him again +and again for having saved his life; but, in the end, he covered his +face and said in a broken voice: + +"M. De Beauxchamps, my gratitude to you is very deep--but, oh, the +queen--the queen--and the children! I should have done better to perish +with them." + +Cosmo and De Beauxchamps soothed him as well as they could, and the +former led the way into the grand saloon, in order that as many as +possible might see and greet their visitors, who had come so +mysteriously up out of the sea. + +All of the Frenchmen were as affable as their leader, and he presented +them in turn. De Beauxchamps conversed almost gaily with such of the +ladies as had sufficient command of their feelings to join the throng +that pressed about him and his companions. He was deeply touched by the +story of the recent rescue of his countrymen from the Pyrenees, and he +went among them, trying to cheer them up, with the _élan_ that no +misfortune can eradicate from the Gallic nature. + +At length Cosmo reminded him that he had said that he had some +interesting news to communicate. + +"Yes," said De Beauxchamps, "I have just come from a visit to Paris." + +Exclamations of amazement and incredulity were heard on all sides. + +"It is true," resumed the Frenchman, though now his voice lost all its +gayety. "I had conceived the project of such a visit before I met the +Ark and transferred His Majesty, the King of England, to your care. As +soon as that was done I set out to make the attempt." + +"But tell me first," interrupted Cosmo, "how you succeeded in finding +the Ark again." + +"That was not very difficult," replied De Beauxchamps, smiling. "Of +course, it was to some extent accidental, for I didn't _know_ that you +would be here, navigating over France; but I had an idea that you +_might_ come this way if you had an intention of seeing what had +happened to Europe. It is my regular custom to rise frequently to the +surface to take a look around and make sure of my bearings, and you know +that the Ark makes a pretty large point on the waters. I saw it long +before you caught sight of me." + +"Very well," said Cosmo. "Please go on with your story. It must, indeed, +be an extraordinary one." + +"I was particularly desirous of seeing Paris again, deep as I knew her +to lie under the waves," resumed De Beauxchamps, "because it was my +home, and I had a house in the Champs Elysées. You cannot divorce the +heart of a Frenchman from his home, though you should bury it under +twenty oceans." + +"Your family were lost?" + +"Thank God, I had no family. If I had had they would be with me. My +companions are all like myself in that respect. We have lost many +friends, but no near relatives. As I was saying, I started for France, +poor drowned France, as soon as I left you. With the powerful +searchlight of the _Jules Verne_ I could feel confident of avoiding +obstructions; and, besides, I knew very closely the height to which the +flood had risen, and having the topography of my country at my fingers' +ends, as does every officer of the army, I was able to calculate the +depth at which we should run in order to avoid the hilltops." + +"But surely," said Cosmo, "it is impossible--at least, it seems so to +me--that you can descend to any great depth--the pressure must be +tremendous a few hundred feet down, to say nothing of possible +thousands." + +"All that," replied the Frenchman, "has been provided for. You probably +do not know to what extent we had carried experiments in France on the +deep submersion of submarines before their general abandonment when they +were prohibited by international agreement in war. I was myself perhaps +the leader in those investigations, and in the construction of the +_Jules Verne_ I took pains to improve on all that had hitherto been +done. + +"Without going into any description of my devices, I may simply remind +you nature has pointed out ways of avoiding the consequences of the +inconceivable pressures which calculation indicates at depths of a +kilometer, or more, in her construction of the deep-sea fishes. It was +by a study of them that I arrived at the secret of both penetrating to +depths that would theoretically have seemed entirely impossible and of +remaining at such depths." + +"Marvelous!" exclaimed Cosmo; "marvelous beyond belief!" + +"I may add," continued De Beauxchamps, smiling at the effect that his +words had had upon the mind of the renowned Cosmo Versál, "that the +peculiar properties of levium, which you so wisely chose for your Ark, +aided _me_ in quite a different way. But I must return to my story. + +"We passed over the coast of France near the point where I knew lay the +mouth of the Loire. I could have found my way by means of the compass +sufficiently well; but since the sky was clear I frequently came to the +surface in order, for greater certainty, to obtain sights of the sun and +stars. + +"I dropped down at Tours and at Blois, and we plainly saw the walls of +the old châteaux in the gleam of the searchlight below us. There were +monsters of the deep, such as the eye of man never beheld, swimming +slowly about them, many of them throwing a strange luminosity into the +water from their phosphorescent organs, as if they were inspecting these +novelties of the sea-bottom. + +"Arrived over Orleans, we turned in the direction of Paris. As we +approached the site of the city I sank the submersible until we almost +touched the higher hills. My searchlight is so arranged that it can be +directed almost every way--up, down, to this side, and to that--and we +swept it round us in every direction. + +"The light readily penetrated the water and revealed sights which I have +no power to describe, and some--reminders of the immense population of +human beings which had there met its end--which I would not describe if +I could. To see a drowned face suddenly appear outside the window, +almost within touch--ah, that was too horrible! + +"We passed over Versailles, with the old palace still almost intact; +over Sčvres, with its porcelain manufactory yet in part standing--the +tidal waves that had come up the river from the sea evidently caused +much destruction just before the downpour began--and finally we +'entered' Paris. + +"We could see the embankments of the Seine beneath us as we passed up +its course from the Point du Jour. From the site of the Champ de Mars I +turned northward in search of the older part of the Champs Élysées, +where my house was, and we came upon the great Arc de Triomphe, which, +you remember, dates from the time of Napoleon. + +"It was apparently uninjured, even the huge bronze groups remaining in +their places, and the searchlight, traversing its face, fell upon the +heroic group on the east façade of the Marseillaise. You must have seen +that, M. Versál?" + +"Yes, many a time," Cosmo replied. "The fury in the face of the female +figure representing the spirit of war, chanting the 'Marseillaise,' and, +sword in hand, sweeping over the heads of the soldiers, is the most +terrible thing of human making that I ever looked upon." + +"It was not so terrible as another thing that our startled eyes beheld +there," said De Beauxchamps. "Coiled round the upper part of the arch, +with its head resting directly upon that of the figure of which you +speak, was a monstrous, ribbon-shaped creature, whose flat, reddish +body, at least a meter in width and apparently thirty meters long, and +bordered with a sort of floating frill of a pinkish color, undulated +with a motion that turned us sick at heart. + +"But the head was the most awful object that the fancy of a madman could +conceive. There were two great round, projecting eyes, encircled with +what I suppose must have been phosphorescent organs, which spread around +in the water a green light that was absolutely horrifying. + +"I turned away the searchlight, and the eyes of that creature stared +straight at us with a dreadful, stony look; and then the effect of the +phosphorescence, heightened by the absence of the greater light, became +more terrible than before. We were unmanned, and I hardly had nerve +enough to turn the submersible away and hurry from the neighborhood." + +"I had not supposed," said Cosmo, "that creatures of such a size could +live in the deeper parts of the sea." + +"I know," returned De Beauxchamps, "that many have thought that the +abysmal creatures were generally of small size, but they knew nothing +about it. What could one have expected to learn of the secrets of life +in the ocean depths from the small creatures which alone the trawls +brought to the surface? The great monsters could not be captured in that +way. But we have _seen_ them--seen them taking possession of beautiful, +drowned Paris--and we know what they are." + +The fascinated hearers who had crowded about to listen to the narrative +of De Beauxchamps shuddered at this part of it, and some of the women +turned away with exclamations of horror. + +"I see that I am drawing my picture in too fearful colors," he said, +"and I shall refrain from telling of the other inhabitants of the abyss +that we found in possession of what I, as a Frenchman, must call the +most splendid capital that the world contained. + +"Oh, to think that all that beauty, all those great palaces filled with +the master-works of art, all those proud architectural piles, all that +scene of the most joyous life that the earth contained, is now become +the dwelling-place of the terrible _fauna_ of the deep, creatures that +never saw the sun; that never felt the transforming force of the +evolution which had made the face of the globe so glorious; that never +quitted their abysmal homes until this awful flood spread their empire +over the whole earth!" + +There was a period of profound silence while De Beauxchamps's face +worked spasmodically under the influence of emotions, the sight of which +would alone have sufficed to convince his hearers of the truth of what +he had been telling. Finally Cosmo Versál, breaking the silence, asked: + +"Did you find your home?" + +"Yes. It was there. I found it out. I illuminated it with the +searchlight. I gazed into the broken windows, trying to peer through the +watery medium that filled and darkened the interior. The roof was +broken, but the walls were intact. I thought of the happy, happy years +that I had passed there when I _had_ a family, and when Paris was an +Eden, the sunshine of the world. And then I wished to see no more, and +we rose out of the midst of that sunken city and sought the daylight far +above. + +"I had thought to tell you," he continued, after a pause, "of the +condition in which we found the great monuments of the city--of the +Pantheon, yet standing on its hill with its roof crushed in; of Nôtre +Dame--a wreck, but the towers still standing proudly; of the old palace +of the Louvre, through whose broken roofs and walls we caught glimpses +of the treasures washed by the water within--but I find that I have not +courage to go on. I had imagined that it would be a relief to speak of +these things, but I do not find it so." + +"After leaving Paris, then you made no other explorations?" said Cosmo. + +"None. I should have had no heart for more. I had seen enough. And yet I +do not regret that I went there. I should never have been content not to +have seen my beautiful city once more, even lying in her watery shroud. +I loved her living; I have seen her dead. It is finished. What more is +there, M. Versál?" With a sudden change of manner: "You have predicted +all this, and perhaps you know more. Where do _we_ go to die?" + +"We shall _not_ die," replied Cosmo Versál forcefully. "The Ark and your +_Jules Verne_ will save us." + +"To what purpose?" demanded the Frenchman, his animation all gone. "Can +there be any pleasure in floating upon or beneath the waves that cover a +lost world? Is a brief prolongation of such a life worth the effort of +grasping for?" + +"Yes," said Cosmo with still greater energy. "We may still _save the +race_. I have chosen most of my companions in the Ark for that purpose. +Not only may we save the race of man, but we may lead it up upon a +higher plane; we may apply the principles of eugenics as they have never +yet been applied. You, M. De Beauxchamps, have shown that you are of the +stock that is required for the regeneration of the world." + +"But where can the world be regenerated?" asked De Beauxchamps with a +bitter laugh. "There is nothing left but mountain-tops." + +"Even they will be covered," said Cosmo. + +"Do you mean that the deluge has not yet reached its height?" + +"Certainly it has not. We are in an open space in the enveloping nebula. +After a little we shall enter the nucleus, and then will come the +worst." + +"And yet you talk of saving the race!" exclaimed the Frenchman with +another bitter laugh. + +"I do," replied Cosmo, "and it will be done." + +"But how?" + +"Through the re-emergence of land." + +"That recalls our former conversation," put in Professor Abel Able. "It +appears to me impossible that, when the earth is once covered with a +universal ocean, it can ever disappear or materially lower its level. +Geological ages would be required for the level of the water to be +lowered even a few feet by the escape of vapor into space." + +"No," returned Cosmo Versál, "I have demonstrated that that idea is +wrong. Under the immense pressure of an ocean rising six miles above the +ancient sea level the water will rapidly be forced into the interstices +of the crust, and thus a material reduction of level will be produced +within a few years--five at the most. That will give us a foothold. I +have no doubt that even now the water around us is slightly lowering +through that cause. + +"But in itself that will not be sufficient. I have gone all over this +ground in my original calculations. The intrusion of the immense mass of +ocean water into the interior of the crust of the earth will result in a +grand geological upheaval. The lands will re-emerge above the new sea +level as they emerged above the former one through the internal stresses +of the globe." + +The scientific men present listened with breathless interest, but some +of them with many incredulous shakings of the head. + +"You must be aware," continued Cosmo, addressing them particularly, +"that it has been demonstrated that the continents and the great +mountain ranges are buoyed up, and, as it were, are floating somewhat +like slags on the internal magma. The mean density of the crust is less +under the land and the mountains than under the old sea-beds. This is +especially true of the Himalayan region. + +"That uplift is probably the most recent of all, and it is there, where +at present the highest land of the globe exists, that I expect that the +new upheaval will be most strongly manifested. It is for that reason, +and not merely because it is now the highest part of the earth, that I +am going with the Ark to Asia." + +"But," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "the upheaval of which you speak +may produce a complete revolution in the surface of the earth, and if +new lands are upthrust they may appear at unexpected points." + +"Not at all," returned Cosmo. "The tectonic features of the globe were +fixed at the beginning. As Asia has hitherto been the highest and the +greatest mass of land, it will continue to be so in the future. It is +there, believe me, that we shall replant the seed of humanity." + +"Do you not think," asked Professor Alexander Jones, "that there will be +a tremendous outburst of volcanic energy, if such upheavals occur, and +may not that render the re-emerging lands uninhabitable?" + +"No doubt," Cosmo replied, "every form of plutonic energy will be +immensely re-enforced. You remember the recent outburst of all the +volcanoes when the sea burst over the borders of the continents. But +these forces will be mainly expended in an effort of uplifting. +Unquestionably there will be great volcanic spasms, but they will not +prevent the occupation of the broadening areas of land which will not be +thus affected." + +"Upon these lands," exclaimed Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, in a loud voice, +"I will develop life from the barren minerals of the crust. The age of +chemical parthenogenesis will then have dawned upon the earth, and man +will have become a creator." + +"Will the Sir Englishman give me room for a word!" cried Costaké +Theriade, raising his tall form on his toes and agitating his arms in +the air. "He will create not anything! It is _I_ that will unloose the +energies of the atoms of matter and make of the new man a new god." + +Cosmo Versál quieted the incipient outbreak of his jealous "speculative +geniuses," and the discussion of his theory was continued for some time. +At length De Beauxchamps, shrugging his shoulders, exclaimed, with a +return of his habitual gayety: + +"_Trčs bien! Vive_ the world of Cosmo Versál! I salute the new Eve that +is to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + +When Professor Pludder, the President, and their companions on the +aero-raft, saw the three men on the bluff motioning and shouting to +them, they immediately sought the means of bringing their craft to land. +This did not prove to be exceedingly difficult, for there was a +convenient rock with deep water around it on which they could disembark. + +The men ran down to meet them, and to help them ashore, exhibiting the +utmost astonishment at seeing them there. + +"Whar in creation did _you_ come from?" exclaimed one, giving the +professor a pull up the bank. "Mebbe you're Cosmo Versál, and that's yer +Ark." + +"I'm Professor Pludder, and this is the President of the United States." + +"The President of the Un----See here, stranger, I'll take considerable +from you, considering the fix yer in, but you don't want to go too far." + +"It's true," asseverated the professor. "This gentleman is the +President, and we've escaped from Washington. Please help the ladies." + +"I'll help the ladies all right, but I'm blamed if I believe yer yarn. +How'd you git here? You couldn't hev floated across the continent on +that thing." + +"We came on the raft that you see," interrupted Mr. Samson. "We left the +Appalachian Mountains two weeks ago." + +"Well, by--it must be true!" muttered the man. "They couldn't hev come +from anywhar else in that direction. I reckon the hull blamed continent +is under water." + +"So it is," said Professor Pludder, "and we made for Colorado, knowing +that it was the only land left above the flood." + +All finally got upon the bluff, rejoiced to feel solid ground once more +beneath their feet. But it was a desolate prospect that they saw before +them. The face of the land had been scoured and gullied by the pouring +waters, the vegetation had been stripped off, except where in hollows it +had been covered with new-formed lakes, some of which had drained off +after the downpour ceased, the water finding its way into the enveloping +sea. + +They asked the three men what had become of the other inhabitants, and +whether there was any shelter at hand. + +"We've be'n wiped out," said the original spokesman. "Cosmo Versál has +done a pretty clean job with his flood. There's a kind of a cover that +we three hev built, a ways back yonder, out o' timber o' one kind and +another that was lodged about. But it wouldn't amount to much if there +was another cloudburst. It wouldn't stand a minute. It's good to sleep +in." + +"Are you the only survivors in this region?" asked the President. + +"I reckon you see all thet's left of us. The' ain't one out o' a hundred +that's left alive in these parts." + +"What became of them?" + +"Swept off!" replied the man, with an expressive gesture--"and drownded +right out under the sky." + +"And how did you and your companions escape?" + +"By gitting up amongst some rocks that was higher'n the average." + +"How did you manage to live--what did you have to eat?" + +"We didn't eat much--we didn't hev much time to think o' eatin'. We had +one hoss with us, and he served, when his time come. After the sky +cleared we skirmished about and dug up something that we could manage to +eat, lodged in gullies where the water had washed together what had been +in houses and cellars. We've got a gun and a little ammunition, and once +in a while we could kill an animal that had contrived to escape +somehow." + +"And you think that there are no other human beings left alive anywhere +around here?" + +"I _know_ th' ain't. The's probably some up in the foothills, and around +the Pike. They had a better chance to git among rocks. We hed jest made +up our minds to go hunting for 'em when we ketched sight o' you, and +then we concluded to stay and see who you was." + +"I'm surprised that you didn't go sooner." + +"We couldn't. There was a roarin' torrent coming down from the mountains +that cut us off. It's only last night that it stopped." + +"Well, it's evident that we cannot stay here," said Professor Pludder. +"We must go with these men toward the mountains. Let us take what's left +of the compressed provisions out of the raft, and then we'll eat a good +meal and be off." + +The three men were invited to share the repast, and they ate with an +appetite that would have amused their hosts if they had not been so +anxious to reserve as much as possible of their provisions for future +necessities. + +The meal finished, they started off, their new friends aiding to carry +provisions, and what little extra clothing there was. The aspect of the +country they traversed affrighted them. Here and there were partially +demolished houses or farm structures, or cellars, choked with débris of +what had once been houses. + +Farm implements and machinery were scattered about and half buried in +the torrent-furrowed land. In the wreck of one considerable village +through which they passed they found a stone church, and several stone +houses of considerable pretensions, standing almost intact as to walls, +but with roofs, doors, and windows smashed and torn off. + +It was evident that this place, which lay in a depression of the land, +had been buried by the rushing water as high as high as the top stories +of the buildings. From some of the sights that they saw they shrank +away, and afterward tried to forget them. + +Owing to the presence of the women and children their progress was +slower than it might overwise have been. They had great difficulty in +crossing the course of the torrent which their companions had described +as cutting them off from the foothills of the Pike's Peak range. + +The water had washed out a veritable cańon, a hundred or more feet deep +in places, and with ragged, precipitous walls and banks, which they had +to descend on one side and ascend on the other. Here the skill and local +knowledge of their three new-found friends stood them in good stead. +There was yet enough water in the bottom of the great gully to compel +them to wade, carrying the women and children. + +But, just before nightfall, they succeeded in reaching a range of rocky +heights, where they determined to pass the night. They managed to make a +fire with brush that had been swept down the mountain flanks and had +remained wedged in the rocks, and thus they dried their soaked garments, +and were able to do some cooking, and to have a blaze to give them a +little heat during the night, for the air turned cold after the +disappearance of the sun. + +When the others had sunk into an uneasy slumber, the President and +Professor Pludder sat long, replenishing the fire, and talking of what +would be their future course. + +"I think," said the professor, "that we shall find a considerable +population alive among the mountains. There is nothing in Colorado below +four thousand feet elevation, and not much below five thousand. The +great inner 'parks' were probably turned into lakes, but they will drain +off, as the land around us here has done already. + +"Those who managed to find places of comparative shelter will now +descend into the level lands and try to hunt up the sites of their +homes. If only some plants and grain have been preserved they can, after +a fashion, begin to cultivate the soil." + +"But there _is_ no soil," said the President, shuddering at the +recollection of the devastation he had witnessed. "It has all been +washed off." + +"No," replied the professor, "there's yet a good deal in the low places, +where the water rested." + +"But it is now the middle of winter." + +"Reckoned by the almanac it is, but you see that the temperature is that +of summer, and has been such for months. I think that this is due in +some way to the influence of the nebula, although I cannot account for +it. At any rate it will be possible to plant and sow. + +"The whole body of the atmosphere having been raised four thousand feet, +the atmospheric conditions here now are virtually the same as at the +former sea-level. If we can find the people and reassure them, we must +take the lead in restoring the land to fertility, and also in the +reconstruction of homes." + +"Suppose the flood should recommence?" + +"There is no likelihood of it." + +"Then," said the President, putting his face between his hands and +gazing sadly into the fire, "here is all that remains of the mightiest +nation of the world, the richest, the most populous--and we are to build +up out of this remnant a new fatherland." + +"This is not the only remnant," said Professor Pludder. "One-quarter, at +least, of the area of the United States is still above sea-level. Think +of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, the larger part of California, +Wyoming, a part of Montana, two-thirds of Idaho, a half of Oregon and +Washington--all above the critical level of four thousand feet, and all +except the steepest moutainsides can be reclaimed. + +"There is hope for our country yet. Remember that the climate of this +entire region will now be changed, since the barometric isobars have +been lifted up, and the line of thirty inches pressure now meets the +edge of the Colorado plateau. There may be a corresponding change in the +rainfall and in all the conditions of culture and fertility." + +"Yes," sighed the President, "but I cannot, I cannot withdraw my mind +from the thought of the _millions, millions, millions_ who have +perished!" + +"I do not say that we should forget them," replied Professor Pludder; +"Heaven forbid! But I do say that we must give our attention to those +that remain, and turn our faces steadily toward the future." + +"Abiel," returned the President, pressing the professor's hand, "you are +right. My confidence in you was shaken, but now I follow you again." + +Thus they talked until midnight, and then got a little rest with the +others. They were up and off at break of day, and as they mounted higher +they began to encounter immense rocks that had come tumbling down from +above. + +"How can you talk of people escaping toward the mountains if they had to +encounter these?" demanded the President. + +"Some of these rocks have undoubtedly been brought down by the +torrents," Professor Pludder replied, "but I believe that the greater +number fell earlier, during the earthquakes that accompanied the first +invasions of the sea." + +"But those earthquakes may have continued all through." + +"I do not think so. We have felt no trembling of the earth. I believe +that the convulsions lasted only for a brief period, while the rocks +were yielding to the pressure along the old sea-coast. After a little +the crust below adjusted itself to the new conditions. And even if the +rocks fell while people were trying to escape from the flood below, they +must, like the water, have followed the gorges and hollow places, while +the fugitives would, of course, keep upon the ridges." + +Whatever perils they may have encountered, people had certainly escaped +as the professor had averred. When the party, in the middle of the day, +were seated at their lunch, on an elevated point from which they could +see far over the strange ocean that they had left behind them, while the +southern buttresses of Pike's Peak rose steeply toward the north, they +discovered the first evidence of the existence of refugees in the +mountains. This was a smoke rising over an intervening ridge, which +their new companions declared could be due to nothing less than a large +camp-fire. + +They hastened to finish their meal, and then climbed the ridge. As soon +as they were upon it they found themselves looking down into a broad, +shallow cańon, where there were nearly twenty rudely constructed cabins, +with a huge fire blazing in the midst of the place, and half a dozen +red-shirted men busy about it, evidently occupied in the preparation of +the dinner of a large party. + +Their friends recognized an acquaintance in one of the men below and +hailed him with delight. Instantly men, women, and children came running +out of the huts to look at them, and as they descended into this +improvised village they were received with a hospitality that was almost +hilarious. + +The refugees consisted of persons who had escaped from the lower lands +in the immediate vicinity, and they were struck dumb when told that they +were entertaining the President of the United States and his family. + +The entire history of their adventures was related on both sides. The +refugees told how, at the commencement of the great rain, when it became +evident that the water would inundate their farms and buildings, they +loaded themselves with as many provisions as they could carry, and, in +spite of the suffocating downpour that filled the air, managed to fight +their way to the ridge overhanging the deep cut in which they were now +encamped. + +Hardly a quarter of those who started arrived in safety. They sheltered +themselves to the number of about thirty, in a huge cavern, which faced +down the mountain, and had a slightly upward sloping floor, so that the +water did not enter. Here, by careful economy, they were able to eke out +their provisions until the sky cleared, after which the men, being used +to outdoor labor and hunting, contrived to supply the wants of the +forlorn little community. + +They managed to kill a few animals, and found the bodies of others +recently killed, or drowned. Later they descended into the lowlands, as +the water ran off, and searching among the ruins of their houses found +some remnants of supplies in the cellars and about the foundations of +the barns. They were preparing to go down in a body and seek to +re-establish themselves on the sites of their old homes, when the +President's party came upon them. + +The meeting with these refugees was but the first of a series of similar +encounters on the way along the eastern face of the Pike's Peak range. +In the aggregate they met several hundred survivors who had established +themselves on the site of Colorado Springs, where a large number of +houses, standing on the higher ground, had escaped. + +They had been soaked with water, descending through the shattered roofs +and broken windows, and pouring into the basements and cellars. The +fugitives came from all directions, some from the caverns on the +mountains, and some from the rocks toward the north and east. A +considerable number asserted that they had found refuge in the Garden of +the Gods. + +As near as could be estimated, about a quarter of the population +remained alive. + +The strong points of Professor Pludder now, once more, came out +conspicuously. He proved himself an admirable organizer. He explored all +the country round, and enheartened everybody, setting them to work to +repair the damage as much as possible. + +Some horses and cattle were found which, following their instincts, had +managed to escape the flood. In the houses and other buildings yet +standing a great deal of food and other supplies were discovered, so +that there was no danger of a famine. As he had anticipated, the soil +had not all been washed away from the flat land, and he advised the +inhabitants to plant quick-growing seeds at once. + +He utilized the horses to send couriers in all directions, some going +even as far as Denver. Everywhere virtually the same conditions were +found--many had escaped and were alive, only needing the guidance of a +quicker intelligence, and this was supplied by the advice which the +professor instructed his envoys to spread among the people. He sought to +cheer them still more by the information that the President was among +them, and looking out for their welfare. + +One thing which his couriers at last began to report to him was a cause +of surprise. They said that the level of the water was rapidly falling. +Some who had gone far toward the east declared that it had gone down +hundreds of feet. But the professor reflected that this was impossible, +because evaporation could not account for it, and he could not persuade +himself that so much water could have found its way into the interior of +the crust. + +He concluded that his informants had allowed their hopes to affect their +eyesight, and, strong as usual in his professional dogmas, he made no +personal examination. Besides, Professor Pludder was beginning to be +shaken in his first belief that all trouble from the nebula was at an +end. Once having been forced to accept the hypothesis that a watery +nebula had met the earth, he began to reflect that they might not be +through with it. + +In any event, he deemed it wise to prepare for it if it _should_ come +back. Accordingly he advised that the population that remained should +concentrate in the stronger houses, built of stone, and that every +effort should be made to strengthen them further and to make the roofs +as solid as possible. He also directed that no houses should be occupied +that were not situated on high ground, surrounded with slopes that would +give ready flow to the water in case the deluging rain should +recommence. + +He had no fixed conviction that it would recommence, but he was uneasy, +owing to his reflections, and wished to be on the safe side. He sent +similar instructions as far as his horsemen could reach. + +The wisdom of his doubts became manifest about two weeks after the +arrival of the President's party. Without warning the sky, which had +been perfectly blue and cloudless for a month, turned a sickly yellow. +Then mists hid the head, and in a little while the entire outline of +Pike's Peak, and after that a heavy rain began. + +Terror instantly seized the people, and at first nobody ventured out of +doors. But as time went on and the rain did not assume the proportions +of the former _débâcle_, although it was very heavy and continuous, hope +revived. Everybody was on the watch for a sudden clearing up. + +Instead of clearing, however, the rain became very irregular, gushing at +times in torrents which were even worse than the original downpour, but +these tremendous gushes were of brief duration, so that the water had an +opportunity to run off the higher ground before the next downpour +occurred. + +This went on for a week, and then the people were terrified at finding +that water was pouring up through all the depressions of the land, +cutting off the highlands from Pike's Peak with an arm of the sea. It +was evident that the flood had been rapidly rising, and if it should +rise but little higher they would be caught in a trap. The inland sea, +it was clear, had now invaded the whole of Colorado to the feet of the +mountains, and was creeping up on them. + +Just at this time a series of earthquakes began. They were not severe, +but were continuous. The ground cracked open in places, and some houses +were overturned, but there were no wall-shattering shocks--only a +continual and dreadful trembling, accompanied by awful subterranean +sounds. + +This terrible state of affairs had lasted for a day before a remarkable +discovery was made, which filled many hearts with joy, although it +seemed to puzzle Professor Pludder as much as it rejoiced him. + +The new advance of the sea was arrested! There could be no question of +that, for too many had anxiously noted the points to which the water had +attained. + +We have said that Professor Pludder was puzzled. He was seeking, in his +mind, a connection between the seismic tremors and the cessation of the +advance of the sea. Inasmuch as the downpour continued, the flood ought +still to rise. + +He rejected as soon as it occurred to him the idea that the earth could +be drinking up the waters as fast as they fell, and that the trembling +was an accompaniment of this gigantic deglutition. + +Sitting in a room with the President and other members of the party from +Washington, he remained buried in his thoughts, answering inquiries only +in monosyllables. Presently he opened his eyes very wide and a +long-drawn "A-ah!" came from his mouth. Then he sprang to his feet and +cried out, but only as if uttering a thought aloud to himself, the +strange word: + +_"Batholite!"_ + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + +At the time when the President of the United States and his companions +were beginning to discover the refugees around Pike's Peak, Cosmo +Versál's Ark accompanied by the _Jules Verne_, whose commander had +decided to remain in touch with his friends, was crossing the submerged +hills and valleys of Languedoc under a sun as brilliant as that which +had once made them a land of gold. + +De Beauxchamps remained aboard the Ark much of the time. Cosmo liked to +have him, with himself and Captain Arms, on the bridge, because there +they could talk freely about their plans and prospects, and the +Frenchman was a most entertaining companion. + +Meanwhile, the passengers in the saloons and on the promenade decks +formed little knots and coteries for conversation, for reading, and for +mutual diversion, or strolled about from side to side, watching the +endless expanse of waters for the occasional appearance of some +inhabitant of the deep that had wandered over the new ocean's bottom. + +These animals seemed to be coming to the surface to get bearings. Every +such incident reminded the spectators of what lay beneath the waves, and +led them to think and talk of the awful fate that had overwhelmed their +fellow men, until the spirits of the most careless were subdued by the +pervading melancholy. + +King Richard, strangely enough, had taken a liking for Amos Blank, who +was frequently asked to join the small and somewhat exclusive circle of +compatriots that continually surrounded the fallen monarch. The +billionaire and the king often leaned elbow to elbow over the rail, and +put their heads companionably together while pointing out some object on +the sea. Lord Swansdown felt painfully cut by this, but, of course, he +could offer no objection. + +Finally Cosmo invited the king to come upon the bridge, from which +passengers were generally excluded, and the king insisted that Blank +should go, too. Cosmo consented, for Blank seemed to him to have become +quite a changed man, and he found him sometimes full of practical +suggestions. + +So it happened that when Captain Arms announced that the Ark was passing +over the ancient city of Carcassonne, Cosmo, the king, De Beauxchamps, +Amos Blank, and the captain were all together on the bridge. When +Captain Arms mentioned their location, King Richard became very +thoughtful. After a time he said musingly: + +"Ah! how all these names, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Languedoc, bring back +to me the memory of my namesake of olden times, Richard I. of England. +This, over which we are floating, was the land of the Troubadours, and +Richard was the very Prince of Troubadours. With all his faults England +never had a king like him!" + +"Knowing your devotion to peace, which was the reason why I wished you +to be of the original company in the Ark, I am surprised to hear you say +that," said Cosmo. + +"Ah!" returned the King, "But Coeur de Lion was a true Englishman, even +in his love of fighting. What would he say if he knew where England lies +to-day? What would he say if he knew the awful fate that has come upon +this fair and pleasant land, from whose poets and singers he learned the +art of minstrelsy?" + +"He would say, 'Do not despair,'" replied Cosmo. "' Show the courage of +an Englishman, and fight for your race if you cannot for your country.'" + +"But may not England, may not all these lands, emerge again from the +floods?" asked the king. + +"Not in our time, not in our children's time," said Cosmo Versál, +thoughtfully shaking his head. + +"In the remote future, yes--but I cannot tell how remote. Tibet was once +an appanage of your crown, before China taught the West what war meant, +and in Tibet you may help to found a new empire, but I must tell you +that it will not resemble the empires of the past. Democracy will be its +corner stone, and science its law." + +"Then I devote myself to democracy and science," responded King Richard. + +"Good! Admirable!" exclaimed Amos Blank and De Beauxchamps +simultaneously, while Captain Arms would probably have patted the king +on the back had not his attention, together with that of the others, +been distracted by a huge whale blowing almost directly in the course of +the Ark. + +"Blessed if I ever expected to see a sight like that in these parts!" +exclaimed the captain. "This lifting the ocean up into the sky is +upsetting the order of nature. I'd as soon expect to sight a cachalot on +top of the Rocky Mountains." + +"They'll be there, too, before long," said Cosmo. + +"I wonder what he's looking for," continued Captain Arms. "He must have +come down from the north. He couldn't have got in through the Pyrenees +or the Sierra Nevadas. He's just navigated right over the whole country +straight down from the English Channel." + +The whale sounded at the approach of the Ark, but in a little while he +was blowing again off toward the south, and then the passengers caught +sight of him, and there was great excitement. + +He seemed to be of enormous size, and he sent his fountain to an +extraordinary height in the air. On he went, appearing and disappearing, +steering direct for Africa, until, with glasses, they could see his +white plume blowing on the very edge of the horizon. + +Not even the reflection that they themselves were sailing over Europe +impressed some of the passengers with so vivid a sense of their +situation as the sight of this monstrous inhabitant of the ocean taking +a view of his new domain. + +At night Cosmo continued the concerts and the presentation of the +Shakespearian dramas, and for an hour each afternoon he had a +"conference" in the saloon, at which Theriade and Sir Athelstone were +almost the sole performers. + +Their disputes, and Cosmo's efforts to keep the peace, amused for a +while, but at length the audiences diminished until Cosmo, with his +constant companions, the Frenchman, the king, Amos Blank, the three +professors from Washington, and a few other savants were the only +listeners. + +But the music and the plays always drew immensely. + +Joseph Smith was kept busy most of the time in Cosmo's cabin, copying +plans for the regeneration of mankind. + +When they knew that they had finally left the borders of France and were +sailing above the Mediterranean Sea, it became necessary to lay their +course with considerable care. Cosmo decided that the only safe plan +would be to run south of Sardinia, and then keep along between Sicily +and Tunis, and so on toward lower Egypt. + +There he intended to seek a way over the mountains north of the Sinai +peninsula into the Syrian desert, from which he could reach the ancient +valley of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. He would then pass down +the Arabian Sea, swing round India and Ceylon, and, by way of the Bay of +Bengal and the plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, approach the +Himalayas. + +Captain Arms was rather inclined to follow the Gulf of Suez and the +depression of the Red Sea, but Cosmo was afraid that they would have +difficulty in getting the Ark safely through between the Mt. Sinai peaks +and the Jebel Gharib range. + +"Well, you're the commodore," said the captain at the end of the +discussion, "but hang me if I'd not rather follow a sea, where I know +the courses, than go navigating over mountains and deserts in the land +of Shinar. We'll land on top of Jerusalem yet, you'll see!" + +Feeling sure of plenty of water under keel, they now made better speed +and De Beauxchamps retired into the _Jules Verne_, and detached it from +the Ark, finding that he could distance the latter easily with the +submersible running just beneath the surface of the water. + +"Come up to blow, and take a look around from the bridge, once in a +while," the captain called out to him as he disappeared and the cover +closed over him. The _Jules Verne_ immediately sank out of sight. + +They passed round Sardinia, and between the old African coast and +Sicily, and were approaching the Malta Channel when their attention was +drawn to a vast smoke far off toward the north. + +"It's Etna in eruption," said Cosmo to the captain. + +"A magnificent sight!" exclaimed King Richard, who happened to be on the +bridge. + +"Yes, and I'd like to see it nearer," remarked Cosmo, as a wonderful +column of smoke, as black as ink, seemed to shoot up to the very zenith. + +"You'd better keep away," Captain Arms said warningly. "There's no good +comes of fooling round volcanoes in a ship." + +"Oh, it's safe enough," returned Cosmo. "We can run right over the +southeastern corner of Sicily and get as near as we like. There is +nothing higher than about three thousand feet in that part of the +island, so we'll have a thousand feet to spare." + +"But maybe the water has lowered." + +"Not more than a foot or two," said Cosmo. "Go ahead." + +The captain plainly didn't fancy the adventure, but he obeyed orders, +and the Ark's nose was turned northward, to the delight of many of the +passengers who had become greatly interested when they learned that the +tremendous smoke that they saw came from Mount Etna. + +Some of them were nervous, but the more adventurous spirits heartily +applauded Cosmo Versál's design to give them a closer view of so +extraordinary a spectacle. Even from their present distance the sight +was one that might have filled them with terror if they had not already +been through adventures which had hardened their nerves. The smoke was +truly terrific in appearance. + +It did not spread low over the sea, but rose in an almost vertical +column, widening out at a height of several miles, until it seemed to +canopy the whole sky toward the north. + +It could be seen spinning in immense rolling masses, the outer parts of +which were turned by the sunshine to a dingy brown color, while the main +stem of the column, rising directly from the great crater, was of pitchy +blackness. + +An awful roaring was audible, sending a shiver through the Ark. At the +bottom of the mass of smoke, through which gleams of fire were seen to +shoot as they drew nearer, appeared the huge conical form of the +mountain, whose dark bulk still rose nearly seven thousand feet above +the sea that covered the great, beautiful, and historic island beneath +it. + +They had got within about twenty miles of the base of the mountain, when +a shout was heard by those on the bridge, and Cosmo and the captain, +looking for its source, saw the _Jules Verne_, risen to the surface a +little to starboard, and De Beauxchamps excitedly signaling to them. +They just made out the words, "Sheer off!" when the Ark, with a groaning +sound, took ground, and they were almost precipitated over the rail of +the bridge. + +"Aground again, by ----!" exclaimed Captain Arms, instantly signaling +all astern. "I told you not to go fooling round a volcano." + +"This beats me!" cried Cosmo Versál. "I wonder if the island has begun +to rise." + +"More likely the sea has begun to fall," growled Captain Arms. + +"Do you know where we are?" asked Cosmo. + +"We can't be anywhere but on the top of Monte Lauro," replied the +captain. + +"But that's only three thousand feet high." + +"It's exactly three thousand two hundred and thirty feet," said the +captain. "I haven't navigated the old Mediterranean a hundred times for +nothing." + +"But even then we should have near seven hundred and fifty feet to +spare, allowing for the draft of the Ark, and a slight subsidence of the +water." + +"Well, you haven't allowed enough, that's plain," said the captain. + +"But it's impossible that the flood can have subsided more than seven +hundred feet already." + +"I don't care how impossible it is--here we are! We're stuck on a +mountain-top, and if we don't leave our bones on it I'm a porpoise." + +By this time the _Jules Verne_ was alongside, and De Beauxchamps shouted +up: + +"I was running twenty feet under water, keeping along with the Ark, when +my light suddenly revealed the mountain ahead. I hurried up and tried to +warn you, but it was too late." + +"Can't you go down and see where we're fast?" asked Cosmo. + +"Certainly; that's just what I was about to propose," replied the +Frenchman, and immediately the submersible disappeared. + +After a long time, during which Cosmo succeeded in allaying the fears of +his passengers, the submersible reappeared, and De Beauxchamps made his +report. He said that the Ark was fast near the bow on a bed of shelly +limestone. + +He thought that by using the utmost force of the _Jules Verne_, whose +engines were very powerful, in pushing the Ark, combined with the +backing of her own engines, she might be got off. + +"Hurry up, then, and get to work," cried Captain Arms. "This flood is on +the ebb, and a few hours more will find us stuck here like a ray with +his saw in a whale's back." + +De Beauxchamps's plan was immediately adopted. The _Jules Verne_ +descended, and pushed with all her force, while the engines of the Ark +were reversed, and within fifteen minutes they were once more afloat. + +Without waiting for a suggestion from Cosmo Versál, the Frenchman +carefully inspected with his searchlight the bottom of the Ark where she +had struck, and when he came to the surface he was able to report that +no serious damage had resulted. + +"There's no hole," he said, "only a slight denting of one of the plates, +which will not amount to anything." + +Cosmo, however, was not content until he had made a careful inspection +by opening some of the manholes in the inner skin of the vessel. He +found no cause for anxiety, and in an hour the Ark resumed its voyage +eastward, passing over the site of ancient Syracuse. + +By this time a change of the wind had sent the smoke from Etna in their +direction, and now it lay thick upon the water, and rendered it, for a +while, impossible to see twenty fathoms from the bridge. + +"It's old Etna's dying salute," said Cosmo. "He won't have his head +above water much longer." + +"But the flood is going down," exclaimed Captain Arms. + +"Yes, and that puzzles me. There must have been an enormous absorption +of water into the interior, far greater than I ever imagined possible. +But wait until the nucleus of the nebula strikes us! In the meantime, +this lowering of the water renders it necessary for us to make haste, or +we may not get over the mountains round Suez before the downpour +recommences." + +As soon as they escaped from the smoke of Etna they ran full speed ahead +again, and, keeping well south of Crete, at length, one morning they +found themselves in the latitude and longitude of Alexandria. + +The weather was still superb, and Cosmo was very desirous of getting a +line on the present height of the water. He thought that he could make a +fair estimate of this from the known elevation of the mountains about +Sinai. Accordingly they steered in that direction, and on the way passed +directly over the site of Cairo. + +Then the thought of the pyramids came to them all, and De Beauxchamps, +who had come aboard the Ark, and who was always moved by sentimental +considerations, proposed that they should spend a few hours here, while +he descended to inspect the condition in which the flood had left those +mighty monuments. + +Cosmo not only consented to this, but he even offered to be a member of +the party. The Frenchman was only too glad to have his company. Cosmo +Versál descended into the submersible after instructing Captain Arms to +hover in the neighborhood. + +The passengers and crew of the Ark, with expressions of anxiety that +would have pleased their subject if he had heard them, watched the +_Jules Verne_ disappear into the depths beneath. + +The submersible was gone so long that the anxiety of those aboard the +Ark deepened into alarm, and finally became almost panic. They had never +before known how much they depended upon Cosmo Versál. + +He was their only reliance, their only hope. He alone had known how to +keep up their spirits, and when he had assured them, as he so often did, +that the flooding would surely recommence, they had hardly been +terrified because of their unexpressed confidence that, let come what +would, his great brain would find a way out for them. + +Now he was gone, down into the depths of this awful sea, where their +imaginations pictured a thousand unheard-of perils, and perhaps they +would never see him again! Without him they knew themselves to be +helpless. Even Captain Arms almost lost his nerve. + +The strong good sense of Amos Blank alone saved them from the utter +despair that began to seize upon them as hour after hour passed without +the reappearance of the _Jules Verne_. + +His experience had taught him how to keep a level head in an emergency, +and how to control panics. With King Richard always at his side, he went +about among the passengers and fairly laughed them out of their fears. + +Without discussing the matter at all, he convinced them, by the simple +force of his own apparent confidence, that they were worrying themselves +about nothing. + +He was, in fact, as much alarmed as any of the others, but he never +showed it. He started a rumor, after six hours had elapsed, that Cosmo +himself had said that they would probably require ten or twelve hours +for their exploration. + +Cosmo had said nothing of the kind, but Blank's prevarication had its +intended effect, and fortunately, before the lapse of another six hours, +there was news from under the sea. + +And what was happening in the mysterious depths below the Ark? What had +so long detained the submersible? + +The point where the descent was made had been so well chosen that the +_Jules Verne_ almost struck the apex of the Great Pyramid as it +approached the bottom. The water was somewhat muddy from the sands of +the desert, and the searchlight streamed through a yellowish medium, +recalling the "golden atmosphere" for which Egypt had been celebrated. +But, nevertheless, the light was so powerful that they could see +distinctly at a distance of several rods. + +The pyramid appeared to have been but little injured, although the +tremendous tidal wave that had swept up the Nile during the invasion of +the sea before the downpour began had scooped out the sand down to the +bed-rock on all sides. + +Finding nothing of particular interest in a circuit of the pyramid, they +turned in the direction of the Great Sphinx. + +This, too, had been excavated to its base, and it now stood up to its +full height, and a terrible expression seemed to have come into its +enigmatic features. + +Cosmo wished to get a close look at it, and they ran the submersible +into actual contact with the forepart of the gigantic statue, just under +the mighty chin. + +While they paused there, gazing out of the front window of the vessel, a +bursting sound was heard, followed by a loud crash, and the _Jules +Verne_ was shaken from stem to stern. Every man of them threw himself +against the sides of the vessel, for the sound came from overhead, and +they had an instinctive notion that the roof was being crushed down upon +them. + +A second resounding crash was heard, shaking them like an earthquake, +and the little vessel rolled partly over upon its side. + +"We are lost!" cried De Beauxchamps. "The Sphinx is falling upon us! We +shall be buried alive here!" + +A third crash came over their heads, and the submersible seemed to sink +beneath them as if seeking to avoid the fearful blows that were rained +upon its roof. + +Still, the stout curved ceiling, strongly braced within, did not yield, +although they saw, with affright, that it was bulged inward, and some of +the braces were torn from their places. But no water came in. + +Stunned by the suddenness of the accident, for a few moments they did +nothing but cling to such supports as were within their reach, expecting +that another blow would either force the vessel completely over or break +the roof in. + +But complete silence now reigned, and the missiles from above ceased to +strike the submersible. The searchlight continued to beam out of the +fore end of the vessel, and following its broad ray with their eyes, +they uttered one cry of mingled amazement and fear, and then stared +without a word at such a spectacle as the wildest imagination could not +have pictured. + +The front of the Sphinx had disappeared, and the light, penetrating +beyond the place where it had stood, streamed upon the face and breast +of an enormous black figure, seated on a kind of throne, and staring +into their faces with flaming eyes which at once fascinated and +terrified them. + +To their startled imaginations the eyes seemed to roll in their sockets, +and flashes of fire to dart from them. Their expression was menacing and +terrifying beyond belief. At the same time the aspect of the face was so +majestic that they cowered before it. + +The cheekbones were high, massive, and polished until they shone in the +light; the nose and chin were powerful in their contours; and the brow +wore an intimidating frown. It seemed to the awed onlookers as if they +had sacrilegiously burst into the sanctuary of an offended god. + +But, after a minute or two of stupefaction, they thought again of the +desperateness of their situation, and turned from staring at the strange +idol to consider what they should do. + +The fact that no water was finding its way into the submersible somewhat +reassured them, but the question now arose whether it could be withdrawn +from its position. + +They had no doubt that the front of the Sphinx, saturated by the water +after the thousands of years that it had stood there, exposed to the +desiccating influences of the sun and the desert sands, had suddenly +disintegrated, and fallen upon them, pinning their vessel fast under the +fragments of the huge head. + +De Beauxchamps tried the engines and found that they had no effect in +moving the _Jules Verne_. He tried again and again by reversing to +disengage the vessel, but it would not stir. Then they debated the only +other means of escape. + +"Although I have levium life-suits," said the Frenchman, "and although +the top of the _Jules Verne_ can probably be opened, for the door seems +not to have been touched, yet the instant it is removed the water will +rush in, and it will be impossible to pump out the vessel." + +"Are your life-suits so arranged that they will permit of moving the +limbs?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Certainly they are." + +"And can they be weighted so as to remain at the bottom?" + +"They are arranged for that," responded De Beauxchamps. + +"And can the weights be detached by the inmates without permitting the +entrance of water?" + +"It can be done, although a very little water might enter during the +operation." + +"Then," said Cosmo, "let us put on the suits, open the door, take out +the ballast so that, if released, the submersible will rise to the +surface through its own buoyancy, and then see if we cannot loosen the +vessel from outside." + +It was a suggestion whose boldness made even the owner and constructor +of the _Jules Verne_ stare for a moment, but evidently it was the only +possible way in which the vessel might be saved; and knowing that, in +case of failure, they could themselves float to the surface after +removing the weights from the bottom of the suits, they unanimously +decided to try Cosmo Versál's plan. + +It was terribly hard work getting the ballast out of the submersible, +working as they had to do under water, which rushed in as soon as the +door was opened, and in their awkward suits, which were provided with +apparatus for renewing the supply of oxygen; but at last they succeeded. + +Then they clambered outside, and labored desperately to release the +vessel from the huge fragments of stone that pinned it down. Finally, +exhausted by their efforts, and unable to make any impression, they gave +up. + +De Beauxchamps approached Cosmo and motioned to him that it was time to +ascend to the surface and leave the _Jules Verne_ to her fate. But Cosmo +signaled back that he wished first to examine more closely the strange +statue that was gazing upon them in the still unextinguished beam of the +searchlight with what they might now have regarded as a look of mockery. + +The others, accordingly, waited while Cosmo Versál, greatly impeded by +his extraordinary garment, clambered up to the front of the figure. +There he saw something which redoubled his amazement. + +On the broad breast he saw a representation of a world overwhelmed with +a deluge and encircling it was what he instantly concluded to be the +picture of a nebula. Underneath, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, with +which Cosmo was familiar, was an inscription in letters of gold, which +could only be translated thus: + + I Come Again-- + At the End of Time. + +"Great Heavens!" he said to himself. "It is a prophecy of the Second +Deluge!" + +[Illustration: "IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE."] + +He continued to gaze, amazed, at the figure and the inscription, until +De Beauxchamps clambered to his side and indicated to him that it was +necessary that they should ascend without further delay, showing him by +signs that the air-renewing apparatus would give out. + +With a last lingering look at the figure, Cosmo imitated the others by +detaching the weights from below his feet, and a minute later they were +all shooting rapidly toward the surface of the sea, De Beauxchamps, as +he afterwards declared, uttering a prayer for the repose of the _Jules +Verne_. + +The imaginary time which Amos Blank had fixed as the limit set by Cosmo +for the return from the depths was nearly gone, and he was beginning to +cast about for some other invention to quiet the rising fears of the +passengers, when a form became visible which made the eyes of Captain +Arms, the first to catch sight of it, start from their sockets. He +rubbed them, and looked again--but there it was! + +A huge head, human in outline, with bulging, glassy eyes, popped +suddenly out of the depths, followed by the upper part of a gigantic +form which was no less suggestive of a monstrous man, and which +immediately began to wave its arms! + +Before the captain could collect his senses another shot to the surface, +and then another and another, until there were seven of them floating +and awkwardly gesticulating within a radius of a hundred fathoms on the +starboard side of the vessel. + +The whole series of apparitions did not occupy more than a quarter of a +minute in making their appearance. + +By the time the last had sprung into sight Captain Arms had recovered +his wits, and he shouted an order to lower a boat, at the same time +running down from the bridge to superintend the operation. Many of the +crew and passengers had in the meantime seen the strange objects, and +they were thrown into a state of uncontrollable excitement. + +"It's them!" shouted the captain over his shoulder, in response to a +hundred inquiries all put at once, and forgetting his grammar in the +excitement. "They've come up in diving-suits." + +Amos Blank comprehended the situation at once; and while the captain was +getting out the boat, he explained matters to the crowd. + +"The submersible must be lost," he said quietly, "but the men have +escaped, so there is no great harm done. It does great credit to that +Frenchman that he should have been prepared for such an emergency. Those +are levium suits, and I've no doubt that he has got hydrogen somewhere +inside to increase their buoyancy." + +Within a quarter of an hour all the seven had been picked up by the +boat, and it returned to the Ark. The strange forms were lifted aboard +with tackle to save time; and as the first one reached the deck, it +staggered about on its big limbs for a moment. + +Then the metallic head opened, and the features of De Beauxchamps were +revealed. + +Before anybody could assist him he had freed himself from the suit, and +immediately he began to aid the others. In ten minutes they all stood +safe and sound before the astonished eyes of the spectators. Cosmo had +suffered from the confinement, and he sank upon a seat, but De +Beauxchamps seemed to be the most affected. With downcast look he said, +sadly shaking his head: + +"The poor _Jules Verne_! I shall never see her again." + +"What has happened?" demanded Captain Arms. + +"It was the Father of Horror," muttered Cosmo Versál. + +"The Father of Horror--what's that?" + +"Why, the Great Sphinx," returned Cosmo, gradually recovering his +breath. "Didn't you know that that was what the Arabs always called the +Sphinx? + +"It was that which fell upon the submersible--split right open and +dropped its great chin upon us as we were sailing round it, and pinned +us fast. But the sight that we saw when the Sphinx fell apart! Tell +them, De Beauxchamps." + +The Frenchman took up the narrative, while, with breathless attention, +passengers and crew crowded about to listen to his tale. + +"When we got to the bottom," he said, "we first inspected the Great +Pyramid, going all round it with our searchlight. It was in good +condition, although the tide that had come up the Nile with the invasion +of the sea had washed away the sands to a great depth all about. When we +had completed the circuit of the pyramid, we saw the Sphinx, which had +been excavated by the water so that it stood up to its full height. + +"We ran close around it, and when we were under the chin the whole +thing, saturated by the water, which no doubt caused an expansion +within--you know how many thousand years the gigantic idol had been +sun-dried--dropped apart. + +"The submersible was caught by the falling mass, and partly crushed. We +labored for hours and hours to release the vessel, but there was little +that we could do. It almost broke my heart to think of leaving the +_Jules Verne_ there, but it had to be done. + +"At last we put on the levium floating-suits, opened the cover at the +top, and came to the surface. The last thing I saw was the searchlight, +still burning, and illuminating the most marvelous spectacle that human +eyes ever gazed upon." + +"Oh, what was it? What was it?" demanded a score of voices in chorus. + +"It is impossible to describe it. It was the secret of old Egypt +revealed at last--at the end of the world!" + +"But what was it like?" + +"Like a glimpse into the remotest corridors of time," interposed Cosmo +Versál, with a curious look in his eyes. + +"Some of you may have heard that long ago holes were driven through the +Sphinx in the hope of discovering something hidden inside, but they +missed the secret. The old god kept it well until his form fell apart. +We were pinned so close to it that we could not help seeing it, even in +the excitement of our situation. + +"It had always been supposed that the Sphinx was the symbol of +something--it _was_, and more than a symbol! The explorers away back in +the nineteenth century who thought that they had found something +mysterious in the Great Pyramid went wide of the mark when they +neglected the Sphinx." + +"But what did you see?" + +_"We saw the prophecy of the Second Deluge,"_ said Cosmo, rising to his +feet, his piercing eyes aflame. "In the heart of the huge mass, +approachable, no doubt, by some concealed passage in the rock beneath, +known only to the priests, stood a gigantic idol, carved out of black +marble. + +"It had enormous eyes of some gem that blazed in the electric beam from +the searchlight, with huge golden ears and beard, and on its breast was +a representation of a drowning world, with a great nebula sweeping over +it." + +"It might have been a history instead of a prophecy," suggested one of +the listening savants. "Perhaps it only told what had once happened." + +"No," replied Cosmo, shaking his big head. "It was a prophecy. Under it, +in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which I recognized, was an +inscription which could only be translated by the words, 'I come +again--at the end of time!'" + +There was a quality in Cosmo Versál's voice which made the hearers +shudder with horror. + +"Yes," he added. "It comes again! The prophecy was hidden, but science +had its means of revelation, too, if the world would but have listened +to its voice. Even without the prophecy I have saved the flower of +mankind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + + +When the company in the Ark had recovered from the astonishment produced +by the narratives of De Beauxchamps and Cosmo Versál, and particularly +the vivid description given by the latter of the strange idol concealed +in the breast of the "Father of Horror," and the inferences which he +drew concerning its prophetic character, the question again arose as to +their future course. + +Captain Arms was still for undertaking to follow the trough of the Red +Sea, but Cosmo declared that this course would be doubly dangerous now +that the water had lowered and that they no longer had the _Jules Verne_ +to act as a submarine scout, warning them of hidden perils. + +They must now go by their own soundings, and this would be especially +dangerous in the close neighborhood of half-submerged mountains, whose +buttresses and foothills might rise suddenly out of the depths with +slopes so steep that the lead would afford no certain guidance. + +It was first necessary to learn if possible the actual height of the +water, and whether it was still subsiding. It was partly for this +purpose that they had passed over Egypt instead of keeping directly on +toward the coast of lower Palestine. + +But now Cosmo abandoned his purpose of taking his measurement by the aid +of Mount Sinai or some of its neighboring peaks, on account of the +dangerous character of that rugged region. If they had been furnished +with deep-sea sounding apparatus they might have made a direct +measurement of the depth in Egypt, but that was one of the few things +which Cosmo Versál had overlooked in furnishing the Ark, and such an +operation could not be undertaken. + +He discovered that there was a mountain north of the Gulf of Akaba +having an elevation of 3,450 feet, and since this was 220 feet higher +than Monte Lauro, in Sicily, on which the Ark had grounded, he counted +on it as a gage which would serve his purpose. + +So they passed almost directly over Suez, and about 120 miles farther +east they found the mountain they sought, rising to the west of the Wadi +el Arabia, a continuation of the depression at whose deepest point lay +the famous "Dead Sea," so often spoken of in the books of former times. + +Here Cosmo was able to make a very accurate estimate from the height of +the peak above the water, and he was gratified to find that the +recession had not continued. The level of the water appeared to be +exactly the same as when they made their unfortunate excursion in the +direction of smoking Etna. + +"It's all right," he said to Captain Arms. "We can get over into the +Syrian desert without much danger, although we must go slowly and +carefully until we are well past these ranges that come down from the +direction of the Dead Sea. After that I do not see that there is +anything in our way until we reach the ancient plains of Babylon." + +King Richard, who was full of the history of the Crusades, as well as of +Bible narratives, wished to have the Ark turn northward, so that they +might sail over Jerusalem, and up the Valley of the Jordan within sight +of Mount Hermon and the Lebanon range. + +Cosmo had had enough of that kind of adventure, while Captain Arms +declared that he would resign on the spot if there was to be any more +"fool navigating on mountain tops." But there were many persons in the +Ark who would have been very glad if King Richard's suggestion had been +carried out. + +The feelings of some were deeply stirred when they learned that they +were now crossing the lower end of Palestine, and that the scenes of so +many incidents in the history of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua lay buried +beneath the blue water, whose almost motionless surface was marked with +a broad trail of foaming bubbles in the wake of the immense vessel. + +Cosmo greatly regretted the absence of the submersible when they were +picking their way over this perilous region, but they encountered no +real difficulty, and at length found, by celestial observations, that +they were beyond all dangers and safely arrived over the deeply +submerged desert. + +They kept on for several days toward the rising sun, and then Captain +Arms announced that the observations showed that they were over the site +of Babylon. + +This happened just at the time of the midday dinner, and over the +dessert Cosmo seized the opportunity to make a little speech, which +could be heard by all in the saloon. + +"We are now arrived," he said, "over the very spot where the descendants +of Noah are said to have erected a tower, known as the Tower of Babel, +and which they intended to build so high that it would afford a secure +refuge in case there should be another deluge. + +"How vain were such expectations, if they were ever entertained, is +sufficiently shown by the fact that, at this moment, the water rolls +more than three thousand feet deep over the place where they put their +tower, and before the present deluge is over it will be thirty thousand +feet deep. + +"More than half a mile beneath our feet lie the broad plains of Chaldea, +where tradition asserts that the study of astronomy began. It was +Berosus, a Chaldean, who predicted that there would come a second +deluge. + +"It occurs to me, since seeing the astounding spectacle disclosed by the +falling apart of the Sphinx, that these people may have had an +infinitely more profound knowledge of the secrets of the heavens than +tradition has assigned to them. + +"On the breast of the statue in the Sphinx was the figure of a crowned +man, encircled by a huge ring, and having behind him the form of a boat +containing two other human figures. The boat was represented as floating +in a flood of waters. + +"Now, this corresponds exactly with figures that have been found among +the most ancient ruins in Chaldea. I regard that ring as symbolical of a +nebula enveloping the earth, and I think that the second deluge, which +we have lived to see, was foretold here thousands of years ago." + +"Who foretold it first, then, the people who placed the statue in the +Sphinx, or these astronomers of Chaldea?" asked Professor Abel Able. + +"I believe," Cosmo replied, "that the knowledge originated here, beneath +us, and that it was afterward conveyed to the Egyptians, who embodied it +in their great symbolical god." + +"Are we to understand," demanded Professor Jeremiah Moses, "that this +figure was all that you saw on the breast of the statue, and that you +simply inferred that the ring represented a nebula?" + +"Not at all," Cosmo replied. "The principal representation was that of a +world overwhelmed with a flood, and of a nebula descending upon it." + +"How do you know that it was intended for a nebula?" + +"Because it had the aspect of one, and it was clearly shown to be +descending from the high heavens." + +"A cloud," suggested Professor Moses. + +"No, not a cloud. Mark this, which is a marvel in itself: It had _the +form of a spiral nebula_. It was unmistakable." + +At this point the discussion was interrupted by a call to Cosmo Versál +from Captain Arms on the bridge. He hastily left the table and ascended +to the captain's side. + +He did not need to be told what to look for. Off in the north the sky +had become a solid black mass, veined with the fiercest lightning. The +pealing of the thunder came in a continuous roll, which soon grew so +loud as to shake the Ark. + +"Up with the side-plates!" shouted Cosmo, setting twenty bells ringing +at once. "Close tight every opening! Screw down the port shutters!" + +The crew of the Ark was, in a few seconds, running to and fro, executing +the orders that came in swift succession from the commander's bridge, +and the passengers were thrown into wild commotion. But nobody had time +to attend to them. + +"It is upon us!" yelled Cosmo in the captain's ear, for the uproar had +become deafening. "The nucleus is here!" + +The open promenade decks had not yet all been turned into inner +corridors when the downpour began upon the Ark. A great deal of water +found its way aboard, but the men worked with a will, as fearful for +their own safety as for that of others, and in a little while everything +had been made snug and tight. + +In a short time a tremendous tempest was blowing, the wind coming from +the north, and the Ark, notwithstanding her immense breadth of beam, was +canted over to leeward at an alarming angle. On the larboard side the +waves washed to the top of the great elliptical dome and broke over it, +and their thundering blows shook the vessel to her center, causing many +to believe that she was about to founder. + +The disorder was frightful. Men and women were flung about like tops, +and no one could keep his feet. Crash after crash, that could be heard +amid the howling of the storm, the battering of the waves, and the awful +roar of the deluge descending on the roof, told the fate of the +tableware and dishes that had been hastily left in the big dining +saloon. + +Chairs recently occupied by the passengers on what had been the +promenade decks, and from which they had so serenely, if often +sorrowfully, looked over the broad, peaceful surface of the waters, were +now darting, rolling, tumbling, and banging about, intermingled with +rugs, hats, coats, and other abandoned articles of clothing. + +The pitching and rolling of the Ark were so much worse than they had +been during the first days of the cataclysm, that Cosmo became very +solicitous about his collection of animals. + +He hurried down to the animal deck, and found, indeed, that things were +in a lamentable shape. The trained keepers were themselves so much at +the mercy of the storm that they had had all they could do to save +themselves from being trampled to death by the frightened beasts. + +The animals had been furnished with separate pens, but during the long +continued calm the keepers, for the sake of giving their charges greater +freedom and better air, had allowed many of them to go at large in the +broad central space around which the pens were placed, and the tempest +had come so unexpectedly that there had been no time to separate them +and get them back into their lodgings. + +When Cosmo descended the scene that met his eyes caused him to cry out +in dismay, but he could not have been heard if he had spoken through a +trumpet. The noise and uproar were stunning, and the spectacle was +indescribable. The keepers had taken refuge on a kind of gallery running +round the central space, and were hanging on there for their lives. + +Around them, on the railings, clinging with their claws, wildly flapping +their wings, and swinging with every roll of the vessel, were all the +fowls and every winged creature in the Ark except the giant turkeys, +whose power of wing was insufficient to lift them out of the męlée. + +But all the four-footed beasts were rolling, tumbling, and struggling in +the open space below. With every lurch of the Ark they were swept across +the floor in an indistinguishable mass. + +The elephants wisely did not attempt to get upon their feet, but allowed +themselves to slide from side to side, sometimes crushing the smaller +animals, and sometimes, in spite of all their efforts, rolling upon +their backs, with their titanic limbs swaying above them, and their +trunks wildly grasping whatever came within their reach. + +The huge Californian cattle were in no better case, and the poor sheep +presented a pitiable spectacle as they were tumbled in woolly heaps from +side to side. + +Strangest sight of all was that of the great Astoria turtles. They had +been pitched upon their backs and were unable to turn themselves over, +and their big carapaces served admirably for sliders. + +They glided with the speed of logs in a chute, now this way, now that, +shooting like immense projectiles through the throng of struggling +beasts, cutting down those that happened to be upon their feet, and not +ending their course until they had crashed against the nearest wall. + +As one of the turtles slid toward the bottom of the steps on which Cosmo +was clinging it cut under the legs of one of the giant turkeys, and the +latter, making a superphasianidaean effort, half leaped, half flapped +its way upon the steps to the side of Cosmo Versál, embracing him with +one of its stumpy wings, while its red neck and head, with bloodshot +eyes, swayed high above his bald dome. + +The keepers gradually made their way round the gallery to Cosmo's side, +and he indicated to them by signs that they must quit the place with +him, and wait for a lull of the tempest before trying to do anything for +their charges. + +A few hours later the wind died down, and then they collected all that +remained alive of the animals in their pens and secured them as best +they could against the consequences of another period of rolling and +pitching. + +The experiences of the passengers had been hardly less severe, and panic +reigned throughout the Ark. After the lull came, however, some degree of +order was restored, and Cosmo had all who were in a condition to leave +their rooms assemble in the grand saloon, where he informed them of the +situation of affairs, and tried to restore their confidence. The roar on +the roof, in spite of the sound-absorbing cover which had been +re-erected, compelled him to use a trumpet. + +"I do not conceal from you," he said in conclusion, "that the worst has +now arrived. I do not look for any cessation of the flood from the sky +until we shall have passed through the nucleus of the nebula. But the +Ark is a stout vessel, we are fully provisioned, and we shall get +through. + +"All your chambers have been specially padded, as you may have remarked, +and I wish you to remain in them, only issuing when summoned for +assembly here. + +"I shall call you out whenever the condition of the sea renders it safe +for you to leave your rooms. Food will be regularly served in your +quarters, and I beg you to have perfect confidence in me and my +assistants." + +But the confidence which Cosmo Versál recommended to the others was +hardly shared by himself and Captain Arms. The fury of the blast which +had just left them had exceeded everything that Cosmo had anticipated, +and he saw that, in the face of such hurricanes, the Ark would be +practically unmanageable. + +One of his first cares was to ascertain the rate at which the downpour +was raising the level of the water. This, too, surprised him. His gages +showed, time after time, that the rainfall was at the rate of about four +inches per minute. Sometimes it amounted to as much as six! + +"The central part of the nebula," he said to the captain, through the +speaking-tube which they had arranged for their intercommunications on +the bridge, "is denser than I had supposed. The condensation is +enormous, but it is irregular, and I think it very likely that it is +more rapid in the north, where the front of the globe is plunging most +directly into the nebulous mass. + +"From this we should anticipate a tremendous flow southward, which may +sweep us away in that direction. This will not be a bad thing for a +while, since it is southward that we must go in order to reach the +region of the Indian Ocean. But, in order not to be carried too rapidly +that way, I think it would be the best thing to point the Ark toward the +northeast." + +"How am I to know anything about the points in this blackness?" growled +the captain. + +"You must go the best you can by the compass," said Cosmo. + +Cosmo Versál, as subsequently appeared, was right in supposing that the +nucleus of the nebula was exceedingly irregular in density. The +condensation was not only much heavier in the north, but it was very +erratic. + +Some parts of the earth received a great deal more water from the opened +flood-gates above than others, and this difference, for some reason that +has never been entirely explained, was especially marked between the +eastern and western hemispheres. + +We have already seen that when the downpour recommenced in Colorado it +was much less severe than during the first days of the flood. This +difference continued. It seems that all the denser parts of the nucleus +happened to encounter the planet on its eastern side. + +This may have been partly due to the fact that as the rotating earth +moved on in its eastward motion round the sun the comparatively dense +masses of the nebula were always encountered at the times when the +eastern hemisphere was in advance. The fact, which soon became apparent +to Cosmo, that the downpour was always the most severe in the morning +hours, bears out this hypothesis. + +It accords with what has been observed with respect to meteors, viz., +that they are more abundant in the early morning. But then it must be +supposed that the condensed masses in the nebula were relatively so +small that they became successively exhausted, so to speak, before the +western hemisphere had come fairly into the line of fire. + +Of course the irregularity in the arrival of the water did not, in the +end, affect the general level of the flood, which became the same all +over the globe, but it caused immense currents, as Cosmo had foreseen. + +But there was one consequence which he had overlooked. The currents, +instead of sweeping the Ark continually southward, as he had +anticipated, formed a gigantic whirl, set up unquestionably by the great +ranges of the Himalayas, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Caucasus. + +This tremendous maelstrom formed directly over Persia and Arabia, and, +turning in the direction of the hands of a watch, its influence extended +westward beyond the place where the Ark now was. + +The consequence was that, in spite of all their efforts, Cosmo and the +captain found their vessel swept resistlessly up the course of the +valley containing the Euphrates and the Tigris. + +They were unable to form an opinion of their precise location, but they +knew the general direction of the movement, and by persistent logging +got some idea of the rate of progress. + +Fortunately the wind seldom blew with its first violence, but the +effects of the whirling current could be but little counteracted by the +utmost engine power of the Ark. + +Day after day passed in this manner, although, owing to the density of +the rain, the difference between day and night was only perceptible by +the periodical changes from absolute blackness to a very faint +illumination when the sun was above the horizon. + +The rise of the flood, which could not have been at a less rate than six +hundred feet every twenty-four hours, lifted the Ark above the level of +the mountains of Kurdistan by the time that they arrived over the upper +part of the Mesopotamian plain, and the uncertain observations which +they occasionally obtained of the location of the sun, combined with +such dead reckoning as they were able to make, finally convinced them +that they must certainly be approaching the location of the Black Sea +and the Caucasus range. + +"I'll tell you what you're going to do," yelled Captain Arms. "You're +going to make a smash on old Ararat, where your predecessor, Noah, made +his landfall." + +"_Trčs bien!_" shouted De Beauxchamps, who was frequently on the bridge, +and whose Gallic spirits nothing could daunt. "That's a good omen! M. +Versál should send out one of his turkeys to spy a landing place." + +They were really nearer Ararat than they imagined, and Captain Arms's +prediction narrowly missed fulfillment. Within a couple of hours after +he had spoken a dark mass suddenly loomed through the dense air directly +in their track. + +Almost at the same time, and while the captain was making desperate +efforts to sheer off, the sky lightened a little, and they saw an +immense heap of rock within a hundred fathoms of the vessel. + +"Ararat, by all that's good!" yelled the captain. "Sta'board! Sta'board, +I tell you! Full power ahead!" + +The Ark yielded slowly to her helm, and the screws whirled madly, +driving her rapidly past the rocks, so close that they might have tossed +a biscuit upon them. The set of the current also aided them, and they +got past the danger. + +"Mountain navigation again!" yelled the captain. "Here we are in a nest +of these sky-shoals! What are you going to do now?" + +"It is impossible to tell," returned Cosmo, "whether this is Great or +Little Ararat. The former is over 17,000 feet high, and the latter at +least 13,000. It is now twelve days since the flooding recommenced. + +"If we assume a rise of 600 feet in twenty-four hours, that makes a +total of 7,200 feet, which, added to the 3,300 that we had before, gives +10,500 feet for the present elevation. This estimate may be considerably +out of the way. + +"I feel sure that both the Ararats are yet well above the water line. We +must get out of this region as quickly as possible. Luckily the swirl of +the current is now setting us eastward. We are on its northern edge. It +will carry the Ark down south of Mount Demavend, and the Elburz range, +and over the Persian plateau, and if we can escape from it, as I hope, +by getting away over Beluchistan, we can go directly over India and +skirt the southern side of the Himalayas. Then we shall be near the goal +which we have had in mind." + +"Bless me!" said the captain, staring with mingled admiration and doubt +at Cosmo Versál, "if you couldn't beat old Noah round the world, and +give him half the longitude. But I'd rather _you'd_ navigate this +hooker. The ghost of Captain Sumner itself couldn't work a traverse over +Beluchistan." + +"You'll do it all right," returned Cosmo, "and the next time you drop +your anchor it will probably be on the head of Mount Everest." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + +Now that they were going with the current instead of striving to stem +it, the Ark made much more rapid way than during the time that it was +drifting toward the Black Sea. + +They averaged at least six knots, and, with the aid of the current, +could have done much better, but they thought it well to be cautious, +especially as they had so little means of guessing at their exact +location from day to day. The water was rough. + +There was, most of the time, little wind, and often a large number of +the passengers assembled in the saloon. + +The noise of the deluge on the roof was so much greater than it had been +at the start that it was difficult to converse, but there was plenty of +light, and they could, at least, see one another, and communicate by +signs if not very easily by the voice. Cosmo's library was well +selected, and many passed hours in reading stories of the world they +were to see no more! + +King Richard and Amos Blank imitated Cosmo and the captain by furnishing +themselves with a speaking-tube, which they put alternately to their +lips and their ears, and thus held long conversations, presumably +exchanging with one another the secrets of high finance and kingly +government. + +Both of them had enough historical knowledge and sufficient imagination +to be greatly impressed by the fact that they were drifting, amidst this +terrible storm, over the vast empire that Alexander the Great had +conquered. + +They mused over the events of the great Macedonian's long marches +through deserts and over mountains, and the king, who loved the story of +these glories of the past, though he had cultivated peace in his own +dominions, often sighed while they recalled them to one another. Lord +Swansdown and the other Englishmen aboard seldom joined their king since +he had preferred the company of an untitled American to theirs. + +The first named could not often have made a member of the party if he +had wished, for he kept his room most of the time, declaring that he had +never been so beastly seasick in his life. He thought that such an +abominable roller as the Ark should never have been permitted to go into +commission, don't you know. + +On the morning of the twelfth day after they left the neighborhood of +Mount Ararat Captain Arms averred that their position must be somewhere +near longitude 69 degrees east, latitude 26 degrees north. + +"Then you have worked your traverse over Beluchistan very well," said +Cosmo, "and we are now afloat above the valley of the River Indus. We +have the desert of northwestern India ahead, and from that locality we +can continue right down the course of the Ganges. In fact it would be +perfectly safe to turn northward and skirt the Himalayas within reach of +the high peaks. I think that's what I'll do." + +"If you go fooling round any more peaks," shouted Captain Arms, in a +fog-horn voice, "you'll have to do your own steering! I've had enough of +that kind of navigation!" + +Nevertheless when Cosmo Versál gave the order the captain turned the +prow of the Ark toward the presumable location of the great Himalayan +range, although the rebellion of his spirit showed in the erect set of +his whiskers. They were now entirely beyond the influence of the whirl +that had at first got them into trouble, and then helped them out of it, +in western Asia. + +Behind the barrier of the ancient "Roof of the World" the sea was +relatively calm, although, at times, they felt the effect of currents +pouring down from the north, which had made their way through the lofty +passes from the Tibetan side. + +Cosmo calculated from his estimate of the probable rate of rise of the +flood and from the direction and force of the currents that all but the +very highest of the Pamirs must already be submerged. + +It was probable, he thought, that the water had attained a level of +between seventeen and eighteen thousand feet. This, as subsequent events +indicated, was undoubtedly an underestimate. The downpour in the north +must have been far greater than Cosmo thought, and the real height of +the flood was considerably in excess of what he supposed. + +If they could have seen some of the gigantic peaks as they approached +the mountains in the eastern Punjab, south of Cashmere, they would have +been aware of the error. + +As it was, owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a short +distance even when the light was brightest, they kept farther south than +was really necessary, and after passing, as they believed, over Delhi, +steered south by east, following substantially the course that Cosmo had +originally named along the line of the Ganges valley. + +They were voyaging much slower now, and after another ten days had +passed an unexpected change came on. The downpour diminished in +severity, and at times the sun broke forth, and for an hour or two the +rain would cease entirely, although the sky had a coppery tinge, and at +night small stars were not clearly visible. + +Cosmo was greatly surprised at this. He could only conclude that the +central part of the nebula had been less extensive, though more dense, +than he had estimated. It was only thirty-four days since the deluge had +recommenced, and unless present appearances were deceptive, its end +might be close at hand. + +Captain Arms seized the opportunity to make celestial and solar +observations which delighted his seaman's heart, and with great glee he +informed Cosmo that they were in longitude 88 degrees 20 minutes east, +latitude 24 degrees 15 minutes north, and he would stake his reputation +as a navigator upon it. + +"Almost exactly the location of Moorshedabad, in Bengal," said Cosmo, +consulting his chart. "The mighty peak of Kunchingunga is hardly more +than two hundred miles toward the north, and Mount Everest, the highest +point in the world, is within a hundred miles of that!" + +"But you're not going skimming around _them_!" cried the captain with +some alarm. + +"I shall, if the sky continues in its present condition, go as far as +Darjeeling," replied Cosmo. "Then we can turn eastward and get over +upper Burmah and so on into China. From there we can turn north again. + +"I think we can manage to get into Tibet somewhere between the ranges. +It all depends upon the height of the water, and that I can ascertain +exactly by getting a close look at Kunchingunga. I would follow the line +of the Brahmaputra River if I dared, but the way is too beset with +perils." + +"I think you've made a big mistake," said the captain. "Why didn't you +come directly across Russia, after first running up to the Black Sea +from the Mediterranean, and so straight into Tibet?" + +"I begin to think that that's what I ought to have done," responded +Cosmo, thoughtfully, "but when we started the water was not high enough +to make me sure of that route, and after we got down into Egypt I didn't +want to run back. But I guess it would have been better." + +"Better a sight than steering among these five-mile peaks," growled +Captain Arms. "How high does Darjeeling lie? I don't want to run aground +again." + +"Oh, that's perfectly safe," responded Cosmo. "Darjeeling is only about +7,350 feet above the old sea-level. I think we can go almost to the foot +of Kunchingunga without any danger." + +"Well, the name sounds dangerous enough in itself," said the captain, +"but I suppose you'll have your way. Give me the bearings and we'll be +off." + +They took two days to get to the location of Darjeeling, for at times +the sky darkened and the rain came down again in tremendous torrents. +But these spells did not last more than two or three hours, and the +weather cleared between them. + +As soon as they advanced beyond Darjeeling, keeping a sharp outlook for +Kunchingunga, Cosmo began to perceive the error of his calculation of +the height of the flood. + +The mountain should still have projected more than three thousand feet +above the waves, allowing that the average rise during the thirty-six +days since the recommencement of the flood had been six hundred feet a +day. + +But, in fact, they did not see it at all, and thought at first that it +had been totally submerged. At last they found it, a little rocky +island, less than two hundred feet above the water, according to Cosmo's +careful measure, made from a distance of a quarter of a mile. + +"This is great news for us," he exclaimed, as soon as he had completed +the work. "This will save us a long journey round. The water must now +stand at about 27,900 feet, and although there are a considerable number +of peaks in the Himalayas approaching such an elevation, there are only +three or four known to reach or exceed it, of which Kunchingunga is one. + +"We can, then, run right over the roof of the world, and there we'll be, +in Tibet. Then we can determine from what side it is safest to approach +Mount Everest, for I am very desirous to get near that celebrated peak, +and, if possible, see it go under." + +"But the weather isn't safe yet," objected Captain Arms. "Suppose we +should be caught in another downpour, and everything black about us! I'm +not going to navigate this ship by searchlight among mountains +twenty-eight thousand feet tall, when the best beam that ever shot from +a mirror won't show an object a hundred fathoms away." + +"Very well," Cosmo replied, "we'll circle around south for a few days +and see what will happen. I think myself that it's not quite over yet. +The fact is, I hope it isn't, for now that it has gone so far, I'd like +to see the top-knot of the earth covered." + +"Well, it certainly couldn't do any more harm if it got up as high as +the moon," responded the captain. + +They spent four days sailing to and fro over India, and during the first +three of those days there were intermittent downpours. But the whole of +the last period of twenty-four hours was entirely without rain, and the +color of the sky changed so much that Cosmo declared he would wait no +longer. + +"Everest," he said, "is only 940 feet higher than Kunchingunga, and it +may be sunk out of sight before we can get there." + +"Do you think the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps, while +King Richard and Amos Blank listened eagerly for the reply, for now that +the weather had cleared, the old company was all assembled on the +bridge. + +"Yes, slowly," said Cosmo. "There is a perceptible current from the +north which indicates that condensation is still going on there. You'll +see that it'll come extremely close to the six miles I predicted before +it's all over." + +By the time they had returned to the neighborhood of the mountains the +sky had become blue, with only occasionally a passing sunshower, and +Cosmo ordered the promenades to be thrown open, and the passengers, with +great rejoicings, resumed their daily lounging and walking on deck. + +It required a little effort of thought to make them realize their +situation, but when they did it grew upon them until they could not +sufficiently express their wonder. + +Here they were, on an almost placid sea, with tepid airs blowing gently +in their faces, and a scorching sun overhead, whose rays had to be +shielded off, floating over the highest pinnacles of the roof of the +world, the traditional "Abode of Snow!" + +All around them, beneath the rippled blue surface, lined here and there +with little white windrows of foam, stood submerged peaks, 24,000, +25,000, 26,000, 27,000, 28,000 feet in elevation! They sailed over their +summits and saw them not. + +All began now to sympathize with Cosmo's desire to find Everest before +it should have disappeared with its giant brothers. Its location was +accurately known from the Indian government surveys, and Captain Arms +had every facility for finding the exact position of the Ark. They +advanced slowly toward the northwest, a hundred glasses eagerly scanning +the horizon ahead. + +Finally, at noon on the third day of their search, the welcome cry of +"Land ho!" came down from the cro'nest. Captain Arms immediately set his +course for the landfall, and in the course of a little more than an hour +had it broad abeam. + +"It's Everest, without question," said Cosmo. "It's the crown of the +world." + +But how strange was its appearance! A reddish-brown mass of rock, rising +abruptly out of the blue water, really a kind of crown in form, but not +more than a couple of square rods in extent, and about three feet high +at its loftiest point. + +There was no snow, of course, for that had long since disappeared, owing +to the rise of temperature, and no snow would have fallen in that +latitude now, even in mid-winter, because the whole base of the +atmosphere had been lifted up nearly six miles. + +Sea-level pressures were prevailing where the barometric column would +once have dropped almost to the bottom of its tube. It was all that was +left of the world! + +North of them, under the all-concealing ocean, lay the mighty plateau of +Tibet; far toward the east was China, deeply buried with its 500,000,000 +of inhabitants; toward the south lay India, over which they had so long +been sailing; northwestward the tremendous heights of the Pamir region +and of the Hindu-Kush were sunk beneath the sea. + +"When this enormous peak was covered with snow," said Cosmo, "its height +was estimated at 29,002 feet, or almost five and three-quarter miles. +The removal of the snow has, of course, lowered it, but I think it +probable that this point, being evidently steep on all sides, and of +very small area, was so swept by the wind that the snow was never very +deep upon it. + +"If we allow ten, or even twenty feet for the snow, the height of this +rock cannot be much less than 29,000 feet above the former sea-level. +But I do not dare to approach closer, because Everest had a broad +summit, and we might possibly ground upon a sharp ridge." + +"And you are sure that the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps +again. + +"Watch and you will see," Cosmo responded. + +The Ark was kept circling very slowly within a furlong of the rocky +crown, and everybody who had a glass fixed his eyes upon it. + +"The peak is certainly sinking," said De Beauxchamps at last. "I believe +it has gone down three inches in the last fifteen minutes." + +"Keep your eyes fixed on some definite point," said Cosmo to the others +who were looking, "and you will easily note the rise of the water." + +They watched it until nobody felt any doubt. Inch by inch the crown of +the world was going under. In an hour Cosmo's instruments showed that +the highest point had settled to a height of but two feet above the sea. + +"But when will the elevation that you have predicted begin?" asked one. + +"Its effects will not become evident immediately," Cosmo replied. "It +may possibly already have begun, but if so, it is masked by the +continued rise of the water." + +"And how long shall we have to wait for the re-emergence of Tibet?" + +"I cannot tell, but it will be a long time. But do not worry about that. +We have plenty of provisions, and the weather will continue fine after +the departure of the nebula." + +They circled about until only a foot or so of the rock remained above +the reach of the gently washing waves. Suddenly struck by a happy +thought, De Beauxchamps exclaimed: + +"I must have a souvenir from the crown of the disappearing world. M. +Versál, will you permit me to land upon it with one of your boats?" + +De Beauxchamps's suggestion was greeted with cheers, and twenty others +immediately expressed a desire to go. + +"No," said Cosmo to the eager applicants, "it is M. De Beauxchamps's +idea; let him go alone. Yes," he continued, addressing the Frenchman, +"you can have a boat, and I will send two men with you to manage it. +You'd better hurry, or there will be nothing left to land upon." + +The necessary orders were quickly given, and in five minutes De +Beauxchamps, watched by envious eyes, was rapidly approaching the +disappearing rock. They saw him scramble out upon it, and they gave a +mighty cheer as he waved his hand at them. + +He had taken a hammer with him, and with breathless interest they +watched him pounding and prying about the rock. They could see that he +selected the very highest point for his operations. + +While he worked away, evidently filling his pockets, the interest of the +onlookers became more and more intense. + +"Look out!" they presently began to shout at him, "you will be caught by +the water." + +But he paid no attention, working with feverish rapidity. Suddenly the +watchers saw a little ripple break over the last speck of dry land on +the globe, and De Beauxchamps standing up to his shoe-laces in water. +Cries of dismay came from the Ark. De Beauxchamps now gave over his +work, and, with apparent reluctance, entered the boat, which was rowed +close up to the place where he was standing. + +As the returning boat approached the Ark, another volley of cheers broke +forth, and the Frenchman, standing up to his full height, waved with a +triumphant air something that sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine. + +"I congratulate you, M. De Beauxchamps," cried Cosmo, as the adventurer +scrambled aboard. "You have stood where no human foot has ever been +before, and I see that you have secured your souvenir of the world that +was." + +"Yes," responded De Beauxchamps exultantly, "and see what it is--a +worthy decoration for such a coronet." + +He held up his prize, amid exclamations of astonishment and admiration +from those who were near enough to see it. + +"The most beautiful specimen of amethyst I ever beheld!" cried a +mineralogist enthusiastically, taking it from De Beauxchamps's hand. +"What was the rock?" + +"Unfortunately, I am no mineralogist," replied the Frenchman, "and I +cannot tell you, but these gems were abundant. I could have almost +filled the boat if I had had time. + +"The amethyst," he added gayly, "is the traditional talisman against +intoxication, but, although these adorned her tiara, the poor old world +has drunk her fill." + +"But it is only water," said Cosmo, smiling. + +"Too much, at any rate," returned the Frenchman. + +"I should say," continued the mineralogist, "that the rock was some +variety of syenite, from its general appearance." + +"I know nothing of that," replied De Beauxchamps, "but I have the jewels +of the terrestrial queen, and," he continued gallantly, "I shall have +the pleasure of bestowing them upon the ladies." + +He emptied his pockets, and found that he had enough to give every woman +aboard the Ark a specimen, with several left over for some of the men, +Cosmo, of course, being one of the recipients. + +"There," said De Beauxchamps, as he handed the stone to Cosmo, "there is +a memento from the Gaurisankar." + +"I beg your pardon--Mount Everest, if you please," interposed Edward +Whistlington. + +"No," responded the Frenchman stoutly, "it is the Gaurisankar. Why will +you English persist in renaming everything in the world? Gaurisankar is +the native name, and, in my opinion, far more appropriate and euphonious +than Everest." + +This discussion was not continued, for now everybody became interested +in the movements of the Ark. Cosmo had decided that it would be safe to +approach close to the point where the last peak of the mountain had +disappeared. + +Cautiously they drew nearer and nearer, until, looking through the +wonderfully transparent water, they caught sight of a vast precipice +descending with frightful steepness, down and down, until all was lost +in the profundity beneath. + +The point on which De Beauxchamps had landed was now covered so deep +that the water had ceased to swirl about it, but lay everywhere in an +unbroken sheet, which was every moment becoming more placid and +refulgent in the sunshine. + +The world was drowned at last! As they looked abroad over the convex +surface, they thought, with a shudder, that now the earth, seen from +space, was only a great, glassy ball, mirroring the sun and the stars. + +But they were ignorant of what had happened far in the west! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + +After the disappearance of Mt. Everest, Cosmo Versál made a careful +measurement of the depth of water on the peak, which he found to be +forty feet, and then decided to cruise eastward with the Ark, sailing +slowly, and returning after a month to see whether by that time there +would be any indications of the reappearance of land. + +No part of his extraordinary theory of the deluge was more +revolutionary, or scientifically incredible, than this idea that the +continents would gradually emerge again, owing to internal stresses set +up in the crust of the earth. + +This, he anticipated, would be caused by the tremendous pressure of the +water, which must be ten or twelve miles deep over the greatest +depressions of the old ocean-bottoms. He expected that geological +movements would attend the intrusion of the water into subterranean +cavities and into the heated magma under volcanic regions. + +He often debated the question with the savants aboard the Ark, and, +despite their incredulity, he persisted in his opinion. He could not be +shaken, either, in his belief that the first land to emerge would be the +Himalayas, the Pamirs, and the plateau of Tibet. + +"We may have to wait some years before any considerable area is +exposed," he admitted, "but it must not be forgotten that what land does +first appear above the water will lie at the existing sea-level, and +will have an oceanic climate, suitable for the rapid development of +plants. + +"We have aboard all things needed for quick cultivation, and in one +season we could begin to raise crops." + +"But at first," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "only mountain tops will +emerge, and how can you expect to cultivate them?" + +"There is every probability," replied Cosmo, "that even the rocks of a +mountain will be sufficiently friable after their submergence to be +readily reduced to the state of soil, especially with the aid of the +chemical agents which I have brought along, and I have no fear that I +could not, in a few weeks, make even the top of Everest fertile. + +"I anticipate, in fact, that it will be on that very summit that we +shall begin the re-establishment of the race. Then, as the plateaus +below come to the surface, we can gradually descend and enlarge the +field of our operations." + +"Suppose Everest should be turned into a volcano?" + +"That cannot happen," said Cosmo. "A volcano is built up by the +extrusion of lava and cinders from below, and these cannot break forth +at the top of a mountain already formed, especially when that mountain +has no volcanic chimney and no crater, and Everest had neither." + +"If the lowering of the flood that caused our stranding on a mountain +top in Sicily was due to the absorption of water into the interior of +the crust, why may not that occur again, and thus bring the Himalayas +into view, without any rising on their part?" demanded Professor Moses. + +"I think," said Cosmo, "that all the water that could enter the crust +has already done so, during the time that the depression of level which +so surprised us was going on. Now we must wait for geologic changes, +resulting from the gradual yielding of the internal mass to the new +forces brought to bear upon it. + +"As the whole earth has gained in _weight_ by the condensation of the +nebula upon it, its plastic crust will proportionally gain in _girth_ by +internal expansion, which will finally bring all the old continents to +the surface, but Asia first of all." + +Whether Cosmo Versál's hypotheses were right or wrong, he always had a +reply to any objection, and the prestige which he had gained by his +disastrously correct theory about the watery nebula gave him an +advantage so enormous that nobody felt enough confidence in himself to +stand long against anything that he might advance. + +Accordingly, everybody in the Ark found himself looking forward to the +re-emergence of Mount Everest almost as confidently as did their leader, +Cosmo Versál. + +They began their waiting voyage by sailing across the plateau of Tibet +and the lofty chain of the Yung-ling Mountains out over China. + +The interest of all aboard was excited to the highest degree when they +found themselves sailing over the mighty domains of the Chinese +President-Emperor, who had developed an enormous power, making him the +ruler of the whole eastern world. + +He, with his half-billion or more of subjects, now reposed at the bottom +of an ocean varying from three to five or six miles in depth. Deep +beneath the Ark lay the broad and once populous valleys of the +Yangtse-Kiang and the Hoang-Ho, the "Scourge of China." + +Finally they swung round northward and re-entered the region of Tibet, +seeking once more the drowned crown of the world. In the meantime Cosmo +had had the theatrical exhibitions and the concerts resumed in the +evenings, and sometimes there was music, and even dancing on the long +promenades, open to the outer air. + +Let not that be a matter of surprise or blame, for the spirit of joy in +life is unconquerable, as it should be if life is worth while. So it +happened that, not infrequently, and not with any blameworthy intention, +or in any spirit of heartless forgetfulness, this remarkable company of +world-wanderers drifted, in the moonlight, above the universal watery +grave of the drowned millions, with the harmonies of stringed +instruments stealing out upon the rippling waves, and the soft sound of +swiftly shuffling feet tripping over the smooth decks. + +Costaké Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone resumed their stormy efforts +to talk each other down, but now even Cosmo was seldom a listener, +except when he had to interfere to keep the peace. + +King Richard and Amos Blank, however, usually heard them out, but it was +evident from their expressions that they enjoyed the prospective +fisticuffs rather more than the exposition of strange scientific +doctrines. + +Perhaps the happiest man aboard was Captain Arms. At last he could make +as many and as certain observations as he chose, and he studied the +charts of Asia until he declared that now he knew the latitude and +longitude of the mountains better than he did those of the seaports of +the old oceans. + +He had not the least difficulty in finding the location of Mount Everest +again, and when he announced that they were floating over it, Cosmo +immediately prepared to make another measurement of the depth of water +on the peak. The result was hardly gratifying. He found that it had +diminished but four inches. He said to Captain Arms: + +"The range is rising, but less rapidly than I hoped. Even if the present +rate should be doubled it would require five years for the emergence of +the highest point. Instead of remaining in this part of the world we +shall have an abundance of time to voyage round the earth, going +leisurely, and when we get back again perhaps there will be enough land +visible to give us a good start." + +"Mr. Versál," said the captain, "you remember that you promised me that +I should drop my anchor on the head of Mount Everest if I worked a +traverse across Beluchistan." + +"Certainly I remember it; and also that you were not much disposed to +undertake the task. However, you did it well, and I suppose that now you +want me to fulfill the bargain?" + +"Exactly," replied the captain. "I'd just like to get a mud-hook in the +top-knot of the earth. I reckon that that'll lay over all the sea yarns +ever spun." + +"Very well," returned Cosmo. "Try it, if you've got cable enough." + +"Enough and to spare," cried the captain, "and I'll have the +Gaurisankar, as the Frenchman calls it, hooked in a jiffy." + +This was an operation which called everybody to the rails to watch +it. Hundreds of eyes tried to follow the anchor as it descended +perpendicularly upon the mountain-top, nearly forty feet beneath. +Through the clear water they could dimly see the dark outline of the +summit below, and they gazed at it with wonder, and a sort of terror. + +Somehow they felt that never before had they fully appreciated the awful +depths over which they had been floating. The anchor steadily dropped +until it rested on the rock. + +It got a hold finally, and in a few minutes the great vessel was +swinging slowly round, held by a cable whose grasp was upon the top of +the world! When the sensation had been sufficiently enjoyed the anchor +was tripped, and the nose of the Ark was turned northwestward. Cosmo +Versál announced his intention to circumnavigate the drowned globe. + +The news of what they were about to do was both welcome and saddening to +the inmates of the vessel. They wished to pass once more over the lands +where they had first seen the light, and at the same time they dreaded +the memories that such a voyage would inevitably bring back with +overwhelming force. But, at any rate, it would be better than drifting +for years over Tibet and China. + +While everybody else was discussing the prospects of the new voyage, and +wondering how long it would last, Yves de Beauxchamps was concentrating +all his attention upon a new project which had sprung up in his active +mind as soon as Cosmo's intention was announced. He took Cosmo aside and +said to him: + +"M. Versál, the dearest memory that I have treasured in my heart is that +of the last sight of my drowned home, my beautiful dead Paris. It may be +that the home-loving instincts of my race arouse in me a melancholy +pleasure over such a sight which would not be shared by you, of a +different blood; but if, perchance, you do share my feelings on this +subject I believe that I can promise you a similar visit to the great +metropolis where your life began, and where you executed those labors +whose result has been to preserve a remnant of humanity to repeople the +earth." + +Cosmo Versál's quick intelligence instantly comprehended the Frenchman's +design, but it startled him, and apparently insuperable difficulties at +once occurred to his mind. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," he responded, grasping his friend warmly by the +hand, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amiable +intention, and I assure you that nothing could afford me greater +satisfaction than to see once more that mighty city, even though it can +now be but an awful ruin, tenanted by no life except the terrible +creatures of the deep. But, while I foresee what your plan must be, I +can hardly conceive that its execution could be possible. You are +thinking, of course, of constructing a diving apparatus capable of +penetrating to a depth of nearly six miles in the sea. Setting aside the +question whether we could find in the stores of the Ark the materials +that would be needed, it appears to me most improbable that we could +make the apparatus of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure, and +could then cause it to sink to so great a depth, and afterward bring it +safely to the surface." + +The Frenchman smiled. + +"M. Versál," he replied, "I have taken the liberty to look over the +stock of materials which you have so wisely prepared for possible +repairs to the Ark and for use after the Ark lands, and I know that +among them I can find all that I shall need. You yourself know how +completely you are provided with engineering tools and machines of all +kinds. You have even an electric foundry aboard. With the aid of your +mechanical genius, and the skill of your assistants, together with that +of my own men, who are accustomed to work of this kind, I have not the +faintest doubt that I can design and construct a diving-bell, large +enough to contain a half-dozen persons, and perfectly capable of +penetrating to any depth. Of course I cannot make it of levium, but you +have a sufficient supply of herculeum steel, the strength of which is so +immense that the walls of the bell can be made to remit the pressure +even at a depth of six miles. From my previous experiments I am +confident that there will be no difficulty in sinking and afterward +raising this apparatus. It is only necessary that the mean specific +gravity of the bell shall be greater than that of the water at a given +depth, and you know that as far back as the end of the nineteenth +century your own countrymen sent down sounding apparatus more than six +miles in the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam." + +"But the air inside the bell--" Cosmo began. + +"Excuse me," interrupted De Beauxchamps, "but that air need be under no +greater pressure than at the surface. I shall know how to provide for +that. Remember the _Jules Verne_. Simply give me _carte blanche_ in this +matter, let me have the materials to work with, afford me the advantage +of your advice and assistance whenever I shall need them, and I promise +you that by the time we have arrived over the site of New York we shall +be prepared for the descent." + +Cosmo was deeply impressed by the Frenchman's enthusiastic +self-confidence. He had a great admiration for the constructor of the +_Jules Verne_, and, besides, the proposed adventure was exactly after +his own heart. After meditating a while, he said heartily: + +"Well, M. De Beauxchamps, I give my consent. Everything you wish shall +be at your disposal, and you can begin as soon as you choose. Only, let +the thing be kept a secret between us and the workmen who are employed. +If it should turn out a failure it would not do that the people in the +Ark should be aware of it. I can give you a working room on one of the +lower decks, where there will be no interference with your proceedings, +and no knowledge of what you are about can leak out." + +"That is exactly what I should wish," returned De Beauxchamps, smiling +with delight, "and I renew my promise that you shall not be +disappointed." + +So, without a suspicion of what was going on entering the minds of any +person in the great company outside the small company of men who were +actually employed in the work, the construction of De Beauxchamps's +great diving-bell was begun, and pushed with all possible speed, +consistent with the proper execution of the work. In the meantime the +Ark continued its course toward the west. + +They ran slowly, for there was no hurry, and the Ark had now become to +its inhabitants as a house and a home--their only foothold on the whole +round earth, and that but a little floating island of buoyant metal. +They crossed the Pamirs and the Hindu-Kush, the place where the Caspian +Sea had been swallowed up in the universal ocean, and ran over Ararat, +which three months before had put them into such fearful danger, but +whose loftiest summit now lay twelve thousand feet beneath their keel. + +At length, after many excursions toward the north and toward the south, +in the halcyon weather that had seldom failed since the withdrawal of +the nebula, they arrived at the place (or above it) which had stood +during centuries for a noon-mark on the globe. + +It was midday when Captain Arms, having made his observations, said to +Cosmo and the others on the bridge: + +"Noon at Greenwich, and noon on the Ark. Latitude, fifty-one degrees +thirty minutes. That brings you as nearly plumb over the place as you'd +be likely to hit it. Right down there lies the old observatory that set +the chronometers of the world, and kept the clocks and watches up to +their work." + +King Richard turned aside upon hearing the captain's words. They brought +a too vivid picture of the great capital, six miles under their feet, +and a too poignant recollection of the disastrous escape of the royal +family from overwhelmed London seven months before. + +As reckoned by the almanac, it was the 15th of September, more than +sixteen months since Cosmo had sent out his first warning to the public, +when the Ark crossed the meridian of seventy-four degrees west, in about +forty-one degrees north latitude, and the adventurers knew that New York +was once more beneath them. + +There was great emotion among both passengers and crew, for the majority +of them had either dwelt in New York or been in some way associated with +its enterprises and its people, and, vain as must be the hope of seeing +any relic of the buried metropolis, every eye was on the alert. + +They looked off across the boundless sea in every direction, +interrogating every suspicious object on the far horizon, and even +peering curiously into the blue abyss, as if something might suddenly +appear there which would speak to them like a voice from the past. + +But they saw only shafts of sunlight running into bottomless depths, and +occasionally some oceanic creature floating lazily far below. The color +of the sea was wonderful. It had attracted their attention after the +submergence of Mount Everest, but at that time it had not yet assumed +its full splendor. + +At first, no doubt, there was considerable dissolved matter in the +water, but gradually this settled, and the sea became bluer and +bluer--not the deep indigo of the old ocean, but a much lighter and more +brilliant hue--and here, over the site of New York, the waters were of a +bright, luminous sapphire, that dazzled the eye. + +Cosmo declared that the change of the sea-color was undoubtedly due to +some quality in the nebula from whose condensation the water had been +produced, but neither his own analyses, nor those of the chemists aboard +the Ark, were able to detect the subtle element to whose presence the +peculiar tint was due. + +But whatever it may have been, it imparted to the ocean an ethereal, +imponderous look, which was sometimes startling. There were moments when +they almost expected to see it expand back into the nebulous form and +fly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + +During the long voyage from the sunken Himalayas to still deeper sunken +New York, De Beauxchamps, with his fellow-countrymen and the skilled +mechanics assigned by Cosmo Versál to aid them, had finished the +construction of the huge diving-bell. No one not in the secret had the +slightest idea of what had been done, owing to the remote situation of +the deck on which the construction was carried out. + +Now, while a thousand pairs of eyes were interrogating the smooth +surface of the sea, and striving to penetrate its cerulean depths, a +great surprise was sprung upon the passengers. The rear gangway of the +lowest deck was cleared, a heavy crane-like beam was set projecting over +the water, and men began to rig a flexible cable, which had been +specially prepared for the purpose of lowering the bell into the depths, +and of raising it again when the adventurers should wish to return to +the surface. Everybody's attention was immediately attracted to these +strange preparations, and the utmost curiosity was aroused. A chorus of +wondering exclamations broke out when a metallic globe, twenty feet in +diameter, and polished until it shone like a giant thermometer bulb, was +rolled out and carefully attached to the cable by means of a strong ring +set in one side of the bell. The excitement of the passengers would soon +have become uncontrollable if Cosmo had not at this point summoned the +entire ship's company into the great saloon. As soon as all were +assembled he mounted his dais and began to speak. + +"My fellow-citizens of the old world, which has perished, and of the +new, which is to take its place," he said, "we owe to the genius of M. +De Beauxchamps an apparatus which is about to enable us to inspect, by +an actual visit, the remains of the vast metropolis, which we saw in all +its majesty and beauty but so few months ago, and which now lies forever +silent at the bottom of this universal ocean. + +"If it were practicable I should wish to afford to every one of you a +farewell glimpse of that mighty city, to which the hearts of so many +here are bound, but you can readily understand that that would be +impossible. Only six persons can go in this exploring bell, and they +have been chosen; but a faithful account will be brought back to you of +all that they see and learn. The adventuring company will consist of M. +De Beauxchamps, M. Pujol, his first assistant, Mr. Amos Blank, King +Richard, Professor Abel Able, and myself. Captain Arms has ascertained +the location of the center of Manhattan Island, over which we are now +floating. The quietness of the sea, the absence of any apparent current, +and the serenity of the heavens are favoring circumstances, which may be +relied upon to enable Captain Arms to keep the Ark constantly poised +almost precisely over our point of descent. It is not possible to +predict the exact duration of our absence in the depths, but it will +not, in any case, exceed about twenty hours. + +"Once arrived at the bottom, nearly six miles down, we shall attach the +cable to some secure anchorage, by means of a radio-control, operated +from within the bell, and then, with the bell free, we shall make +explorations, as extensive as possible. The radio-control of which I +have spoken governs also the attachment of the cable to the bell. This +appliance has been prepared and tested with such care that we have no +doubt of its entire efficiency. I mention these things in order to +remove from your minds any fear as to the success of our enterprise. + +"The bell being once detached, we shall be able to move it from point to +point by means of a pair of small propellers, which you will perceive on +the outside of the bell, and which are also controlled from within. +These will be used to increase our speed of descent. From a calculation +of the density of the sea-water at the depth to which we shall descend, +we estimate that the bell with its contents will press upon the bottom +with a gravitational force of only five pounds, so that it will move +with very slight effort, and may even, when in motion, float like a +fish. + +"For the purposes of observation we have provided, on four sides of the +bell, a series of circular windows, with glass of immense thickness and +strength, but of extraordinary transparency. Through these windows we +shall be able to see in almost all directions. It was our intention to +provide wireless telephone apparatus with which we might have kept you +informed of all our doings and discoveries, but unfortunately we have +found it impracticable to utilize our control for that purpose. We +shall, however, be able to send and receive signals as long as we are +connected with the cable. + +"I should add that the construction of the bell, although suggested by +M. De Beauxchamps immediately after our departure from Mount Everest, +has been carried on in secret simply because we did not wish to subject +you to the immense disappointment which you would certainly have +experienced if this brilliant conception of our gifted friend, after +being once made known to you, had proved to be a failure. Our +preparations have all been made, and within an hour we shall begin the +descent." + +It is quite impossible to describe the excitement of the passengers +while they listened to this extraordinary communication. When Cosmo +Versál had finished speaking he stood for some minutes looking at his +audience with a triumphant smile. First a murmur of excited voices +arose, and then somebody proposed three cheers, which were given and +repeated until the levium dome rang with the reverberations. Nobody knew +exactly why he was cheering, but the infectious enthusiasm carried +everything before it. Then the crowd began to ask questions, addressed +not to Cosmo but to one another. The wildest suggestions were made. One +woman who had left some treasured heirlooms in a Fifth Avenue mansion +demanded of her husband that he should commission Cosmo Versál to +recover them. + +"I'm sure they're there," she insisted. "They were locked in the safe." + +"But, don't you see," protested the poor man, "he can't get outside of +that bell to get 'em." + +"I don't see _why_ he can't, if he should really try. I think it's too +mean! They were my grandmother's jewels." + +"But, my dear, how could he get out?" + +"Well, _how does he get in?_ What's his radio-control good for; won't +that help him? What is he going down there for if he can't do a little +thing like that, to oblige?" + +She pouted at her husband because he persistently refused to present her +request to Cosmo, and declared that she would do it herself, then, for +she must have those jewels, now that they were so near. + +But Cosmo was saved from this, and other equally unreasonable demands, +by a warning from De Beauxchamps that all was ready, and that no time +should be lost. Then everybody hastened out on the decks to watch the +departure of the adventurers. Many thoughtfully shook their heads, +predicting that they would never be seen again. As soon as this feeling +began to prevail the enthusiasm quickly evaporated, and efforts were +made to dissuade Cosmo and De Beauxchamps from making the attempt. But +they were deaf to all remonstrance, and pushing out of the chattering +crowd, Cosmo ordered the gangway about the bell to be cleared of all +bystanders. The opposition heated his blood a little, and he began to +bear himself with an air which recalled his aspect when he quelled and +punished the mutiny. This was enough to silence instantly every objector +to his proceedings. Henceforth they kept their thoughts to themselves, +although some muttered, under their breath such epithets as "fool" and +"harebrain." + +In about half an hour after Cosmo's speech the bell, with its hardy +explorers safely inclosed within, was lowered away, and a minute later +hundreds were craning their necks over the rails to watch the shining +globe engulf itself swiftly in the sapphire depths. It was about nine +o'clock in the morning when the descent was begun, and for a long time, +so remarkable was the transparency of the water, they could see the bell +sinking, and becoming smaller until it resembled a blue pearl. Sometimes +a metallic flash shot from its polished sides like a gleam of violet +lightning. But at length it passed from view, swallowed up in the +tremendous watery chasm. + +We turn now to trace the adventures of the bell and its inmates as they +entered the awful twilight of the ocean, and, sinking deeper, passed +gradually into a profundity which the sun's most powerful rays were +unable to penetrate. Fortunately every one of the adventurers left a +description of his experiences and sensations, so that there is no lack +of authentic information to guide us. + +The windows, as Cosmo had said, were so arranged that they afforded +views on all sides. These views were, of course, restricted by the +combined effects of the smallness of the windows and their great +thickness; the inmates were somewhat like prisoners looking out of round +ports cut through massive walls, but the range of view was much widened +when they placed themselves close to the glasses, because the latter +were in the form of truncated cones with the base outward. + +Glancing through the ports on the upper side of the bell Cosmo and his +companions could perceive the huge form of the Ark, hanging like a cloud +above them, but rapidly receding, while from the side ports they saw +great shafts of azure sunlight, thrown into wonderful undulations by the +disturbance of the water. These soon became fainter and gradually +disappeared, but before the gloom of the depths settled about them they +were thrilled by the spectacle of sharks and other huge fishes nosing +about the outer side of the transparent cones, and sometimes opening +their jaws as if trying to seize them. Most of the cone-shaped windows +had flat surfaces, but a few were of spherical outline both without and +within, and the radius of curvature had been so calculated that these +particular windows served as huge magnifying lenses for an eye placed at +a given distance. Once or twice a marine monster happened to place +himself in the field of one of these magnifying windows, startling the +observers almost out of their senses with his frightful appearance. + +There were also four windows reserved for projecting a searchlight into +the outer darkness. The inner side of the bell corresponded in curvature +with the outer, so that the adventurers had no flat flooring on any side +to stand upon, but this caused little inconvenience, since the walls +were abundantly provided with hand and foot holds, enabling the inmates +to maintain themselves in almost any position they could wish. + +After a while they passed below the range of daylight, and then they +turned on the searchlight. The storage batteries which supplied energy +for the searchlight and the propellers served also to operate an +apparatus for clearing the air of carbonic acid, and De Beauxchamps had +carefully calculated the limit of time that the air could be kept in a +breathable condition. This did not exceed forty-eight hours--but as we +have seen they had no intention of remaining under water longer than +twenty hours at the utmost. + +When the bell entered the night of the sea-depths they passed into an +apparently lifeless zone, where the searchlight, projected now on one +side and now on another, revealed no more of the living forms which they +had encountered above, but showed only a desert of solid transparent +water. Here, amid this awful isolation, they experienced for the first +time a feeling of dread and terror. An overpowering sense of loneliness +and helplessness came over them, and only the stout heart of Cosmo +Versál, and his reassuring words, kept the others from making the signal +which would have caused the bell to be hastily drawn back to the Ark. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," said Cosmo, breaking the impressive silence, "to +what depth have we now descended?" + +"A thousand fathoms," replied the Frenchman, consulting his automatic +register. + +"Good! We have been only thirty minutes in reaching this depth. We shall +sink more slowly as we get deeper, but I think we can count upon +reaching the bottom in not more than four hours from the moment of our +departure. It will require only two hours for them to draw us back again +with the powerful engines of the Ark, especially when aided by our +propellers. This will leave fourteen hours for our explorations, if we +stay out the limit that we have fixed." + +There was such an air of confidence in Cosmo's manner and words that +this simple statement did much to enhearten the others. + +"The absence of life in this part of the sea," Cosmo continued +cheerfully, "does not surprise me. It has long been known that the life +of the ocean is confined to regions near the surface and the bottom. We +shall certainly find plenty of wonderful creatures below." + +When they knew that they must be near the bottom they turned the light +downward, and every available window was occupied by an eager watcher. +Presently a cry of "Look! Look there!" broke from several voices at +once. + +The searchlight, penetrating far through the clear water beneath the +bell, fell in a circle round a most remarkable object--tall, gaunt, and +spectral, with huge black ribs. + +"Why, it's the Metropolitan tower, still standing!" cried Amos Blank. +"Who would have believed it possible?" + +"No doubt there was some lucky circumstance about its anchorage," +returned Cosmo. "Although it was built so long ago, it was made +immensely strong, and well braced, and as the water did not undermine it +at the start, it has been favored by the very density of that which now +surrounds it, and which tends to buoy it up and hold it steady. But you +observe that it has been stripped of the covering of stone." + +"Would it not be well to utilize it for anchoring the cable?" asked De +Beauxchamps. + +"We could have nothing better," said Cosmo. + +De Beauxchamps immediately called to the Ark, and directed the movements +of those in charge of the drum of the cable so nicely that the descent +ceased at the exact moment when the bell came to rest upon a group of +beams at the top of the tower. The radio-control, which is so familiar +in its thousand applications to-day, was then a new thing, having been +invented only a year or so before the deluge, and De Beauxchamps's form +of the apparatus was crude. The underlying principle, however, was the +same as that now employed--transmission through a metallic wall of +impulses capable of being turned into mechanic energy. With its aid they +had no difficulty in detaching the cable from the bell, but it required +some careful maneuvering to secure a satisfactory attachment to the +beams of the tower. At last, however, this was effected, and immediately +they set out for their exploration of drowned New York. + +They began with the skeleton tower itself, which had only once or twice +been exceeded in height by the famous structures of the era of +skyscrapers. In some places they found the granite skin yet _in situ_, +but almost everywhere it had been stripped off, probably by the +tremendous waves which swept over it as the flood attained its first +thousand feet of elevation. They saw no living forms, except a few +curiously shaped phosphorescent creatures of no great size, which +scurried away out of the beam of the search-light. They saw no trace of +the millions of their fellow-beings who had been swallowed up in this +vast grave, and for this all secretly gave thanks. The soil of Madison +Square had evidently been washed away, for no signs of the trees which +had once shaded it were seen, and a reddish ooze had begun to collect +upon the exposed rocks. All around were the shattered ruins of other +great buildings, some, like the Metropolitan tower, yet retaining their +steel skeletons, others tumbled down, and lying half-buried in the ooze. + +Finding nothing of great interest in this neighborhood they turned the +course of the bell northward, passing everywhere over interminable +ruins, and as soon as they began to skirt the ridge of Morningside +Heights the huge form of the cathedral of St. John fell within the +circle of projected light. It was unroofed, and some of the walls had +fallen, but some of the immense arches yet retained their upright +position. Here, for the first time, they encountered the real giants of +the submarine depths. De Beauxchamps, who had seen some of these +creatures during his visit to Paris in the _Jules Verne_, declared that +nothing which he had seen there was so terrifying as what they now +beheld. One creature, which seemed to be the unresisted master of this +kingdom of phosphorescent life, appears to have exceeded in strangeness +the utmost descriptive powers of all those who looked upon it, for their +written accounts are filled with ejaculations, and are more or less +inconsistent with one another. The reader gathers from them, however, +the general impression that it made upon their astonished minds. + +The creatures were of a livid hue, and had the form of a globe, as large +as the bell itself, with a valvular opening on one side which was +evidently a mouth, surrounded with a circle of eyelike disks, projecting +shafts of self-evolved light into the water. They moved about with +surprising ease, rising and sinking at will, sometimes rolling along the +curve of an arch, emitting flashes of green fire, and occasionally +darting across the intervening spaces in pursuit of their prey, which +consisted of smaller prosphorescent animals that fled in the utmost +consternation. When the adventurers in the bell saw one of the globular +monsters seize its victim they were filled with horror. It had driven +its prey into a corner of the wrecked choir, and suddenly it flattened +itself like a rubber bulb pressed against the wall, completely covering +the creature that was to be devoured, although the effect of its +struggles could be perceived; and then, to the amazement of the +onlookers, the living globe slowly turned itself inside out, engulfing +the victim in the process. + +"Great heavens," exclaimed Professor Abel Able, "it is a gigantic +_hydroid polyps!_ That is precisely the way in which those little +creatures swallow their prey; outside becomes inside, what was the +surface of the body is turned into the lining of the digestive cavity, +and every time they take a meal the process of introversion is repeated. +This monster is nothing but a huge self-sustaining maw!" + +"_Trčs bien_," exclaimed De Beauxchamps, with a slight laugh, "and he +finds himself in New York, quite _chez soi_." + +Nobody appeared to notice the sarcasm, and, in any case they would +quickly have forgotten it, for no sooner had the tragic spectacle which +they had witnessed been finished than they suddenly found the bell +surrounded by a crowd of the globe-shaped creatures, jostling one +another, and flattening themselves against its metallic walls. They +pushed the bell about, rolling themselves all over it, and apparently +finding nothing terrifying in the searchlight, which was hardly brighter +than the phosphorescent gleams which shot from their own luminescent +organs. One of them got one of its luminous disks exactly in the field +of a magnifying window, and King Richard, who happened to have his eye +in the focus, started back with a cry of alarm. + +"I cannot describe what I saw," the king wrote in his notebook. "It was +a glimpse of fiery cones, triangles, and circles, ranged in tier behind +tier with a piercing eye in the center, and the light that came from +them resembled nothing that I have ever seen. It seemed to be a _living +emanation_, and almost paralyzed me." + +"We must get away from them," cried De Beauxchamps, as soon as the first +overwhelming effect of the attack upon the bell had passed. And +immediately he set the propellers at their highest speed. + +The bell shook and half rolled over, there was a scurrying among the +monsters outside, and two or three of them floated away partly in +collapse, as if they had been seriously wounded by the short propeller +blades. + +The direction of flight chanced to carry them past the dome of the +Columbia University Library, which was standing almost intact, and then +they floated near the monumental tomb of General Grant, which had +crowned a noble elevation overlooking the Hudson River. A portion of the +upper part of this structure had been carried away, but the larger part +remained in position. They saw no more of the globular creatures which +had haunted the ruins of the cathedral, but, instead, there appeared +around the bell an immense multitude of small luminescent animals, many +of them most beautifully formed, and emitting from their light-producing +organs various exquisite colors which turned the surrounding water into +an all-embracing rainbow. + +[Illustration: "AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF +GENERAL GRANT"] + +But a more marvelous phenomenon quickly made its appearance, causing +them to gasp with astonishment. As they drew near the dismantled dome a +brilliant gleam suddenly streamed into the ports on the side turned +toward the monument--a gush of light so bright that the air inside the +bell seemed to have been illuminated with a golden sunrise. They glanced +toward the monument, and saw that it was surmounted by some vibrating +object which seemed instinct with blinding fire. The colors that sprang +from it changed rapidly from gold to purple, and then, through +shimmering hues of bronze, to a deep rich orange. It looked like a sun, +poised on the horizon. The spectacle was so dazzling, so unexpected, so +beautiful, and, associated with the architectural memorial of one of the +greatest characters in American history, so strangely suggestive, that +even King Richard and the two Frenchmen were strongly moved, while Cosmo +and his fellow-countrymen grasped each other by the hand, and the former +said, in solemn tones: + +"My friends, to my mind, this scene, however accidental, has something +of prophecy about it. It changes the current of my thought--America is +not dead; in some way she yet survives upon the earth." + +Long they gazed and wondered, but at last, partly recovering from their +astonishment, at the suggestion of De Beauxchamps, they drew nearer the +monument. But when they had arrived within a few yards of it, the +blinding light disappeared as if snuffed out, and they saw nothing but +the broken gray walls of the dome. The moving object, which had been +dimly visible at the beginning, and had evidently been the source of the +light, had vanished. + +"The creature that produced the illumination," said Professor Abel Able, +"has been alarmed by our approach, and has withdrawn into the interior." + +This was, no doubt, the true explanation, but they could perceive no +signs of life about the place, and they finally turned away from it with +strange sensations. + +Avoiding the neighborhood of the cathedral, they steered the bell down +the former course of the Hudson, but afterward ventured once more over +the drowned city until they arrived at the site of the great station of +the Pennsylvania Railroad, which they found completely unroofed. They +sank the bell into the vast space where the tunnels entered from +underneath the old river bed, and again they had a startling experience. +Something huge, elongated, and spotted, and provided with expanding +claw-like limbs, slowly withdrew as their light streamed upon the +reddish ooze covering the great floor. The nondescript retreated +backward into the mouth of a tunnel. They endeavored, cautiously, to +follow it, turning a magnifying window in its direction, and obtaining a +startling view of glaring eyes, but the creature hastened its retreat, +and the last glimpse they had was of a grotesque head, which threw out +piercing rays of green fire as it passed deeper into the tunnel. + +"This is too terrible," exclaimed King Richard, shuddering. "In Heaven's +name, let us go no farther." + +"We must visit Wall Street," said Amos Blank. "We must see what the +former financial center of the world now looks like." + +Accordingly they issued from the ruined station, and, resuming their +course southward, arrived at length over the great money center. The +tall buildings which had shouldered each other in that wonderful +district, turning the streets into immense gorges, had, to a certain +extent, protected one another against the effects of the waves, and the +skeletons of many were yet standing. In the midst of them the dark spire +of old Trinity still pointed stoutly upward, as if continuing its +hopeless struggle against the spirit of worldly grandeur whose aspiring +creations, though in ruins, yet dwarfed this symbol of immortality. At +the intersection of the Wall and Broad Street cańons they found an +enormous steel edifice, which had been completed a short time before the +deluge, tumbled in ruins upon the classic form of the old Stock +Exchange, the main features of whose front were yet recognizable. The +weight of the fallen building had been so great that it had crushed the +roof of the treasure vaults which had occupied its ground floor, and the +fragments of safes with their contents had been hurled over the northern +expanse of Broad Street. The red ooze had covered most of the wasted +wealth there heaped up, but in places piles of gold showed through the +covering. Amos Blank became greatly excited at this. His old +proclivities seemed to resume their sway and his former madness to +return, and he buried his finger nails in his clenched palms as he +pressed his face against a window, exclaiming: + +"_My gold!_ MY GOLD! Let me out of this! I must have it!" + +"Nobody can get out of the bell, Mr. Blank," said Cosmo soothingly. "And +the gold is now of no use to anybody." + +"I tell you," cried Blank, "that that is _my_ gold. It comes from _my_ +vaults, and I _must_ get out!" And he dashed his fists wildly against +the glass until his knuckles were covered with blood. Then he sought +about for some implement with which to break the glass. They were +compelled to seize him, and a dreadful struggle followed in the +restricted space within the bell. In the midst of it Blank's face became +set, and his eyes stared wildly out of a window. + +The others followed the direction of his gaze, and they were almost +frozen into statues. Close beside the bell, which had, during the +struggle, floated near to the principal heap of mingled treasure and +ruin, heavily squatted on the very summit of the pile, was such a +creature as no words could depict--of a ghastly color, bulky and +malformed, furnished with three burning eyes that turned now green, now +red with lambent flame, and great shapeless limbs, which it uplifted one +after the other, striking awkward, pawing blows at the bell! It seemed +to the horrified onlookers to be the very demon of greed defending its +spoil. Blank sank helpless on the bottom side of the bell, and the +others remained for a time petrified, and unable to speak. Suddenly the +dreadful creature, making a forward lunge from its perch, struck the +bell a mighty blow that sent it spinning in a partly upward direction. +The inmates were tumbled over one another, bruised and cut by the +projections that served for hand and foot holds. So great had been the +impact of the blow that the bell continued to revolve for several +minutes, and they could do nothing to help themselves, except to seize +the holds as they came within their grasp, and hang on for dear life. +The violent shaking up roused Blank from his trance, and he hung on +desperately with the others. + +After a while the bell ceased to spin, and began to sink again toward +the bottom. De Beauxchamps, who had recovered some degree of +self-command, instantly began to operate the control governing the +propellers, and in a few minutes he had the bell moving in a fixed +direction. + +"This way, this way," cried Cosmo, glancing out of the windows to orient +himself. "We have seen enough! We must get back to the cable, and return +to the Ark!" + +They were terror-stricken now, and pushing the propellers to their +utmost, they fled toward the site of the Metropolitan tower. On their +way, although for a time they passed over the course of the East River, +they saw no signs of the great bridges except the partly demolished but +yet beautiful towers of the oldest of them, which had been constructed +of heavy granite blocks. They found the cable attached as they had left +it, and, although they were yet nervous from their recent experience, +they had no great difficulty in re-attaching it to the bell. Then, with +a sigh of relief, they signaled, and shouted through the telephone to +the Ark. + +But no answer came, and there was no responsive movement of the cable! +They signaled and called again, but without result. + +"My God!" said Cosmo, in a faltering voice. "Can anything have happened +to the cable?" + +They looked at each other with blanched cheeks, and no man found a word +to reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +NEW AMERICA + + +There had been great excitement on the Ark when the first communication +from the bell was received, announcing the arrival of the adventurers at +the Metropolitan tower. The news spread everywhere in a few seconds, and +the man in charge of the signaling apparatus and telephone would have +been mobbed if Captain Arms had not rigorously shut off all +communication with him, compelling the eager inquirers to be content +with such information as he himself saw fit to give them. When the +announcement was made that the bell had been cut loose, and the +exploration begun, the excitement was intensified, and a Babel of voices +resounded all over the great ship. + +As hour after hour passed with no further communication from below the +anxiety of the multitude became almost unbearable. Some declared that +the adventurers would never be able to re-attach the bell to the cable, +and the fear rapidly spread that they would never be seen again. Captain +Arms strove in vain to reassure the excited passengers, but they grew +every moment more demoralized, and he was nearly driven out of his +senses by the insistent questioning to which he was subjected. It was +almost a relief to him when the lookout announced an impending change of +weather--although he well new the peril which such a change might bring. + +It came on more rapidly than anybody could have anticipated. The sky, in +the middle of the afternoon, became clouded, the sun was quickly hidden, +and a cold blast arose, quickly strengthening into a regular blow. The +Ark began to drift as the rising waves assailed its vast flanks. + +"Pay out the cable!" roared Captain Arms through his trumpet. + +If he had not been instantly obeyed it is probable that the cable would +have been dragged from its precarious fastening below. Then he instantly +set the engines at work, and strove to turn the Ark so as to keep it +near the point of descent. At first they succeeded very well, but the +captain knew that the wind was swiftly increasing in force, and that he +could not long continue to hold his place. It was a terrible emergency, +but he proved himself equal to it. + +"We must float the cable," he shouted to his first assistant. "Over with +the big buoy." + +This buoy of levium had been prepared for other possible emergencies. It +was flat, presenting little surface to the wind, and when, working with +feverish speed, aided by an electric launch, they had attached the cable +to it, it sank so low that its place on the sea was indicated only by +the short mast, capped with a streamer, which rose above it. + +When this work was completed a sigh of relief whistled through Captain +Arms's huge whiskers. + +"May Davy Jones hold that cable tight!" he exclaimed. "Now for +navigating the Ark. If I had my old _Maria Jane_ under my feet I'd defy +Boreas himself to blow me away from here--but this whale!" + +The wind increased fast, and in spite of every effort the Ark was driven +farther and farther toward the southwest, until the captain's telescope +no longer showed the least glimpse of the streamer on the buoy. Then +night came on, and yet the wind continued to blow. The captain compelled +all the passengers to go to their rooms. It would be useless to +undertake to describe the terror and despair of that night. When the sun +rose again the captain found that they had been driven seventy-five +miles from the site of New York, and yet, although the sky had now +partly cleared, the violence of the wind had not diminished. + +Captain Arms had the passengers' breakfast served in their rooms, simply +sending them word that all would be well in the end. But in his secret +heart he doubted if he could find the buoy again. He feared that it +would be torn loose with the cable. + +About noon the wind lulled, and at last the Ark could be effectively +driven in the direction of the buoy. But their progress was slow, and +night came on once more. During the hours of darkness the wind ceased +entirely, and the sea became calm. With the sunrise the search for the +buoy was begun in earnest. The passengers were now allowed to go upon +some of the decks, and to assemble in the grand saloon, but no +interference was permitted with the navigators of the Ark. Never had +Captain Arms so fully exhibited his qualities as a seaman. + +"We'll find that porpoise if it's still afloat," he declared. + +About half after eight o'clock a cry ran through the ship, bringing +everybody out on the decks. + +The captain had discovered the buoy through his glass! + +It lay away to the nor'ard, about a mile, and as they approached all +could see the streamer, hanging down its pole, a red streak in the +sunshine. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The Ark echoed with glad cries from stem to +stern. A thousand questions were shouted at the captain on his bridge, +but he was imperturbable. He only glanced at his watch, and then said, +in an undertone, to Joseph Smith, who stood beside him: + +"Forty-seven hours and twenty minutes. By the time we can get the cable +back on the drum it will be full forty-eight hours since they started, +and the air in the bell could be kept in condition no longer than that. +It may take as much as two hours more to draw it up." + +"Can you do it so rapidly as that?" asked Smith, his voice trembling. + +"I'll do it or bust," returned the captain. "Perhaps they may yet be +alive." + +Smith turned his eyes upward and clasped his hands. The Ark was put to +its utmost speed, and within the time estimated by the captain the cable +was once more on the great drum. Before starting it the captain attached +the telephone and shouted down. There was no reply. + +"Start gently, and then, if she draws, drive for your lubberly lives," +he said to the men in charge of the big donkey engine. + +The moment it began to turn he inspected the indicator. + +"Hurrah!" he exclaimed. "She pulls; the bell is attached." + +The crowded decks broke into a cheer. In a few minutes the Ark was +vibrating with the strokes of the engine. Within five minutes the +strong, slender cable was issuing out of the depths at the rate of 250 +feet a minute. But there were six miles of it! The engineer controlling +the drum shook his head. + +"We may break the cable," he said. + +"Go on!" shouted Captain Arms. "It's their only chance. Every second of +delay means sure death." + +Within forty minutes the cable was coming up 300 feet a minute. The +speed increased as the bell rose out of the depths. It was just one hour +and forty-five minutes after the drum began to revolve when the anxious +watchers were thrown into a furore of excitement by the appearance of a +shining blue point deep beneath. It was the bell! Again there broke +forth a tempest of cheers. + +Rapidly the rising bell grew larger under their eyes, until at last it +burst the surface of the sea. The engine had been skillfully slowed at +the last moment, and the rescued bell stopped at the level of the deck +open to receive it. With mad haste it was drawn aboard and the hermetic +door was opened. Those who were near enough glanced inside and turned +pale. Tumbled in a heap at the bottom lay the six men, with yellow faces +and blank, staring eyes. In an instant they were lifted out and two +doctors sprang to the side of each. Were they dead? Could any skill +revive them? A hush as of death spread over the great vessel. + +They were not dead. The skill of the physicians brought them, one after +another, slowly back to consciousness. But it was two full days before +they could rise from their beds, and three before they could begin to +tell their story--the story of the wonders they had seen, and of the +dreadful struggle for breath in the imprisoned bell before they had sunk +into unconsciousness. Not a word was ever spoken about the strange +outbreak of Blank at the sight of the gold, although the others all +recorded it in their notebooks. He himself never referred to it, and it +seemed to have faded from his mind. + +As soon as it was evident that the rescued men would recover, Captain +Arms, acting on his own responsibility, had started the Ark on its +westward course. It was a long and tedious journey that they had yet +before them, but the monotony was broken by the undying interest in the +marvelous story of the adventures of the bell. + +Three weeks after they left the vicinity of New York, the observations +showed that they must be nearing the eastern border of the Colorado +plateau. Then one day a bird alighted on the railing of the bridge, +close beside Cosmo and Captain Arms. + +"A bird!" cried Cosmo. "But it is incredible that a bird should be here! +How can it ever have kept itself afloat? It surely could not have +remained in the air all this time, and it could not have rested on the +waves during the downpour from the sky! Its presence here is absolutely +miraculous!" + +The poor bird, evidently exhausted by a long journey, remained upon the +rail, and permitted Cosmo to approach closely before taking flight to +another part of the Ark. Cosmo at first thought that it might have +escaped from his aviary below. + +But close inspection satisfied him that it was of a different species +from any that he had taken into the Ark, and the more he thought of the +strangeness of its appearance here the greater was his bewilderment. + +While he was puzzling over the subject the bird was seen by many of the +passengers, flitting from one part of the vessel to another, and they +were as much astonished as Cosmo had been, and all sorts of conjectures +were made to account for the little creature's escape from the flood. + +But within an hour or two Cosmo and the captain, who were now much +oftener alone upon the bridge than they had been during their passage +over the eastern continents, had another, and an incomparably greater, +surprise. + +It was the call of "Land, ho!" from the lookout. + +"Land!" exclaimed Cosmo. "Land! How can there be any land?" + +Captain Arms was no less incredulous, and he called the lookout down, +accused him of having mistaken a sleeping whale for a landfall, and sent +another man aloft in his place. But in a few minutes the same call of +"Land, ho!" was repeated. + +The captain got the bearings of the mysterious object this time, and the +Ark was sent for it at her highest speed. It rose steadily out of the +water until there could be no possibility of not recognizing it as the +top of a mountain. + +When it had risen still higher, until its form seemed gigantic against +the horizon, Captain Arms, throwing away his tobacco with an emphatic +gesture, and striking his palm on the rail, fairly shouted: + +"The Pike! By--the old Pike! There she blows!" + +"Do you mean Pike's Peak?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Do I mean Pike's Peak?" cried the captain, whose excitement had become +uncontrollable. "Yes, I mean Pike's Peak, and the deuce to him! Wasn't I +born at his foot? Didn't I play ball in the Garden of the Gods? And look +at him, Mr. Versál! There he stands! No water-squirting pirate of a +nebula could down the old Pike!" + +The excitement of everybody else was almost equal to the captain's, when +the grand mass of the mountain, with its characteristic profile, came +into view from the promenade-decks. + +De Beauxchamps, King Richard, and Amos Blank hurried to the bridge, +which they were still privileged to invade, and the two former in +particular asked questions faster than they could be answered. +Meanwhile, they were swiftly approaching the mountain. + +King Richard seemed to be under the impression that they had completed +the circuit of the world ahead of time, and his first remark was to the +effect that Mount Everest appeared to be rising faster than they had +anticipated. + +"That's none of your pagodas!" exclaimed the captain disdainfully; +"that's old Pike; and if you can find a better crown for the world, I'd +like to see it." + +The king looked puzzled, and Cosmo explained that they were still near +the center of the American continent, and that the great peak before +them was the sentinel of the Rocky Mountains. + +"But," replied the king, "I understood you that the whole world was +covered, and that the Himalayas would be the first to emerge." + +"That's what I believed," said Cosmo, "but the facts are against me." + +"So you thought you were going to run over the Rockies!" exclaimed the +captain gleefully. "They're no Gaurisankars, hey, M. De Beauxchamps?" + +"_Vive les Rockies! Vive le Pike!_" cried the Frenchman, catching the +captain's enthusiasm. + +"But how do you explain it?" asked King Richard. + +"It's the batholite," responded Cosmo, using exactly the same phrase +that Professor Pludder had employed some months before. + +"And pray explain to me what is a batholite?" + +Before Cosmo Versál could reply there was a terrific crash, and the Ark, +for the third time in her brief career, had made an unexpected landing. +But this time the accident was disastrous. + +All on the bridge, including Captain Arms, who should surely have known +the lay of the land about his childhood's home, had been so interested +in their talk that before they were aware of the danger the great vessel +had run her nose upon a projecting buttress of the mountain. + +She was going at full speed, too. Not a person aboard but was thrown +from his feet, and several were severely injured. + +The prow of the Ark was driven high upon a sloping surface of rock, and +the tearing sounds showed only too clearly that this time both bottoms +had been penetrated, and that there could be no hope of saving the huge +ship or getting her off. + +Perhaps at no time in all their adventures had the passengers of the Ark +been so completely terrorized and demoralized, and many members of the +crew were in no better state. Cosmo and the captain shouted orders, and +ran down into the hold to see the extent of the damage. Water was +pouring in through the big rents in torrents. + +There was plainly nothing to be done but to get everybody out of the +vessel and upon the rocks as rapidly as possible. + +The forward parts of the promenade-deck directly overhung the rock upon +which the Ark had forced itself, and it was possible for many to be let +down that way. At the same time boats were set afloat, and dozens got +ashore in them. + +While everybody was thus occupied with things immediately concerning +their safety, nobody paid any attention to the approach of a boat, which +had set out from a kind of bight in the face of the mountain. + +Cosmo was at the head of the accommodation-ladder that was being let +down on the starboard side, when he heard a shout, and, lifting his eyes +from his work, was startled to see a boat containing, beside the rowers, +two men whom he instantly recognized--they were President Samson and +Professor Pludder. + +Their sudden appearance here astonished him as much as that of Pike's +Peak itself had done. He dropped his hands and stared at them as their +boat swiftly approached. The ladder had just been got ready, and the +moment the boat touched its foot Professor Pludder mounted to the deck +of the Ark as rapidly as his great weight would permit. + +He stretched out his hand as his foot met the deck, and smilingly said: + +"Versál, you were right about the nebula." + +"Pludder," responded Cosmo, immediately recovering his aplomb, and +taking the extended hand of the professor, "you certainly know the truth +when you see it." + +Not another word was exchanged between them for the time, and Professor +Pludder instantly set to work aiding the passengers to descend the +ladder. Cosmo waved his hand in greeting to the President, who remained +in the boat, and politely lifted his tall, but sadly battered hat in +response. + +The Ark had become so firmly lodged that, after the passengers had all +got ashore, Cosmo decided to open a way through the forward end of the +vessel by removing some of the plates, so that the animals could be +taken ashore direct from their deck by simply descending a slightly +sloping gangway. + +This was a work that required a whole day, and while it was going +forward under Cosmo's directions the passengers, and such of the crew as +were not needed, found their way, led by the professor and the +President, round a bluff into a kind of mountain lap, where they were +astonished to see many rough cottages, situated picturesquely among the +rocks, and small cultivated spaces, with grass and flowers, surrounding +them. + +Here dwelt some hundreds of people, who received the shipwrecked company +with Western hospitality, after the first effects of their astonishment +had worn off. It appears that, owing to its concealment by a projecting +part of the mountain, the Ark had not been seen until just at the moment +when it went ashore. + +Although it was now the early part of September, the air was warm and +balmy, and barn-yard fowls were clucking and scratching about the rather +meager soil around the houses and outbuildings. + +There was not room in this place for all the newcomers, but Professor +Pludder assured them that in many of the neighboring hollows, which had +formerly been mountain gorges, there were similar settlements, and that +room would be found for all. + +Parties were sent off under the lead of guides, and great was the +amazement, and, it may be added, joy, with which they were received in +the little communities that clustered about the flanks of the mountain. + +About half of Cosmo's animals had perished, most of them during the +terrible experiences attending the arrival of the nucleus, which have +already been described, but those that remained were in fairly good +condition, and with the possible exception of the elephants, they seemed +glad to feel solid ground once more under their feet. + +The elephants had considerable difficulty in making their way over the +rocks to the little village, but finally all were got to a place of +security. The great Californian cattle caused hardly less trouble than +the elephants, but the Astorian turtles appeared to feel themselves at +home at once. + +Cosmo, with King Richard, De Beauxchamps, Amos Blank, Captain Arms, and +Joseph Smith, became the guests of Professor Pludder and the President +in their modest dwellings, and as soon as a little order had been +established explanations began. Professor Pludder was the first +spokesman, the scene being the President's "parlor." + +He told of their escape from Washington and of their arrival on the +Colorado plateau. + +"When the storm recommenced," he said, "I recognized the complete truth +of your theory, Mr. Versál--I had partially recognized it before--and I +made every preparation for the emergency. + +"The downfall, upon the whole, was not as severe here as it had been +during the earlier days of the deluge, but it must have been far more +severe elsewhere. + +"The sea around us began to rise, and then suddenly the rise ceased. +After studying the matter I concluded that a batholite was rising under +this region, and that there was a chance that we might escape +submergence through its influence." + +"Pardon me," interrupted King Richard, "but Mr. Versál has already +spoken of a 'batholite.' What does that mean?" + +"I imagine," replied the professor, smiling, "that neither Mr. Versál +nor I have used the term in a strictly technical sense. At least we have +vastly extended and modified its meaning in order to meet the +circumstances of our case. + +"Batholite is a word of the old geology, derived, from a language which +was once widely cultivated, Greek, and meaning, in substance, stone, or +rock, 'from the depths.' + +"The conception underlying it is that of an immense mass of plastic rock +rising under the effects of pressure from the interior of the globe, +forcing, and in part melting its way to the surface, or lifting up the +superincumbent crust. + +"Geologists had discovered the existence of many great batholites that +had risen in former ages, and there were some gigantic ones known in +this part of America." + +"That," interposed Cosmo, "was the basis of my idea that the continents +would rise again, only I supposed that the rise would first manifest +itself in the Himalayan region. + +"However, since it has resulted in the saving of so many lives here, I +cannot say that my disappointment goes beyond the natural mortification +of a man of science upon discovering that he has been in error." + +"I believe," said Professor Pludder, "that at least a million have +survived here in the heart of the continent through the uprising of the +crust. We have made explorations in many directions, and have found that +through all the Coloradan region people have succeeded in escaping to +the heights. + +"Since the water, although it began to rise again after the first arrest +of the advance of the sea, never attained a greater elevation than about +7,500 feet as measured from the old sea-level contours, there must be +millions of acres, not to say square miles, that are still habitable. + +"I even hope that the uprising has extended far through the Rocky +Mountain region." + +Professor Pludder then went on to tell how they had escaped from the +neighborhood of Colorado Springs when the readvance of the sea began, +and how at last it became evident that the influence of the underlying +"batholite" would save them from submergence. + +In some places, he said, violent phenomena had been manifested, and +severe earthquakes had been felt, but upon the whole, he thought, not +many had perished through that cause. + +As soon as some degree of confidence that they were, after all, to +escape the flood, had been established, they had begun to cultivate such +soil as they could find, and now, after months of fair weather, they had +become fairly established in their new homes. + +When Cosmo, on his side, had told of the adventures of the Ark, and of +the disappearance of the crown of the world in Asia, and when De +Beauxchamps had entertained the wondering listeners with his account of +the submarine explorations of the _Jules Verne_ and the diving bell, the +company at last broke up. + +From this point--the arrival of the Ark in Colorado, and its wreck on +Pike's Peak--the literature of our subject becomes abundant, but we +cannot pause to review it in detail. + +The re-emergence of the Colorado mountain region continued slowly, and +without any disastrous convulsions, and the level of the water receded +year by year as the land rose, and the sea lost by evaporation into +space and by chemical absorption in the crust. + +In some other parts of the Rockies, as Professor Pludder had +anticipated, an uprising had occurred, and it was finally estimated that +as many as three million persons survived the deluge. + +It was not the selected band with which Cosmo Versál had intended to +regenerate mankind, but from the Ark he spread a leaven which had its +effect on the succeeding generations. + +He taught his principles of eugenics, and implanted deep the germs of +science, in which he was greatly aided by Professor Pludder, and, as all +readers of this narrative know, we have every reason to believe that our +new world, although its population has not yet grown to ten millions, is +far superior, in every respect, to the old world that was drowned. + +As the dry land spread wider extensive farms were developed, and for a +long time there was almost no other occupation than that of cultivating +the rich soil. + +President Samson was, by unanimous vote, elected President of the +republic of New America, and King Richard became his Secretary of State, +an office, he declared, of which he was prouder than he had been of his +kingship, when the sound of the British drumbeat accompanied the sun +around the world. + +Amos Blank, returning to his old methods, soon became the leading +farmer, buying out the others until the government sternly interfered +and compelled him to relinquish everything but five hundred acres of +ground. + +But on this Blank developed a most surprising collection of domestic +animals, principally from the stocks that Cosmo had saved in the Ark. + +The elephants died, and the Astorian turtles did not reproduce their +kind, but the gigantic turkeys and the big cattle and sheep did +exceedingly well, and many other varieties previously unknown were +gradually developed with the aid of Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, who found +every opportunity to apply his theories in practice. + +Of Costaké Theriade, and the inter-atomic force, it is only necessary to +remind the reader that the marvelous mechanical powers which we possess +to-day, and which we draw directly from the hidden stores of the +electrons, trace their origin to the brain of the "speculative genius" +from Roumania, whom Cosmo Versál had the insight to save from the great +second deluge. + +All of these actors long ago passed from the scene, President Samson +being the last survivor, after winning by his able administration the +title of the second father of his country. But to the last he showed his +magnanimity by honoring Cosmo Versál, and upon the latter's death he +caused to be carved, high on the brow of the great mountain on which his +voyage ended, in gigantic letters, cut deep in the living rock, and +covered with shining, incorrodible levium, an inscription that will +transmit his fame to the remotest posterity: + + HERE RESTED THE ARK OF + COSMO VERSAL! + _He Foresaw and Prepared for the Second Deluge, + And Although Nature + Aided Him in Unexpected Ways, + Yet, but for Him, His Warnings, and His Example + The World of Man Would Have Ceased + To Exist._ + + +It would be unjust to Mr. Samson to suppose that any ironical intention +was in his mind when he composed this lofty inscription. + + +_Postscriptum_ + +While these words are being written, news comes of the return of an +aero, driven by inter-atomic energy, from a voyage of exploration round +the earth. + +It appears that the Alps are yet deeply buried, but that Mount Everest +now lifts its head more than ten thousand feet above the sea, and that +some of the loftiest plains of Tibet are beginning to re-emerge. + +Thus Cosmo Versál's prediction is fulfilled, though he has not lived to +see it. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECOND DELUGE *** + +***** This file should be named 9194-8.txt or 9194-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/9/9194/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Erica Jacobson, Sandra Brown, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9194-8.zip b/9194-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d3bfd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/9194-8.zip diff --git a/9194.txt b/9194.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15cc7dc --- /dev/null +++ b/9194.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10831 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Second Deluge + +Author: Garrett P. Serviss + +Posting Date: August 24, 2012 [EBook #9194] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 14, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECOND DELUGE *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Erica Jacobson, Sandra Brown, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + + + + + + + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + +By + +Garrett P. Serviss + +1912 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" [Page 106] ] + + + +FOREWORD + + +What is here set down is the fruit of long and careful research among +disjointed records left by survivors of the terrible events described. +The writer wishes frankly to say that, in some instances, he has +followed the course which all historians are compelled to take by using +his imagination to round out the picture. But he is able conscientiously +to declare that in the substance of his narrative, as well as in every +detail which is specifically described, he has followed faithfully the +accounts of eyewitnesses, or of those who were in a position to know the +truth of what they related. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. COSMO VERSAL + + II. MOCKING AT FATE + + III. THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + IV. THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + V. THE THIRD SIGN + + VI. SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + VII. THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + VIII. STORMING THE ARK + + IX. THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + X. THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + XI. "A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + XII. THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + XIII. STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + XIV. THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + XV. PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + XVI. MUTINY IN THE ARK + + XVII. THE _JULES VERNE_ + +XVIII. NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + XIX. TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + XX. THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + XXI. "THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + XXII. THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + +XXIII. ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + XXIV. THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + XXV. NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + XXVI. NEW AMERICA + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" + +"THE GREAT BATTLESHIP ... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL-RIBBED WALLS" + +"IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE" + +"AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF GENERAL GRANT" + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +COSMO VERSAL + + +An undersized, lean, wizen-faced man, with an immense bald head, as +round and smooth and shining as a giant soap-bubble, and a pair of beady +black eyes, set close together, so that he resembled a gnome of amazing +brain capacity and prodigious power of concentration, sat bent over a +writing desk with a huge sheet of cardboard before him, on which he was +swiftly drawing geometrical and trigonometrical figures. Compasses, +T-squares, rulers, protractors, and ellipsographs obeyed the touch of +his fingers as if inspired with life. + +The room around him was a jungle of terrestrial and celestial globes, +chemists' retorts, tubes, pipes, and all the indescribable apparatus +that modern science has invented, and which, to the uninitiated, seems +as incomprehensible as the ancient paraphernalia of alchemists and +astrologers. The walls were lined with book shelves, and adorned along +the upper portions with the most extraordinary photographs and drawings. +Even the ceiling was covered with charts, some representing the sky, +while many others were geological and topographical pictures of the face +of the earth. + +Beside the drawing-board lay a pad of paper, and occasionally the little +man nervously turned to this, and, grasping a long pencil, made +elaborate calculations, covering the paper with a sprinkling of +mathematical symbols that looked like magnified animalcula. While he +worked, under a high light from a single window placed well up near the +ceiling, his forehead contracted into a hundred wrinkles, his cheeks +became feverous, his piercing eyes glowed with inner fire, and drops of +perspiration ran down in front of his ears. One would have thought that +he was laboring to save his very soul and had but a few seconds of +respite left. + +Presently he threw down the pencil, and with astonishing agility let +himself rapidly, but carefully, off the stool on which he had been +sitting, keeping the palms of his hands on the seat beside his hips +until he felt his feet touch the floor. Then he darted at a book-shelf, +pulled down a ponderous tome, flapped it open in a clear space on the +floor, and dropped on his knees to consult it. + +After turning a leaf or two he found what he was after, read down the +page, keeping a finger on the lines, and, having finished his reading, +jumped to his feet and hurried back to the stool, on which he mounted so +quickly that it was impossible to see how he managed it--without an +upset. Instantly he made a new diagram, and then fell to figuring +furiously on the pad, making his pencil gyrate so fast that its upper +end vibrated like the wing of a dragon-fly. + +At last he threw down the pencil, and, encircling his knees with his +clasped arms, sank in a heap on the stool. The lids dropped over his +shining eyes, and he became buried in thought. + +When he reopened his eyes and unbent his brows, his gaze happened to be +directed toward a row of curious big photographs which ran like a +pictured frieze round the upper side of the wall of the room. A casual +observer might have thought that the little man had been amusing himself +by photographing the explosions of fireworks on a Fourth of July night; +but it was evident by his expression that these singular pictures had no +connection with civic pyrotechnics, but must represent something of +incomparably greater importance, and, in fact, of stupendous import. + +The little man's face took on a rapt look, in which wonder and fear +seemed to be blended. With a sweep of his hand he included the whole +series of photographs in a comprehensive glance, and then, settling his +gaze upon a particularly bizarre object in the center, he began to speak +aloud, although there was nobody to listen to him. + +"My God!" he said. "That's it! That Lick photograph of the Lord Rosse +Nebula is its very image, except that there's no electric fire in it. +The same great whirl of outer spirals, and then comes the awful central +mass--and we're going to plunge straight into it. Then quintillions of +tons of water will condense on the earth and cover it like a universal +cloudburst. And then good-by to the human race--unless--unless--I, Cosmo +Versal, inspired by science, can save a remnant to repeople the planet +after the catastrophe." + +Again, for a moment, he closed his eyes, and puckered his hemispherical +brow, while, with drawn-up knees, he seemed perilously balanced on the +high stool. Several times he slowly shook his head, like a dreaming owl, +and when his eyes reopened their fire was gone, and a reflective film +covered them. He began to speak, more deliberately than before, and in a +musing tone: + +"What can I do? I don't believe there is a mountain on the face of the +globe lofty enough to lift its head above that flood. Hum, hum! It's no +use thinking about mountains! The flood will be six miles deep--six +miles from the present sea-level; my last calculation proves it beyond +all question. And that's only a minimum--it may be miles deeper, for no +mortal man can tell exactly what'll happen when the earth plunges into a +nebula. + +"We'll have to float; that's the thing. I'll have to build an ark. I'll +be a second Noah. But I'll advise the whole world to build arks. + +"Millions might save themselves that way, for the flood is not going to +last forever. We'll get through the nebula in a few months, and then the +waters will gradually recede, and the high lands will emerge again. +It'll be an awful long time, though; I doubt if the earth will ever be +just as it was before. There won't be much room, except for fish--but +there won't be many inhabitants for what dry land there is." + +Once more he fell into silent meditation, and while he mused there came +a knock at the door. The little man started up on his seat, alert as a +squirrel, and turned his eyes over his shoulder, listening intently. The +knock was repeated--three quick sharp raps. Evidently he at once +recognized them. + +"All right," he called out, and, letting himself down, ran swiftly to +the door and opened it. + +A tall, thin man, with bushy black hair, heavy eyebrows, a high, narrow +forehead, and a wide, clean shaven mouth, wearing a solemn kind of +smile, entered and grasped the little man by both hands. + +"Cosmo," he said, without wasting any time on preliminaries, "have you +worked it out?" + +"I have just finished." + +"And you find the worst?" + +"Yes, worse than I ever dreamed it would be. The waters will be six +miles deep." + +"Phew!" exclaimed the other, his smile fading. "That is indeed serious. +And when does it begin?" + +"Inside of a year. We're within three hundred million miles of the +watery nebula now, and you know that the earth travels more than that +distance in twelve months." + +"Have you seen it?" + +"How could I see it--haven't I told you it is invisible? If it could be +seen all these stupid astronomers would have spotted it long ago. But +I'll tell you what I have seen." + +Cosmo Versal's voice sank into a whisper, and he shuddered slightly as +he went on: + +"Only last night I was sweeping the sky with the telescope when I +noticed, in Hercules and Lyra, and all that part of the heavens, a +dimming of some of the fainter stars. It was like the shadow of the +shroud of a ghost. Nobody else would have noticed it, and I wouldn't if +I had not been looking for it. It's knowledge that clarifies the eyes +and breeds knowledge, Joseph Smith. It was not truly visible, and yet I +could see that it was there. I tried to make out the shape of the +thing--but it was too indefinite. But I know very well what it is. See +here"--he suddenly broke off--"Look at that photograph." (He was +pointing at the Lord Rosse Nebula on the wall). "It's like that, only +it's coming edgewise toward us. We may miss some of the outer spirals, +but we're going smash into the center." + +With fallen jaw, and black brows contracted, Joseph Smith stared at the +photograph. + +"It doesn't shine like that," he said at last. + +The little man snorted contemptuously. + +"What have I told you about its invisibility?" he demanded. + +"But how, then, do you know that it is of a watery nature?" + +Cosmo Versal threw up his hands and waved them in an agony of +impatience. He climbed upon his stool to get nearer the level of the +other's eyes, and fixing him with his gaze, exclaimed: + +"You know very well how I know it. I know it because I have demonstrated +with my new spectroscope, which analyzes extra-visual rays, that all +those dark nebulae that were photographed in the Milky Way years ago are +composed of watery vapor. They are far off, on the limits of the +universe. This one is one right at hand. It's a little one compared with +them--but it's enough, yes, it's enough! You know that more than two +years ago I began to correspond with astronomers all over the world +about this thing, and not one of them would listen to me. Well, they'll +listen when it's too late perhaps. + +"They'll listen when the flood-gates are opened and the inundation +begins. It's not the first time that this thing has happened. I haven't +a doubt that the flood of Noah, that everybody pretends to laugh at now, +was caused by the earth passing through a watery nebula. But this will +be worse than that; there weren't two thousand million people to be +drowned then." + +For five minutes neither spoke. Cosmo Versal swung on the stool, and +played with an ellipsograph; Joseph Smith dropped his chin on his breast +and nervously fingered the pockets of his long vest. At last he raised +his head and asked, in a low voice: + +"What are you going to do, Cosmo?" + +"I'm going to get ready," was the short reply. + +"How?" + +"Build an ark." + +"But will you give no warning to others?" + +"I'll do my best. I'll telephone to all the officials, scientific and +otherwise, in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. I'll write +in every language to all the newspapers and magazines. I'll send out +circulars. I'll counsel everybody to drop every other occupation and +begin to build arks--but nobody will heed me. You'll see. My ark will be +the only one, but I'll save as many in it as I can. And I depend upon +you, Joseph, to help me. From all appearances, it's the only chance that +the human race has of survival. + +"If I hadn't made this discovery they would all have been wiped out like +miners in a flooded pit. We may persuade a few to be saved--but what an +awful thing it is that when the truth is thrust into their very faces +people won't believe, won't listen, won't see, won't be helped, but will +die like dogs in their obstinate ignorance and blindness." + +"But they will, they must, listen to you," said Joseph Smith eagerly. + +"They _won't_, but I must _make_ them," replied Cosmo Versal. +"Anyhow, I must make a few of the best of them hear me. The fate of a +whole race is at stake. If we can save a handful of the best blood and +brain of mankind, the world will have a new chance, and perhaps a better +and higher race will be the result. Since I can't save them all, I'll +pick and choose. I'll have the flower of humanity in my ark. I'll at +least snatch that much from the jaws of destruction." + +The little man was growing very earnest and his eyes were aglow with the +fire of enthusiastic purpose. As he dropped his head on one side, it +looked too heavy for the stemlike neck, but it conveyed an impression of +immense intellectual power. Its imposing contour lent force to his +words. + +"The flower of humanity," he continued after a slight pause. "Who +composes it? I must decide that question. Is it the billionaires? Is it +the kings and rulers? Is it the men of science? Is it the society +leaders? Bah! I'll have to think on that. I can't take them all, but +I'll give them all a chance to save themselves--though I know they won't +act on the advice." + +Here he paused. + +"Won't the existing ships do--especially if more are built?" Joseph +Smith suddenly asked, interrupting Cosmo's train of thought. + +"Not at all," was the reply. "They're not suited to the kind of +navigation that will be demanded. They're not buoyant enough, nor +manageable enough, and they haven't enough carrying capacity for power +and provisions. They'll be swamped at the wharves, or if they should get +away they'd be sent to the bottom inside a few hours. Nothing but +specially constructed arks will serve. And _there's_ more trouble +for me--I must devise a new form of vessel. Heavens, how short the time +is! Why couldn't I have found this out ten years ago? It's only to-day +that I have myself learned the full truth, though I have worked on it so +long." + +"How many will you be able to carry in your ark?" asked Smith. + +"I can't tell yet. That's another question to be carefully considered. I +shall build the vessel of this new metal, levium, half as heavy as +aluminum and twice as strong as steel. I ought to find room without the +slightest difficulty for a round thousand in it." + +"Surely many more than that!" exclaimed Joseph Smith. "Why, there are +ocean-liners that carry several times as many." + +"You forget," replied Cosmo Versal, "that we must have provisions enough +to last for a long time, because we cannot count on the immediate +re-emergence of any land, even the most mountainous, and the most +compressed food takes space when a great quantity is needed. It won't do +to overcrowd the vessel, and invite sickness. Then, too, I must take +many animals along." + +"Animals," returned Smith. "I hadn't thought of that. But is it +necessary?" + +"Absolutely. Would you have less foresight than Noah? I shall not +imitate him by taking male and female of every species, but I must at +least provide for restocking such land as eventually appears above the +waters with the animals most useful to man. Then, too, animals are +essential to the life of the earth. Any agricultural chemist would tell +you that. They play an indispensable part in the vital cycle of the +soil. I must also take certain species of insects and birds. I'll +telephone Professor Hergeschmitberger at Berlin to learn precisely what +are the capitally important species of the animal kingdom." + +"And when will you begin the construction of the ark?" + +"Instantly. There's not a moment to lose. And it's equally important to +send out warnings broadcast immediately. There you can help me. You know +what I want to say. Write it out at once; put it as strong as you can; +send it everywhere; put it in the shape of posters; hurry it to the +newspaper offices. Telephone, in my name, to the Carnegie Institution, +to the Smithsonian Institution, to the Royal Society, to the French, +Russian, Italian, German, and all the other Academies and Associations +of Science to be found anywhere on earth. + +"Don't neglect the slightest means of publicity. Thank Heaven, the money +to pay for all this is not lacking. If my good father, when he piled up +his fortune from the profits of the Transcontinental Aerian Company, +could have foreseen the use to which his son would put it for the +benefit--what do I say, for the benefit? nay, for the _salvation_--of +mankind, he would have rejoiced in his work." + +"Ah, that reminds me," exclaimed Joseph Smith. "I was about to ask, a +few minutes ago, why airships would not do for this business. Couldn't +people save themselves from the flood by taking refuge in the +atmosphere?" + +Cosmo Versal looked at his questioner with an ironical smile. + +"Do you know," he asked, "how long a dirigible can be kept afloat? Do +you know for how long a voyage the best aeroplane types can be +provisioned with power? There's not an air-ship of any kind that can go +more than two weeks at the very uttermost without touching solid earth, +and then it must be mighty sparing of its power. If we can save mankind +now, and give it another chance, perhaps the time will come when power +can be drawn out of the ether of space, and men can float in the air as +long as they choose. + +"But as things are now, we must go back to Noah's plan, and trust to the +buoyant power of water. I fully expect that when the deluge begins +people will flock to the high-lands and the mountains in air-ships--but +alas! that won't save them. Remember what I have told you--this flood is +going to be six miles deep!" + +The second morning after the conversation between Cosmo Versal and +Joseph Smith, New York was startled by seeing, in huge red letters, on +every blank wall, on the bare flanks of towering sky-scrapers, on the +lofty stations of aeroplane lines, on bill-boards, fences, +advertising-boards along suburban roads, in the Subway stations, and +fluttering from strings of kites over the city, the following +announcement: + + THE WORLD IS TO BE DROWNED! + + Save Yourselves While It Is Yet Time! + Drop Your Business: It Is of No Consequence! + Build Arks: It Is Your Only Salvation! + The Earth Is Going To Plunge into a Watery + Nebula: There Is No Escape! + Hundreds of Millions Will Be Drowned: You Have + Only a Few Months To Get Ready! + For Particulars Address: Cosmo Versal, + 3000 Fifth Avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MOCKING AT FATE + + +When New York recovered from its first astonishment over the +extraordinary posters, it indulged in a loud laugh. Everybody knew who +Cosmo Versal was. His eccentricities had filled many readable columns in +the newspapers. Yet there was a certain respect for him, too. This was +due to his extraordinary intellectual ability and unquestionable +scientific knowledge. But his imagination was as free as the winds, and +it often led him upon excursions in which nobody could follow him, and +which caused the more steady-going scientific brethren to shake their +heads. They called him able but flighty. The public considered him +brilliant and amusing. + +His father, who had sprung from some unknown source in southeastern +Europe, and, beginning as a newsboy in New York, had made his way to the +front in the financial world, had left his entire fortune to Cosmo. The +latter had no taste for finance or business, but a devouring appetite +for science, to which, in his own way, he devoted all his powers, all +his time, and all his money. He never married, was never seen in +society, and had very few intimates--but he was known by sight, or +reputation, to everybody. There was not a scientific body or association +of any consequence in the world of which he was not a member. Those +which looked askance at his bizarre ideas were glad to accept pecuniary +aid from him. + +The notion that the world was to be drowned had taken possession of him +about three years before the opening scene of this narrative. To work +out the idea, he built an observatory, set up a laboratory, invented +instruments, including his strange spectroscope, which was scoffed at by +the scientific world. + +Finally, submitting the results of his observations to mathematical +treatment, he proved, to his own satisfaction, the absolute correctness +of his thesis that the well-known "proper motion of the solar system" +was about to result in an encounter between the earth and an invisible +watery nebula, which would have the effect of inundating the globe. As +this startling idea gradually took shape, he communicated it to +scientific men in all lands, but failed to find a single disciple, +except his friend Joseph Smith, who, without being able to follow all +his reasonings, accepted on trust the conclusions of Cosmo's more +powerful mind. Accordingly, at the end of his investigation, he enlisted +Smith as secretary, propagandist, and publicity agent. + +New York laughed a whole day and night at the warning red letters. They +were the talk of the town. People joked about them in cafes, clubs, at +home, in the streets, in the offices, in the exchanges, in the +street-cars, on the Elevated, in the Subways. Crowds gathered on corners +to watch the flapping posters aloft on the kite lines. The afternoon +newspapers issued specials which were all about the coming flood, and +everywhere one heard the cry of the newsboys: _"Extra-a-a! Drowning of +a Thousand Million people! Cosmo Versal predicts the End of the +World!"_ On their editorial pages the papers were careful to discount +the scare lines, and terrific pictures, that covered the front sheets, +with humorous jibes at the author of the formidable prediction. + +_The Owl,_ which was the only paper that put the news in half a +column of ordinary type, took a judicial attitude, called upon the city +authorities to tear down the posters, and hinted that "this absurd +person, Cosmo Versal, who disgraces a once honored name with his +childish attempt to create a sensation that may cause untold harm among +the ignorant masses," had laid himself open to criminal prosecution. + +In their latest editions, several of the papers printed an interview +with Cosmo Versal, in which he gave figures and calculations that, on +their face, seemed to offer mathematical proof of the correctness of his +forecast. In impassioned language, he implored the public to believe +that he would not mislead them, spoke of the instant necessity of +constructing arks of safety, and averred that the presence of the +terrible nebula that was so soon to drown the world was already manifest +in the heavens. + +Some readers of these confident statements began to waver, especially +when confronted with mathematics which they could not understand. But +still, in general, the laugh went on. It broke into boisterousness in +one of the largest theaters where a bright-witted "artist," who always +made a point of hitting off the very latest sensation, got himself up in +a lifelike imitation of the well-known figure of Cosmo Versal, topped +with a bald head as big as a bushel, and sailed away into the flies with +a pretty member of the ballet, whom he had gallantly snatched from a +tumbling ocean of green baize, singing at the top of his voice until +they disappeared behind the proscenium arch: + + "Oh, th' Nebula is coming + To drown the wicked earth, + With all his spirals humming + 'S he waltzes in his mirth. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, + Get ready to embark, + And skip away to safety + With Cosmo and his ark. + + "Th' Nebula is a direful bird + 'S he skims the ether blue! + He's angry over what he's heard, + 'N's got his eye on you. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "When Nebulas begin to pipe + The bloomin' O.H.[subscript]2 + Y'bet yer life the time is ripe + To think what you will do. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He'll tip th' Atlantic o'er its brim, + And swamp the mountains tall; + He'll let the broad Pacific in, + And leave no land at all. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He's got an option on the spheres; + He's leased the Milky Way; + He's caught the planets in arrears, + 'N's bound to make 'em pay. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc." + +The roars of laughter and applause with which this effusion of +vaudeville genius was greeted, showed the cheerful spirit in which the +public took the affair. No harm seemed to have come to the "ignorant +masses" yet. + +But the next morning there was a suspicious change in the popular mind. +People were surprised to see new posters in place of the old ones, more +lurid in letters and language than the original. The morning papers had +columns of description and comment, and some of them seemed disposed to +treat the prophet and his prediction with a certain degree of +seriousness. + +The savants who had been interviewed overnight, did not talk very +convincingly, and made the mistake of flinging contempt on both Cosmo +and "the gullible public." + +Naturally, the public wouldn't stand for that, and the pendulum of +opinion began to swing the other way. Cosmo helped his cause by sending +to every newspaper a carefully prepared statement of his observations +and calculations, in which he spoke with such force of conviction that +few could read his words without feeling a thrill of apprehensive +uncertainty. This was strengthened by published dispatches which showed +that he had forwarded his warnings to all the well-known scientific +bodies of the world, which, while decrying them, made no effective +response. + +And then came a note of positive alarm in a double-leaded bulletin from +the new observatory at Mount McKinley, which affirmed that during the +preceding night _a singular obscurity_ had been suspected in the +northern sky, seeming to veil many stars below the twelfth magnitude. It +was added that the phenomenon was unprecedented, but that the +observation was both difficult and uncertain. + +Nowhere was the atmosphere of doubt and mystery, which now began to hang +over the public, so remarkable as in Wall Street. The sensitive currents +there responded like electric waves to the new influence, and, to the +dismay of hard-headed observers, the market dropped as if it had been +hit with a sledge-hammer. Stocks went down five, ten, in some cases +twenty points in as many minutes. + +The speculative issues slid down like wheat into a bin when the chutes +are opened. Nobody could trace the exact origin of the movement, but +selling-orders came tumbling in until there was a veritable panic. + +From London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, flashed dispatches +announcing that the same unreasonable slump had manifested itself there, +and all united in holding Cosmo Versal solely responsible for the +foolish break in prices. Leaders of finance rushed to the exchanges +trying by arguments and expostulations to arrest the downfall, but in +vain. + +In the afternoon, however, reason partially resumed its sway; then a +quick recovery was felt, and many who had rushed to sell all they had, +found cause to regret their precipitancy. The next day all was on the +mend, as far as the stock market was concerned, but among the people at +large the poison of awakened credulity continued to spread, nourished by +fresh announcements from the fountain head. + +Cosmo issued another statement to the effect that he had perfected plans +for an ark of safety, which he would begin at once to construct in the +neighborhood of New York, and he not only offered freely to give his +plans to any who wished to commence construction on their own account, +but he urged them, in the name of Heaven, to lose no time. This produced +a prodigious effect, and multitudes began to be infected with a nameless +fear. + +Meanwhile an extraordinary scene occurred, behind closed doors, at the +headquarters of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Joseph Smith, +acting under Cosmo Versal's direction, had forwarded an elaborate +_precis_ of the latter's argument, accompanied with full +mathematical details, to the head of the institution. The character of +this document was such that it could not be ignored. Moreover, the +savants composing the council of the most important scientific +association in the world were aware of the state of the public mind, and +felt that it was incumbent upon them to do something to allay the alarm. +Of late years a sort of supervisory control over scientific news of all +kinds had been accorded to them, and they appreciated the fact that a +duty now rested upon their shoulders. + +Accordingly, a special meeting was called to consider the communication +from Cosmo Versal. It was the general belief that a little critical +examination would result in complete proof of the fallacy of all his +work, proof which could be put in a form that the most uninstructed +would understand. + +But the papers, diagrams, and mathematical formulae had no sooner been +spread upon the table under the knowing eyes of the learned members of +the council, than a chill of conscious impuissance ran through them. +They saw that Cosmo's mathematics were unimpeachable. His formulae were +accurately deduced, and his operations absolutely correct. + +They could do nothing but attack his fundamental data, based on the +alleged revelations of his new form of spectroscope, and on telescopic +observations which were described in so much detail that the only way to +combat them was by the general assertion that they were illusory. This +was felt to be a very unsatisfactory method of procedure, as far as the +public was concerned, because it amounted to no more than attacking the +credibility of a witness who pretended to describe only what he himself +had seen--and there is nothing so hard as to prove a negative. + +Then, Cosmo had on his side the whole force of that curious tendency of +the human mind which habitually gravitates toward whatever is +extraordinary, revolutionary, and mysterious. + +But a yet greater difficulty arose. Mention has been made of the strange +bulletin from the Mount McKinley observatory. That had been incautiously +sent out to the public by a thoughtless observer, who was more intent +upon describing a singular phenomenon than upon considering its possible +effect on the popular imagination. He had immediately received an +expostulatory dispatch from headquarters which henceforth shut his +mouth--but he had told the simple truth, and how embarrassing that was +became evident when, on the very table around which the savants were now +assembled, three dispatches were laid in quick succession from the great +observatories of Mount Hekla, Iceland, the North Cape, and Kamchatka, +all corroborating the statement of the Mount McKinley observer, that an +inexplicable veiling of faint stars had manifested itself in the boreal +quarter of the sky. + +When the president read these dispatches--which the senders had taken +the precaution to mark "confidential"--the members of the council looked +at one another with no little dismay. Here was the most unprejudiced +corroboration of Cosmo Versal's assertion that the great nebula was +already within the range of observation. How could they dispute such +testimony, and what were they to make of it? + +Two or three of the members began to be shaken in their convictions. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Professor Alexander Jones, "but this is very +curious! And suppose the fellow should be right, after all?" + +"Right!" cried the president, Professor Pludder, disdainfully. "Who ever +heard of a watery nebula? The thing's absurd!" + +"I don't see that it's absurd," replied Professor Jones. "There's plenty +of proof of the existence of hydrogen in some of the nebulae." + +"So there is," chimed in Professor Abel Able, "and if there's hydrogen +there may be oxygen, and there you have all that's necessary. It's not +the idea that a nebula may consist of watery vapor that's absurd, but it +is that a watery nebula, large enough to drown the earth by condensation +upon it could have approached so near as this one must now be without +sooner betraying its presence." + +"How so?" demanded a voice. + +"By its attraction. Cosmo Versal says it is already less than three +hundred million miles away. If it is massive enough to drown the earth, +it ought long ago to have been discovered by its disturbance of the +planetary orbits." + +"Not at all," exclaimed Professor Jeremiah Moses. "If you stick to that +argument you'll be drowned sure. Just look at these facts. The earth +weighs six and a half sextillions of tons, and the ocean one and a half +quintillions. The average depth of the oceans is two and one-fifth +miles. Now--if the level of the oceans were raised only about 1,600 +feet, practically all the inhabited parts of the world would be flooded. +To cause that increase in the level of the oceans only about one-eighth +part would have to be added to their total mass, or, say, one-seventh +part, allowing for the greater surface to be covered. That would be one +thirty-thousandth of the weight of the globe, and if you suppose that +only one-hundredth of the entire nebula were condensed on the earth, the +whole mass of the nebula would not need to exceed one three-hundredth of +the weight of the earth, or a quarter that of the moon--and nobody here +will be bold enough to say that the approach of a mass no greater than +that would be likely to be discovered through its attraction when it was +three hundred million miles away." + +Several of the astronomers present shook their heads at this, and +Professor Pludder irritably declared that it was absurd. + +"The attraction would be noticeable when it was a thousand millions of +miles away," he continued. + +"Yes, 'noticeable' I admit," replied Professor Moses, "but all the same +you wouldn't notice it, because you wouldn't be looking for it unless +the nebula were visible first, and even then it would require months of +observation to detect the effects. And how are you going to get around +those bulletins? The thing is beginning to be visible now, and I'll bet +that if, from this time on, you study carefully the planetary motions, +you will find evidence of the disturbance becoming stronger and +stronger. Versal has pointed out that very thing, and calculated the +perturbations. This thing has come like a thief in the night." + +"You'd better hurry up and secure a place in the ark," said Professor +Pludder sarcastically. + +"I don't know but I shall, if I can get one," returned Professor Moses. +"You may not think this is such a laughing matter a few months hence." + +"I'm surprised," pursued the president, "that a man of your scientific +standing should stultify himself by taking seriously such balderdash as +this. I tell you the thing is absurd." + +"And I tell you, _you_ are absurd to say so!" retorted Professor +Moses, losing his temper. "You've got four of the biggest telescopes in +the world under your control; why don't you order your observers to look +for this thing?" + +Professor Pludder, who was a very big man, reared up his rotund form, +and, bringing his fist down upon the table with a resounding whack, +exclaimed: + +"I'll do nothing so ridiculous! These bulletins have undoubtedly been +influenced by the popular excitement. There has possibly been a little +obscurity in the atmosphere--cirrus clouds, or something--and the +observers have imagined the rest. I'm not going to insult science by +encouraging the proceedings of a mountebank like Cosmo Versal. What +we've got to do is to prepare a dispatch for the press reassuring the +populace and throwing the weight of this institution on the side of +common sense and public tranquillity. Let the secretary indite such a +dispatch, and then we'll edit it and send it out." + +Professor Pludder, naturally dictatorial, was sometimes a little +overbearing, but being a man of great ability, and universally respected +for his high rank in the scientific world, his colleagues usually bowed +to his decisions. On this occasion his force of character sufficed to +silence the doubters, and when the statement intended for the press had +received its final touches it contained no hint of the seeds of discord +that Cosmo Versal had sown among America's foremost savants. The next +morning it appeared in all the newspapers as follows: + + _Official Statement from the Carnegie Institution_ + + In consequence of the popular excitement caused by the + sensational utterance of a notorious pretender to scientific + knowledge in New York, the council of this institution + authorizes the statement that it has examined the alleged + grounds on which the prediction of a great flood, to be caused + by a nebula encountering the earth, is based, and finds, as all + real men of science knew beforehand, that the entire matter is + simply a canard. + + The nebulae are not composed of water; if they were composed of + water they could not cause a flood on the earth; the report that + some strange, misty object is visible in the starry heavens is + based on a misapprehension; and finally, the so-called + calculations of the author of this inexcusable hoax are baseless + and totally devoid of validity. + + The public is earnestly advised to pay no further attention to + the matter. If there were any danger to the earth--and such a + thing is not to be seriously considered--astronomers would know + it long in advance, and would give due and official warning. + +Unfortunately for the popular effect of this pronouncement, on the very +morning when it appeared in print, thirty thousand people were crowded +around the old aviation field at Mineola, excitedly watching Cosmo +Versal, with five hundred workmen, laying the foundations of a huge +platform, while about the field were stretched sheets of canvas +displaying the words: + + THE ARK OF SAFETY + Earnest Inspection Invited by All + Attendants will Furnish Gratis Plans for Similar + Constructions + Small Arks Can Be Built for Families + Act While There Is Yet Time + +The multitude saw at a glance that here was a work that would cost +millions, and the spectacle of this immense expenditure, the evidence +that Cosmo was backing his words with his money, furnished a silent +argument which was irresistible. In the midst of all, flying about among +his men, was Cosmo, impressing every beholder with the feeling that +intellect was in charge. + +Like the gray coat of Napoleon on a battlefield, the sight of that +mighty brow bred confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + +The utterance of the Carnegie Institution indeed fell flat, and Cosmo +Versal's star reigned in the ascendent. He pushed his preparations with +amazing speed, and not only politics, but even the war that had just +broken out in South America was swallowed up in the newspapers by +endless descriptions of the mysterious proceedings at Mineola. Cosmo +still found time every day to write articles and to give out interviews; +and Joseph Smith was kept constantly on the jump, running for +street-cars or trains, or leaping, with his long coat flapping, into and +out of elevators on ceaseless missions to the papers, the scientific +societies, and the meetings of learned or unlearned bodies which had +been persuaded to investigate the subject of the coming flood. Between +the work of preparation and that of proselytism it is difficult to see +how Cosmo found time to sleep. + +Day by day the Ark of Safety rose higher upon its great platform, its +huge metallic ribs and broad, bulging sides glinting strangely in the +unbroken sunshine--for, as if imitating the ominous quiet before an +earthquake, the July sky had stripped itself of all clouds. No +thunder-storms broke the serenity of the long days, and never had the +overarching heavens seemed so spotless and motionless in their cerulean +depths. + +All over the world, as the news dispatches showed, the same strange calm +prevailed. Cosmo did not fail to call attention to this unparalleled +repose of nature as a sure prognostic of the awful event in preparation. + +The heat became tremendous. Hundreds were stricken down in the blazing +streets. Multitudes fled to the seashore, and lay panting under +umbrellas on the burning sands, or vainly sought relief by plunging into +the heated water, which, rolling lazily in with the tide, felt as if it +had come from over a boiler. + +Still, perspiring crowds constantly watched the workmen, who struggled +with the overpowering heat, although Cosmo had erected canvas screens +for them and installed a hundred immense electric fans to create a +breeze. + +Beginning with five hundred men, he had, in less than a month, increased +his force to nearer five thousand, many of whom, not engaged in the +actual construction, were preparing the materials and bringing them +together. The ark was being made of pure levium, the wonderful new metal +which, although already employed in the construction of aeroplanes and +the framework of dirigible balloons, had not before been used for +shipbuilding, except in the case of a few small boats, and these used +only in the navy. + +For mere raw material Cosmo must have expended an enormous sum, and his +expenses were quadrupled by the fact that he was compelled, in order to +save time, practically to lease several of the largest steel plants in +the country. Fortunately levium was easily rolled into plates, and the +supply was sufficient, owing to the discovery two years before of an +expeditious process of producing the metal from its ores. + +The wireless telegraph and telephone offices were besieged by +correspondents eager to send inland, and all over Europe and Asia, the +latest particulars of the construction of the great ark. Nobody followed +Cosmo's advice or example, but everybody was intensely interested and +puzzled. + +At last the government officials found themselves forced to take +cognizance of the affair. They could no longer ignore it after they +discovered that it was seriously interfering with the conduct of public +business. Cosmo Versal's pressing orders, accompanied by cash, displaced +or delayed orders of the government commanding materials for the navy +and the air fleet. In consequence, about the middle of July he received +a summons to visit the President of the United States. Cosmo hurried to +Washington on the given date, and presented his card at the White House. +He was shown immediately into the President's reception-room, where he +found the entire Cabinet in presence. As he entered he was the focus of +a formidable battery of curious and not too friendly eyes. + +President Samson was a large, heavy man, more than six feet tall. Every +member of his Cabinet was above the average in avoirdupois, and the +heavyweight president of the Carnegie Institution, Professor Pludder, +who had been specially invited, added by his presence to the air of +ponderosity that characterized the assemblage. All seemed magnified by +the thin white garments which they wore on account of the oppressive +heat. Many of them had come in haste from various summer resorts, and +were plainly annoyed by the necessity of attending at the President's +command. + +Cosmo Versal was the only cool man there, and his diminutive form +presented a striking contrast to the others. But he looked as if he +carried more brains than all of them put together. + +He was not in the least overawed by the hostile glances of the +statesmen. On the contrary, his lips perceptibly curled, in a +half-disdainful smile, as he took the big hand which the President +extended to him. As soon as Cosmo Versal had sunk into the embrace of a +large easy chair, the President opened the subject. + +"I have directed you to come," he said in a majestic tone, "in order the +sooner to dispel the effects of your unjustifiable predictions and +extraordinary proceedings on the public mind--and, I may add, on public +affairs. Are you aware that you have interfered with the measures of +this government for the defense of the country? You have stepped in +front of the government, and delayed the beginning of four battleships +which Congress has authorized in urgent haste on account of the +threatening aspect of affairs in the East? I need hardly say to you that +we shall, if necessary, find means to set aside the private agreements +under which you are proceeding, as inimical to public interests, but you +have already struck a serious blow at the security of your country." + +The President pronounced the last sentence with oratorical unction, and +Cosmo was conscious of an approving movement of big official shoulders +around him. The disdain deepened on his lips. + +After a moment's pause the President continued: + +"Before proceeding to extremities I have wished to see you personally, +in order, in the first place, to assure myself that you are mentally +responsible, and then to appeal to your patriotism, which should lead +you to withdraw at once an obstruction so dangerous to the nation. Do +you know the position in which you have placed yourself?" + +Cosmo Versal got upon his feet and advanced to the center of the room +like a little David. Every eye was fixed upon him. His voice was steady, +but intense with suppressed nervousness. + +"Mr. President," he said, "you have accused me of obstructing the +measures of the government for the defense of the country. Sir, I am +trying to save the whole human race from a danger in comparison with +which that of war is infinitesimal--a danger which is rushing down upon +us with appalling speed, and which will strike every land on the globe +simultaneously. Within seven months not a warship or any other existing +vessel will remain afloat." + +The listeners smiled, and nodded significantly to one another, but the +speaker only grew more earnest. + +"You think I am insane," he said, "but the truth is you are hoodwinked +by official stupidity. That man," pointing at Professor Pludder, "who +knows me well, and who has had all my proofs laid before him, is either +too thick-headed to understand a demonstration or too pig-headed to +confess his own error." + +"Come, come," interrupted the President sternly, while Professor Pludder +flushed very red, "this will not do! Indulge in no personalities here. I +have, strained a point in offering to listen to you at all, and I have +invited the head of the greatest of our scientific societies to be +present, with the hope that here before us all he might convince you of +your folly, and thus bring the whole unfortunate affair promptly to an +end." + +"_He_ convince _me_ !" cried Cosmo Versal disdainfully. "He is +incapable of understanding the A, B, C of my work. But let me tell you +this, Mr. President--there are men in his own council who are not so +blind. I know what occurred at the recent meeting of that council, and I +know that the ridiculous announcement put forth in its name to deceive +the public was whipped into shape by him, and does not express the real +opinion of many of the members." + +Professor Pludder's face grew redder than ever. + +"Name one!" he thundered. + +"Ah," said Cosmo sneeringly, "that hits hard, doesn't it? You want me to +name _one_; well, I'll name _three_. What did Professor +Alexander Jones and Professor Abel Able say about the existence of +watery nebula, and what was the opinion expressed by Professor Jeremiah +Moses about the actual approach of one out of the northern sky, and what +it could do if it hit the earth? What was the unanimous opinion of the +entire council about the correctness of my mathematical work? And what," +he continued, approaching Professor Pludder and shaking his finger up at +him--"_what have you done with those three dispatches from Iceland, +the North Cape, and Kamchatka, which absolutely confirmed my +announcement that the nebula was already visible?_" + +Professor Pludder began stammeringly: + +"Some spy--" + +"Ah," cried Cosmo, catching him up, "_a spy_, hey? Then, you admit +it! Mr. President, I beg you to notice that he admits it. Sir, this is a +conspiracy to conceal the truth. Great Heaven, the world is on the point +of being drowned, and yet the pride of officialism is so strong in this +plodder--Pludder--and others of his ilk that they'd sooner take the +chance of letting the human race be destroyed than recognize the truth!" + +Cosmo Versal spoke with such tremendous concentration of mental energy, +and with such evident sincerity of conviction, and he had so plainly put +Professor Pludder to rout, that the President, no less than the other +listening statesmen, was thrown into a quandary. + +There was a creaking of heavily burdened chairs, a ponderous stir all +round the circle, while a look of perplexity became visible on every +face. Professor Pludder's conduct helped to produce the change of moral +atmosphere. He had been so completely surprised by Cosmo's accusation, +based on facts which he had supposed were known only to himself and the +council, that he was unable for a minute to speak at all, and before he +could align his faculties his triumphant little opponent renewed the +attack. + +"Mr. President," he said, laying his hand on the arm of Mr. Samson's big +chair, which was nearly on a level with his breast, and speaking with +persuasive earnestness, "you are the executive head of a mighty +nation--the nation that sets the pace for the world. It is in your power +to do a vast, an incalculable, service to humanity. One official word +from you would save millions upon millions of lives. I implore you, +instead of interfering with my work, to give instant order for the +construction of as many arks, based upon the plans I have perfected, as +the navy yard can possibly turn out. Issue a proclamation to the people, +warning them that this is their only chance of escape." + +By a curious operation of the human mind, this speech cost Cosmo nearly +all the advantage that he had previously gained. His ominous suggestion +of a great nebula rushing out of the heavens to overwhelm the earth had +immensely impressed the imagination of his hearers, and his +uncontradicted accusation that Professor Pludder was concealing the +facts had almost convinced them that he was right. But when he mentioned +"arks," the strain was relieved, and a smile broke out on the broad face +of the President. He shook his head, and was about to speak, when Cosmo, +perceiving that he had lost ground, changed his tactics. + +"Still you are incredulous!" he exclaimed. "But the proof is before you! +Look at the blazing heavens! The annals of meteorology do not record +another such summer as this. The vanguard of the fatal nebula is already +upon us. The signs of disaster are in the sky. But, note what I +say--this is only the _first_ sign. There is another following on +its heels which may be here at any moment. To heat will succeed cold, +and as we rush through the tenuous outer spirals the earth will +alternately be whipped with tempests of snow and sleet, and scorched by +fierce outbursts of solar fire. For three weeks the atmosphere has been +heated by the inrush of invisible vapor--but look out, I warn you, for +the change that is impending!" + +These extraordinary words, pronounced with the wild air of a prophet, +completed the growing conviction of the listeners that they really had a +madman to deal with, and Professor Pludder, having recovered his +self--command, rose to his feet. + +"Mr. President," he began, "the evidence which we have just seen of an +unbalanced mind--" + +He got no further. A pall of darkness suddenly dropped upon the room. An +inky curtain seemed to have fallen from the sky. At the same time the +windows were shaken by tremendous blasts of wind, and, as the electric +lights were hastily turned on, huge snowflakes, intermingled with +rattling hailstones, were seen careering outside. In a few seconds +several large panes of glass were broken, and the chilling wind, +sweeping round the apartment, made the teeth of the thinly clad +statesmen chatter, while the noise of the storm became deafening. The +sky lightened, but at the same moment dreadful thunderpeals shook the +building. Two or three trees in the White House grounds were struck by +the bolts, and their broken branches were driven through the air and +carried high above the ground by the whirling winds, and one of them was +thrown against the building with such force that for a moment it seemed +as if the wall had been shattered. + +After the first stunning effect of this outbreak of the elements had +passed, everybody rushed to the windows to look out--everybody except +Cosmo Versal, who remained standing in the center of the room. + +"I told you!" he said; but nobody listened to him. What they saw outside +absorbed every faculty. The noise was so stunning that they could not +have heard him. + +We have said that the air lightened after the passage of the first pall +of darkness, but it was not the reappearance of the sun that caused the +brightening. It was an awful light, which seemed to be born out of the +air itself. It had a menacing, coppery hue, continually changing in +character. The whole upper atmosphere was choked with dense clouds, +which swirled and tumbled, and twisted themselves into great vortical +rolls, spinning like gigantic millshafts. Once, one of these vortexes +shot downward, with projectile speed, rapidly assuming the terrible form +of the trombe of a tornado, and where it struck the ground it tore +everything to pieces--trees, houses, the very earth itself were ground +to powder and then whirled aloft by the resistless suction. + +Occasionally the darkness returned for a few minutes, as if a cover had +been clapped upon the sky, and then, again, the murk would roll off, and +the reddish gleam would reappear. These swift alternations of +impenetrable gloom and unearthly light shook the hearts of the +dumfounded statesmen even more than the roar and rush of the storm. + +A cry of horror broke from the onlookers when a man and a woman suddenly +appeared trying to cross the White House grounds to reach a place of +comparative safety, and were caught up by the wind, clinging desperately +to each other, and hurled against a wall, at whose base they fell in a +heap. + +Then came another outburst of lightning, and a vicious bolt descended +upon the Washington Monument, and, twisting round it, seemed to envelop +the great shaft in a pulsating corkscrew of blinding fire. The report +that instantly followed made the White House dance upon its foundations, +and, as if that had been a signal, the flood-gates of the sky +immediately opened, and rain so dense that it looked like a solid +cataract of water poured down upon the earth. The raging water burst +into the basement of the building, and ran off in a shoreless river +toward the Potomac. + +The streaming rain, still driven by the wind, poured through the broken +windows, driving the President and the others to the middle of the room, +where they soon stood in rills of water soaking the thick carpet. + +They were all as pale as death. Their eyes sought one another's faces in +dumb amazement. Cosmo Versal alone retained perfect self-command. In +spite of his slight stature he looked their master. Raising his voice to +the highest pitch, in order to be heard, he shouted: + +"These are the first drops of the Deluge! Will you believe now?" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + +The tempest of hail, snow, lightning, and rain, which burst so +unexpectedly over Washington, was not a local phenomenon. It leveled the +antennae of the wireless telegraph systems all over the world, cutting +off communication everywhere. Only the submarine telephone cables +remained unaffected, and by them was transmitted the most astonishing +news of the ravages of the storm. Rivers had careered over their banks, +low-lying towns were flooded, the swollen sewers of cities exploded and +inundated the streets, and gradually news came in from country districts +showing that vast areas of land had been submerged, and hundreds +drowned. + +The downfall of rain far exceeded everything that the meteorological +bureaus had ever recorded. + +The vagaries of the lightning, and the frightful power that it +exhibited, were especially terrifying. + +In London the Victoria Tower was partly dismantled by a bolt. + +In Moscow the ancient and beautiful Church of St. Basil was nearly +destroyed. + +The celebrated Leaning Tower of Pisa, the wonder of centuries, was flung +to the ground. + +The vast dome of St. Peter's at Rome was said to have been encased +during three whole minutes with a blinding armor of electric fire, +though the only harm done was the throwing down of a statue in one of +the chapels. + +But, strangest freak of all, in New York a tremendous bolt, which seems +to have entered the Pennsylvania tunnel on the Jersey side, followed the +rails under the river, throwing two trains from the track, and, emerging +in the great station in the heart of the city, expanded into a +rose-colored sphere, which exploded with an awful report, and blew the +great roof to pieces. And yet, although the fragments were scattered a +dozen blocks away, hundreds of persons who were in the stations suffered +no other injury than such as resulted from being flung violently to the +floor, or against the walls. + +Cosmo Versal's great ark seemed charmed. Not a single discharge of +lightning occurred in its vicinity, a fact which he attributed to the +dielectric properties of levium. Nevertheless, the wind carried away all +his screens and electric fans. + +If this storm had continued the predicted deluge would unquestionably +have occurred at once, and even its prophet would have perished through +having begun his preparations too late. But the disturbed elements sank +into repose as suddenly as they had broken out with fury. The rain did +not last, in most places, more than twenty-four hours, although the +atmosphere continued to be filled with troubled clouds for a week. At +the end of that time the sun reappeared, as hot as before, and a +spotless dome once more over-arched the earth; but from this time the +sky never resumed its former brilliant azure--there was always a strange +coppery tinge, the sight of which was appalling, although it gradually +lost its first effect through familiarity. + +The indifference and derision with which Cosmo's predictions and +elaborate preparations had hitherto been regarded now vanished, and the +world, in spite of itself, shivered with vague apprehension. No +reassurances from those savants who still refused to admit the validity +of Cosmo Versal's calculations and deductions had any permanent effect +upon the public mind. + +With amusing inconsequence people sold stocks again, until all the +exchanges were once more swept with panic--and then put the money in +their strong boxes, as if they thought that the mere possession of the +lucre could protect them. They hugged the money and remained deaf to +Cosmo's reiterated advice to build arks with it. + +After all, they were only terrified, not convinced, and they felt that, +somehow, everything would come out right, now that they had their +possessions well in hand. + +For, in spite of the scare, nobody really believed that an actual deluge +was coming. There might be great floods, and great suffering and loss, +but the world was not going to be drowned! Such things only occurred in +early and dark ages. + +Some nervous persons found comfort in the fact that when the skies +cleared after the sudden downpour brilliant rainbows were seen. Their +hearts bounded with joy. + +"The 'Bow of Promise!'" they cried. "Behold the unvarying assurance that +the world shall never again be drowned." + +Then a great revival movement was set on foot, starting in the +Mississippi valley under the leadership of an eloquent exhorter, who +declared that, although a false prophet had arisen, whose delusive +prediction was contrary to Scripture, yet it was true that the world was +about to be punished in unexpected ways for its many iniquities. + +This movement rapidly spread all over the country, and was taken up in +England and throughout Protestant Europe, and soon prayers were offered +in thousands of churches to avert the wrath of Heaven. Multitudes thus +found their fears turned into a new direction, and by a strange +reaction, Cosmo Versal came to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist who +was seeking to mislead mankind. + +Just at this juncture, to add to the dismay and uncertainty, a grand and +fearful comet suddenly appeared. It came up unexpectedly from the south, +blazed brightly close beside the sun, even at noonday, and a few nights +later was visible after sunset with an immense fiery head and a broad +curved tail that seemed to pulsate from end to end. It was so bright +that it cast shadows at night, as distinct as those made by the moon. No +such cometary monster had ever before been seen. People shuddered when +they looked at it. It moved with amazing speed, sweeping across the +firmament like a besom of destruction. Calculation showed that it was +not more than 3,000,000 miles from the earth. + +But one night the wonder and dread awakened by the comet were magnified +a hundredfold by an occurrence so unexpected and extraordinary that the +spectators gasped in amazement. + +The writer happens to have before him an entry in a diary, which is, +probably, the sole contemporary record of this event. It was written in +the city of Washington by no less a person than Professor Jeremiah +Moses, of the Council of the Carnegie Institution. Let it tell its own +story: + +"A marvelous thing happened this night. I walked out into the park near +my house with the intention of viewing the great comet. The park on my +side (the west), is bordered with a dense screen of tall trees, and I +advanced toward the open place in the center in order to have an +unobstructed sight of the flaming stranger. As I passed across the edge +of the shadow of the trees--the ground ahead being brilliantly +illuminated by the light of the comet--I suddenly noticed, with an +involuntary start, that I was being preceded by a _double shadow_, +with a black center, which forked away from my feet. + +"I cast my eyes behind me to find the cause of the phenomenon, and saw, +to my inexpressible amazement, that _the comet had divided into +two_. There were two distinct heads, already widely separated, but +each, it seemed to me, as brilliant as the original one had been, and +each supplied with a vast plume of fire a hundred degrees in length, and +consequently stretching far past the zenith. The cause of the double +shadow was evident at once--but what can have produced this sudden +disruption of the comet? It must have occurred since last evening, and +already, if the calculated distance of the comet is correct, the parts +of the severed head are 300,000 miles asunder!" + +Underneath this entry was scribbled: + +"Can this have anything to do with Cosmo Versal's flood?" + +Whether it had anything to do with the flood or not, at any rate the +public believed that it had. People went about with fear written on +their faces. + +The double shadows had a surprising effect. The phantasm was pointed +out, and stared at with superstitious terror by thousands every night. +The fact that there was nothing really mysterious about it made no +difference. Even those who knew well that it was an inevitable optical +result of the division of the bright comet were thrilled with +instinctive dread when they saw that forked umbra, mimicking their every +movement. There is nothing that so upsets the mind as a sudden change in +the aspect of familiar things. + +The astronomers now took their turn. Those who were absolutely +incredulous about Cosmo's prediction, and genuinely desirous of allaying +the popular alarm, issued statements in which, with a disingenuousness +that may have been unintentional, they tried to sidetrack his arguments. + +Professor Pludder led the way with a pronunciamento declaring that "the +absurd vaporings of the modern Nostradamus of New York" had now +demonstrated their own emptiness. + +"A comet," said Professor Pludder, with reassuring seriousness, "cannot +drown the earth. It is composed of rare gases, which, as the experience +of Halley's comet many years ago showed, are unable to penetrate the +atmosphere even when an actual encounter occurs. In this case there +cannot even be an encounter; the comet is now moving away. Its division +is not an unprecedented occurrence, for many previous comets have met +with similar accidents. This comet happened to be of unusual size, and +the partition of the head occurred when it was relatively nearby--whence +the startling phenomena observed. There is nothing to be feared." + +It will be remarked that Professor Pludder entirely avoided the real +issue. Cosmo Versal had never said that the comet would drown the earth. +In fact, he had been as much surprised by its appearance as everybody +else. But when he read Professor Pludder's statement, followed by others +of similar import, he took up the cudgels with a vengeance. All over the +world, translated into a dozen languages, he scattered his reply, and +the effect was startling. + +"My fellow-citizens of the world in all lands, and of every race," he +began, "you are face to face with destruction! And yet, while its +heralds are plainly signaling from the sky, and shaking the earth with +lightning to awaken it, blind leaders of blind try to deceive you! + +"They are defying science itself! + +"They say that the comet cannot touch the earth. That is true. It is +passing away. I myself did not foresee its coming. It arrived by +accident, _but every step that it has made through the silent depths +of space has been a proclamation of the presence of the nebula_, +which is the real agent of the perdition of the world! + +"Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens? You have all +noticed it. Why that blinding brightness which the comet has displayed, +exceeding all that has ever been beheld in such visitors. The +explanation is plain: the comet has been feeding on the substance of the +nebula, which is rare yet because we have only encountered some of its +outlying spirals. + +"But it is coming on with terrible speed. In a few short months we shall +be plunged into its awful center, and then the oceans will swell to the +mountaintops, and the continents will become the bottoms of angry seas. + +"When the flood begins it will be too late to save yourselves. You have +already lost too much precious time. I tell you solemnly that not one in +a million can now be saved. Throw away every other consideration, and +try, try desperately, to be of the little company of those who escape! + +"Remember that your only chance is in building arks--arks of levium, the +metal that floats. I have sent broadcast plans for such arks. They can +be made of any size, but the larger the better. In my own ark I can take +only a selected number, and when the complement is made up not another +soul will be admitted. + +"I have established all my facts by mathematical proofs. The most expert +mathematicians of the world have been unable to detect any error in my +calculations. They try to dispute the data, but the data are already +before you for your own judgment. The heavens are so obscured that only +the brightest stars can now be seen." (This was a fact which had caused +bewilderment in the observatories.) "The recent outburst of storms and +floods was the second sign of the approaching end, and the third sign +will not be long delayed--and after that the deluge!" + +It is futile to try to describe the haunting fear and horror which +seized upon the majority of the millions who read these words. Business +was paralyzed, for men found it impossible to concentrate their minds +upon ordinary affairs. Every night the twin comets, still very bright, +although they were fast retreating, brandished their fiery scimitars in +the sky--more fearful to the imagination now, since Cosmo Versal had +declared that it was the nebula that stimulated their energies. And by +day the sky was watched with anxious eyes striving to detect signs of a +deepening of the menacing hue, which, to an excited fancy, suggested a +tinge of blood. + +Now, at last, Cosmo's warnings and entreaties bore practical fruit. Men +began to inquire about places in his ark, and to make preparations for +building arks of their own. + +He had not been interfered with after his memorable interview with the +President of the United States, and had pushed his work at Mineola with +redoubled energy, employing night gangs of workmen so that progress was +continuous throughout the twenty-four hours. + +Standing on its platform, the ark, whose hull was approaching +completion, rose a hundred feet into the air. It was 800 feet long and +250 broad--proportions which practical ship-builders ridiculed, but +Cosmo, as original in this as in everything else, declared that, taking +into account the buoyancy of levium, no other form would answer as well. +He estimated that when its great engines were in place, its immense +stores of material for producing power, its ballast, and its supplies of +food stowed away, and its cargo of men and animals taken aboard, it +would not draw more than twenty feet of water. + +Hardly a day passed now without somebody coming to Cosmo to inquire +about the best method of constructing arks. He gave the required +information, in all possible detail, with the utmost willingness. He +drew plans and sketches, made all kinds of practical suggestions, and +never failed to urge the utmost haste. He inspired every visitor at the +same time with alarm and a resolution to go to work at once. + +Some did go to work. But their progress was slow, and as days passed, +and the comets gradually faded out of sight, and then the dome of the +sky showed a tendency to resume its natural blueness, the enthusiasm of +Cosmo's imitators weakened, together with their confidence in his +prophetic powers. + +They concluded to postpone their operations until the need of arks +should become more evident. + +As to those who had sent inquiries about places in Cosmo's ark, now that +the danger seemed to be blowing away, they did not even take the trouble +to answer the very kind responses that he had made. + +It is a singular circumstance that not one of these anxious inquirers +seemed to have paid particular attention to a very significant sentence +in his reply. If they had given it a little thought, it would probably +have set them pondering, although they might have been more puzzled than +edified. The sentence ran as follows: + +"While assuring you that my ark has been built for the benefit of my +fellow men, I am bound to tell you that I reserve absolutely the right +to determine who are truly representative of _homo sapiens_." + +The fact was that Cosmo had been turning over in his mind the great +fundamental question which he had asked himself when the idea of trying +to save the human race from annihilation had first occurred to him, and +apparently he had fixed upon certain principles that were to guide him. + +Since, when the mind is under great strain through fear, the slightest +relaxation, caused by an apparently favorable change, produces a rebound +of hope, as unreasoning as the preceding terror, so, on this occasion, +the vanishing of the comets, and the fading of the disquieting color of +the sky, had a wonderful effect in restoring public confidence in the +orderly procession of nature. + +Cosmo Versal's vogue as a prophet of disaster was soon gone, and once +more everybody began to laugh at him. People turned again to their +neglected affairs with the general remark that they "guessed the world +would manage to wade through." + +Those who had begun preparations to build arks looked very sheepish when +their friends guyed them about their childish credulity. + +Then a feeling of angry resentment arose, and one day Cosmo Versal was +mobbed in the street, and the gamins threw stones at him. + +People forgot the extraordinary storm of lightning and rain, the split +comet, and all the other circumstances which, a little time before, had +filled them with terror. + +But they were making a fearful mistake! + +With eyes blindfolded they were walking straight into the jaws of +destruction. + +Without warning, and as suddenly almost as an explosion, the _third +sign_ appeared, and on its heels came a veritable Reign of Terror! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE THIRD SIGN + + +In the middle of the night, at New York, hundreds of thousands +simultaneously awoke with a feeling of suffocation. + +They struggled for breath as if they had suddenly been plunged into a +steam bath. + +The air was hot, heavy, and terribly oppressive. + +The throwing open of windows brought no relief. The outer air was as +stifling as that within. + +It was so dark that, on looking out, one could not see his own +doorsteps. The arc-lamps in the street flickered with an ineffective +blue gleam which shed no illumination round about. + +House lights, when turned on, looked like tiny candles inclosed in thick +blue globes. + +Frightened men and women stumbled around in the gloom of their chambers +trying to dress themselves. + +Cries and exclamations rang from room to room; children wailed; +hysterical mothers ran wildly hither and thither, seeking their little +ones. Many fainted, partly through terror and partly from the difficulty +of breathing. Sick persons, seized with a terrible oppression of the +chest, gasped, and never rose from their beds. + +At every window, and in every doorway, throughout the vast city, +invisible heads and forms were crowded, making their presence known by +their voices--distracted householders striving to peer through the +strange darkness, and to find out the cause of these terrifying +phenomena. + +Some managed to get a faint glimpse of their watches by holding them +close against lamps, and thus noted the time. It was two o'clock in the +morning. + +Neighbors, unseen, called to one another, but got little comfort from +the replies. + +"What is it? In God's name, what has happened?" + +"I don't know. I can hardly breathe." + +"It is awful! We shall all be suffocated." + +"Is it a fire?" + +"No! No! It cannot be a fire." + +"The air is full of steam. The stones and the window-panes are streaming +with moisture." + +"Great Heavens, how stifling it is!" + +Then, into thousands of minds at once leaped the thought of _the +flood!_ + +The memory of Cosmo Versal's reiterated warnings came back with +overwhelming force. It must be the _third sign_ that he had +foretold. _It had really come!_ + +Those fateful words--"the flood" and "Cosmo Versal"--ran from lip to +lip, and the hearts of those who spoke, and those who heard, sank like +lead in their bosoms. + +He would be a bold man, more confident in his powers of description than +the present writer, who should attempt to picture the scenes in New York +on that fearful night. + +The gasping and terror-stricken millions waited and longed for the hour +of sunrise, hoping that then the stygian darkness would be dissipated, +so that people might, at least, see where to go and what to do. Many, +oppressed by the almost unbreathable air, gave up in despair, and no +longer even hoped for morning to come. + +In the midst of it all a collision occurred directly over Central Park +between two aero-expresses, one coming from Boston and the other from +Albany. (The use of small aeroplanes within the city limits had, for +some time, been prohibited on account of the constant danger of +collisions, but the long-distance lines were permitted to enter the +metropolitan district, making their landings and departures on specially +constructed towers.) These two, crowded with passengers, had, as it +afterward appeared, completely lost their bearings--the strongest +electric lights being invisible a few hundred feet away, while the +wireless signals were confusing--and, before the danger was apprehended, +they crashed together. + +The collision occurred at a height of a thousand feet, on the Fifth +Avenue side of the park. Both of the airships had their aeroplanes +smashed and their decks crumpled up, and the unfortunate crews and +passengers were hurled through the impenetrable darkness to the ground. + +Only four or five, who were lucky enough to be entangled with the +lighter parts of the wreckage, escaped with their lives. But they were +too much injured to get upon their feet, and there they lay, their +sufferings made tenfold worse by the stifling air, and the horror of +their inexplicable situation, until they were found and humanely +relieved, more than ten hours after their fall. + +The noise of the collision had been heard in Fifth Avenue, and its +meaning was understood; but amid the universal terror no one thought of +trying to aid the victims. Everybody was absorbed in wondering what +would become of himself. + +When the long attended hour of sunrise approached, the watchers were +appalled by the absence of even the slightest indication of the +reappearance of the orb of day. There was no lightening of the dense +cloak of darkness, and the great city seemed dead. + +For the first time in its history it failed to awake after its regular +period of repose, and to send forth its myriad voices. It could not be +seen; it could not be heard; it made no sign. As far as any outward +indication of its existence was concerned the mighty capital had ceased +to be. + +It was this frightful silence of the streets, and of all the outer +world, that terrified the people, cooped up in their houses, and their +rooms, by the walls of darkness, more than almost any other +circumstance; it gave such an overwhelming sense of the universality of +the disaster, whatever that disaster might be. Except where the voices +of neighbors could be heard, one could not be sure that the whole +population, outside his own family, had not perished. + +As the hours passed, and yet no light appeared, another intimidating +circumstance manifested itself. From the start everybody had noticed the +excessive humidity of the dense air. Every solid object that the hands +came in contact with in the darkness was wet, as if a thick fog had +condensed upon it. This supersaturation of the air (a principal cause of +the difficulty experienced in breathing) led to a result which would +quickly have been foreseen if people could have had the use of their +eyes, but which, coming on invisibly, produced a panic fear when at last +its presence was strikingly forced upon the attention. + +The moisture collected on all exposed surfaces--on the roofs, the walls, +the pavements--until its quantity became sufficient to form little +rills, which sought the gutters, and there gathered force and volume. +Presently the streams became large enough to create a noise of flowing +water that attracted the attention of the anxious watchers at the open +windows. Then cries of dismay arose. If the water had been visible it +would not have been terrible. + +But, to the overstrained imagination, the bubbling and splashing sound +that came out of the darkness was magnified into the rush of a torrent. +It seemed to grow louder every moment. What was but a murmur on the +ear-drum became a roar in the excited brain-cells. + +Once more were heard the ominous words, "The flood!" + +They spread from room to room, and from house to house. The wild scenes +that had attended the first awakening were tame in comparison with what +now occurred. Self-control, reason--everything--gave way to panic. + +If they could only have _seen_ what they were about! + +But then they would not have been about it. Then their reason would not +have been dethroned. + +Darkness is the microscope of the imagination, and it magnifies a +million times! + +Some timorously descended their doorsteps, and feeling a current of +water in the gutter, recoiled with cries of horror, as if they had +slipped down the bank of a flooded river. As they retreated they +believed that the water was rising at their heels! + +Others made their way to the roofs, persuaded that the flood was already +inundating the basements and the lower stories of their dwellings. + +Women wrung their hands and wept, and children cried, and men pushed and +stumbled about, and shouted, and would have done something if only they +could have seen what to do. That was the pity of it! It was as if the +world had been stricken blind, and then the trump of an archangel had +sounded, crying: + +"Fly! Fly! for the Avenger is on your heels!" + +How could they fly? + +This awful strain could not have lasted. It would have needed no deluge +to finish New York if that maddening pall of darkness had remained +unbroken a few hours longer. But, just when thousands had given up in +despair, there came a rapid change. + +At the hour of noon light suddenly broke overhead. Beginning in a round +patch inclosed in an iridescent halo, it spread swiftly, seeming to melt +its way down through the thick, dark mass that choked the air, and in +less than fifteen minutes New York and all its surroundings emerged into +the golden light of noonday. + +People who had expected at any moment to feel the water pitilessly +rising about them looked out of their windows, and were astonished to +see only tiny rivulets which were already shriveling out of sight in the +gutters. In a few minutes there was no running water left, although the +dampness on the walls and walks showed how great the humidity of the air +had been. + +At the same time the oppression was lifted from the respiratory +apparatus, and everybody breathed freely once more, and felt courage +returning with each respiration. + +The whole great city seemed to utter a vast sigh of relief. + +And then its voice was heard, as it had never been heard before, rising +higher and louder every moment. It was the first time that morning had +ever broken at midday. + +The streets became filled, with magical quickness, by hundreds of +thousands, who chattered, and shouted, and laughed, and shook hands, and +asked questions, and told their experiences, and demanded if anybody had +ever heard of such a thing before, and wondered what it could have been, +and what it meant, and whether it would come back again. + +Telephones of all kinds were kept constantly busy. Women called up their +friends, and talked hysterically; men called up their associates and +partners, and tried to talk business. + +There was a rush for the Elevated, for the Subways, for the street +auto-cars. The great arteries of traffic became jammed, and the noise +rose louder and louder. + +Belated aero-expresses arrived at the towers from East and West, and +their passengers hurried down to join the excited multitudes below. + +In an incredibly brief time the newsboys were out with extras. Then +everybody read with the utmost avidity what everybody knew already. + +But before many hours passed there was real news, come by wireless, and +by submarine telephone and telegraph, telling how the whole world had +been swept by the marvelous cloak of darkness. + +In Europe it had arrived during the morning hours; in Asia during the +afternoon. + +The phenomena had varied in different places. In some the darkness had +not been complete, but everywhere it was accompanied by extraordinary +humidity, and occasionally by brief but torrential rains. The terror had +been universal, and all believed that it was the _third sign_ +predicted by Cosmo Versal. + +Of course, the latter was interviewed, and he gave out a characteristic +manifesto. + +"One of the outlying spirals of the nebula has struck the earth," he +said. "But do not be deceived. It is nothing in comparison with what is +coming. _And it is the LAST WARNING that will be given!_ You have +obstinately shut your eyes to the truth, _and you have thrown away +your lives!_" + +This, together with the recent awful experience, produced a great +effect. Those who had begun to lay foundations for arks thought of +resuming the work. Those who had before sought places with Cosmo called +him up by telephone. But only the voice of Joseph Smith answered, and +his words were not reassuring. + +"Mr. Versal," he said, "directs me to say that at present he will allot +no places. He is considering whom he will take." + +The recipients of this reply looked very blank. But at least one of +them, a well-known broker in Wall Street, was more angered than +frightened: + +"Let him go to the deuce!" he growled; "him and his flood together!" + +Then he resolutely set out to bull the market. + +It seems incredible--but such is human nature--that a few days of bright +sunshine should once more have driven off the clouds of fear that had +settled so densely over the popular mind. Of course, not everybody +forgot the terrors of the _third sign_--they had struck too deep, +but gradually the strain was relaxed, and people in general accepted the +renewed assurances of the savants of the Pludder type that nothing that +had occurred was inexplicable by the ordinary laws of nature. The great +darkness, they averred, differed from previous occurrences of the kind +only in degree, and it was to be ascribed to nothing more serious than +atmospheric vagaries, such as that which produced the historic Dark Day +in New England in the year 1780. + +But more nervous persons noticed, with certain misgivings, that Cosmo +Versal pushed on his operations, if possible more energetically than +before. And there was a stir of renewed interest when the announcement +came out one day that the ark was finished. Then thousands hurried to +Mineola to look upon the completed work. + +The extraordinary massiveness of the ark was imposing. Towering +ominously on its platform, which was so arranged that when the waters +came they should lift the structure from its cradle and set it afloat +without any other launching, it seemed in itself a prophecy of impending +disaster. + +Overhead it was roofed with an oblong dome of levium, through which rose +four great metallic chimneys, placed above the mighty engines. The roof +sloped down to the vertical sides, to afford protection from in-bursting +waves. Rows of portholes, covered with thick, stout glass, indicated the +location of the superposed decks. On each side four gangways gave access +to the interior, and long, sloping approaches offered means of entry +from the ground. + +Cosmo had a force of trained guards on hand, but everybody who wished +was permitted to enter and inspect the ark. Curious multitudes +constantly mounted and descended the long approaches, being kept moving +by the guards. + +Inside they wandered about astonished by what they saw. + +The three lower decks were devoted to the storage of food and of fuel +for the electric generators which Cosmo Versal had been accumulating for +months. + +Above these were two decks, which the visitors were informed would be +occupied by animals, and by boxes of seeds and prepared roots of plants, +with which it was intended to restore the vegetable life of the planet +after the water should have sufficiently receded. + +The five remaining decks were for human beings. There were roomy +quarters for the commander and his officers, others for the crew, +several large saloons, and five hundred sets of apartments of various +sizes to be occupied by the passengers whom Cosmo should choose to +accompany him. They had all the convenience of the most luxurious +staterooms of the trans-oceanic liners. Many joking remarks were +exchanged by the visitors as they inspected these rooms. + +Cosmo ran about among his guests, explaining everything, showing great +pride in his work, pointing out a thousand particulars in which his +foresight had been displayed--but, to everybody's astonishment, he +uttered no more warnings, and made no appeals. On the contrary, as some +observant persons noticed, he seemed to avoid any reference to the fate +of those who should not be included in his ship's company. + +Some sensitive souls were disturbed by detecting in his eyes a look that +seemed to express deep pity and regret. Occasionally he would draw +apart, and gaze at the passing crowds with a compassionate expression, +and then, slowly turning his back, while his fingers worked nervously, +would disappear, with downcast head, in his private room. + +The comparatively few who particularly noticed this conduct of Cosmo's +were deeply moved--more than they had been by all the enigmatic events +of the past months. One man, Amos Blank, a rich manufacturer, who was +notorious for the merciless methods that he had pursued in eliminating +his weaker competitors, was so much disturbed by Cosmo Versal's change +of manner that he sought an opportunity to speak to him privately. Cosmo +received him with a reluctance that he could not but notice, and which, +somehow, increased his anxiety. + +"I--I--thought," said the billionaire hesitatingly, "that I ought--that +is to say, that I might, perhaps, inquire--might inform myself--under +what conditions one could, supposing the necessity to arise, obtain a +passage in your--in your ark. Of course the question of cost does not +enter in the matter--not with me." + +Cosmo gazed at the man coldly, and all the compassion that had recently +softened his steely eyes disappeared. For a moment he did not speak. +Then he said, measuring his words and speaking with an emphasis that +chilled the heart of his listener: + +"Mr. Blank, the necessity has arisen." + +"So you say--so you say--" began Mr. Blank. + +"So I say," interrupted Cosmo sternly, "and I say further that this ark +has been constructed to save those who are worthy of salvation, in order +that all that is good and admirable in humanity may not perish from the +earth." + +"Exactly, exactly," responded the other, smiling, and rubbing his hands. +"You are quite right to make a proper choice. If your flood is going to +cause a general destruction of mankind, of course you are bound to +select the best, the most advanced, those who have pushed to the front, +those who have means, those with the strongest resources. The masses, +who possess none of these qualifications and claims--" + +Again Cosmo Versal interrupted him, more coldly than before: + +"It costs nothing to be a passenger in this ark. Ten million dollars, a +hundred millions, would not purchase a place in it! Did you ever hear +the parable of the camel and the needle's eye? The price of a ticket +here is an irreproachable record!" + +With these astonishing words Cosmo turned his back upon his visitor and +shut the door in his face. + +The billionaire staggered back, rubbed his head, and then went off +muttering: + +"An idiot! A plain idiot! There will be no flood." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + +After a day or two, during which the ark was left open for inspection, +and was visited by many thousands, Cosmo Versal announced that no more +visitors would be admitted. He placed sentinels at all entrances, and +began the construction of a shallow ditch, entirely inclosing the +grounds. Public curiosity was intensely excited by this singular +proceeding, especially when it became known that the workmen were +stringing copper wires the whole length of the ditch. + +"What the deuce is he up to now?" was the question on everybody's lips. + +But Cosmo and his employees gave evasive replies to all inquiries. A +great change had come about in Cosmo's treatment of the public. No one +was any longer encouraged to watch the operations. + +When the wires were all placed and the ditch was finished, it was +covered up so that it made a broad flat-topped wall, encircling the +field. + +Speculation was rife for several days concerning the purpose of the +mysterious ditch and its wires, but no universally satisfactory +explanation was found. + +One enterprising reporter worked out an elaborate scheme, which he +ascribed to Cosmo Versal, according to which the wired ditch was to +serve as a cumulator of electricity, which would, at the proper moment, +launch the ark upon the waters, thus avoiding all danger of a fatal +detention in case the flood should rise too rapidly. + +This seemed so absurd on its face that it went far to quiet apprehension +by reawakening doubts of Cosmo's sanity--the more especially since he +made no attempt to contradict the assertion that the scheme was his. + +Nobody guessed what his real intention was; if people had guessed, it +might have been bad for their peace of mind. + +The next move of Cosmo Versal was taken without any knowledge or +suspicion on the part of the public. He had now established himself in +his apartments in the ark, and was never seen in the city. + +One evening, when all was quiet about the ark, night work being now +unnecessary, Cosmo and Joseph Smith sat facing one another at a square +table lighted by a shaded lamp. Smith had a pile of writing paper before +him, and was evidently prepared to take copious notes. + +Cosmo's great brow was contracted with thought, and he leaned his cheek +upon his hand. It was clear that his meditations were troublesome. For +at least ten minutes he did not open his lips, and Smith watched him +anxiously. At last he said, speaking slowly: + +"Joseph, this is the most trying problem that I have had to solve. The +success of all my work depends upon my not making a mistake now. + +"The burden of responsibility that rests on my shoulders is such as no +mortal has ever borne. It is too great for human capacity--and yet how +can I cast it off? + +"I am to decide who shall be saved! _I_, _I_ alone, _I_, +Cosmo Versal, hold in my hands the fate of a race numbering two thousand +million souls!--the fate of a planet which, without my intervention, +would become simply a vast tomb. It is for _me_ to say whether the +_genus homo_ shall be perpetuated, and in what form it shall be +perpetuated. Joseph, this is terrible! These are the functions of deity, +not of man." + +Joseph Smith seemed no longer to breathe, so intense was his attention. +His eyes glowed under the dark brows, and his pencil trembled in his +fingers. After a slight pause Cosmo Versal went on: + +"If I felt any doubt that Providence had foreordained me to do this +work, and given me extraordinary faculties, and extraordinary knowledge, +to enable me to perform it, I would, this instant, blow out my brains." + +Again he was silent, the secretary, after fidgeting about, bending and +unbending his brows, and tapping nervously upon the table, at last said +solemnly: + +"Cosmo, you _are_ ordained; you must _do the work._" + +"I must," returned Cosmo Versal, "I know that; and yet the sense of my +responsibility sometimes covers me with a cloud of despair. The other +day, when the ark was crowded with curiosity seekers, the thought that +not one of all those tens of thousands could escape, and that hundreds +of millions of others must also be lost, overwhelmed me. Then I began to +reproach myself for not having been a more effective agent in warning my +fellows of their peril. Joseph, I have miserably failed. I ought to have +produced universal conviction that I was right, and I have not done it." + +"It is not your fault, Cosmo," said Joseph Smith, reaching out his long +arm to touch his leader's hand. "It is an unbelieving generation. They +have rejected even the signs in the heavens. The voice of an archangel +would not have convinced them." + +"It is true," replied Cosmo. "And the truth is the more bitter to me +because I spoke in the name of science, and the very men who represent +science have been my most determined opponents, blinding the people's +eyes--after willfully shutting their own." + +"You say you have been weak," interposed Smith, "which you have not +been; but you would be weak if you now shrank from your plain duty." + +"True!" cried Cosmo, in a changed voice. "Let us then proceed. I had a +lesson the other day. Amos Blank came to me, puffed with his pillaged +millions. I saw then what I had to do. I told him plainly that he was +not among the chosen. Hand me that book over there." + +The secretary pushed a large volume within Cosmo's reach. He opened it. +It was a "Year-Book of Science, Politics, Sociology, History, and +Government." + +Cosmo ran over its pages, stopping to read a few lines here and there, +seeming to make mental notes. After a while he pushed the book aside, +looked at his companion thoughtfully, and began: + +"The trouble with the world is that morally and physically it has for +thousands of years grown more and more corrupt. The flower of +civilization, about which people boast so much, nods over the stagnant +waters of a moral swamp and draws its perilous beauty from the poisons +of the miasma. + +"The nebula, in drowning the earth, brings opportunity for a new birth +of mankind. You will remember, Joseph, that the same conditions are said +to have prevailed in the time of Noah. There was no science then, and we +do not know exactly on what principles the choice was made of those who +should escape; but the simple history of Noah shows that he and his +friends represented the best manhood of that early age. + +"But the seeds of corruption were not eliminated, and the same problem +recurs to-day. + +"I have to determine whom I will save. I attack the question by +inquiring who represent the best elements of humanity? Let us first +consider men by classes." + +"And why not by races?" asked Smith. + +"I shall not look to see whether a man is black, white, or yellow; +whether his skull is brachycephalic or dolichocephalic," replied Cosmo. +"I shall look inside. No race has ever shown itself permanently the +best." + +"Then by classes you mean occupations?" + +"Well, yes, for the occupation shows the tendency, the quintessence of +character. Some men are born rulers and leaders; others are born +followers. Both are necessary, and I must have both kinds." + +"You will begin perhaps with the kings, the presidents?" + +"Not at all. I shall begin with the men of science. They are the true +leaders." + +"But they have betrayed you--they have shut their eyes and blindfolded +others," objected Joseph Smith, as if in extenuation. + +"You do not understand me," said Cosmo, with a commiserating smile. "If +my scientific brethren have not seen as clearly as I have done, the +fault lies not in science, but in lack of comprehension. Nevertheless, +they are on the right track; they have the gist of the matter in them; +they are trained in the right method. If I should leave them out, the +regenerated world would start a thousand years behind time. Besides, +many of them are not so blind; some of them have got a glimpse of the +truth." + +"Not such men as Pludder," said Smith. + +"All the same, I am going to save Pludder," said Cosmo Versal. + +Joseph Smith fairly jumped with astonishment. + +"You--are--going--to--save--Pludder," he faltered. "But he is the worst +of all." + +"Not from my present view-point. Pludder has a good brain; he can handle +the tools; he is intellectually honest; he has done great things for +science in the past. And, besides, I do not conceal from you the fact +that I should like to see him convicted out of his own mouth." + +"But," persisted Smith, "I have heard you say that he was--" + +"No matter what you have heard me say," interrupted Cosmo impatiently. +"I say now that he shall go with us. Put down his name at the head of +the list." + +Dumfounded and muttering under his breath, Smith obeyed. + +"I can take exactly one thousand individuals, exclusive of the crew," +continued Versal, paying no attention to his confidant's repeated +shaking of his head. "Good Heavens, think of that! One thousand out of +two thousand millions! But so be it. Nobody would listen to me, and now +it is too late. I must fix the number for each class." + +"There is one thing--one curious question--that occurs to me," put in +Smith hesitatingly. "What about families?" + +"There you've hit it," cried Cosmo. "That's exactly what bothers me. +There must be as many women as men--that goes without saying. Then, too, +the strongest moral element is in the women, although they don't weigh +heavily for science. But the aged people and the children--there's the +difficulty. If I invite a man who possesses unquestionable +qualifications, but has a large family, what am I to do? I can't crowd +out others as desirable as he for the sake of carrying all of his +stirpes. The principles of eugenics demand a wide field of selection." + +Cosmo Versal covered his eyes, rested his big head on his hands, and his +elbows on the table. Presently he looked up with an air of decision. + +"I see what I must do," he said. "I can take only four persons belonging +to any one family. Two of them may be children--a man, his wife, and two +children--no more." + +"But that will be very hard lines for them--" began Joseph Smith. + +"Hard lines!" Cosmo broke in. "Do you think it is easy lines for me? +Good Heavens, man! I am forced to this decision. It rends my heart to +think of it, but I can't avoid the responsibility." + +Smith dropped his eyes, and Cosmo resumed his reflections. In a little +while he spoke again: + +"Another thing that I must fix is an age limit. But that will have to be +subject to certain exceptions. Very aged persons in general will not +do--they could not survive the long voyage, and only in the rare +instances where their experience of life might be valuable would they +serve any good purpose in reestablishing the race. Children are +indispensable--but they must not be too young--infants in arms would not +do at all. Oh, this is sorry work! But I must harden my heart." + +Joseph Smith looked at his chief, and felt a twinge of sympathy, +tempered by admiration, for he saw clearly the terrible contest in his +friend's mind and appreciated the heroic nature of the decision to which +the inexorable logic of facts had driven it. + +Cosmo Versal was again silent for a long time. Finally he appeared to +throw off the incubus, and, with a return of his ordinary decisiveness, +exclaimed: + +"Enough. I have settled the general principle. Now to the choice." + +Then, closing his eyes, as if to assist his memory, he ran over a list +of names well known in the world of science, and Smith set them down in +a long row under the name of "Abiel Pludder," with which he had begun. + +At last Cosmo Versal ceased his dictation. + +"There," he said, "that is the end of that category. I may add to or +subtract from it later. According to probability, making allowance for +bachelors, each name will represent three persons; there are +seventy-five names, which means two hundred and twenty-five places +reserved for science. I will now make a series of other categories and +assign the number of places for each." + +He seized a sheet of paper and fell to work, while Smith looked on, +drumming with his fingers and contorting his huge black eyebrows. For +half an hour complete silence reigned, broken only by the gliding sound +of Cosmo Versal's pencil, occasionally emphasized by a soft thump. At +the end of that time he threw down the pencil and held out the paper to +his companion. + +"Of course," he said, "this is not a complete list of human occupations. +I have set down the principal ones as they occurred to me. There will be +time to correct any oversight. Read it." + +Smith, by force of habit, read it aloud: + + No. of Probable No. +Occupation Names of Places + +Science (already assigned) 75 225 +Rulers 15 45 +Statesmen 10 30 +Business magnates 10 30 +Philanthropists 5 15 +Artists 15 45 +Religious teachers 20 60 +School-teachers 20 60 +Doctors 30 90 +Lawyers 1 3 +Writers 6 18 +Editors 2 6 +Players 14 42 +Philosophers 1 3 +Musicians 12 36 +Speculative geniuses 3 9 +"Society" 0 0 +Agriculture and mechanics 90 270 + ____ ____ + Totals 329 987 +Special reservations 13 + ____ + Grand total, places 1000 + +Several times while Joseph Smith was reading he raised his eyebrows, as +if in surprise or mental protest, but made no remark. + +"Now," resumed Cosmo when the secretary had finished, "let us begin with +the rulers. I do not know them as intimately as I know the men of +science, but I am sure I have given them places enough. Suppose you take +this book and call them over to me." + +Smith opened the "year-book," and began: + +"George Washington Samson, President of the United States." + +"He goes. He is not intellectually brilliant, but he has strong sense +and good moral fiber. I'll save him if for no other reason than his veto +of the Antarctic Continent grab bill." + +"Shen Su, Son of Heaven, President-Emperor of China." + +"Put him down. I like him. He is a true Confucian." + +Joseph Smith read off several other names at which Cosmo shook his head. +Then he came to: + +"Richard Edward, by the grace of God, King of Great--" + +"Enough," broke in Cosmo; "we all know him--the man who has done more +for peace by putting half the British navy out of commission than any +other ruler in history. I can't leave him out." + +"Achille Dumont, President of the French republic." + +"I'll take him." + +"William IV, German Emperor." + +"Admitted, for he has at last got the war microbe out of the family +blood." + +Then followed a number of rulers who were not lucky enough to meet with +Cosmo Versal's approval, and when Smith read: + +"Alexander V, Emperor of all the Russias," the big head was violently +shaken, and its owner exclaimed: + +"There will be many Russians in the ark, for tyranny has been like a +lustration to that people; but I will carry none of its Romanoff seeds +to my new world." + +The selection was continued until fifteen names had been obtained, +including that of the new, dark-skinned President of Liberia, and Cosmo +declared that he would not add another one. + +Then came the ten statesmen who were chosen with utter disregard to +racial and national lines. + +In selecting his ten business magnates, Cosmo stated his rule: + +"I exclude no man simply because he is a billionaire. I consider the way +he made his money. The world must always have rich men. How could I have +built the ark if I had been poor?" + +"Philanthropists," read Smith. + +"I should have taken a hundred if I could have found them," said Cosmo. +"There are plenty of candidates, but these five [naming them] are the +only genuine ones, and I am doubtful about several of them. But I must +run some chances, philanthropy being indispensable." + +For the fifteen representatives of art Cosmo confined his selection +largely to architecture. + +"The building instinct must be preserved," he explained. "One of the +first things we shall need after the flood recedes is a variety of all +kinds of structures. But it's a pretty bad lot at the best. I shall try +to reform their ideas during the voyage. As to the other artists, they, +too, will need some hints that I can give them, and that they can +transmit to their children." + +Under the head of religious teachers, Cosmo remarked that he had tried +to be fair to all forms of genuine faith that had a large following. The +school-teachers represented the principal languages, and Cosmo selected +the names from a volume on "The Educational Systems of the World," +remarking that he ran some risk here, but it could not easily be +avoided. + +"Doctors--they get a rather liberal allowance, don't they?" asked Smith. + +"Not half as large as I'd like to have it," was the response. "The +doctors are the salt of the earth. It breaks my heart to have to leave +out so many whose worth I know." + +"And only one lawyer!" pursued Joseph. "That's curious." + +"Not in the least curious. Do you think I want to scatter broadcast the +seeds of litigation in a regenerated world? Put down the name of Chief +Justice Good of the United States Supreme Court. He'll see that equity +prevails." + +"And only six writers," continued Smith. + +"And that's probably too many," said Cosmo. "Set down under that head +Peter Inkson, whom I will engage to record the last scenes on the +drowning earth; James Henry Blackwitt, who will tell the story of the +voyage; Jules Bourgeois, who can describe the personnel of the +passengers; Sergius Narishkoff, who will make a study of their +psychology; and Nicolao Ludolfo, whose description of the ark will be an +invaluable historic document a thousand years hence." + +"But you have included no poets," remarked Smith. + +"Not necessary," responded Cosmo. "Every human being is a poet at +bottom." + +"And no novelists," persisted the secretary. + +"They will spring up thicker than weeds before the waters are half +gone--at least, they would if I let one aboard the ark." + +"Editors--two?" + +"That's right. And two too many, perhaps. I'll take Jinks of the +_Thunderer_, and Bullock of the _Owl._" + +"But both of them have persistently called you an idiot." + +"For that reason I want them. No world could get along without some real +idiots." + +"I am rather surprised at the next entry, if you will permit me to speak +of it," said Joseph Smith. "Here you have forty-two places reserved for +players." + +"That means twenty-eight adults, and probably some youngsters who will +be able to take parts," returned Cosmo, rubbing his hands with a +satisfied smile. "I have taken as many players as I conscientiously +could, not only because of their future value, but because they will do +more than anything else to keep up the spirits of everybody in the ark. +I shall have a stage set in the largest saloon." + +Joseph Smith scowled, but held his peace. Then, glancing again at the +paper, he remarked that there was but one philosopher to be provided +for. + +"It is easy to name him," said Cosmo. "Kant Jacobi Leergeschwaetz." + +"Why he?" + +"Because he will harmlessly represent the metaphysical _genus_, for +nobody will ever understand him." + +"Musicians twelve?" + +"Chosen for the same reason as the players," said Cosmo, rapidly writing +down twelve names because they were not easy to pronounce, and handing +them to Smith, who duly copied them off. + +When this was done Cosmo himself called out the next +category--"'speculative geniuses.'" + +"I mean by that," he continued, "not Wall Street speculators, but +foreseeing men who possess the gift of looking into the 'seeds of time,' +but who never get a hearing in their own day, and are hardly ever +remembered by the future ages which enjoy the fruits whose buds they +recognized." + +Cosmo mentioned two names which Joseph Smith had never heard, and told +him they ought to be written in golden ink. + +"They are _sui generis_, and alone in the world. They are the most +precious cargo I shall have aboard," he added. + +Smith shrugged his shoulders and stared blankly at the paper, while +Cosmo sank into a reverie. Finally the secretary said, smiling with +evident approval this time: + +"'Society' zero." + +"Precisely, for what does 'society' represent except its own vanity?" + +"And then comes agriculture and mechanics." + +For this category Cosmo seemed to be quite as well prepared as for that +of science. He took from his pocket a list already made out and handed +it to Joseph Smith. It contained forty names marked "cultivators, +farmers, gardeners," and fifty "mechanics." + +"At the beginning of the twentieth century," he said, "I should have had +to reverse that proportion--in fact, my entire list would then have been +top-heavy, and I should have been forced to give half of all the places +to agriculture. But thanks to our scientific farming, the personnel +employed in cultivation is now reduced to a minimum while showing +maximum results. I have already stored the ark with seeds of the latest +scientifically developed plants, and with all the needed agricultural +implements and machinery." + +"There yet remain thirteen places 'specially reserved,'" said Smith, +referring to the paper. + +"I shall fill those later," responded Cosmo, and then added with a +thoughtful look, "I have some humble friends." + +"The next thing," he continued, after a pause, "is to prepare the +letters of invitation. But we have done enough for to-night. I will give +you the form to-morrow." + +And all this while half the world had been peacefully sleeping, and the +other half going about its business, more and more forgetful of recent +events, and if it had known what those two men were about it would +probably have exploded in a gust of laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + +Cosmo Versal had begun the construction of his ark in the latter part of +June. It was now the end of November. The terrors of the _third +sign_ had occurred in September. Since then the sky had nearly +resumed its normal color, there had been no storms, but the heat of +summer had not relaxed. People were puzzled by the absence of the usual +indications of autumn, although vegetation had shriveled on account of +the persistent high temperature and constant sunshine. + +"An extraordinary year," admitted the meteorologists, "but there have +been warm falls before, and it is simply a question of degree. Nature +will restore the balance and in good time, and probably we shall have a +severe winter." + +On the 31st of November, the brassy sky at New York showed no signs of +change, when the following dispatch, which most of the newspapers +triple-leaded and capped with stunning headlines, quivered down from +Churchill, Keewatin: + + During last night the level of the water in Hudson Bay rose + fully nine feet. Consternation reigned this morning when + ship-owners found their wharves inundated, and vessels straining + at short cables. The ice-breaker "Victoria" was lifted on the + back of a sandy bar, having apparently been driven by a heavy + wave, which must have come from the East. There are other + indications that the mysterious rise began with a "bore" from + the eastward. It is thought that the vast mass of icebergs set + afloat on Davis's Strait by the long continued hot weather + melting the shore glaciers, has caused a jam off the mouth of + Hudson Strait, and turned the Polar current suddenly into the + bay. But this is only a theory. A further rise is anticipated. + +Startling as was this news, it might not, by itself, have greatly +disturbed the public mind if it had not been followed, in a few hours, +by intelligence of immense floods in Alaska and in the basin of the +Mackenzie River. + +And the next day an etherogram from Obdorsk bordered on the grotesque, +and filled many sensitive readers with horror. + +It is said that in the vast tundra regions of Northern Siberia the +frozen soil had dissolved into a bottomless slough, from whose depths +uprose prehistoric mammoths, their long hair matted with mud, and their +curved tusks of ivory gleaming like trumpets over the field of their +resurrection. The dispatch concluded with a heart-rending account of the +loss of a large party of ivory hunters, who, having ventured too far +from the more solid land, suddenly found the ground turning to black +ooze beneath their feet, and, despite their struggles, were all engulfed +within sight of their friends, who dared not try to approach them. + +Cosmo Versal, when interviewed, calmly remarked that the flood was +beginning in the north, because it was the northern part of the globe +that was nearest the heart of the nebula. The motion of the earth being +northward, that end of its axis resembled the prow of a ship. + +"But this," he added, "is not the true deluge. The Arctic ice-cap is +melting, and the frozen soil is turning into a sponge in consequence of +the heat of friction developed in the air by the inrush of nebulous +matter. The aqueous vapor, however, has not yet touched the earth. It +will begin to manifest its presence within a few days, and then the +globe will drink water at every pore. The vapor will finally condense +into falling oceans." + +"What would you advise people to do?" asked one of the reporters. + +The reply was given in a perfectly even voice, without change of +countenance: + +"_Commit suicide_! They have practically done that already." + +It was nearly two weeks later when the first signs of a change of +weather were manifested in middle latitudes. It came on with a rapid +veiling of the sky, followed by a thin, misty, persistent rain. The heat +grew more oppressive, but the rain did not become heavier, and after a +few days there would be, for several consecutive hours, a clear spell, +during which the sun would shine, though with a sickly, pallid light. + +There was a great deal of mystification abroad, and nobody felt at ease. +Still, the ebullitions of terror that had accompanied the earlier +caprices of the elements were not renewed. People were getting used to +these freaks. + +In the middle of one of the clear spells a remarkable scene occurred at +Mineola. + +It was like a panorama of the seventh chapter of Genesis. + +It was the procession of the beasts. + +Cosmo Versal had concluded that the time was come for housing his +animals in the ark. He wished to accustom them to their quarters before +the voyage began. The resulting spectacle filled the juvenile world with +irrepressible joy, and immensely interested their elders. + +No march of a menagerie had ever come within sight of equaling this +display. Many of the beasts were such as no one there had ever seen +before. Cosmo had consulted experts, but, in the end, he had been guided +in his choice by his own judgment. Nobody knew as well as he exactly +what was wanted. He had developed in his mind a scheme for making the +new world that was to emerge from the waters better in every respect +than the old one. + +Mingled with such familiar creatures as sheep, cows, dogs, and barn-yard +fowls, were animals of the past, which the majority of the onlookers had +only read about or seen pictures of, or perhaps, in a few cases, heard +described in childhood, by grandfathers long since sleeping in their +graves. + +Cosmo had rapidly collected them from all parts of the world, but as +they arrived in small consignments, and were carried in closed vans, +very few persons had any idea of what he was doing. + +The greatest sensation was produced by four beautiful horses, which had +been purchased at an enormous price from an English duke, who never +would have parted with them--for they were almost the last living +representatives of the equine race left on the earth--if financial +stress had not compelled the sacrifice. + +These splendid animals were dapple gray, with long white tails, and +flowing manes borne proudly on their arching necks, and as they were led +at the head of the procession, snorting at the unwonted scene about +them, their eyes bright with excitement, prancing and curvetting, cries +of admiration and rounds of applause broke from the constantly growing +throngs of spectators. + +Those who had only known the horse from pictures and sculptures were +filled with astonishment by its living beauty. People could not help +saying to themselves: + +"What a pity that the honking auto, in its hundred forms of mechanical +ugliness, should have driven these beautiful and powerful creatures out +of the world! What could our forefathers have been thinking of?" + +A few elephants, collected from African zoological gardens, and some +giraffes, also attracted a great deal of attention, but the horses were +the favorites with the crowd. + +Cosmo might have had lions and tigers, and similar beasts, which had +been preserved, in larger numbers than the useful horse, but when Joseph +Smith suggested their inclusion he shook his head, declaring that it was +better that they should perish. As far as possible, he averred, he would +eliminate all carnivores. + +In some respects, even more interesting to the onlookers than the +animals of the past, were the animals of the future that marched in the +procession. Few of them had ever been seen outside the experimental +stations where they had been undergoing the process of artificial +evolution. + +There were the stately white Californian cattle, without horns, but of +gigantic stature, the cows, it was said, being capable of producing +twenty times more milk than their ancestral species, and of a vastly +superior quality. + +There were the Australian rabbits, as large as Newfoundland dogs, though +short-legged, and furnishing food of the most exquisite flavor; and the +Argentine sheep, great balls of snowy wool, moving smartly along on legs +three feet in length. + +The greatest astonishment was excited by the "grand astoria terrapin," a +developed species of diamond-back tortoise, whose exquisitely sculptured +convex back, lurching awkwardly as it crawled, rose almost three feet +above the ground; and the "new century turkey," which carried its beacon +head and staring eyes as high as a tall man's hat. + +The end of the procession was formed of animals familiar to everybody, +and among them were cages of monkeys (concerning whose educational +development Cosmo Versal had theories of his own) and a large variety of +birds, together with boxes of insect eggs and chrysalids. + +The delight of the boys who had chased after the procession culminated +when the animals began to ascend the sloping ways into the ark. + +The horses shied and danced, making the metallic flooring resound like a +rattle of thunder; the elephants trumpeted; the sheep baaed and crowded +themselves into inextricable masses against the guard-rails; the huge +new cattle moved lumberingly up the slope, turning their big white heads +inquiringly about; the tall turkeys stretched their red coral necks and +gobbled with Brobdingnagian voices; and the great terrapins were +ignominiously attached to cables and drawn up the side of the ark, +helplessly waving their immense flappers in the air. + +And when the sensational entry was finished, the satisfied crowd turned +away, laughing, joking, chattering, with never a thought that it was +anything more than the most amusing exhibition they had ever seen! + +But when they got back in the city streets they met a flying squadron of +yelling newsboys, and seizing the papers from their hands read, in big +black letters: + + "AWFUL FLOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI! + + "Thousands of People Drowned! + + "THE STORM COMING THIS WAY!" + +It was a startling commentary on the recent scene at the ark, and many +turned pale as they read. + +But the storm did not come in the way expected. The deluging rains +appeared to be confined to the Middle West and the Northwest, while at +New York the sky simply grew thicker and seemed to squeeze out moisture +in the form of watery dust. This condition lasted for some time, and +then came what everybody, even the most skeptical, had been secretly +dreading. + +The ocean began to rise! + +The first perception of this startling fact, according to a newspaper +account, came in a very strange, roundabout way to a man living on the +outskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city had +spread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay. + +About three o'clock in the morning, this man, who it appears was a +policeman off duty, was awakened by scurrying sounds in the house. He +struck a light, and seeing dark forms issuing from the cellar, went down +to investigate. The ominous gleam of water, reflecting the light of his +lamp, told him that the cellar was inundated almost to the top of the +walls. + +"Come down here, Annie!" he shouted to his wife. "Sure 'tis Cosmo Versal +is invadin' the cellar with his flood. The rats are lavin' us." + +Seeing that the slight foundation walls were crumbling, he hurried his +family into the street, and not too soon, for within ten minutes the +house was in ruins. + +Neighbors, living in equally frail structures, were awakened, and soon +other undermined houses fell. Terror spread through the quarter, and +gradually half the city was aroused. + +When day broke, residents along the water-front in Manhattan found their +cellars flooded, and South and West Streets swimming with water, which +was continually rising. It was noted that the hour was that of +flood-tide, but nobody had ever heard of a tide so high as this. + +Alarm deepened into terror when the time for the tide to ebb arrived and +there was no ebbing. On the contrary, the water continued to rise. The +government observer at the Highlands telephoned that Sandy Hook was +submerged. Soon it was known that Coney Island, Rockaway, and all the +seaside places along the south shore of Long Island were under water. +The mighty current poured in through the Narrows with the velocity of a +mill-race. The Hudson, set backward on its course, rushed northward with +a raging bore at its head that swelled higher until it licked the feet +of the rock chimneys of the Palisades. + +But when the terror inspired by this sudden invasion from the sea was at +its height there came unexpected relief. The water began to fall more +rapidly than it had risen. It rushed out through the Narrows faster than +it had rushed in, and ships, dragged from their anchorage in the upper +harbor, were carried out seaward, some being stranded on the sandbanks +and shoals in the lower bay. + +Now again houses standing on made ground, whose foundations had been +undermined, fell with a crash, and many were buried in the ruins. + +Notwithstanding the immense damage and loss of life, the recession of +the waters immediately had a reassuring effect, and the public, in +general, was disposed to be comforted by the explanation of the weather +officials, who declared that what had occurred was nothing more than an +unprecedentedly high tide, probably resulting from some unforeseen +disturbance out at sea. + +The phenomenon had been noted all along the Atlantic coast. The chief +forecaster ventured the assertion that a volcanic eruption had occurred +somewhere on the line from Halifax to Bermuda. He thought that the +probable location of the upheaval had been at Munn's Reef, about halfway +between those points, and the more he discussed his theory the readier +he became to stake his reputation on its correctness, for, he said, it +was impossible that any combination of the effects of high and low +pressures could have created such a surge of the ocean, while a volcanic +wave, combining with the regular oscillation of the tide, could have +done it easily. + +But Cosmo Versal smiled at this explanation, and said in reply: + +"The whole Arctic ice-cap is dissolved, and the condensation of the +nebula is at hand. But there is worse behind. When the wave comes back +it will rise higher." + +As the time for the next flood-tide grew near, anxious eyes were on the +watch to see how high the water would go. There was something in the +mere manner of its approach that made the nerves tingle. + +It speeded toward the beaches, combing into rollers at an unwonted +distance from shore; plunged with savage violence upon the sands of the +shallows, as if it would annihilate them; and then, spreading swiftly, +ran with terrific speed up the strand, seeming to devour everything it +touched. After each recoil it sprang higher and roared louder and grew +blacker with the mud that it had ground up from the bottom. Miles inland +the ground trembled with the fast-repeated shocks. + +Again the Hudson was hurled backward until a huge bore of water burst +over the wharves at Albany. Every foot of ground in New York less than +twenty feet above the mean high tide level was inundated. The +destruction was enormous, incalculable. Ocean liners moored along the +wharves were, in some cases, lifted above the level of the neighboring +streets, and sent crashing into the buildings along the water-front. + +Etherograms told, in broken sentences, of similar experiences on the +western coasts of Europe, and from the Pacific came the news of the +flooding of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and, +in fact, every coast-lying town. On the western coast of South America +the incoming waves broke among the foothills of the Andes. + +It was as if the mighty basins of the world's two greatest oceans were +being rocked to and fro, sending the waters spinning from side to side. + +And to add to the horror of the situation, every volcano on the globe +seemed to burst simultaneously into activity, probably through the +effects of the invasion of sea water into the subterranean fire, while +the strain of the unwonted weight thrown upon the coasts broke open the +tectonic lines of weakness in the earth's crust, causing the most +terrible earthquakes, which destroyed much that the water could not +reach. + +From Alaska to Patagonia, from Kamchatka through Japan to the East +Indies, from Mount Hecla to Vesuvius, Etna, and Teneriffe, the raging +oceans were bordered with pouring clouds of volcanic smoke, hurled +upward in swift succeeding puffs, as if every crater had become the +stack of a stupendous steam-engine driven at its maddest speed; while +immense rivers of lava flamed down the mountain flanks and plunged into +the invading waters with reverberated roarings, hissings, and explosions +that seemed to shake the framework of the globe. + +During the second awful shoreward heave of the Atlantic a scene occurred +off New York Bay that made the stoutest nerves quiver. A great crowd had +collected on the Highlands of the Navesink to watch the ingress of the +tidal wave. + +Suddenly, afar off, the smoke of an approaching ocean liner was seen. It +needed but a glance to show that she was struggling with tremendous +surges. Sometimes she sank completely out of sight; then she reappeared, +riding high on the waves. Those who had glasses recognized her. Word ran +from mouth to mouth that it was the great _Atlantis_, the mightiest +of the ocean monarchs, of a hundred thousand tons register, coming from +Europe, and bearing, without question, many thousands of souls. + +She was flying signals of distress, and filling the ether with her +inarticulate calls for help, which quavered into every radiograph +station within a radius of hundreds of miles. + +But, at the same time, she was battling nobly for herself and for the +lives of her passengers and crew. From her main peak the Stars and +Stripes streamed in the tearing wind. There were many in the watching +throngs who personally knew her commander, Captain Basil Brown, and who +felt that if any human being could bring the laboring ship through +safely, he could. Aid from land was not to be thought of for a moment. + +As she swiftly drew nearer, hurled onward by the resistless surges with +the speed of an express train, the captain was recognized on his bridge, +balancing himself amid the lurches of the vessel; and even at that +distance, and in those terrible circumstances, there was something in +his bearing perceptible to those who breathlessly watched him, through +powerful glasses, which spoke of perfect self-command, entire absence of +fear, and iron determination to save his ship or die with her under his +feet. + +It could be seen that he was issuing orders and watching their +execution, but precisely what their nature was, of course, could only be +guessed. His sole hope must be to keep the vessel from being cast +ashore. There was no danger from the shoals, for they were by this time +deeply covered by the swelling of the sea. + +Slowly, slowly, with a terrific straining of mechanic energies, which +pressed the jaws of the watchers together with spasmodic sympathy, as if +their own nervous power were cooperating in the struggle, the gallant +ship bore her head round to face the driving waves. From the ten huge, +red stacks columns of inky black smoke poured out as the stokers crammed +the furnaces beneath. It was man against nature, human nerve and +mechanical science against blind force. + +It began to look as if the _Atlantis_ would win the battle. She was +now fearfully close to the shore, but her bow had been turned into the +very eye of the sea, and one could almost feel the tension of her steel +muscles as she seemed to spring to the encounter. The billows that split +themselves in quick succession on her sharp stem burst into shooting +geysers three hundred feet high. + +The hearts of the spectators almost ceased to beat. Their souls were +wrapped up with the fate of the brave ship. They forgot the terrors of +their own situation, the peril of the coming flood, and saw nothing but +the agonized struggle before their eyes. With all their inward strength +they prayed against the ocean. + +Such a contest could not last long. Suddenly, as the _Atlantis_ +swerved a little aside, a surge that towered above her loftiest deck +rushed upon her. She was lifted like a cockleshell upon its crest, her +huge hull spun around, and the next minute, with a crash that resounded +above the roar of the maddened sea, she was dashed in pieces. + +At the very last moment before the vessel disappeared in the whirling +breakers, to be strewed in broken and twisted bits of battered metal +upon the pounding sands, Captain Basil Brown was seen on the commander's +bridge. + +No sooner had this tragedy passed than the pent-up terror broke forth, +and men ran for their lives, ran for their homes, ran to _do +something_--something, but what?--to save themselves and their dear +ones. + +For now, at last, they _believed!_ + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +STORMING THE ARK + + +There was to be no more respite now. The time of warnings was past. The +"signs" had all been shown to a skeptical and vacillating world, and at +last the fulfillment was at hand. + +There was no crying of "extras" in the streets, for men had something +more pressing to think of than sending and reading news about their +distresses and those of their fellow-men. Many of the newspapers ceased +publication; every business place was abandoned; there was no thought +but of the means of escape. + +But how should they escape? And whither should they fly? + +The lower lying streets were under water. The Atlantic still surged back +and forth as if the ocean itself were in agony. And every time the waves +poured in they rose higher. The new shores of the bay, and the new +coasts of Long Island and New Jersey, receding inward hour by hour, were +strewn with the wrecks of hundreds of vessel of all kinds which had been +caught by the surges and pitilessly hurled to destruction. + +Even if men did not yet fully believe in Cosmo Versal's theory of a +whelming nebula, they were terrified to the bottom of their souls by the +conviction, which nobody could resist, that the vast ice-fields of the +north, the glaciers of Greenland, the icy mountains of Alaska, had +melted away under the terrible downpour of heat, and were swelling the +oceans over their brims. And then a greater fear dropped like a blanket +upon them. Some one thought of the _antarctic ice._ + +The latest dispatches that had come, before the cessation of all +communication to the newspapers, had told of the prevalence of stifling +heat throughout the southern hemisphere, and of the vast fleets of +antarctic icebergs that filled the south seas. The mighty deposits of +ice, towering to mountain heights, that stretched a thousand miles in +every direction around the south pole were melting as the arctic ice had +melted, and, when the water thus formed was added to the already +overflowing seas, to what elevation might not the flood attain! + +The antarctic ice was known to be the principal mass of frozen water on +the globe. The frigid cap of the north was nothing in comparison with +it. It had long been believed that that tremendous accumulation +unbalanced the globe and was the principal cause of the unsteadiness of +the earth's axis of rotation. + +Every fresh exploration had only served to magnify the conception of the +incredible vastness of that deposit. The skirts of the Antarctic +Continent had proved to be rich in minerals wherever the rocks could +find a place to penetrate through the gigantic burden of ice, and the +principal nations had quarreled over the possession or control of these +protruding bits of wealth-crammed strata. But behind the bordering +cliffs of ice, rising in places a thousand feet above the level of the +sea, and towering farther inland so high that this region was, in mean +elevation, the loftiest on the planet, nothing but ice could be seen. + +And now that ice was dissolving and flowing into the swollen oceans, +adding billions of tons of water every minute! + +Men did not stop to calculate, as Cosmo Versal had done, just how much +the dissolution of all the ice and permanent snow of the globe would add +to the volume of the seas. He knew that it would be but a drop in the +bucket--although sufficient to start the flood--and that the great thing +to be feared was the condensation of the aqueous nebula, already +beginning to enwrap the planet in its stifling folds. + +The public could understand the melting ice, although it could not fully +understand the nebula; it could understand the swelling sea, and the +raging rivers, and the lakes breaking over their banks--and the terror +and despair became universal. + +But what should they _do?_ + +Those who had thought of building arks hurried to see if the work might +not yet be completed, but most of them had begun their foundations on +low land, which was already submerged. + +Then a cry arose, terrible in its significance and in its +consequences--one of those cries that the vanished but unconquerable god +Pan occasionally sets ringing, nobody can tell how: + +"Cosmo's ark! Get aboard! Storm it!" + +And thereupon there was a mighty rush for Mineola. Nobody who caught the +infection stopped to reason. Some of them had to wade through water, +which in places was knee-deep. They came from various directions, and +united in a yelling mob. They meant to carry the ark with a rush. They +would not be denied. As the excited throngs neared the great vessel they +saw its huge form rising like a mount of safety, with an American flag +flapping over it, and they broke into a mighty cheer. On they sped, +seized with the unreason of a crowd, shouting, falling over one another, +struggling, fighting for places, men dragging their wives and children +through the awful crush, many trampled helpless under the myriads of +struggling feet--driving the last traces of sanity from one another's +minds. + +The foremost ranks presently spied Cosmo Versal, watching them from an +open gangway sixty feet above their heads. They were dismayed at finding +the approaches gone. How should they get into the ark? How could they +climb up its vertical sides? + +But they would find means. They would re-erect the approaches. They +would _get in somehow_. + +Cosmo waved them off with frantic gesticulations; then, through a +trumpet, he shouted in a voice audible above the din: + +"Keep back, for your lives!" + +But they paid no attention to him; they rushed upon the raised wall, +surrounding the field where Cosmo had buried his mysterious lines of +wire. Then the meaning of that enigmatical work was flashed upon them. + +As the first to arrive laid their hands upon the top of the low wall +they fell as if shot through the brain, tumbling backward on those +behind. Others pushed wildly on, but the instant they touched the wall +they too collapsed. Wicked blue-green sparks occasionally flashed above +the struggling mass. + +The explanation was clear. Cosmo, foreseeing the probability of a +despairing attack, had surrounded the ark with an impassable electric +barrier. The sound of a whirring dynamo could be heard. A tremendous +current was flowing through the hidden wires and transmitting its +paralyzing energy to the metallic crest of the wall. + +Still those behind pushed on, until rank after rank had sunk helpless at +the impregnable line of defense. They were not killed--at least, not +many--but the shock was so paralyzing that those who had experienced its +effects made no further attempts to cross the barrier. Many lay for a +time helpless upon the sodden ground. + +Cosmo and Joseph Smith, who had now appeared at his side, continued to +shout warnings, which began to be heeded when the nature of the obstacle +became known. The rush was stopped, and the multitude stood at bay, +dazed, and uncertain what to do. Then a murmur arose, growing louder and +more angry and threatening, until suddenly a shot was heard in the midst +of the crowd, and Cosmo was seen to start backward, while Joseph Smith +instantly dodged out of sight. + +A cry arose: + +"Shoot him! That's right! Shoot the devil! He's a witch! He's drowning +the world!" + +They meant it--at least, half of them did. It was the logic of terror. + +Hundreds of shots were now fired from all quarters, and heads that had +been seen flitting behind the various portholes instantly disappeared. +The bullets rattled on the huge sides of the ark, but they came from +small pistols and had not force enough to penetrate. + +Cosmo Versal alone remained in sight. Occasionally a quick motion showed +that even his nerves were not steady enough to defy the whistling of the +bullets passing close; but he held his ground, and stretched out his +hand to implore attention. + +When the fusillade ceased for a moment he put his trumpet again to his +lips and shouted: + +"I have done my best to save you, but you would not listen. Although I +know that you must perish, I would not myself harm a hair of your heads. +Go back, I implore you. You may prolong your lives if you will fly to +the highlands and the mountains--but here you cannot enter. _The ark +is full._" + +Another volley of shots was the only answer. One broad-shouldered man +forced his way to the front, took his stand close to the wall, and +yelled in stentorian tones: + +"Cosmo Versal, listen to me! You are the curse of the world! You have +brought this flood upon us with your damnable incantations. Your +infernal nebula is the seal of Satan! Here, beast and devil, here at my +feet, lies my only son, slain by your hellish device. By the Eternal I +swear you shall go back to the pit!" + +Instantly a pistol flashed in the speaker's hand, and five shots rang in +quick succession. One after another they whistled by Cosmo's head and +flattened themselves upon the metal-work behind. Cosmo Versal, +untouched, folded his arms and looked straight at his foe. The man, +staring a moment confusedly, as if he could not comprehend his failure, +threw up his arms with a despairing gesture, and fell prone upon the +ground. + +Then yells and shots once more broke out. Cosmo stepped back, and a +great metallic door swung to, closing the gangway. + +But three minutes later the door opened, and the mob saw two +machine-guns trained upon them. + +Once more Cosmo appeared, with the trumpet. + +"If you fire again," he cried, "I shall sweep you with grapeshot. I have +told you how you can prolong your lives. Now go!" + +Not another shot was fired. In the face of the guns, whose terrible +power all comprehended, no one dared to make a hostile movement. + +But, perhaps, if Cosmo Versal had not set new thoughts running in the +minds of the assailants by telling them there was temporary safety to be +found by seeking high ground, even the terror of the guns would not have +daunted them. Now their hopefulness was reawakened, and many began to +ponder upon his words. + +"He says we must perish, and yet that we can find safety in the hills +and mountains," said one man. "I believe half of that is a lie. We are +not going to be drowned. The water won't rise much higher. The flood +from the south pole that they talk about must be here by this time, and +then what's left to come?" + +"The nebula," suggested one. + +"Aw, the nebula be hanged! There's no such thing! I live on high ground; +I'm going to keep a sharp outlook, and if the water begins to shut off +Manhattan I'll take my family up the Hudson to the Highlands. I guess +old Storm King'll keep his head above. That's where I come from--up that +way. I used to hear people say when I was a boy that New York was bound +to sink some day. I used to laugh at that then, but it looks mighty like +it now, don't it?" + +"Say," put in another, "what did the fellow mean by saying the ark was +_full_? That's funny, ain't it? Who's he got inside, anyway?" + +"Oh, he ain't got nobody," said another. + +"Yes, he has. I seen a goodish lot through the portholes. He's got +somebody, sure." + +"A lot of fools like himself, most likely." + +"Well, if he's a fool, and they's fools, what are _we_, I'd like to +know? What did you come here for, hey?" + +It was a puzzling question, and brought forth only a sheepish laugh, +followed by the remark: + +"I guess we fooled ourselves considerable. We got scared too easy." + +"Maybe you'll feel scared again when you see the water climbing up the +streets in New York. I don't half like this thing. I'm going to follow +his advice and light out for higher ground." + +Soon conversation of this sort was heard on all sides, and the crowd +began to disperse, only those lingering behind who had friends or +relatives that had been struck down at the fatal wall. It turned out +that not more than one or two had been mortally shocked. The rest were +able to limp away, and many had fully recovered within five minutes +after suffering the shock. In half an hour not a dozen persons were in +sight from the ark. + +But when the retreating throngs drew near the shores of the Sound, and +the East River, which had expanded into a true arm of the sea, and found +that there had been a perceptible rise since they set out to capture the +ark, they began to shake their heads and fear once more entered their +hearts. + +Thousands then and there resolved that they would not lose another +instant in setting out for high land, up the Hudson, in Connecticut, +among the hills of New Jersey. In fact, many had already fled thither, +some escaping on aeros; and hosts would now have followed but for a +marvelous change that came just before nightfall and prevented them. + +For some days the heavens had alternately darkened and lightened, as +gushes of mist came and went, but there had been no actual rain. Now, +without warning, a steady downpour began. Even at the beginning it would +have been called, in ordinary times, a veritable cloudburst; but it +rapidly grew worse and worse, until there was no word in the vernacular +or in the terminology of science to describe it. + +It seemed, in truth, that "all the fountains of the great deep were +broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." The water thundered +upon the roofs, and poured off them in torrents. In five minutes every +sloping street had become an angry river, and every level place a +swelling lake. People caught out of doors were almost beaten to the +ground by the force of the water falling upon them as if they had been +standing under a cataract. + +In a short time every cellar and every basement was filled to +overflowing, and in the avenues the flood, lapping every instant higher +upon the doorsteps and the walls, rushed by with frightful roarings, +bearing in its awful embrace pieces of furniture, clothing, bedding, +washed out of ground-floor rooms--and, alas! human beings; some +motionless, already mercifully deprived of life, but others struggling +and shouting for aid which could not be given. + +So terrible a spectacle no one had ever looked upon, no one had ever +imagined. Those who beheld it were too stunned to cry out, too +overwhelmed with terror and horror to utter a word. They stood, or fell +into chairs or upon the floor, trembling in every limb, with staring +eyes and drooping jaws, passively awaiting their fate. + +As night came on there was no light. The awful darkness of the _third +sign_ once more settled upon the great city, but now it was not the +terror of indefinite expectation that crushed down the souls of men and +women--it was the weight of doom accomplished! + +There was no longer any room for self-deception; every quaking heart +felt now that the nebula had come. _Cosmo Versal had been right!_ + +After the water had attained a certain height in the streets and yards, +depending upon the ratio between the amount descending from the sky and +that which could find its way to the rivers, the flood for the time +being rose no higher. The actual drowning of New York could not happen +until the Hudson and the East River should become so swollen that the +water would stand above the level of the highest buildings, and turn the +whole region round about, as far as the Orange hills, the Ramapo +Mountains, the Highlands, and the Housatonic hills, into an inland sea. + +But before we tell that story we must return to see what was going on at +Mineola. Cosmo Versal, on that awful night when New York first knew +beyond the shadow of a doubt, or the gleam of a hope, that it was +doomed, presided over a remarkable assembly in the grand saloon of his +ark. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + +How did it happen that Cosmo Versal was able to inform the mob when it +assailed the ark that he had no room left? + +Who composed his ship's company, whence had they come, and how had they +managed to embark without the knowledge of the public? + +The explanation is quite simple. It was all due to the tremendous +excitement that had prevailed ever since the seas began to overflow. In +the universal confusion people had to think of other things nearer their +doors than the operations of Cosmo Versal. Since the embarkation of the +animals the crowds had ceased to visit the field at Mineola, and it was +only occasionally that even a reporter was sent there. Accordingly, +there were many hours every day when no curiosity-seekers were in sight +of the ark, and at night the neighborhood was deserted; and this state +of affairs continued until the sudden panic which led to the attack that +has been described. + +Cosmo Versal, of course, had every reason to conceal the fact that he +was carefully selecting his company. It was a dangerous game to play, +and he knew it. The consequence was that he enjoined secrecy upon his +invited guests, and conducted them, a few at a time, into the ark, +assuring them that their lives might be in peril if they were +recognized. And once under the domain of the fear which led them to +accept his invitation, they were no less anxious than he to avoid +publicity. Some of them probably desired to avoid recognition through +dread of ridicule; for, after all, the flood might not turn out to be so +bad as Cosmo had predicted. + +So it happened that the ark was filled, little by little, and the public +knew nothing about it. + +And who composed the throng which, while the awful downpour roared on +the ellipsoidal cover of the ark, and shook it to its center and while +New York, a few miles away, saw story after story buried under the +waters, crowded Cosmo's brilliantly lighted saloon, and raised their +voices to a high pitch in order to be heard? + +Had all the invitations which he dictated to Joseph Smith after their +memorable discussion, and which were sent forth in the utmost haste, +flying to every point of the compass, been accepted, and was it the +famous leaders of science, the rulers and crowned heads who had passed +his critical inspection that were now knocking elbows under the great +dome of levium? Had kings and queens stolen incognito under the shelter +of the ark, and magnates of the financial world hidden themselves there? + +It would have been well for them all if they had been there. But, in +fact, many of those to whom the invitations had gone did not even take +the trouble to thank their would-be savior. A few, however, who did not +come in person, sent responses. Among these was the President of the +United States. Mr. Samson's letter was brief but characteristic. It +read: + +To COSMO VERSAL, ESQ. + +Sir: + +The President directs me to say that he is grateful for your invitation, +and regrets that he cannot accept it. He is informed by those to whose +official advice he feels bound to listen, that the recent extraordinary +events possess no such significance as you attach to them. + +Respectfully, FOR THE PRESIDENT, + +JAMES JENKS, Secretary. + +It must be remembered that this letter was written before the oceanic +overflow began. After that, possibly, the President and his advisers +changed their opinion. But then communication by rail was cut off, and +as soon as the downpour from the sky commenced the aero express lines +were abandoned. The airships would have been deluged, and blown to +destruction by the tremendous gusts which, at intervals, packed the +rain-choked air itself into solid billows of water. + +None of the rulers of the old world responded, but about half the men of +science, and representatives of the other classes that Cosmo had set +down on his list, were wise enough to accept, and they hurried to New +York before the means of transit by land and sea were destroyed. + +Among these were Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, +Austrians, Poles, people from the Balkan states, Swedes, Danes, +Russians, and a few from India, China, and Japan. The clatter of their +various tongues made a very Babel inside the ark, when they talked to +one another in groups, but nearly all of them were able to speak +English, which, after many years of experiment, had been adopted as the +common language for transacting the world's affairs. + +There was another letter, which Cosmo read with real regret, although +hardly with surprise. It was from Professor Pludder. Instead of +expressing gratitude for the invitation, as the President, trained in +political blandiloquence, had done, Professor Pludder indulged in +denunciation. + +"You are insane," he said. "You do not know what you are talking about. +Your letter is an insult to science. These inundations" (this, too, was +written before the sky had opened its flood-gates) "are perfectly +explicable by the ordinary laws of nature. Your talk of a nebula is so +ridiculous that it deserves no reply. If any lunatic accepts your absurd +invitation, and goes into your 'ark,' he will find himself in Bedlam, +where he ought to be." + +"I guess you were right," Cosmo remarked to Joseph Smith, after reading +this outburst. "Pludder would not contribute to the regeneration of +mankind. We are better off without him." + +But Cosmo Versal was mistaken in thinking he had heard the last of Abiel +Pludder. The latter was destined to show that he was hardly a less +remarkable specimen of _homo sapiens_ than the big-headed prophet +of the second deluge himself. + +As soon as it became evident that there would be room to spare in the +ark, Cosmo set at work to fill up the list. He went over his categories +once more, but now, owing to the pressure of time, he was obliged to +confine his selections to persons within easy reach. They came, nearly +all, from New York, or its vicinity; and since these last invitations +went out just on the eve of the events described in the last two +chapters, there was no delay in the acceptances, and the invitees +promptly presented themselves in person. + +Cosmo's warning to them of the necessity of secrecy was superfluous, for +the selfishness of human nature never had a better illustration than +they afforded. The lucky recipients of the invitations stole away +without a word of farewell, circumspectly disappearing, generally at +night, and often in disguise; and when the attack occurred on the ark, +there were, behind the portholes, many anxious eyes cautiously staring +out and recognizing familiar faces in the mob, while the owners of those +eyes trembled in their shoes lest their friends might succeed in forcing +an entrance. After all, it was to be doubted if Cosmo Versal, with all +his vigilance, had succeeded in collecting a company representing +anything above the average quality of the race. + +But there was one thing that did great credit to his heart. When he +found that he had room unoccupied, before adding to his lists he +consented to take more than two children in a family. It was an immense +relief, for--it must be recorded--there were some who, in order to +qualify themselves, had actually abandoned members of their own +families! Let it also be said, however, that many, when they found that +the conditions imposed were inexorable, and that they could only save +themselves by leaving behind others as dear to them as their own lives, +indignantly refused, and most of these did not even reply to the +invitations. + +It was another indication of Cosmo's real humanity, as well as of his +shrewdness, that, as far as they were known, and could be reached, the +persons who had thus remained true to the best instincts of nature were +the first to receive a second invitation, with an injunction to bring +their entire families. So it happened that, after all, there were aged +men and women, as well as children in arms, mingled in that remarkable +assemblage. + +It will be recalled that thirteen places had been specially reserved, to +be filled by Cosmo Versal's personal friends. His choice of these +revealed another pleasing side of his mind. He took thirteen men and +women who had been, in one capacity or another, employed for many years +in his service. Some of them were old family servants that had been in +his father's house. + +"Every one of these persons," he said to Joseph Smith, "is worth his +weight in gold. Their disinterested fidelity to duty is a type of +character that almost became extinct generations ago, and no more +valuable leaven could be introduced into the society of the future. +Rather than leave them, I would stay behind myself." + +Finally there was the crew. This comprised one hundred and fifty +members, all of them chosen from the body of engineers, mechanics, and +workmen who had been employed in the construction of the ark. Cosmo +himself was, of course, the commander, but he had for his lieutenants +skilled mariners, electrical and mechanical engineers, and men whom he +himself had instructed in the peculiar duties that would fall to them in +the navigation and management of the ark, every detail of which he had +laboriously worked out with a foresight that seemed all but superhuman. + +All of the passengers and crew were aboard when the baffled mob +retreated from Mineola, and some, when that danger was past, wished to +descend to the ground, and go and look at the rising waters, which had +not yet invaded the neighborhood. But Cosmo absolutely forbade any +departures from the ark. The condensation of the nebula, he declared, +was likely to begin any minute, and the downpour would be so fierce that +a person might be drowned in the open field. + +It came even sooner than he had anticipated, with the results that we +have already noted in New York. At first many thought that the ark +itself would be destroyed, so dreadful was the impact of the falling +water. The women and children, and some of the men, were seized with +panic, and Cosmo had great difficulty in reassuring them. + +"The flood will not reach us for several hours yet," he said. "The level +of the water must rise at least a hundred feet more before we shall be +afloat. Inside here we are perfectly safe. The ark is exceedingly strong +and absolutely tight. You have nothing to fear." + +Then he ordered an ingenious sound-absorbing screen, which he had +prepared, to be drawn over the great ceiling of the saloon, the effect +of which was to shut out the awful noise of the water roaring upon the +roof of the ark. A silence that was at first startling by contrast to +the preceding din prevailed as soon as the screen was in place. + +Amid a hush of expectancy, Cosmo now mounted a dais at one end of the +room. Never before had the intellectual superiority of the man seemed so +evident. His huge "dome of thought," surmounting his slight body, +dominated the assembly like the front of Jove. Chairs near him were +occupied by Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, Professor +Alexander Jones, and the two "speculative geniuses" whom he had named to +Joseph Smith. These were Costake Theriade, of Rumania, a tall, dark, +high-browed thinker, who was engaged in devising ways to extract and +recover interatomic energy; and Sir Wilfred Athelstone, whose specialty +was bio-chemistry, and who was said to have produced amazing results in +artificial parthenogenesis and the production of new species. + +As soon as attention was concentrated upon him, Cosmo Versal began to +speak. + +"My friends," he said, "the world around us is now sinking beneath a +flood that will not be arrested until America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and +Australia have disappeared. We stand at the opening of a new age. You +alone who are here assembled, and your descendants, will constitute the +population of the new world that is to be. + +"In this ark, which owes its existence to the foreseeing eye of science, +you will be borne in safety upon the bosom of the battling waters, and +we will disembark upon the first promising land that reappears, and +begin the plantation and development of a new society of men and women, +which, I trust, will afford a practical demonstration of the principles +of eugenics. + +"I have, as far as possible, and as far as the pitiful blindness of +mankind permitted me to go, selected and assembled here representatives +of the best tendencies of humanity. You are a chosen remnant, and the +future of this planet depends upon you. + +"I have been fortunate in securing the companionship of men of science +who will be able to lead and direct. The ark is fully provisioned for a +period which must exceed the probable duration of the flood. I have +taken pains not to overcrowd it, and every preparation has been made for +any contingencies which may arise. + +"It is inexpressibly sad to part thus with the millions of our +fellow-beings who would not heed the warnings that were lavished upon +them; but, while our hearts may be rent with the thought, it is our duty +to cast off the burden of vain regrets and concentrate all our energies +upon the great work before us. + +"I salute," he continued, raising his voice and lifting a glass of wine +from the little table before him, "the world of the past--may its faults +be forgotten--and the world of the future--may it rise on the wings of +science to nobler prospects!" + +He poured out the wine like a libation; and as his voice ceased to echo, +and he sank into his seat, an uncontrollable wave of emotion ran over +the assembly. Many of the women wept, and the men conversed in whispers. +After a considerable interval, during which no one spoke above his +breath, Professor Able Abel arose and said: + +"The gratitude which we owe to this man"--indicating Cosmo Versal--"can +best be expressed, not in words, but by acts. He has led us thus far; he +must continue to lead us to the end. We were blind, while he was full of +light. It will become us hereafter to heed well whatever he may say. I +now wish to ask if he can foresee where upon the re-emerging planet a +foothold is first likely to be obtained. Where lies our land of +promise?" + +"I can answer that question," Cosmo replied, "only in general terms. You +are all aware that the vast table-land of Tibet is the loftiest region +upon the globe. In its western part it lies from fourteen to seventeen +or eighteen thousand feet above the ordinary level of the sea. Above it +rise the greatest mountain peaks in existence. Here the first +considerable area is likely to be uncovered. It is upon the Pamirs, the +'Roof of the World,' that we shall probably make our landing." + +"May I ask," said Professor Abel Able, "in what manner you expect the +waters of the flood to be withdrawn, after the earth is completely +drowned?" + +"That," was the reply, "was one of the fundamental questions that I +examined, but I do not care to enter into a discussion of it now. I may +simply say that it is not only upon the disappearance of the waters that +our hopes depend, but upon circumstances that I shall endeavor to make +clear hereafter. The new cradle of mankind will be located near the old +one, and the roses of the Vale of Cashmere will canopy it." + +Cosmo Versal's words made a profound impression upon his hearers, and +awoke thoughts that carried their minds off into strange reveries. No +more questions were asked, and gradually the assemblage broke up into +groups of interested talkers. + +It was now near midnight. Cosmo, beckoning Professor Abel Able, +Professor Alexander Jones, and Professor Jeremiah Moses to accompany +him, made his way out of the saloon, and, secretly opening one of the +gangway doors, they presently stood, sheltering themselves from the +pouring rain, in a position which enabled them to look toward New York. + +Nothing, of course, was visible through the downpour; but they were +startled at hearing fearful cries issuing out of the darkness. The rural +parts of the city, filled with gardens and villas, lay round within a +quarter of a mile of the ark, and the sound, accelerated by the +water-charged atmosphere, struck upon their ears with terrible +distinctness. Sometimes, when a gust of wind blew the rain into their +faces, the sound deepened into a long, despairing wail, which seemed to +be borne from afar off, mingled with the roar of the descending +torrent--the death-cry of the vast metropolis! + +"Merciful Heaven, I cannot endure this!" cried Professor Moses. + +"Go to my cabin," Cosmo yelled in his ear, "and take the others with +you. I will join you there in a little while. I wish to measure the rate +of rise of the water." + +They gladly left him, and fled into the interior of the ark. Cosmo +procured an electric lamp; and the moment its light streamed out he +perceived that the water had already submerged the great cradle in which +the ark rested, and was beginning to creep up the metallic sides. He +lowered a graduated tape into it, provided with an automatic register. +In a few minutes he had completed his task, and then he went to rejoin +his late companions in his cabin. + +"In about an hour," he said to them, "we shall be afloat. The water is +rising at the rate of one-thirtieth of an inch per second." + +"No more than that?" asked Professor Jones with an accent of surprise. + +"That is quite enough," Cosmo replied. "One-thirtieth of an inch per +second means two inches in a minute, and ten feet in an hour. In +twenty-four hours from now the water will stand two hundred and forty +feet above its present level, and then only the tallest structures in +New York will lift their tops above it, if, indeed, they are not long +before overturned by undermining or the force of the waves." + +"But it will be a long time before the hills and highlands are +submerged," suggested Professor Jones. "Are you perfectly sure that the +flood will cover them?" + +Cosmo Versal looked at his interlocutor, and slowly shook his head. + +"It is truly a disappointment to me," he said at length, "to find that, +even now, remnants of doubt cling to your minds. I tell you that the +nebula is condensing at its maximum rate. It is likely to continue to do +so for at least four months. In four months, at the rate of two inches +per minute, the level of the water will rise 28,800 feet. There is only +one peak in the world which is surely known to attain a slightly greater +height than that--Mount Everest, in the Himalayas. Even in a single +month the rise will amount to 7,200 feet. That is 511 feet higher than +the loftiest mountain in the Appalachians. In one month, then, there +will be nothing visible of North America east of the Rockies. And in +another month they will have gone under." + +Not another word was said. The three professors sat, wide-eyed and +open-mouthed, staring at Cosmo Versal, whose bald head was crowned with +an aureole by the electric light that beamed from the ceiling, while, +with a gold pocket pencil, he fell to figuring upon a sheet of paper. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + +While Cosmo Versal was calculating, from the measured rise of the water, +the rate of condensation of the nebula, and finding that it added +twenty-nine trillion two hundred and ninety billion tons to the weight +of the earth every minute--a computation that seemed to give him great +mental satisfaction--the metropolis of the world, whose nucleus was the +island of Manhattan, and every other town and city on the globe that +lay near the ordinary level of the sea, was swiftly sinking beneath the +swelling flood. + +Everywhere, over all the broad surface of the planet, a wail of despair +arose from the perishing millions, beaten down by the water that poured +from the unpitying sky. Even on the highlands the situation was little +better than in the valleys. The hills seemed to have been turned into the +crests of cataracts from which torrents of water rushed down on all sides, +stripping the soil from the rocks, and sending the stones and bowlders +roaring and leaping into the lowlands and the gorges. Farmhouses, barns, +villas, trees, animals, human beings--all were swept away together. + +Only on broad elevated plateaus, where higher points rose above the general +level, were a few of the inhabitants able to find a kind of refuge. By +seeking these high places, and sheltering themselves as best they could +among immovable rocks, they succeeded, at least, in delaying their fate. +Notwithstanding the fact that the atmosphere was filled with falling water, +they could yet breathe, if they kept the rain from striking directly in +their faces. It was owing to this circumstance, and to some extraordinary +occurrences which we shall have to relate, that the fate of the human race +was not precisely that which Cosmo Versal had predicted. + +We quitted the scene in New York when the shadow of night had just fallen, +and turned the gloom of the watery atmosphere into impenetrable darkness. +The events of that dreadful night we shall not attempt to depict. When the +hours of daylight returned, and the sun should have brightened over the +doomed city, only a faint, phosphorescent luminosity filled the sky. It +was just sufficient to render objects dimly visible. If the enclosing +nebula had remained in a cloud-like state it would have cut off all light, +but having condensed into raindrops, which streamed down in parallel lines, +except when sudden blasts of wind swept them into a confused mass, the +sunlight was able to penetrate through the interstices, aided by the +transparency of the water, and so a slight but variable illumination was +produced. + +In this unearthly light many tall structures of the metropolis, which had +as yet escaped the effects of undermining by the rushing torrents in the +streets, towered dimly toward the sky, shedding streams of water from every +cornice. Most of the buildings of only six or eight stories had already +been submerged, with the exception of those that stood on the high grounds +in the upper part of the island, and about Spuyten Duyvil. + +In the towers and upper stories of the lofty buildings still standing in +the heart of the city, crowds of unfortunates assembled, gazing with +horror at the spectacles around them, and wringing their hands in helpless +despair. When the light brightened they could see below them the angry +water, creeping every instant closer to their places of refuge, beaten +into foam by the terrible downpour, and sometimes, moved by a mysterious +impulse, rising in sweeping waves which threatened to carry everything +before them. + +Every few minutes one of the great structures would sway, crack, crumble, +and go down into the seething flood, the cries of the lost souls being +swallowed up in the thunder of the fall. And when this occurred within +sight of neighboring towers yet intact, men and women could be seen, some +with children in their arms, madly throwing themselves from windows and +ledges, seeking quick death now that hope was no more! + +Strange and terrible scenes were enacted in the neighborhood of what had +been the water-fronts. Most of the vessels moored there had been virtually +wrecked by the earlier invasion of the sea. Some had been driven upon the +shore, others had careened and been swamped at their wharves. But a few had +succeeded in cutting loose in time to get fairly afloat. Some tried to go +out to sea, but were wrecked by running against obstacles, or by being +swept over the Jersey flats. Some met their end by crashing into the +submerged pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Others steered up the course +of the Hudson River, but that had become a narrow sea, filled with floating +and tossing debris of every sort, and all landmarks being invisible, the +luckless navigators lost their way, and perished, either through collisions +with other vessels, or by driving upon a rocky shore. + +The fate of the gigantic building containing the offices of the municipal +government, which stood near the ancient City Hall, and which had been the +culminating achievement of the famous epoch of "sky-scrapers," was a thing +so singular, and at the same time dramatic, that in a narrative dealing +with less extraordinary events than we are obliged to record it would +appear altogether incredible. + +With its twoscore lofty stories, and its massive base, this wonderful +structure rose above the lower quarter of the city, and dominated it, like +a veritable Tower of Babel, made to defy the flood. Many thousands of +people evidently regarded it in that very light, and they had fled from all +quarters, as soon as the great downpour began, to find refuge within its +mountainous flanks. There were men--clerks, merchants, brokers from the +downtown offices--and women and children from neighboring tenements. + +By good chance, but a few weeks before, this building had been fitted with +a newly invented system of lighting, by which each story was supplied with +electricity from a small dynamo of its own, and so it happened that now the +lamps within were all aglow, lightening the people's hearts a little with +their cheering radiance. + +Up and up they climbed, the water ever following at their heels, from floor +to floor, until ten of the great stages were submerged. But there were more +than twice as many stages yet above, and they counted them with unexpiring +hope, telling one another, with the assurance of desperation, that long +before the flood could attain so stupendous an altitude the rain would +surely cease, and the danger, as far as they were concerned, would pass +away. + +"See! See!" cries one. "It is stopping! It is coming no higher! I've been +watching that step, and the water has stopped! It hasn't risen for ten +minutes!" + +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" yells the crowd behind and above. And the glad cry is +taken up and reverberated from story to story until it bursts wildly out +into the rain-choked air at the very summit. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! We are saved! The flood has stopped!" + +Men madly embrace each other. Women burst into tears and hug their children +to their breasts, filled with a joy and thankfulness that can find no +expression in words. + +"You are wrong," says another man, crouching beside him who first spoke. +"It has not stopped--it is still rising." + +"_What_! I tell you it _has_ stopped," snaps the other. "Look at that step! +It stopped right below it." + +"_You've been watching the wrong step_. It's rising!" + +"You fool! Shut your mouth! I say it has _stopped_." + +"No, it has not." + +"It has! It has!" + +"Look at _that_ step, then! See the water just now coming over it." + +The obstinate optimist stares a moment, turns pale, and then, with an oath, +strikes his more clear-headed neighbor in the face! And the excited crowd +behind, with the blind instinctive feeling that, somehow, he has robbed +them of the hope which was but now as the breath of life to them, strike +him and curse him, too. + +But he had seen only too clearly. + +With the steady march of fate--two inches a minute, as Cosmo Versal had +accurately measured it--the water still advances and climbs upward. + +In a little while they were driven to another story, and then to another. +But hope would not down. They could not believe that the glad news, which +had so recently filled them with joy, was altogether false. The water +_must_ have stopped rising _once_; it had been _seen_. Then, it would +surely stop _again_, stop to rise no more. + +Poor deluded creatures! With the love of life so strong within them, they +could not picture, in their affrighted minds, the terrible consummation to +which they were being slowly driven, when, jammed into the narrow chambers +at the very top of the mighty structure, their remorseless enemy would +seize them at last. + +But they were nearer the end than they could have imagined even if they had +accepted and coolly reasoned upon the facts that were so plain before them. +And, after all, it was not to come upon them only after they had fought +their way to the highest loft and into the last corner. + +A link of this strange chain of fatal events now carries us to the spot +where the United States Navy Yard in Brooklyn once existed. That place was +sunk deep beneath the waters. All of the cruisers, battleships, and other +vessels that had been at anchor or at moorings there had gone under. One +only, the boast of the American navy, the unconquerable _Uncle Sam_, which, +in the last great war that the world had known, had borne the starry flag +to victories whose names broke men's voices and filled their eyes with +tears of pride, had escaped, through the incomparable seamanship of Captain +Robert Decatur, who had been her commander for thirty years. + +But though the _Uncle Sam_ managed to float upon the rising flood, she +was unable to get away because of the obstructions lodged about the great +bridges that spanned the East River. A curious eddy that the raging +currents formed over what was once the widest part of that stream kept +her revolving round and round, never departing far in any direction, +and, with majestic strength, riding down or brushing aside the floating +timbers, wooden houses, and other wreckage that pounded furiously against +her mighty steel sides. + +Just at the time when the waters had mounted to the eighteenth story of the +beleaguered Municipal Building, a sudden change occurred in these currents. +They swept westward with resistless force, and the _Uncle Sam_ was +carried directly over the drowned city. First she encountered the cables of +the Manhattan Bridge, striking them near the western tower, and, swinging +round, wrenched the tower itself from its foundations and hurled it beneath +the waters. + +Then she rushed on, riding with the turbid flood high above the buried +roofs, finding no other obstruction in her way until she approached the +Municipal Building, which was stoutly resisting the push of the waves. + + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT BATTLESHIP... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE +STEEL-RIBBED WALLS"] + + +Those who were near the windows and on the balconies, on the eastern side +of the building, saw the great battleship coming out of the gray gloom +like some diluvian monster, and before they could comprehend what it was, +it crashed, prow on, into the steel-ribbed walls, driving them in as if +they had been the armored sides of an enemy. + +So tremendous was the momentum of the striking mass that the huge vessel +passed, like a projectile, through walls and floors and partitions. But as +she emerged in the central court the whole vast structure came thundering +down upon her, and ship and building together sank beneath the boiling +waves. + +But out of the awful tangle of steel girders, that whipped the air and the +water as if some terrible spidery life yet clung to them, by one of those +miracles of chance which defy all the laws of probability and reason, a +small boat of levium, that had belonged to the _Uncle Sam_, was cast forth, +and floated away, half submerged but unsinkable; and clinging to its +thwarts, struggling for breath, insane with terror, were two men, the sole +survivors of all those thousands. + +One of them was a seaman who had taken refuge, with a crowd of comrades, +in the boat before the battleship rushed down upon the building. All of +his comrades had been hurled out and lost when the blow came, while his +present companion was swept in and lodged against the thwarts. And so +those two waifs drove off in the raging waves. Both of them were bleeding +from many wounds, but they had no fatal hurts. + +The boat, though filled with water, was so light that it could not sink. +Moreover, it was ballasted, and amid all its wild gyrations it kept right +side up. Even the ceaseless downpour from the sky could not drive it +beneath the waves. + +After a while the currents that had been setting westward changed their +direction, and the boat was driven toward the north. It swept on past +toppling skyscrapers until it was over the place where Madison Square once +spread its lawns, looked down upon by gigantic structures, most of which +had now either crumbled and disappeared or were swaying to their fall. Here +there was an eddy, and the boat turned round and round amid floating debris +until two other draggled creatures, who had been clinging to floating +objects, succeeded by desperate efforts in pulling themselves into it. +Others tried but failed, and no one lent a helping hand. Those who were +already in the boat neither opposed nor aided the efforts of those who +battled to enter it. No words were heard in the fearful uproar--only +inarticulate cries. + +Suddenly the current changed again, and the boat, with its dazed occupants, +was hurried off in the direction of the Hudson. Night was now beginning +once more to drop an obscuring curtain over the scene, and under that +curtain the last throes of drowning New York were hidden. When the sun +again faintly illuminated the western hemisphere the whole Atlantic +seaboard was buried under the sea. + +As the water rose higher, Cosmo Versal's Ark at last left its cradle, and +cumbrously floated off, moving first eastward, then turning in the +direction of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Cosmo had his engines in operation, +but their full power was not developed as soon as he had expected, and +the great vessel drifted at the will of the currents and the wind, the +latter coming now from one side and now from another, rising at times to +hurricane strength and then dying away until only a spanking breeze swept +the ever-falling rain into swishing sheets. Occasionally the wind failed +entirely, and for many minutes at a time the water fell in vertical +streams. + +At length the motive power of the Ark was developed, and it began to obey +its helm. From the shelter of a "captain's bridge," constructed at the +forward end of the huge levium dome that covered the vessel, Cosmo Versal, +with Captain Arms, a liberally bewhiskered, veteran navigator in whose +skill he confided, peered over the interminable waste of waters. There was +nothing in sight except floating objects that had welled up from the +drowned city and the surrounding villages. Here and there the body of an +animal or a human being was seen in the tossing waves, and Cosmo Versal +sadly shook his head as he pointed them out, but the stout mariner at his +side chewed his tobacco, and paid attention only to his duties, shouting +orders from time to time through a speaking-tube, or touching an electric +button. + +Cosmo Versal brought a rain-gage and again and again allowed it to fill +itself. The story was always the same--two inches per minute, ten feet per +hour, the water mounted. + +The nebula had settled down to regular work, and, if Cosmo's calculations +were sound, there would be no intermission for four months. + +After the power of the propellers had been developed the Ark was steered +southeastward. Its progress was very slow. In the course of eight hours +it had not gone more than fifty miles. The night came on, and the speed +was reduced until there was only sufficient way to insure the command of +the vessel's movements. Powerful searchlights were employed as long as +the stygian darkness continued. + +With the return of the pallid light, at what should have been daybreak, +Cosmo and his navigator were again at their post. In fact, the former +had not slept at all, keeping watch through the long hours, with +Captain Arms within easy call. + +As the light became stronger, Cosmo said to the captain: + +"Steer toward New York. I wish to see if the last of the tall buildings on +the upper heights have gone under." + +"It will be very dangerous to go that way," objected Captain Arms. "There +are no landmarks, and we may strike a snag." + +"Not if we are careful," replied Cosmo. "All but the highest ground is now +buried very deep." + +"It is taking a fool's risk," growled Captain Arms, through his brush, but +nevertheless he obeyed. + +It was true that they had nothing to go by. The air was too thick with +water, and the light too feeble for them to be able to lay their course +by sighting the distant hills of New Jersey which yet remained above the +level of the flood. Still, by a kind of seaman's instinct, Captain Arms +made his way, until he felt that he ought to venture no farther. He had +just turned to Cosmo Versal with the intention of voicing his protest +when the Ark careened slightly, shivered from stem to stern, and then +began a bumping movement that nearly threw the two men from their feet. + +"We are aground!" cried the captain, and instantly turned a knob that set +in motion automatic machinery which cut off the engines from the +propellers, and at the same time slowed down the engines themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + +The Ark had lodged on the loftiest part of the Palisades. It was only after +long and careful study of their position, rendered possible by occasional +glimpses of the Orange Hills and high points further up the course of the +Hudson, that Cosmo Versal and Captain Arms were able to reach that +conclusion. Where New York had stood nothing was visible but an expanse of +turbid and rushing water. + +But suppose the hard trap rocks had penetrated the bottom of the Ark! It +was a contingency too terrible to be thought of. Yet the facts must be +ascertained at once. + +Cosmo, calling Joseph Smith, and commanding him to go among the frightened +passengers and assure them, in his name, that there was no danger, hurried, +with the captain and a few trusty men, into the bowels of the vessel. They +thoroughly sounded the bottom plates. No aperture and no indentation was +to be found. + +But, then, the bottom was double, and the outer plates might have been +perforated. If this had happened the fact would reveal itself through the +leakage of water into the intervening space. To ascertain if that had +occurred it was necessary to unscrew the covers of some of the manholes in +the inner skin of levium. + +It was an anxious moment when they cautiously removed one of these covers. +At the last turns of the screw the workman who handled it instinctively +turned his head aside, and made ready for a spring, more than half +expecting that the cover would be driven from his hands, and a stream of +water would burst in. + +But the cover remained in place after it was completely loosened, and until +it had been lifted off. A sigh of relief broke from every breast. No water +was visible. + +"Climb in there, and explore the bottom," Cosmo commanded. + +There was a space of eighteen inches between the two bottoms, which were +connected and braced by the curved ribs of the hull. A man immediately +disappeared in the opening and began the exploration. Cosmo ordered the +removal of other covers at various points, and the exploration was extended +over the whole bottom. He himself passed through one of the manholes and +aided in the work. + +At last it was determined, beyond any doubt, that even the outer skin was +uninjured. Not so much as a dent could be found in it. + +"By the favor of Providence," said Cosmo Versal, as his great head emerged +from a manhole, "the Ark has touched upon a place where the rocks are +covered with soil, and no harm has come to us. In a very short time the +rising water will lift us off." + +"And, with my consent, you'll do no more navigating over hills and +mountains," grumbled Captain Arms. "The open sea for the sailor." + +The covers were carefully replaced, and the party, in happier spirits, +returned to the upper decks, where the good news was quickly spread. + +The fact was that while the inspection was under way the Ark had floated +off, and when Cosmo and the captain reached their bridge the man who had +been left in charge reported that the vessel had swung halfway round. + +"She's headed for the old Atlantic," sung out Captain Arms. "The sooner +we're off the better." + +But before the captain could signal the order to go ahead, Cosmo Versal +laid his hand on his arm and said: + +"Wait a moment; listen." + +Through the lashing of the rain a voice penetrated with a sound between a +call and a scream. There could be no doubt that it was human. The captain +and Cosmo looked at one another in speechless astonishment. The idea that +any one outside the Ark could have survived, and could now be afloat amid +this turmoil of waters, had not occurred to their minds. They experienced +a creeping of the nerves. In a few minutes the voice came again, louder +than before, and the words that it pronounced being now clearly audible, +the two listeners could not believe their ears. + +"Cosmo Versal!" it yelled. "Cosmo-o-o Ver-sa-al! A billion for a share! A +_billion_, I say, a _bil-li-on_ for a share!" + +Then they perceived a little way off to the left something which looked +like the outline of a boat, sunk to the gunwales, washed over by every +wave; and standing in it, up to their waists in water, were four men, one +of whom was gesticulating violently, while the others seemed dazed and +incapable of voluntary movement. + +It was the boat of levium that had been thrown out of the wreckage when the +battleship ran down the Municipal tower, and we must now follow the thread +of its adventures up to the time of its encounter with the Ark. + +As the boat was driven westward from the drowned site of Madison Square it +gradually freed itself from the objects floating around, most of which soon +sunk, and in an hour or two its inmates were alone--the sole survivors of a +dense population of many millions. + +Alone they were in impenetrable darkness, for, as we have said, night had +by this time once more fallen. + +They floated on, half drowned, chilled to the bone, not trying to speak, +not really conscious of one another's presence. The rain beat down upon +them, the waves washed over them, the unsinkable boat sluggishly rose and +fell with the heaving of the water, and occasionally they were nearly flung +overboard by a sudden lurch--and yet they clung with desperate tenacity to +the thwarts, as if life were still dear, as if they thought that they might +yet survive, though the world was drowned. + +Thus hours passed, and at last a glimmer appeared in the streaming air, and +a faint light stole over the face of the water. If they saw one another, +it was with unrecognizing eyes. They were devoured with hunger, but they +did not know it. + +Suddenly one of them--it was he who had been so miraculously thrown into +the boat when it shot out of the tangle of falling beams and walls--raised +his head and threw up his arms, a wild light gleaming in his eyes. + +In a hoarse, screaming voice he yelled: + +"Cosmo Versal!" + +No other syllables that the tongue could shape would have produced the +effect of that name. It roused the three men who heard it from their +lethargy of despair, and thrilled them to the marrow. With amazed eyes they +stared at their companion. He did not look at them, but gazed off into the +thick rain. Again his voice rose in a maniacal shriek: + +"Cosmo Versal! Do you hear me? Let me in! A billion for a share!" + +The men looked at each other, and, even in their desperate situation, felt +a stir of pity in their hearts. They were not too dazed to comprehend that +their companion had gone mad. One of them moved to his side, and laid a +hand upon his shoulder, as if he would try to soothe him. + +But the maniac threw him off, nearly precipitating him over the side of +the submerged boat, crying: + +"What are _you_ doing in my boat? Overboard with you! I am looking for +Cosmo Versal! He's got the biggest thing afloat! Securities! Securities! +Gilt-edged! A _billion_, I tell you! Here I have them--look! Gilt-edged, +every one!" and he snatched a thick bundle of papers from his pocket and +waved them wildly until they melted into a pulpy mass with the downpour. + +The others now shrank away from him in fear. Fear? Yes, for still they +loved their lives, and the staggering support beneath their feet had become +as precious to them as the solid earth. They would have fought with the +fury of madmen to retain their places in that half-swamped shell. They were +still capable of experiencing a keener fear than that of the flood. They +were as terrified by the presence of this maniac as they would have been +on encountering him in their homes. + +But he did not attempt to follow them. He still looked off through the +driving rain, balancing himself to the sluggish lurching of the boat, and +continuing to rave, and shout, and shake his soaked bundle of papers, +until, exhausted by his efforts, and half-choked by the water that drove in +his face, he sank helpless upon a thwart. + +Then they fell back into their lethargy, but in a little while he was on +his feet again, gesticulating and raging--and thus hours passed on, and +still they were afloat, and still clinging to life. + +Suddenly, looming out of the strange gloom, they perceived the huge form of +the Ark, and all struggled to their feet, but none could find voice but the +maniac. + +As soon as he saw the men, Cosmo Versal had run down to the lowest deck, +and ordered the opening of a gangway on that side. When the door swung +back he found himself within a few yards of the swamped boat, but ten feet +above its level. Joseph Smith, Professor Moses, Professor Jones, Professor +Able, and others of the passengers, and several of the crew, hurried to his +side, while the rest of the passengers crowded as near as they could get. + +The instant that Cosmo appeared the maniac redoubled his cries. + +"Here they are," he yelled, shaking what remained of his papers. "A +billion--all gilt-edged! Let me in. But shut out the others. They're +only little fellows. They've got no means. They can't float an enterprise +like this. Ah, you're a bright one! You and me, Cosmo Versal--we'll +squeeze 'em all out. I'll give you the secrets. We'll own the earth! I'm +_Amos Blank!_" + +Cosmo Versal recognized the man in spite of the dreadful change that had +come over him. His face was white and drawn, his eyes staring, his head +bare, his hair matted with water, his clothing in shreds--but it was +unmistakably Amos Blank, a man whose features the newspapers had rendered +familiar to millions, a man who had for years stood before the public as +the unabashed representative of the system of remorseless repression of +competition, and shameless corruption of justice and legislation. After the +world, for nearly two generations, had enjoyed the blessings of the reforms +in business methods and social ideals that had been inaugurated by the +great uprising of the people in the first quarter of the twentieth +century, Amos Blank, and lesser men of his ilk, had swung back the +pendulum, and re-established more firmly than ever the reign of monopoly +and iniquitous privilege. + +The water-logged little craft floated nearer until it almost touched the +side of the Ark directly below the gangway. The madman's eyes glowed with +eagerness, and he reached up his papers, continually yelling his refrain: +"A billion! Gilt-edged! Let me in! Don't give the rabble a show!" + +Cosmo made no reply, but gazed down upon the man and his bedraggled +companions with impassive features, but thoughtful eyes. Any one who knew +him intimately, as Joseph Smith alone did, could have read his mind. He was +asking himself what he ought to do. Here was the whole fundamental question +to be gone over again. To what purpose had he taken so great pains to +select the flower of mankind? Here was the head and chief of the offense +that he had striven to eliminate appealing to him to be saved under +circumstances which went straight to the heart and awoke every sentiment of +humanity. + +Presently he said in as low a voice as could be made audible: + +"Joseph, advise me. What should I do?" + +"You were willing to take Professor Pludder," replied Smith evasively, but +with a plain leaning to the side of mercy. + +"You know very well that that was different," Cosmo returned irritably. +"Pludder was not morally rotten. He was only mistaken. He had the +fundamental scientific quality, and I'm sorry he threw himself away in +his obstinacy. But this man--" + +"Since he is _alone_," broke in Joseph Smith with a sudden illumination, +"he could do no harm." + +Cosmo Versal's expression instantly brightened. + +"You are right!" he exclaimed. "By himself he can do nothing. I am sure +there is no one aboard who would sympathize with his ideas. Alone, he is +innocuous. Besides, he's insane, and I can't leave him to drown in that +condition. And I must take the others, too. Let down a landing stage," he +continued in a louder voice, addressing some members of the crew. + +In a few minutes all four of the unfortunates, seeming more dead than live, +were helped into the Ark. + +Amos Blank immediately precipitated himself upon Cosmo Versal, and, seizing +him by the arm, tried to lead him apart, saying in his ear, as he glared +round upon the faces of the throng which crowded every available space. + +"Hist! Overboard with 'em! What's all this trash? Shovel 'em out! +They'll want to get in with us; they'll queer the game!" + +Then he turned furiously upon the persons nearest him, and began to push +them toward the open gangway. At a signal from Cosmo Versal, two men +seized him and pinioned his arms. At that his mood changed, and, +wrenching himself loose, he once more ran to Cosmo, waving his bedraggled +bundle, and shouting: + +"A billion! Here's the certificates--gilt-edge! But," he continued, with +a cunning leer, and suddenly thrusting the sodden papers into his pocket, +"you'll make out the receipts first. I'll put in _five_ billions to make +it a sure go, if you won't let in another soul." + +Cosmo shook off the man's grasp, and again calling the two members of the +crew who had before pinioned his arms, told them to lead him away, at the +same time saying to him: + +"You go with these men into my room. I'll see you later." + +Blank took it in the best part, and willingly accompanied his conductors, +only stopping a moment to wink over his shoulder at Cosmo, and then he +was led through the crowd, which regarded him with unconcealed +astonishment, and in many cases with no small degree of fear. As soon as +he was beyond earshot, Cosmo directed Joseph Smith to hurry ahead of the +party and conduct them to a particular apartment, which he designated at +the same time, saying to Smith: + +"Turn the key on him as soon as he's inside." + +Amos Blank, now an insane prisoner in Cosmo Versal's Ark, had been the +greatest financial power in the world's metropolis, a man of iron nerve and +the clearest of brains, who always kept his head and never uttered a +foolish word. It was he who had stood over the flight of steps in the +Municipal Building, coolly measuring with his eye the rise of the water, +exposing the terrible error that sent such a wave of unreasoning joy +through the hearts of the thousands of refugees crowded into the doomed +edifice, and receiving blows and curses for making the truth known. + +He had himself taken refuge there, after visiting his office and filling +his pockets with his most precious papers. How, by a marvelous stroke of +fate, he became one of the four persons who alone escaped from New York +after the downpour began is already known. + + +The other men taken from the boat were treated like rescued mariners +snatched from a wreck at sea. Every attention was lavished upon them, and +Cosmo Versal did not appear to regret, as far as they were concerned, that +his ship's company had been so unexpectedly recruited. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + +We now turn our attention for a time from the New World to the Old. What +did the thronging populations of Europe, Africa, and Asia do when the signs +of coming disaster chased one on another's heels, when the oceans began to +burst their bonds, and when the windows of the firmament were opened? + +The picture that can be drawn must necessarily be very fragmentary, +because the number who escaped was small and the records that they left +are few. + +The savants of the older nations were, in general, quite as incredulous +and as set in their opposition to Cosmo Versal's extraordinary out-givings +as those of America. They decried his science and denounced his +predictions as the work of a fool or a madman. The president of the Royal +Astronomical Society of Great Britain proved to the satisfaction of most +of his colleagues that a nebula could not possibly contain enough water +to drown an asteroid, let alone the earth. + +"The nebulae," said this learned astronomer, amid the plaudits of his +hearers, "are infinitely rarer in composition than the rarest gas left +in the receiver of an exhausted air-pump. I would undertake to swallow +from a wineglass the entire substance of any nebula that could enter the +space between the earth and the sun, if it were condensed into the liquid +state." + +"It might be intoxicating," called out a facetious member. + +"Will the chair permit me to point out," said another with great gravity, +"that such a proceeding would be eminently rash, for the nebulous fluid +might be highly poisonous." ["Hear! Hear!" and laughter.] + +"What do you say of this strange darkness and these storms?" asked an +earnest-looking man. (This meeting was held after the terrors of the +_third sign_ had occurred.) + +"I say," replied the president, "that that is the affair of the +Meteorological Society, and has nothing to do with astronomy. I dare say +that they can account for it." + +"And I dare say they can't," cried a voice. + +"Hear! Hear!" "Who are you?" "Put him out!" "I dare say he's right!" "Cosmo +Versal!" Everybody was talking at once. + +"Will this gentleman identify himself?" asked the president. "Will he +please explain his words?" + +"That I will," said a tall man with long whiskers, rising at the rear end +of the room. "I am pretty well known. I----" + +"It's Jameson, the astrologer," cried a voice. "What's _he_ doing here?" + +"Yes," said the whiskered man, "it's Jameson, the astrologer, and he has +come here to let you know that Cosmo Versal was born under the sign Cancer, +the first of the watery triplicity, and that Berosus, the Chaldean, +declared----" + +An uproar immediately ensued; half the members were on their feet at once; +there was a scuffle in the back part of the room, and Jameson, the +astrologer, was hustled out, shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Berosus, the Chaldean, predicted that the world would be drowned when +all the planets should assemble in the sign Cancer--_and where are they +now?_ Blind and stupid dolts that you are--_where are they now?"_ + +It was some time before order could be restored, and a number of members +disappeared, having followed Jameson, the astrologer, possibly through +sympathy, or possibly with a desire to learn more about the prediction of +Berosus, the father of astrology. + +When those who remained, and who constituted the great majority of the +membership, had quieted down, the president remarked that the interruption +which they had just experienced was quite in line with all the other +proceedings of the disturbers of public tranquillity who, under the lead +of a crazy American charlatan, were trying to deceive the ignorant +multitude. But they would find themselves seriously in error if they +imagined that their absurd ideas were going to be "taken over" in England. + +"I dare say," he concluded, "that there is some _scheme_ behind it all." + +"Another American 'trust'!" cried a voice. + +The proceedings were finally brought to an end, but not before a modest +member had risen in his place and timidly remarked that there was one +question that he would like to put to the chair--one thing that did not +seem to have been made quite clear--"Where _were_ the planets now?" + +A volley of hoots, mingled with a few "hears!" constituted the only +reply. + +Scenes not altogether unlike this occurred in the other great learned +societies--astronomical, meteorological, and geological. The official +representatives of science were virtually unanimous in condemnation of +Cosmo Versal, and in persistent assertion that nothing that had occurred +was inexplicable by known laws. But in no instance did they make it clear +to anybody precisely what were the laws that they invoked, or how it +happened that Cosmo Versal had been able to predict so many strange things +which everybody knew really had come to pass, such as the sudden storms and +the great darkness. + +We are still, it must not be forgotten, dealing with a time anterior to the +rising of the sea. + +The Paris Academy of Sciences voted that the subject was unworthy of +serious investigation, and similar action was taken at Berlin, St. +Petersburg, Vienna, and elsewhere. + +But among the people at large universal alarm prevailed, and nothing was +so eagerly read as the dispatches from New York, detailing the proceedings +of Cosmo Versal, and describing the progress of his great levium ark. In +England many procured copies of Cosmo's circulars, in which the proper +methods to be pursued in the construction of arks were carefully set forth. +Some set to work to build such vessels; but, following British methods of +construction, they doubled the weight of everything, with the result that, +if Cosmo had seen what they were about he would have told them that such +arks would go to the bottom faster than to the top. + +In Germany the balloon idea took full possession of the public mind. +Germany had long before developed the greatest fleet of dirigible balloons +in existence, preferring them to every other type of flying apparatus. It +was reported that the Kaiser was of the opinion that if worst came to worst +the best manner of meeting the emergency would be by the multiplication of +dirigibles and the increase of their capacity. + +The result was that a considerable number of wealthy Germans began the +construction of such vessels. But when interviewed they denied that they +were preparing for a flood. They said that they simply wished to enlarge +and increase the number of their pleasure craft, after the example of the +Kaiser. All this was in contemptuous defiance of the warning which Cosmo +Versal had been careful to insert in his circulars, that "balloons and +aeros of all kinds will be of no use whatever; the only safety will be +found in arks, and they must be provisioned for at least five years." + +The most remarkable thing of all happened in France. It might naturally +have been expected that a Frenchman who thought it worth his while to take +any precautions against the extinction of the human race would, when it +became a question of a flood, have turned to the aero, for from the +commencement of aerial navigation French engineers had maintained an +unquestionable superiority in the construction and perfection of that kind +of machine. + +Their aeros could usually fly longer and carry more dead weight than those +of any other nation. In the transoceanic aero races which occasionally took +place the French furnished the most daring and the most frequently +successful competitors. + +But the French mind is masterly in appreciation of details, and Cosmo +Versal's reasons for condemning the aero and the balloon as means of +escaping the flood were promptly divined. In the first place it was seen +that no kind of airship could be successfully provisioned for a flight of +indefinite length, and in the second place the probable strength of the +winds, or the crushing weight of the descending water, in case, as Cosmo +predicted, a nebula should condense upon the earth, would either sweep an +aero or a balloon to swift destruction, or carry it down into the waves +like a water-soaked butterfly. + +Accordingly, when a few Frenchmen began seriously to consider the +question of providing a way of escape from the flood--always supposing, for +the sake of argument, that there would be a flood--they got together, under +the leadership of an engineer officer named Yves de Beauxchamps, and +discussed the matter in all its aspects. They were not long in arriving at +the conclusion that the best and most logical thing that could possibly be +done would be to construct a _submarine_. + +In fact, this was almost an inevitable conclusion for them, because before +the abandonment of submarines in war on account of their _too_ great +powers of destruction--a circumstance which had also led to the prohibition +of the use of explosive bombs in the aerial navies--the French had held +the lead in the construction and management of submersible vessels, even +more decisively than in the case of aeros. + +"A large submarine," said De Beauxchamps, "into whose construction a +certain amount of levium entered, would possess manifest advantages over +Versal's Ark. It could be provisioned to any extent desired, it would +escape the discomforts of the waves, winds, and flooding rain, and it +could easily rise to the surface whenever that might be desirable for +change of air. It would have all the amphibious advantages of a whale." + +The others were decidedly of De Beauxchamps's opinion, and it was +enthusiastically resolved that a vessel of this kind should be begun at +once. + +"If we don't need it for a flood," said De Beauxchamps, "we can employ it +for a pleasure vessel to visit the wonders of the deep. We will then make +a reality of that marvelous dream of our countryman of old, that prince of +dreamers, Jules Verne." + +"Let's name it for him!" cried one. + +"Admirable! Charming!" they all exclaimed. "_Vive le 'Jules Verne'!_" + +Within two days, but without the knowledge of the public, the keel of the +submersible _Jules Verne_ was laid. But we shall hear of that remarkable +craft again. + +While animated, and in some cases violent, discussions were taking place +in the learned circles of Europe, and a few were making ready in such +manner as they deemed most effective for possible contingencies, waves of +panic swept over the remainder of the Old World. There were yet hundreds +of millions in Africa and Asia to whom the advantages of scientific +instruction had not extended, but who, while still more or less under the +dominion of ignorance and superstition, were in touch with the _news_ of +the whole planet. + +The rumor that a wise man in America had discovered that the world was +to be drowned was not long in reaching the most remote recesses of the +African forests and of the boundless steppes of the greater continent, +and, however it might be ridiculed or received with skeptical smiles in +the strongholds of civilization, it met with ready belief in less +enlightened minds. + +Then, the three "signs"--the first great heat, the onslaught of storm and +lightning, and the _Noche Triste_, the great darkness--had been world-wide +in their effects, and each had heightened the terror caused by its +predecessor. Moreover, in the less enlightened parts of the world the +reassurances of the astronomers and others did not penetrate at all, or, +if they did, had no effect, for not only does bad news run while good news +walks, but it talks faster. + +It will be recalled that one of the most disquieting incidents in America, +immediately preceding the catastrophal rising of the oceans, was the +melting of the Arctic snows and ice-fields, with consequent inundations +in the north. This stage in the progress of the coming disaster was +accentuated in Europe by the existence of the vast glaciers of the Alps. +The Rocky Mountains, in their middle course, had relatively little snow and +almost no true glaciers, and consequently there were no scenes of this kind +in the United States comparable with those that occurred in the heart of +Europe. + +After the alarm caused by the great darkness in September had died out, and +the long spell of continuous clear skies began, the summer resorts of +Switzerland were crowded as they had seldom been. People were driven there +by the heat, for one thing; and then, owing to the early melting of the +winter's deposit of snow, the Alps presented themselves in a new aspect. + +Mountain-climbers found it easy to make ascents upon peaks which had always +hitherto presented great difficulties on account of the vast snow-fields, +seamed with dangerous crevasses, which hung upon their flanks. These were +now so far removed that it was practicable for amateur climbers to go where +always before only trained Alpinists, accompanied by the most experienced +guides, dared to venture. + +But as the autumn days ran on and new snows fell, the deep-seated glaciers +began to dissolve, and masses of ice that had lain for untold centuries in +the mighty laps of the mountains, projecting frozen noses into the valleys, +came tumbling down, partly in the form of torrents of water and partly in +roaring avalanches. + +The great Aletsch glacier was turned into a river that swept down into the +valley of the Rhone, carrying everything before it. The glaciers at the +head of the Rhone added their contribution. The whole of the Bernese +Oberland seemed to have suddenly been dissolved like a huge mass of sugar +candy, and on the north the valley of Interlaken was inundated, while the +lakes of Thun and Brientz were lost in an inland sea which rapidly spread +over all the lower lands between the Alps and the Swiss Jura. + +Farther east the Rhine, swollen by the continual descent of the glacier +water, burst its banks, and broadened out until Strasburg lay under water +with the finger of its ancient cathedral helplessly pointing skyward out +of the midst of the flood. All the ancient cities of the great valley from +Basle to Mayence saw their streets inundated and the foundations of their +most precious architectural monuments undermined by the searching water. + +The swollen river reared back at the narrow pass through the Taunus range, +and formed a huge eddy that swirled over the old city of Bingen. Then it +tore down between the castle-crowned heights, sweeping away the villages +on the river banks from Bingen to Coblentz, lashing the projecting rocks +of the Lorelei, and carrying off houses, churches, and old abbeys in a +rush of ruin. + +It widened out as it approached Bonn and Cologne, but the water was still +deep enough to inundate those cities, and finally it spread over the plain +of Holland, finding a score of new mouths through which to pour into the +German Ocean, while the reclaimed area of the Zuyder Zee once more joined +the ocean, and Amsterdam and the other cities of the Netherlands were +buried, in many cases to the tops of the house doors. + +West and south the situation was the same. The Mer de Glace at Chamonix, +and all the other glaciers of the Mont Blanc range, disappeared, sending +floods down to Geneva and over the Dauphiny and down into the plains of +Piedmont and Lombardy. The ruin was tremendous and the loss of life +incalculable. Geneva, Turin, Milan, and a hundred other cities, were +swept by torrents. + +The rapidity of this melting of the vast snow-beds and glaciers of the +Alps was inconceivable, and the effect of the sudden denudation upon the +mountains themselves was ghastly. Their seamed and cavernous sides stood +forth, gaunt and naked, a revelation of Nature in her most fearful aspects +such as men had never looked upon. Mont Blanc, without its blanket of snow +and ice, towered like the blackened ruin of a fallen world, a sight that +made the beholders shudder. + +But this flood ended as suddenly as it had begun. When the age-long +accumulations of snow had all melted the torrents ceased to pour down from +the mountains, and immediately the courageous and industrious inhabitants +of the Netherlands began to repair their broken dikes, while in Northern +Italy and the plains of Southeastern France every effort was made to +repair the terrible losses. + +Of course similar scenes had been enacted, and on even a more fearful +scale, in the plains of India, flooded by the melting of the enormous icy +burden that covered the Himalayas, the "Abode of Snow." And all over the +world, wherever icy mountains reared themselves above inhabited lands, +the same story of destruction and death was told. + +Then, after an interval, came the yet more awful invasion of the sea. + +But few details can be given from lack of records. The Thames roared +backward on its course, and London and all central England were inundated. +A great bore of sea-water swept along the shores of the English Channel, +and bursting through the Skager Rack, covered the lower end of Sweden, and +rushed up the Gulf of Finland, burying St. Petersburg, and turning all +Western Russia, and the plains of Pomerania into a sea. The Netherlands +disappeared. The Atlantic poured through the narrow pass of the Strait of +Gibraltar, leaving only the Lion Rock visible above the waves. + +At length the ocean found its way into the Desert of Sahara, large +areas of which had been reclaimed, and were inhabited by a considerable +population of prosperous farmers. Nowhere did the sudden coming of the +flood cause greater consternation than here--strange as that statement +may seem. The people had an undefined idea that they were protected by a +sort of barrier from any possible inundation. + +It had taken so many years and such endless labor to introduce into the +Sahara sufficient water to transform its potentially rich soil into arable +land that the thought of any sudden superabundance of that element was far +from the minds of the industrious agriculturalists. They had heard of the +inundations caused by the melting of the mountain snows elsewhere, but +there were no snow-clad mountains near them to be feared. + +Accordingly, when a great wave of water came rushing upon them, surmounted, +where it swept over yet unredeemed areas of the desert, by immense clouds +of whirling dust, that darkened the air and recalled the old days of the +simoom, they were taken completely by surprise. But as the water rose +higher they tried valiantly to escape. They were progressive people, and +many of them had aeros. Besides, two or three lines of aero expresses +crossed their country. All who could do so immediately embarked in +airships, some fleeing toward Europe, and others hovering about, gazing +in despair at the spreading waters beneath them. + +As the invasion of the sea grew more and more serious, this flight by +airship became a common spectacle over all the lower-lying parts of Europe, +and in the British Isles. But, in the midst of it, the heavens opened their +flood-gates, as they had done in the New World, and then the aeros, flooded +with rain, and hurled about by contending blasts of wind, drooped, +fluttered, and fell by hundreds into the fast mounting waves. The nebula +was upon them! + +In the meantime those who had provided arks of one kind or another, tried +desperately to get them safely afloat. All the vessels that succeeded in +leaving their wharves were packed with fugitives. Boats of every sort were +pressed into use, and the few that survived were soon floating over the +sites of the drowned homes of their occupants. + +Before it was too late Yves de Beauxchamps and his friends launched their +submarine, and plunged into the bosom of the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + +We return to follow the fortunes of Cosmo Versal's Ark. + +After he had so providentially picked up the crazed billionaire, Amos +Blank, and his three companions, Cosmo ordered Captain Arms to bear away +southeastward, bidding farewell to the drowned shores of America, and +sailing directly over the lower part of Manhattan, and western Long +Island. The navigation was not easy, and if the Ark had not been a +marvelously buoyant vessel it would not long have survived. At the +beginning the heavy and continuous rain kept down the waves, and the +surface of the sea was comparatively smooth, but after a while a curious +phenomenon began to be noticed; immense billows would suddenly appear, +rushing upon the Ark now from one direction and now from another, canting +it over at a dangerous angle, and washing almost to the top of the huge +ellipsoid of the dome. At such times it was difficult for anybody to +maintain a footing, and there was great terror among the passengers. But +Cosmo, and stout Captain Arms, remained at their post, relieving one +another at frequent intervals, and never entrusting the sole charge of +the vessel to any of their lieutenants. + +Cosmo Versal himself was puzzled to account for the origin of the mighty +billows, for it seemed impossible that they could be raised by the wind +notwithstanding the fact that it blew at times with hurricane force. But +at last the explanation came of itself. + +Both Cosmo and the captain happened to be on the bridge together when they +saw ahead something that looked like an enormous column as black as ink, +standing upright on the surface of the water. A glance showed that it was +in swift motion, and, more than that, was approaching in a direct line +toward the Ark. In less than two minutes it was upon them. + +The instant that it met the Ark a terrific roaring deafened them, and the +rounded front of the dome beneath their eyes disappeared under a deluge of +descending water so dense that the vision could not penetrate it. In +another half minute the great vessel seemed to have been driven to the +bottom of the sea. But for the peculiar construction of the shelter of the +bridge its occupants would have been drowned at their posts. As it was they +were soaked as if they had been plunged overboard. Impenetrable darkness +surrounded them. + +But the buoyant vessel shook itself, rolled from side to side, and rose +with a staggering motion until it seemed to be poised on the summit of a +watery mountain. Immediately the complete darkness passed, the awful +downpour ceased, although the rain still fell in torrents, and the Ark +began to glide downward with sickening velocity, as if it were sliding +down a liquid slope. + +It was a considerable time before the two men, clinging to the supports of +the bridge, were able to maintain their equilibrium sufficiently to render +it possible to utter a few connected words. As soon as he could speak with +reasonable comfort Cosmo exclaimed: + +"Now I see what it is that causes the billows, but it is a phenomenon that +I should never have anticipated. It is all due to the nebula. Evidently +there are irregularities of some kind in its constitution which cause the +formation of almost solid masses of water in the atmosphere--suspended +lakes, as it were--which then plunge down in a body as if a hundred +thousand Niagaras were pouring together from the sky. + +"These sudden accessions of water raise stupendous waves which sweep off +in every direction, and that explains the billows that we have +encountered." + +"Well, this nebular navigation beats all my experience," said Captain Arms, +wiping the water out of his eyes. "I was struck by a waterspout once in +the Indian Ocean, and I thought that that capped the climax, but it was +only a catspaw to this. Give me a clear offing and I don't care how much +wind blows, but blow me if I want to get under any more lakes in the sky." + +"We'll have to take whatever comes," returned Cosmo, "but I don't think +there is much danger of running directly into many of these downpours as +we did into this one. Now that we know what they are, we can, perhaps, +detect them long enough in advance to steer out of their way. Anyhow, +we've got a good vessel under our feet. Anything but an ark of levium +would have gone under for good, and if I had not covered the vessel with +the dome there would have been no chance for a soul in her." + +As a matter of fact, the Ark did not encounter any more of the columns of +descending water, but the frequent billows that were met showed that they +were careering over the face of the swollen sea in every direction. + +But there was another trouble of a different nature. The absence of sun +and stars deprived them of the ordinary means of discovering their place. +They could only make a rough guess as to the direction in which they were +going. The gyrostatic compasses gave them considerable assistance, and +they had perfect chronometers, but these latter could be of no use without +celestial observations of some kind. + +At length Cosmo devised a means of obtaining observations that were of +sufficient value to partially serve their purpose. He found that while +the disk of the sun was completely hidden in the watery sky, yet it was +possible to determine its location by means of the varying intensity of +the light. + +Where the sun was a concentrated glow appeared, shading gradually off on +all sides. With infinite pains Cosmo, assisted by the experience of the +captain, succeeded in determining the center of the maximum illumination, +and, assuming that to represent the true place of the sun, they got +something in the nature of observations for altitude and azimuth, and +Captain Arms even drew on his chart "Sumner lines" to determine the +position of the Ark, although he smiled at the thought of their absurd +inaccuracy. Still, it was the best they could do, and was better than +nothing at all. + +They kept a log going also, although, as the captain pointed out, it was +not of much use to know how fast they were traveling, since they could not +know the precise direction, within a whole point of the compass, or perhaps +several points. + +"Besides," he remarked, "what do we know of the currents? This is not the +old Atlantic. If I could feel the Gulf Stream I'd know whereabouts I was, +but these currents come from all directions, and a man might as well try +to navigate in a tub of boiling water." + +"But we can, at least, keep working eastward," said Cosmo. "My idea is +first to make enough southing to get into the latitude of the Sahara +Desert, and then run directly east, so as to cross Africa where there are +no mountains, and where we shall be certain of having plenty of water under +our keel. + +"Then, having got somewhere in the neighborhood of Suez, we can steer +down into the region of the Indian Ocean, and circle round south of the +Himalayas. I want to keep an eye on those mountains, and stay around the +place where they disappear, because that will be the first part of the +earth to emerge from the flood and it is there that we shall ultimately +make land." + +"Well, we're averaging eight knots," said the captain, "and at that rate +we ought to be in the longitude of the African coast in about twenty days. +How high will the water stand then?" + +"My gages show," replied Cosmo, "that the regular fall amounts to exactly +the same thing as at the beginning--two inches a minute. Of course the +spouts increase the amount locally, but I don't think that they add +materially to the general rise of the flood. Two inches per minute means +4,800 feet in twenty days. That'll be sufficient to make safe navigation +for us all the way across northern Africa. We'll have to be careful in +getting out into the Indian Ocean area, for there are mountains on both +sides that might give us trouble, but the higher ones will still be in +sight, and they will serve to indicate the location of the lower ranges +already submerged, but not covered deeply enough to afford safe going over +them." + +"All right," said Captain Arms, "you're the commodore, but if we don't +hang our timbers on the Mountains of the Moon, or the Alps, or old Ararat, +I'm a porpoise. Why can't you keep circling round at a safe distance, in +the middle of the Atlantic, until all these reefs get a good depth of +water on 'em?" + +"Because," Cosmo replied, "even if we keep right on now it will probably +take two months, allowing for delays in getting round dangerous places, +to come within sight of the Himalayas, and in two months the flood will +have risen nearly 15,000 feet, thus hiding many of the landmarks. If we +should hold off here a couple of months before starting eastward nothing +but the one highest peak on the globe would be left in sight by the time +we arrived there, and that wouldn't be anything more than a rock, so that +with the uncertainty of our navigation we might not be able to find it at +all. I must know the spot where Tibet sinks, and then manage to keep in +its neighborhood." + +That ended the argument. + +"Give me a safe port, with lights and bearings, and I'll undertake to hit +it anywhere in the two hemispheres, but blow me if I fancy steering for +the top of the world by dead reckoning, or no reckoning at all," grumbled +the captain. + +At night, of course, they had not even the slight advantage that their +observations of the probable place of the sun gave them when it was above +the horizon. Then they had to go solely by the indications of the compass. +Still, they forged steadily ahead, and when they got into what they deemed +the proper latitude, they ran for the site of the drowned Sahara. + +After about a week the billowing motion caused by the descent of the "lakes +in the sky" ceased entirely, to their great delight, but the lawless nebula +was now preparing another surprise for them. + +On the ninth night after their departure from their lodgment on the +Palisades Cosmo Versal was sleeping in his bunk close by the bridge, where +he could be called in an instant, dreaming perhaps of the glories of the +new world that was to emerge out of the deluge, when he was abruptly +awakened by the voice of Captain Arms, who appeared to be laboring under +uncontrollable excitement. + +"Tumble up quicker'n you ever did in your life!" he exclaimed, his big +brown beard wagging almost in Cosmo's face. "The flood's over!" + +Cosmo sprang out of bed and pulled on his coat in a second. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"Look for yourself," said the captain, pointing overhead. + +Cosmo Versal glanced up and saw the sky ablaze with stars! The rain had +entirely ceased. The surface of the sea was almost as smooth as glass, +though rising and falling slowly, with a long, rolling motion. The Ark +rode steadily, shivering, like an ocean liner, under the impulse of its +engines, and the sudden silence, succeeding the ceaseless roar of the +downpour, which had never been out of their ears from the start of the +voyage, seemed supernatural. + +"When did this happen?" he demanded. + +"It began not more than five minutes ago. I was just saying to myself that +we ought to be somewhere near the center of the old Atlantic as it used to +be, and wondering whether we had got our course laid right to go fairly +between the Canaries and the Cape de Verdes, for I didn't want to be +harpooned by Gogo or the Peak of Teneriffe, when all of a sudden there +came a lightening in the nor'east and the stars broke out there. + +"I was so set aback that I didn't do anything for two or three minutes but +stare at the stars. Then the rain stopped and a curtain seemed to roll off +the sky, and in a minute more it was clear down to the horizon all around. +Then I got my wits together and ran to call you." + +Cosmo glanced around and above, seeming to be as much astonished as the +captain had been. He rubbed his huge bald dome and looked all round again +before speaking. At last he said: + +"It's the nebula again. There must be a hole in it." + +"Its whole bottom's knocked out, I reckon," said the captain. "Maybe it's +run out of water--sort o' squeezed itself dry." + +Cosmo shook his head. + +"We are not yet in the heart of it," he said. "It is evident to me now that +what I took for the nucleus was only a close-coiled spiral, and we're run +out of that, but the worst is yet to come. When we strike the center, then +we'll catch it, and there'll be no more intermissions." + +"How long will that be?" inquired Captain Arms. + +"It may be a week, and it may be a month, though I hardly think it will be +so long as that. The earth is going about twelve miles a second--that's +more than a million miles a day--directly toward the center of the nebula. +It has taken ten days to go through the spiral that we have encountered, +making that about ten million miles thick. It's not likely that the gap +between this spiral and the nucleus of the nebula is more than thirty +million miles across, at the most; so you see we'll probably be in the +nucleus within a month, and possibly much less than a month." + +Captain Arms took a chew of tobacco. + +"We can get our bearings now," he remarked. "Look, there's the moon just +rising, and on my word, she is going to occult Aldebaran within an hour. +I'll get an observation for longitude, and another on Polaris for latitude. +No running on submerged mountains for us now." + +The captain was as good as his word, and when his observations had been +made and the calculations completed he announced that the position of the +Ark was: Latitude, 16 degrees 10 minutes north; longitude, 42 degrees 28 +minutes west. + +"Lucky for us," he exclaimed, "that the sky cleared. If we'd kept on as +we were going we'd have struck the Cape de Verdes, and if that had +happened at night we'd probably have left our bones on a drowning volcano. +We ought to have been ten or twelve degrees farther north to make a safe +passage over the Sahara. What's the course now? Are you still for running +down the Himalaya mountains?" + +"I'll decide later what to do," said Cosmo Versal. "Make your northing, +and then we'll cruise around a little and see what's best to be done." + +When day came on, brilliant with sunshine, and the astonished passengers, +hurrying out of their bunks, crowded about the now opened gangways and the +portholes, which Cosmo had also ordered to be opened, and gazed with +delight upon the smooth blue sea, the utmost enthusiasm took possession of +them. + +The flood was over! + +They were sure of it, and they shook hands with one another and +congratulated themselves and hurrahed, and gave cheers for the Ark and +cheers for Cosmo Versal. Then they began to think of their drowned homes +and of their lost friends, and sadness followed joy. Cosmo was mobbed by +eager inquiries wherever he made his appearance. + +Was it all over for good? Would the flood dry up in a few days? How long +would it be before New York would be free of water? Were they going right +back there? Did he think there was a chance that many had escaped in boats +and ships? Couldn't they pick up the survivors if they hurried back? + +Cosmo tried to check the enthusiasm. + +"It's too early for rejoicing," he assured them. "It's only a break in +the nebula. We've got a respite for a short time, but there's worse +coming. The drowning of the world will proceed. We are the only +survivors, except perhaps some of those who inhabited the highlands. +Everything less than 2,400 feet above the former level of the sea is now +under water. When the flood begins again it will keep on until it is +six miles deep over the old sea margins." + +"Why not go back and try to rescue those who you say may have found +safety on the highlands?" asked one. + +"I have chosen my company," he said, "and I had good reasons for the +choice I made. I have already added to the number, because simple humanity +compelled me, but I can take no more. The quantity of provisions aboard +the Ark is not greater than will be needed by ourselves. If the rest of +the world is drowned it is not my fault. I did my best to warn them. +Besides, we could do nothing in the way of rescue even if we should go +back for that purpose. We could not approach the submerged plateaus. We +would be aground before we got within sight of them." + +These words went far to change the current of feeling among the +passengers. When they learned that there would be danger for themselves +in the course that had been proposed their humanity proved to be less +strong than their desire for self-preservation. Nevertheless, as we shall +see, the Ark ultimately went back to America, though not for any reason +that had yet been suggested. + +Meanwhile the unexpected respite furnished by the sudden cessation of the +downpour from the sky had other important results, to which we now turn. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + +When Professor Abiel Pludder indited his savage response to Cosmo +Versal's invitation to become one of the regenerators of mankind by +embarking in the Ark, he was expressing his professional prejudice rather +than his intellectual conviction. As Cosmo had remarked, Pludder had a +good brain and great scientific acuteness, and, although he did not +believe in the nebular theory of a flood, and was obstinately opposed to +everything that was not altogether regular and according to recognized +authority in science, yet he could not shut his eyes to the fact that +something was going wrong in the machinery of the heavens. But it annoyed +him to find that his own explanations were always falsified by the event, +while Cosmo Versal seemed to have a superhuman foreglimpse of whatever +happened. + +His pride would not allow him to recede from the position that he had +taken, but he could not free himself from a certain anxiety about the +future. After he had refused Cosmo Versal's invitation, the course of +events strengthened this anxiety. He found that the official +meteorologists were totally unable to account for the marvelous vagaries +of the weather. + +Finally, when the news came of tremendous floods in the north, and of the +overflowing of Hudson Bay, he secretly determined to make some +preparations of his own. He still rejected the idea of a watery nebula, +but he began to think it possible that all the lowlands of the earth might +be overflowed by the sea, and by the melting of mountain snows and +glaciers, together with deluging rainfall. After what had passed, he could +not think of making any public confession of his change of heart, but his +sense of humanity compelled him to give confidential warning to his friends +that it would be well to be prepared to get on high ground at a moment's +notice. + +He was on the point of issuing, but without his signature, an official +statement cautioning the public against unprecedented inundations, when the +first tidal wave arrived on the Atlantic coast and rendered any utterance +of that kind unnecessary. People's eyes were opened, and now they would +look out for themselves. + +Pludder's private preparations amounted to no more than the securing of a +large express aero, in which, if the necessity for suddenly leaving +Washington should arise, he intended to take flight, together with +President Samson, who was his personal friend, and a number of other close +friends, with their families. He did not think that it would be necessary, +in any event, to go farther than the mountains of Virginia. + +The rising of the sea, mounting higher at each return, at length convinced +him that the time had come to get away. Hundreds of air craft had already +departed westward, not only from Washington, but from New York, +Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and other seaboard cities, before +Professor Pludder assembled his friends by telephone on the Capitol +grounds, where his aero was waiting. + +The lower streets of the city were under water from the overflow of the +Potomac, which was backed up by the influx of the Atlantic into Chesapeake +Bay, and the most distressing scenes were enacted there, people fleeing in +the utmost disorder toward higher ground, carrying their children and some +of their household goods, and uttering doleful cries. Many, thinking that +the best way to escape, embarked in frail boats on the river, which was +running up-stream with frightful velocity, and rising perceptibly higher +every second. Most of these boats were immediately overturned or swamped. + +If the start had been delayed but a little longer, the aero would have been +mobbed by the excited people, who uttered yells of disappointment and rage +when they saw it rise from its tower and sail over the city. It was the +last airship that left Washington, and it carried the last persons who +escaped from the national capital before the downpour from the atmosphere +began which put an end to all possibility of getting away. + +There were on board, in addition to a crew of three, twenty-two persons. +These included President Samson, with his wife and three children, seven +other men with their families, making, together, sixteen persons, and +Professor Pludder, who had no family. + +More because they wished to escape from the painful scenes beneath them +than because they deemed that there was any occasion for particular haste, +they started off at high speed, and it was probably lucky for them that +this speed was maintained after they had left Washington out of sight. +They rapidly approached the Blue Ridge in the neighborhood of Luray, and +Pludder was about to order a landing there as night was approaching, when +with great suddenness the sky filled with dense clouds and a tremendous +downpour began. This was the same phenomenon which has already been +described as following closely the attack at New York on Cosmo Versal's +Ark. + +The aero, luckily, was one of the best type, and well covered, so that they +were protected from the terrible force of the rain, but in the tumult there +could be no more thought of descending. It would have been impossible to +make a landing in the midst of the storm and the pouring water, which +rushed in torrents down the mountainside. Professor Pludder was a brave man +and full of resources when driven into a corner. Being familiar with the +construction and management of aeros, for he had been educated as an +engineer, he now took charge of the airship. + +Within twenty minutes after the sky had opened its batteries--for the rain +had almost the force of plunging shot--a mighty wind arose, and the aero, +pitching, tossing, and dipping like a mad thing, was driven with frightful +speed eastward. This wild rush continued for more than an hour. By this +time it was full night, and the pouring rain around them was as +impenetrable to the sight as a black wall. + +They had their electric lamps inside, and their searchlights, but it was +impossible to tell where they were. Pludder turned the searchlight +downward, but he could not make out the features of the ground beneath +them. It is likely that they were driven at least as far as Chesapeake Bay, +and they may have passed directly over Washington. + +At last, however, the wind slewed round, and began to blow with +undiminished violence from the northeast. Plunging and swerving, and +sometimes threatened with a complete somersault, the aero hurried away in +its crazy flight, while its unfortunate inmates clung to one another, and +held on by any object within reach, in the endeavor to keep from being +dashed against the metallic walls. + +The crew of the aero were picked men, but no experience could have +prepared them for the work which they now had to do. Without the ready +brain of Professor Pludder to direct their efforts, and without his +personal exertions, their aerial ship would have been wrecked within a +quarter of an hour after the storm struck it. He seemed transformed into +another person. Hatless and coatless, and streaming with water, he worked +like a demon. He was ready at each emergency with some device which, under +his direction, had the effect of magic. + +A hundred times the aero plunged for the ground, but was saved and turned +upward again just as it seemed on the point of striking. Up and down, +right and left, it ran and pitched and whirled, like a cork in a whirlpool. +Sometimes it actually skimmed the ground, plowing its way through a +torrent of rushing water, and yet it rose again and was saved from +destruction. + +This terrible contest lasted another hour after the turning of the wind, +and then the latter died out. Relieved from its pressure, the aero ran on +with comparative ease. Professor Pludder, suspecting that they might now +be getting into a mountainous district, made every effort to keep the +craft at a high elevation, and this, notwithstanding the depressing force +of the rain, they succeeded in doing. After the dying out of the wind they +kept on, by the aid of their propellers, in the same direction in which it +had been driving them, because, in the circumstances, one way was as good +as another. + +The terrible discomfort of the President and his companions in the cabin +of the aero was greatly relieved by the cessation of the wind, but still +they were in a most unfortunate state. The rain, driven by the fierce +blasts, had penetrated through every crevice, and they were drenched to +the skin. No one tried to speak, for it would have been almost impossible +to make oneself heard amid the uproar. They simply looked at one another +in dismay and prayed for safety. + +Professor Pludder, not now compelled to spend every moment in the +management of the craft, entered the cabin occasionally, pressed the hand +of the President, smiled encouragingly on the women and children, and did +all he could, in pantomime, to restore some degree of confidence. Inside, +the lights were aglow, but outside it was as dark as pitch, except where +the broad finger of the searchlight, plunging into the mass of tumbling +water, glittered and flashed. + +The awful night seemed endless, but at last a pale illumination appeared +in the air, and they knew that day had come. The spectacle of the skyey +deluge was now so terrible that it struck cold even to their already +benumbed hearts. The atmosphere seemed to have been turned into a mighty +cataract thundering down upon the whole face of the earth. Now that they +could see as well as hear, the miracle of the preservation of the aero +appeared incredible. + +As the light slowly brightened, Professor Pludder, constantly on the +outlook, caught a glimpse of a dark, misty object ahead. It loomed up so +suddenly, and was already so close, that before he could sufficiently +alter the course of the aero, it struck with such violence as to crush +the forward end of the craft and break one of the aeroplanes. Everybody +was pitched headforemost, those inside falling on the flooring, while +Pludder and the three men of the crew were thrown out upon a mass of +rocks. All were more or less seriously injured, but none was killed or +totally disabled. + +Pludder sprang to his feet, and, slipping and plunging amid the downpour, +managed to get back to the wreck and aid the President and the others to +get upon their feet. + +"We're lodged on a mountain!" he yelled. "Stay inside, under the shelter +of the roof!" + +The three men who, together with the professor, had been precipitated out +among the rocks, also scrambled in, and there they stood, or sat, the most +disconsolate and despairing group of human beings that ever the eye of an +overseeing Providence looked down upon. + +The President presented the most pitiable sight of all. Like the rest, +his garments were sopping, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was ghastly, +and his tall silk hat, which he had jammed down upon his brow, had been +softened by the water and crushed by repeated blows into the form of a +closed accordion. Of the women and children it is needless to speak; no +description could convey an idea of their condition. + +In these circumstances, the real strength of Professor Abiel Pludder's +mind was splendidly displayed. He did not lose his head, and he +comprehended the situation, and what it was necessary to do, in a flash. +He got out some provisions and distributed them to the company, in some +cases actually forcing them to eat. With his own hands he prepared coffee, +with the apparatus always carried by express aeros, and made them drink +it. + +When all had thus been refreshed he approached President Samson and +shouted in his ear: + +"We shall have to stay here until the downpour ceases. To guard against the +effects of a tempest, if one should arise, we must secure the aero in its +place. For that I need the aid of every man in the party. We have, +fortunately, struck in a spot on the mountain where we are out of the way +of the torrents of water that are pouring down through the ravines on +either side. We can make our lodgment secure, but we must go to work +immediately." + +Stimulated by his example, the President and the others set to work, and +with great difficulty, for they had to guard their eyes and nostrils from +the driving rain, which, sometimes, in spite of their precautions, nearly +smothered them, they succeeded in fastening the aero to the rocks by means +of metallic cables taken from its stores. When this work was finished they +returned under the shelter of the cabin roof and lay down exhausted. So +worn out were they that all of them quickly fell into a troubled sleep. + +It would be needless to relate in detail the sufferings, mental and +physical, that they underwent during the next ten days. While they were +hanging there on the mountain the seaboard cities of the world were +drowned, and Cosmo Versal's Ark departed on the remarkable voyage that has +been described in a former chapter. They had plenty of provisions, for the +aero had been well stored, but partly through precaution and partly because +of lack of appetite they ate sparingly. The electric generators of the aero +had not been injured in the wreck of the craft, and they were able to +supply themselves with sufficient heat, and with light inside the cabin at +night. + +Once they had a strange visitor--a half-drowned bear, which had +struggled up the mountain from its den somewhere below--but that was the +only living creature beside themselves that they saw. After gazing +wistfully at the aero from the top of a rock the poor bear, fighting the +choking rain with its soaked paws, stumbled into one of the torrents that +poured furiously down on each side, and was swept from their sight. + +Fortunately, the wind that they had anticipated did not come, but +frequently they saw or heard the roaring downpours of solid watery +columns like those that had so much astonished Cosmo Versal and Captain +Arms in the midst of the Atlantic, but none came very near them. + +Professor Pludder ventured out from time to time, clambering a little way +up and down the projecting ridge of the mountain on which they were lodged, +and at length was able to assure his companions that they were on the +northwestern face of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak of the Appalachian +range. With the aid of his pocket aneroid, making allowance for the +effect of the lifting of the whole atmosphere by the flood, and summoning +his knowledge of the locality--for he had explored, in former years, all +the mountains in this region--he arrived at the conclusion that their +place of refuge was elevated about four thousand feet above the former +level of the sea. + +At first their range of vision did not allow them to see the condition of +the valleys below them, but as the water crept higher it gradually came +into view. It rose steadily up the slopes beneath, which had already been +stripped of their covering of trees and vegetation by the force of the +descending torrents, until on the tenth day it had arrived almost within +reach. Since, as has just been said, they were four thousand feet above +the former level of the sea, it will be observed that the water must +have been rising much more rapidly than the measurements of Cosmo Versal +indicated. Its average rate of rise had been three instead of two inches +per minute, and the world was buried deeper than Cosmo thought. The cause +of his error will be explained later. + +The consternation of the little party when they thus beheld the rapid +drowning of the world below them, and saw no possibility of escape for +themselves if the water continued to advance, as it evidently would do, +cannot be depicted. Some of them were driven insane, and were with +difficulty prevented by those who retained their senses from throwing +themselves into the flood. + +Pludder was the only one who maintained a command over his nerves, +although he now at last _believed in the nebula_. He recognized that there +was no other possible explanation of the flood than that which Cosmo Versal +had offered long before it began. In his secret heart he had no expectation +of ultimate escape, yet he was strong enough to continue to encourage his +companions with hopes which he could not himself entertain. + +When, after nightfall on the tenth day, the water began to lap the lower +parts of the aero, he was on the point of persuading the party to clamber +up the rocks in search of the shelter above, but as he stepped out of the +door of the cabin to reconnoiter the way, with the aid of the searchlight +which he had turned up along the ridge, he was astonished to find the rain +rapidly diminishing in force; and a few minutes later it ceased entirely, +and the stars shone out. + +The sudden cessation of the roar upon the roof brought everybody to their +feet, and before Professor Pludder could communicate the good news all +were out under the sky, rejoicing and offering thanks for their +deliverance. The women were especially affected. They wept in one +another's arms, or convulsively clasped their children to their breasts. + +At length the President found his voice. + +"What has happened?" he asked. + +Professor Pludder, with the new light that had come to him, was as ready +with an explanation as Cosmo Versal himself had been under similar +circumstances. + +"We must have run out of the nebula." + +"The nebula!" returned Mr. Samson in surprise. "Has there been a nebula, +then?" + +"Without question," was the professor's answer. "Nothing but an encounter +with a watery nebula could have had such a result." + +"But you always said----" began the President. + +"Yes," Pludder broke in, "but one may be in error sometimes." + +"Then, Cosmo Versal----" + +"Let us not discuss Cosmo Versal," exclaimed Professor Pludder, with a +return of his old dictatorial manner. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + +Morning dawned brilliantly on Mount Mitchell and revealed to the +astonished eyes of the watchers an endless expanse of water, gleaming and +sparkling in the morning sunlight. It was a spectacle at once beautiful +and fearful, and calculated to make their hearts sink with pity no less +than with terror. But for a time they were distracted from the awful +thoughts which such a sight must inspire by anxiety concerning themselves. +They could not drive away the fear that, at any moment, the awful clouds +might return and the terrible downpour be resumed. + +But Professor Pludder, whose comprehension of the cause of the deluge was +growing clearer the more he thought about it, did not share the anxiety +of the President and the others. + +"The brightness of the sky," he said, "shows that there is no considerable +quantity of condensing vapor left in the atmosphere. If the earth has run +out of the nebula, that is likely to be the end of the thing. If there is +more of the nebulous matter in surrounding space we may miss it entirely, +or, if not, a long time would elapse before we came upon it. + +"The gaps that exist in nebulae are millions of miles across, and the +earth would require days and weeks to go such distances, granting that it +were traveling in the proper direction. I think it altogether probable +that this nebula, which must be a small one as such things go, consists +of a single mass, and that, having traversed it, we are done with it. We +are out of our troubles." + +"Well, hardly," said the President. "Here we are, prisoners on a mountain, +with no way of getting down, the whole land beneath being turned into a +sea. We can't stay here indefinitely. For how long a time are we +provisioned?" + +"We have compressed food enough to last this party a month," replied +Professor Pludder; "that is to say, if we are sparing of it. For water we +cannot lack, since this that surrounds us is not salt, and if it were we +could manage to distil it. But, of course, when I said we were out of our +troubles I meant only that there was no longer any danger of being +swallowed up by the flood. It is true that we cannot think of remaining +here. We must get off." + +"But how? Where can we go?" + +Professor Pludder thought a long time before he answered this question. +Finally he said, measuring his words: + +"The water is four thousand feet above the former level of the sea. There +is no land sufficiently lofty to rise above it this side of the Colorado +plateau." + +"And how far is that?" + +"Not less than eleven hundred miles in an air line." + +The President shuddered. + +"Then, all this vast country of ours from here to the feet of the Rocky +Mountains is now under water thousands of feet deep!" + +"There can be no doubt of it. The Atlantic Coast States, the Southern +States, the Mississippi Valley, the region of the Great Lakes, and Canada +are now a part of the Atlantic Ocean." + +"And all the great cities--gone! Merciful Father! What a thought!" + +The President mused for a time, and gradually a frown came upon his brow. +He glanced at Professor Pludder with a singular look. Then his cheek +reddened, and an angry expression came into his eyes. Suddenly he turned +to the professor and said sternly: + +"You said you did not wish to discuss Cosmo Versal. I should not think +you would! Who predicted this deluge? Did _you_?" + +"I----" began Professor Pludder, taken aback by the President's manner. + +"Oh, yes," interrupted the President, "I know what you would say. You +didn't predict it because you didn't see it coming. But _why_ didn't +you see it? What have we got observatories and scientific societies +for if they can't _see_ or _comprehend_ anything? Didn't Cosmo Versal +warn you? Didn't he tell you where to look, and what to look for? Didn't +he show you his proofs?" + +"We thought they were fallacious," stammered Professor Pludder. + +"You _thought_ they were fallacious--well, _were_ they fallacious? Does +this spectacle of a nation drowned look 'fallacious' to you? Why didn't +you study the matter until you understood it? Why did you issue +officially, and with my ignorant sanction--may God forgive me for my +blindness!--statement after statement, assuring the people that there was +no danger--statements that were even abusive toward him who alone should +have been heard? + +"And yet, as now appears, you knew nothing about it. Millions upon millions +have perished through your obstinate opposition to the truth. They might +have saved themselves if they had been permitted to listen to the many +times reiterated warnings of Cosmo Versal. + +"Oh, if _I_ had only listened to him, and issued a proclamation as he urged +me to do! But I followed _your_ advice--_you_, in whose learning and +pretended science I put blind faith! _Abiel Pludder, I would not have upon +my soul the weight that now rests on yours for all the wealth that the lost +world carried down into its watery grave!_" + +As the President ceased speaking he turned away and sank upon a rock, +pressing his hands upon his throat to suppress the sobs that broke forth +despite his efforts. His form shook like an aspen. + +The others crowded around excitedly, some of the women in hysterics, and +the men not knowing what to do or say. Professor Pludder, completely +overwhelmed by the suddenness and violence of the attack, went off by +himself and sat down with his head in his hands. After a while he arose +and approached the President, who had not moved from his place on the +rock. + +"George," he said--they had known each other from boyhood--"I have made a +terrible mistake. And yet I was not alone in it. The majority of my +colleagues were of my opinion, as were all the learned societies of +Europe. No such thing as a watery nebula has ever been known to science. +It was inconceivable." + +"Some of your colleagues did not think so," said the President, looking +up. + +"But they were not really convinced, and they were aware that they were +flying in the face of all known laws." + +"I am afraid," said the President dryly, "that science does not know all +the laws of the universe yet." + +"I repeat," resumed Professor Pludder, "that I made a fearful mistake. I +have recognized the truth too late. I accept the awful burden of blame +that rests upon me, and I now wish to do everything in my power to +retrieve the consequences of my terrible error." + +The President arose and grasped the professor's hand. + +"Forgive me, Abiel," he said, with emotion, "if I have spoken too much in +the manner of a judge pronouncing sentence. I was overwhelmed by the +thought of the inconceivable calamity that has come upon us. I believe +that you acted conscientiously and according to your best lights, and it +is not for any mortal to judge you for an error thus committed. Let us +think only of what _we_ must do now." + +"To that thought," responded Professor Pludder, returning the pressure of +the President's hand, "I shall devote all my energy. If I can save only +this little party I shall have done something in the way of atonement." + +It was a deep humiliation for a man of Professor Pludder's proud and +uncompromising nature to confess that he had committed an error more +fearful in its consequences than had ever been laid at the door of a human +being, but Cosmo Versal had rightly judged him when he assured Joseph +Smith that Pludder was morally sound, and, in a scientific sense, had +the root of the matter in him. When his mental vision was clear, and +unclouded by prejudice, no one was more capable of high achievements. + +He quickly proved his capacity now, as he had already proved it during +the preceding, adventures of the President's party. It was perfectly plain +to him that their only chance was in getting to Colorado at the earliest +possible moment. The eastern part of the continent was hopelessly buried, +and even on the high plains of the Middle West the fury of the downpour +might have spread universal disaster and destroyed nearly all the +vegetation; but, in any event, it was there alone that the means of +prolonging life could be sought. + +With the problem squarely before his mind, he was not long in finding a +solution. His first step was to make a thorough examination of the aero, +with the hope that the damage that it had suffered might be reparable. He +had all the tools that would be needed, as it was the custom for express +aeros to carry a complete equipment for repairs; but unfortunately one of +the planes of the aero was wrecked beyond the possibility of repair. He +knew upon what delicate adjustments the safety of the modern airship +depended, and he did not dare undertake a voyage with a lame craft. + +Then the idea occurred to him of trying to escape by water. The aero was +a machine of the very latest type, and made of levium, consequently it +would float better than wood. + +If the opposition of shipbuilders, incited and backed by selfish interests, +had not prevented the employment of levium in marine construction, millions +of lives might now have been saved; but, as we have before said, only a +few experimental boats of levium had been made. + +Moreover, like all aeros intended for long trips, this one had what was +called a "boat-bottom," intended to enable it to remain afloat with its +burden in case of an accidental fall into a large body of water. Pludder +saw that this fact would enable him to turn the wreck into a raft. + +It would only be necessary to reshape the craft a little, and this was the +easier because the aero was put together in such a manner with screw-bolts +and nuts that it could be articulated or disarticulated as readily as a +watch. He had entire confidence in his engineering skill, and in the +ability of the three experienced men of the crew to aid him. He decided to +employ the planes for outriders, which would serve to increase the +buoyancy and stability. + +As soon as he had completed his plan in his mind he explained his +intentions to the President. The latter and the other members of the party +were at first as much startled as surprised by the idea of embarking on a +voyage of eleven hundred miles in so questionable a craft, but Professor +Pludder assured them that everything would go well. + +"But how about the propulsion?" asked Mr. Samson. "You can't depend on the +wind, and we've got no sails." + +"I have thought that all out," said Pludder. "I shall use the engine, and +rearrange one of the aerial screws so that it will serve for a propeller. +I do not expect to get up any great speed, but if we can make only as much +as two miles an hour we shall arrive on the borders of the Colorado upland, +five thousand feet above sea, within about twenty-three days. We may be +able to do better than that." + +Nobody felt much confidence in this scheme except its inventor, but it +appeared to be the only thing that could be done, and so they all fell to +work, each aiding as best he could, and after four days of hard work the +remarkable craft was ready for its adventurous voyage. + +Professor Pludder had succeeded even better than he anticipated in +transforming one of the aerial screws into a propeller. Its original +situation was such that it naturally, as it were, fell into the proper +place when the "hull" was partly submerged, and, the blades being made of +concentric rows of small plates, there was no difficulty in reducing them +to a manageable size. The position of the engine did not need to be +shifted at all. + +The "outriders," made up of the discarded planes, promised to serve their +purpose well, and the cabin remained for a comfortable "deck-house." A +rudder had been contrived by an alteration of the one which had served for +guiding the aero in its flights. + +The water was close to their feet, and there was no great difficulty in +pushing the affair off the rocks and getting it afloat. The women and +children were first put aboard, and then the men scrambled in, and Pludder +set the motors going. The improvised propeller churned and spluttered, +but it did its work after a fashion, and, under a blue sky, in dazzling +sunshine, with a soft southerly breeze fanning the strange sea that +spread around them, they soon saw the bared rocks and deeply scored +flanks of Mount Mitchell receding behind them. + +They were delighted to find that they were making, at the very start, no +less than three miles an hour. Pludder clapped his hands and exclaimed: + +"This is capital! In but little over two weeks we shall be safe on the +great plains. I have good hope that many have survived there, and that we +shall find a plenty of everything needed. With the instruments that were +aboard the aero I can make observations to determine our position, and I +shall steer for the Pike's Peak region." + +When the party had become accustomed to their situation, and had gained +confidence in their craft by observing how buoyantly it bore them, they +became almost cheerful in their demeanor. The children gradually lost all +fear, and, with the thoughtless joy of childhood in the pleasures and +wonders of the present moment, amused themselves in the cabin, and about +the deck, which had been surrounded with guard lines made of wire cable. + +The water was almost waveless, and, if no storm should arise, there +appeared to be no reason for anxiety concerning the outcome of their +adventure. But as they drove slowly on over the submerged range of the +Great Smokies, and across the valleys of Eastern Tennessee, and then over +the Cumberland range, and so out above the lowlands, they could not keep +their thoughts from turning to what lay beneath that fearful ocean. And +occasionally something floated to the surface that wrenched their +heart-strings and caused them to avert their faces. + +Professor Pludder kept them informed of their location. Now they were over +central Tennessee; now Nashville lay more than three thousand feet beneath +their keel; now they were crossing the valley of the Tennessee River; now +the great Mississippi was under them, hidden deep beneath the universal +flood; now they were over the highlands of southern Missouri; and now over +those of Kansas. + +"George," said Professor Pludder one day, addressing the President, with +more emotion than was often to be detected in his voice, "would you like +to know what is beneath us now?" + +"What is it, Abiel?" + +"Our boyhood home--Wichita." + +The President bowed his head upon his hands and groaned. + +"Yes," continued Professor Pludder musingly, "there it lies, three thousand +feet deep. There is the Arkansas, along whose banks we used to play, with +its golden waters now mingling feebly with the mighty flood that covers +them. There is the schoolhouse and the sandy road where we ran races +barefoot in the hot summer dust. There is your father's house, and mine, +and the homes of all our early friends--and where are _they?_ Would to God +that I had not been so blind!" + +"But there was another not so blind," said the President, with something +of the condemnatory manner of his former speech. + +"I know it--I know it too well now," returned the professor. "But do not +condemn me, George, for what I did not foresee and could not help." + +"I am sorry," said the President sadly, "that you have awakened these old +memories. But I do not condemn you, though I condemn your science--or your +lack of science. But we can do nothing. Let us speak of it no more." + +The weather was wonderful, considering what had so recently occurred. No +clouds formed in the sky, there was only a gentle breeze stirring, at +night the heavens glittered with starry gems, and by day the sun shone so +hotly that awnings were spread over those whose duties required them to be +employed outside the shelter of the cabin. The improvised propeller and +rudder worked to admiration, and some days they made as much as eighty +miles in the twenty-four hours. + +At length, on the fourteenth day of their strange voyage, they caught +sight of a curiously shaped "pike" that projected above the horizon far to +the west. At the same time they saw, not far away toward the north and +toward the south, a low line, like a sea-beach. + +"We are getting into shallow water now," said Professor Pludder. "I have +been following the course of the Arkansas in order to be sure of a +sufficient depth, but now we must be very careful. We are close to the +site of Las Animas, which is surrounded with land rising four thousand +feet above sea-level. If we should get aground there would be no hope for +us. That pike in the distance is Pike's Peak." + +"And what is that long line of beach that stretches on the north and +south?" asked the President. + +"It is the topographic line of four thousand feet," replied the +professor. + +"And we shall encounter it ahead?" + +"Yes, it makes a curve about Las Animas, and then the land lies at an +average elevation of four thousand feet, until it takes another rise +beyond Pueblo." + +"But we cannot sail across this half-submerged area," said the President. + +"There are depressions," Professor Pludder responded, "and I hope to be +able to follow their traces until we reach land that still lies well +above the water." + +Near nightfall they got so close to the "beach" that they could hear the +surf, not a thundering sound, but a soft, rippling wash of the slight +waves. The water about them was ruddy with thick sediment. Professor +Pludder did not dare to venture farther in the coming darkness, and he +dropped overboard two of the aero's grapples, which he had heavily +weighted and attached to wire cables. They took the ground at a depth of +only ten feet. There was no wind and no perceptible current, and so they +rode all night at anchor off this strangest of coasts. + +At daybreak they lifted their anchors, and went in search of the +depressions of which the professor had spoken. So accurate was his +topographic knowledge and so great his skill, that late in the afternoon +they saw a tall chimney projecting above the water a little ahead. + +"There's all that remains of Pueblo," said Professor Pludder. + +They anchored again that night, and the next day, cautiously approaching +a bluff that arose precipitously from the water, their hearts were +gladdened by the sight of three men, standing on a bluff, excitedly +beckoning to them, and shouting at the top of their voices. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MUTINY IN THE ARK + + +We left Cosmo Versal and his arkful of the flower of mankind in the midst +of what was formerly the Atlantic Ocean, but which had now expanded over +so many millions of square miles that had once been the seats of vast +empires that to an eye looking at it with a telescope from Mars it would +have been unrecognizable. + +All of eastern North America, all of South America to the feet of the +Andes, all but the highest mountains of Europe, nearly all of Africa, +except some of the highlands of the south, all of northern and +southwestern Asia, as well as the peninsula of India, all of China and +the adjacent lands and islands except the lofty peaks, the whole of +Australia, and the archipelagoes of the Pacific, had become parts of the +floor of a mighty ocean which rolled unbroken from pole to pole. + +The Great Deep had resumed its ancient reign, and what was left of the +habitable globe presented to view only far separated islands and the +serrated tops of such ranges as the Alps, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, +and the Andes. The astonished inhabitants of the ocean depths now swam +over the ruins of great cities, and brushed with their fins the chiseled +capitals of columns that had supported the proudest structures of human +hands. + +We have seen how the unexpected arrest of the flood had left Cosmo +uncertain as to the course that he ought to pursue. But he did not long +remain in doubt. He was sure that the downpour would be resumed after an +interval which at the most could not exceed a few weeks, and he resolved +to continue his way toward the future land of promise in Asia. + +But he thought that he would have time to turn his prow in the direction +of Europe, for he felt a great desire to know by actual inspection to what +height the water had attained. He was certain that it could not be less +than he had estimated--the indications of his rain-gage had been too +unvarying to admit of doubt on that point--but he had no means of direct +measurement since he could not sound the tremendous depths beneath the +Ark. + +After long meditation on the probable effects of the descending columns of +water which he had seen, he concluded that they might have added more +rapidly than he first supposed to the increase of the general level. +Besides, he reflected that there was no proof that the general downpour +might not have been greater over some parts of the earth than others. All +these doubts could be dissipated if he could get a good look at some lofty +mountain range, such as the Sierra Nevada of Spain, or the Pyrenees, or, +if he could venture within sight of them, the Alps. + +So he said to Captain Arms: + +"Steer for the coast of Europe." + +The fine weather had produced a good effect upon the spirits of the +company. Not only were the ports and the gangways all open, but Cosmo +ordered the temporary removal of rows of adjustable plates on the sides of +the vessel, which transformed the broad outer gangways, running its whole +length, into delightful promenade decks. There, in cozy chairs, and +protected with rugs, the passengers sat, fanned by a refreshing breeze, +and dazzled by the splendor of the ocean. + +They recalled, by their appearance, a shipload of summer tourists bound +for the wonders and pleasures of foreign parts. This likeness to a +pleasure cruise was heightened by the constant attentions of the crew, +under Cosmo's orders, who carried about refreshing drinks and lunches, +and conducted themselves like regular ocean "stewards." + +It seemed impossible to believe that the world had been drowned, and some +almost persuaded themselves that the whole thing was a dream. + +It must not be supposed that the thousand-odd persons who composed this +remarkable ship's company were so hard-hearted, so selfish, so forgetful, +so morally obtuse, that they never thought of the real horror of their +situation, and of the awful calamity that had overwhelmed so many millions +of their fellow-creatures. They thought of all that only too seriously +and in spite of themselves. The women especially were overwhelmed by it. +But they did not wish to dwell upon it, and Cosmo Versal did not wish that +they should. + +At night he had musicians play in the grand saloon; he distributed books +among the passengers from a large library which he had selected; and at +last he had the stage set, and invited his friends, the players, to +entertain the company. + +But he would have no plays but those of Shakespeare. + +There were, probably, not half a dozen persons in the Ark who had ever +seen representations of these great dramas, and very few who had read them, +so that they had the advantage of complete novelty. + +The play selected for the first representation was the tragedy of "King +Lear," a strange choice, it would, at first sight, seem, but Cosmo Versal +had a deep knowledge of human nature. He knew that only tragedy would be +endured there, and that it must be tragedy so profound and overmastering +that it would dominate the feelings of those who heard and beheld it. It +was the principle of immunizing therapeutics, where poison paralyzes +poison. + +It came out as he anticipated. The audience, unused to such depth of +dramatic passion, for the plays to which they had been accustomed had been +far from the Shakespearian standard, was wholly absorbed in the +development of the tragedy. It was a complete revelation to them, and they +were carried out of themselves, and found in the sympathy awakened by this +heart-crushing spectacle of the acme of human woe an unconscious solace for + their own moral anguish. + +Afterward Cosmo put upon the stage "Hamlet," and "Othello," and "Macbeth," +and "Coriolanus," and "Julius Caesar," but he avoided, for the present, the +less tragic dramas. And all of them, being new to the hearers, produced an +enormous effect. + +On alternate nights he substituted music for the drama, and, as this was +confined to the most majestic productions of the great masters of the past, +many of whose works, like those of Shakespeare, had long been neglected if +not forgotten, their power over the spirits of the company was, perhaps, +even more pronounced. + +Cosmo Versal was already beginning the education of his chosen band of +race regenerators, while he mused upon the wonders that the science of +eugenics would achieve after the world should have reemerged from the +waters. + +One of the most singular effects of the music was that produced upon the +insane billionaire, Amos Blank. He had been confined in the room that +Cosmo had assigned to him, and was soothed, whenever Cosmo could find time +to visit him, with pretended acquiescence in his crazed notion that the +trip of the Ark was part of a scheme to "corner" the resources of the +world. + +Cosmo persuaded him that the secret was unknown except to themselves, and +that it was essential to success that he (Blank) should remain in +retirement, and accordingly the latter expressed no desire to leave his +place of imprisonment, which he regarded as the headquarters of the +combination, passing hours in covering sheets of paper with columns of +figures, which he fancied represented the future profits of the +enterprise. + +One night when a symphony of Beethoven was to be played, Cosmo led Amos +Blank through the crowded saloon and placed him near the musicians. He +resisted at first, and when he saw the crowd he drew back, exclaiming: + +"What? Not overboard yet?" + +But Cosmo soothed him with some whispered promise, and he took his seat, +glancing covertly around him. Then the instruments struck up, and +immediately fixed his attention. As the musical theme developed his eyes +gradually lost their wild look, and a softened expression took its place. +He sank lower in his seat, and rested his head upon his hand. His whole +soul seemed, at last, to be absorbed in the music. When it was finished +Blank was a changed man. + +Then Cosmo clearly explained to him all that had happened. + +After the first overwhelming effect of his reawakening to the realities +of his situation had passed, the billionaire was fully restored to all +his faculties. Henceforth he mingled with the other passengers and, as if +the change that had come over his spirit had had greater results than the +simple restoration of sanity, he became one of the most popular and useful +members of Cosmo Versal's family of pilgrims. + +Among the other intellectual diversions which Cosmo provided was something +quite unique, due to his own mental bias. This consisted of "conferences," +held in the grand saloon, afternoons, in the presence of the entire +company, at which the principal speakers were his two "speculative +geniuses," Costake Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone. They did not care +very much for one another and each thought that the time allotted to the +other was wasted. + +Theriade wished to talk continuously of the infinite energy stored up in +the atoms of matter, and of the illimitable power which the release of +that energy, by the system that he had all but completed, would place at +the disposition of man; and at the same time Sir Athelstone could with +difficulty be held in leash while he impatiently awaited an opportunity to +explain how excessively near he had arrived to the direct production of +protoplasm from inanimate matter, and the chemical control of living cells, +so that henceforth man could people or unpeople the earth as he liked. + +One evening, when everybody not on duty was in bed, Captain Arms, with his +whiskers fairly bristling, entered Cosmo's cabin, where the latter was +dictating to Joseph Smith, and softly approaching his chief, with a furtive +glance round the room, stooped and whispered something in his ear. A +startled, though incredulous, expression appeared on Cosmo's face, and he +sprang to his feet, but before speaking he obeyed a sign from the captain +and told Smith to leave the room. Then he locked the door and returned to +his table, where he dropped into a chair, exclaiming in a guarded voice: + +"Great Heaven, can this be possible! Have you not made a mistake?" + +"No," returned the captain in a stridulous whisper, "I have made no +mistake. I'm absolutely sure. If something is not done instantly we are +lost!" + +"This is terrible!" returned Cosmo, taking his head in his hands. "You +say it is that fellow Campo? I never liked his looks." + +"He is the ringleader," replied the captain. "The first suspicion of what +he was up to came to me through an old sailor who has been with me on many +a voyage. He overheard Campo talking with another man and he listened. +Trust an old sea dog to use his ears and keep himself out of notice." + +"And what did they say?" + +"Enough to freeze the marrow in your bones! Campo proposed to begin by +throwing 'old Versal' and me into the sea, and then he said, with us gone, +and nobody but a lot of muddle-headed scientists to deal with, it would be +easy to take the ship; seize all the treasure in her; make everybody who +would not join the mutiny walk the plank, except the women, and steer for +some place where they could land and lead a jolly life. + +"'You see,' says Campo, 'this flood is a fake. There ain't going to be no +more flood; it's only a shore wash. But there's been enough of it to fix +things all right for us. We've got the world in our fist! There's millions +of money aboard this ship, and there's plenty of female beauty, and we've +only got to reach out and take it.'" + +Cosmo Versal's brow darkened as he listened, and a look that would have +cowed the mutineers if they could have seen it came into his eyes. His +hand nervously clutched a paper-knife which broke in his grasp, as he said +in a voice trembling with passion: + +"They don't _know_ me--_you_ don't know me. Show me the proofs of this +conspiracy. Who are the others? Campo and his friend can't be alone." + +"Alone!" exclaimed the captain, unconsciously raising his voice. "There's +a dozen as black-handed rascals in it as ever went unswung." + +"Do you know them?" + +"Jim Waters does." + +"Why haven't you told me sooner? How long has it been going on?" + +"Almost ever since the deluge stopped, I think; but it was only last night +that Waters got on the track of it, and only now that he told me. This +fellow that Waters heard Campo talking to is plainly a new recruit. I say +there are a dozen, because Waters has found out that number; but I don't +know but that there may be a hundred." + +"How did these wretches get aboard?" demanded Cosmo, fiercely opening and +shutting his fists. + +"Excuse me," said the captain, "but that is up to you to say." + +"So it is," replied Cosmo, with a grim look; "and it's 'up to me' to say +what'll become of them. I see how it is, they must have got in with the +last lot that I took--under assumed names, very likely. I've been more +than once on the point of calling that man Campo up and questioning him. I +was surprised by his hangdog look the first time I saw him. But I have +been so busy." + +"You'll have to get busy in another sense if you mean to save this ship +and your life," said the captain earnestly. + +"So I shall. Are you armed? No? Then take these--and use 'em when I give +the word." + +He handed the captain two heavy automatic pistols, and put a pair in his +own side pockets. + +"Now," he continued, "the first thing is to make sure that we've got the +right men--and _all of them_. Call in Joseph Smith." + +The captain went to the door, and as he approached it there was a knock. +He turned the key and cautiously opened a crack to look out. The door was +instantly slammed in his face, and six men rushed in, with Campo, a burly, +black-browed fellow, at their head. Three of the men threw the captain on +his back, and pinioned his hands before he could draw a weapon, while +Campo and the others sprang toward Cosmo Versal, Campo pointing a pistol +at his head. + +"It's all up, Mr. Versal!" cried Campo with a sneer. "I'll take command of +this ship, and you'll go fish for nebulas." + +Cosmo had one advantage; he was behind his desk, and it was a broad and +long one, and placed almost against the wall. They could not get at him +without getting round the desk. Campo did not fire, though he might have +shot Cosmo in his tracks; but evidently he was nourishing the idea of +making him walk the plank. With a sign he commanded his co-conspirators +to flank the desk at each end, while he kept Cosmo covered with his +pistol. + +But with a lightning movement, Cosmo dropped under the desk, and, favored +by his slight form and his extreme agility, darted like a cat past Campo's +legs, and, almost before the latter could turn round, was out of the open +door. Campo fired at the retreating form, but the bullet went wide of the +mark. The pistol was practically noiseless, and the sound reached no ears +in the staterooms. + +It happened that a switch controlling the lights in the gangway was on the +wall by Cosmo's door, and in passing he swiftly reached up and turned it +off. Thus he was in complete darkness, and when Campo darted out of the +door he could not see the fugitive. He could hear his footsteps, however, +and with two of his companions he rushed blindly after him, firing two or +three shots at random. But Cosmo had turned at the first cross passage, +and then at the next, this part of the Ark being a labyrinth of corridors, +and the pursuers quickly lost all trace of him. + +Campo and his companions made their way back to Cosmo's cabin, where their +fellows were guarding Captain Arms. They found the switch in the passage +and turned on the light. They were almost immediately joined by several +other conspirators conducting Joseph Smith, bound and gagged. They held a +short consultation, and Campo, with many curses, declared that Cosmo +Versal must be caught at all hazards. + +"The big-headed fiend!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "Let me get my +grippers on him and I'll squelch him like a bug!" + +They threw Joseph Smith into the room beside the helpless captain, after +taking the latter's pistols, locked the door from the outside, and +hurried off on their search. In the passages they encountered several +more of their friends. They now numbered fifteen, all armed. This may +seem a small number to undertake to capture the Ark; but it must be +remembered that among the thousand-odd inmates, exclusive of the crew, +only about one in three was a man, and the majority of these were +peaceable scientists who, it was to be presumed, had no fight in them. + +At any rate, Campo, with the reckless courage of his kind, felt confident +that if he could get Cosmo Versal, with the captain and Joseph Smith, out +of the way, he could easily overmaster the others. He had not much fear +of the crew, for he knew that they were not armed, and he had succeeded +in winning over three of their number, the only ones he had thought +at all dangerous, because he had read their character. More than half +the crew were employed about the engines or on the animal deck, and most +of the others were simply stewards who would not stand before the pistols. + +But, while the mutineers were hurriedly searching the corridors, Cosmo +had run straight to the bridge, where he found two of his men in charge, +and whence he sent an electric call to all the men employed in the +navigation of the vessel. They came running from various directions, but +a dozen of them were caught in the passages by the mutineers and bound +before they could comprehend what had happened. Seven, however, succeeded +in reaching the bridge, and among these was Jim Waters. + +"There's a mutiny," said Cosmo. "We've got to fight for our lives. Have +you got arms?" + +Not one had a weapon except Waters, who displayed a pistol half as long +as his arm. + +"Here, Peterson, take this," said Cosmo, handing a pistol to one of the +two mariners who had been on the bridge. "They will be here in a minute. +If Campo had been a sailor, he'd have had possession here the first thing. +I'll turn off all lights." + +With that he pressed a button which put out every lamp in the ark. But +there was a full moon, and they concealed themselves in the shadows. + +Presently they heard the mutineers approaching, stumbling and cursing in +the darkness. Cosmo directed Peterson and Waters to place themselves at +his side, and told them to fire when he gave the word. + +The next instant four men appeared crossing a moonlit place at the foot of +the steps on the outside of the dome. + +"Wait," whispered Cosmo. "The pistols go at a pull. We can sweep down a +dozen in ten seconds. Let them all get in sight first." + +Half a minute later there were twelve men climbing the steps and cautiously +looking up. + +"Fire!" cried Cosmo, setting the example, and three streams of blue flame +pulsated from the bridge. The sound of the bullets striking made more +noise than the explosions. + +Five or six of the men below fell, knocking down their comrades, and a +loud curse burst from the lips of Campo, who had a bullet through his arm. + +The mutineers tumbled in a heap at the bottom, and instantly Cosmo, +switching on all lights, led the way down upon them. His men, who had no +arms, seized anything they could get their hands on that would serve to +strike a blow, and followed him. + +The conspirators were overwhelmed by the suddenness and fury of the attack. + +Four of them were killed outright and five were wounded, one so severely +that he survived only a few hours. + +Cosmo's quick and overwhelming victory was due to the fact that the +mutineers, in mounting the steps, could not see him and his men in the +shadows, and when the automatic weapons, which fired three shots per +second by repeated pressure of the trigger, from a chamber containing +twenty-one cartridges, once opened on them they could do nothing in the +hail of missiles, especially when crowded together on the steps. + +Campo was the only one who had any fight left in him. He struck Cosmo a +blow on the head that felled him, and then darted out upon the forepart +of the dome, running on the cleats, and made his way to the top. + +Cosmo was on his feet in a second and rushing in pursuit, closely followed +by Jim Waters. The fugitive ran for the ratlines leading to the lookout on +the central mast. He climbed them like a squirrel, and the man in the +cro'nest, amazed at the sight below him, stared at the approaching +mutineer, unable to utter a cry. Campo, who, as the moonbeams showed, now +had a knife in his teeth, rapidly approached, and the lookout shrank in +terror. But before Campo could reach the cro'nest, a blinding light +dazzled his eyes. Cosmo had shouted an order to Peterson to run back to +the bridge and turn a searchlight upon the mast. Then Campo heard a +thundering voice below him: + +"Take another step and I'll blow you into the sea!" + +He glanced below, and saw Cosmo and Waters covering him with their +pistols. + +"Not another step!" roared Cosmo again. "Come down, and I'll give you a +trial for your life." + +Campo hesitated; but, seeing that he could be shot down, and finding a +gleam of hope in Cosmo's words, he turned and came slowly down. The +moment he touched the bottom he was seized by Waters and another man, +and, under Cosmo's directions, his hands were bound behind his back. + +Ten minutes later the members of the crew who had been caught by the +mutineers in the gangways were all unbound, and then Cosmo broke open the +door of his cabin, the key having been lost or thrown away by Campo, and +the captain and Joseph Smith were released. + +"Well, we've got 'em," said Cosmo grimly to the captain. "The mutiny is +at an end, and there'll never be another." + +In the meantime many of the passengers had been aroused by the unaccustomed +noises, although the pistols had not made enough sound to be heard from +the place where they were fired. Nightcapped heads appeared on all sides, +and some, in scanty clothing, were wandering in the passageways, demanding +what the trouble was. Cosmo, the captain, and Joseph Smith reassured them, +saying that there was no danger, and that something had happened which +would be explained in the morning. + +The prisoners--and the whole fifteen were finally captured--were locked up +in a strong room, and a surgeon was sent to dress their wounds. Cosmo +Versal and the captain resumed their accustomed places on the bridge, +where they talked over the affair, and Cosmo explained his plans for the +morrow. + +"I'll give him his trial, as I promised," Cosmo said in conclusion, "and +you'll see what it will be. _Mutiny aboard this Ark!_" And he struck the +rail a violent blow with his fist. + +The next morning directly after breakfast Cosmo called all passengers and +crew into the grand saloon, where many wondering looks were exchanged and +many puzzling questions asked. When the mutineers, with hands tied behind +their backs and their many bandages on arms and legs, were led in, +exclamations of astonishment were heard, and some of the timid ones shrank +away in fear. + +Cosmo lost no time with preliminaries. + +"These men," he said, taking his stand upon the platform, "have mutinied +and tried to capture the Ark. This fellow"--pointing to Campo--"was the +concocter and leader of the plot. He intended to throw me and Captain +Arms, and all of you whom he did not wish to retain for his fiendish +purposes, into the sea. But Heaven has delivered them into our hands. I +have promised them a trial, and they shall have it. But it will be a +trial in which justice shall not be cheated. I find that a moral poison +has stolen into this selected company, and I will eliminate it for once +and all." + +The expressions of amazement and alarm redoubled in intensity. + +"Professor Abel Able, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, +Costake Theriade," Cosmo continued, "you will please come forward to act +as members of the jury, of which I name myself also a member. I shall be +both judge and juror here, but I will hear what the rest of you may have +to say." + +The men named stepped forward with some evidences of embarrassment, and +Cosmo gravely gave them seats beside him. Then he commanded that the +prisoners should confront the jury, and, heavily guarded, they were led to +the front. + +The brutishness of Campo's face had never struck the passengers who had +seen him before as it did now. He looked a veritable jailbird. At the same +time he was evidently in terror for his life. He muttered something which +nobody understood. + +Cosmo, who had informed himself of all the circumstances from Waters, and +by privately questioning the others, had satisfied himself that the entire +scheme of the mutiny was of Campo's contrivance, and that they had been led +into it solely by his persuasion and threats, ordered Waters to speak. The +seaman told a straight story of what he had heard and seen. Cosmo himself +then related the events of the night. When he had finished he turned to +Campo and demanded what he had to say. + +Campo again muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to defend +himself, simply saying: + +"You promised me a trial." + +"And haven't I given you a trial?" demanded Cosmo with flashing eyes. "You +thought you held the world in your grasp. It is _I_ that hold it in _my_ +grasp, and _you_, too! You were going to make us 'walk the plank.' It is +_you_ who are going to walk it! Is that the verdict?" (turning to the four +jurymen). + +Some of them nodded, some simply stared at Cosmo, surprised by the +vehemence of his manner. + +"Enough," he said. "As to you," addressing the other prisoners, "you have +had your lesson; see that you don't forget it! Release them, and lead Campo +to the promenade deck." + +Nobody thought that Cosmo would literally execute his threat to make the +mutineer walk the plank, but, as he had told Captain Arms, they didn't know +him. They were about to see that in Cosmo Versal they had not only a +prophet, a leader, and a judge, but an inexorable master also. + +A plank was prepared and placed sloping from the rail. + +"Walk!" said Cosmo firmly. + +To everybody's surprise Campo, with blinded eyes, started immediately up +the plank, followed its full length with quick, unfaltering step, and +plunging from the end, disappeared in the sea. + +Many had turned away, unable to look, but many also saw the tragedy to the +end. Then a profound sigh was heard from the whole company of the +spectators. As they turned away, talking in awed voices, they felt, as +never before, that the world had shrunk to the dimensions of the Ark, and +that Cosmo Versal was its dictator. + +That same afternoon Cosmo arranged one of his "conferences," and nobody +dared to be absent, although all minds were yet too much excited to follow +the discussions which few could understand. But at length Costake Theriade +concentrated their attention by a wild burst of eloquence about the wonders +of the inter-atomic forces. Sir Athelstone, unable to endure the applause +that greeted his rival, abruptly sprang to his feet, his round face red +with anger, and shouted: + +"I say, you know, this is twaddle!" + +"Will the Englishman interrupt not?" cried Theriade, with his eyes ablaze. +"Shall I project not the Sir Englishman to the feeshes?" + +He looked as if he were about to try to execute his threat, and Sir +Athelstone assumed a boxing attitude; but before hostilities could begin a +loud shout from the deck, followed by cries and exclamations, caused +everybody to rush out of the saloon. + +Those who succeeded in getting a glimpse over the shoulders of the members +of the crew, who were already lined up along the only portion of the +bulwarks available for seeing the part of the ocean on which attention +seemed to be fixed, stared open-mouthed at a round-backed mass of shining +metal, with a circular aperture on the top, the cover of which was canted +to one side, and there stood a man, waving a gold-laced red kepi, and +bowing and smiling with great civility. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE _JULES VERNE_ + + +The swell of the sea caused the strange-looking craft to rise and sink a +little, and sometimes the water ran bubbling all around the low rim of the +aperture, in the center of which the red-capped man stood, resting on some +invisible support, repeating his salutations and amicable smiles, and +balancing his body to the rocking of the waves with the unconscious +skill of a sailor. + +The Ark was running slowly, but it would very soon have left the stranger +in its wake if he had not also been in motion. It was evident that the +object under his feet must be a submersible vessel of some kind, although +it was of a type which Captain Arms, standing beside Cosmo on the bridge, +declared that he had never set eyes on before. It lay so low in the water +that nothing could be seen of its motive machinery, but it kept its place +alongside the Ark with the ease of a dolphin, and gradually edged in closer +and closer. + +When it was so near that he could be heard speaking in a voice hardly +raised above the ordinary pitch, the man, first again lifting his cap with +an easy gesture, addressed Cosmo Versal by name, using the English language +with a scarcely perceptible accent: + +"M. Versal, I offer you my felicitations upon the magnificent appearance of +your Ark, and I present my compliments to the ladies and gentlemen of your +company." + +And then he bowed once more to the passengers, who were almost crowding +each other over the side in their eagerness to both see and hear. + +"Thank you," responded Cosmo, "but who are you?" + +"Capitaine Yves de Beauxchamps, of the French army." + +"Where's the navy, then?" blurted out Captain Arms. + +De Beauxchamps glanced at the speaker a little disdainfully, and then +replied gravely: + +"Alas! At the bottom of the sea--with all the other navies." + +"And how have you escaped?" demanded Cosmo Versal. + +"As you see, in a submersible." + +"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Cosmo. "And you have been in the sea ever +since the beginning of the flood?" + +"Since the first rise of the ocean on the coast at Brest." + +"Have you no companions?" + +"Six--in truth, seven." + +"Astonishing!" said Cosmo Versal. "But I heard nothing of the preparation +of a submersible. In fact, the idea of such a thing never occurred to me. +You must have made your preparations secretly." + +"We did. We did not share your certainty, M. Versal, concerning the arrival +of a deluge. Even when we embarked we were not sure that it would be more +than an affair of the coasts." + +"But you must be on the point of starvation by this time. The flood has +only begun. This cessation is but for a time, while we are passing a gap in +the nebula. You will come aboard the Ark. I had chosen my company, but your +gallant escape, and the ability that you have shown, prove that you are +worthy to aid in the re-establishment of the race, and I have no doubt that +your companions are equally worthy." + +The Frenchman bowed politely, and with a slight smile replied: + +"I believe, M. Versal, that the _Jules Verne_ is as safe and comfortable, +and proportionately as well provisioned, as your Ark." + +"So you call it the _Jules Verne?_" returned Cosmo, smiling in his turn. + +"We were proud to give it that name, and its conduct has proved that it is +worthy of it." + +"But you will surely come aboard and shake hands, and let us offer you a +little hospitality," said Cosmo. + +"I should be extremely happy to pay my compliments to the ladies," +responded De Beauxchamps, "but I must postpone that pleasure for the +present. In the meantime, however, I should be glad if you would lower a +landing stage, and permit me to send aboard the seventh member of our +party, who, I venture to think, may find the Ark a more comfortable abode +than our submersible." + +"And who may that person be?" + +"_The King of England._" + +Exclamations of surprise and wonder were heard on all sides. + +"Yes," resumed the Frenchman, "we picked up his majesty the first day after +the deluge began to descend from the sky." + +"I will lower a ladder at once," Cosmo called out, and immediately ran down +to the lowest deck, commanding his men to make haste. + +The _Jules Verne_ was skillfully brought close up to the side of the Ark, +so that the visible part of her rounded back was nearly in contact with the +bottom of the companion-ladder when it had been lowered. The sea was so +calm that there was little difficulty in executing this maneuver. De +Beauxchamps disappeared in the depths of the submersible, and after a few +minutes re-emerged into sight, supporting on his arm a stout, rather short +man, whose face, it was evident, had once been full and ruddy, but now it +was pale and worn. + +"It is he!" exclaimed an English member of Cosmo's company to some of his +fellow-countrymen who had forced their way to the front. + +_"It is the king!"_ + +And then occurred a singular thing, inspired by the marvelous circumstances +of this meeting of the sovereign of a drowned kingdom, upon the bosom of +the waters that had destroyed it, with the mere handful which remained +alive out of all the millions of his subjects. + +These loyal Englishmen bared their heads (and there were three women among +them) and sang, with a pathos that surely the old hymn had never expressed +before, their national anthem: "God Save the King." + +The effect was immense. Every head aboard the Ark was immediately +uncovered. De Beauxchamps removed his cap, and one or two bared heads could +be seen peering out of the interior of the submersible below him. As the +king was steadied across to the bottom of the companion-ladder, the voices +of the singers rose louder, and many of the other passengers, moved by +sympathy, or carried away by epidemic feeling, joined in the singing. Never +had any monarch a greeting like that! Its recipient was moved to the depths +of his soul, and but for the aid given him would have been unable to ascend +the swaying steps. + +As he was assisted upon the deck, the song ceased and a great cheer broke +forth. There were tears in his eyes, and he trembled in every limb, when he +returned the welcoming pressure of Cosmo Versal's hand. + +The moment he saw that the king was safely aboard the Ark, De Beauxchamps, +with a farewell salutation, disappeared into the interior of the _Jules +Verne_, and the submersible sank out of sight as gently as if it had been a +huge fish that had come to the top of the sea to take a look about. + +After the sensation caused by the arrival of the English monarch aboard the +Ark had somewhat quieted down, and after his majesty had had an opportunity +to recover himself, Cosmo Versal invited his new guest to tell the story of +his escape. They were seated in Cosmo's cabin, and there were present +Joseph Smith, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, and Amos +Blank, beside several other members of the ship's company, including two of +the loyal Englishmen who quite naturally had been the first to strike up +the national anthem on seeing their rescued king. + +Richard Edward, or Richard IV as he was officially entitled, was one of the +best kings England ever had. He was popular not only because of his almost +democratic manners and the simplicity of his life, but more because he was +a great lover of peace. We have already seen how he was chosen, solely on +that account, to be of the number of the rulers invited to go in the Ark. +He had not even replied to Cosmo's invitation, but that was simply because, +like everybody about him in whom he placed confidence, he regarded Cosmo +Versal as a mere mountebank, and thought that there was no more danger of a +flood that would cover the earth than of the fall of the moon out of the +sky. + +Before responding to Cosmo's request he made a gracious reference to the +indifference with which he had formerly treated his present host. + +"I am sorry, Mr. Versal," he said, with a deprecatory smile, "that I did +not sooner recognize the fact that your knowledge surpassed that of my +scientific advisers." + +"Your majesty was not alone," replied Cosmo gravely, turning with his +finger a small globe that stood on his desk. "From all these deep-sunken +continents" (waving his hand toward the globe), "if the voices once heard +there could now speak, there would arise a mighty sound of lament for that +great error." + +The king looked at him with an expression of surprise. He glanced from +Cosmo's diminutive figure to his great overhanging brow, marked with the +lines of thought, and a look of instinctive deference came into his eyes. + +"But," continued Cosmo Versal, "it is bootless to speak of these things +now. I beg that your majesty will condescend to enlighten us concerning the +fate of that great kingdom, of ancient renown, over which you so worthily +reigned." + +An expression of deepest pain passed across the face of Richard Edward. For +some moments he remained buried in a mournful silence, and many sighs came +from his breast. All looked at him with profound commiseration. At last he +raised his head, and said, sorrowfully and brokenly: + +"My kingdom is drowned--my subjects have perished, almost to the last +soul--my family, my gracious consort, my children--all, all--gone!" + +Here he broke down, and could speak no more. Not a word was heard, for a +time in the room, and the two Englishmen present wept with their +unfortunate king. + +Cosmo Versal was no less deeply moved than the others. He sat, for a while, +in complete silence. Then he arose and, going to the king, put his hand +upon his shoulder, and talked to him long, in a low, consoling voice. At +last the broken-spirited monarch was able to suppress his emotions +sufficiently to recite, but with many interruptions while he remastered +his feelings, the story of his woes and of his marvelous escape. + +"Sir Francis Brook," he said, "prepared a barge, when the water invaded +London, and in that barge we escaped--her royal majesty, our children, and +a number of members of the royal household. The barge was the only vessel +of levium that existed in England. Sir Francis had furnished and +provisioned it well, and we did not think that it would be necessary to go +farther than to some high point in the interior. Sir Francis was of the +opinion that Wales would afford a secure refuge. + +"It was a terrible thing to see the drowning of London, the sweeping of the +awful bore that came up the Thames from the sea, the shipping wrecked by +the tearing waves, the swirl of the fast-rising water round the immense +basin in which the city lay, the downfall of the great +buildings--Westminster Abbey was one of the first that succumbed--the +overturned boats, and even great vessels floating on their sides, or +bottom up, the awful spectacle of the bodies of the drowned tossing in +the waves--all these sights were before our horrified eyes while the +vast eddy swept us round and round until the water rose so high that we +were driven off toward the southwest. + +"That we should have escaped at all was a miracle of miracles. It was the +wonderful buoyancy of the levium barge that saved us. But the terrors of +that scene can never fade from my memory. And the fearful sufferings of +the queen! And our children--but I _cannot_ go on with this!" + +"Calm yourself, your majesty," said Cosmo sympathetically. "The whole +world has suffered with you. If we are spared and are yet alive, it is +through the hand of Providence--to which all of us must bow." + +"We must have passed over Surrey and Hampshire," the king resumed, "the +invasion of the sea having buried the hills." + +"I am surprised at that," said Cosmo. "I did not think that the sea had +anywhere attained so great an elevation before the nebula condensed. At +New York the complete drowning of the city did not occur until the +downpour from the sky began." + +"Oh! that deluge from the heavens!" cried the king. "What we had suffered +before seemed but little in comparison. It came upon us after night; +and the absolute darkness, the awful roaring, the terrific force of the +falling water, the sense of suffocation, the rapid filling of the barge +until the water was about our necks--these things drove us wild with +despair. + +"I tried to sustain my poor queen in my arms, but she struggled to seize +the children and hold them above the water, and in her efforts she escaped +from my hands, and henceforth I could find her no more. I stumbled about, +but it was impossible to see; it was impossible to hear. At last I fell +unconscious face downward, as it afterward appeared, upon a kind of bench +at the rear end of the barge, which was covered with a narrow metallic +roofing, and raised above the level of the bulwarks. It was there that I +had tried to shelter the queen and the children. + +"In some way I must have become lodged there, under the awning, in such a +position that the pitching of the barge failed to throw me off. I never +regained consciousness until I heard a voice shouting in my ear, and felt +some one pulling me, and when I had recovered my senses, I found myself in + the submersible." + +"And all your companions were gone?" asked Cosmo, in a voice shaking with +pity. + +"Yes, oh, Lord! All! They had been swept overboard by the waves--and would +that I had gone with them!" + +The poor king broke down again and sobbed. After a long pause Cosmo asked +gently: + +"Did the Frenchman tell you how he came upon the barge?" + +"He said that in rising to the surface to find out the state of things +there the submersible came up directly under the barge, canting it in such +a way that I was rolled out and he caught me as I was swept close to the +opening." + +"But how was it that the downpour, entering the submersible, when the cover +was removed, did not fill it with water?" + +"He had the cover so arranged that it served as an almost complete +protection from the rain. Some water did enter, but not much." + +"A wonderful man, that Frenchman," said Cosmo. "He would be an acquisition +for me. What did he say his name was? Oh, yes, De Beauxchamps--I'll make a +note of that. I shouldn't wonder if we heard of him again." + +Cosmo Versal was destined to encounter Yves de Beauxchamps and his +wonderful submersible _Jules Verne_ sooner, and under more dramatic +circumstances than he probably anticipated. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + +After the English king had so strangely become a member of its company the +Ark resumed its course in the direction of what had once been Europe. The +spot where the meeting with the _Jules Verne_ had occurred was west of Cape +Finisterre and, according to the calculations of Captain Arms, in longitude +fifteen degrees four minutes west; latitude forty-four degrees nine minutes +north. + +Cosmo decided to run into the Bay of Biscay, skirting its southern coast in +order to get a view of the Cantabrian Mountains, many of whose peaks, he +thought, ought still to lie well above the level of the water. + +"There are the Peaks of Europa," said Captain Arms, "which lie less than +twenty miles directly back from the coast. The highest point is eight +thousand six hundred and seventy feet above sea level, or what used to be +sea level. We could get near enough to it, without any danger, to see how +high the water goes." + +"Do you know the locality?" demanded Cosmo. + +"As well as I know a compass-card!" exclaimed the captain. "I've seen the +Europa peaks a hundred times. I was wrecked once on that coast, and being +of an inquiring disposition, I took the opportunity to go up into the range +and see the old mines--and a curious sight it was, too. But the most +curious sight of all was the shepherdesses of Tresvido, dressed just like +the men, in homespun breeches that never wore out. You'd meet 'em anywhere +on the slopes of the Pico del Ferro, cruising about with their flocks. And +the cheese that they made! There never was any such cheese!" + +"Well, if you know the place so well," said Cosmo, "steer for it as fast as +you can. I'm curious to find out just how high this flood has gone, up to +the present moment." + +"Maybe we can rescue a shepherdess," returned the captain, chuckling. +"She'd be an ornament to your new Garden of Eden." + +They kept on until, as they approached longitude five degrees west, they +began to get glimpses of the mountains of northern Spain. The coast was all +under deep water, and also the foothills and lower ranges, but some of the +peaks could be made out far inland. At length, by cautious navigation, +Captain Arms got the vessel quite close to the old shore line of the +Asturias, and then he recognized the Europa peaks. + +"There they are," he cried. "I'd know 'em if they'd emigrated to the middle +of Africa. There's the old Torre de Cerredo and the Pena Santa." + +"How high did you say the main peak is?" asked Cosmo. + +"She's eight thousand six hundred and seventy feet." + +"From your knowledge of the coast, do you think it safe to run in closer?" + +"Yes, if you're sure the water is not less than two thousand four hundred +feet above the old level we can get near enough to see the water-line on +the peaks, from the cro'nest, which is two hundred feet high." + +"Go ahead, then." + +They got closer than they had imagined possible, so close that, from the +highest lookout on the Ark, they were able with their telescopes to see +very clearly where the water washed the barren mountainsides at what seemed +to be a stupendous elevation. + +"I'm sorry about your shepherdesses," said Cosmo, smiling. "I don't think +you'd find any there to rescue if you could get to them. They must all +have been lost in the torrents that poured down those mountains." + +"More's the pity," said Captain Arms. "That was a fine lot of women. +There'll be no more cheese like what they made at Tresvido." + +Cosmo inquired if the captain's acquaintance with the topography of the +range enabled him to say how high that water was. The captain, after long +inspection, declared that he felt sure that it was not less than four +thousand feet above the old coast line. + +"Then," said Cosmo, "if you're right about the elevation of what you call +the Torre de Cerredo there must be four thousand six hundred and seventy +feet of its upper part still out of water. We'll see if that is so." + +Cosmo made the measurements with instruments, and announced that the result +showed the substantial accuracy of Captain Arms's guess. + +"I suspected as much," he muttered. "Those tremendous downpours, which may +have been worse elsewhere than where we encountered them, have increased +the rise nearly seventy per cent, above what my gages indicated. Now that I +know this," he continued, addressing the captain: "I'll change the course +of the Ark. I'm anxious to get into the Indian Ocean as soon as possible. +It would be a great waste of time to go back in order to cross the Sahara, +and with this increase of level it isn't necessary. We'll just set out +across southern France, keeping along north of the Pyrenees, and so down +into the region of the Mediterranean." + +Captain Arms was astonished by the boldness of this suggestion, and at +first he strongly objected to their taking such a course. + +"There's some pretty high ground in southern France," he said. "There's the +Cevennes Mountains, which approach a good long way toward the Pyrenees. Are +you sure the depth of water is the same everywhere?" + +"What a question for an old mariner to ask!" returned Cosmo. "Don't you +know that the level of the sea is the same everywhere? The flood doesn't +make any difference. It seeks its level like any other water." + +"But it may be risky steering between those mountains," persisted the +captain. + +"Nonsense! As long as the sky is clear you can get good observations, and +you ought to be navigator enough not to run on a mountain." + +Cosmo Versal, as usual, was unalterable in his resolution--he only changed +when he had reasons of his own--and the course of the Ark was laid, +accordingly, for the old French coast of the Landes, so low that it was now +covered with nearly four thousand feet of water. The feelings of the +passengers were deeply stirred when they learned that they were actually +sailing over buried Europe, and they gazed in astonishment at the water +beneath them, peering down into it as if they sought to discover the +dreadful secrets that it hid, and talking excitedly in a dozen languages. + +The Ark progressed slowly, making not more than five or six knots, and on +the second day after they dropped the Penas de Europa they were passing +along the northern flank of the Pyrenees and over the basin in which had +lain the beautiful city of Pau. The view of the Pyrenees from this point +had always been celebrated before the deluge as one of the most remarkable +in the world. + +Now it had lost its beauty, but gained in spectacular grandeur. All of +France, as far as the eye extended, was a sea, with long oceanic swells +slowly undulating its surface. This sea abruptly came to an end where it +met the mountains, which formed for it a coast unlike any that the hundreds +of eyes which wonderingly surveyed it from the Ark had ever beheld. + +Beyond the drowned vales and submerged ranges, which they knew lay beneath +the watery floor, before them, rose the heads of the Pic du Midi, the Pic +de Ger, the Pic de Bigorre, the Massif du Gabizos, the Pic Monne, and +dozens of other famous eminences, towering in broken ranks like the +bearskins of a "forlorn hope," resisting to the last, in pictures of +old-time battles. + +Here, owing to the configuration of the drowned land it was possible for +the Ark to approach quite close to some of the wading mountains, and Cosmo +seized the opportunity to make a new measure of the height of the flood, +which he found to be surely not less than his former estimates had shown. + +Surveying with telescopes the immense shoulders of the Monne, the Viscos, +the d'Ardiden, and the nearer heights, when they were floating above the +valley of Lourdes, Cosmo and the captain saw the terrible effects that had +been produced by the torrents of rain, which had stripped off the +vegetation whose green robe had been the glory of the high Pyrenees on the +French side. + +Presently their attention was arrested by some moving objects, and at a +second glance they perceived that these were human beings. + +"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Cosmo Versal. "There are survivors here. They have +climbed the mountains, and found shelter among the rocks. I should not have +thought it possible." + +"And there are women among them," said Captain Arms, lowering his +telescope. "You will not leave them there!" + +"But what can I do?" + +"Lower away the boats," replied the captain. "We've got plenty of them." + +"There may be thousands there," returned Cosmo, musing. "I can't take them +all." + +"Then take as many as you can. By gad, sir, _I'll_ not leave 'em!" + +By this time some of the passengers who had powerful glasses had discovered +the refugees on the distant heights, and great excitement spread throughout +the Ark. Cries arose from all parts of the vessel: + +"Rescue them!" "Go to their aid!" "Don't let them perish!" + +Cosmo Versal was in a terrible quandary. He was by no means without +humanity, and was capable of deep and sympathetic feeling, as we have seen, +but he already had as many persons in the Ark as he thought ought to be +taken, considering the provision that had been made, and, besides, he could +not throw off, at once, his original conviction of the necessity of +carefully choosing his companions. He remained for a long time buried in +thought, while the captain fumed with impatience and at last declared that +if Cosmo did not give the order to lower away the boats he would do it +himself. + +At length Cosmo, yielding rather to his own humane feelings than to the +urging of others, consented to make the experiment. Half a dozen levium +launches were quickly lowered and sent off, while the Ark, with slowed +engines, remained describing a circle as near the mountains as it was safe +to go. Cosmo himself embarked in the leading boat. + +The powerful motors of the launches carried them rapidly to the high slopes +where the unfortunates had sought refuge, and as they approached, and the +poor fugitives saw that deliverance was at hand, they began to shout, and +cheer, and cry, and many of them fell on their knees upon the rocks and +stretched their hands toward the heavens. + +The launches were compelled to move with great caution when they got near +the ragged sides of the submerged mountains (it was the Peyre Dufau on +which the people had taken refuge), but the men aboard them were determined +to effect the rescue, and they regarded no peril too closely. At last +Cosmo's launch found a safe landing, and the others quickly followed it. + +When Cosmo sprang out on a flat rock a crowd of men, women, and children, +weeping, crying, sobbing, and uttering prayers and blessings, instantly +surrounded him. Some wrung his hands in an ecstasy of joy, some embraced +him, some dropped on their knees before him and sought to kiss his hands. +Cosmo could not restrain his tears, and the crews of the launches were +equally affected. + +Many of these people could only speak the patois of the mountains, but some +were refugees from the resorts in the valleys below, and among these were +two English tourists who had been caught among the mountains by the sudden +rising of the flood. They exhibited comparative _sang froid_, and served as +spokesmen for the others. + +"Bah Jove!" exclaimed one of them, "but you're welcome, you know! This has +been a demnition close call! But what kind of a craft have you got out +there?" + +"I'm Cosmo Versal." + +"Then that's the Ark we've heard about! 'Pon honor, I should have +recognized you, for I've seen your picture often enough. You've come to +take us off, I suppose?" + +"Certainly," replied Cosmo. "How many are there?" + +"All that you see here; about a hundred, I should say. No doubt there are +others on the mountains round. There must have been a thousand of us when +we started, but most of them perished, overcome by the downpour, or swept +away by the torrents. Lord Swansdown (indicating his companion, who bowed +gravely and stiffly) and myself--I'm Edward Whistlington--set out to walk +over the Pyrenees from end to end, after the excitement about the great +darkness died out, and we got as far as the Marbore, and then running down +to Gavarnie we heard news of the sea rising, but we didn't give too much +credit to that, and afterward, keeping up in the heights, we didn't hear +even a rumor from the world below. + +"The sky opened on us like a broadside from an aerial squadron, and how we +ever managed to get here I'm sure I can hardly tell. We were actually +_carried_ down the mountainsides by the water, and how it failed to drown +us will be an everlasting mystery. Somehow, we found ourselves among these +people, who were trying to go _up_, assuring us that there was nothing +but water below. And at last we discovered some sort of shelter here--and +here we've been ever since." + +"You cannot have had much to eat," said Cosmo. + +"Not _too_ much, I assure you," replied the Englishman, with a melancholy +smile. "But these people shared with us what little they had, or could +find--anything and everything that was eatable. They're a devilish fine +lot, I tell you! + +"When the terrible rain suddenly ceased and the sky cleared," he resumed, +"we managed to get dry, after a day or two, and since then we've been +chewing leather until there isn't a shoe or a belt left. We thought at +first of trying to build rafts--but then where could we go? It wasn't any +use to sail out over a drowned country, with nothing in sight but the +mountains around us, which looked no better than the one we were barely +existing on." + +"Then I must get you aboard the Ark before you starve," said Cosmo. + +"Many have died of starvation already," returned Whistlington. "You can't +get us off a moment too quick." + +Cosmo Versal had by this time freed himself of every trace of the +reluctance which he had at first felt to increasing the size of his ship's +company by adding recruits picked up at random. His sympathies were +thoroughly aroused, and while he hastened the loading and departure of the +launches, he asked the Englishmen who, with the impassive endurance of +their race, stayed behind to the last, whether they thought that there were +other refugees on the mountains whom they could reach. + +"I dare say there are thousands of the poor devils on these peaks around +us, wandering among the rocks," replied Edward Whistlington, "but I fancy +you couldn't reach 'em." + +"If I see any I'll try," returned Cosmo, sweeping with his powerful +telescope all the mountain flanks within view. + +At last, on the slopes of the lofty Mont Aigu across the submerged valley +toward the south, he caught sight of several human figures, one of which +was plainly trying to make signals, probably to attract attention from the +Ark. Immediately, with the Englishmen and the remainder of those who had +been found on the Peyre Dufau, he hastened in his launch to the rescue. + +They found four men and three women, who had escaped from the narrow valley +containing the _bains de Gazost_, and who were in the last stages of +starvation. These were taken aboard, and then, no more being in sight, +Cosmo returned to the Ark, where the other launches had already arrived. + +And these were the last that were rescued from the mighty range of the +Pyrenees, in whose deep valleys had lain the famous resorts of Cauterets, +the Eaux Bonnes, the Eaux Chaudes, the Bagnieres de Luchon, the Bagnieres +de Bigorre, and a score of others. No doubt, as the Englishmen had said, +thousands had managed to climb the mountains, but none could now be seen, +and those who may have been there were left to perish. + +There was great excitement in the Ark on the arrival of the refugees. The +passengers overwhelmed them with kind attentions, and when they had +sufficiently recovered, listened with wonder and the deepest sympathy to +their exciting tales of suffering and terror. + +Lord Swansdown and Edward Whistlington were amazed to find their king +aboard the Ark, and the English members of the company soon formed a sort +of family party, presided over by the unfortunate monarch. The rescued +persons numbered, in all, one hundred and six. + +The voyage of the Ark was now resumed, skirting the Pyrenees, but at an +increasing distance. Finally Captain Arms announced that, according to his +observations, they were passing over the site of the ancient and populous +city of Toulouse. This recalled to Cosmo Versal's memory the beautiful +scenes of the fair and rich land that lay so deep under the Ark, and he +began to talk with the captain about the glories of its history. + +He spoke of the last great conqueror that the world had known, Napoleon, +and was discussing his marvelous career, and referring to the fact that he +had died on a rock in the midst of that very ocean which had now swallowed +up all the scenes of his conquests, when the lookout telephoned down that +there was something visible on the water ahead. + +In a little while they saw it--a small moving object, which rapidly +approached the Ark. As it drew nearer both exclaimed at once: + +"The _Jules Verne!_" + +There could be no mistaking it. It was riding with its back just above the +level of the sea; the French flag was fluttering from a small mast, and +already they could perceive the form of De Beauxchamps, standing in his old +attitude, with his feet below the rim of the circular opening at the top. +Cosmo ordered the Stars and Stripes to be displayed in salute, and, greatly +pleased over the encounter, hurried below and had the companion-ladder made +ready. + +"He's got to come aboard this time, anyhow!" he exclaimed. "I'll take no +refusal. I want to know that fellow better." + +But this time De Beauxchamps had no thought of refusing the hospitalities +of the Ark. As soon as he was within hearing he called out: + +"My salutations to M. Versal and his charming fellow-voyagers. May I be +permitted to come aboard and present myself in person? I have something +deeply interesting to tell." + +Everybody in the Ark who could find a standing-place was watching the +_Jules Verne_ and trying to catch a glimpse of its gallant captain, and to +hear what he said; and the moment his request was preferred a babel of +voices arose, amid which could be distinguished such exclamations as: + +"Let him come!" "A fine fellow!" "Welcome, De Beauxchamps!" "Hurrah for the +_Jules Verne!_" + +King Richard was in the fore rank of the spectators, waving his hand to his +preserver. + +"Certainly you can come aboard," cried Cosmo heartily, at the same time +hastening the preparations for lowering the ladder. "We are all glad to see +you. And bring your companions along with you." + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + +De Beauxchamps accepted Cosmo Versal's invitation to bring his +companions with him into the Ark. The submersible was safely moored +alongside, where she rode easily in company with the larger vessel, and +all mounted the companion-ladder. The Frenchman's six companions were +dressed, like himself, in the uniform of the army. + +"Curious," muttered Captain Arms in Cosmo's ear, "that these _soldiers_ +should be the only ones to get off--and in a vessel, too. What were the +seamen about?" + +"What were _our_ seamen about?" returned Cosmo. "How many of _them_ got +off? I warned them that ships would not do. But it was a bright idea of +this De Beauxchamps and his friends to build a submersible. It didn't +occur to me, or I would have advised their construction everywhere for +small parties. But it would never have done for us. A submersible would +not have been capacious enough for the party I wanted to take." + +By this time the visitors were aboard, and Cosmo and the others who +could get near enough to grasp them by the hand greeted them effusively. +King Richard received De Beauxchamps with emotion, and thanked him again +and again for having saved his life; but, in the end, he covered his +face and said in a broken voice: + +"M. De Beauxchamps, my gratitude to you is very deep--but, oh, the +queen--the queen--and the children! I should have done better to perish +with them." + +Cosmo and De Beauxchamps soothed him as well as they could, and the +former led the way into the grand saloon, in order that as many as +possible might see and greet their visitors, who had come so +mysteriously up out of the sea. + +All of the Frenchmen were as affable as their leader, and he presented +them in turn. De Beauxchamps conversed almost gaily with such of the +ladies as had sufficient command of their feelings to join the throng +that pressed about him and his companions. He was deeply touched by the +story of the recent rescue of his countrymen from the Pyrenees, and he +went among them, trying to cheer them up, with the _elan_ that no +misfortune can eradicate from the Gallic nature. + +At length Cosmo reminded him that he had said that he had some +interesting news to communicate. + +"Yes," said De Beauxchamps, "I have just come from a visit to Paris." + +Exclamations of amazement and incredulity were heard on all sides. + +"It is true," resumed the Frenchman, though now his voice lost all its +gayety. "I had conceived the project of such a visit before I met the +Ark and transferred His Majesty, the King of England, to your care. As +soon as that was done I set out to make the attempt." + +"But tell me first," interrupted Cosmo, "how you succeeded in finding +the Ark again." + +"That was not very difficult," replied De Beauxchamps, smiling. "Of +course, it was to some extent accidental, for I didn't _know_ that you +would be here, navigating over France; but I had an idea that you +_might_ come this way if you had an intention of seeing what had +happened to Europe. It is my regular custom to rise frequently to the +surface to take a look around and make sure of my bearings, and you know +that the Ark makes a pretty large point on the waters. I saw it long +before you caught sight of me." + +"Very well," said Cosmo. "Please go on with your story. It must, indeed, +be an extraordinary one." + +"I was particularly desirous of seeing Paris again, deep as I knew her +to lie under the waves," resumed De Beauxchamps, "because it was my +home, and I had a house in the Champs Elysees. You cannot divorce the +heart of a Frenchman from his home, though you should bury it under +twenty oceans." + +"Your family were lost?" + +"Thank God, I had no family. If I had had they would be with me. My +companions are all like myself in that respect. We have lost many +friends, but no near relatives. As I was saying, I started for France, +poor drowned France, as soon as I left you. With the powerful +searchlight of the _Jules Verne_ I could feel confident of avoiding +obstructions; and, besides, I knew very closely the height to which the +flood had risen, and having the topography of my country at my fingers' +ends, as does every officer of the army, I was able to calculate the +depth at which we should run in order to avoid the hilltops." + +"But surely," said Cosmo, "it is impossible--at least, it seems so to +me--that you can descend to any great depth--the pressure must be +tremendous a few hundred feet down, to say nothing of possible +thousands." + +"All that," replied the Frenchman, "has been provided for. You probably +do not know to what extent we had carried experiments in France on the +deep submersion of submarines before their general abandonment when they +were prohibited by international agreement in war. I was myself perhaps +the leader in those investigations, and in the construction of the +_Jules Verne_ I took pains to improve on all that had hitherto been +done. + +"Without going into any description of my devices, I may simply remind +you nature has pointed out ways of avoiding the consequences of the +inconceivable pressures which calculation indicates at depths of a +kilometer, or more, in her construction of the deep-sea fishes. It was +by a study of them that I arrived at the secret of both penetrating to +depths that would theoretically have seemed entirely impossible and of +remaining at such depths." + +"Marvelous!" exclaimed Cosmo; "marvelous beyond belief!" + +"I may add," continued De Beauxchamps, smiling at the effect that his +words had had upon the mind of the renowned Cosmo Versal, "that the +peculiar properties of levium, which you so wisely chose for your Ark, +aided _me_ in quite a different way. But I must return to my story. + +"We passed over the coast of France near the point where I knew lay the +mouth of the Loire. I could have found my way by means of the compass +sufficiently well; but since the sky was clear I frequently came to the +surface in order, for greater certainty, to obtain sights of the sun and +stars. + +"I dropped down at Tours and at Blois, and we plainly saw the walls of +the old chateaux in the gleam of the searchlight below us. There were +monsters of the deep, such as the eye of man never beheld, swimming +slowly about them, many of them throwing a strange luminosity into the +water from their phosphorescent organs, as if they were inspecting these +novelties of the sea-bottom. + +"Arrived over Orleans, we turned in the direction of Paris. As we +approached the site of the city I sank the submersible until we almost +touched the higher hills. My searchlight is so arranged that it can be +directed almost every way--up, down, to this side, and to that--and we +swept it round us in every direction. + +"The light readily penetrated the water and revealed sights which I have +no power to describe, and some--reminders of the immense population of +human beings which had there met its end--which I would not describe if +I could. To see a drowned face suddenly appear outside the window, +almost within touch--ah, that was too horrible! + +"We passed over Versailles, with the old palace still almost intact; +over Sevres, with its porcelain manufactory yet in part standing--the +tidal waves that had come up the river from the sea evidently caused +much destruction just before the downpour began--and finally we +'entered' Paris. + +"We could see the embankments of the Seine beneath us as we passed up +its course from the Point du Jour. From the site of the Champ de Mars I +turned northward in search of the older part of the Champs Elysees, +where my house was, and we came upon the great Arc de Triomphe, which, +you remember, dates from the time of Napoleon. + +"It was apparently uninjured, even the huge bronze groups remaining in +their places, and the searchlight, traversing its face, fell upon the +heroic group on the east facade of the Marseillaise. You must have seen +that, M. Versal?" + +"Yes, many a time," Cosmo replied. "The fury in the face of the female +figure representing the spirit of war, chanting the 'Marseillaise,' and, +sword in hand, sweeping over the heads of the soldiers, is the most +terrible thing of human making that I ever looked upon." + +"It was not so terrible as another thing that our startled eyes beheld +there," said De Beauxchamps. "Coiled round the upper part of the arch, +with its head resting directly upon that of the figure of which you +speak, was a monstrous, ribbon-shaped creature, whose flat, reddish +body, at least a meter in width and apparently thirty meters long, and +bordered with a sort of floating frill of a pinkish color, undulated +with a motion that turned us sick at heart. + +"But the head was the most awful object that the fancy of a madman could +conceive. There were two great round, projecting eyes, encircled with +what I suppose must have been phosphorescent organs, which spread around +in the water a green light that was absolutely horrifying. + +"I turned away the searchlight, and the eyes of that creature stared +straight at us with a dreadful, stony look; and then the effect of the +phosphorescence, heightened by the absence of the greater light, became +more terrible than before. We were unmanned, and I hardly had nerve +enough to turn the submersible away and hurry from the neighborhood." + +"I had not supposed," said Cosmo, "that creatures of such a size could +live in the deeper parts of the sea." + +"I know," returned De Beauxchamps, "that many have thought that the +abysmal creatures were generally of small size, but they knew nothing +about it. What could one have expected to learn of the secrets of life +in the ocean depths from the small creatures which alone the trawls +brought to the surface? The great monsters could not be captured in that +way. But we have _seen_ them--seen them taking possession of beautiful, +drowned Paris--and we know what they are." + +The fascinated hearers who had crowded about to listen to the narrative +of De Beauxchamps shuddered at this part of it, and some of the women +turned away with exclamations of horror. + +"I see that I am drawing my picture in too fearful colors," he said, +"and I shall refrain from telling of the other inhabitants of the abyss +that we found in possession of what I, as a Frenchman, must call the +most splendid capital that the world contained. + +"Oh, to think that all that beauty, all those great palaces filled with +the master-works of art, all those proud architectural piles, all that +scene of the most joyous life that the earth contained, is now become +the dwelling-place of the terrible _fauna_ of the deep, creatures that +never saw the sun; that never felt the transforming force of the +evolution which had made the face of the globe so glorious; that never +quitted their abysmal homes until this awful flood spread their empire +over the whole earth!" + +There was a period of profound silence while De Beauxchamps's face +worked spasmodically under the influence of emotions, the sight of which +would alone have sufficed to convince his hearers of the truth of what +he had been telling. Finally Cosmo Versal, breaking the silence, asked: + +"Did you find your home?" + +"Yes. It was there. I found it out. I illuminated it with the +searchlight. I gazed into the broken windows, trying to peer through the +watery medium that filled and darkened the interior. The roof was +broken, but the walls were intact. I thought of the happy, happy years +that I had passed there when I _had_ a family, and when Paris was an +Eden, the sunshine of the world. And then I wished to see no more, and +we rose out of the midst of that sunken city and sought the daylight far +above. + +"I had thought to tell you," he continued, after a pause, "of the +condition in which we found the great monuments of the city--of the +Pantheon, yet standing on its hill with its roof crushed in; of Notre +Dame--a wreck, but the towers still standing proudly; of the old palace +of the Louvre, through whose broken roofs and walls we caught glimpses +of the treasures washed by the water within--but I find that I have not +courage to go on. I had imagined that it would be a relief to speak of +these things, but I do not find it so." + +"After leaving Paris, then you made no other explorations?" said Cosmo. + +"None. I should have had no heart for more. I had seen enough. And yet I +do not regret that I went there. I should never have been content not to +have seen my beautiful city once more, even lying in her watery shroud. +I loved her living; I have seen her dead. It is finished. What more is +there, M. Versal?" With a sudden change of manner: "You have predicted +all this, and perhaps you know more. Where do _we_ go to die?" + +"We shall _not_ die," replied Cosmo Versal forcefully. "The Ark and your +_Jules Verne_ will save us." + +"To what purpose?" demanded the Frenchman, his animation all gone. "Can +there be any pleasure in floating upon or beneath the waves that cover a +lost world? Is a brief prolongation of such a life worth the effort of +grasping for?" + +"Yes," said Cosmo with still greater energy. "We may still _save the +race_. I have chosen most of my companions in the Ark for that purpose. +Not only may we save the race of man, but we may lead it up upon a +higher plane; we may apply the principles of eugenics as they have never +yet been applied. You, M. De Beauxchamps, have shown that you are of the +stock that is required for the regeneration of the world." + +"But where can the world be regenerated?" asked De Beauxchamps with a +bitter laugh. "There is nothing left but mountain-tops." + +"Even they will be covered," said Cosmo. + +"Do you mean that the deluge has not yet reached its height?" + +"Certainly it has not. We are in an open space in the enveloping nebula. +After a little we shall enter the nucleus, and then will come the +worst." + +"And yet you talk of saving the race!" exclaimed the Frenchman with +another bitter laugh. + +"I do," replied Cosmo, "and it will be done." + +"But how?" + +"Through the re-emergence of land." + +"That recalls our former conversation," put in Professor Abel Able. "It +appears to me impossible that, when the earth is once covered with a +universal ocean, it can ever disappear or materially lower its level. +Geological ages would be required for the level of the water to be +lowered even a few feet by the escape of vapor into space." + +"No," returned Cosmo Versal, "I have demonstrated that that idea is +wrong. Under the immense pressure of an ocean rising six miles above the +ancient sea level the water will rapidly be forced into the interstices +of the crust, and thus a material reduction of level will be produced +within a few years--five at the most. That will give us a foothold. I +have no doubt that even now the water around us is slightly lowering +through that cause. + +"But in itself that will not be sufficient. I have gone all over this +ground in my original calculations. The intrusion of the immense mass of +ocean water into the interior of the crust of the earth will result in a +grand geological upheaval. The lands will re-emerge above the new sea +level as they emerged above the former one through the internal stresses +of the globe." + +The scientific men present listened with breathless interest, but some +of them with many incredulous shakings of the head. + +"You must be aware," continued Cosmo, addressing them particularly, +"that it has been demonstrated that the continents and the great +mountain ranges are buoyed up, and, as it were, are floating somewhat +like slags on the internal magma. The mean density of the crust is less +under the land and the mountains than under the old sea-beds. This is +especially true of the Himalayan region. + +"That uplift is probably the most recent of all, and it is there, where +at present the highest land of the globe exists, that I expect that the +new upheaval will be most strongly manifested. It is for that reason, +and not merely because it is now the highest part of the earth, that I +am going with the Ark to Asia." + +"But," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "the upheaval of which you speak +may produce a complete revolution in the surface of the earth, and if +new lands are upthrust they may appear at unexpected points." + +"Not at all," returned Cosmo. "The tectonic features of the globe were +fixed at the beginning. As Asia has hitherto been the highest and the +greatest mass of land, it will continue to be so in the future. It is +there, believe me, that we shall replant the seed of humanity." + +"Do you not think," asked Professor Alexander Jones, "that there will be +a tremendous outburst of volcanic energy, if such upheavals occur, and +may not that render the re-emerging lands uninhabitable?" + +"No doubt," Cosmo replied, "every form of plutonic energy will be +immensely re-enforced. You remember the recent outburst of all the +volcanoes when the sea burst over the borders of the continents. But +these forces will be mainly expended in an effort of uplifting. +Unquestionably there will be great volcanic spasms, but they will not +prevent the occupation of the broadening areas of land which will not be +thus affected." + +"Upon these lands," exclaimed Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, in a loud voice, +"I will develop life from the barren minerals of the crust. The age of +chemical parthenogenesis will then have dawned upon the earth, and man +will have become a creator." + +"Will the Sir Englishman give me room for a word!" cried Costake +Theriade, raising his tall form on his toes and agitating his arms in +the air. "He will create not anything! It is _I_ that will unloose the +energies of the atoms of matter and make of the new man a new god." + +Cosmo Versal quieted the incipient outbreak of his jealous "speculative +geniuses," and the discussion of his theory was continued for some time. +At length De Beauxchamps, shrugging his shoulders, exclaimed, with a +return of his habitual gayety: + +"_Tres bien! Vive_ the world of Cosmo Versal! I salute the new Eve that +is to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + +When Professor Pludder, the President, and their companions on the +aero-raft, saw the three men on the bluff motioning and shouting to +them, they immediately sought the means of bringing their craft to land. +This did not prove to be exceedingly difficult, for there was a +convenient rock with deep water around it on which they could disembark. + +The men ran down to meet them, and to help them ashore, exhibiting the +utmost astonishment at seeing them there. + +"Whar in creation did _you_ come from?" exclaimed one, giving the +professor a pull up the bank. "Mebbe you're Cosmo Versal, and that's yer +Ark." + +"I'm Professor Pludder, and this is the President of the United States." + +"The President of the Un----See here, stranger, I'll take considerable +from you, considering the fix yer in, but you don't want to go too far." + +"It's true," asseverated the professor. "This gentleman is the +President, and we've escaped from Washington. Please help the ladies." + +"I'll help the ladies all right, but I'm blamed if I believe yer yarn. +How'd you git here? You couldn't hev floated across the continent on +that thing." + +"We came on the raft that you see," interrupted Mr. Samson. "We left the +Appalachian Mountains two weeks ago." + +"Well, by--it must be true!" muttered the man. "They couldn't hev come +from anywhar else in that direction. I reckon the hull blamed continent +is under water." + +"So it is," said Professor Pludder, "and we made for Colorado, knowing +that it was the only land left above the flood." + +All finally got upon the bluff, rejoiced to feel solid ground once more +beneath their feet. But it was a desolate prospect that they saw before +them. The face of the land had been scoured and gullied by the pouring +waters, the vegetation had been stripped off, except where in hollows it +had been covered with new-formed lakes, some of which had drained off +after the downpour ceased, the water finding its way into the enveloping +sea. + +They asked the three men what had become of the other inhabitants, and +whether there was any shelter at hand. + +"We've be'n wiped out," said the original spokesman. "Cosmo Versal has +done a pretty clean job with his flood. There's a kind of a cover that +we three hev built, a ways back yonder, out o' timber o' one kind and +another that was lodged about. But it wouldn't amount to much if there +was another cloudburst. It wouldn't stand a minute. It's good to sleep +in." + +"Are you the only survivors in this region?" asked the President. + +"I reckon you see all thet's left of us. The' ain't one out o' a hundred +that's left alive in these parts." + +"What became of them?" + +"Swept off!" replied the man, with an expressive gesture--"and drownded +right out under the sky." + +"And how did you and your companions escape?" + +"By gitting up amongst some rocks that was higher'n the average." + +"How did you manage to live--what did you have to eat?" + +"We didn't eat much--we didn't hev much time to think o' eatin'. We had +one hoss with us, and he served, when his time come. After the sky +cleared we skirmished about and dug up something that we could manage to +eat, lodged in gullies where the water had washed together what had been +in houses and cellars. We've got a gun and a little ammunition, and once +in a while we could kill an animal that had contrived to escape +somehow." + +"And you think that there are no other human beings left alive anywhere +around here?" + +"I _know_ th' ain't. The's probably some up in the foothills, and around +the Pike. They had a better chance to git among rocks. We hed jest made +up our minds to go hunting for 'em when we ketched sight o' you, and +then we concluded to stay and see who you was." + +"I'm surprised that you didn't go sooner." + +"We couldn't. There was a roarin' torrent coming down from the mountains +that cut us off. It's only last night that it stopped." + +"Well, it's evident that we cannot stay here," said Professor Pludder. +"We must go with these men toward the mountains. Let us take what's left +of the compressed provisions out of the raft, and then we'll eat a good +meal and be off." + +The three men were invited to share the repast, and they ate with an +appetite that would have amused their hosts if they had not been so +anxious to reserve as much as possible of their provisions for future +necessities. + +The meal finished, they started off, their new friends aiding to carry +provisions, and what little extra clothing there was. The aspect of the +country they traversed affrighted them. Here and there were partially +demolished houses or farm structures, or cellars, choked with debris of +what had once been houses. + +Farm implements and machinery were scattered about and half buried in +the torrent-furrowed land. In the wreck of one considerable village +through which they passed they found a stone church, and several stone +houses of considerable pretensions, standing almost intact as to walls, +but with roofs, doors, and windows smashed and torn off. + +It was evident that this place, which lay in a depression of the land, +had been buried by the rushing water as high as high as the top stories +of the buildings. From some of the sights that they saw they shrank +away, and afterward tried to forget them. + +Owing to the presence of the women and children their progress was +slower than it might overwise have been. They had great difficulty in +crossing the course of the torrent which their companions had described +as cutting them off from the foothills of the Pike's Peak range. + +The water had washed out a veritable canyon, a hundred or more feet deep +in places, and with ragged, precipitous walls and banks, which they had +to descend on one side and ascend on the other. Here the skill and local +knowledge of their three new-found friends stood them in good stead. +There was yet enough water in the bottom of the great gully to compel +them to wade, carrying the women and children. + +But, just before nightfall, they succeeded in reaching a range of rocky +heights, where they determined to pass the night. They managed to make a +fire with brush that had been swept down the mountain flanks and had +remained wedged in the rocks, and thus they dried their soaked garments, +and were able to do some cooking, and to have a blaze to give them a +little heat during the night, for the air turned cold after the +disappearance of the sun. + +When the others had sunk into an uneasy slumber, the President and +Professor Pludder sat long, replenishing the fire, and talking of what +would be their future course. + +"I think," said the professor, "that we shall find a considerable +population alive among the mountains. There is nothing in Colorado below +four thousand feet elevation, and not much below five thousand. The +great inner 'parks' were probably turned into lakes, but they will drain +off, as the land around us here has done already. + +"Those who managed to find places of comparative shelter will now +descend into the level lands and try to hunt up the sites of their +homes. If only some plants and grain have been preserved they can, after +a fashion, begin to cultivate the soil." + +"But there _is_ no soil," said the President, shuddering at the +recollection of the devastation he had witnessed. "It has all been +washed off." + +"No," replied the professor, "there's yet a good deal in the low places, +where the water rested." + +"But it is now the middle of winter." + +"Reckoned by the almanac it is, but you see that the temperature is that +of summer, and has been such for months. I think that this is due in +some way to the influence of the nebula, although I cannot account for +it. At any rate it will be possible to plant and sow. + +"The whole body of the atmosphere having been raised four thousand feet, +the atmospheric conditions here now are virtually the same as at the +former sea-level. If we can find the people and reassure them, we must +take the lead in restoring the land to fertility, and also in the +reconstruction of homes." + +"Suppose the flood should recommence?" + +"There is no likelihood of it." + +"Then," said the President, putting his face between his hands and +gazing sadly into the fire, "here is all that remains of the mightiest +nation of the world, the richest, the most populous--and we are to build +up out of this remnant a new fatherland." + +"This is not the only remnant," said Professor Pludder. "One-quarter, at +least, of the area of the United States is still above sea-level. Think +of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, the larger part of California, +Wyoming, a part of Montana, two-thirds of Idaho, a half of Oregon and +Washington--all above the critical level of four thousand feet, and all +except the steepest moutainsides can be reclaimed. + +"There is hope for our country yet. Remember that the climate of this +entire region will now be changed, since the barometric isobars have +been lifted up, and the line of thirty inches pressure now meets the +edge of the Colorado plateau. There may be a corresponding change in the +rainfall and in all the conditions of culture and fertility." + +"Yes," sighed the President, "but I cannot, I cannot withdraw my mind +from the thought of the _millions, millions, millions_ who have +perished!" + +"I do not say that we should forget them," replied Professor Pludder; +"Heaven forbid! But I do say that we must give our attention to those +that remain, and turn our faces steadily toward the future." + +"Abiel," returned the President, pressing the professor's hand, "you are +right. My confidence in you was shaken, but now I follow you again." + +Thus they talked until midnight, and then got a little rest with the +others. They were up and off at break of day, and as they mounted higher +they began to encounter immense rocks that had come tumbling down from +above. + +"How can you talk of people escaping toward the mountains if they had to +encounter these?" demanded the President. + +"Some of these rocks have undoubtedly been brought down by the +torrents," Professor Pludder replied, "but I believe that the greater +number fell earlier, during the earthquakes that accompanied the first +invasions of the sea." + +"But those earthquakes may have continued all through." + +"I do not think so. We have felt no trembling of the earth. I believe +that the convulsions lasted only for a brief period, while the rocks +were yielding to the pressure along the old sea-coast. After a little +the crust below adjusted itself to the new conditions. And even if the +rocks fell while people were trying to escape from the flood below, they +must, like the water, have followed the gorges and hollow places, while +the fugitives would, of course, keep upon the ridges." + +Whatever perils they may have encountered, people had certainly escaped +as the professor had averred. When the party, in the middle of the day, +were seated at their lunch, on an elevated point from which they could +see far over the strange ocean that they had left behind them, while the +southern buttresses of Pike's Peak rose steeply toward the north, they +discovered the first evidence of the existence of refugees in the +mountains. This was a smoke rising over an intervening ridge, which +their new companions declared could be due to nothing less than a large +camp-fire. + +They hastened to finish their meal, and then climbed the ridge. As soon +as they were upon it they found themselves looking down into a broad, +shallow canyon, where there were nearly twenty rudely constructed cabins, +with a huge fire blazing in the midst of the place, and half a dozen +red-shirted men busy about it, evidently occupied in the preparation of +the dinner of a large party. + +Their friends recognized an acquaintance in one of the men below and +hailed him with delight. Instantly men, women, and children came running +out of the huts to look at them, and as they descended into this +improvised village they were received with a hospitality that was almost +hilarious. + +The refugees consisted of persons who had escaped from the lower lands +in the immediate vicinity, and they were struck dumb when told that they +were entertaining the President of the United States and his family. + +The entire history of their adventures was related on both sides. The +refugees told how, at the commencement of the great rain, when it became +evident that the water would inundate their farms and buildings, they +loaded themselves with as many provisions as they could carry, and, in +spite of the suffocating downpour that filled the air, managed to fight +their way to the ridge overhanging the deep cut in which they were now +encamped. + +Hardly a quarter of those who started arrived in safety. They sheltered +themselves to the number of about thirty, in a huge cavern, which faced +down the mountain, and had a slightly upward sloping floor, so that the +water did not enter. Here, by careful economy, they were able to eke out +their provisions until the sky cleared, after which the men, being used +to outdoor labor and hunting, contrived to supply the wants of the +forlorn little community. + +They managed to kill a few animals, and found the bodies of others +recently killed, or drowned. Later they descended into the lowlands, as +the water ran off, and searching among the ruins of their houses found +some remnants of supplies in the cellars and about the foundations of +the barns. They were preparing to go down in a body and seek to +re-establish themselves on the sites of their old homes, when the +President's party came upon them. + +The meeting with these refugees was but the first of a series of similar +encounters on the way along the eastern face of the Pike's Peak range. +In the aggregate they met several hundred survivors who had established +themselves on the site of Colorado Springs, where a large number of +houses, standing on the higher ground, had escaped. + +They had been soaked with water, descending through the shattered roofs +and broken windows, and pouring into the basements and cellars. The +fugitives came from all directions, some from the caverns on the +mountains, and some from the rocks toward the north and east. A +considerable number asserted that they had found refuge in the Garden of +the Gods. + +As near as could be estimated, about a quarter of the population +remained alive. + +The strong points of Professor Pludder now, once more, came out +conspicuously. He proved himself an admirable organizer. He explored all +the country round, and enheartened everybody, setting them to work to +repair the damage as much as possible. + +Some horses and cattle were found which, following their instincts, had +managed to escape the flood. In the houses and other buildings yet +standing a great deal of food and other supplies were discovered, so +that there was no danger of a famine. As he had anticipated, the soil +had not all been washed away from the flat land, and he advised the +inhabitants to plant quick-growing seeds at once. + +He utilized the horses to send couriers in all directions, some going +even as far as Denver. Everywhere virtually the same conditions were +found--many had escaped and were alive, only needing the guidance of a +quicker intelligence, and this was supplied by the advice which the +professor instructed his envoys to spread among the people. He sought to +cheer them still more by the information that the President was among +them, and looking out for their welfare. + +One thing which his couriers at last began to report to him was a cause +of surprise. They said that the level of the water was rapidly falling. +Some who had gone far toward the east declared that it had gone down +hundreds of feet. But the professor reflected that this was impossible, +because evaporation could not account for it, and he could not persuade +himself that so much water could have found its way into the interior of +the crust. + +He concluded that his informants had allowed their hopes to affect their +eyesight, and, strong as usual in his professional dogmas, he made no +personal examination. Besides, Professor Pludder was beginning to be +shaken in his first belief that all trouble from the nebula was at an +end. Once having been forced to accept the hypothesis that a watery +nebula had met the earth, he began to reflect that they might not be +through with it. + +In any event, he deemed it wise to prepare for it if it _should_ come +back. Accordingly he advised that the population that remained should +concentrate in the stronger houses, built of stone, and that every +effort should be made to strengthen them further and to make the roofs +as solid as possible. He also directed that no houses should be occupied +that were not situated on high ground, surrounded with slopes that would +give ready flow to the water in case the deluging rain should +recommence. + +He had no fixed conviction that it would recommence, but he was uneasy, +owing to his reflections, and wished to be on the safe side. He sent +similar instructions as far as his horsemen could reach. + +The wisdom of his doubts became manifest about two weeks after the +arrival of the President's party. Without warning the sky, which had +been perfectly blue and cloudless for a month, turned a sickly yellow. +Then mists hid the head, and in a little while the entire outline of +Pike's Peak, and after that a heavy rain began. + +Terror instantly seized the people, and at first nobody ventured out of +doors. But as time went on and the rain did not assume the proportions +of the former _debacle_, although it was very heavy and continuous, hope +revived. Everybody was on the watch for a sudden clearing up. + +Instead of clearing, however, the rain became very irregular, gushing at +times in torrents which were even worse than the original downpour, but +these tremendous gushes were of brief duration, so that the water had an +opportunity to run off the higher ground before the next downpour +occurred. + +This went on for a week, and then the people were terrified at finding +that water was pouring up through all the depressions of the land, +cutting off the highlands from Pike's Peak with an arm of the sea. It +was evident that the flood had been rapidly rising, and if it should +rise but little higher they would be caught in a trap. The inland sea, +it was clear, had now invaded the whole of Colorado to the feet of the +mountains, and was creeping up on them. + +Just at this time a series of earthquakes began. They were not severe, +but were continuous. The ground cracked open in places, and some houses +were overturned, but there were no wall-shattering shocks--only a +continual and dreadful trembling, accompanied by awful subterranean +sounds. + +This terrible state of affairs had lasted for a day before a remarkable +discovery was made, which filled many hearts with joy, although it +seemed to puzzle Professor Pludder as much as it rejoiced him. + +The new advance of the sea was arrested! There could be no question of +that, for too many had anxiously noted the points to which the water had +attained. + +We have said that Professor Pludder was puzzled. He was seeking, in his +mind, a connection between the seismic tremors and the cessation of the +advance of the sea. Inasmuch as the downpour continued, the flood ought +still to rise. + +He rejected as soon as it occurred to him the idea that the earth could +be drinking up the waters as fast as they fell, and that the trembling +was an accompaniment of this gigantic deglutition. + +Sitting in a room with the President and other members of the party from +Washington, he remained buried in his thoughts, answering inquiries only +in monosyllables. Presently he opened his eyes very wide and a +long-drawn "A-ah!" came from his mouth. Then he sprang to his feet and +cried out, but only as if uttering a thought aloud to himself, the +strange word: + +_"Batholite!"_ + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + +At the time when the President of the United States and his companions +were beginning to discover the refugees around Pike's Peak, Cosmo +Versal's Ark accompanied by the _Jules Verne_, whose commander had +decided to remain in touch with his friends, was crossing the submerged +hills and valleys of Languedoc under a sun as brilliant as that which +had once made them a land of gold. + +De Beauxchamps remained aboard the Ark much of the time. Cosmo liked to +have him, with himself and Captain Arms, on the bridge, because there +they could talk freely about their plans and prospects, and the +Frenchman was a most entertaining companion. + +Meanwhile, the passengers in the saloons and on the promenade decks +formed little knots and coteries for conversation, for reading, and for +mutual diversion, or strolled about from side to side, watching the +endless expanse of waters for the occasional appearance of some +inhabitant of the deep that had wandered over the new ocean's bottom. + +These animals seemed to be coming to the surface to get bearings. Every +such incident reminded the spectators of what lay beneath the waves, and +led them to think and talk of the awful fate that had overwhelmed their +fellow men, until the spirits of the most careless were subdued by the +pervading melancholy. + +King Richard, strangely enough, had taken a liking for Amos Blank, who +was frequently asked to join the small and somewhat exclusive circle of +compatriots that continually surrounded the fallen monarch. The +billionaire and the king often leaned elbow to elbow over the rail, and +put their heads companionably together while pointing out some object on +the sea. Lord Swansdown felt painfully cut by this, but, of course, he +could offer no objection. + +Finally Cosmo invited the king to come upon the bridge, from which +passengers were generally excluded, and the king insisted that Blank +should go, too. Cosmo consented, for Blank seemed to him to have become +quite a changed man, and he found him sometimes full of practical +suggestions. + +So it happened that when Captain Arms announced that the Ark was passing +over the ancient city of Carcassonne, Cosmo, the king, De Beauxchamps, +Amos Blank, and the captain were all together on the bridge. When +Captain Arms mentioned their location, King Richard became very +thoughtful. After a time he said musingly: + +"Ah! how all these names, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Languedoc, bring back +to me the memory of my namesake of olden times, Richard I. of England. +This, over which we are floating, was the land of the Troubadours, and +Richard was the very Prince of Troubadours. With all his faults England +never had a king like him!" + +"Knowing your devotion to peace, which was the reason why I wished you +to be of the original company in the Ark, I am surprised to hear you say +that," said Cosmo. + +"Ah!" returned the King, "But Coeur de Lion was a true Englishman, even +in his love of fighting. What would he say if he knew where England lies +to-day? What would he say if he knew the awful fate that has come upon +this fair and pleasant land, from whose poets and singers he learned the +art of minstrelsy?" + +"He would say, 'Do not despair,'" replied Cosmo. "' Show the courage of +an Englishman, and fight for your race if you cannot for your country.'" + +"But may not England, may not all these lands, emerge again from the +floods?" asked the king. + +"Not in our time, not in our children's time," said Cosmo Versal, +thoughtfully shaking his head. + +"In the remote future, yes--but I cannot tell how remote. Tibet was once +an appanage of your crown, before China taught the West what war meant, +and in Tibet you may help to found a new empire, but I must tell you +that it will not resemble the empires of the past. Democracy will be its +corner stone, and science its law." + +"Then I devote myself to democracy and science," responded King Richard. + +"Good! Admirable!" exclaimed Amos Blank and De Beauxchamps +simultaneously, while Captain Arms would probably have patted the king +on the back had not his attention, together with that of the others, +been distracted by a huge whale blowing almost directly in the course of +the Ark. + +"Blessed if I ever expected to see a sight like that in these parts!" +exclaimed the captain. "This lifting the ocean up into the sky is +upsetting the order of nature. I'd as soon expect to sight a cachalot on +top of the Rocky Mountains." + +"They'll be there, too, before long," said Cosmo. + +"I wonder what he's looking for," continued Captain Arms. "He must have +come down from the north. He couldn't have got in through the Pyrenees +or the Sierra Nevadas. He's just navigated right over the whole country +straight down from the English Channel." + +The whale sounded at the approach of the Ark, but in a little while he +was blowing again off toward the south, and then the passengers caught +sight of him, and there was great excitement. + +He seemed to be of enormous size, and he sent his fountain to an +extraordinary height in the air. On he went, appearing and disappearing, +steering direct for Africa, until, with glasses, they could see his +white plume blowing on the very edge of the horizon. + +Not even the reflection that they themselves were sailing over Europe +impressed some of the passengers with so vivid a sense of their +situation as the sight of this monstrous inhabitant of the ocean taking +a view of his new domain. + +At night Cosmo continued the concerts and the presentation of the +Shakespearian dramas, and for an hour each afternoon he had a +"conference" in the saloon, at which Theriade and Sir Athelstone were +almost the sole performers. + +Their disputes, and Cosmo's efforts to keep the peace, amused for a +while, but at length the audiences diminished until Cosmo, with his +constant companions, the Frenchman, the king, Amos Blank, the three +professors from Washington, and a few other savants were the only +listeners. + +But the music and the plays always drew immensely. + +Joseph Smith was kept busy most of the time in Cosmo's cabin, copying +plans for the regeneration of mankind. + +When they knew that they had finally left the borders of France and were +sailing above the Mediterranean Sea, it became necessary to lay their +course with considerable care. Cosmo decided that the only safe plan +would be to run south of Sardinia, and then keep along between Sicily +and Tunis, and so on toward lower Egypt. + +There he intended to seek a way over the mountains north of the Sinai +peninsula into the Syrian desert, from which he could reach the ancient +valley of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. He would then pass down +the Arabian Sea, swing round India and Ceylon, and, by way of the Bay of +Bengal and the plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, approach the +Himalayas. + +Captain Arms was rather inclined to follow the Gulf of Suez and the +depression of the Red Sea, but Cosmo was afraid that they would have +difficulty in getting the Ark safely through between the Mt. Sinai peaks +and the Jebel Gharib range. + +"Well, you're the commodore," said the captain at the end of the +discussion, "but hang me if I'd not rather follow a sea, where I know +the courses, than go navigating over mountains and deserts in the land +of Shinar. We'll land on top of Jerusalem yet, you'll see!" + +Feeling sure of plenty of water under keel, they now made better speed +and De Beauxchamps retired into the _Jules Verne_, and detached it from +the Ark, finding that he could distance the latter easily with the +submersible running just beneath the surface of the water. + +"Come up to blow, and take a look around from the bridge, once in a +while," the captain called out to him as he disappeared and the cover +closed over him. The _Jules Verne_ immediately sank out of sight. + +They passed round Sardinia, and between the old African coast and +Sicily, and were approaching the Malta Channel when their attention was +drawn to a vast smoke far off toward the north. + +"It's Etna in eruption," said Cosmo to the captain. + +"A magnificent sight!" exclaimed King Richard, who happened to be on the +bridge. + +"Yes, and I'd like to see it nearer," remarked Cosmo, as a wonderful +column of smoke, as black as ink, seemed to shoot up to the very zenith. + +"You'd better keep away," Captain Arms said warningly. "There's no good +comes of fooling round volcanoes in a ship." + +"Oh, it's safe enough," returned Cosmo. "We can run right over the +southeastern corner of Sicily and get as near as we like. There is +nothing higher than about three thousand feet in that part of the +island, so we'll have a thousand feet to spare." + +"But maybe the water has lowered." + +"Not more than a foot or two," said Cosmo. "Go ahead." + +The captain plainly didn't fancy the adventure, but he obeyed orders, +and the Ark's nose was turned northward, to the delight of many of the +passengers who had become greatly interested when they learned that the +tremendous smoke that they saw came from Mount Etna. + +Some of them were nervous, but the more adventurous spirits heartily +applauded Cosmo Versal's design to give them a closer view of so +extraordinary a spectacle. Even from their present distance the sight +was one that might have filled them with terror if they had not already +been through adventures which had hardened their nerves. The smoke was +truly terrific in appearance. + +It did not spread low over the sea, but rose in an almost vertical +column, widening out at a height of several miles, until it seemed to +canopy the whole sky toward the north. + +It could be seen spinning in immense rolling masses, the outer parts of +which were turned by the sunshine to a dingy brown color, while the main +stem of the column, rising directly from the great crater, was of pitchy +blackness. + +An awful roaring was audible, sending a shiver through the Ark. At the +bottom of the mass of smoke, through which gleams of fire were seen to +shoot as they drew nearer, appeared the huge conical form of the +mountain, whose dark bulk still rose nearly seven thousand feet above +the sea that covered the great, beautiful, and historic island beneath +it. + +They had got within about twenty miles of the base of the mountain, when +a shout was heard by those on the bridge, and Cosmo and the captain, +looking for its source, saw the _Jules Verne_, risen to the surface a +little to starboard, and De Beauxchamps excitedly signaling to them. +They just made out the words, "Sheer off!" when the Ark, with a groaning +sound, took ground, and they were almost precipitated over the rail of +the bridge. + +"Aground again, by ----!" exclaimed Captain Arms, instantly signaling +all astern. "I told you not to go fooling round a volcano." + +"This beats me!" cried Cosmo Versal. "I wonder if the island has begun +to rise." + +"More likely the sea has begun to fall," growled Captain Arms. + +"Do you know where we are?" asked Cosmo. + +"We can't be anywhere but on the top of Monte Lauro," replied the +captain. + +"But that's only three thousand feet high." + +"It's exactly three thousand two hundred and thirty feet," said the +captain. "I haven't navigated the old Mediterranean a hundred times for +nothing." + +"But even then we should have near seven hundred and fifty feet to +spare, allowing for the draft of the Ark, and a slight subsidence of the +water." + +"Well, you haven't allowed enough, that's plain," said the captain. + +"But it's impossible that the flood can have subsided more than seven +hundred feet already." + +"I don't care how impossible it is--here we are! We're stuck on a +mountain-top, and if we don't leave our bones on it I'm a porpoise." + +By this time the _Jules Verne_ was alongside, and De Beauxchamps shouted +up: + +"I was running twenty feet under water, keeping along with the Ark, when +my light suddenly revealed the mountain ahead. I hurried up and tried to +warn you, but it was too late." + +"Can't you go down and see where we're fast?" asked Cosmo. + +"Certainly; that's just what I was about to propose," replied the +Frenchman, and immediately the submersible disappeared. + +After a long time, during which Cosmo succeeded in allaying the fears of +his passengers, the submersible reappeared, and De Beauxchamps made his +report. He said that the Ark was fast near the bow on a bed of shelly +limestone. + +He thought that by using the utmost force of the _Jules Verne_, whose +engines were very powerful, in pushing the Ark, combined with the +backing of her own engines, she might be got off. + +"Hurry up, then, and get to work," cried Captain Arms. "This flood is on +the ebb, and a few hours more will find us stuck here like a ray with +his saw in a whale's back." + +De Beauxchamps's plan was immediately adopted. The _Jules Verne_ +descended, and pushed with all her force, while the engines of the Ark +were reversed, and within fifteen minutes they were once more afloat. + +Without waiting for a suggestion from Cosmo Versal, the Frenchman +carefully inspected with his searchlight the bottom of the Ark where she +had struck, and when he came to the surface he was able to report that +no serious damage had resulted. + +"There's no hole," he said, "only a slight denting of one of the plates, +which will not amount to anything." + +Cosmo, however, was not content until he had made a careful inspection +by opening some of the manholes in the inner skin of the vessel. He +found no cause for anxiety, and in an hour the Ark resumed its voyage +eastward, passing over the site of ancient Syracuse. + +By this time a change of the wind had sent the smoke from Etna in their +direction, and now it lay thick upon the water, and rendered it, for a +while, impossible to see twenty fathoms from the bridge. + +"It's old Etna's dying salute," said Cosmo. "He won't have his head +above water much longer." + +"But the flood is going down," exclaimed Captain Arms. + +"Yes, and that puzzles me. There must have been an enormous absorption +of water into the interior, far greater than I ever imagined possible. +But wait until the nucleus of the nebula strikes us! In the meantime, +this lowering of the water renders it necessary for us to make haste, or +we may not get over the mountains round Suez before the downpour +recommences." + +As soon as they escaped from the smoke of Etna they ran full speed ahead +again, and, keeping well south of Crete, at length, one morning they +found themselves in the latitude and longitude of Alexandria. + +The weather was still superb, and Cosmo was very desirous of getting a +line on the present height of the water. He thought that he could make a +fair estimate of this from the known elevation of the mountains about +Sinai. Accordingly they steered in that direction, and on the way passed +directly over the site of Cairo. + +Then the thought of the pyramids came to them all, and De Beauxchamps, +who had come aboard the Ark, and who was always moved by sentimental +considerations, proposed that they should spend a few hours here, while +he descended to inspect the condition in which the flood had left those +mighty monuments. + +Cosmo not only consented to this, but he even offered to be a member of +the party. The Frenchman was only too glad to have his company. Cosmo +Versal descended into the submersible after instructing Captain Arms to +hover in the neighborhood. + +The passengers and crew of the Ark, with expressions of anxiety that +would have pleased their subject if he had heard them, watched the +_Jules Verne_ disappear into the depths beneath. + +The submersible was gone so long that the anxiety of those aboard the +Ark deepened into alarm, and finally became almost panic. They had never +before known how much they depended upon Cosmo Versal. + +He was their only reliance, their only hope. He alone had known how to +keep up their spirits, and when he had assured them, as he so often did, +that the flooding would surely recommence, they had hardly been +terrified because of their unexpressed confidence that, let come what +would, his great brain would find a way out for them. + +Now he was gone, down into the depths of this awful sea, where their +imaginations pictured a thousand unheard-of perils, and perhaps they +would never see him again! Without him they knew themselves to be +helpless. Even Captain Arms almost lost his nerve. + +The strong good sense of Amos Blank alone saved them from the utter +despair that began to seize upon them as hour after hour passed without +the reappearance of the _Jules Verne_. + +His experience had taught him how to keep a level head in an emergency, +and how to control panics. With King Richard always at his side, he went +about among the passengers and fairly laughed them out of their fears. + +Without discussing the matter at all, he convinced them, by the simple +force of his own apparent confidence, that they were worrying themselves +about nothing. + +He was, in fact, as much alarmed as any of the others, but he never +showed it. He started a rumor, after six hours had elapsed, that Cosmo +himself had said that they would probably require ten or twelve hours +for their exploration. + +Cosmo had said nothing of the kind, but Blank's prevarication had its +intended effect, and fortunately, before the lapse of another six hours, +there was news from under the sea. + +And what was happening in the mysterious depths below the Ark? What had +so long detained the submersible? + +The point where the descent was made had been so well chosen that the +_Jules Verne_ almost struck the apex of the Great Pyramid as it +approached the bottom. The water was somewhat muddy from the sands of +the desert, and the searchlight streamed through a yellowish medium, +recalling the "golden atmosphere" for which Egypt had been celebrated. +But, nevertheless, the light was so powerful that they could see +distinctly at a distance of several rods. + +The pyramid appeared to have been but little injured, although the +tremendous tidal wave that had swept up the Nile during the invasion of +the sea before the downpour began had scooped out the sand down to the +bed-rock on all sides. + +Finding nothing of particular interest in a circuit of the pyramid, they +turned in the direction of the Great Sphinx. + +This, too, had been excavated to its base, and it now stood up to its +full height, and a terrible expression seemed to have come into its +enigmatic features. + +Cosmo wished to get a close look at it, and they ran the submersible +into actual contact with the forepart of the gigantic statue, just under +the mighty chin. + +While they paused there, gazing out of the front window of the vessel, a +bursting sound was heard, followed by a loud crash, and the _Jules +Verne_ was shaken from stem to stern. Every man of them threw himself +against the sides of the vessel, for the sound came from overhead, and +they had an instinctive notion that the roof was being crushed down upon +them. + +A second resounding crash was heard, shaking them like an earthquake, +and the little vessel rolled partly over upon its side. + +"We are lost!" cried De Beauxchamps. "The Sphinx is falling upon us! We +shall be buried alive here!" + +A third crash came over their heads, and the submersible seemed to sink +beneath them as if seeking to avoid the fearful blows that were rained +upon its roof. + +Still, the stout curved ceiling, strongly braced within, did not yield, +although they saw, with affright, that it was bulged inward, and some of +the braces were torn from their places. But no water came in. + +Stunned by the suddenness of the accident, for a few moments they did +nothing but cling to such supports as were within their reach, expecting +that another blow would either force the vessel completely over or break +the roof in. + +But complete silence now reigned, and the missiles from above ceased to +strike the submersible. The searchlight continued to beam out of the +fore end of the vessel, and following its broad ray with their eyes, +they uttered one cry of mingled amazement and fear, and then stared +without a word at such a spectacle as the wildest imagination could not +have pictured. + +The front of the Sphinx had disappeared, and the light, penetrating +beyond the place where it had stood, streamed upon the face and breast +of an enormous black figure, seated on a kind of throne, and staring +into their faces with flaming eyes which at once fascinated and +terrified them. + +To their startled imaginations the eyes seemed to roll in their sockets, +and flashes of fire to dart from them. Their expression was menacing and +terrifying beyond belief. At the same time the aspect of the face was so +majestic that they cowered before it. + +The cheekbones were high, massive, and polished until they shone in the +light; the nose and chin were powerful in their contours; and the brow +wore an intimidating frown. It seemed to the awed onlookers as if they +had sacrilegiously burst into the sanctuary of an offended god. + +But, after a minute or two of stupefaction, they thought again of the +desperateness of their situation, and turned from staring at the strange +idol to consider what they should do. + +The fact that no water was finding its way into the submersible somewhat +reassured them, but the question now arose whether it could be withdrawn +from its position. + +They had no doubt that the front of the Sphinx, saturated by the water +after the thousands of years that it had stood there, exposed to the +desiccating influences of the sun and the desert sands, had suddenly +disintegrated, and fallen upon them, pinning their vessel fast under the +fragments of the huge head. + +De Beauxchamps tried the engines and found that they had no effect in +moving the _Jules Verne_. He tried again and again by reversing to +disengage the vessel, but it would not stir. Then they debated the only +other means of escape. + +"Although I have levium life-suits," said the Frenchman, "and although +the top of the _Jules Verne_ can probably be opened, for the door seems +not to have been touched, yet the instant it is removed the water will +rush in, and it will be impossible to pump out the vessel." + +"Are your life-suits so arranged that they will permit of moving the +limbs?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Certainly they are." + +"And can they be weighted so as to remain at the bottom?" + +"They are arranged for that," responded De Beauxchamps. + +"And can the weights be detached by the inmates without permitting the +entrance of water?" + +"It can be done, although a very little water might enter during the +operation." + +"Then," said Cosmo, "let us put on the suits, open the door, take out +the ballast so that, if released, the submersible will rise to the +surface through its own buoyancy, and then see if we cannot loosen the +vessel from outside." + +It was a suggestion whose boldness made even the owner and constructor +of the _Jules Verne_ stare for a moment, but evidently it was the only +possible way in which the vessel might be saved; and knowing that, in +case of failure, they could themselves float to the surface after +removing the weights from the bottom of the suits, they unanimously +decided to try Cosmo Versal's plan. + +It was terribly hard work getting the ballast out of the submersible, +working as they had to do under water, which rushed in as soon as the +door was opened, and in their awkward suits, which were provided with +apparatus for renewing the supply of oxygen; but at last they succeeded. + +Then they clambered outside, and labored desperately to release the +vessel from the huge fragments of stone that pinned it down. Finally, +exhausted by their efforts, and unable to make any impression, they gave +up. + +De Beauxchamps approached Cosmo and motioned to him that it was time to +ascend to the surface and leave the _Jules Verne_ to her fate. But Cosmo +signaled back that he wished first to examine more closely the strange +statue that was gazing upon them in the still unextinguished beam of the +searchlight with what they might now have regarded as a look of mockery. + +The others, accordingly, waited while Cosmo Versal, greatly impeded by +his extraordinary garment, clambered up to the front of the figure. +There he saw something which redoubled his amazement. + +On the broad breast he saw a representation of a world overwhelmed with +a deluge and encircling it was what he instantly concluded to be the +picture of a nebula. Underneath, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, with +which Cosmo was familiar, was an inscription in letters of gold, which +could only be translated thus: + + I Come Again-- + At the End of Time. + +"Great Heavens!" he said to himself. "It is a prophecy of the Second +Deluge!" + +[Illustration: "IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE."] + +He continued to gaze, amazed, at the figure and the inscription, until +De Beauxchamps clambered to his side and indicated to him that it was +necessary that they should ascend without further delay, showing him by +signs that the air-renewing apparatus would give out. + +With a last lingering look at the figure, Cosmo imitated the others by +detaching the weights from below his feet, and a minute later they were +all shooting rapidly toward the surface of the sea, De Beauxchamps, as +he afterwards declared, uttering a prayer for the repose of the _Jules +Verne_. + +The imaginary time which Amos Blank had fixed as the limit set by Cosmo +for the return from the depths was nearly gone, and he was beginning to +cast about for some other invention to quiet the rising fears of the +passengers, when a form became visible which made the eyes of Captain +Arms, the first to catch sight of it, start from their sockets. He +rubbed them, and looked again--but there it was! + +A huge head, human in outline, with bulging, glassy eyes, popped +suddenly out of the depths, followed by the upper part of a gigantic +form which was no less suggestive of a monstrous man, and which +immediately began to wave its arms! + +Before the captain could collect his senses another shot to the surface, +and then another and another, until there were seven of them floating +and awkwardly gesticulating within a radius of a hundred fathoms on the +starboard side of the vessel. + +The whole series of apparitions did not occupy more than a quarter of a +minute in making their appearance. + +By the time the last had sprung into sight Captain Arms had recovered +his wits, and he shouted an order to lower a boat, at the same time +running down from the bridge to superintend the operation. Many of the +crew and passengers had in the meantime seen the strange objects, and +they were thrown into a state of uncontrollable excitement. + +"It's them!" shouted the captain over his shoulder, in response to a +hundred inquiries all put at once, and forgetting his grammar in the +excitement. "They've come up in diving-suits." + +Amos Blank comprehended the situation at once; and while the captain was +getting out the boat, he explained matters to the crowd. + +"The submersible must be lost," he said quietly, "but the men have +escaped, so there is no great harm done. It does great credit to that +Frenchman that he should have been prepared for such an emergency. Those +are levium suits, and I've no doubt that he has got hydrogen somewhere +inside to increase their buoyancy." + +Within a quarter of an hour all the seven had been picked up by the +boat, and it returned to the Ark. The strange forms were lifted aboard +with tackle to save time; and as the first one reached the deck, it +staggered about on its big limbs for a moment. + +Then the metallic head opened, and the features of De Beauxchamps were +revealed. + +Before anybody could assist him he had freed himself from the suit, and +immediately he began to aid the others. In ten minutes they all stood +safe and sound before the astonished eyes of the spectators. Cosmo had +suffered from the confinement, and he sank upon a seat, but De +Beauxchamps seemed to be the most affected. With downcast look he said, +sadly shaking his head: + +"The poor _Jules Verne_! I shall never see her again." + +"What has happened?" demanded Captain Arms. + +"It was the Father of Horror," muttered Cosmo Versal. + +"The Father of Horror--what's that?" + +"Why, the Great Sphinx," returned Cosmo, gradually recovering his +breath. "Didn't you know that that was what the Arabs always called the +Sphinx? + +"It was that which fell upon the submersible--split right open and +dropped its great chin upon us as we were sailing round it, and pinned +us fast. But the sight that we saw when the Sphinx fell apart! Tell +them, De Beauxchamps." + +The Frenchman took up the narrative, while, with breathless attention, +passengers and crew crowded about to listen to his tale. + +"When we got to the bottom," he said, "we first inspected the Great +Pyramid, going all round it with our searchlight. It was in good +condition, although the tide that had come up the Nile with the invasion +of the sea had washed away the sands to a great depth all about. When we +had completed the circuit of the pyramid, we saw the Sphinx, which had +been excavated by the water so that it stood up to its full height. + +"We ran close around it, and when we were under the chin the whole +thing, saturated by the water, which no doubt caused an expansion +within--you know how many thousand years the gigantic idol had been +sun-dried--dropped apart. + +"The submersible was caught by the falling mass, and partly crushed. We +labored for hours and hours to release the vessel, but there was little +that we could do. It almost broke my heart to think of leaving the +_Jules Verne_ there, but it had to be done. + +"At last we put on the levium floating-suits, opened the cover at the +top, and came to the surface. The last thing I saw was the searchlight, +still burning, and illuminating the most marvelous spectacle that human +eyes ever gazed upon." + +"Oh, what was it? What was it?" demanded a score of voices in chorus. + +"It is impossible to describe it. It was the secret of old Egypt +revealed at last--at the end of the world!" + +"But what was it like?" + +"Like a glimpse into the remotest corridors of time," interposed Cosmo +Versal, with a curious look in his eyes. + +"Some of you may have heard that long ago holes were driven through the +Sphinx in the hope of discovering something hidden inside, but they +missed the secret. The old god kept it well until his form fell apart. +We were pinned so close to it that we could not help seeing it, even in +the excitement of our situation. + +"It had always been supposed that the Sphinx was the symbol of +something--it _was_, and more than a symbol! The explorers away back in +the nineteenth century who thought that they had found something +mysterious in the Great Pyramid went wide of the mark when they +neglected the Sphinx." + +"But what did you see?" + +_"We saw the prophecy of the Second Deluge,"_ said Cosmo, rising to his +feet, his piercing eyes aflame. "In the heart of the huge mass, +approachable, no doubt, by some concealed passage in the rock beneath, +known only to the priests, stood a gigantic idol, carved out of black +marble. + +"It had enormous eyes of some gem that blazed in the electric beam from +the searchlight, with huge golden ears and beard, and on its breast was +a representation of a drowning world, with a great nebula sweeping over +it." + +"It might have been a history instead of a prophecy," suggested one of +the listening savants. "Perhaps it only told what had once happened." + +"No," replied Cosmo, shaking his big head. "It was a prophecy. Under it, +in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which I recognized, was an +inscription which could only be translated by the words, 'I come +again--at the end of time!'" + +There was a quality in Cosmo Versal's voice which made the hearers +shudder with horror. + +"Yes," he added. "It comes again! The prophecy was hidden, but science +had its means of revelation, too, if the world would but have listened +to its voice. Even without the prophecy I have saved the flower of +mankind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + + +When the company in the Ark had recovered from the astonishment produced +by the narratives of De Beauxchamps and Cosmo Versal, and particularly +the vivid description given by the latter of the strange idol concealed +in the breast of the "Father of Horror," and the inferences which he +drew concerning its prophetic character, the question again arose as to +their future course. + +Captain Arms was still for undertaking to follow the trough of the Red +Sea, but Cosmo declared that this course would be doubly dangerous now +that the water had lowered and that they no longer had the _Jules Verne_ +to act as a submarine scout, warning them of hidden perils. + +They must now go by their own soundings, and this would be especially +dangerous in the close neighborhood of half-submerged mountains, whose +buttresses and foothills might rise suddenly out of the depths with +slopes so steep that the lead would afford no certain guidance. + +It was first necessary to learn if possible the actual height of the +water, and whether it was still subsiding. It was partly for this +purpose that they had passed over Egypt instead of keeping directly on +toward the coast of lower Palestine. + +But now Cosmo abandoned his purpose of taking his measurement by the aid +of Mount Sinai or some of its neighboring peaks, on account of the +dangerous character of that rugged region. If they had been furnished +with deep-sea sounding apparatus they might have made a direct +measurement of the depth in Egypt, but that was one of the few things +which Cosmo Versal had overlooked in furnishing the Ark, and such an +operation could not be undertaken. + +He discovered that there was a mountain north of the Gulf of Akaba +having an elevation of 3,450 feet, and since this was 220 feet higher +than Monte Lauro, in Sicily, on which the Ark had grounded, he counted +on it as a gage which would serve his purpose. + +So they passed almost directly over Suez, and about 120 miles farther +east they found the mountain they sought, rising to the west of the Wadi +el Arabia, a continuation of the depression at whose deepest point lay +the famous "Dead Sea," so often spoken of in the books of former times. + +Here Cosmo was able to make a very accurate estimate from the height of +the peak above the water, and he was gratified to find that the +recession had not continued. The level of the water appeared to be +exactly the same as when they made their unfortunate excursion in the +direction of smoking Etna. + +"It's all right," he said to Captain Arms. "We can get over into the +Syrian desert without much danger, although we must go slowly and +carefully until we are well past these ranges that come down from the +direction of the Dead Sea. After that I do not see that there is +anything in our way until we reach the ancient plains of Babylon." + +King Richard, who was full of the history of the Crusades, as well as of +Bible narratives, wished to have the Ark turn northward, so that they +might sail over Jerusalem, and up the Valley of the Jordan within sight +of Mount Hermon and the Lebanon range. + +Cosmo had had enough of that kind of adventure, while Captain Arms +declared that he would resign on the spot if there was to be any more +"fool navigating on mountain tops." But there were many persons in the +Ark who would have been very glad if King Richard's suggestion had been +carried out. + +The feelings of some were deeply stirred when they learned that they +were now crossing the lower end of Palestine, and that the scenes of so +many incidents in the history of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua lay buried +beneath the blue water, whose almost motionless surface was marked with +a broad trail of foaming bubbles in the wake of the immense vessel. + +Cosmo greatly regretted the absence of the submersible when they were +picking their way over this perilous region, but they encountered no +real difficulty, and at length found, by celestial observations, that +they were beyond all dangers and safely arrived over the deeply +submerged desert. + +They kept on for several days toward the rising sun, and then Captain +Arms announced that the observations showed that they were over the site +of Babylon. + +This happened just at the time of the midday dinner, and over the +dessert Cosmo seized the opportunity to make a little speech, which +could be heard by all in the saloon. + +"We are now arrived," he said, "over the very spot where the descendants +of Noah are said to have erected a tower, known as the Tower of Babel, +and which they intended to build so high that it would afford a secure +refuge in case there should be another deluge. + +"How vain were such expectations, if they were ever entertained, is +sufficiently shown by the fact that, at this moment, the water rolls +more than three thousand feet deep over the place where they put their +tower, and before the present deluge is over it will be thirty thousand +feet deep. + +"More than half a mile beneath our feet lie the broad plains of Chaldea, +where tradition asserts that the study of astronomy began. It was +Berosus, a Chaldean, who predicted that there would come a second +deluge. + +"It occurs to me, since seeing the astounding spectacle disclosed by the +falling apart of the Sphinx, that these people may have had an +infinitely more profound knowledge of the secrets of the heavens than +tradition has assigned to them. + +"On the breast of the statue in the Sphinx was the figure of a crowned +man, encircled by a huge ring, and having behind him the form of a boat +containing two other human figures. The boat was represented as floating +in a flood of waters. + +"Now, this corresponds exactly with figures that have been found among +the most ancient ruins in Chaldea. I regard that ring as symbolical of a +nebula enveloping the earth, and I think that the second deluge, which +we have lived to see, was foretold here thousands of years ago." + +"Who foretold it first, then, the people who placed the statue in the +Sphinx, or these astronomers of Chaldea?" asked Professor Abel Able. + +"I believe," Cosmo replied, "that the knowledge originated here, beneath +us, and that it was afterward conveyed to the Egyptians, who embodied it +in their great symbolical god." + +"Are we to understand," demanded Professor Jeremiah Moses, "that this +figure was all that you saw on the breast of the statue, and that you +simply inferred that the ring represented a nebula?" + +"Not at all," Cosmo replied. "The principal representation was that of a +world overwhelmed with a flood, and of a nebula descending upon it." + +"How do you know that it was intended for a nebula?" + +"Because it had the aspect of one, and it was clearly shown to be +descending from the high heavens." + +"A cloud," suggested Professor Moses. + +"No, not a cloud. Mark this, which is a marvel in itself: It had _the +form of a spiral nebula_. It was unmistakable." + +At this point the discussion was interrupted by a call to Cosmo Versal +from Captain Arms on the bridge. He hastily left the table and ascended +to the captain's side. + +He did not need to be told what to look for. Off in the north the sky +had become a solid black mass, veined with the fiercest lightning. The +pealing of the thunder came in a continuous roll, which soon grew so +loud as to shake the Ark. + +"Up with the side-plates!" shouted Cosmo, setting twenty bells ringing +at once. "Close tight every opening! Screw down the port shutters!" + +The crew of the Ark was, in a few seconds, running to and fro, executing +the orders that came in swift succession from the commander's bridge, +and the passengers were thrown into wild commotion. But nobody had time +to attend to them. + +"It is upon us!" yelled Cosmo in the captain's ear, for the uproar had +become deafening. "The nucleus is here!" + +The open promenade decks had not yet all been turned into inner +corridors when the downpour began upon the Ark. A great deal of water +found its way aboard, but the men worked with a will, as fearful for +their own safety as for that of others, and in a little while everything +had been made snug and tight. + +In a short time a tremendous tempest was blowing, the wind coming from +the north, and the Ark, notwithstanding her immense breadth of beam, was +canted over to leeward at an alarming angle. On the larboard side the +waves washed to the top of the great elliptical dome and broke over it, +and their thundering blows shook the vessel to her center, causing many +to believe that she was about to founder. + +The disorder was frightful. Men and women were flung about like tops, +and no one could keep his feet. Crash after crash, that could be heard +amid the howling of the storm, the battering of the waves, and the awful +roar of the deluge descending on the roof, told the fate of the +tableware and dishes that had been hastily left in the big dining +saloon. + +Chairs recently occupied by the passengers on what had been the +promenade decks, and from which they had so serenely, if often +sorrowfully, looked over the broad, peaceful surface of the waters, were +now darting, rolling, tumbling, and banging about, intermingled with +rugs, hats, coats, and other abandoned articles of clothing. + +The pitching and rolling of the Ark were so much worse than they had +been during the first days of the cataclysm, that Cosmo became very +solicitous about his collection of animals. + +He hurried down to the animal deck, and found, indeed, that things were +in a lamentable shape. The trained keepers were themselves so much at +the mercy of the storm that they had had all they could do to save +themselves from being trampled to death by the frightened beasts. + +The animals had been furnished with separate pens, but during the long +continued calm the keepers, for the sake of giving their charges greater +freedom and better air, had allowed many of them to go at large in the +broad central space around which the pens were placed, and the tempest +had come so unexpectedly that there had been no time to separate them +and get them back into their lodgings. + +When Cosmo descended the scene that met his eyes caused him to cry out +in dismay, but he could not have been heard if he had spoken through a +trumpet. The noise and uproar were stunning, and the spectacle was +indescribable. The keepers had taken refuge on a kind of gallery running +round the central space, and were hanging on there for their lives. + +Around them, on the railings, clinging with their claws, wildly flapping +their wings, and swinging with every roll of the vessel, were all the +fowls and every winged creature in the Ark except the giant turkeys, +whose power of wing was insufficient to lift them out of the melee. + +But all the four-footed beasts were rolling, tumbling, and struggling in +the open space below. With every lurch of the Ark they were swept across +the floor in an indistinguishable mass. + +The elephants wisely did not attempt to get upon their feet, but allowed +themselves to slide from side to side, sometimes crushing the smaller +animals, and sometimes, in spite of all their efforts, rolling upon +their backs, with their titanic limbs swaying above them, and their +trunks wildly grasping whatever came within their reach. + +The huge Californian cattle were in no better case, and the poor sheep +presented a pitiable spectacle as they were tumbled in woolly heaps from +side to side. + +Strangest sight of all was that of the great Astoria turtles. They had +been pitched upon their backs and were unable to turn themselves over, +and their big carapaces served admirably for sliders. + +They glided with the speed of logs in a chute, now this way, now that, +shooting like immense projectiles through the throng of struggling +beasts, cutting down those that happened to be upon their feet, and not +ending their course until they had crashed against the nearest wall. + +As one of the turtles slid toward the bottom of the steps on which Cosmo +was clinging it cut under the legs of one of the giant turkeys, and the +latter, making a superphasianidaean effort, half leaped, half flapped +its way upon the steps to the side of Cosmo Versal, embracing him with +one of its stumpy wings, while its red neck and head, with bloodshot +eyes, swayed high above his bald dome. + +The keepers gradually made their way round the gallery to Cosmo's side, +and he indicated to them by signs that they must quit the place with +him, and wait for a lull of the tempest before trying to do anything for +their charges. + +A few hours later the wind died down, and then they collected all that +remained alive of the animals in their pens and secured them as best +they could against the consequences of another period of rolling and +pitching. + +The experiences of the passengers had been hardly less severe, and panic +reigned throughout the Ark. After the lull came, however, some degree of +order was restored, and Cosmo had all who were in a condition to leave +their rooms assemble in the grand saloon, where he informed them of the +situation of affairs, and tried to restore their confidence. The roar on +the roof, in spite of the sound-absorbing cover which had been +re-erected, compelled him to use a trumpet. + +"I do not conceal from you," he said in conclusion, "that the worst has +now arrived. I do not look for any cessation of the flood from the sky +until we shall have passed through the nucleus of the nebula. But the +Ark is a stout vessel, we are fully provisioned, and we shall get +through. + +"All your chambers have been specially padded, as you may have remarked, +and I wish you to remain in them, only issuing when summoned for +assembly here. + +"I shall call you out whenever the condition of the sea renders it safe +for you to leave your rooms. Food will be regularly served in your +quarters, and I beg you to have perfect confidence in me and my +assistants." + +But the confidence which Cosmo Versal recommended to the others was +hardly shared by himself and Captain Arms. The fury of the blast which +had just left them had exceeded everything that Cosmo had anticipated, +and he saw that, in the face of such hurricanes, the Ark would be +practically unmanageable. + +One of his first cares was to ascertain the rate at which the downpour +was raising the level of the water. This, too, surprised him. His gages +showed, time after time, that the rainfall was at the rate of about four +inches per minute. Sometimes it amounted to as much as six! + +"The central part of the nebula," he said to the captain, through the +speaking-tube which they had arranged for their intercommunications on +the bridge, "is denser than I had supposed. The condensation is +enormous, but it is irregular, and I think it very likely that it is +more rapid in the north, where the front of the globe is plunging most +directly into the nebulous mass. + +"From this we should anticipate a tremendous flow southward, which may +sweep us away in that direction. This will not be a bad thing for a +while, since it is southward that we must go in order to reach the +region of the Indian Ocean. But, in order not to be carried too rapidly +that way, I think it would be the best thing to point the Ark toward the +northeast." + +"How am I to know anything about the points in this blackness?" growled +the captain. + +"You must go the best you can by the compass," said Cosmo. + +Cosmo Versal, as subsequently appeared, was right in supposing that the +nucleus of the nebula was exceedingly irregular in density. The +condensation was not only much heavier in the north, but it was very +erratic. + +Some parts of the earth received a great deal more water from the opened +flood-gates above than others, and this difference, for some reason that +has never been entirely explained, was especially marked between the +eastern and western hemispheres. + +We have already seen that when the downpour recommenced in Colorado it +was much less severe than during the first days of the flood. This +difference continued. It seems that all the denser parts of the nucleus +happened to encounter the planet on its eastern side. + +This may have been partly due to the fact that as the rotating earth +moved on in its eastward motion round the sun the comparatively dense +masses of the nebula were always encountered at the times when the +eastern hemisphere was in advance. The fact, which soon became apparent +to Cosmo, that the downpour was always the most severe in the morning +hours, bears out this hypothesis. + +It accords with what has been observed with respect to meteors, viz., +that they are more abundant in the early morning. But then it must be +supposed that the condensed masses in the nebula were relatively so +small that they became successively exhausted, so to speak, before the +western hemisphere had come fairly into the line of fire. + +Of course the irregularity in the arrival of the water did not, in the +end, affect the general level of the flood, which became the same all +over the globe, but it caused immense currents, as Cosmo had foreseen. + +But there was one consequence which he had overlooked. The currents, +instead of sweeping the Ark continually southward, as he had +anticipated, formed a gigantic whirl, set up unquestionably by the great +ranges of the Himalayas, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Caucasus. + +This tremendous maelstrom formed directly over Persia and Arabia, and, +turning in the direction of the hands of a watch, its influence extended +westward beyond the place where the Ark now was. + +The consequence was that, in spite of all their efforts, Cosmo and the +captain found their vessel swept resistlessly up the course of the +valley containing the Euphrates and the Tigris. + +They were unable to form an opinion of their precise location, but they +knew the general direction of the movement, and by persistent logging +got some idea of the rate of progress. + +Fortunately the wind seldom blew with its first violence, but the +effects of the whirling current could be but little counteracted by the +utmost engine power of the Ark. + +Day after day passed in this manner, although, owing to the density of +the rain, the difference between day and night was only perceptible by +the periodical changes from absolute blackness to a very faint +illumination when the sun was above the horizon. + +The rise of the flood, which could not have been at a less rate than six +hundred feet every twenty-four hours, lifted the Ark above the level of +the mountains of Kurdistan by the time that they arrived over the upper +part of the Mesopotamian plain, and the uncertain observations which +they occasionally obtained of the location of the sun, combined with +such dead reckoning as they were able to make, finally convinced them +that they must certainly be approaching the location of the Black Sea +and the Caucasus range. + +"I'll tell you what you're going to do," yelled Captain Arms. "You're +going to make a smash on old Ararat, where your predecessor, Noah, made +his landfall." + +"_Tres bien!_" shouted De Beauxchamps, who was frequently on the bridge, +and whose Gallic spirits nothing could daunt. "That's a good omen! M. +Versal should send out one of his turkeys to spy a landing place." + +They were really nearer Ararat than they imagined, and Captain Arms's +prediction narrowly missed fulfillment. Within a couple of hours after +he had spoken a dark mass suddenly loomed through the dense air directly +in their track. + +Almost at the same time, and while the captain was making desperate +efforts to sheer off, the sky lightened a little, and they saw an +immense heap of rock within a hundred fathoms of the vessel. + +"Ararat, by all that's good!" yelled the captain. "Sta'board! Sta'board, +I tell you! Full power ahead!" + +The Ark yielded slowly to her helm, and the screws whirled madly, +driving her rapidly past the rocks, so close that they might have tossed +a biscuit upon them. The set of the current also aided them, and they +got past the danger. + +"Mountain navigation again!" yelled the captain. "Here we are in a nest +of these sky-shoals! What are you going to do now?" + +"It is impossible to tell," returned Cosmo, "whether this is Great or +Little Ararat. The former is over 17,000 feet high, and the latter at +least 13,000. It is now twelve days since the flooding recommenced. + +"If we assume a rise of 600 feet in twenty-four hours, that makes a +total of 7,200 feet, which, added to the 3,300 that we had before, gives +10,500 feet for the present elevation. This estimate may be considerably +out of the way. + +"I feel sure that both the Ararats are yet well above the water line. We +must get out of this region as quickly as possible. Luckily the swirl of +the current is now setting us eastward. We are on its northern edge. It +will carry the Ark down south of Mount Demavend, and the Elburz range, +and over the Persian plateau, and if we can escape from it, as I hope, +by getting away over Beluchistan, we can go directly over India and +skirt the southern side of the Himalayas. Then we shall be near the goal +which we have had in mind." + +"Bless me!" said the captain, staring with mingled admiration and doubt +at Cosmo Versal, "if you couldn't beat old Noah round the world, and +give him half the longitude. But I'd rather _you'd_ navigate this +hooker. The ghost of Captain Sumner itself couldn't work a traverse over +Beluchistan." + +"You'll do it all right," returned Cosmo, "and the next time you drop +your anchor it will probably be on the head of Mount Everest." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + +Now that they were going with the current instead of striving to stem +it, the Ark made much more rapid way than during the time that it was +drifting toward the Black Sea. + +They averaged at least six knots, and, with the aid of the current, +could have done much better, but they thought it well to be cautious, +especially as they had so little means of guessing at their exact +location from day to day. The water was rough. + +There was, most of the time, little wind, and often a large number of +the passengers assembled in the saloon. + +The noise of the deluge on the roof was so much greater than it had been +at the start that it was difficult to converse, but there was plenty of +light, and they could, at least, see one another, and communicate by +signs if not very easily by the voice. Cosmo's library was well +selected, and many passed hours in reading stories of the world they +were to see no more! + +King Richard and Amos Blank imitated Cosmo and the captain by furnishing +themselves with a speaking-tube, which they put alternately to their +lips and their ears, and thus held long conversations, presumably +exchanging with one another the secrets of high finance and kingly +government. + +Both of them had enough historical knowledge and sufficient imagination +to be greatly impressed by the fact that they were drifting, amidst this +terrible storm, over the vast empire that Alexander the Great had +conquered. + +They mused over the events of the great Macedonian's long marches +through deserts and over mountains, and the king, who loved the story of +these glories of the past, though he had cultivated peace in his own +dominions, often sighed while they recalled them to one another. Lord +Swansdown and the other Englishmen aboard seldom joined their king since +he had preferred the company of an untitled American to theirs. + +The first named could not often have made a member of the party if he +had wished, for he kept his room most of the time, declaring that he had +never been so beastly seasick in his life. He thought that such an +abominable roller as the Ark should never have been permitted to go into +commission, don't you know. + +On the morning of the twelfth day after they left the neighborhood of +Mount Ararat Captain Arms averred that their position must be somewhere +near longitude 69 degrees east, latitude 26 degrees north. + +"Then you have worked your traverse over Beluchistan very well," said +Cosmo, "and we are now afloat above the valley of the River Indus. We +have the desert of northwestern India ahead, and from that locality we +can continue right down the course of the Ganges. In fact it would be +perfectly safe to turn northward and skirt the Himalayas within reach of +the high peaks. I think that's what I'll do." + +"If you go fooling round any more peaks," shouted Captain Arms, in a +fog-horn voice, "you'll have to do your own steering! I've had enough of +that kind of navigation!" + +Nevertheless when Cosmo Versal gave the order the captain turned the +prow of the Ark toward the presumable location of the great Himalayan +range, although the rebellion of his spirit showed in the erect set of +his whiskers. They were now entirely beyond the influence of the whirl +that had at first got them into trouble, and then helped them out of it, +in western Asia. + +Behind the barrier of the ancient "Roof of the World" the sea was +relatively calm, although, at times, they felt the effect of currents +pouring down from the north, which had made their way through the lofty +passes from the Tibetan side. + +Cosmo calculated from his estimate of the probable rate of rise of the +flood and from the direction and force of the currents that all but the +very highest of the Pamirs must already be submerged. + +It was probable, he thought, that the water had attained a level of +between seventeen and eighteen thousand feet. This, as subsequent events +indicated, was undoubtedly an underestimate. The downpour in the north +must have been far greater than Cosmo thought, and the real height of +the flood was considerably in excess of what he supposed. + +If they could have seen some of the gigantic peaks as they approached +the mountains in the eastern Punjab, south of Cashmere, they would have +been aware of the error. + +As it was, owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a short +distance even when the light was brightest, they kept farther south than +was really necessary, and after passing, as they believed, over Delhi, +steered south by east, following substantially the course that Cosmo had +originally named along the line of the Ganges valley. + +They were voyaging much slower now, and after another ten days had +passed an unexpected change came on. The downpour diminished in +severity, and at times the sun broke forth, and for an hour or two the +rain would cease entirely, although the sky had a coppery tinge, and at +night small stars were not clearly visible. + +Cosmo was greatly surprised at this. He could only conclude that the +central part of the nebula had been less extensive, though more dense, +than he had estimated. It was only thirty-four days since the deluge had +recommenced, and unless present appearances were deceptive, its end +might be close at hand. + +Captain Arms seized the opportunity to make celestial and solar +observations which delighted his seaman's heart, and with great glee he +informed Cosmo that they were in longitude 88 degrees 20 minutes east, +latitude 24 degrees 15 minutes north, and he would stake his reputation +as a navigator upon it. + +"Almost exactly the location of Moorshedabad, in Bengal," said Cosmo, +consulting his chart. "The mighty peak of Kunchingunga is hardly more +than two hundred miles toward the north, and Mount Everest, the highest +point in the world, is within a hundred miles of that!" + +"But you're not going skimming around _them_!" cried the captain with +some alarm. + +"I shall, if the sky continues in its present condition, go as far as +Darjeeling," replied Cosmo. "Then we can turn eastward and get over +upper Burmah and so on into China. From there we can turn north again. + +"I think we can manage to get into Tibet somewhere between the ranges. +It all depends upon the height of the water, and that I can ascertain +exactly by getting a close look at Kunchingunga. I would follow the line +of the Brahmaputra River if I dared, but the way is too beset with +perils." + +"I think you've made a big mistake," said the captain. "Why didn't you +come directly across Russia, after first running up to the Black Sea +from the Mediterranean, and so straight into Tibet?" + +"I begin to think that that's what I ought to have done," responded +Cosmo, thoughtfully, "but when we started the water was not high enough +to make me sure of that route, and after we got down into Egypt I didn't +want to run back. But I guess it would have been better." + +"Better a sight than steering among these five-mile peaks," growled +Captain Arms. "How high does Darjeeling lie? I don't want to run aground +again." + +"Oh, that's perfectly safe," responded Cosmo. "Darjeeling is only about +7,350 feet above the old sea-level. I think we can go almost to the foot +of Kunchingunga without any danger." + +"Well, the name sounds dangerous enough in itself," said the captain, +"but I suppose you'll have your way. Give me the bearings and we'll be +off." + +They took two days to get to the location of Darjeeling, for at times +the sky darkened and the rain came down again in tremendous torrents. +But these spells did not last more than two or three hours, and the +weather cleared between them. + +As soon as they advanced beyond Darjeeling, keeping a sharp outlook for +Kunchingunga, Cosmo began to perceive the error of his calculation of +the height of the flood. + +The mountain should still have projected more than three thousand feet +above the waves, allowing that the average rise during the thirty-six +days since the recommencement of the flood had been six hundred feet a +day. + +But, in fact, they did not see it at all, and thought at first that it +had been totally submerged. At last they found it, a little rocky +island, less than two hundred feet above the water, according to Cosmo's +careful measure, made from a distance of a quarter of a mile. + +"This is great news for us," he exclaimed, as soon as he had completed +the work. "This will save us a long journey round. The water must now +stand at about 27,900 feet, and although there are a considerable number +of peaks in the Himalayas approaching such an elevation, there are only +three or four known to reach or exceed it, of which Kunchingunga is one. + +"We can, then, run right over the roof of the world, and there we'll be, +in Tibet. Then we can determine from what side it is safest to approach +Mount Everest, for I am very desirous to get near that celebrated peak, +and, if possible, see it go under." + +"But the weather isn't safe yet," objected Captain Arms. "Suppose we +should be caught in another downpour, and everything black about us! I'm +not going to navigate this ship by searchlight among mountains +twenty-eight thousand feet tall, when the best beam that ever shot from +a mirror won't show an object a hundred fathoms away." + +"Very well," Cosmo replied, "we'll circle around south for a few days +and see what will happen. I think myself that it's not quite over yet. +The fact is, I hope it isn't, for now that it has gone so far, I'd like +to see the top-knot of the earth covered." + +"Well, it certainly couldn't do any more harm if it got up as high as +the moon," responded the captain. + +They spent four days sailing to and fro over India, and during the first +three of those days there were intermittent downpours. But the whole of +the last period of twenty-four hours was entirely without rain, and the +color of the sky changed so much that Cosmo declared he would wait no +longer. + +"Everest," he said, "is only 940 feet higher than Kunchingunga, and it +may be sunk out of sight before we can get there." + +"Do you think the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps, while +King Richard and Amos Blank listened eagerly for the reply, for now that +the weather had cleared, the old company was all assembled on the +bridge. + +"Yes, slowly," said Cosmo. "There is a perceptible current from the +north which indicates that condensation is still going on there. You'll +see that it'll come extremely close to the six miles I predicted before +it's all over." + +By the time they had returned to the neighborhood of the mountains the +sky had become blue, with only occasionally a passing sunshower, and +Cosmo ordered the promenades to be thrown open, and the passengers, with +great rejoicings, resumed their daily lounging and walking on deck. + +It required a little effort of thought to make them realize their +situation, but when they did it grew upon them until they could not +sufficiently express their wonder. + +Here they were, on an almost placid sea, with tepid airs blowing gently +in their faces, and a scorching sun overhead, whose rays had to be +shielded off, floating over the highest pinnacles of the roof of the +world, the traditional "Abode of Snow!" + +All around them, beneath the rippled blue surface, lined here and there +with little white windrows of foam, stood submerged peaks, 24,000, +25,000, 26,000, 27,000, 28,000 feet in elevation! They sailed over their +summits and saw them not. + +All began now to sympathize with Cosmo's desire to find Everest before +it should have disappeared with its giant brothers. Its location was +accurately known from the Indian government surveys, and Captain Arms +had every facility for finding the exact position of the Ark. They +advanced slowly toward the northwest, a hundred glasses eagerly scanning +the horizon ahead. + +Finally, at noon on the third day of their search, the welcome cry of +"Land ho!" came down from the cro'nest. Captain Arms immediately set his +course for the landfall, and in the course of a little more than an hour +had it broad abeam. + +"It's Everest, without question," said Cosmo. "It's the crown of the +world." + +But how strange was its appearance! A reddish-brown mass of rock, rising +abruptly out of the blue water, really a kind of crown in form, but not +more than a couple of square rods in extent, and about three feet high +at its loftiest point. + +There was no snow, of course, for that had long since disappeared, owing +to the rise of temperature, and no snow would have fallen in that +latitude now, even in mid-winter, because the whole base of the +atmosphere had been lifted up nearly six miles. + +Sea-level pressures were prevailing where the barometric column would +once have dropped almost to the bottom of its tube. It was all that was +left of the world! + +North of them, under the all-concealing ocean, lay the mighty plateau of +Tibet; far toward the east was China, deeply buried with its 500,000,000 +of inhabitants; toward the south lay India, over which they had so long +been sailing; northwestward the tremendous heights of the Pamir region +and of the Hindu-Kush were sunk beneath the sea. + +"When this enormous peak was covered with snow," said Cosmo, "its height +was estimated at 29,002 feet, or almost five and three-quarter miles. +The removal of the snow has, of course, lowered it, but I think it +probable that this point, being evidently steep on all sides, and of +very small area, was so swept by the wind that the snow was never very +deep upon it. + +"If we allow ten, or even twenty feet for the snow, the height of this +rock cannot be much less than 29,000 feet above the former sea-level. +But I do not dare to approach closer, because Everest had a broad +summit, and we might possibly ground upon a sharp ridge." + +"And you are sure that the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps +again. + +"Watch and you will see," Cosmo responded. + +The Ark was kept circling very slowly within a furlong of the rocky +crown, and everybody who had a glass fixed his eyes upon it. + +"The peak is certainly sinking," said De Beauxchamps at last. "I believe +it has gone down three inches in the last fifteen minutes." + +"Keep your eyes fixed on some definite point," said Cosmo to the others +who were looking, "and you will easily note the rise of the water." + +They watched it until nobody felt any doubt. Inch by inch the crown of +the world was going under. In an hour Cosmo's instruments showed that +the highest point had settled to a height of but two feet above the sea. + +"But when will the elevation that you have predicted begin?" asked one. + +"Its effects will not become evident immediately," Cosmo replied. "It +may possibly already have begun, but if so, it is masked by the +continued rise of the water." + +"And how long shall we have to wait for the re-emergence of Tibet?" + +"I cannot tell, but it will be a long time. But do not worry about that. +We have plenty of provisions, and the weather will continue fine after +the departure of the nebula." + +They circled about until only a foot or so of the rock remained above +the reach of the gently washing waves. Suddenly struck by a happy +thought, De Beauxchamps exclaimed: + +"I must have a souvenir from the crown of the disappearing world. M. +Versal, will you permit me to land upon it with one of your boats?" + +De Beauxchamps's suggestion was greeted with cheers, and twenty others +immediately expressed a desire to go. + +"No," said Cosmo to the eager applicants, "it is M. De Beauxchamps's +idea; let him go alone. Yes," he continued, addressing the Frenchman, +"you can have a boat, and I will send two men with you to manage it. +You'd better hurry, or there will be nothing left to land upon." + +The necessary orders were quickly given, and in five minutes De +Beauxchamps, watched by envious eyes, was rapidly approaching the +disappearing rock. They saw him scramble out upon it, and they gave a +mighty cheer as he waved his hand at them. + +He had taken a hammer with him, and with breathless interest they +watched him pounding and prying about the rock. They could see that he +selected the very highest point for his operations. + +While he worked away, evidently filling his pockets, the interest of the +onlookers became more and more intense. + +"Look out!" they presently began to shout at him, "you will be caught by +the water." + +But he paid no attention, working with feverish rapidity. Suddenly the +watchers saw a little ripple break over the last speck of dry land on +the globe, and De Beauxchamps standing up to his shoe-laces in water. +Cries of dismay came from the Ark. De Beauxchamps now gave over his +work, and, with apparent reluctance, entered the boat, which was rowed +close up to the place where he was standing. + +As the returning boat approached the Ark, another volley of cheers broke +forth, and the Frenchman, standing up to his full height, waved with a +triumphant air something that sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine. + +"I congratulate you, M. De Beauxchamps," cried Cosmo, as the adventurer +scrambled aboard. "You have stood where no human foot has ever been +before, and I see that you have secured your souvenir of the world that +was." + +"Yes," responded De Beauxchamps exultantly, "and see what it is--a +worthy decoration for such a coronet." + +He held up his prize, amid exclamations of astonishment and admiration +from those who were near enough to see it. + +"The most beautiful specimen of amethyst I ever beheld!" cried a +mineralogist enthusiastically, taking it from De Beauxchamps's hand. +"What was the rock?" + +"Unfortunately, I am no mineralogist," replied the Frenchman, "and I +cannot tell you, but these gems were abundant. I could have almost +filled the boat if I had had time. + +"The amethyst," he added gayly, "is the traditional talisman against +intoxication, but, although these adorned her tiara, the poor old world +has drunk her fill." + +"But it is only water," said Cosmo, smiling. + +"Too much, at any rate," returned the Frenchman. + +"I should say," continued the mineralogist, "that the rock was some +variety of syenite, from its general appearance." + +"I know nothing of that," replied De Beauxchamps, "but I have the jewels +of the terrestrial queen, and," he continued gallantly, "I shall have +the pleasure of bestowing them upon the ladies." + +He emptied his pockets, and found that he had enough to give every woman +aboard the Ark a specimen, with several left over for some of the men, +Cosmo, of course, being one of the recipients. + +"There," said De Beauxchamps, as he handed the stone to Cosmo, "there is +a memento from the Gaurisankar." + +"I beg your pardon--Mount Everest, if you please," interposed Edward +Whistlington. + +"No," responded the Frenchman stoutly, "it is the Gaurisankar. Why will +you English persist in renaming everything in the world? Gaurisankar is +the native name, and, in my opinion, far more appropriate and euphonious +than Everest." + +This discussion was not continued, for now everybody became interested +in the movements of the Ark. Cosmo had decided that it would be safe to +approach close to the point where the last peak of the mountain had +disappeared. + +Cautiously they drew nearer and nearer, until, looking through the +wonderfully transparent water, they caught sight of a vast precipice +descending with frightful steepness, down and down, until all was lost +in the profundity beneath. + +The point on which De Beauxchamps had landed was now covered so deep +that the water had ceased to swirl about it, but lay everywhere in an +unbroken sheet, which was every moment becoming more placid and +refulgent in the sunshine. + +The world was drowned at last! As they looked abroad over the convex +surface, they thought, with a shudder, that now the earth, seen from +space, was only a great, glassy ball, mirroring the sun and the stars. + +But they were ignorant of what had happened far in the west! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + +After the disappearance of Mt. Everest, Cosmo Versal made a careful +measurement of the depth of water on the peak, which he found to be +forty feet, and then decided to cruise eastward with the Ark, sailing +slowly, and returning after a month to see whether by that time there +would be any indications of the reappearance of land. + +No part of his extraordinary theory of the deluge was more +revolutionary, or scientifically incredible, than this idea that the +continents would gradually emerge again, owing to internal stresses set +up in the crust of the earth. + +This, he anticipated, would be caused by the tremendous pressure of the +water, which must be ten or twelve miles deep over the greatest +depressions of the old ocean-bottoms. He expected that geological +movements would attend the intrusion of the water into subterranean +cavities and into the heated magma under volcanic regions. + +He often debated the question with the savants aboard the Ark, and, +despite their incredulity, he persisted in his opinion. He could not be +shaken, either, in his belief that the first land to emerge would be the +Himalayas, the Pamirs, and the plateau of Tibet. + +"We may have to wait some years before any considerable area is +exposed," he admitted, "but it must not be forgotten that what land does +first appear above the water will lie at the existing sea-level, and +will have an oceanic climate, suitable for the rapid development of +plants. + +"We have aboard all things needed for quick cultivation, and in one +season we could begin to raise crops." + +"But at first," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "only mountain tops will +emerge, and how can you expect to cultivate them?" + +"There is every probability," replied Cosmo, "that even the rocks of a +mountain will be sufficiently friable after their submergence to be +readily reduced to the state of soil, especially with the aid of the +chemical agents which I have brought along, and I have no fear that I +could not, in a few weeks, make even the top of Everest fertile. + +"I anticipate, in fact, that it will be on that very summit that we +shall begin the re-establishment of the race. Then, as the plateaus +below come to the surface, we can gradually descend and enlarge the +field of our operations." + +"Suppose Everest should be turned into a volcano?" + +"That cannot happen," said Cosmo. "A volcano is built up by the +extrusion of lava and cinders from below, and these cannot break forth +at the top of a mountain already formed, especially when that mountain +has no volcanic chimney and no crater, and Everest had neither." + +"If the lowering of the flood that caused our stranding on a mountain +top in Sicily was due to the absorption of water into the interior of +the crust, why may not that occur again, and thus bring the Himalayas +into view, without any rising on their part?" demanded Professor Moses. + +"I think," said Cosmo, "that all the water that could enter the crust +has already done so, during the time that the depression of level which +so surprised us was going on. Now we must wait for geologic changes, +resulting from the gradual yielding of the internal mass to the new +forces brought to bear upon it. + +"As the whole earth has gained in _weight_ by the condensation of the +nebula upon it, its plastic crust will proportionally gain in _girth_ by +internal expansion, which will finally bring all the old continents to +the surface, but Asia first of all." + +Whether Cosmo Versal's hypotheses were right or wrong, he always had a +reply to any objection, and the prestige which he had gained by his +disastrously correct theory about the watery nebula gave him an +advantage so enormous that nobody felt enough confidence in himself to +stand long against anything that he might advance. + +Accordingly, everybody in the Ark found himself looking forward to the +re-emergence of Mount Everest almost as confidently as did their leader, +Cosmo Versal. + +They began their waiting voyage by sailing across the plateau of Tibet +and the lofty chain of the Yung-ling Mountains out over China. + +The interest of all aboard was excited to the highest degree when they +found themselves sailing over the mighty domains of the Chinese +President-Emperor, who had developed an enormous power, making him the +ruler of the whole eastern world. + +He, with his half-billion or more of subjects, now reposed at the bottom +of an ocean varying from three to five or six miles in depth. Deep +beneath the Ark lay the broad and once populous valleys of the +Yangtse-Kiang and the Hoang-Ho, the "Scourge of China." + +Finally they swung round northward and re-entered the region of Tibet, +seeking once more the drowned crown of the world. In the meantime Cosmo +had had the theatrical exhibitions and the concerts resumed in the +evenings, and sometimes there was music, and even dancing on the long +promenades, open to the outer air. + +Let not that be a matter of surprise or blame, for the spirit of joy in +life is unconquerable, as it should be if life is worth while. So it +happened that, not infrequently, and not with any blameworthy intention, +or in any spirit of heartless forgetfulness, this remarkable company of +world-wanderers drifted, in the moonlight, above the universal watery +grave of the drowned millions, with the harmonies of stringed +instruments stealing out upon the rippling waves, and the soft sound of +swiftly shuffling feet tripping over the smooth decks. + +Costake Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone resumed their stormy efforts +to talk each other down, but now even Cosmo was seldom a listener, +except when he had to interfere to keep the peace. + +King Richard and Amos Blank, however, usually heard them out, but it was +evident from their expressions that they enjoyed the prospective +fisticuffs rather more than the exposition of strange scientific +doctrines. + +Perhaps the happiest man aboard was Captain Arms. At last he could make +as many and as certain observations as he chose, and he studied the +charts of Asia until he declared that now he knew the latitude and +longitude of the mountains better than he did those of the seaports of +the old oceans. + +He had not the least difficulty in finding the location of Mount Everest +again, and when he announced that they were floating over it, Cosmo +immediately prepared to make another measurement of the depth of water +on the peak. The result was hardly gratifying. He found that it had +diminished but four inches. He said to Captain Arms: + +"The range is rising, but less rapidly than I hoped. Even if the present +rate should be doubled it would require five years for the emergence of +the highest point. Instead of remaining in this part of the world we +shall have an abundance of time to voyage round the earth, going +leisurely, and when we get back again perhaps there will be enough land +visible to give us a good start." + +"Mr. Versal," said the captain, "you remember that you promised me that +I should drop my anchor on the head of Mount Everest if I worked a +traverse across Beluchistan." + +"Certainly I remember it; and also that you were not much disposed to +undertake the task. However, you did it well, and I suppose that now you +want me to fulfill the bargain?" + +"Exactly," replied the captain. "I'd just like to get a mud-hook in the +top-knot of the earth. I reckon that that'll lay over all the sea yarns +ever spun." + +"Very well," returned Cosmo. "Try it, if you've got cable enough." + +"Enough and to spare," cried the captain, "and I'll have the +Gaurisankar, as the Frenchman calls it, hooked in a jiffy." + +This was an operation which called everybody to the rails to watch +it. Hundreds of eyes tried to follow the anchor as it descended +perpendicularly upon the mountain-top, nearly forty feet beneath. +Through the clear water they could dimly see the dark outline of the +summit below, and they gazed at it with wonder, and a sort of terror. + +Somehow they felt that never before had they fully appreciated the awful +depths over which they had been floating. The anchor steadily dropped +until it rested on the rock. + +It got a hold finally, and in a few minutes the great vessel was +swinging slowly round, held by a cable whose grasp was upon the top of +the world! When the sensation had been sufficiently enjoyed the anchor +was tripped, and the nose of the Ark was turned northwestward. Cosmo +Versal announced his intention to circumnavigate the drowned globe. + +The news of what they were about to do was both welcome and saddening to +the inmates of the vessel. They wished to pass once more over the lands +where they had first seen the light, and at the same time they dreaded +the memories that such a voyage would inevitably bring back with +overwhelming force. But, at any rate, it would be better than drifting +for years over Tibet and China. + +While everybody else was discussing the prospects of the new voyage, and +wondering how long it would last, Yves de Beauxchamps was concentrating +all his attention upon a new project which had sprung up in his active +mind as soon as Cosmo's intention was announced. He took Cosmo aside and +said to him: + +"M. Versal, the dearest memory that I have treasured in my heart is that +of the last sight of my drowned home, my beautiful dead Paris. It may be +that the home-loving instincts of my race arouse in me a melancholy +pleasure over such a sight which would not be shared by you, of a +different blood; but if, perchance, you do share my feelings on this +subject I believe that I can promise you a similar visit to the great +metropolis where your life began, and where you executed those labors +whose result has been to preserve a remnant of humanity to repeople the +earth." + +Cosmo Versal's quick intelligence instantly comprehended the Frenchman's +design, but it startled him, and apparently insuperable difficulties at +once occurred to his mind. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," he responded, grasping his friend warmly by the +hand, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amiable +intention, and I assure you that nothing could afford me greater +satisfaction than to see once more that mighty city, even though it can +now be but an awful ruin, tenanted by no life except the terrible +creatures of the deep. But, while I foresee what your plan must be, I +can hardly conceive that its execution could be possible. You are +thinking, of course, of constructing a diving apparatus capable of +penetrating to a depth of nearly six miles in the sea. Setting aside the +question whether we could find in the stores of the Ark the materials +that would be needed, it appears to me most improbable that we could +make the apparatus of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure, and +could then cause it to sink to so great a depth, and afterward bring it +safely to the surface." + +The Frenchman smiled. + +"M. Versal," he replied, "I have taken the liberty to look over the +stock of materials which you have so wisely prepared for possible +repairs to the Ark and for use after the Ark lands, and I know that +among them I can find all that I shall need. You yourself know how +completely you are provided with engineering tools and machines of all +kinds. You have even an electric foundry aboard. With the aid of your +mechanical genius, and the skill of your assistants, together with that +of my own men, who are accustomed to work of this kind, I have not the +faintest doubt that I can design and construct a diving-bell, large +enough to contain a half-dozen persons, and perfectly capable of +penetrating to any depth. Of course I cannot make it of levium, but you +have a sufficient supply of herculeum steel, the strength of which is so +immense that the walls of the bell can be made to remit the pressure +even at a depth of six miles. From my previous experiments I am +confident that there will be no difficulty in sinking and afterward +raising this apparatus. It is only necessary that the mean specific +gravity of the bell shall be greater than that of the water at a given +depth, and you know that as far back as the end of the nineteenth +century your own countrymen sent down sounding apparatus more than six +miles in the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam." + +"But the air inside the bell--" Cosmo began. + +"Excuse me," interrupted De Beauxchamps, "but that air need be under no +greater pressure than at the surface. I shall know how to provide for +that. Remember the _Jules Verne_. Simply give me _carte blanche_ in this +matter, let me have the materials to work with, afford me the advantage +of your advice and assistance whenever I shall need them, and I promise +you that by the time we have arrived over the site of New York we shall +be prepared for the descent." + +Cosmo was deeply impressed by the Frenchman's enthusiastic +self-confidence. He had a great admiration for the constructor of the +_Jules Verne_, and, besides, the proposed adventure was exactly after +his own heart. After meditating a while, he said heartily: + +"Well, M. De Beauxchamps, I give my consent. Everything you wish shall +be at your disposal, and you can begin as soon as you choose. Only, let +the thing be kept a secret between us and the workmen who are employed. +If it should turn out a failure it would not do that the people in the +Ark should be aware of it. I can give you a working room on one of the +lower decks, where there will be no interference with your proceedings, +and no knowledge of what you are about can leak out." + +"That is exactly what I should wish," returned De Beauxchamps, smiling +with delight, "and I renew my promise that you shall not be +disappointed." + +So, without a suspicion of what was going on entering the minds of any +person in the great company outside the small company of men who were +actually employed in the work, the construction of De Beauxchamps's +great diving-bell was begun, and pushed with all possible speed, +consistent with the proper execution of the work. In the meantime the +Ark continued its course toward the west. + +They ran slowly, for there was no hurry, and the Ark had now become to +its inhabitants as a house and a home--their only foothold on the whole +round earth, and that but a little floating island of buoyant metal. +They crossed the Pamirs and the Hindu-Kush, the place where the Caspian +Sea had been swallowed up in the universal ocean, and ran over Ararat, +which three months before had put them into such fearful danger, but +whose loftiest summit now lay twelve thousand feet beneath their keel. + +At length, after many excursions toward the north and toward the south, +in the halcyon weather that had seldom failed since the withdrawal of +the nebula, they arrived at the place (or above it) which had stood +during centuries for a noon-mark on the globe. + +It was midday when Captain Arms, having made his observations, said to +Cosmo and the others on the bridge: + +"Noon at Greenwich, and noon on the Ark. Latitude, fifty-one degrees +thirty minutes. That brings you as nearly plumb over the place as you'd +be likely to hit it. Right down there lies the old observatory that set +the chronometers of the world, and kept the clocks and watches up to +their work." + +King Richard turned aside upon hearing the captain's words. They brought +a too vivid picture of the great capital, six miles under their feet, +and a too poignant recollection of the disastrous escape of the royal +family from overwhelmed London seven months before. + +As reckoned by the almanac, it was the 15th of September, more than +sixteen months since Cosmo had sent out his first warning to the public, +when the Ark crossed the meridian of seventy-four degrees west, in about +forty-one degrees north latitude, and the adventurers knew that New York +was once more beneath them. + +There was great emotion among both passengers and crew, for the majority +of them had either dwelt in New York or been in some way associated with +its enterprises and its people, and, vain as must be the hope of seeing +any relic of the buried metropolis, every eye was on the alert. + +They looked off across the boundless sea in every direction, +interrogating every suspicious object on the far horizon, and even +peering curiously into the blue abyss, as if something might suddenly +appear there which would speak to them like a voice from the past. + +But they saw only shafts of sunlight running into bottomless depths, and +occasionally some oceanic creature floating lazily far below. The color +of the sea was wonderful. It had attracted their attention after the +submergence of Mount Everest, but at that time it had not yet assumed +its full splendor. + +At first, no doubt, there was considerable dissolved matter in the +water, but gradually this settled, and the sea became bluer and +bluer--not the deep indigo of the old ocean, but a much lighter and more +brilliant hue--and here, over the site of New York, the waters were of a +bright, luminous sapphire, that dazzled the eye. + +Cosmo declared that the change of the sea-color was undoubtedly due to +some quality in the nebula from whose condensation the water had been +produced, but neither his own analyses, nor those of the chemists aboard +the Ark, were able to detect the subtle element to whose presence the +peculiar tint was due. + +But whatever it may have been, it imparted to the ocean an ethereal, +imponderous look, which was sometimes startling. There were moments when +they almost expected to see it expand back into the nebulous form and +fly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + +During the long voyage from the sunken Himalayas to still deeper sunken +New York, De Beauxchamps, with his fellow-countrymen and the skilled +mechanics assigned by Cosmo Versal to aid them, had finished the +construction of the huge diving-bell. No one not in the secret had the +slightest idea of what had been done, owing to the remote situation of +the deck on which the construction was carried out. + +Now, while a thousand pairs of eyes were interrogating the smooth +surface of the sea, and striving to penetrate its cerulean depths, a +great surprise was sprung upon the passengers. The rear gangway of the +lowest deck was cleared, a heavy crane-like beam was set projecting over +the water, and men began to rig a flexible cable, which had been +specially prepared for the purpose of lowering the bell into the depths, +and of raising it again when the adventurers should wish to return to +the surface. Everybody's attention was immediately attracted to these +strange preparations, and the utmost curiosity was aroused. A chorus of +wondering exclamations broke out when a metallic globe, twenty feet in +diameter, and polished until it shone like a giant thermometer bulb, was +rolled out and carefully attached to the cable by means of a strong ring +set in one side of the bell. The excitement of the passengers would soon +have become uncontrollable if Cosmo had not at this point summoned the +entire ship's company into the great saloon. As soon as all were +assembled he mounted his dais and began to speak. + +"My fellow-citizens of the old world, which has perished, and of the +new, which is to take its place," he said, "we owe to the genius of M. +De Beauxchamps an apparatus which is about to enable us to inspect, by +an actual visit, the remains of the vast metropolis, which we saw in all +its majesty and beauty but so few months ago, and which now lies forever +silent at the bottom of this universal ocean. + +"If it were practicable I should wish to afford to every one of you a +farewell glimpse of that mighty city, to which the hearts of so many +here are bound, but you can readily understand that that would be +impossible. Only six persons can go in this exploring bell, and they +have been chosen; but a faithful account will be brought back to you of +all that they see and learn. The adventuring company will consist of M. +De Beauxchamps, M. Pujol, his first assistant, Mr. Amos Blank, King +Richard, Professor Abel Able, and myself. Captain Arms has ascertained +the location of the center of Manhattan Island, over which we are now +floating. The quietness of the sea, the absence of any apparent current, +and the serenity of the heavens are favoring circumstances, which may be +relied upon to enable Captain Arms to keep the Ark constantly poised +almost precisely over our point of descent. It is not possible to +predict the exact duration of our absence in the depths, but it will +not, in any case, exceed about twenty hours. + +"Once arrived at the bottom, nearly six miles down, we shall attach the +cable to some secure anchorage, by means of a radio-control, operated +from within the bell, and then, with the bell free, we shall make +explorations, as extensive as possible. The radio-control of which I +have spoken governs also the attachment of the cable to the bell. This +appliance has been prepared and tested with such care that we have no +doubt of its entire efficiency. I mention these things in order to +remove from your minds any fear as to the success of our enterprise. + +"The bell being once detached, we shall be able to move it from point to +point by means of a pair of small propellers, which you will perceive on +the outside of the bell, and which are also controlled from within. +These will be used to increase our speed of descent. From a calculation +of the density of the sea-water at the depth to which we shall descend, +we estimate that the bell with its contents will press upon the bottom +with a gravitational force of only five pounds, so that it will move +with very slight effort, and may even, when in motion, float like a +fish. + +"For the purposes of observation we have provided, on four sides of the +bell, a series of circular windows, with glass of immense thickness and +strength, but of extraordinary transparency. Through these windows we +shall be able to see in almost all directions. It was our intention to +provide wireless telephone apparatus with which we might have kept you +informed of all our doings and discoveries, but unfortunately we have +found it impracticable to utilize our control for that purpose. We +shall, however, be able to send and receive signals as long as we are +connected with the cable. + +"I should add that the construction of the bell, although suggested by +M. De Beauxchamps immediately after our departure from Mount Everest, +has been carried on in secret simply because we did not wish to subject +you to the immense disappointment which you would certainly have +experienced if this brilliant conception of our gifted friend, after +being once made known to you, had proved to be a failure. Our +preparations have all been made, and within an hour we shall begin the +descent." + +It is quite impossible to describe the excitement of the passengers +while they listened to this extraordinary communication. When Cosmo +Versal had finished speaking he stood for some minutes looking at his +audience with a triumphant smile. First a murmur of excited voices +arose, and then somebody proposed three cheers, which were given and +repeated until the levium dome rang with the reverberations. Nobody knew +exactly why he was cheering, but the infectious enthusiasm carried +everything before it. Then the crowd began to ask questions, addressed +not to Cosmo but to one another. The wildest suggestions were made. One +woman who had left some treasured heirlooms in a Fifth Avenue mansion +demanded of her husband that he should commission Cosmo Versal to +recover them. + +"I'm sure they're there," she insisted. "They were locked in the safe." + +"But, don't you see," protested the poor man, "he can't get outside of +that bell to get 'em." + +"I don't see _why_ he can't, if he should really try. I think it's too +mean! They were my grandmother's jewels." + +"But, my dear, how could he get out?" + +"Well, _how does he get in?_ What's his radio-control good for; won't +that help him? What is he going down there for if he can't do a little +thing like that, to oblige?" + +She pouted at her husband because he persistently refused to present her +request to Cosmo, and declared that she would do it herself, then, for +she must have those jewels, now that they were so near. + +But Cosmo was saved from this, and other equally unreasonable demands, +by a warning from De Beauxchamps that all was ready, and that no time +should be lost. Then everybody hastened out on the decks to watch the +departure of the adventurers. Many thoughtfully shook their heads, +predicting that they would never be seen again. As soon as this feeling +began to prevail the enthusiasm quickly evaporated, and efforts were +made to dissuade Cosmo and De Beauxchamps from making the attempt. But +they were deaf to all remonstrance, and pushing out of the chattering +crowd, Cosmo ordered the gangway about the bell to be cleared of all +bystanders. The opposition heated his blood a little, and he began to +bear himself with an air which recalled his aspect when he quelled and +punished the mutiny. This was enough to silence instantly every objector +to his proceedings. Henceforth they kept their thoughts to themselves, +although some muttered, under their breath such epithets as "fool" and +"harebrain." + +In about half an hour after Cosmo's speech the bell, with its hardy +explorers safely inclosed within, was lowered away, and a minute later +hundreds were craning their necks over the rails to watch the shining +globe engulf itself swiftly in the sapphire depths. It was about nine +o'clock in the morning when the descent was begun, and for a long time, +so remarkable was the transparency of the water, they could see the bell +sinking, and becoming smaller until it resembled a blue pearl. Sometimes +a metallic flash shot from its polished sides like a gleam of violet +lightning. But at length it passed from view, swallowed up in the +tremendous watery chasm. + +We turn now to trace the adventures of the bell and its inmates as they +entered the awful twilight of the ocean, and, sinking deeper, passed +gradually into a profundity which the sun's most powerful rays were +unable to penetrate. Fortunately every one of the adventurers left a +description of his experiences and sensations, so that there is no lack +of authentic information to guide us. + +The windows, as Cosmo had said, were so arranged that they afforded +views on all sides. These views were, of course, restricted by the +combined effects of the smallness of the windows and their great +thickness; the inmates were somewhat like prisoners looking out of round +ports cut through massive walls, but the range of view was much widened +when they placed themselves close to the glasses, because the latter +were in the form of truncated cones with the base outward. + +Glancing through the ports on the upper side of the bell Cosmo and his +companions could perceive the huge form of the Ark, hanging like a cloud +above them, but rapidly receding, while from the side ports they saw +great shafts of azure sunlight, thrown into wonderful undulations by the +disturbance of the water. These soon became fainter and gradually +disappeared, but before the gloom of the depths settled about them they +were thrilled by the spectacle of sharks and other huge fishes nosing +about the outer side of the transparent cones, and sometimes opening +their jaws as if trying to seize them. Most of the cone-shaped windows +had flat surfaces, but a few were of spherical outline both without and +within, and the radius of curvature had been so calculated that these +particular windows served as huge magnifying lenses for an eye placed at +a given distance. Once or twice a marine monster happened to place +himself in the field of one of these magnifying windows, startling the +observers almost out of their senses with his frightful appearance. + +There were also four windows reserved for projecting a searchlight into +the outer darkness. The inner side of the bell corresponded in curvature +with the outer, so that the adventurers had no flat flooring on any side +to stand upon, but this caused little inconvenience, since the walls +were abundantly provided with hand and foot holds, enabling the inmates +to maintain themselves in almost any position they could wish. + +After a while they passed below the range of daylight, and then they +turned on the searchlight. The storage batteries which supplied energy +for the searchlight and the propellers served also to operate an +apparatus for clearing the air of carbonic acid, and De Beauxchamps had +carefully calculated the limit of time that the air could be kept in a +breathable condition. This did not exceed forty-eight hours--but as we +have seen they had no intention of remaining under water longer than +twenty hours at the utmost. + +When the bell entered the night of the sea-depths they passed into an +apparently lifeless zone, where the searchlight, projected now on one +side and now on another, revealed no more of the living forms which they +had encountered above, but showed only a desert of solid transparent +water. Here, amid this awful isolation, they experienced for the first +time a feeling of dread and terror. An overpowering sense of loneliness +and helplessness came over them, and only the stout heart of Cosmo +Versal, and his reassuring words, kept the others from making the signal +which would have caused the bell to be hastily drawn back to the Ark. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," said Cosmo, breaking the impressive silence, "to +what depth have we now descended?" + +"A thousand fathoms," replied the Frenchman, consulting his automatic +register. + +"Good! We have been only thirty minutes in reaching this depth. We shall +sink more slowly as we get deeper, but I think we can count upon +reaching the bottom in not more than four hours from the moment of our +departure. It will require only two hours for them to draw us back again +with the powerful engines of the Ark, especially when aided by our +propellers. This will leave fourteen hours for our explorations, if we +stay out the limit that we have fixed." + +There was such an air of confidence in Cosmo's manner and words that +this simple statement did much to enhearten the others. + +"The absence of life in this part of the sea," Cosmo continued +cheerfully, "does not surprise me. It has long been known that the life +of the ocean is confined to regions near the surface and the bottom. We +shall certainly find plenty of wonderful creatures below." + +When they knew that they must be near the bottom they turned the light +downward, and every available window was occupied by an eager watcher. +Presently a cry of "Look! Look there!" broke from several voices at +once. + +The searchlight, penetrating far through the clear water beneath the +bell, fell in a circle round a most remarkable object--tall, gaunt, and +spectral, with huge black ribs. + +"Why, it's the Metropolitan tower, still standing!" cried Amos Blank. +"Who would have believed it possible?" + +"No doubt there was some lucky circumstance about its anchorage," +returned Cosmo. "Although it was built so long ago, it was made +immensely strong, and well braced, and as the water did not undermine it +at the start, it has been favored by the very density of that which now +surrounds it, and which tends to buoy it up and hold it steady. But you +observe that it has been stripped of the covering of stone." + +"Would it not be well to utilize it for anchoring the cable?" asked De +Beauxchamps. + +"We could have nothing better," said Cosmo. + +De Beauxchamps immediately called to the Ark, and directed the movements +of those in charge of the drum of the cable so nicely that the descent +ceased at the exact moment when the bell came to rest upon a group of +beams at the top of the tower. The radio-control, which is so familiar +in its thousand applications to-day, was then a new thing, having been +invented only a year or so before the deluge, and De Beauxchamps's form +of the apparatus was crude. The underlying principle, however, was the +same as that now employed--transmission through a metallic wall of +impulses capable of being turned into mechanic energy. With its aid they +had no difficulty in detaching the cable from the bell, but it required +some careful maneuvering to secure a satisfactory attachment to the +beams of the tower. At last, however, this was effected, and immediately +they set out for their exploration of drowned New York. + +They began with the skeleton tower itself, which had only once or twice +been exceeded in height by the famous structures of the era of +skyscrapers. In some places they found the granite skin yet _in situ_, +but almost everywhere it had been stripped off, probably by the +tremendous waves which swept over it as the flood attained its first +thousand feet of elevation. They saw no living forms, except a few +curiously shaped phosphorescent creatures of no great size, which +scurried away out of the beam of the search-light. They saw no trace of +the millions of their fellow-beings who had been swallowed up in this +vast grave, and for this all secretly gave thanks. The soil of Madison +Square had evidently been washed away, for no signs of the trees which +had once shaded it were seen, and a reddish ooze had begun to collect +upon the exposed rocks. All around were the shattered ruins of other +great buildings, some, like the Metropolitan tower, yet retaining their +steel skeletons, others tumbled down, and lying half-buried in the ooze. + +Finding nothing of great interest in this neighborhood they turned the +course of the bell northward, passing everywhere over interminable +ruins, and as soon as they began to skirt the ridge of Morningside +Heights the huge form of the cathedral of St. John fell within the +circle of projected light. It was unroofed, and some of the walls had +fallen, but some of the immense arches yet retained their upright +position. Here, for the first time, they encountered the real giants of +the submarine depths. De Beauxchamps, who had seen some of these +creatures during his visit to Paris in the _Jules Verne_, declared that +nothing which he had seen there was so terrifying as what they now +beheld. One creature, which seemed to be the unresisted master of this +kingdom of phosphorescent life, appears to have exceeded in strangeness +the utmost descriptive powers of all those who looked upon it, for their +written accounts are filled with ejaculations, and are more or less +inconsistent with one another. The reader gathers from them, however, +the general impression that it made upon their astonished minds. + +The creatures were of a livid hue, and had the form of a globe, as large +as the bell itself, with a valvular opening on one side which was +evidently a mouth, surrounded with a circle of eyelike disks, projecting +shafts of self-evolved light into the water. They moved about with +surprising ease, rising and sinking at will, sometimes rolling along the +curve of an arch, emitting flashes of green fire, and occasionally +darting across the intervening spaces in pursuit of their prey, which +consisted of smaller prosphorescent animals that fled in the utmost +consternation. When the adventurers in the bell saw one of the globular +monsters seize its victim they were filled with horror. It had driven +its prey into a corner of the wrecked choir, and suddenly it flattened +itself like a rubber bulb pressed against the wall, completely covering +the creature that was to be devoured, although the effect of its +struggles could be perceived; and then, to the amazement of the +onlookers, the living globe slowly turned itself inside out, engulfing +the victim in the process. + +"Great heavens," exclaimed Professor Abel Able, "it is a gigantic +_hydroid polyps!_ That is precisely the way in which those little +creatures swallow their prey; outside becomes inside, what was the +surface of the body is turned into the lining of the digestive cavity, +and every time they take a meal the process of introversion is repeated. +This monster is nothing but a huge self-sustaining maw!" + +"_Tres bien_," exclaimed De Beauxchamps, with a slight laugh, "and he +finds himself in New York, quite _chez soi_." + +Nobody appeared to notice the sarcasm, and, in any case they would +quickly have forgotten it, for no sooner had the tragic spectacle which +they had witnessed been finished than they suddenly found the bell +surrounded by a crowd of the globe-shaped creatures, jostling one +another, and flattening themselves against its metallic walls. They +pushed the bell about, rolling themselves all over it, and apparently +finding nothing terrifying in the searchlight, which was hardly brighter +than the phosphorescent gleams which shot from their own luminescent +organs. One of them got one of its luminous disks exactly in the field +of a magnifying window, and King Richard, who happened to have his eye +in the focus, started back with a cry of alarm. + +"I cannot describe what I saw," the king wrote in his notebook. "It was +a glimpse of fiery cones, triangles, and circles, ranged in tier behind +tier with a piercing eye in the center, and the light that came from +them resembled nothing that I have ever seen. It seemed to be a _living +emanation_, and almost paralyzed me." + +"We must get away from them," cried De Beauxchamps, as soon as the first +overwhelming effect of the attack upon the bell had passed. And +immediately he set the propellers at their highest speed. + +The bell shook and half rolled over, there was a scurrying among the +monsters outside, and two or three of them floated away partly in +collapse, as if they had been seriously wounded by the short propeller +blades. + +The direction of flight chanced to carry them past the dome of the +Columbia University Library, which was standing almost intact, and then +they floated near the monumental tomb of General Grant, which had +crowned a noble elevation overlooking the Hudson River. A portion of the +upper part of this structure had been carried away, but the larger part +remained in position. They saw no more of the globular creatures which +had haunted the ruins of the cathedral, but, instead, there appeared +around the bell an immense multitude of small luminescent animals, many +of them most beautifully formed, and emitting from their light-producing +organs various exquisite colors which turned the surrounding water into +an all-embracing rainbow. + +[Illustration: "AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF +GENERAL GRANT"] + +But a more marvelous phenomenon quickly made its appearance, causing +them to gasp with astonishment. As they drew near the dismantled dome a +brilliant gleam suddenly streamed into the ports on the side turned +toward the monument--a gush of light so bright that the air inside the +bell seemed to have been illuminated with a golden sunrise. They glanced +toward the monument, and saw that it was surmounted by some vibrating +object which seemed instinct with blinding fire. The colors that sprang +from it changed rapidly from gold to purple, and then, through +shimmering hues of bronze, to a deep rich orange. It looked like a sun, +poised on the horizon. The spectacle was so dazzling, so unexpected, so +beautiful, and, associated with the architectural memorial of one of the +greatest characters in American history, so strangely suggestive, that +even King Richard and the two Frenchmen were strongly moved, while Cosmo +and his fellow-countrymen grasped each other by the hand, and the former +said, in solemn tones: + +"My friends, to my mind, this scene, however accidental, has something +of prophecy about it. It changes the current of my thought--America is +not dead; in some way she yet survives upon the earth." + +Long they gazed and wondered, but at last, partly recovering from their +astonishment, at the suggestion of De Beauxchamps, they drew nearer the +monument. But when they had arrived within a few yards of it, the +blinding light disappeared as if snuffed out, and they saw nothing but +the broken gray walls of the dome. The moving object, which had been +dimly visible at the beginning, and had evidently been the source of the +light, had vanished. + +"The creature that produced the illumination," said Professor Abel Able, +"has been alarmed by our approach, and has withdrawn into the interior." + +This was, no doubt, the true explanation, but they could perceive no +signs of life about the place, and they finally turned away from it with +strange sensations. + +Avoiding the neighborhood of the cathedral, they steered the bell down +the former course of the Hudson, but afterward ventured once more over +the drowned city until they arrived at the site of the great station of +the Pennsylvania Railroad, which they found completely unroofed. They +sank the bell into the vast space where the tunnels entered from +underneath the old river bed, and again they had a startling experience. +Something huge, elongated, and spotted, and provided with expanding +claw-like limbs, slowly withdrew as their light streamed upon the +reddish ooze covering the great floor. The nondescript retreated +backward into the mouth of a tunnel. They endeavored, cautiously, to +follow it, turning a magnifying window in its direction, and obtaining a +startling view of glaring eyes, but the creature hastened its retreat, +and the last glimpse they had was of a grotesque head, which threw out +piercing rays of green fire as it passed deeper into the tunnel. + +"This is too terrible," exclaimed King Richard, shuddering. "In Heaven's +name, let us go no farther." + +"We must visit Wall Street," said Amos Blank. "We must see what the +former financial center of the world now looks like." + +Accordingly they issued from the ruined station, and, resuming their +course southward, arrived at length over the great money center. The +tall buildings which had shouldered each other in that wonderful +district, turning the streets into immense gorges, had, to a certain +extent, protected one another against the effects of the waves, and the +skeletons of many were yet standing. In the midst of them the dark spire +of old Trinity still pointed stoutly upward, as if continuing its +hopeless struggle against the spirit of worldly grandeur whose aspiring +creations, though in ruins, yet dwarfed this symbol of immortality. At +the intersection of the Wall and Broad Street canyons they found an +enormous steel edifice, which had been completed a short time before the +deluge, tumbled in ruins upon the classic form of the old Stock +Exchange, the main features of whose front were yet recognizable. The +weight of the fallen building had been so great that it had crushed the +roof of the treasure vaults which had occupied its ground floor, and the +fragments of safes with their contents had been hurled over the northern +expanse of Broad Street. The red ooze had covered most of the wasted +wealth there heaped up, but in places piles of gold showed through the +covering. Amos Blank became greatly excited at this. His old +proclivities seemed to resume their sway and his former madness to +return, and he buried his finger nails in his clenched palms as he +pressed his face against a window, exclaiming: + +"_My gold!_ MY GOLD! Let me out of this! I must have it!" + +"Nobody can get out of the bell, Mr. Blank," said Cosmo soothingly. "And +the gold is now of no use to anybody." + +"I tell you," cried Blank, "that that is _my_ gold. It comes from _my_ +vaults, and I _must_ get out!" And he dashed his fists wildly against +the glass until his knuckles were covered with blood. Then he sought +about for some implement with which to break the glass. They were +compelled to seize him, and a dreadful struggle followed in the +restricted space within the bell. In the midst of it Blank's face became +set, and his eyes stared wildly out of a window. + +The others followed the direction of his gaze, and they were almost +frozen into statues. Close beside the bell, which had, during the +struggle, floated near to the principal heap of mingled treasure and +ruin, heavily squatted on the very summit of the pile, was such a +creature as no words could depict--of a ghastly color, bulky and +malformed, furnished with three burning eyes that turned now green, now +red with lambent flame, and great shapeless limbs, which it uplifted one +after the other, striking awkward, pawing blows at the bell! It seemed +to the horrified onlookers to be the very demon of greed defending its +spoil. Blank sank helpless on the bottom side of the bell, and the +others remained for a time petrified, and unable to speak. Suddenly the +dreadful creature, making a forward lunge from its perch, struck the +bell a mighty blow that sent it spinning in a partly upward direction. +The inmates were tumbled over one another, bruised and cut by the +projections that served for hand and foot holds. So great had been the +impact of the blow that the bell continued to revolve for several +minutes, and they could do nothing to help themselves, except to seize +the holds as they came within their grasp, and hang on for dear life. +The violent shaking up roused Blank from his trance, and he hung on +desperately with the others. + +After a while the bell ceased to spin, and began to sink again toward +the bottom. De Beauxchamps, who had recovered some degree of +self-command, instantly began to operate the control governing the +propellers, and in a few minutes he had the bell moving in a fixed +direction. + +"This way, this way," cried Cosmo, glancing out of the windows to orient +himself. "We have seen enough! We must get back to the cable, and return +to the Ark!" + +They were terror-stricken now, and pushing the propellers to their +utmost, they fled toward the site of the Metropolitan tower. On their +way, although for a time they passed over the course of the East River, +they saw no signs of the great bridges except the partly demolished but +yet beautiful towers of the oldest of them, which had been constructed +of heavy granite blocks. They found the cable attached as they had left +it, and, although they were yet nervous from their recent experience, +they had no great difficulty in re-attaching it to the bell. Then, with +a sigh of relief, they signaled, and shouted through the telephone to +the Ark. + +But no answer came, and there was no responsive movement of the cable! +They signaled and called again, but without result. + +"My God!" said Cosmo, in a faltering voice. "Can anything have happened +to the cable?" + +They looked at each other with blanched cheeks, and no man found a word +to reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +NEW AMERICA + + +There had been great excitement on the Ark when the first communication +from the bell was received, announcing the arrival of the adventurers at +the Metropolitan tower. The news spread everywhere in a few seconds, and +the man in charge of the signaling apparatus and telephone would have +been mobbed if Captain Arms had not rigorously shut off all +communication with him, compelling the eager inquirers to be content +with such information as he himself saw fit to give them. When the +announcement was made that the bell had been cut loose, and the +exploration begun, the excitement was intensified, and a Babel of voices +resounded all over the great ship. + +As hour after hour passed with no further communication from below the +anxiety of the multitude became almost unbearable. Some declared that +the adventurers would never be able to re-attach the bell to the cable, +and the fear rapidly spread that they would never be seen again. Captain +Arms strove in vain to reassure the excited passengers, but they grew +every moment more demoralized, and he was nearly driven out of his +senses by the insistent questioning to which he was subjected. It was +almost a relief to him when the lookout announced an impending change of +weather--although he well new the peril which such a change might bring. + +It came on more rapidly than anybody could have anticipated. The sky, in +the middle of the afternoon, became clouded, the sun was quickly hidden, +and a cold blast arose, quickly strengthening into a regular blow. The +Ark began to drift as the rising waves assailed its vast flanks. + +"Pay out the cable!" roared Captain Arms through his trumpet. + +If he had not been instantly obeyed it is probable that the cable would +have been dragged from its precarious fastening below. Then he instantly +set the engines at work, and strove to turn the Ark so as to keep it +near the point of descent. At first they succeeded very well, but the +captain knew that the wind was swiftly increasing in force, and that he +could not long continue to hold his place. It was a terrible emergency, +but he proved himself equal to it. + +"We must float the cable," he shouted to his first assistant. "Over with +the big buoy." + +This buoy of levium had been prepared for other possible emergencies. It +was flat, presenting little surface to the wind, and when, working with +feverish speed, aided by an electric launch, they had attached the cable +to it, it sank so low that its place on the sea was indicated only by +the short mast, capped with a streamer, which rose above it. + +When this work was completed a sigh of relief whistled through Captain +Arms's huge whiskers. + +"May Davy Jones hold that cable tight!" he exclaimed. "Now for +navigating the Ark. If I had my old _Maria Jane_ under my feet I'd defy +Boreas himself to blow me away from here--but this whale!" + +The wind increased fast, and in spite of every effort the Ark was driven +farther and farther toward the southwest, until the captain's telescope +no longer showed the least glimpse of the streamer on the buoy. Then +night came on, and yet the wind continued to blow. The captain compelled +all the passengers to go to their rooms. It would be useless to +undertake to describe the terror and despair of that night. When the sun +rose again the captain found that they had been driven seventy-five +miles from the site of New York, and yet, although the sky had now +partly cleared, the violence of the wind had not diminished. + +Captain Arms had the passengers' breakfast served in their rooms, simply +sending them word that all would be well in the end. But in his secret +heart he doubted if he could find the buoy again. He feared that it +would be torn loose with the cable. + +About noon the wind lulled, and at last the Ark could be effectively +driven in the direction of the buoy. But their progress was slow, and +night came on once more. During the hours of darkness the wind ceased +entirely, and the sea became calm. With the sunrise the search for the +buoy was begun in earnest. The passengers were now allowed to go upon +some of the decks, and to assemble in the grand saloon, but no +interference was permitted with the navigators of the Ark. Never had +Captain Arms so fully exhibited his qualities as a seaman. + +"We'll find that porpoise if it's still afloat," he declared. + +About half after eight o'clock a cry ran through the ship, bringing +everybody out on the decks. + +The captain had discovered the buoy through his glass! + +It lay away to the nor'ard, about a mile, and as they approached all +could see the streamer, hanging down its pole, a red streak in the +sunshine. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The Ark echoed with glad cries from stem to +stern. A thousand questions were shouted at the captain on his bridge, +but he was imperturbable. He only glanced at his watch, and then said, +in an undertone, to Joseph Smith, who stood beside him: + +"Forty-seven hours and twenty minutes. By the time we can get the cable +back on the drum it will be full forty-eight hours since they started, +and the air in the bell could be kept in condition no longer than that. +It may take as much as two hours more to draw it up." + +"Can you do it so rapidly as that?" asked Smith, his voice trembling. + +"I'll do it or bust," returned the captain. "Perhaps they may yet be +alive." + +Smith turned his eyes upward and clasped his hands. The Ark was put to +its utmost speed, and within the time estimated by the captain the cable +was once more on the great drum. Before starting it the captain attached +the telephone and shouted down. There was no reply. + +"Start gently, and then, if she draws, drive for your lubberly lives," +he said to the men in charge of the big donkey engine. + +The moment it began to turn he inspected the indicator. + +"Hurrah!" he exclaimed. "She pulls; the bell is attached." + +The crowded decks broke into a cheer. In a few minutes the Ark was +vibrating with the strokes of the engine. Within five minutes the +strong, slender cable was issuing out of the depths at the rate of 250 +feet a minute. But there were six miles of it! The engineer controlling +the drum shook his head. + +"We may break the cable," he said. + +"Go on!" shouted Captain Arms. "It's their only chance. Every second of +delay means sure death." + +Within forty minutes the cable was coming up 300 feet a minute. The +speed increased as the bell rose out of the depths. It was just one hour +and forty-five minutes after the drum began to revolve when the anxious +watchers were thrown into a furore of excitement by the appearance of a +shining blue point deep beneath. It was the bell! Again there broke +forth a tempest of cheers. + +Rapidly the rising bell grew larger under their eyes, until at last it +burst the surface of the sea. The engine had been skillfully slowed at +the last moment, and the rescued bell stopped at the level of the deck +open to receive it. With mad haste it was drawn aboard and the hermetic +door was opened. Those who were near enough glanced inside and turned +pale. Tumbled in a heap at the bottom lay the six men, with yellow faces +and blank, staring eyes. In an instant they were lifted out and two +doctors sprang to the side of each. Were they dead? Could any skill +revive them? A hush as of death spread over the great vessel. + +They were not dead. The skill of the physicians brought them, one after +another, slowly back to consciousness. But it was two full days before +they could rise from their beds, and three before they could begin to +tell their story--the story of the wonders they had seen, and of the +dreadful struggle for breath in the imprisoned bell before they had sunk +into unconsciousness. Not a word was ever spoken about the strange +outbreak of Blank at the sight of the gold, although the others all +recorded it in their notebooks. He himself never referred to it, and it +seemed to have faded from his mind. + +As soon as it was evident that the rescued men would recover, Captain +Arms, acting on his own responsibility, had started the Ark on its +westward course. It was a long and tedious journey that they had yet +before them, but the monotony was broken by the undying interest in the +marvelous story of the adventures of the bell. + +Three weeks after they left the vicinity of New York, the observations +showed that they must be nearing the eastern border of the Colorado +plateau. Then one day a bird alighted on the railing of the bridge, +close beside Cosmo and Captain Arms. + +"A bird!" cried Cosmo. "But it is incredible that a bird should be here! +How can it ever have kept itself afloat? It surely could not have +remained in the air all this time, and it could not have rested on the +waves during the downpour from the sky! Its presence here is absolutely +miraculous!" + +The poor bird, evidently exhausted by a long journey, remained upon the +rail, and permitted Cosmo to approach closely before taking flight to +another part of the Ark. Cosmo at first thought that it might have +escaped from his aviary below. + +But close inspection satisfied him that it was of a different species +from any that he had taken into the Ark, and the more he thought of the +strangeness of its appearance here the greater was his bewilderment. + +While he was puzzling over the subject the bird was seen by many of the +passengers, flitting from one part of the vessel to another, and they +were as much astonished as Cosmo had been, and all sorts of conjectures +were made to account for the little creature's escape from the flood. + +But within an hour or two Cosmo and the captain, who were now much +oftener alone upon the bridge than they had been during their passage +over the eastern continents, had another, and an incomparably greater, +surprise. + +It was the call of "Land, ho!" from the lookout. + +"Land!" exclaimed Cosmo. "Land! How can there be any land?" + +Captain Arms was no less incredulous, and he called the lookout down, +accused him of having mistaken a sleeping whale for a landfall, and sent +another man aloft in his place. But in a few minutes the same call of +"Land, ho!" was repeated. + +The captain got the bearings of the mysterious object this time, and the +Ark was sent for it at her highest speed. It rose steadily out of the +water until there could be no possibility of not recognizing it as the +top of a mountain. + +When it had risen still higher, until its form seemed gigantic against +the horizon, Captain Arms, throwing away his tobacco with an emphatic +gesture, and striking his palm on the rail, fairly shouted: + +"The Pike! By--the old Pike! There she blows!" + +"Do you mean Pike's Peak?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Do I mean Pike's Peak?" cried the captain, whose excitement had become +uncontrollable. "Yes, I mean Pike's Peak, and the deuce to him! Wasn't I +born at his foot? Didn't I play ball in the Garden of the Gods? And look +at him, Mr. Versal! There he stands! No water-squirting pirate of a +nebula could down the old Pike!" + +The excitement of everybody else was almost equal to the captain's, when +the grand mass of the mountain, with its characteristic profile, came +into view from the promenade-decks. + +De Beauxchamps, King Richard, and Amos Blank hurried to the bridge, +which they were still privileged to invade, and the two former in +particular asked questions faster than they could be answered. +Meanwhile, they were swiftly approaching the mountain. + +King Richard seemed to be under the impression that they had completed +the circuit of the world ahead of time, and his first remark was to the +effect that Mount Everest appeared to be rising faster than they had +anticipated. + +"That's none of your pagodas!" exclaimed the captain disdainfully; +"that's old Pike; and if you can find a better crown for the world, I'd +like to see it." + +The king looked puzzled, and Cosmo explained that they were still near +the center of the American continent, and that the great peak before +them was the sentinel of the Rocky Mountains. + +"But," replied the king, "I understood you that the whole world was +covered, and that the Himalayas would be the first to emerge." + +"That's what I believed," said Cosmo, "but the facts are against me." + +"So you thought you were going to run over the Rockies!" exclaimed the +captain gleefully. "They're no Gaurisankars, hey, M. De Beauxchamps?" + +"_Vive les Rockies! Vive le Pike!_" cried the Frenchman, catching the +captain's enthusiasm. + +"But how do you explain it?" asked King Richard. + +"It's the batholite," responded Cosmo, using exactly the same phrase +that Professor Pludder had employed some months before. + +"And pray explain to me what is a batholite?" + +Before Cosmo Versal could reply there was a terrific crash, and the Ark, +for the third time in her brief career, had made an unexpected landing. +But this time the accident was disastrous. + +All on the bridge, including Captain Arms, who should surely have known +the lay of the land about his childhood's home, had been so interested +in their talk that before they were aware of the danger the great vessel +had run her nose upon a projecting buttress of the mountain. + +She was going at full speed, too. Not a person aboard but was thrown +from his feet, and several were severely injured. + +The prow of the Ark was driven high upon a sloping surface of rock, and +the tearing sounds showed only too clearly that this time both bottoms +had been penetrated, and that there could be no hope of saving the huge +ship or getting her off. + +Perhaps at no time in all their adventures had the passengers of the Ark +been so completely terrorized and demoralized, and many members of the +crew were in no better state. Cosmo and the captain shouted orders, and +ran down into the hold to see the extent of the damage. Water was +pouring in through the big rents in torrents. + +There was plainly nothing to be done but to get everybody out of the +vessel and upon the rocks as rapidly as possible. + +The forward parts of the promenade-deck directly overhung the rock upon +which the Ark had forced itself, and it was possible for many to be let +down that way. At the same time boats were set afloat, and dozens got +ashore in them. + +While everybody was thus occupied with things immediately concerning +their safety, nobody paid any attention to the approach of a boat, which +had set out from a kind of bight in the face of the mountain. + +Cosmo was at the head of the accommodation-ladder that was being let +down on the starboard side, when he heard a shout, and, lifting his eyes +from his work, was startled to see a boat containing, beside the rowers, +two men whom he instantly recognized--they were President Samson and +Professor Pludder. + +Their sudden appearance here astonished him as much as that of Pike's +Peak itself had done. He dropped his hands and stared at them as their +boat swiftly approached. The ladder had just been got ready, and the +moment the boat touched its foot Professor Pludder mounted to the deck +of the Ark as rapidly as his great weight would permit. + +He stretched out his hand as his foot met the deck, and smilingly said: + +"Versal, you were right about the nebula." + +"Pludder," responded Cosmo, immediately recovering his aplomb, and +taking the extended hand of the professor, "you certainly know the truth +when you see it." + +Not another word was exchanged between them for the time, and Professor +Pludder instantly set to work aiding the passengers to descend the +ladder. Cosmo waved his hand in greeting to the President, who remained +in the boat, and politely lifted his tall, but sadly battered hat in +response. + +The Ark had become so firmly lodged that, after the passengers had all +got ashore, Cosmo decided to open a way through the forward end of the +vessel by removing some of the plates, so that the animals could be +taken ashore direct from their deck by simply descending a slightly +sloping gangway. + +This was a work that required a whole day, and while it was going +forward under Cosmo's directions the passengers, and such of the crew as +were not needed, found their way, led by the professor and the +President, round a bluff into a kind of mountain lap, where they were +astonished to see many rough cottages, situated picturesquely among the +rocks, and small cultivated spaces, with grass and flowers, surrounding +them. + +Here dwelt some hundreds of people, who received the shipwrecked company +with Western hospitality, after the first effects of their astonishment +had worn off. It appears that, owing to its concealment by a projecting +part of the mountain, the Ark had not been seen until just at the moment +when it went ashore. + +Although it was now the early part of September, the air was warm and +balmy, and barn-yard fowls were clucking and scratching about the rather +meager soil around the houses and outbuildings. + +There was not room in this place for all the newcomers, but Professor +Pludder assured them that in many of the neighboring hollows, which had +formerly been mountain gorges, there were similar settlements, and that +room would be found for all. + +Parties were sent off under the lead of guides, and great was the +amazement, and, it may be added, joy, with which they were received in +the little communities that clustered about the flanks of the mountain. + +About half of Cosmo's animals had perished, most of them during the +terrible experiences attending the arrival of the nucleus, which have +already been described, but those that remained were in fairly good +condition, and with the possible exception of the elephants, they seemed +glad to feel solid ground once more under their feet. + +The elephants had considerable difficulty in making their way over the +rocks to the little village, but finally all were got to a place of +security. The great Californian cattle caused hardly less trouble than +the elephants, but the Astorian turtles appeared to feel themselves at +home at once. + +Cosmo, with King Richard, De Beauxchamps, Amos Blank, Captain Arms, and +Joseph Smith, became the guests of Professor Pludder and the President +in their modest dwellings, and as soon as a little order had been +established explanations began. Professor Pludder was the first +spokesman, the scene being the President's "parlor." + +He told of their escape from Washington and of their arrival on the +Colorado plateau. + +"When the storm recommenced," he said, "I recognized the complete truth +of your theory, Mr. Versal--I had partially recognized it before--and I +made every preparation for the emergency. + +"The downfall, upon the whole, was not as severe here as it had been +during the earlier days of the deluge, but it must have been far more +severe elsewhere. + +"The sea around us began to rise, and then suddenly the rise ceased. +After studying the matter I concluded that a batholite was rising under +this region, and that there was a chance that we might escape +submergence through its influence." + +"Pardon me," interrupted King Richard, "but Mr. Versal has already +spoken of a 'batholite.' What does that mean?" + +"I imagine," replied the professor, smiling, "that neither Mr. Versal +nor I have used the term in a strictly technical sense. At least we have +vastly extended and modified its meaning in order to meet the +circumstances of our case. + +"Batholite is a word of the old geology, derived, from a language which +was once widely cultivated, Greek, and meaning, in substance, stone, or +rock, 'from the depths.' + +"The conception underlying it is that of an immense mass of plastic rock +rising under the effects of pressure from the interior of the globe, +forcing, and in part melting its way to the surface, or lifting up the +superincumbent crust. + +"Geologists had discovered the existence of many great batholites that +had risen in former ages, and there were some gigantic ones known in +this part of America." + +"That," interposed Cosmo, "was the basis of my idea that the continents +would rise again, only I supposed that the rise would first manifest +itself in the Himalayan region. + +"However, since it has resulted in the saving of so many lives here, I +cannot say that my disappointment goes beyond the natural mortification +of a man of science upon discovering that he has been in error." + +"I believe," said Professor Pludder, "that at least a million have +survived here in the heart of the continent through the uprising of the +crust. We have made explorations in many directions, and have found that +through all the Coloradan region people have succeeded in escaping to +the heights. + +"Since the water, although it began to rise again after the first arrest +of the advance of the sea, never attained a greater elevation than about +7,500 feet as measured from the old sea-level contours, there must be +millions of acres, not to say square miles, that are still habitable. + +"I even hope that the uprising has extended far through the Rocky +Mountain region." + +Professor Pludder then went on to tell how they had escaped from the +neighborhood of Colorado Springs when the readvance of the sea began, +and how at last it became evident that the influence of the underlying +"batholite" would save them from submergence. + +In some places, he said, violent phenomena had been manifested, and +severe earthquakes had been felt, but upon the whole, he thought, not +many had perished through that cause. + +As soon as some degree of confidence that they were, after all, to +escape the flood, had been established, they had begun to cultivate such +soil as they could find, and now, after months of fair weather, they had +become fairly established in their new homes. + +When Cosmo, on his side, had told of the adventures of the Ark, and of +the disappearance of the crown of the world in Asia, and when De +Beauxchamps had entertained the wondering listeners with his account of +the submarine explorations of the _Jules Verne_ and the diving bell, the +company at last broke up. + +From this point--the arrival of the Ark in Colorado, and its wreck on +Pike's Peak--the literature of our subject becomes abundant, but we +cannot pause to review it in detail. + +The re-emergence of the Colorado mountain region continued slowly, and +without any disastrous convulsions, and the level of the water receded +year by year as the land rose, and the sea lost by evaporation into +space and by chemical absorption in the crust. + +In some other parts of the Rockies, as Professor Pludder had +anticipated, an uprising had occurred, and it was finally estimated that +as many as three million persons survived the deluge. + +It was not the selected band with which Cosmo Versal had intended to +regenerate mankind, but from the Ark he spread a leaven which had its +effect on the succeeding generations. + +He taught his principles of eugenics, and implanted deep the germs of +science, in which he was greatly aided by Professor Pludder, and, as all +readers of this narrative know, we have every reason to believe that our +new world, although its population has not yet grown to ten millions, is +far superior, in every respect, to the old world that was drowned. + +As the dry land spread wider extensive farms were developed, and for a +long time there was almost no other occupation than that of cultivating +the rich soil. + +President Samson was, by unanimous vote, elected President of the +republic of New America, and King Richard became his Secretary of State, +an office, he declared, of which he was prouder than he had been of his +kingship, when the sound of the British drumbeat accompanied the sun +around the world. + +Amos Blank, returning to his old methods, soon became the leading +farmer, buying out the others until the government sternly interfered +and compelled him to relinquish everything but five hundred acres of +ground. + +But on this Blank developed a most surprising collection of domestic +animals, principally from the stocks that Cosmo had saved in the Ark. + +The elephants died, and the Astorian turtles did not reproduce their +kind, but the gigantic turkeys and the big cattle and sheep did +exceedingly well, and many other varieties previously unknown were +gradually developed with the aid of Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, who found +every opportunity to apply his theories in practice. + +Of Costake Theriade, and the inter-atomic force, it is only necessary to +remind the reader that the marvelous mechanical powers which we possess +to-day, and which we draw directly from the hidden stores of the +electrons, trace their origin to the brain of the "speculative genius" +from Roumania, whom Cosmo Versal had the insight to save from the great +second deluge. + +All of these actors long ago passed from the scene, President Samson +being the last survivor, after winning by his able administration the +title of the second father of his country. But to the last he showed his +magnanimity by honoring Cosmo Versal, and upon the latter's death he +caused to be carved, high on the brow of the great mountain on which his +voyage ended, in gigantic letters, cut deep in the living rock, and +covered with shining, incorrodible levium, an inscription that will +transmit his fame to the remotest posterity: + + HERE RESTED THE ARK OF + COSMO VERSAL! + _He Foresaw and Prepared for the Second Deluge, + And Although Nature + Aided Him in Unexpected Ways, + Yet, but for Him, His Warnings, and His Example + The World of Man Would Have Ceased + To Exist._ + + +It would be unjust to Mr. Samson to suppose that any ironical intention +was in his mind when he composed this lofty inscription. + + +_Postscriptum_ + +While these words are being written, news comes of the return of an +aero, driven by inter-atomic energy, from a voyage of exploration round +the earth. + +It appears that the Alps are yet deeply buried, but that Mount Everest +now lifts its head more than ten thousand feet above the sea, and that +some of the loftiest plains of Tibet are beginning to re-emerge. + +Thus Cosmo Versal's prediction is fulfilled, though he has not lived to +see it. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECOND DELUGE *** + +***** This file should be named 9194.txt or 9194.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/9/9194/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Erica Jacobson, Sandra Brown, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9194.zip b/9194.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b7d60a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/9194.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e16f018 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #9194 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9194) diff --git a/old/72dlg10.txt b/old/72dlg10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a3b88e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/72dlg10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10794 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss + +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: The Second Deluge + +Author: Garrett P. Serviss + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9194] +[This file was first posted on September 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECOND DELUGE *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Erica Jacobson, Sandra Brown, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + +By + +Garrett P. Serviss + +1912 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" [Page 106] ] + + + +FOREWORD + + +What is here set down is the fruit of long and careful research among +disjointed records left by survivors of the terrible events described. +The writer wishes frankly to say that, in some instances, he has +followed the course which all historians are compelled to take by using +his imagination to round out the picture. But he is able conscientiously +to declare that in the substance of his narrative, as well as in every +detail which is specifically described, he has followed faithfully the +accounts of eyewitnesses, or of those who were in a position to know the +truth of what they related. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. COSMO VERSAL + + II. MOCKING AT FATE + + III. THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + IV. THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + V. THE THIRD SIGN + + VI. SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + VII. THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + VIII. STORMING THE ARK + + IX. THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + X. THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + XI. "A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + XII. THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + XIII. STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + XIV. THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + XV. PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + XVI. MUTINY IN THE ARK + + XVII. THE _JULES VERNE_ + +XVIII. NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + XIX. TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + XX. THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + XXI. "THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + XXII. THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + +XXIII. ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + XXIV. THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + XXV. NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + XXVI. NEW AMERICA + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" + +"THE GREAT BATTLESHIP ... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL-RIBBED WALLS" + +"IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE" + +"AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF GENERAL GRANT" + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +COSMO VERSAL + + +An undersized, lean, wizen-faced man, with an immense bald head, as +round and smooth and shining as a giant soap-bubble, and a pair of beady +black eyes, set close together, so that he resembled a gnome of amazing +brain capacity and prodigious power of concentration, sat bent over a +writing desk with a huge sheet of cardboard before him, on which he was +swiftly drawing geometrical and trigonometrical figures. Compasses, +T-squares, rulers, protractors, and ellipsographs obeyed the touch of +his fingers as if inspired with life. + +The room around him was a jungle of terrestrial and celestial globes, +chemists' retorts, tubes, pipes, and all the indescribable apparatus +that modern science has invented, and which, to the uninitiated, seems +as incomprehensible as the ancient paraphernalia of alchemists and +astrologers. The walls were lined with book shelves, and adorned along +the upper portions with the most extraordinary photographs and drawings. +Even the ceiling was covered with charts, some representing the sky, +while many others were geological and topographical pictures of the face +of the earth. + +Beside the drawing-board lay a pad of paper, and occasionally the little +man nervously turned to this, and, grasping a long pencil, made +elaborate calculations, covering the paper with a sprinkling of +mathematical symbols that looked like magnified animalcula. While he +worked, under a high light from a single window placed well up near the +ceiling, his forehead contracted into a hundred wrinkles, his cheeks +became feverous, his piercing eyes glowed with inner fire, and drops of +perspiration ran down in front of his ears. One would have thought that +he was laboring to save his very soul and had but a few seconds of +respite left. + +Presently he threw down the pencil, and with astonishing agility let +himself rapidly, but carefully, off the stool on which he had been +sitting, keeping the palms of his hands on the seat beside his hips +until he felt his feet touch the floor. Then he darted at a book-shelf, +pulled down a ponderous tome, flapped it open in a clear space on the +floor, and dropped on his knees to consult it. + +After turning a leaf or two he found what he was after, read down the +page, keeping a finger on the lines, and, having finished his reading, +jumped to his feet and hurried back to the stool, on which he mounted so +quickly that it was impossible to see how he managed it--without an +upset. Instantly he made a new diagram, and then fell to figuring +furiously on the pad, making his pencil gyrate so fast that its upper +end vibrated like the wing of a dragon-fly. + +At last he threw down the pencil, and, encircling his knees with his +clasped arms, sank in a heap on the stool. The lids dropped over his +shining eyes, and he became buried in thought. + +When he reopened his eyes and unbent his brows, his gaze happened to be +directed toward a row of curious big photographs which ran like a +pictured frieze round the upper side of the wall of the room. A casual +observer might have thought that the little man had been amusing himself +by photographing the explosions of fireworks on a Fourth of July night; +but it was evident by his expression that these singular pictures had no +connection with civic pyrotechnics, but must represent something of +incomparably greater importance, and, in fact, of stupendous import. + +The little man's face took on a rapt look, in which wonder and fear +seemed to be blended. With a sweep of his hand he included the whole +series of photographs in a comprehensive glance, and then, settling his +gaze upon a particularly bizarre object in the center, he began to speak +aloud, although there was nobody to listen to him. + +"My God!" he said. "That's it! That Lick photograph of the Lord Rosse +Nebula is its very image, except that there's no electric fire in it. +The same great whirl of outer spirals, and then comes the awful central +mass--and we're going to plunge straight into it. Then quintillions of +tons of water will condense on the earth and cover it like a universal +cloudburst. And then good-by to the human race--unless--unless--I, Cosmo +Versal, inspired by science, can save a remnant to repeople the planet +after the catastrophe." + +Again, for a moment, he closed his eyes, and puckered his hemispherical +brow, while, with drawn-up knees, he seemed perilously balanced on the +high stool. Several times he slowly shook his head, like a dreaming owl, +and when his eyes reopened their fire was gone, and a reflective film +covered them. He began to speak, more deliberately than before, and in a +musing tone: + +"What can I do? I don't believe there is a mountain on the face of the +globe lofty enough to lift its head above that flood. Hum, hum! It's no +use thinking about mountains! The flood will be six miles deep--six +miles from the present sea-level; my last calculation proves it beyond +all question. And that's only a minimum--it may be miles deeper, for no +mortal man can tell exactly what'll happen when the earth plunges into a +nebula. + +"We'll have to float; that's the thing. I'll have to build an ark. I'll +be a second Noah. But I'll advise the whole world to build arks. + +"Millions might save themselves that way, for the flood is not going to +last forever. We'll get through the nebula in a few months, and then the +waters will gradually recede, and the high lands will emerge again. +It'll be an awful long time, though; I doubt if the earth will ever be +just as it was before. There won't be much room, except for fish--but +there won't be many inhabitants for what dry land there is." + +Once more he fell into silent meditation, and while he mused there came +a knock at the door. The little man started up on his seat, alert as a +squirrel, and turned his eyes over his shoulder, listening intently. The +knock was repeated--three quick sharp raps. Evidently he at once +recognized them. + +"All right," he called out, and, letting himself down, ran swiftly to +the door and opened it. + +A tall, thin man, with bushy black hair, heavy eyebrows, a high, narrow +forehead, and a wide, clean shaven mouth, wearing a solemn kind of +smile, entered and grasped the little man by both hands. + +"Cosmo," he said, without wasting any time on preliminaries, "have you +worked it out?" + +"I have just finished." + +"And you find the worst?" + +"Yes, worse than I ever dreamed it would be. The waters will be six +miles deep." + +"Phew!" exclaimed the other, his smile fading. "That is indeed serious. +And when does it begin?" + +"Inside of a year. We're within three hundred million miles of the +watery nebula now, and you know that the earth travels more than that +distance in twelve months." + +"Have you seen it?" + +"How could I see it--haven't I told you it is invisible? If it could be +seen all these stupid astronomers would have spotted it long ago. But +I'll tell you what I have seen." + +Cosmo Versal's voice sank into a whisper, and he shuddered slightly as +he went on: + +"Only last night I was sweeping the sky with the telescope when I +noticed, in Hercules and Lyra, and all that part of the heavens, a +dimming of some of the fainter stars. It was like the shadow of the +shroud of a ghost. Nobody else would have noticed it, and I wouldn't if +I had not been looking for it. It's knowledge that clarifies the eyes +and breeds knowledge, Joseph Smith. It was not truly visible, and yet I +could see that it was there. I tried to make out the shape of the +thing--but it was too indefinite. But I know very well what it is. See +here"--he suddenly broke off--"Look at that photograph." (He was +pointing at the Lord Rosse Nebula on the wall). "It's like that, only +it's coming edgewise toward us. We may miss some of the outer spirals, +but we're going smash into the center." + +With fallen jaw, and black brows contracted, Joseph Smith stared at the +photograph. + +"It doesn't shine like that," he said at last. + +The little man snorted contemptuously. + +"What have I told you about its invisibility?" he demanded. + +"But how, then, do you know that it is of a watery nature?" + +Cosmo Versal threw up his hands and waved them in an agony of +impatience. He climbed upon his stool to get nearer the level of the +other's eyes, and fixing him with his gaze, exclaimed: + +"You know very well how I know it. I know it because I have demonstrated +with my new spectroscope, which analyzes extra-visual rays, that all +those dark nebulae that were photographed in the Milky Way years ago are +composed of watery vapor. They are far off, on the limits of the +universe. This one is one right at hand. It's a little one compared with +them--but it's enough, yes, it's enough! You know that more than two +years ago I began to correspond with astronomers all over the world +about this thing, and not one of them would listen to me. Well, they'll +listen when it's too late perhaps. + +"They'll listen when the flood-gates are opened and the inundation +begins. It's not the first time that this thing has happened. I haven't +a doubt that the flood of Noah, that everybody pretends to laugh at now, +was caused by the earth passing through a watery nebula. But this will +be worse than that; there weren't two thousand million people to be +drowned then." + +For five minutes neither spoke. Cosmo Versal swung on the stool, and +played with an ellipsograph; Joseph Smith dropped his chin on his breast +and nervously fingered the pockets of his long vest. At last he raised +his head and asked, in a low voice: + +"What are you going to do, Cosmo?" + +"I'm going to get ready," was the short reply. + +"How?" + +"Build an ark." + +"But will you give no warning to others?" + +"I'll do my best. I'll telephone to all the officials, scientific and +otherwise, in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. I'll write +in every language to all the newspapers and magazines. I'll send out +circulars. I'll counsel everybody to drop every other occupation and +begin to build arks--but nobody will heed me. You'll see. My ark will be +the only one, but I'll save as many in it as I can. And I depend upon +you, Joseph, to help me. From all appearances, it's the only chance that +the human race has of survival. + +"If I hadn't made this discovery they would all have been wiped out like +miners in a flooded pit. We may persuade a few to be saved--but what an +awful thing it is that when the truth is thrust into their very faces +people won't believe, won't listen, won't see, won't be helped, but will +die like dogs in their obstinate ignorance and blindness." + +"But they will, they must, listen to you," said Joseph Smith eagerly. + +"They _won't_, but I must _make_ them," replied Cosmo Versal. +"Anyhow, I must make a few of the best of them hear me. The fate of a +whole race is at stake. If we can save a handful of the best blood and +brain of mankind, the world will have a new chance, and perhaps a better +and higher race will be the result. Since I can't save them all, I'll +pick and choose. I'll have the flower of humanity in my ark. I'll at +least snatch that much from the jaws of destruction." + +The little man was growing very earnest and his eyes were aglow with the +fire of enthusiastic purpose. As he dropped his head on one side, it +looked too heavy for the stemlike neck, but it conveyed an impression of +immense intellectual power. Its imposing contour lent force to his +words. + +"The flower of humanity," he continued after a slight pause. "Who +composes it? I must decide that question. Is it the billionaires? Is it +the kings and rulers? Is it the men of science? Is it the society +leaders? Bah! I'll have to think on that. I can't take them all, but +I'll give them all a chance to save themselves--though I know they won't +act on the advice." + +Here he paused. + +"Won't the existing ships do--especially if more are built?" Joseph +Smith suddenly asked, interrupting Cosmo's train of thought. + +"Not at all," was the reply. "They're not suited to the kind of +navigation that will be demanded. They're not buoyant enough, nor +manageable enough, and they haven't enough carrying capacity for power +and provisions. They'll be swamped at the wharves, or if they should get +away they'd be sent to the bottom inside a few hours. Nothing but +specially constructed arks will serve. And _there's_ more trouble +for me--I must devise a new form of vessel. Heavens, how short the time +is! Why couldn't I have found this out ten years ago? It's only to-day +that I have myself learned the full truth, though I have worked on it so +long." + +"How many will you be able to carry in your ark?" asked Smith. + +"I can't tell yet. That's another question to be carefully considered. I +shall build the vessel of this new metal, levium, half as heavy as +aluminum and twice as strong as steel. I ought to find room without the +slightest difficulty for a round thousand in it." + +"Surely many more than that!" exclaimed Joseph Smith. "Why, there are +ocean-liners that carry several times as many." + +"You forget," replied Cosmo Versal, "that we must have provisions enough +to last for a long time, because we cannot count on the immediate +re-emergence of any land, even the most mountainous, and the most +compressed food takes space when a great quantity is needed. It won't do +to overcrowd the vessel, and invite sickness. Then, too, I must take +many animals along." + +"Animals," returned Smith. "I hadn't thought of that. But is it +necessary?" + +"Absolutely. Would you have less foresight than Noah? I shall not +imitate him by taking male and female of every species, but I must at +least provide for restocking such land as eventually appears above the +waters with the animals most useful to man. Then, too, animals are +essential to the life of the earth. Any agricultural chemist would tell +you that. They play an indispensable part in the vital cycle of the +soil. I must also take certain species of insects and birds. I'll +telephone Professor Hergeschmitberger at Berlin to learn precisely what +are the capitally important species of the animal kingdom." + +"And when will you begin the construction of the ark?" + +"Instantly. There's not a moment to lose. And it's equally important to +send out warnings broadcast immediately. There you can help me. You know +what I want to say. Write it out at once; put it as strong as you can; +send it everywhere; put it in the shape of posters; hurry it to the +newspaper offices. Telephone, in my name, to the Carnegie Institution, +to the Smithsonian Institution, to the Royal Society, to the French, +Russian, Italian, German, and all the other Academies and Associations +of Science to be found anywhere on earth. + +"Don't neglect the slightest means of publicity. Thank Heaven, the money +to pay for all this is not lacking. If my good father, when he piled up +his fortune from the profits of the Transcontinental Aerian Company, +could have foreseen the use to which his son would put it for the +benefit--what do I say, for the benefit? nay, for the _salvation_--of +mankind, he would have rejoiced in his work." + +"Ah, that reminds me," exclaimed Joseph Smith. "I was about to ask, a +few minutes ago, why airships would not do for this business. Couldn't +people save themselves from the flood by taking refuge in the +atmosphere?" + +Cosmo Versal looked at his questioner with an ironical smile. + +"Do you know," he asked, "how long a dirigible can be kept afloat? Do +you know for how long a voyage the best aeroplane types can be +provisioned with power? There's not an air-ship of any kind that can go +more than two weeks at the very uttermost without touching solid earth, +and then it must be mighty sparing of its power. If we can save mankind +now, and give it another chance, perhaps the time will come when power +can be drawn out of the ether of space, and men can float in the air as +long as they choose. + +"But as things are now, we must go back to Noah's plan, and trust to the +buoyant power of water. I fully expect that when the deluge begins +people will flock to the high-lands and the mountains in air-ships--but +alas! that won't save them. Remember what I have told you--this flood is +going to be six miles deep!" + +The second morning after the conversation between Cosmo Versal and +Joseph Smith, New York was startled by seeing, in huge red letters, on +every blank wall, on the bare flanks of towering sky-scrapers, on the +lofty stations of aeroplane lines, on bill-boards, fences, +advertising-boards along suburban roads, in the Subway stations, and +fluttering from strings of kites over the city, the following +announcement: + + THE WORLD IS TO BE DROWNED! + + Save Yourselves While It Is Yet Time! + Drop Your Business: It Is of No Consequence! + Build Arks: It Is Your Only Salvation! + The Earth Is Going To Plunge into a Watery + Nebula: There Is No Escape! + Hundreds of Millions Will Be Drowned: You Have + Only a Few Months To Get Ready! + For Particulars Address: Cosmo Versal, + 3000 Fifth Avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MOCKING AT FATE + + +When New York recovered from its first astonishment over the +extraordinary posters, it indulged in a loud laugh. Everybody knew who +Cosmo Versal was. His eccentricities had filled many readable columns in +the newspapers. Yet there was a certain respect for him, too. This was +due to his extraordinary intellectual ability and unquestionable +scientific knowledge. But his imagination was as free as the winds, and +it often led him upon excursions in which nobody could follow him, and +which caused the more steady-going scientific brethren to shake their +heads. They called him able but flighty. The public considered him +brilliant and amusing. + +His father, who had sprung from some unknown source in southeastern +Europe, and, beginning as a newsboy in New York, had made his way to the +front in the financial world, had left his entire fortune to Cosmo. The +latter had no taste for finance or business, but a devouring appetite +for science, to which, in his own way, he devoted all his powers, all +his time, and all his money. He never married, was never seen in +society, and had very few intimates--but he was known by sight, or +reputation, to everybody. There was not a scientific body or association +of any consequence in the world of which he was not a member. Those +which looked askance at his bizarre ideas were glad to accept pecuniary +aid from him. + +The notion that the world was to be drowned had taken possession of him +about three years before the opening scene of this narrative. To work +out the idea, he built an observatory, set up a laboratory, invented +instruments, including his strange spectroscope, which was scoffed at by +the scientific world. + +Finally, submitting the results of his observations to mathematical +treatment, he proved, to his own satisfaction, the absolute correctness +of his thesis that the well-known "proper motion of the solar system" +was about to result in an encounter between the earth and an invisible +watery nebula, which would have the effect of inundating the globe. As +this startling idea gradually took shape, he communicated it to +scientific men in all lands, but failed to find a single disciple, +except his friend Joseph Smith, who, without being able to follow all +his reasonings, accepted on trust the conclusions of Cosmo's more +powerful mind. Accordingly, at the end of his investigation, he enlisted +Smith as secretary, propagandist, and publicity agent. + +New York laughed a whole day and night at the warning red letters. They +were the talk of the town. People joked about them in cafes, clubs, at +home, in the streets, in the offices, in the exchanges, in the +street-cars, on the Elevated, in the Subways. Crowds gathered on corners +to watch the flapping posters aloft on the kite lines. The afternoon +newspapers issued specials which were all about the coming flood, and +everywhere one heard the cry of the newsboys: _"Extra-a-a! Drowning of +a Thousand Million people! Cosmo Versal predicts the End of the +World!"_ On their editorial pages the papers were careful to discount +the scare lines, and terrific pictures, that covered the front sheets, +with humorous jibes at the author of the formidable prediction. + +_The Owl,_ which was the only paper that put the news in half a +column of ordinary type, took a judicial attitude, called upon the city +authorities to tear down the posters, and hinted that "this absurd +person, Cosmo Versal, who disgraces a once honored name with his +childish attempt to create a sensation that may cause untold harm among +the ignorant masses," had laid himself open to criminal prosecution. + +In their latest editions, several of the papers printed an interview +with Cosmo Versal, in which he gave figures and calculations that, on +their face, seemed to offer mathematical proof of the correctness of his +forecast. In impassioned language, he implored the public to believe +that he would not mislead them, spoke of the instant necessity of +constructing arks of safety, and averred that the presence of the +terrible nebula that was so soon to drown the world was already manifest +in the heavens. + +Some readers of these confident statements began to waver, especially +when confronted with mathematics which they could not understand. But +still, in general, the laugh went on. It broke into boisterousness in +one of the largest theaters where a bright-witted "artist," who always +made a point of hitting off the very latest sensation, got himself up in +a lifelike imitation of the well-known figure of Cosmo Versal, topped +with a bald head as big as a bushel, and sailed away into the flies with +a pretty member of the ballet, whom he had gallantly snatched from a +tumbling ocean of green baize, singing at the top of his voice until +they disappeared behind the proscenium arch: + + "Oh, th' Nebula is coming + To drown the wicked earth, + With all his spirals humming + 'S he waltzes in his mirth. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, + Get ready to embark, + And skip away to safety + With Cosmo and his ark. + + "Th' Nebula is a direful bird + 'S he skims the ether blue! + He's angry over what he's heard, + 'N's got his eye on you. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "When Nebulas begin to pipe + The bloomin' O.H.[subscript]2 + Y'bet yer life the time is ripe + To think what you will do. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He'll tip th' Atlantic o'er its brim, + And swamp the mountains tall; + He'll let the broad Pacific in, + And leave no land at all. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He's got an option on the spheres; + He's leased the Milky Way; + He's caught the planets in arrears, + 'N's bound to make 'em pay. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc." + +The roars of laughter and applause with which this effusion of +vaudeville genius was greeted, showed the cheerful spirit in which the +public took the affair. No harm seemed to have come to the "ignorant +masses" yet. + +But the next morning there was a suspicious change in the popular mind. +People were surprised to see new posters in place of the old ones, more +lurid in letters and language than the original. The morning papers had +columns of description and comment, and some of them seemed disposed to +treat the prophet and his prediction with a certain degree of +seriousness. + +The savants who had been interviewed overnight, did not talk very +convincingly, and made the mistake of flinging contempt on both Cosmo +and "the gullible public." + +Naturally, the public wouldn't stand for that, and the pendulum of +opinion began to swing the other way. Cosmo helped his cause by sending +to every newspaper a carefully prepared statement of his observations +and calculations, in which he spoke with such force of conviction that +few could read his words without feeling a thrill of apprehensive +uncertainty. This was strengthened by published dispatches which showed +that he had forwarded his warnings to all the well-known scientific +bodies of the world, which, while decrying them, made no effective +response. + +And then came a note of positive alarm in a double-leaded bulletin from +the new observatory at Mount McKinley, which affirmed that during the +preceding night _a singular obscurity_ had been suspected in the +northern sky, seeming to veil many stars below the twelfth magnitude. It +was added that the phenomenon was unprecedented, but that the +observation was both difficult and uncertain. + +Nowhere was the atmosphere of doubt and mystery, which now began to hang +over the public, so remarkable as in Wall Street. The sensitive currents +there responded like electric waves to the new influence, and, to the +dismay of hard-headed observers, the market dropped as if it had been +hit with a sledge-hammer. Stocks went down five, ten, in some cases +twenty points in as many minutes. + +The speculative issues slid down like wheat into a bin when the chutes +are opened. Nobody could trace the exact origin of the movement, but +selling-orders came tumbling in until there was a veritable panic. + +From London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, flashed dispatches +announcing that the same unreasonable slump had manifested itself there, +and all united in holding Cosmo Versal solely responsible for the +foolish break in prices. Leaders of finance rushed to the exchanges +trying by arguments and expostulations to arrest the downfall, but in +vain. + +In the afternoon, however, reason partially resumed its sway; then a +quick recovery was felt, and many who had rushed to sell all they had, +found cause to regret their precipitancy. The next day all was on the +mend, as far as the stock market was concerned, but among the people at +large the poison of awakened credulity continued to spread, nourished by +fresh announcements from the fountain head. + +Cosmo issued another statement to the effect that he had perfected plans +for an ark of safety, which he would begin at once to construct in the +neighborhood of New York, and he not only offered freely to give his +plans to any who wished to commence construction on their own account, +but he urged them, in the name of Heaven, to lose no time. This produced +a prodigious effect, and multitudes began to be infected with a nameless +fear. + +Meanwhile an extraordinary scene occurred, behind closed doors, at the +headquarters of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Joseph Smith, +acting under Cosmo Versal's direction, had forwarded an elaborate +_precis_ of the latter's argument, accompanied with full +mathematical details, to the head of the institution. The character of +this document was such that it could not be ignored. Moreover, the +savants composing the council of the most important scientific +association in the world were aware of the state of the public mind, and +felt that it was incumbent upon them to do something to allay the alarm. +Of late years a sort of supervisory control over scientific news of all +kinds had been accorded to them, and they appreciated the fact that a +duty now rested upon their shoulders. + +Accordingly, a special meeting was called to consider the communication +from Cosmo Versal. It was the general belief that a little critical +examination would result in complete proof of the fallacy of all his +work, proof which could be put in a form that the most uninstructed +would understand. + +But the papers, diagrams, and mathematical formulae had no sooner been +spread upon the table under the knowing eyes of the learned members of +the council, than a chill of conscious impuissance ran through them. +They saw that Cosmo's mathematics were unimpeachable. His formulae were +accurately deduced, and his operations absolutely correct. + +They could do nothing but attack his fundamental data, based on the +alleged revelations of his new form of spectroscope, and on telescopic +observations which were described in so much detail that the only way to +combat them was by the general assertion that they were illusory. This +was felt to be a very unsatisfactory method of procedure, as far as the +public was concerned, because it amounted to no more than attacking the +credibility of a witness who pretended to describe only what he himself +had seen--and there is nothing so hard as to prove a negative. + +Then, Cosmo had on his side the whole force of that curious tendency of +the human mind which habitually gravitates toward whatever is +extraordinary, revolutionary, and mysterious. + +But a yet greater difficulty arose. Mention has been made of the strange +bulletin from the Mount McKinley observatory. That had been incautiously +sent out to the public by a thoughtless observer, who was more intent +upon describing a singular phenomenon than upon considering its possible +effect on the popular imagination. He had immediately received an +expostulatory dispatch from headquarters which henceforth shut his +mouth--but he had told the simple truth, and how embarrassing that was +became evident when, on the very table around which the savants were now +assembled, three dispatches were laid in quick succession from the great +observatories of Mount Hekla, Iceland, the North Cape, and Kamchatka, +all corroborating the statement of the Mount McKinley observer, that an +inexplicable veiling of faint stars had manifested itself in the boreal +quarter of the sky. + +When the president read these dispatches--which the senders had taken +the precaution to mark "confidential"--the members of the council looked +at one another with no little dismay. Here was the most unprejudiced +corroboration of Cosmo Versal's assertion that the great nebula was +already within the range of observation. How could they dispute such +testimony, and what were they to make of it? + +Two or three of the members began to be shaken in their convictions. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Professor Alexander Jones, "but this is very +curious! And suppose the fellow should be right, after all?" + +"Right!" cried the president, Professor Pludder, disdainfully. "Who ever +heard of a watery nebula? The thing's absurd!" + +"I don't see that it's absurd," replied Professor Jones. "There's plenty +of proof of the existence of hydrogen in some of the nebulae." + +"So there is," chimed in Professor Abel Able, "and if there's hydrogen +there may be oxygen, and there you have all that's necessary. It's not +the idea that a nebula may consist of watery vapor that's absurd, but it +is that a watery nebula, large enough to drown the earth by condensation +upon it could have approached so near as this one must now be without +sooner betraying its presence." + +"How so?" demanded a voice. + +"By its attraction. Cosmo Versal says it is already less than three +hundred million miles away. If it is massive enough to drown the earth, +it ought long ago to have been discovered by its disturbance of the +planetary orbits." + +"Not at all," exclaimed Professor Jeremiah Moses. "If you stick to that +argument you'll be drowned sure. Just look at these facts. The earth +weighs six and a half sextillions of tons, and the ocean one and a half +quintillions. The average depth of the oceans is two and one-fifth +miles. Now--if the level of the oceans were raised only about 1,600 +feet, practically all the inhabited parts of the world would be flooded. +To cause that increase in the level of the oceans only about one-eighth +part would have to be added to their total mass, or, say, one-seventh +part, allowing for the greater surface to be covered. That would be one +thirty-thousandth of the weight of the globe, and if you suppose that +only one-hundredth of the entire nebula were condensed on the earth, the +whole mass of the nebula would not need to exceed one three-hundredth of +the weight of the earth, or a quarter that of the moon--and nobody here +will be bold enough to say that the approach of a mass no greater than +that would be likely to be discovered through its attraction when it was +three hundred million miles away." + +Several of the astronomers present shook their heads at this, and +Professor Pludder irritably declared that it was absurd. + +"The attraction would be noticeable when it was a thousand millions of +miles away," he continued. + +"Yes, 'noticeable' I admit," replied Professor Moses, "but all the same +you wouldn't notice it, because you wouldn't be looking for it unless +the nebula were visible first, and even then it would require months of +observation to detect the effects. And how are you going to get around +those bulletins? The thing is beginning to be visible now, and I'll bet +that if, from this time on, you study carefully the planetary motions, +you will find evidence of the disturbance becoming stronger and +stronger. Versal has pointed out that very thing, and calculated the +perturbations. This thing has come like a thief in the night." + +"You'd better hurry up and secure a place in the ark," said Professor +Pludder sarcastically. + +"I don't know but I shall, if I can get one," returned Professor Moses. +"You may not think this is such a laughing matter a few months hence." + +"I'm surprised," pursued the president, "that a man of your scientific +standing should stultify himself by taking seriously such balderdash as +this. I tell you the thing is absurd." + +"And I tell you, _you_ are absurd to say so!" retorted Professor +Moses, losing his temper. "You've got four of the biggest telescopes in +the world under your control; why don't you order your observers to look +for this thing?" + +Professor Pludder, who was a very big man, reared up his rotund form, +and, bringing his fist down upon the table with a resounding whack, +exclaimed: + +"I'll do nothing so ridiculous! These bulletins have undoubtedly been +influenced by the popular excitement. There has possibly been a little +obscurity in the atmosphere--cirrus clouds, or something--and the +observers have imagined the rest. I'm not going to insult science by +encouraging the proceedings of a mountebank like Cosmo Versal. What +we've got to do is to prepare a dispatch for the press reassuring the +populace and throwing the weight of this institution on the side of +common sense and public tranquillity. Let the secretary indite such a +dispatch, and then we'll edit it and send it out." + +Professor Pludder, naturally dictatorial, was sometimes a little +overbearing, but being a man of great ability, and universally respected +for his high rank in the scientific world, his colleagues usually bowed +to his decisions. On this occasion his force of character sufficed to +silence the doubters, and when the statement intended for the press had +received its final touches it contained no hint of the seeds of discord +that Cosmo Versal had sown among America's foremost savants. The next +morning it appeared in all the newspapers as follows: + + _Official Statement from the Carnegie Institution_ + + In consequence of the popular excitement caused by the + sensational utterance of a notorious pretender to scientific + knowledge in New York, the council of this institution + authorizes the statement that it has examined the alleged + grounds on which the prediction of a great flood, to be caused + by a nebula encountering the earth, is based, and finds, as all + real men of science knew beforehand, that the entire matter is + simply a canard. + + The nebulae are not composed of water; if they were composed of + water they could not cause a flood on the earth; the report that + some strange, misty object is visible in the starry heavens is + based on a misapprehension; and finally, the so-called + calculations of the author of this inexcusable hoax are baseless + and totally devoid of validity. + + The public is earnestly advised to pay no further attention to + the matter. If there were any danger to the earth--and such a + thing is not to be seriously considered--astronomers would know + it long in advance, and would give due and official warning. + +Unfortunately for the popular effect of this pronouncement, on the very +morning when it appeared in print, thirty thousand people were crowded +around the old aviation field at Mineola, excitedly watching Cosmo +Versal, with five hundred workmen, laying the foundations of a huge +platform, while about the field were stretched sheets of canvas +displaying the words: + + THE ARK OF SAFETY + Earnest Inspection Invited by All + Attendants will Furnish Gratis Plans for Similar + Constructions + Small Arks Can Be Built for Families + Act While There Is Yet Time + +The multitude saw at a glance that here was a work that would cost +millions, and the spectacle of this immense expenditure, the evidence +that Cosmo was backing his words with his money, furnished a silent +argument which was irresistible. In the midst of all, flying about among +his men, was Cosmo, impressing every beholder with the feeling that +intellect was in charge. + +Like the gray coat of Napoleon on a battlefield, the sight of that +mighty brow bred confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + +The utterance of the Carnegie Institution indeed fell flat, and Cosmo +Versal's star reigned in the ascendent. He pushed his preparations with +amazing speed, and not only politics, but even the war that had just +broken out in South America was swallowed up in the newspapers by +endless descriptions of the mysterious proceedings at Mineola. Cosmo +still found time every day to write articles and to give out interviews; +and Joseph Smith was kept constantly on the jump, running for +street-cars or trains, or leaping, with his long coat flapping, into and +out of elevators on ceaseless missions to the papers, the scientific +societies, and the meetings of learned or unlearned bodies which had +been persuaded to investigate the subject of the coming flood. Between +the work of preparation and that of proselytism it is difficult to see +how Cosmo found time to sleep. + +Day by day the Ark of Safety rose higher upon its great platform, its +huge metallic ribs and broad, bulging sides glinting strangely in the +unbroken sunshine--for, as if imitating the ominous quiet before an +earthquake, the July sky had stripped itself of all clouds. No +thunder-storms broke the serenity of the long days, and never had the +overarching heavens seemed so spotless and motionless in their cerulean +depths. + +All over the world, as the news dispatches showed, the same strange calm +prevailed. Cosmo did not fail to call attention to this unparalleled +repose of nature as a sure prognostic of the awful event in preparation. + +The heat became tremendous. Hundreds were stricken down in the blazing +streets. Multitudes fled to the seashore, and lay panting under +umbrellas on the burning sands, or vainly sought relief by plunging into +the heated water, which, rolling lazily in with the tide, felt as if it +had come from over a boiler. + +Still, perspiring crowds constantly watched the workmen, who struggled +with the overpowering heat, although Cosmo had erected canvas screens +for them and installed a hundred immense electric fans to create a +breeze. + +Beginning with five hundred men, he had, in less than a month, increased +his force to nearer five thousand, many of whom, not engaged in the +actual construction, were preparing the materials and bringing them +together. The ark was being made of pure levium, the wonderful new metal +which, although already employed in the construction of aeroplanes and +the framework of dirigible balloons, had not before been used for +shipbuilding, except in the case of a few small boats, and these used +only in the navy. + +For mere raw material Cosmo must have expended an enormous sum, and his +expenses were quadrupled by the fact that he was compelled, in order to +save time, practically to lease several of the largest steel plants in +the country. Fortunately levium was easily rolled into plates, and the +supply was sufficient, owing to the discovery two years before of an +expeditious process of producing the metal from its ores. + +The wireless telegraph and telephone offices were besieged by +correspondents eager to send inland, and all over Europe and Asia, the +latest particulars of the construction of the great ark. Nobody followed +Cosmo's advice or example, but everybody was intensely interested and +puzzled. + +At last the government officials found themselves forced to take +cognizance of the affair. They could no longer ignore it after they +discovered that it was seriously interfering with the conduct of public +business. Cosmo Versal's pressing orders, accompanied by cash, displaced +or delayed orders of the government commanding materials for the navy +and the air fleet. In consequence, about the middle of July he received +a summons to visit the President of the United States. Cosmo hurried to +Washington on the given date, and presented his card at the White House. +He was shown immediately into the President's reception-room, where he +found the entire Cabinet in presence. As he entered he was the focus of +a formidable battery of curious and not too friendly eyes. + +President Samson was a large, heavy man, more than six feet tall. Every +member of his Cabinet was above the average in avoirdupois, and the +heavyweight president of the Carnegie Institution, Professor Pludder, +who had been specially invited, added by his presence to the air of +ponderosity that characterized the assemblage. All seemed magnified by +the thin white garments which they wore on account of the oppressive +heat. Many of them had come in haste from various summer resorts, and +were plainly annoyed by the necessity of attending at the President's +command. + +Cosmo Versal was the only cool man there, and his diminutive form +presented a striking contrast to the others. But he looked as if he +carried more brains than all of them put together. + +He was not in the least overawed by the hostile glances of the +statesmen. On the contrary, his lips perceptibly curled, in a +half-disdainful smile, as he took the big hand which the President +extended to him. As soon as Cosmo Versal had sunk into the embrace of a +large easy chair, the President opened the subject. + +"I have directed you to come," he said in a majestic tone, "in order the +sooner to dispel the effects of your unjustifiable predictions and +extraordinary proceedings on the public mind--and, I may add, on public +affairs. Are you aware that you have interfered with the measures of +this government for the defense of the country? You have stepped in +front of the government, and delayed the beginning of four battleships +which Congress has authorized in urgent haste on account of the +threatening aspect of affairs in the East? I need hardly say to you that +we shall, if necessary, find means to set aside the private agreements +under which you are proceeding, as inimical to public interests, but you +have already struck a serious blow at the security of your country." + +The President pronounced the last sentence with oratorical unction, and +Cosmo was conscious of an approving movement of big official shoulders +around him. The disdain deepened on his lips. + +After a moment's pause the President continued: + +"Before proceeding to extremities I have wished to see you personally, +in order, in the first place, to assure myself that you are mentally +responsible, and then to appeal to your patriotism, which should lead +you to withdraw at once an obstruction so dangerous to the nation. Do +you know the position in which you have placed yourself?" + +Cosmo Versal got upon his feet and advanced to the center of the room +like a little David. Every eye was fixed upon him. His voice was steady, +but intense with suppressed nervousness. + +"Mr. President," he said, "you have accused me of obstructing the +measures of the government for the defense of the country. Sir, I am +trying to save the whole human race from a danger in comparison with +which that of war is infinitesimal--a danger which is rushing down upon +us with appalling speed, and which will strike every land on the globe +simultaneously. Within seven months not a warship or any other existing +vessel will remain afloat." + +The listeners smiled, and nodded significantly to one another, but the +speaker only grew more earnest. + +"You think I am insane," he said, "but the truth is you are hoodwinked +by official stupidity. That man," pointing at Professor Pludder, "who +knows me well, and who has had all my proofs laid before him, is either +too thick-headed to understand a demonstration or too pig-headed to +confess his own error." + +"Come, come," interrupted the President sternly, while Professor Pludder +flushed very red, "this will not do! Indulge in no personalities here. I +have, strained a point in offering to listen to you at all, and I have +invited the head of the greatest of our scientific societies to be +present, with the hope that here before us all he might convince you of +your folly, and thus bring the whole unfortunate affair promptly to an +end." + +"_He_ convince _me_ !" cried Cosmo Versal disdainfully. "He is +incapable of understanding the A, B, C of my work. But let me tell you +this, Mr. President--there are men in his own council who are not so +blind. I know what occurred at the recent meeting of that council, and I +know that the ridiculous announcement put forth in its name to deceive +the public was whipped into shape by him, and does not express the real +opinion of many of the members." + +Professor Pludder's face grew redder than ever. + +"Name one!" he thundered. + +"Ah," said Cosmo sneeringly, "that hits hard, doesn't it? You want me to +name _one_; well, I'll name _three_. What did Professor +Alexander Jones and Professor Abel Able say about the existence of +watery nebula, and what was the opinion expressed by Professor Jeremiah +Moses about the actual approach of one out of the northern sky, and what +it could do if it hit the earth? What was the unanimous opinion of the +entire council about the correctness of my mathematical work? And what," +he continued, approaching Professor Pludder and shaking his finger up at +him--"_what have you done with those three dispatches from Iceland, +the North Cape, and Kamchatka, which absolutely confirmed my +announcement that the nebula was already visible?_" + +Professor Pludder began stammeringly: + +"Some spy--" + +"Ah," cried Cosmo, catching him up, "_a spy_, hey? Then, you admit +it! Mr. President, I beg you to notice that he admits it. Sir, this is a +conspiracy to conceal the truth. Great Heaven, the world is on the point +of being drowned, and yet the pride of officialism is so strong in this +plodder--Pludder--and others of his ilk that they'd sooner take the +chance of letting the human race be destroyed than recognize the truth!" + +Cosmo Versal spoke with such tremendous concentration of mental energy, +and with such evident sincerity of conviction, and he had so plainly put +Professor Pludder to rout, that the President, no less than the other +listening statesmen, was thrown into a quandary. + +There was a creaking of heavily burdened chairs, a ponderous stir all +round the circle, while a look of perplexity became visible on every +face. Professor Pludder's conduct helped to produce the change of moral +atmosphere. He had been so completely surprised by Cosmo's accusation, +based on facts which he had supposed were known only to himself and the +council, that he was unable for a minute to speak at all, and before he +could align his faculties his triumphant little opponent renewed the +attack. + +"Mr. President," he said, laying his hand on the arm of Mr. Samson's big +chair, which was nearly on a level with his breast, and speaking with +persuasive earnestness, "you are the executive head of a mighty +nation--the nation that sets the pace for the world. It is in your power +to do a vast, an incalculable, service to humanity. One official word +from you would save millions upon millions of lives. I implore you, +instead of interfering with my work, to give instant order for the +construction of as many arks, based upon the plans I have perfected, as +the navy yard can possibly turn out. Issue a proclamation to the people, +warning them that this is their only chance of escape." + +By a curious operation of the human mind, this speech cost Cosmo nearly +all the advantage that he had previously gained. His ominous suggestion +of a great nebula rushing out of the heavens to overwhelm the earth had +immensely impressed the imagination of his hearers, and his +uncontradicted accusation that Professor Pludder was concealing the +facts had almost convinced them that he was right. But when he mentioned +"arks," the strain was relieved, and a smile broke out on the broad face +of the President. He shook his head, and was about to speak, when Cosmo, +perceiving that he had lost ground, changed his tactics. + +"Still you are incredulous!" he exclaimed. "But the proof is before you! +Look at the blazing heavens! The annals of meteorology do not record +another such summer as this. The vanguard of the fatal nebula is already +upon us. The signs of disaster are in the sky. But, note what I +say--this is only the _first_ sign. There is another following on +its heels which may be here at any moment. To heat will succeed cold, +and as we rush through the tenuous outer spirals the earth will +alternately be whipped with tempests of snow and sleet, and scorched by +fierce outbursts of solar fire. For three weeks the atmosphere has been +heated by the inrush of invisible vapor--but look out, I warn you, for +the change that is impending!" + +These extraordinary words, pronounced with the wild air of a prophet, +completed the growing conviction of the listeners that they really had a +madman to deal with, and Professor Pludder, having recovered his +self--command, rose to his feet. + +"Mr. President," he began, "the evidence which we have just seen of an +unbalanced mind--" + +He got no further. A pall of darkness suddenly dropped upon the room. An +inky curtain seemed to have fallen from the sky. At the same time the +windows were shaken by tremendous blasts of wind, and, as the electric +lights were hastily turned on, huge snowflakes, intermingled with +rattling hailstones, were seen careering outside. In a few seconds +several large panes of glass were broken, and the chilling wind, +sweeping round the apartment, made the teeth of the thinly clad +statesmen chatter, while the noise of the storm became deafening. The +sky lightened, but at the same moment dreadful thunderpeals shook the +building. Two or three trees in the White House grounds were struck by +the bolts, and their broken branches were driven through the air and +carried high above the ground by the whirling winds, and one of them was +thrown against the building with such force that for a moment it seemed +as if the wall had been shattered. + +After the first stunning effect of this outbreak of the elements had +passed, everybody rushed to the windows to look out--everybody except +Cosmo Versal, who remained standing in the center of the room. + +"I told you!" he said; but nobody listened to him. What they saw outside +absorbed every faculty. The noise was so stunning that they could not +have heard him. + +We have said that the air lightened after the passage of the first pall +of darkness, but it was not the reappearance of the sun that caused the +brightening. It was an awful light, which seemed to be born out of the +air itself. It had a menacing, coppery hue, continually changing in +character. The whole upper atmosphere was choked with dense clouds, +which swirled and tumbled, and twisted themselves into great vortical +rolls, spinning like gigantic millshafts. Once, one of these vortexes +shot downward, with projectile speed, rapidly assuming the terrible form +of the trombe of a tornado, and where it struck the ground it tore +everything to pieces--trees, houses, the very earth itself were ground +to powder and then whirled aloft by the resistless suction. + +Occasionally the darkness returned for a few minutes, as if a cover had +been clapped upon the sky, and then, again, the murk would roll off, and +the reddish gleam would reappear. These swift alternations of +impenetrable gloom and unearthly light shook the hearts of the +dumfounded statesmen even more than the roar and rush of the storm. + +A cry of horror broke from the onlookers when a man and a woman suddenly +appeared trying to cross the White House grounds to reach a place of +comparative safety, and were caught up by the wind, clinging desperately +to each other, and hurled against a wall, at whose base they fell in a +heap. + +Then came another outburst of lightning, and a vicious bolt descended +upon the Washington Monument, and, twisting round it, seemed to envelop +the great shaft in a pulsating corkscrew of blinding fire. The report +that instantly followed made the White House dance upon its foundations, +and, as if that had been a signal, the flood-gates of the sky +immediately opened, and rain so dense that it looked like a solid +cataract of water poured down upon the earth. The raging water burst +into the basement of the building, and ran off in a shoreless river +toward the Potomac. + +The streaming rain, still driven by the wind, poured through the broken +windows, driving the President and the others to the middle of the room, +where they soon stood in rills of water soaking the thick carpet. + +They were all as pale as death. Their eyes sought one another's faces in +dumb amazement. Cosmo Versal alone retained perfect self-command. In +spite of his slight stature he looked their master. Raising his voice to +the highest pitch, in order to be heard, he shouted: + +"These are the first drops of the Deluge! Will you believe now?" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + +The tempest of hail, snow, lightning, and rain, which burst so +unexpectedly over Washington, was not a local phenomenon. It leveled the +antennae of the wireless telegraph systems all over the world, cutting +off communication everywhere. Only the submarine telephone cables +remained unaffected, and by them was transmitted the most astonishing +news of the ravages of the storm. Rivers had careered over their banks, +low-lying towns were flooded, the swollen sewers of cities exploded and +inundated the streets, and gradually news came in from country districts +showing that vast areas of land had been submerged, and hundreds +drowned. + +The downfall of rain far exceeded everything that the meteorological +bureaus had ever recorded. + +The vagaries of the lightning, and the frightful power that it +exhibited, were especially terrifying. + +In London the Victoria Tower was partly dismantled by a bolt. + +In Moscow the ancient and beautiful Church of St. Basil was nearly +destroyed. + +The celebrated Leaning Tower of Pisa, the wonder of centuries, was flung +to the ground. + +The vast dome of St. Peter's at Rome was said to have been encased +during three whole minutes with a blinding armor of electric fire, +though the only harm done was the throwing down of a statue in one of +the chapels. + +But, strangest freak of all, in New York a tremendous bolt, which seems +to have entered the Pennsylvania tunnel on the Jersey side, followed the +rails under the river, throwing two trains from the track, and, emerging +in the great station in the heart of the city, expanded into a +rose-colored sphere, which exploded with an awful report, and blew the +great roof to pieces. And yet, although the fragments were scattered a +dozen blocks away, hundreds of persons who were in the stations suffered +no other injury than such as resulted from being flung violently to the +floor, or against the walls. + +Cosmo Versal's great ark seemed charmed. Not a single discharge of +lightning occurred in its vicinity, a fact which he attributed to the +dielectric properties of levium. Nevertheless, the wind carried away all +his screens and electric fans. + +If this storm had continued the predicted deluge would unquestionably +have occurred at once, and even its prophet would have perished through +having begun his preparations too late. But the disturbed elements sank +into repose as suddenly as they had broken out with fury. The rain did +not last, in most places, more than twenty-four hours, although the +atmosphere continued to be filled with troubled clouds for a week. At +the end of that time the sun reappeared, as hot as before, and a +spotless dome once more over-arched the earth; but from this time the +sky never resumed its former brilliant azure--there was always a strange +coppery tinge, the sight of which was appalling, although it gradually +lost its first effect through familiarity. + +The indifference and derision with which Cosmo's predictions and +elaborate preparations had hitherto been regarded now vanished, and the +world, in spite of itself, shivered with vague apprehension. No +reassurances from those savants who still refused to admit the validity +of Cosmo Versal's calculations and deductions had any permanent effect +upon the public mind. + +With amusing inconsequence people sold stocks again, until all the +exchanges were once more swept with panic--and then put the money in +their strong boxes, as if they thought that the mere possession of the +lucre could protect them. They hugged the money and remained deaf to +Cosmo's reiterated advice to build arks with it. + +After all, they were only terrified, not convinced, and they felt that, +somehow, everything would come out right, now that they had their +possessions well in hand. + +For, in spite of the scare, nobody really believed that an actual deluge +was coming. There might be great floods, and great suffering and loss, +but the world was not going to be drowned! Such things only occurred in +early and dark ages. + +Some nervous persons found comfort in the fact that when the skies +cleared after the sudden downpour brilliant rainbows were seen. Their +hearts bounded with joy. + +"The 'Bow of Promise!'" they cried. "Behold the unvarying assurance that +the world shall never again be drowned." + +Then a great revival movement was set on foot, starting in the +Mississippi valley under the leadership of an eloquent exhorter, who +declared that, although a false prophet had arisen, whose delusive +prediction was contrary to Scripture, yet it was true that the world was +about to be punished in unexpected ways for its many iniquities. + +This movement rapidly spread all over the country, and was taken up in +England and throughout Protestant Europe, and soon prayers were offered +in thousands of churches to avert the wrath of Heaven. Multitudes thus +found their fears turned into a new direction, and by a strange +reaction, Cosmo Versal came to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist who +was seeking to mislead mankind. + +Just at this juncture, to add to the dismay and uncertainty, a grand and +fearful comet suddenly appeared. It came up unexpectedly from the south, +blazed brightly close beside the sun, even at noonday, and a few nights +later was visible after sunset with an immense fiery head and a broad +curved tail that seemed to pulsate from end to end. It was so bright +that it cast shadows at night, as distinct as those made by the moon. No +such cometary monster had ever before been seen. People shuddered when +they looked at it. It moved with amazing speed, sweeping across the +firmament like a besom of destruction. Calculation showed that it was +not more than 3,000,000 miles from the earth. + +But one night the wonder and dread awakened by the comet were magnified +a hundredfold by an occurrence so unexpected and extraordinary that the +spectators gasped in amazement. + +The writer happens to have before him an entry in a diary, which is, +probably, the sole contemporary record of this event. It was written in +the city of Washington by no less a person than Professor Jeremiah +Moses, of the Council of the Carnegie Institution. Let it tell its own +story: + +"A marvelous thing happened this night. I walked out into the park near +my house with the intention of viewing the great comet. The park on my +side (the west), is bordered with a dense screen of tall trees, and I +advanced toward the open place in the center in order to have an +unobstructed sight of the flaming stranger. As I passed across the edge +of the shadow of the trees--the ground ahead being brilliantly +illuminated by the light of the comet--I suddenly noticed, with an +involuntary start, that I was being preceded by a _double shadow_, +with a black center, which forked away from my feet. + +"I cast my eyes behind me to find the cause of the phenomenon, and saw, +to my inexpressible amazement, that _the comet had divided into +two_. There were two distinct heads, already widely separated, but +each, it seemed to me, as brilliant as the original one had been, and +each supplied with a vast plume of fire a hundred degrees in length, and +consequently stretching far past the zenith. The cause of the double +shadow was evident at once--but what can have produced this sudden +disruption of the comet? It must have occurred since last evening, and +already, if the calculated distance of the comet is correct, the parts +of the severed head are 300,000 miles asunder!" + +Underneath this entry was scribbled: + +"Can this have anything to do with Cosmo Versal's flood?" + +Whether it had anything to do with the flood or not, at any rate the +public believed that it had. People went about with fear written on +their faces. + +The double shadows had a surprising effect. The phantasm was pointed +out, and stared at with superstitious terror by thousands every night. +The fact that there was nothing really mysterious about it made no +difference. Even those who knew well that it was an inevitable optical +result of the division of the bright comet were thrilled with +instinctive dread when they saw that forked umbra, mimicking their every +movement. There is nothing that so upsets the mind as a sudden change in +the aspect of familiar things. + +The astronomers now took their turn. Those who were absolutely +incredulous about Cosmo's prediction, and genuinely desirous of allaying +the popular alarm, issued statements in which, with a disingenuousness +that may have been unintentional, they tried to sidetrack his arguments. + +Professor Pludder led the way with a pronunciamento declaring that "the +absurd vaporings of the modern Nostradamus of New York" had now +demonstrated their own emptiness. + +"A comet," said Professor Pludder, with reassuring seriousness, "cannot +drown the earth. It is composed of rare gases, which, as the experience +of Halley's comet many years ago showed, are unable to penetrate the +atmosphere even when an actual encounter occurs. In this case there +cannot even be an encounter; the comet is now moving away. Its division +is not an unprecedented occurrence, for many previous comets have met +with similar accidents. This comet happened to be of unusual size, and +the partition of the head occurred when it was relatively nearby--whence +the startling phenomena observed. There is nothing to be feared." + +It will be remarked that Professor Pludder entirely avoided the real +issue. Cosmo Versal had never said that the comet would drown the earth. +In fact, he had been as much surprised by its appearance as everybody +else. But when he read Professor Pludder's statement, followed by others +of similar import, he took up the cudgels with a vengeance. All over the +world, translated into a dozen languages, he scattered his reply, and +the effect was startling. + +"My fellow-citizens of the world in all lands, and of every race," he +began, "you are face to face with destruction! And yet, while its +heralds are plainly signaling from the sky, and shaking the earth with +lightning to awaken it, blind leaders of blind try to deceive you! + +"They are defying science itself! + +"They say that the comet cannot touch the earth. That is true. It is +passing away. I myself did not foresee its coming. It arrived by +accident, _but every step that it has made through the silent depths +of space has been a proclamation of the presence of the nebula_, +which is the real agent of the perdition of the world! + +"Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens? You have all +noticed it. Why that blinding brightness which the comet has displayed, +exceeding all that has ever been beheld in such visitors. The +explanation is plain: the comet has been feeding on the substance of the +nebula, which is rare yet because we have only encountered some of its +outlying spirals. + +"But it is coming on with terrible speed. In a few short months we shall +be plunged into its awful center, and then the oceans will swell to the +mountaintops, and the continents will become the bottoms of angry seas. + +"When the flood begins it will be too late to save yourselves. You have +already lost too much precious time. I tell you solemnly that not one in +a million can now be saved. Throw away every other consideration, and +try, try desperately, to be of the little company of those who escape! + +"Remember that your only chance is in building arks--arks of levium, the +metal that floats. I have sent broadcast plans for such arks. They can +be made of any size, but the larger the better. In my own ark I can take +only a selected number, and when the complement is made up not another +soul will be admitted. + +"I have established all my facts by mathematical proofs. The most expert +mathematicians of the world have been unable to detect any error in my +calculations. They try to dispute the data, but the data are already +before you for your own judgment. The heavens are so obscured that only +the brightest stars can now be seen." (This was a fact which had caused +bewilderment in the observatories.) "The recent outburst of storms and +floods was the second sign of the approaching end, and the third sign +will not be long delayed--and after that the deluge!" + +It is futile to try to describe the haunting fear and horror which +seized upon the majority of the millions who read these words. Business +was paralyzed, for men found it impossible to concentrate their minds +upon ordinary affairs. Every night the twin comets, still very bright, +although they were fast retreating, brandished their fiery scimitars in +the sky--more fearful to the imagination now, since Cosmo Versal had +declared that it was the nebula that stimulated their energies. And by +day the sky was watched with anxious eyes striving to detect signs of a +deepening of the menacing hue, which, to an excited fancy, suggested a +tinge of blood. + +Now, at last, Cosmo's warnings and entreaties bore practical fruit. Men +began to inquire about places in his ark, and to make preparations for +building arks of their own. + +He had not been interfered with after his memorable interview with the +President of the United States, and had pushed his work at Mineola with +redoubled energy, employing night gangs of workmen so that progress was +continuous throughout the twenty-four hours. + +Standing on its platform, the ark, whose hull was approaching +completion, rose a hundred feet into the air. It was 800 feet long and +250 broad--proportions which practical ship-builders ridiculed, but +Cosmo, as original in this as in everything else, declared that, taking +into account the buoyancy of levium, no other form would answer as well. +He estimated that when its great engines were in place, its immense +stores of material for producing power, its ballast, and its supplies of +food stowed away, and its cargo of men and animals taken aboard, it +would not draw more than twenty feet of water. + +Hardly a day passed now without somebody coming to Cosmo to inquire +about the best method of constructing arks. He gave the required +information, in all possible detail, with the utmost willingness. He +drew plans and sketches, made all kinds of practical suggestions, and +never failed to urge the utmost haste. He inspired every visitor at the +same time with alarm and a resolution to go to work at once. + +Some did go to work. But their progress was slow, and as days passed, +and the comets gradually faded out of sight, and then the dome of the +sky showed a tendency to resume its natural blueness, the enthusiasm of +Cosmo's imitators weakened, together with their confidence in his +prophetic powers. + +They concluded to postpone their operations until the need of arks +should become more evident. + +As to those who had sent inquiries about places in Cosmo's ark, now that +the danger seemed to be blowing away, they did not even take the trouble +to answer the very kind responses that he had made. + +It is a singular circumstance that not one of these anxious inquirers +seemed to have paid particular attention to a very significant sentence +in his reply. If they had given it a little thought, it would probably +have set them pondering, although they might have been more puzzled than +edified. The sentence ran as follows: + +"While assuring you that my ark has been built for the benefit of my +fellow men, I am bound to tell you that I reserve absolutely the right +to determine who are truly representative of _homo sapiens_." + +The fact was that Cosmo had been turning over in his mind the great +fundamental question which he had asked himself when the idea of trying +to save the human race from annihilation had first occurred to him, and +apparently he had fixed upon certain principles that were to guide him. + +Since, when the mind is under great strain through fear, the slightest +relaxation, caused by an apparently favorable change, produces a rebound +of hope, as unreasoning as the preceding terror, so, on this occasion, +the vanishing of the comets, and the fading of the disquieting color of +the sky, had a wonderful effect in restoring public confidence in the +orderly procession of nature. + +Cosmo Versal's vogue as a prophet of disaster was soon gone, and once +more everybody began to laugh at him. People turned again to their +neglected affairs with the general remark that they "guessed the world +would manage to wade through." + +Those who had begun preparations to build arks looked very sheepish when +their friends guyed them about their childish credulity. + +Then a feeling of angry resentment arose, and one day Cosmo Versal was +mobbed in the street, and the gamins threw stones at him. + +People forgot the extraordinary storm of lightning and rain, the split +comet, and all the other circumstances which, a little time before, had +filled them with terror. + +But they were making a fearful mistake! + +With eyes blindfolded they were walking straight into the jaws of +destruction. + +Without warning, and as suddenly almost as an explosion, the _third +sign_ appeared, and on its heels came a veritable Reign of Terror! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE THIRD SIGN + + +In the middle of the night, at New York, hundreds of thousands +simultaneously awoke with a feeling of suffocation. + +They struggled for breath as if they had suddenly been plunged into a +steam bath. + +The air was hot, heavy, and terribly oppressive. + +The throwing open of windows brought no relief. The outer air was as +stifling as that within. + +It was so dark that, on looking out, one could not see his own +doorsteps. The arc-lamps in the street flickered with an ineffective +blue gleam which shed no illumination round about. + +House lights, when turned on, looked like tiny candles inclosed in thick +blue globes. + +Frightened men and women stumbled around in the gloom of their chambers +trying to dress themselves. + +Cries and exclamations rang from room to room; children wailed; +hysterical mothers ran wildly hither and thither, seeking their little +ones. Many fainted, partly through terror and partly from the difficulty +of breathing. Sick persons, seized with a terrible oppression of the +chest, gasped, and never rose from their beds. + +At every window, and in every doorway, throughout the vast city, +invisible heads and forms were crowded, making their presence known by +their voices--distracted householders striving to peer through the +strange darkness, and to find out the cause of these terrifying +phenomena. + +Some managed to get a faint glimpse of their watches by holding them +close against lamps, and thus noted the time. It was two o'clock in the +morning. + +Neighbors, unseen, called to one another, but got little comfort from +the replies. + +"What is it? In God's name, what has happened?" + +"I don't know. I can hardly breathe." + +"It is awful! We shall all be suffocated." + +"Is it a fire?" + +"No! No! It cannot be a fire." + +"The air is full of steam. The stones and the window-panes are streaming +with moisture." + +"Great Heavens, how stifling it is!" + +Then, into thousands of minds at once leaped the thought of _the +flood!_ + +The memory of Cosmo Versal's reiterated warnings came back with +overwhelming force. It must be the _third sign_ that he had +foretold. _It had really come!_ + +Those fateful words--"the flood" and "Cosmo Versal"--ran from lip to +lip, and the hearts of those who spoke, and those who heard, sank like +lead in their bosoms. + +He would be a bold man, more confident in his powers of description than +the present writer, who should attempt to picture the scenes in New York +on that fearful night. + +The gasping and terror-stricken millions waited and longed for the hour +of sunrise, hoping that then the stygian darkness would be dissipated, +so that people might, at least, see where to go and what to do. Many, +oppressed by the almost unbreathable air, gave up in despair, and no +longer even hoped for morning to come. + +In the midst of it all a collision occurred directly over Central Park +between two aero-expresses, one coming from Boston and the other from +Albany. (The use of small aeroplanes within the city limits had, for +some time, been prohibited on account of the constant danger of +collisions, but the long-distance lines were permitted to enter the +metropolitan district, making their landings and departures on specially +constructed towers.) These two, crowded with passengers, had, as it +afterward appeared, completely lost their bearings--the strongest +electric lights being invisible a few hundred feet away, while the +wireless signals were confusing--and, before the danger was apprehended, +they crashed together. + +The collision occurred at a height of a thousand feet, on the Fifth +Avenue side of the park. Both of the airships had their aeroplanes +smashed and their decks crumpled up, and the unfortunate crews and +passengers were hurled through the impenetrable darkness to the ground. + +Only four or five, who were lucky enough to be entangled with the +lighter parts of the wreckage, escaped with their lives. But they were +too much injured to get upon their feet, and there they lay, their +sufferings made tenfold worse by the stifling air, and the horror of +their inexplicable situation, until they were found and humanely +relieved, more than ten hours after their fall. + +The noise of the collision had been heard in Fifth Avenue, and its +meaning was understood; but amid the universal terror no one thought of +trying to aid the victims. Everybody was absorbed in wondering what +would become of himself. + +When the long attended hour of sunrise approached, the watchers were +appalled by the absence of even the slightest indication of the +reappearance of the orb of day. There was no lightening of the dense +cloak of darkness, and the great city seemed dead. + +For the first time in its history it failed to awake after its regular +period of repose, and to send forth its myriad voices. It could not be +seen; it could not be heard; it made no sign. As far as any outward +indication of its existence was concerned the mighty capital had ceased +to be. + +It was this frightful silence of the streets, and of all the outer +world, that terrified the people, cooped up in their houses, and their +rooms, by the walls of darkness, more than almost any other +circumstance; it gave such an overwhelming sense of the universality of +the disaster, whatever that disaster might be. Except where the voices +of neighbors could be heard, one could not be sure that the whole +population, outside his own family, had not perished. + +As the hours passed, and yet no light appeared, another intimidating +circumstance manifested itself. From the start everybody had noticed the +excessive humidity of the dense air. Every solid object that the hands +came in contact with in the darkness was wet, as if a thick fog had +condensed upon it. This supersaturation of the air (a principal cause of +the difficulty experienced in breathing) led to a result which would +quickly have been foreseen if people could have had the use of their +eyes, but which, coming on invisibly, produced a panic fear when at last +its presence was strikingly forced upon the attention. + +The moisture collected on all exposed surfaces--on the roofs, the walls, +the pavements--until its quantity became sufficient to form little +rills, which sought the gutters, and there gathered force and volume. +Presently the streams became large enough to create a noise of flowing +water that attracted the attention of the anxious watchers at the open +windows. Then cries of dismay arose. If the water had been visible it +would not have been terrible. + +But, to the overstrained imagination, the bubbling and splashing sound +that came out of the darkness was magnified into the rush of a torrent. +It seemed to grow louder every moment. What was but a murmur on the +ear-drum became a roar in the excited brain-cells. + +Once more were heard the ominous words, "The flood!" + +They spread from room to room, and from house to house. The wild scenes +that had attended the first awakening were tame in comparison with what +now occurred. Self-control, reason--everything--gave way to panic. + +If they could only have _seen_ what they were about! + +But then they would not have been about it. Then their reason would not +have been dethroned. + +Darkness is the microscope of the imagination, and it magnifies a +million times! + +Some timorously descended their doorsteps, and feeling a current of +water in the gutter, recoiled with cries of horror, as if they had +slipped down the bank of a flooded river. As they retreated they +believed that the water was rising at their heels! + +Others made their way to the roofs, persuaded that the flood was already +inundating the basements and the lower stories of their dwellings. + +Women wrung their hands and wept, and children cried, and men pushed and +stumbled about, and shouted, and would have done something if only they +could have seen what to do. That was the pity of it! It was as if the +world had been stricken blind, and then the trump of an archangel had +sounded, crying: + +"Fly! Fly! for the Avenger is on your heels!" + +How could they fly? + +This awful strain could not have lasted. It would have needed no deluge +to finish New York if that maddening pall of darkness had remained +unbroken a few hours longer. But, just when thousands had given up in +despair, there came a rapid change. + +At the hour of noon light suddenly broke overhead. Beginning in a round +patch inclosed in an iridescent halo, it spread swiftly, seeming to melt +its way down through the thick, dark mass that choked the air, and in +less than fifteen minutes New York and all its surroundings emerged into +the golden light of noonday. + +People who had expected at any moment to feel the water pitilessly +rising about them looked out of their windows, and were astonished to +see only tiny rivulets which were already shriveling out of sight in the +gutters. In a few minutes there was no running water left, although the +dampness on the walls and walks showed how great the humidity of the air +had been. + +At the same time the oppression was lifted from the respiratory +apparatus, and everybody breathed freely once more, and felt courage +returning with each respiration. + +The whole great city seemed to utter a vast sigh of relief. + +And then its voice was heard, as it had never been heard before, rising +higher and louder every moment. It was the first time that morning had +ever broken at midday. + +The streets became filled, with magical quickness, by hundreds of +thousands, who chattered, and shouted, and laughed, and shook hands, and +asked questions, and told their experiences, and demanded if anybody had +ever heard of such a thing before, and wondered what it could have been, +and what it meant, and whether it would come back again. + +Telephones of all kinds were kept constantly busy. Women called up their +friends, and talked hysterically; men called up their associates and +partners, and tried to talk business. + +There was a rush for the Elevated, for the Subways, for the street +auto-cars. The great arteries of traffic became jammed, and the noise +rose louder and louder. + +Belated aero-expresses arrived at the towers from East and West, and +their passengers hurried down to join the excited multitudes below. + +In an incredibly brief time the newsboys were out with extras. Then +everybody read with the utmost avidity what everybody knew already. + +But before many hours passed there was real news, come by wireless, and +by submarine telephone and telegraph, telling how the whole world had +been swept by the marvelous cloak of darkness. + +In Europe it had arrived during the morning hours; in Asia during the +afternoon. + +The phenomena had varied in different places. In some the darkness had +not been complete, but everywhere it was accompanied by extraordinary +humidity, and occasionally by brief but torrential rains. The terror had +been universal, and all believed that it was the _third sign_ +predicted by Cosmo Versal. + +Of course, the latter was interviewed, and he gave out a characteristic +manifesto. + +"One of the outlying spirals of the nebula has struck the earth," he +said. "But do not be deceived. It is nothing in comparison with what is +coming. _And it is the LAST WARNING that will be given!_ You have +obstinately shut your eyes to the truth, _and you have thrown away +your lives!_" + +This, together with the recent awful experience, produced a great +effect. Those who had begun to lay foundations for arks thought of +resuming the work. Those who had before sought places with Cosmo called +him up by telephone. But only the voice of Joseph Smith answered, and +his words were not reassuring. + +"Mr. Versal," he said, "directs me to say that at present he will allot +no places. He is considering whom he will take." + +The recipients of this reply looked very blank. But at least one of +them, a well-known broker in Wall Street, was more angered than +frightened: + +"Let him go to the deuce!" he growled; "him and his flood together!" + +Then he resolutely set out to bull the market. + +It seems incredible--but such is human nature--that a few days of bright +sunshine should once more have driven off the clouds of fear that had +settled so densely over the popular mind. Of course, not everybody +forgot the terrors of the _third sign_--they had struck too deep, +but gradually the strain was relaxed, and people in general accepted the +renewed assurances of the savants of the Pludder type that nothing that +had occurred was inexplicable by the ordinary laws of nature. The great +darkness, they averred, differed from previous occurrences of the kind +only in degree, and it was to be ascribed to nothing more serious than +atmospheric vagaries, such as that which produced the historic Dark Day +in New England in the year 1780. + +But more nervous persons noticed, with certain misgivings, that Cosmo +Versal pushed on his operations, if possible more energetically than +before. And there was a stir of renewed interest when the announcement +came out one day that the ark was finished. Then thousands hurried to +Mineola to look upon the completed work. + +The extraordinary massiveness of the ark was imposing. Towering +ominously on its platform, which was so arranged that when the waters +came they should lift the structure from its cradle and set it afloat +without any other launching, it seemed in itself a prophecy of impending +disaster. + +Overhead it was roofed with an oblong dome of levium, through which rose +four great metallic chimneys, placed above the mighty engines. The roof +sloped down to the vertical sides, to afford protection from in-bursting +waves. Rows of portholes, covered with thick, stout glass, indicated the +location of the superposed decks. On each side four gangways gave access +to the interior, and long, sloping approaches offered means of entry +from the ground. + +Cosmo had a force of trained guards on hand, but everybody who wished +was permitted to enter and inspect the ark. Curious multitudes +constantly mounted and descended the long approaches, being kept moving +by the guards. + +Inside they wandered about astonished by what they saw. + +The three lower decks were devoted to the storage of food and of fuel +for the electric generators which Cosmo Versal had been accumulating for +months. + +Above these were two decks, which the visitors were informed would be +occupied by animals, and by boxes of seeds and prepared roots of plants, +with which it was intended to restore the vegetable life of the planet +after the water should have sufficiently receded. + +The five remaining decks were for human beings. There were roomy +quarters for the commander and his officers, others for the crew, +several large saloons, and five hundred sets of apartments of various +sizes to be occupied by the passengers whom Cosmo should choose to +accompany him. They had all the convenience of the most luxurious +staterooms of the trans-oceanic liners. Many joking remarks were +exchanged by the visitors as they inspected these rooms. + +Cosmo ran about among his guests, explaining everything, showing great +pride in his work, pointing out a thousand particulars in which his +foresight had been displayed--but, to everybody's astonishment, he +uttered no more warnings, and made no appeals. On the contrary, as some +observant persons noticed, he seemed to avoid any reference to the fate +of those who should not be included in his ship's company. + +Some sensitive souls were disturbed by detecting in his eyes a look that +seemed to express deep pity and regret. Occasionally he would draw +apart, and gaze at the passing crowds with a compassionate expression, +and then, slowly turning his back, while his fingers worked nervously, +would disappear, with downcast head, in his private room. + +The comparatively few who particularly noticed this conduct of Cosmo's +were deeply moved--more than they had been by all the enigmatic events +of the past months. One man, Amos Blank, a rich manufacturer, who was +notorious for the merciless methods that he had pursued in eliminating +his weaker competitors, was so much disturbed by Cosmo Versal's change +of manner that he sought an opportunity to speak to him privately. Cosmo +received him with a reluctance that he could not but notice, and which, +somehow, increased his anxiety. + +"I--I--thought," said the billionaire hesitatingly, "that I ought--that +is to say, that I might, perhaps, inquire--might inform myself--under +what conditions one could, supposing the necessity to arise, obtain a +passage in your--in your ark. Of course the question of cost does not +enter in the matter--not with me." + +Cosmo gazed at the man coldly, and all the compassion that had recently +softened his steely eyes disappeared. For a moment he did not speak. +Then he said, measuring his words and speaking with an emphasis that +chilled the heart of his listener: + +"Mr. Blank, the necessity has arisen." + +"So you say--so you say--" began Mr. Blank. + +"So I say," interrupted Cosmo sternly, "and I say further that this ark +has been constructed to save those who are worthy of salvation, in order +that all that is good and admirable in humanity may not perish from the +earth." + +"Exactly, exactly," responded the other, smiling, and rubbing his hands. +"You are quite right to make a proper choice. If your flood is going to +cause a general destruction of mankind, of course you are bound to +select the best, the most advanced, those who have pushed to the front, +those who have means, those with the strongest resources. The masses, +who possess none of these qualifications and claims--" + +Again Cosmo Versal interrupted him, more coldly than before: + +"It costs nothing to be a passenger in this ark. Ten million dollars, a +hundred millions, would not purchase a place in it! Did you ever hear +the parable of the camel and the needle's eye? The price of a ticket +here is an irreproachable record!" + +With these astonishing words Cosmo turned his back upon his visitor and +shut the door in his face. + +The billionaire staggered back, rubbed his head, and then went off +muttering: + +"An idiot! A plain idiot! There will be no flood." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + +After a day or two, during which the ark was left open for inspection, +and was visited by many thousands, Cosmo Versal announced that no more +visitors would be admitted. He placed sentinels at all entrances, and +began the construction of a shallow ditch, entirely inclosing the +grounds. Public curiosity was intensely excited by this singular +proceeding, especially when it became known that the workmen were +stringing copper wires the whole length of the ditch. + +"What the deuce is he up to now?" was the question on everybody's lips. + +But Cosmo and his employees gave evasive replies to all inquiries. A +great change had come about in Cosmo's treatment of the public. No one +was any longer encouraged to watch the operations. + +When the wires were all placed and the ditch was finished, it was +covered up so that it made a broad flat-topped wall, encircling the +field. + +Speculation was rife for several days concerning the purpose of the +mysterious ditch and its wires, but no universally satisfactory +explanation was found. + +One enterprising reporter worked out an elaborate scheme, which he +ascribed to Cosmo Versal, according to which the wired ditch was to +serve as a cumulator of electricity, which would, at the proper moment, +launch the ark upon the waters, thus avoiding all danger of a fatal +detention in case the flood should rise too rapidly. + +This seemed so absurd on its face that it went far to quiet apprehension +by reawakening doubts of Cosmo's sanity--the more especially since he +made no attempt to contradict the assertion that the scheme was his. + +Nobody guessed what his real intention was; if people had guessed, it +might have been bad for their peace of mind. + +The next move of Cosmo Versal was taken without any knowledge or +suspicion on the part of the public. He had now established himself in +his apartments in the ark, and was never seen in the city. + +One evening, when all was quiet about the ark, night work being now +unnecessary, Cosmo and Joseph Smith sat facing one another at a square +table lighted by a shaded lamp. Smith had a pile of writing paper before +him, and was evidently prepared to take copious notes. + +Cosmo's great brow was contracted with thought, and he leaned his cheek +upon his hand. It was clear that his meditations were troublesome. For +at least ten minutes he did not open his lips, and Smith watched him +anxiously. At last he said, speaking slowly: + +"Joseph, this is the most trying problem that I have had to solve. The +success of all my work depends upon my not making a mistake now. + +"The burden of responsibility that rests on my shoulders is such as no +mortal has ever borne. It is too great for human capacity--and yet how +can I cast it off? + +"I am to decide who shall be saved! _I_, _I_ alone, _I_, +Cosmo Versal, hold in my hands the fate of a race numbering two thousand +million souls!--the fate of a planet which, without my intervention, +would become simply a vast tomb. It is for _me_ to say whether the +_genus homo_ shall be perpetuated, and in what form it shall be +perpetuated. Joseph, this is terrible! These are the functions of deity, +not of man." + +Joseph Smith seemed no longer to breathe, so intense was his attention. +His eyes glowed under the dark brows, and his pencil trembled in his +fingers. After a slight pause Cosmo Versal went on: + +"If I felt any doubt that Providence had foreordained me to do this +work, and given me extraordinary faculties, and extraordinary knowledge, +to enable me to perform it, I would, this instant, blow out my brains." + +Again he was silent, the secretary, after fidgeting about, bending and +unbending his brows, and tapping nervously upon the table, at last said +solemnly: + +"Cosmo, you _are_ ordained; you must _do the work._" + +"I must," returned Cosmo Versal, "I know that; and yet the sense of my +responsibility sometimes covers me with a cloud of despair. The other +day, when the ark was crowded with curiosity seekers, the thought that +not one of all those tens of thousands could escape, and that hundreds +of millions of others must also be lost, overwhelmed me. Then I began to +reproach myself for not having been a more effective agent in warning my +fellows of their peril. Joseph, I have miserably failed. I ought to have +produced universal conviction that I was right, and I have not done it." + +"It is not your fault, Cosmo," said Joseph Smith, reaching out his long +arm to touch his leader's hand. "It is an unbelieving generation. They +have rejected even the signs in the heavens. The voice of an archangel +would not have convinced them." + +"It is true," replied Cosmo. "And the truth is the more bitter to me +because I spoke in the name of science, and the very men who represent +science have been my most determined opponents, blinding the people's +eyes--after willfully shutting their own." + +"You say you have been weak," interposed Smith, "which you have not +been; but you would be weak if you now shrank from your plain duty." + +"True!" cried Cosmo, in a changed voice. "Let us then proceed. I had a +lesson the other day. Amos Blank came to me, puffed with his pillaged +millions. I saw then what I had to do. I told him plainly that he was +not among the chosen. Hand me that book over there." + +The secretary pushed a large volume within Cosmo's reach. He opened it. +It was a "Year-Book of Science, Politics, Sociology, History, and +Government." + +Cosmo ran over its pages, stopping to read a few lines here and there, +seeming to make mental notes. After a while he pushed the book aside, +looked at his companion thoughtfully, and began: + +"The trouble with the world is that morally and physically it has for +thousands of years grown more and more corrupt. The flower of +civilization, about which people boast so much, nods over the stagnant +waters of a moral swamp and draws its perilous beauty from the poisons +of the miasma. + +"The nebula, in drowning the earth, brings opportunity for a new birth +of mankind. You will remember, Joseph, that the same conditions are said +to have prevailed in the time of Noah. There was no science then, and we +do not know exactly on what principles the choice was made of those who +should escape; but the simple history of Noah shows that he and his +friends represented the best manhood of that early age. + +"But the seeds of corruption were not eliminated, and the same problem +recurs to-day. + +"I have to determine whom I will save. I attack the question by +inquiring who represent the best elements of humanity? Let us first +consider men by classes." + +"And why not by races?" asked Smith. + +"I shall not look to see whether a man is black, white, or yellow; +whether his skull is brachycephalic or dolichocephalic," replied Cosmo. +"I shall look inside. No race has ever shown itself permanently the +best." + +"Then by classes you mean occupations?" + +"Well, yes, for the occupation shows the tendency, the quintessence of +character. Some men are born rulers and leaders; others are born +followers. Both are necessary, and I must have both kinds." + +"You will begin perhaps with the kings, the presidents?" + +"Not at all. I shall begin with the men of science. They are the true +leaders." + +"But they have betrayed you--they have shut their eyes and blindfolded +others," objected Joseph Smith, as if in extenuation. + +"You do not understand me," said Cosmo, with a commiserating smile. "If +my scientific brethren have not seen as clearly as I have done, the +fault lies not in science, but in lack of comprehension. Nevertheless, +they are on the right track; they have the gist of the matter in them; +they are trained in the right method. If I should leave them out, the +regenerated world would start a thousand years behind time. Besides, +many of them are not so blind; some of them have got a glimpse of the +truth." + +"Not such men as Pludder," said Smith. + +"All the same, I am going to save Pludder," said Cosmo Versal. + +Joseph Smith fairly jumped with astonishment. + +"You--are--going--to--save--Pludder," he faltered. "But he is the worst +of all." + +"Not from my present view-point. Pludder has a good brain; he can handle +the tools; he is intellectually honest; he has done great things for +science in the past. And, besides, I do not conceal from you the fact +that I should like to see him convicted out of his own mouth." + +"But," persisted Smith, "I have heard you say that he was--" + +"No matter what you have heard me say," interrupted Cosmo impatiently. +"I say now that he shall go with us. Put down his name at the head of +the list." + +Dumfounded and muttering under his breath, Smith obeyed. + +"I can take exactly one thousand individuals, exclusive of the crew," +continued Versal, paying no attention to his confidant's repeated +shaking of his head. "Good Heavens, think of that! One thousand out of +two thousand millions! But so be it. Nobody would listen to me, and now +it is too late. I must fix the number for each class." + +"There is one thing--one curious question--that occurs to me," put in +Smith hesitatingly. "What about families?" + +"There you've hit it," cried Cosmo. "That's exactly what bothers me. +There must be as many women as men--that goes without saying. Then, too, +the strongest moral element is in the women, although they don't weigh +heavily for science. But the aged people and the children--there's the +difficulty. If I invite a man who possesses unquestionable +qualifications, but has a large family, what am I to do? I can't crowd +out others as desirable as he for the sake of carrying all of his +stirpes. The principles of eugenics demand a wide field of selection." + +Cosmo Versal covered his eyes, rested his big head on his hands, and his +elbows on the table. Presently he looked up with an air of decision. + +"I see what I must do," he said. "I can take only four persons belonging +to any one family. Two of them may be children--a man, his wife, and two +children--no more." + +"But that will be very hard lines for them--" began Joseph Smith. + +"Hard lines!" Cosmo broke in. "Do you think it is easy lines for me? +Good Heavens, man! I am forced to this decision. It rends my heart to +think of it, but I can't avoid the responsibility." + +Smith dropped his eyes, and Cosmo resumed his reflections. In a little +while he spoke again: + +"Another thing that I must fix is an age limit. But that will have to be +subject to certain exceptions. Very aged persons in general will not +do--they could not survive the long voyage, and only in the rare +instances where their experience of life might be valuable would they +serve any good purpose in reestablishing the race. Children are +indispensable--but they must not be too young--infants in arms would not +do at all. Oh, this is sorry work! But I must harden my heart." + +Joseph Smith looked at his chief, and felt a twinge of sympathy, +tempered by admiration, for he saw clearly the terrible contest in his +friend's mind and appreciated the heroic nature of the decision to which +the inexorable logic of facts had driven it. + +Cosmo Versal was again silent for a long time. Finally he appeared to +throw off the incubus, and, with a return of his ordinary decisiveness, +exclaimed: + +"Enough. I have settled the general principle. Now to the choice." + +Then, closing his eyes, as if to assist his memory, he ran over a list +of names well known in the world of science, and Smith set them down in +a long row under the name of "Abiel Pludder," with which he had begun. + +At last Cosmo Versal ceased his dictation. + +"There," he said, "that is the end of that category. I may add to or +subtract from it later. According to probability, making allowance for +bachelors, each name will represent three persons; there are +seventy-five names, which means two hundred and twenty-five places +reserved for science. I will now make a series of other categories and +assign the number of places for each." + +He seized a sheet of paper and fell to work, while Smith looked on, +drumming with his fingers and contorting his huge black eyebrows. For +half an hour complete silence reigned, broken only by the gliding sound +of Cosmo Versal's pencil, occasionally emphasized by a soft thump. At +the end of that time he threw down the pencil and held out the paper to +his companion. + +"Of course," he said, "this is not a complete list of human occupations. +I have set down the principal ones as they occurred to me. There will be +time to correct any oversight. Read it." + +Smith, by force of habit, read it aloud: + + No. of Probable No. +Occupation Names of Places + +Science (already assigned) 75 225 +Rulers 15 45 +Statesmen 10 30 +Business magnates 10 30 +Philanthropists 5 15 +Artists 15 45 +Religious teachers 20 60 +School-teachers 20 60 +Doctors 30 90 +Lawyers 1 3 +Writers 6 18 +Editors 2 6 +Players 14 42 +Philosophers 1 3 +Musicians 12 36 +Speculative geniuses 3 9 +"Society" 0 0 +Agriculture and mechanics 90 270 + ____ ____ + Totals 329 987 +Special reservations 13 + ____ + Grand total, places 1000 + +Several times while Joseph Smith was reading he raised his eyebrows, as +if in surprise or mental protest, but made no remark. + +"Now," resumed Cosmo when the secretary had finished, "let us begin with +the rulers. I do not know them as intimately as I know the men of +science, but I am sure I have given them places enough. Suppose you take +this book and call them over to me." + +Smith opened the "year-book," and began: + +"George Washington Samson, President of the United States." + +"He goes. He is not intellectually brilliant, but he has strong sense +and good moral fiber. I'll save him if for no other reason than his veto +of the Antarctic Continent grab bill." + +"Shen Su, Son of Heaven, President-Emperor of China." + +"Put him down. I like him. He is a true Confucian." + +Joseph Smith read off several other names at which Cosmo shook his head. +Then he came to: + +"Richard Edward, by the grace of God, King of Great--" + +"Enough," broke in Cosmo; "we all know him--the man who has done more +for peace by putting half the British navy out of commission than any +other ruler in history. I can't leave him out." + +"Achille Dumont, President of the French republic." + +"I'll take him." + +"William IV, German Emperor." + +"Admitted, for he has at last got the war microbe out of the family +blood." + +Then followed a number of rulers who were not lucky enough to meet with +Cosmo Versal's approval, and when Smith read: + +"Alexander V, Emperor of all the Russias," the big head was violently +shaken, and its owner exclaimed: + +"There will be many Russians in the ark, for tyranny has been like a +lustration to that people; but I will carry none of its Romanoff seeds +to my new world." + +The selection was continued until fifteen names had been obtained, +including that of the new, dark-skinned President of Liberia, and Cosmo +declared that he would not add another one. + +Then came the ten statesmen who were chosen with utter disregard to +racial and national lines. + +In selecting his ten business magnates, Cosmo stated his rule: + +"I exclude no man simply because he is a billionaire. I consider the way +he made his money. The world must always have rich men. How could I have +built the ark if I had been poor?" + +"Philanthropists," read Smith. + +"I should have taken a hundred if I could have found them," said Cosmo. +"There are plenty of candidates, but these five [naming them] are the +only genuine ones, and I am doubtful about several of them. But I must +run some chances, philanthropy being indispensable." + +For the fifteen representatives of art Cosmo confined his selection +largely to architecture. + +"The building instinct must be preserved," he explained. "One of the +first things we shall need after the flood recedes is a variety of all +kinds of structures. But it's a pretty bad lot at the best. I shall try +to reform their ideas during the voyage. As to the other artists, they, +too, will need some hints that I can give them, and that they can +transmit to their children." + +Under the head of religious teachers, Cosmo remarked that he had tried +to be fair to all forms of genuine faith that had a large following. The +school-teachers represented the principal languages, and Cosmo selected +the names from a volume on "The Educational Systems of the World," +remarking that he ran some risk here, but it could not easily be +avoided. + +"Doctors--they get a rather liberal allowance, don't they?" asked Smith. + +"Not half as large as I'd like to have it," was the response. "The +doctors are the salt of the earth. It breaks my heart to have to leave +out so many whose worth I know." + +"And only one lawyer!" pursued Joseph. "That's curious." + +"Not in the least curious. Do you think I want to scatter broadcast the +seeds of litigation in a regenerated world? Put down the name of Chief +Justice Good of the United States Supreme Court. He'll see that equity +prevails." + +"And only six writers," continued Smith. + +"And that's probably too many," said Cosmo. "Set down under that head +Peter Inkson, whom I will engage to record the last scenes on the +drowning earth; James Henry Blackwitt, who will tell the story of the +voyage; Jules Bourgeois, who can describe the personnel of the +passengers; Sergius Narishkoff, who will make a study of their +psychology; and Nicolao Ludolfo, whose description of the ark will be an +invaluable historic document a thousand years hence." + +"But you have included no poets," remarked Smith. + +"Not necessary," responded Cosmo. "Every human being is a poet at +bottom." + +"And no novelists," persisted the secretary. + +"They will spring up thicker than weeds before the waters are half +gone--at least, they would if I let one aboard the ark." + +"Editors--two?" + +"That's right. And two too many, perhaps. I'll take Jinks of the +_Thunderer_, and Bullock of the _Owl._" + +"But both of them have persistently called you an idiot." + +"For that reason I want them. No world could get along without some real +idiots." + +"I am rather surprised at the next entry, if you will permit me to speak +of it," said Joseph Smith. "Here you have forty-two places reserved for +players." + +"That means twenty-eight adults, and probably some youngsters who will +be able to take parts," returned Cosmo, rubbing his hands with a +satisfied smile. "I have taken as many players as I conscientiously +could, not only because of their future value, but because they will do +more than anything else to keep up the spirits of everybody in the ark. +I shall have a stage set in the largest saloon." + +Joseph Smith scowled, but held his peace. Then, glancing again at the +paper, he remarked that there was but one philosopher to be provided +for. + +"It is easy to name him," said Cosmo. "Kant Jacobi Leergeschwaetz." + +"Why he?" + +"Because he will harmlessly represent the metaphysical _genus_, for +nobody will ever understand him." + +"Musicians twelve?" + +"Chosen for the same reason as the players," said Cosmo, rapidly writing +down twelve names because they were not easy to pronounce, and handing +them to Smith, who duly copied them off. + +When this was done Cosmo himself called out the next +category--"'speculative geniuses.'" + +"I mean by that," he continued, "not Wall Street speculators, but +foreseeing men who possess the gift of looking into the 'seeds of time,' +but who never get a hearing in their own day, and are hardly ever +remembered by the future ages which enjoy the fruits whose buds they +recognized." + +Cosmo mentioned two names which Joseph Smith had never heard, and told +him they ought to be written in golden ink. + +"They are _sui generis_, and alone in the world. They are the most +precious cargo I shall have aboard," he added. + +Smith shrugged his shoulders and stared blankly at the paper, while +Cosmo sank into a reverie. Finally the secretary said, smiling with +evident approval this time: + +"'Society' zero." + +"Precisely, for what does 'society' represent except its own vanity?" + +"And then comes agriculture and mechanics." + +For this category Cosmo seemed to be quite as well prepared as for that +of science. He took from his pocket a list already made out and handed +it to Joseph Smith. It contained forty names marked "cultivators, +farmers, gardeners," and fifty "mechanics." + +"At the beginning of the twentieth century," he said, "I should have had +to reverse that proportion--in fact, my entire list would then have been +top-heavy, and I should have been forced to give half of all the places +to agriculture. But thanks to our scientific farming, the personnel +employed in cultivation is now reduced to a minimum while showing +maximum results. I have already stored the ark with seeds of the latest +scientifically developed plants, and with all the needed agricultural +implements and machinery." + +"There yet remain thirteen places 'specially reserved,'" said Smith, +referring to the paper. + +"I shall fill those later," responded Cosmo, and then added with a +thoughtful look, "I have some humble friends." + +"The next thing," he continued, after a pause, "is to prepare the +letters of invitation. But we have done enough for to-night. I will give +you the form to-morrow." + +And all this while half the world had been peacefully sleeping, and the +other half going about its business, more and more forgetful of recent +events, and if it had known what those two men were about it would +probably have exploded in a gust of laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + +Cosmo Versal had begun the construction of his ark in the latter part of +June. It was now the end of November. The terrors of the _third +sign_ had occurred in September. Since then the sky had nearly +resumed its normal color, there had been no storms, but the heat of +summer had not relaxed. People were puzzled by the absence of the usual +indications of autumn, although vegetation had shriveled on account of +the persistent high temperature and constant sunshine. + +"An extraordinary year," admitted the meteorologists, "but there have +been warm falls before, and it is simply a question of degree. Nature +will restore the balance and in good time, and probably we shall have a +severe winter." + +On the 31st of November, the brassy sky at New York showed no signs of +change, when the following dispatch, which most of the newspapers +triple-leaded and capped with stunning headlines, quivered down from +Churchill, Keewatin: + + During last night the level of the water in Hudson Bay rose + fully nine feet. Consternation reigned this morning when + ship-owners found their wharves inundated, and vessels straining + at short cables. The ice-breaker "Victoria" was lifted on the + back of a sandy bar, having apparently been driven by a heavy + wave, which must have come from the East. There are other + indications that the mysterious rise began with a "bore" from + the eastward. It is thought that the vast mass of icebergs set + afloat on Davis's Strait by the long continued hot weather + melting the shore glaciers, has caused a jam off the mouth of + Hudson Strait, and turned the Polar current suddenly into the + bay. But this is only a theory. A further rise is anticipated. + +Startling as was this news, it might not, by itself, have greatly +disturbed the public mind if it had not been followed, in a few hours, +by intelligence of immense floods in Alaska and in the basin of the +Mackenzie River. + +And the next day an etherogram from Obdorsk bordered on the grotesque, +and filled many sensitive readers with horror. + +It is said that in the vast tundra regions of Northern Siberia the +frozen soil had dissolved into a bottomless slough, from whose depths +uprose prehistoric mammoths, their long hair matted with mud, and their +curved tusks of ivory gleaming like trumpets over the field of their +resurrection. The dispatch concluded with a heart-rending account of the +loss of a large party of ivory hunters, who, having ventured too far +from the more solid land, suddenly found the ground turning to black +ooze beneath their feet, and, despite their struggles, were all engulfed +within sight of their friends, who dared not try to approach them. + +Cosmo Versal, when interviewed, calmly remarked that the flood was +beginning in the north, because it was the northern part of the globe +that was nearest the heart of the nebula. The motion of the earth being +northward, that end of its axis resembled the prow of a ship. + +"But this," he added, "is not the true deluge. The Arctic ice-cap is +melting, and the frozen soil is turning into a sponge in consequence of +the heat of friction developed in the air by the inrush of nebulous +matter. The aqueous vapor, however, has not yet touched the earth. It +will begin to manifest its presence within a few days, and then the +globe will drink water at every pore. The vapor will finally condense +into falling oceans." + +"What would you advise people to do?" asked one of the reporters. + +The reply was given in a perfectly even voice, without change of +countenance: + +"_Commit suicide_! They have practically done that already." + +It was nearly two weeks later when the first signs of a change of +weather were manifested in middle latitudes. It came on with a rapid +veiling of the sky, followed by a thin, misty, persistent rain. The heat +grew more oppressive, but the rain did not become heavier, and after a +few days there would be, for several consecutive hours, a clear spell, +during which the sun would shine, though with a sickly, pallid light. + +There was a great deal of mystification abroad, and nobody felt at ease. +Still, the ebullitions of terror that had accompanied the earlier +caprices of the elements were not renewed. People were getting used to +these freaks. + +In the middle of one of the clear spells a remarkable scene occurred at +Mineola. + +It was like a panorama of the seventh chapter of Genesis. + +It was the procession of the beasts. + +Cosmo Versal had concluded that the time was come for housing his +animals in the ark. He wished to accustom them to their quarters before +the voyage began. The resulting spectacle filled the juvenile world with +irrepressible joy, and immensely interested their elders. + +No march of a menagerie had ever come within sight of equaling this +display. Many of the beasts were such as no one there had ever seen +before. Cosmo had consulted experts, but, in the end, he had been guided +in his choice by his own judgment. Nobody knew as well as he exactly +what was wanted. He had developed in his mind a scheme for making the +new world that was to emerge from the waters better in every respect +than the old one. + +Mingled with such familiar creatures as sheep, cows, dogs, and barn-yard +fowls, were animals of the past, which the majority of the onlookers had +only read about or seen pictures of, or perhaps, in a few cases, heard +described in childhood, by grandfathers long since sleeping in their +graves. + +Cosmo had rapidly collected them from all parts of the world, but as +they arrived in small consignments, and were carried in closed vans, +very few persons had any idea of what he was doing. + +The greatest sensation was produced by four beautiful horses, which had +been purchased at an enormous price from an English duke, who never +would have parted with them--for they were almost the last living +representatives of the equine race left on the earth--if financial +stress had not compelled the sacrifice. + +These splendid animals were dapple gray, with long white tails, and +flowing manes borne proudly on their arching necks, and as they were led +at the head of the procession, snorting at the unwonted scene about +them, their eyes bright with excitement, prancing and curvetting, cries +of admiration and rounds of applause broke from the constantly growing +throngs of spectators. + +Those who had only known the horse from pictures and sculptures were +filled with astonishment by its living beauty. People could not help +saying to themselves: + +"What a pity that the honking auto, in its hundred forms of mechanical +ugliness, should have driven these beautiful and powerful creatures out +of the world! What could our forefathers have been thinking of?" + +A few elephants, collected from African zooelogical gardens, and some +giraffes, also attracted a great deal of attention, but the horses were +the favorites with the crowd. + +Cosmo might have had lions and tigers, and similar beasts, which had +been preserved, in larger numbers than the useful horse, but when Joseph +Smith suggested their inclusion he shook his head, declaring that it was +better that they should perish. As far as possible, he averred, he would +eliminate all carnivores. + +In some respects, even more interesting to the onlookers than the +animals of the past, were the animals of the future that marched in the +procession. Few of them had ever been seen outside the experimental +stations where they had been undergoing the process of artificial +evolution. + +There were the stately white Californian cattle, without horns, but of +gigantic stature, the cows, it was said, being capable of producing +twenty times more milk than their ancestral species, and of a vastly +superior quality. + +There were the Australian rabbits, as large as Newfoundland dogs, though +short-legged, and furnishing food of the most exquisite flavor; and the +Argentine sheep, great balls of snowy wool, moving smartly along on legs +three feet in length. + +The greatest astonishment was excited by the "grand astoria terrapin," a +developed species of diamond-back tortoise, whose exquisitely sculptured +convex back, lurching awkwardly as it crawled, rose almost three feet +above the ground; and the "new century turkey," which carried its beacon +head and staring eyes as high as a tall man's hat. + +The end of the procession was formed of animals familiar to everybody, +and among them were cages of monkeys (concerning whose educational +development Cosmo Versal had theories of his own) and a large variety of +birds, together with boxes of insect eggs and chrysalids. + +The delight of the boys who had chased after the procession culminated +when the animals began to ascend the sloping ways into the ark. + +The horses shied and danced, making the metallic flooring resound like a +rattle of thunder; the elephants trumpeted; the sheep baaed and crowded +themselves into inextricable masses against the guard-rails; the huge +new cattle moved lumberingly up the slope, turning their big white heads +inquiringly about; the tall turkeys stretched their red coral necks and +gobbled with Brobdingnagian voices; and the great terrapins were +ignominiously attached to cables and drawn up the side of the ark, +helplessly waving their immense flappers in the air. + +And when the sensational entry was finished, the satisfied crowd turned +away, laughing, joking, chattering, with never a thought that it was +anything more than the most amusing exhibition they had ever seen! + +But when they got back in the city streets they met a flying squadron of +yelling newsboys, and seizing the papers from their hands read, in big +black letters: + + "AWFUL FLOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI! + + "Thousands of People Drowned! + + "THE STORM COMING THIS WAY!" + +It was a startling commentary on the recent scene at the ark, and many +turned pale as they read. + +But the storm did not come in the way expected. The deluging rains +appeared to be confined to the Middle West and the Northwest, while at +New York the sky simply grew thicker and seemed to squeeze out moisture +in the form of watery dust. This condition lasted for some time, and +then came what everybody, even the most skeptical, had been secretly +dreading. + +The ocean began to rise! + +The first perception of this startling fact, according to a newspaper +account, came in a very strange, roundabout way to a man living on the +outskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city had +spread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay. + +About three o'clock in the morning, this man, who it appears was a +policeman off duty, was awakened by scurrying sounds in the house. He +struck a light, and seeing dark forms issuing from the cellar, went down +to investigate. The ominous gleam of water, reflecting the light of his +lamp, told him that the cellar was inundated almost to the top of the +walls. + +"Come down here, Annie!" he shouted to his wife. "Sure 'tis Cosmo Versal +is invadin' the cellar with his flood. The rats are lavin' us." + +Seeing that the slight foundation walls were crumbling, he hurried his +family into the street, and not too soon, for within ten minutes the +house was in ruins. + +Neighbors, living in equally frail structures, were awakened, and soon +other undermined houses fell. Terror spread through the quarter, and +gradually half the city was aroused. + +When day broke, residents along the water-front in Manhattan found their +cellars flooded, and South and West Streets swimming with water, which +was continually rising. It was noted that the hour was that of +flood-tide, but nobody had ever heard of a tide so high as this. + +Alarm deepened into terror when the time for the tide to ebb arrived and +there was no ebbing. On the contrary, the water continued to rise. The +government observer at the Highlands telephoned that Sandy Hook was +submerged. Soon it was known that Coney Island, Rockaway, and all the +seaside places along the south shore of Long Island were under water. +The mighty current poured in through the Narrows with the velocity of a +mill-race. The Hudson, set backward on its course, rushed northward with +a raging bore at its head that swelled higher until it licked the feet +of the rock chimneys of the Palisades. + +But when the terror inspired by this sudden invasion from the sea was at +its height there came unexpected relief. The water began to fall more +rapidly than it had risen. It rushed out through the Narrows faster than +it had rushed in, and ships, dragged from their anchorage in the upper +harbor, were carried out seaward, some being stranded on the sandbanks +and shoals in the lower bay. + +Now again houses standing on made ground, whose foundations had been +undermined, fell with a crash, and many were buried in the ruins. + +Notwithstanding the immense damage and loss of life, the recession of +the waters immediately had a reassuring effect, and the public, in +general, was disposed to be comforted by the explanation of the weather +officials, who declared that what had occurred was nothing more than an +unprecedentedly high tide, probably resulting from some unforeseen +disturbance out at sea. + +The phenomenon had been noted all along the Atlantic coast. The chief +forecaster ventured the assertion that a volcanic eruption had occurred +somewhere on the line from Halifax to Bermuda. He thought that the +probable location of the upheaval had been at Munn's Reef, about halfway +between those points, and the more he discussed his theory the readier +he became to stake his reputation on its correctness, for, he said, it +was impossible that any combination of the effects of high and low +pressures could have created such a surge of the ocean, while a volcanic +wave, combining with the regular oscillation of the tide, could have +done it easily. + +But Cosmo Versal smiled at this explanation, and said in reply: + +"The whole Arctic ice-cap is dissolved, and the condensation of the +nebula is at hand. But there is worse behind. When the wave comes back +it will rise higher." + +As the time for the next flood-tide grew near, anxious eyes were on the +watch to see how high the water would go. There was something in the +mere manner of its approach that made the nerves tingle. + +It speeded toward the beaches, combing into rollers at an unwonted +distance from shore; plunged with savage violence upon the sands of the +shallows, as if it would annihilate them; and then, spreading swiftly, +ran with terrific speed up the strand, seeming to devour everything it +touched. After each recoil it sprang higher and roared louder and grew +blacker with the mud that it had ground up from the bottom. Miles inland +the ground trembled with the fast-repeated shocks. + +Again the Hudson was hurled backward until a huge bore of water burst +over the wharves at Albany. Every foot of ground in New York less than +twenty feet above the mean high tide level was inundated. The +destruction was enormous, incalculable. Ocean liners moored along the +wharves were, in some cases, lifted above the level of the neighboring +streets, and sent crashing into the buildings along the water-front. + +Etherograms told, in broken sentences, of similar experiences on the +western coasts of Europe, and from the Pacific came the news of the +flooding of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and, +in fact, every coast-lying town. On the western coast of South America +the incoming waves broke among the foothills of the Andes. + +It was as if the mighty basins of the world's two greatest oceans were +being rocked to and fro, sending the waters spinning from side to side. + +And to add to the horror of the situation, every volcano on the globe +seemed to burst simultaneously into activity, probably through the +effects of the invasion of sea water into the subterranean fire, while +the strain of the unwonted weight thrown upon the coasts broke open the +tectonic lines of weakness in the earth's crust, causing the most +terrible earthquakes, which destroyed much that the water could not +reach. + +From Alaska to Patagonia, from Kamchatka through Japan to the East +Indies, from Mount Hecla to Vesuvius, Etna, and Teneriffe, the raging +oceans were bordered with pouring clouds of volcanic smoke, hurled +upward in swift succeeding puffs, as if every crater had become the +stack of a stupendous steam-engine driven at its maddest speed; while +immense rivers of lava flamed down the mountain flanks and plunged into +the invading waters with reverberated roarings, hissings, and explosions +that seemed to shake the framework of the globe. + +During the second awful shoreward heave of the Atlantic a scene occurred +off New York Bay that made the stoutest nerves quiver. A great crowd had +collected on the Highlands of the Navesink to watch the ingress of the +tidal wave. + +Suddenly, afar off, the smoke of an approaching ocean liner was seen. It +needed but a glance to show that she was struggling with tremendous +surges. Sometimes she sank completely out of sight; then she reappeared, +riding high on the waves. Those who had glasses recognized her. Word ran +from mouth to mouth that it was the great _Atlantis_, the mightiest +of the ocean monarchs, of a hundred thousand tons register, coming from +Europe, and bearing, without question, many thousands of souls. + +She was flying signals of distress, and filling the ether with her +inarticulate calls for help, which quavered into every radiograph +station within a radius of hundreds of miles. + +But, at the same time, she was battling nobly for herself and for the +lives of her passengers and crew. From her main peak the Stars and +Stripes streamed in the tearing wind. There were many in the watching +throngs who personally knew her commander, Captain Basil Brown, and who +felt that if any human being could bring the laboring ship through +safely, he could. Aid from land was not to be thought of for a moment. + +As she swiftly drew nearer, hurled onward by the resistless surges with +the speed of an express train, the captain was recognized on his bridge, +balancing himself amid the lurches of the vessel; and even at that +distance, and in those terrible circumstances, there was something in +his bearing perceptible to those who breathlessly watched him, through +powerful glasses, which spoke of perfect self-command, entire absence of +fear, and iron determination to save his ship or die with her under his +feet. + +It could be seen that he was issuing orders and watching their +execution, but precisely what their nature was, of course, could only be +guessed. His sole hope must be to keep the vessel from being cast +ashore. There was no danger from the shoals, for they were by this time +deeply covered by the swelling of the sea. + +Slowly, slowly, with a terrific straining of mechanic energies, which +pressed the jaws of the watchers together with spasmodic sympathy, as if +their own nervous power were cooperating in the struggle, the gallant +ship bore her head round to face the driving waves. From the ten huge, +red stacks columns of inky black smoke poured out as the stokers crammed +the furnaces beneath. It was man against nature, human nerve and +mechanical science against blind force. + +It began to look as if the _Atlantis_ would win the battle. She was +now fearfully close to the shore, but her bow had been turned into the +very eye of the sea, and one could almost feel the tension of her steel +muscles as she seemed to spring to the encounter. The billows that split +themselves in quick succession on her sharp stem burst into shooting +geysers three hundred feet high. + +The hearts of the spectators almost ceased to beat. Their souls were +wrapped up with the fate of the brave ship. They forgot the terrors of +their own situation, the peril of the coming flood, and saw nothing but +the agonized struggle before their eyes. With all their inward strength +they prayed against the ocean. + +Such a contest could not last long. Suddenly, as the _Atlantis_ +swerved a little aside, a surge that towered above her loftiest deck +rushed upon her. She was lifted like a cockleshell upon its crest, her +huge hull spun around, and the next minute, with a crash that resounded +above the roar of the maddened sea, she was dashed in pieces. + +At the very last moment before the vessel disappeared in the whirling +breakers, to be strewed in broken and twisted bits of battered metal +upon the pounding sands, Captain Basil Brown was seen on the commander's +bridge. + +No sooner had this tragedy passed than the pent-up terror broke forth, +and men ran for their lives, ran for their homes, ran to _do +something_--something, but what?--to save themselves and their dear +ones. + +For now, at last, they _believed!_ + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +STORMING THE ARK + + +There was to be no more respite now. The time of warnings was past. The +"signs" had all been shown to a skeptical and vacillating world, and at +last the fulfillment was at hand. + +There was no crying of "extras" in the streets, for men had something +more pressing to think of than sending and reading news about their +distresses and those of their fellow-men. Many of the newspapers ceased +publication; every business place was abandoned; there was no thought +but of the means of escape. + +But how should they escape? And whither should they fly? + +The lower lying streets were under water. The Atlantic still surged back +and forth as if the ocean itself were in agony. And every time the waves +poured in they rose higher. The new shores of the bay, and the new +coasts of Long Island and New Jersey, receding inward hour by hour, were +strewn with the wrecks of hundreds of vessel of all kinds which had been +caught by the surges and pitilessly hurled to destruction. + +Even if men did not yet fully believe in Cosmo Versal's theory of a +whelming nebula, they were terrified to the bottom of their souls by the +conviction, which nobody could resist, that the vast ice-fields of the +north, the glaciers of Greenland, the icy mountains of Alaska, had +melted away under the terrible downpour of heat, and were swelling the +oceans over their brims. And then a greater fear dropped like a blanket +upon them. Some one thought of the _antarctic ice._ + +The latest dispatches that had come, before the cessation of all +communication to the newspapers, had told of the prevalence of stifling +heat throughout the southern hemisphere, and of the vast fleets of +antarctic icebergs that filled the south seas. The mighty deposits of +ice, towering to mountain heights, that stretched a thousand miles in +every direction around the south pole were melting as the arctic ice had +melted, and, when the water thus formed was added to the already +overflowing seas, to what elevation might not the flood attain! + +The antarctic ice was known to be the principal mass of frozen water on +the globe. The frigid cap of the north was nothing in comparison with +it. It had long been believed that that tremendous accumulation +unbalanced the globe and was the principal cause of the unsteadiness of +the earth's axis of rotation. + +Every fresh exploration had only served to magnify the conception of the +incredible vastness of that deposit. The skirts of the Antarctic +Continent had proved to be rich in minerals wherever the rocks could +find a place to penetrate through the gigantic burden of ice, and the +principal nations had quarreled over the possession or control of these +protruding bits of wealth-crammed strata. But behind the bordering +cliffs of ice, rising in places a thousand feet above the level of the +sea, and towering farther inland so high that this region was, in mean +elevation, the loftiest on the planet, nothing but ice could be seen. + +And now that ice was dissolving and flowing into the swollen oceans, +adding billions of tons of water every minute! + +Men did not stop to calculate, as Cosmo Versal had done, just how much +the dissolution of all the ice and permanent snow of the globe would add +to the volume of the seas. He knew that it would be but a drop in the +bucket--although sufficient to start the flood--and that the great thing +to be feared was the condensation of the aqueous nebula, already +beginning to enwrap the planet in its stifling folds. + +The public could understand the melting ice, although it could not fully +understand the nebula; it could understand the swelling sea, and the +raging rivers, and the lakes breaking over their banks--and the terror +and despair became universal. + +But what should they _do?_ + +Those who had thought of building arks hurried to see if the work might +not yet be completed, but most of them had begun their foundations on +low land, which was already submerged. + +Then a cry arose, terrible in its significance and in its +consequences--one of those cries that the vanished but unconquerable god +Pan occasionally sets ringing, nobody can tell how: + +"Cosmo's ark! Get aboard! Storm it!" + +And thereupon there was a mighty rush for Mineola. Nobody who caught the +infection stopped to reason. Some of them had to wade through water, +which in places was knee-deep. They came from various directions, and +united in a yelling mob. They meant to carry the ark with a rush. They +would not be denied. As the excited throngs neared the great vessel they +saw its huge form rising like a mount of safety, with an American flag +flapping over it, and they broke into a mighty cheer. On they sped, +seized with the unreason of a crowd, shouting, falling over one another, +struggling, fighting for places, men dragging their wives and children +through the awful crush, many trampled helpless under the myriads of +struggling feet--driving the last traces of sanity from one another's +minds. + +The foremost ranks presently spied Cosmo Versal, watching them from an +open gangway sixty feet above their heads. They were dismayed at finding +the approaches gone. How should they get into the ark? How could they +climb up its vertical sides? + +But they would find means. They would re-erect the approaches. They +would _get in somehow_. + +Cosmo waved them off with frantic gesticulations; then, through a +trumpet, he shouted in a voice audible above the din: + +"Keep back, for your lives!" + +But they paid no attention to him; they rushed upon the raised wall, +surrounding the field where Cosmo had buried his mysterious lines of +wire. Then the meaning of that enigmatical work was flashed upon them. + +As the first to arrive laid their hands upon the top of the low wall +they fell as if shot through the brain, tumbling backward on those +behind. Others pushed wildly on, but the instant they touched the wall +they too collapsed. Wicked blue-green sparks occasionally flashed above +the struggling mass. + +The explanation was clear. Cosmo, foreseeing the probability of a +despairing attack, had surrounded the ark with an impassable electric +barrier. The sound of a whirring dynamo could be heard. A tremendous +current was flowing through the hidden wires and transmitting its +paralyzing energy to the metallic crest of the wall. + +Still those behind pushed on, until rank after rank had sunk helpless at +the impregnable line of defense. They were not killed--at least, not +many--but the shock was so paralyzing that those who had experienced its +effects made no further attempts to cross the barrier. Many lay for a +time helpless upon the sodden ground. + +Cosmo and Joseph Smith, who had now appeared at his side, continued to +shout warnings, which began to be heeded when the nature of the obstacle +became known. The rush was stopped, and the multitude stood at bay, +dazed, and uncertain what to do. Then a murmur arose, growing louder and +more angry and threatening, until suddenly a shot was heard in the midst +of the crowd, and Cosmo was seen to start backward, while Joseph Smith +instantly dodged out of sight. + +A cry arose: + +"Shoot him! That's right! Shoot the devil! He's a witch! He's drowning +the world!" + +They meant it--at least, half of them did. It was the logic of terror. + +Hundreds of shots were now fired from all quarters, and heads that had +been seen flitting behind the various portholes instantly disappeared. +The bullets rattled on the huge sides of the ark, but they came from +small pistols and had not force enough to penetrate. + +Cosmo Versal alone remained in sight. Occasionally a quick motion showed +that even his nerves were not steady enough to defy the whistling of the +bullets passing close; but he held his ground, and stretched out his +hand to implore attention. + +When the fusillade ceased for a moment he put his trumpet again to his +lips and shouted: + +"I have done my best to save you, but you would not listen. Although I +know that you must perish, I would not myself harm a hair of your heads. +Go back, I implore you. You may prolong your lives if you will fly to +the highlands and the mountains--but here you cannot enter. _The ark +is full._" + +Another volley of shots was the only answer. One broad-shouldered man +forced his way to the front, took his stand close to the wall, and +yelled in stentorian tones: + +"Cosmo Versal, listen to me! You are the curse of the world! You have +brought this flood upon us with your damnable incantations. Your +infernal nebula is the seal of Satan! Here, beast and devil, here at my +feet, lies my only son, slain by your hellish device. By the Eternal I +swear you shall go back to the pit!" + +Instantly a pistol flashed in the speaker's hand, and five shots rang in +quick succession. One after another they whistled by Cosmo's head and +flattened themselves upon the metal-work behind. Cosmo Versal, +untouched, folded his arms and looked straight at his foe. The man, +staring a moment confusedly, as if he could not comprehend his failure, +threw up his arms with a despairing gesture, and fell prone upon the +ground. + +Then yells and shots once more broke out. Cosmo stepped back, and a +great metallic door swung to, closing the gangway. + +But three minutes later the door opened, and the mob saw two +machine-guns trained upon them. + +Once more Cosmo appeared, with the trumpet. + +"If you fire again," he cried, "I shall sweep you with grapeshot. I have +told you how you can prolong your lives. Now go!" + +Not another shot was fired. In the face of the guns, whose terrible +power all comprehended, no one dared to make a hostile movement. + +But, perhaps, if Cosmo Versal had not set new thoughts running in the +minds of the assailants by telling them there was temporary safety to be +found by seeking high ground, even the terror of the guns would not have +daunted them. Now their hopefulness was reawakened, and many began to +ponder upon his words. + +"He says we must perish, and yet that we can find safety in the hills +and mountains," said one man. "I believe half of that is a lie. We are +not going to be drowned. The water won't rise much higher. The flood +from the south pole that they talk about must be here by this time, and +then what's left to come?" + +"The nebula," suggested one. + +"Aw, the nebula be hanged! There's no such thing! I live on high ground; +I'm going to keep a sharp outlook, and if the water begins to shut off +Manhattan I'll take my family up the Hudson to the Highlands. I guess +old Storm King'll keep his head above. That's where I come from--up that +way. I used to hear people say when I was a boy that New York was bound +to sink some day. I used to laugh at that then, but it looks mighty like +it now, don't it?" + +"Say," put in another, "what did the fellow mean by saying the ark was +_full_? That's funny, ain't it? Who's he got inside, anyway?" + +"Oh, he ain't got nobody," said another. + +"Yes, he has. I seen a goodish lot through the portholes. He's got +somebody, sure." + +"A lot of fools like himself, most likely." + +"Well, if he's a fool, and they's fools, what are _we_, I'd like to +know? What did you come here for, hey?" + +It was a puzzling question, and brought forth only a sheepish laugh, +followed by the remark: + +"I guess we fooled ourselves considerable. We got scared too easy." + +"Maybe you'll feel scared again when you see the water climbing up the +streets in New York. I don't half like this thing. I'm going to follow +his advice and light out for higher ground." + +Soon conversation of this sort was heard on all sides, and the crowd +began to disperse, only those lingering behind who had friends or +relatives that had been struck down at the fatal wall. It turned out +that not more than one or two had been mortally shocked. The rest were +able to limp away, and many had fully recovered within five minutes +after suffering the shock. In half an hour not a dozen persons were in +sight from the ark. + +But when the retreating throngs drew near the shores of the Sound, and +the East River, which had expanded into a true arm of the sea, and found +that there had been a perceptible rise since they set out to capture the +ark, they began to shake their heads and fear once more entered their +hearts. + +Thousands then and there resolved that they would not lose another +instant in setting out for high land, up the Hudson, in Connecticut, +among the hills of New Jersey. In fact, many had already fled thither, +some escaping on aeros; and hosts would now have followed but for a +marvelous change that came just before nightfall and prevented them. + +For some days the heavens had alternately darkened and lightened, as +gushes of mist came and went, but there had been no actual rain. Now, +without warning, a steady downpour began. Even at the beginning it would +have been called, in ordinary times, a veritable cloudburst; but it +rapidly grew worse and worse, until there was no word in the vernacular +or in the terminology of science to describe it. + +It seemed, in truth, that "all the fountains of the great deep were +broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." The water thundered +upon the roofs, and poured off them in torrents. In five minutes every +sloping street had become an angry river, and every level place a +swelling lake. People caught out of doors were almost beaten to the +ground by the force of the water falling upon them as if they had been +standing under a cataract. + +In a short time every cellar and every basement was filled to +overflowing, and in the avenues the flood, lapping every instant higher +upon the doorsteps and the walls, rushed by with frightful roarings, +bearing in its awful embrace pieces of furniture, clothing, bedding, +washed out of ground-floor rooms--and, alas! human beings; some +motionless, already mercifully deprived of life, but others struggling +and shouting for aid which could not be given. + +So terrible a spectacle no one had ever looked upon, no one had ever +imagined. Those who beheld it were too stunned to cry out, too +overwhelmed with terror and horror to utter a word. They stood, or fell +into chairs or upon the floor, trembling in every limb, with staring +eyes and drooping jaws, passively awaiting their fate. + +As night came on there was no light. The awful darkness of the _third +sign_ once more settled upon the great city, but now it was not the +terror of indefinite expectation that crushed down the souls of men and +women--it was the weight of doom accomplished! + +There was no longer any room for self-deception; every quaking heart +felt now that the nebula had come. _Cosmo Versal had been right!_ + +After the water had attained a certain height in the streets and yards, +depending upon the ratio between the amount descending from the sky and +that which could find its way to the rivers, the flood for the time +being rose no higher. The actual drowning of New York could not happen +until the Hudson and the East River should become so swollen that the +water would stand above the level of the highest buildings, and turn the +whole region round about, as far as the Orange hills, the Ramapo +Mountains, the Highlands, and the Housatonic hills, into an inland sea. + +But before we tell that story we must return to see what was going on at +Mineola. Cosmo Versal, on that awful night when New York first knew +beyond the shadow of a doubt, or the gleam of a hope, that it was +doomed, presided over a remarkable assembly in the grand saloon of his +ark. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + +How did it happen that Cosmo Versal was able to inform the mob when it +assailed the ark that he had no room left? + +Who composed his ship's company, whence had they come, and how had they +managed to embark without the knowledge of the public? + +The explanation is quite simple. It was all due to the tremendous +excitement that had prevailed ever since the seas began to overflow. In +the universal confusion people had to think of other things nearer their +doors than the operations of Cosmo Versal. Since the embarkation of the +animals the crowds had ceased to visit the field at Mineola, and it was +only occasionally that even a reporter was sent there. Accordingly, +there were many hours every day when no curiosity-seekers were in sight +of the ark, and at night the neighborhood was deserted; and this state +of affairs continued until the sudden panic which led to the attack that +has been described. + +Cosmo Versal, of course, had every reason to conceal the fact that he +was carefully selecting his company. It was a dangerous game to play, +and he knew it. The consequence was that he enjoined secrecy upon his +invited guests, and conducted them, a few at a time, into the ark, +assuring them that their lives might be in peril if they were +recognized. And once under the domain of the fear which led them to +accept his invitation, they were no less anxious than he to avoid +publicity. Some of them probably desired to avoid recognition through +dread of ridicule; for, after all, the flood might not turn out to be so +bad as Cosmo had predicted. + +So it happened that the ark was filled, little by little, and the public +knew nothing about it. + +And who composed the throng which, while the awful downpour roared on +the ellipsoidal cover of the ark, and shook it to its center and while +New York, a few miles away, saw story after story buried under the +waters, crowded Cosmo's brilliantly lighted saloon, and raised their +voices to a high pitch in order to be heard? + +Had all the invitations which he dictated to Joseph Smith after their +memorable discussion, and which were sent forth in the utmost haste, +flying to every point of the compass, been accepted, and was it the +famous leaders of science, the rulers and crowned heads who had passed +his critical inspection that were now knocking elbows under the great +dome of levium? Had kings and queens stolen incognito under the shelter +of the ark, and magnates of the financial world hidden themselves there? + +It would have been well for them all if they had been there. But, in +fact, many of those to whom the invitations had gone did not even take +the trouble to thank their would-be savior. A few, however, who did not +come in person, sent responses. Among these was the President of the +United States. Mr. Samson's letter was brief but characteristic. It +read: + +To COSMO VERSAL, ESQ. + +Sir: + +The President directs me to say that he is grateful for your invitation, +and regrets that he cannot accept it. He is informed by those to whose +official advice he feels bound to listen, that the recent extraordinary +events possess no such significance as you attach to them. + +Respectfully, FOR THE PRESIDENT, + +JAMES JENKS, Secretary. + +It must be remembered that this letter was written before the oceanic +overflow began. After that, possibly, the President and his advisers +changed their opinion. But then communication by rail was cut off, and +as soon as the downpour from the sky commenced the aero express lines +were abandoned. The airships would have been deluged, and blown to +destruction by the tremendous gusts which, at intervals, packed the +rain-choked air itself into solid billows of water. + +None of the rulers of the old world responded, but about half the men of +science, and representatives of the other classes that Cosmo had set +down on his list, were wise enough to accept, and they hurried to New +York before the means of transit by land and sea were destroyed. + +Among these were Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, +Austrians, Poles, people from the Balkan states, Swedes, Danes, +Russians, and a few from India, China, and Japan. The clatter of their +various tongues made a very Babel inside the ark, when they talked to +one another in groups, but nearly all of them were able to speak +English, which, after many years of experiment, had been adopted as the +common language for transacting the world's affairs. + +There was another letter, which Cosmo read with real regret, although +hardly with surprise. It was from Professor Pludder. Instead of +expressing gratitude for the invitation, as the President, trained in +political blandiloquence, had done, Professor Pludder indulged in +denunciation. + +"You are insane," he said. "You do not know what you are talking about. +Your letter is an insult to science. These inundations" (this, too, was +written before the sky had opened its flood-gates) "are perfectly +explicable by the ordinary laws of nature. Your talk of a nebula is so +ridiculous that it deserves no reply. If any lunatic accepts your absurd +invitation, and goes into your 'ark,' he will find himself in Bedlam, +where he ought to be." + +"I guess you were right," Cosmo remarked to Joseph Smith, after reading +this outburst. "Pludder would not contribute to the regeneration of +mankind. We are better off without him." + +But Cosmo Versal was mistaken in thinking he had heard the last of Abiel +Pludder. The latter was destined to show that he was hardly a less +remarkable specimen of _homo sapiens_ than the big-headed prophet +of the second deluge himself. + +As soon as it became evident that there would be room to spare in the +ark, Cosmo set at work to fill up the list. He went over his categories +once more, but now, owing to the pressure of time, he was obliged to +confine his selections to persons within easy reach. They came, nearly +all, from New York, or its vicinity; and since these last invitations +went out just on the eve of the events described in the last two +chapters, there was no delay in the acceptances, and the invitees +promptly presented themselves in person. + +Cosmo's warning to them of the necessity of secrecy was superfluous, for +the selfishness of human nature never had a better illustration than +they afforded. The lucky recipients of the invitations stole away +without a word of farewell, circumspectly disappearing, generally at +night, and often in disguise; and when the attack occurred on the ark, +there were, behind the portholes, many anxious eyes cautiously staring +out and recognizing familiar faces in the mob, while the owners of those +eyes trembled in their shoes lest their friends might succeed in forcing +an entrance. After all, it was to be doubted if Cosmo Versal, with all +his vigilance, had succeeded in collecting a company representing +anything above the average quality of the race. + +But there was one thing that did great credit to his heart. When he +found that he had room unoccupied, before adding to his lists he +consented to take more than two children in a family. It was an immense +relief, for--it must be recorded--there were some who, in order to +qualify themselves, had actually abandoned members of their own +families! Let it also be said, however, that many, when they found that +the conditions imposed were inexorable, and that they could only save +themselves by leaving behind others as dear to them as their own lives, +indignantly refused, and most of these did not even reply to the +invitations. + +It was another indication of Cosmo's real humanity, as well as of his +shrewdness, that, as far as they were known, and could be reached, the +persons who had thus remained true to the best instincts of nature were +the first to receive a second invitation, with an injunction to bring +their entire families. So it happened that, after all, there were aged +men and women, as well as children in arms, mingled in that remarkable +assemblage. + +It will be recalled that thirteen places had been specially reserved, to +be filled by Cosmo Versal's personal friends. His choice of these +revealed another pleasing side of his mind. He took thirteen men and +women who had been, in one capacity or another, employed for many years +in his service. Some of them were old family servants that had been in +his father's house. + +"Every one of these persons," he said to Joseph Smith, "is worth his +weight in gold. Their disinterested fidelity to duty is a type of +character that almost became extinct generations ago, and no more +valuable leaven could be introduced into the society of the future. +Rather than leave them, I would stay behind myself." + +Finally there was the crew. This comprised one hundred and fifty +members, all of them chosen from the body of engineers, mechanics, and +workmen who had been employed in the construction of the ark. Cosmo +himself was, of course, the commander, but he had for his lieutenants +skilled mariners, electrical and mechanical engineers, and men whom he +himself had instructed in the peculiar duties that would fall to them in +the navigation and management of the ark, every detail of which he had +laboriously worked out with a foresight that seemed all but superhuman. + +All of the passengers and crew were aboard when the baffled mob +retreated from Mineola, and some, when that danger was past, wished to +descend to the ground, and go and look at the rising waters, which had +not yet invaded the neighborhood. But Cosmo absolutely forbade any +departures from the ark. The condensation of the nebula, he declared, +was likely to begin any minute, and the downpour would be so fierce that +a person might be drowned in the open field. + +It came even sooner than he had anticipated, with the results that we +have already noted in New York. At first many thought that the ark +itself would be destroyed, so dreadful was the impact of the falling +water. The women and children, and some of the men, were seized with +panic, and Cosmo had great difficulty in reassuring them. + +"The flood will not reach us for several hours yet," he said. "The level +of the water must rise at least a hundred feet more before we shall be +afloat. Inside here we are perfectly safe. The ark is exceedingly strong +and absolutely tight. You have nothing to fear." + +Then he ordered an ingenious sound-absorbing screen, which he had +prepared, to be drawn over the great ceiling of the saloon, the effect +of which was to shut out the awful noise of the water roaring upon the +roof of the ark. A silence that was at first startling by contrast to +the preceding din prevailed as soon as the screen was in place. + +Amid a hush of expectancy, Cosmo now mounted a dais at one end of the +room. Never before had the intellectual superiority of the man seemed so +evident. His huge "dome of thought," surmounting his slight body, +dominated the assembly like the front of Jove. Chairs near him were +occupied by Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, Professor +Alexander Jones, and the two "speculative geniuses" whom he had named to +Joseph Smith. These were Costake Theriade, of Rumania, a tall, dark, +high-browed thinker, who was engaged in devising ways to extract and +recover interatomic energy; and Sir Wilfred Athelstone, whose specialty +was bio-chemistry, and who was said to have produced amazing results in +artificial parthenogenesis and the production of new species. + +As soon as attention was concentrated upon him, Cosmo Versal began to +speak. + +"My friends," he said, "the world around us is now sinking beneath a +flood that will not be arrested until America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and +Australia have disappeared. We stand at the opening of a new age. You +alone who are here assembled, and your descendants, will constitute the +population of the new world that is to be. + +"In this ark, which owes its existence to the foreseeing eye of science, +you will be borne in safety upon the bosom of the battling waters, and +we will disembark upon the first promising land that reappears, and +begin the plantation and development of a new society of men and women, +which, I trust, will afford a practical demonstration of the principles +of eugenics. + +"I have, as far as possible, and as far as the pitiful blindness of +mankind permitted me to go, selected and assembled here representatives +of the best tendencies of humanity. You are a chosen remnant, and the +future of this planet depends upon you. + +"I have been fortunate in securing the companionship of men of science +who will be able to lead and direct. The ark is fully provisioned for a +period which must exceed the probable duration of the flood. I have +taken pains not to overcrowd it, and every preparation has been made for +any contingencies which may arise. + +"It is inexpressibly sad to part thus with the millions of our +fellow-beings who would not heed the warnings that were lavished upon +them; but, while our hearts may be rent with the thought, it is our duty +to cast off the burden of vain regrets and concentrate all our energies +upon the great work before us. + +"I salute," he continued, raising his voice and lifting a glass of wine +from the little table before him, "the world of the past--may its faults +be forgotten--and the world of the future--may it rise on the wings of +science to nobler prospects!" + +He poured out the wine like a libation; and as his voice ceased to echo, +and he sank into his seat, an uncontrollable wave of emotion ran over +the assembly. Many of the women wept, and the men conversed in whispers. +After a considerable interval, during which no one spoke above his +breath, Professor Able Abel arose and said: + +"The gratitude which we owe to this man"--indicating Cosmo Versal--"can +best be expressed, not in words, but by acts. He has led us thus far; he +must continue to lead us to the end. We were blind, while he was full of +light. It will become us hereafter to heed well whatever he may say. I +now wish to ask if he can foresee where upon the re-emerging planet a +foothold is first likely to be obtained. Where lies our land of +promise?" + +"I can answer that question," Cosmo replied, "only in general terms. You +are all aware that the vast table-land of Tibet is the loftiest region +upon the globe. In its western part it lies from fourteen to seventeen +or eighteen thousand feet above the ordinary level of the sea. Above it +rise the greatest mountain peaks in existence. Here the first +considerable area is likely to be uncovered. It is upon the Pamirs, the +'Roof of the World,' that we shall probably make our landing." + +"May I ask," said Professor Abel Able, "in what manner you expect the +waters of the flood to be withdrawn, after the earth is completely +drowned?" + +"That," was the reply, "was one of the fundamental questions that I +examined, but I do not care to enter into a discussion of it now. I may +simply say that it is not only upon the disappearance of the waters that +our hopes depend, but upon circumstances that I shall endeavor to make +clear hereafter. The new cradle of mankind will be located near the old +one, and the roses of the Vale of Cashmere will canopy it." + +Cosmo Versal's words made a profound impression upon his hearers, and +awoke thoughts that carried their minds off into strange reveries. No +more questions were asked, and gradually the assemblage broke up into +groups of interested talkers. + +It was now near midnight. Cosmo, beckoning Professor Abel Able, +Professor Alexander Jones, and Professor Jeremiah Moses to accompany +him, made his way out of the saloon, and, secretly opening one of the +gangway doors, they presently stood, sheltering themselves from the +pouring rain, in a position which enabled them to look toward New York. + +Nothing, of course, was visible through the downpour; but they were +startled at hearing fearful cries issuing out of the darkness. The rural +parts of the city, filled with gardens and villas, lay round within a +quarter of a mile of the ark, and the sound, accelerated by the +water-charged atmosphere, struck upon their ears with terrible +distinctness. Sometimes, when a gust of wind blew the rain into their +faces, the sound deepened into a long, despairing wail, which seemed to +be borne from afar off, mingled with the roar of the descending +torrent--the death-cry of the vast metropolis! + +"Merciful Heaven, I cannot endure this!" cried Professor Moses. + +"Go to my cabin," Cosmo yelled in his ear, "and take the others with +you. I will join you there in a little while. I wish to measure the rate +of rise of the water." + +They gladly left him, and fled into the interior of the ark. Cosmo +procured an electric lamp; and the moment its light streamed out he +perceived that the water had already submerged the great cradle in which +the ark rested, and was beginning to creep up the metallic sides. He +lowered a graduated tape into it, provided with an automatic register. +In a few minutes he had completed his task, and then he went to rejoin +his late companions in his cabin. + +"In about an hour," he said to them, "we shall be afloat. The water is +rising at the rate of one-thirtieth of an inch per second." + +"No more than that?" asked Professor Jones with an accent of surprise. + +"That is quite enough," Cosmo replied. "One-thirtieth of an inch per +second means two inches in a minute, and ten feet in an hour. In +twenty-four hours from now the water will stand two hundred and forty +feet above its present level, and then only the tallest structures in +New York will lift their tops above it, if, indeed, they are not long +before overturned by undermining or the force of the waves." + +"But it will be a long time before the hills and highlands are +submerged," suggested Professor Jones. "Are you perfectly sure that the +flood will cover them?" + +Cosmo Versal looked at his interlocutor, and slowly shook his head. + +"It is truly a disappointment to me," he said at length, "to find that, +even now, remnants of doubt cling to your minds. I tell you that the +nebula is condensing at its maximum rate. It is likely to continue to do +so for at least four months. In four months, at the rate of two inches +per minute, the level of the water will rise 28,800 feet. There is only +one peak in the world which is surely known to attain a slightly greater +height than that--Mount Everest, in the Himalayas. Even in a single +month the rise will amount to 7,200 feet. That is 511 feet higher than +the loftiest mountain in the Appalachians. In one month, then, there +will be nothing visible of North America east of the Rockies. And in +another month they will have gone under." + +Not another word was said. The three professors sat, wide-eyed and +open-mouthed, staring at Cosmo Versal, whose bald head was crowned with +an aureole by the electric light that beamed from the ceiling, while, +with a gold pocket pencil, he fell to figuring upon a sheet of paper. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + +While Cosmo Versal was calculating, from the measured rise of the water, +the rate of condensation of the nebula, and finding that it added +twenty-nine trillion two hundred and ninety billion tons to the weight +of the earth every minute--a computation that seemed to give him great +mental satisfaction--the metropolis of the world, whose nucleus was the +island of Manhattan, and every other town and city on the globe that +lay near the ordinary level of the sea, was swiftly sinking beneath the +swelling flood. + +Everywhere, over all the broad surface of the planet, a wail of despair +arose from the perishing millions, beaten down by the water that poured +from the unpitying sky. Even on the highlands the situation was little +better than in the valleys. The hills seemed to have been turned into the +crests of cataracts from which torrents of water rushed down on all sides, +stripping the soil from the rocks, and sending the stones and bowlders +roaring and leaping into the lowlands and the gorges. Farmhouses, barns, +villas, trees, animals, human beings--all were swept away together. + +Only on broad elevated plateaus, where higher points rose above the general +level, were a few of the inhabitants able to find a kind of refuge. By +seeking these high places, and sheltering themselves as best they could +among immovable rocks, they succeeded, at least, in delaying their fate. +Notwithstanding the fact that the atmosphere was filled with falling water, +they could yet breathe, if they kept the rain from striking directly in +their faces. It was owing to this circumstance, and to some extraordinary +occurrences which we shall have to relate, that the fate of the human race +was not precisely that which Cosmo Versal had predicted. + +We quitted the scene in New York when the shadow of night had just fallen, +and turned the gloom of the watery atmosphere into impenetrable darkness. +The events of that dreadful night we shall not attempt to depict. When the +hours of daylight returned, and the sun should have brightened over the +doomed city, only a faint, phosphorescent luminosity filled the sky. It +was just sufficient to render objects dimly visible. If the enclosing +nebula had remained in a cloud-like state it would have cut off all light, +but having condensed into raindrops, which streamed down in parallel lines, +except when sudden blasts of wind swept them into a confused mass, the +sunlight was able to penetrate through the interstices, aided by the +transparency of the water, and so a slight but variable illumination was +produced. + +In this unearthly light many tall structures of the metropolis, which had +as yet escaped the effects of undermining by the rushing torrents in the +streets, towered dimly toward the sky, shedding streams of water from every +cornice. Most of the buildings of only six or eight stories had already +been submerged, with the exception of those that stood on the high grounds +in the upper part of the island, and about Spuyten Duyvil. + +In the towers and upper stories of the lofty buildings still standing in +the heart of the city, crowds of unfortunates assembled, gazing with +horror at the spectacles around them, and wringing their hands in helpless +despair. When the light brightened they could see below them the angry +water, creeping every instant closer to their places of refuge, beaten +into foam by the terrible downpour, and sometimes, moved by a mysterious +impulse, rising in sweeping waves which threatened to carry everything +before them. + +Every few minutes one of the great structures would sway, crack, crumble, +and go down into the seething flood, the cries of the lost souls being +swallowed up in the thunder of the fall. And when this occurred within +sight of neighboring towers yet intact, men and women could be seen, some +with children in their arms, madly throwing themselves from windows and +ledges, seeking quick death now that hope was no more! + +Strange and terrible scenes were enacted in the neighborhood of what had +been the water-fronts. Most of the vessels moored there had been virtually +wrecked by the earlier invasion of the sea. Some had been driven upon the +shore, others had careened and been swamped at their wharves. But a few had +succeeded in cutting loose in time to get fairly afloat. Some tried to go +out to sea, but were wrecked by running against obstacles, or by being +swept over the Jersey flats. Some met their end by crashing into the +submerged pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Others steered up the course +of the Hudson River, but that had become a narrow sea, filled with floating +and tossing debris of every sort, and all landmarks being invisible, the +luckless navigators lost their way, and perished, either through collisions +with other vessels, or by driving upon a rocky shore. + +The fate of the gigantic building containing the offices of the municipal +government, which stood near the ancient City Hall, and which had been the +culminating achievement of the famous epoch of "sky-scrapers," was a thing +so singular, and at the same time dramatic, that in a narrative dealing +with less extraordinary events than we are obliged to record it would +appear altogether incredible. + +With its twoscore lofty stories, and its massive base, this wonderful +structure rose above the lower quarter of the city, and dominated it, like +a veritable Tower of Babel, made to defy the flood. Many thousands of +people evidently regarded it in that very light, and they had fled from all +quarters, as soon as the great downpour began, to find refuge within its +mountainous flanks. There were men--clerks, merchants, brokers from the +downtown offices--and women and children from neighboring tenements. + +By good chance, but a few weeks before, this building had been fitted with +a newly invented system of lighting, by which each story was supplied with +electricity from a small dynamo of its own, and so it happened that now the +lamps within were all aglow, lightening the people's hearts a little with +their cheering radiance. + +Up and up they climbed, the water ever following at their heels, from floor +to floor, until ten of the great stages were submerged. But there were more +than twice as many stages yet above, and they counted them with unexpiring +hope, telling one another, with the assurance of desperation, that long +before the flood could attain so stupendous an altitude the rain would +surely cease, and the danger, as far as they were concerned, would pass +away. + +"See! See!" cries one. "It is stopping! It is coming no higher! I've been +watching that step, and the water has stopped! It hasn't risen for ten +minutes!" + +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" yells the crowd behind and above. And the glad cry is +taken up and reverberated from story to story until it bursts wildly out +into the rain-choked air at the very summit. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! We are saved! The flood has stopped!" + +Men madly embrace each other. Women burst into tears and hug their children +to their breasts, filled with a joy and thankfulness that can find no +expression in words. + +"You are wrong," says another man, crouching beside him who first spoke. +"It has not stopped--it is still rising." + +"_What_! I tell you it _has_ stopped," snaps the other. "Look at that step! +It stopped right below it." + +"_You've been watching the wrong step_. It's rising!" + +"You fool! Shut your mouth! I say it has _stopped_." + +"No, it has not." + +"It has! It has!" + +"Look at _that_ step, then! See the water just now coming over it." + +The obstinate optimist stares a moment, turns pale, and then, with an oath, +strikes his more clear-headed neighbor in the face! And the excited crowd +behind, with the blind instinctive feeling that, somehow, he has robbed +them of the hope which was but now as the breath of life to them, strike +him and curse him, too. + +But he had seen only too clearly. + +With the steady march of fate--two inches a minute, as Cosmo Versal had +accurately measured it--the water still advances and climbs upward. + +In a little while they were driven to another story, and then to another. +But hope would not down. They could not believe that the glad news, which +had so recently filled them with joy, was altogether false. The water +_must_ have stopped rising _once_; it had been _seen_. Then, it would +surely stop _again_, stop to rise no more. + +Poor deluded creatures! With the love of life so strong within them, they +could not picture, in their affrighted minds, the terrible consummation to +which they were being slowly driven, when, jammed into the narrow chambers +at the very top of the mighty structure, their remorseless enemy would +seize them at last. + +But they were nearer the end than they could have imagined even if they had +accepted and coolly reasoned upon the facts that were so plain before them. +And, after all, it was not to come upon them only after they had fought +their way to the highest loft and into the last corner. + +A link of this strange chain of fatal events now carries us to the spot +where the United States Navy Yard in Brooklyn once existed. That place was +sunk deep beneath the waters. All of the cruisers, battleships, and other +vessels that had been at anchor or at moorings there had gone under. One +only, the boast of the American navy, the unconquerable _Uncle Sam_, which, +in the last great war that the world had known, had borne the starry flag +to victories whose names broke men's voices and filled their eyes with +tears of pride, had escaped, through the incomparable seamanship of Captain +Robert Decatur, who had been her commander for thirty years. + +But though the _Uncle Sam_ managed to float upon the rising flood, she +was unable to get away because of the obstructions lodged about the great +bridges that spanned the East River. A curious eddy that the raging +currents formed over what was once the widest part of that stream kept +her revolving round and round, never departing far in any direction, +and, with majestic strength, riding down or brushing aside the floating +timbers, wooden houses, and other wreckage that pounded furiously against +her mighty steel sides. + +Just at the time when the waters had mounted to the eighteenth story of the +beleaguered Municipal Building, a sudden change occurred in these currents. +They swept westward with resistless force, and the _Uncle Sam_ was +carried directly over the drowned city. First she encountered the cables of +the Manhattan Bridge, striking them near the western tower, and, swinging +round, wrenched the tower itself from its foundations and hurled it beneath +the waters. + +Then she rushed on, riding with the turbid flood high above the buried +roofs, finding no other obstruction in her way until she approached the +Municipal Building, which was stoutly resisting the push of the waves. + + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT BATTLESHIP... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL- +RIBBED WALLS"] + + +Those who were near the windows and on the balconies, on the eastern side +of the building, saw the great battleship coming out of the gray gloom +like some diluvian monster, and before they could comprehend what it was, +it crashed, prow on, into the steel-ribbed walls, driving them in as if +they had been the armored sides of an enemy. + +So tremendous was the momentum of the striking mass that the huge vessel +passed, like a projectile, through walls and floors and partitions. But as +she emerged in the central court the whole vast structure came thundering +down upon her, and ship and building together sank beneath the boiling +waves. + +But out of the awful tangle of steel girders, that whipped the air and the +water as if some terrible spidery life yet clung to them, by one of those +miracles of chance which defy all the laws of probability and reason, a +small boat of levium, that had belonged to the _Uncle Sam_, was cast forth, +and floated away, half submerged but unsinkable; and clinging to its +thwarts, struggling for breath, insane with terror, were two men, the sole +survivors of all those thousands. + +One of them was a seaman who had taken refuge, with a crowd of comrades, +in the boat before the battleship rushed down upon the building. All of +his comrades had been hurled out and lost when the blow came, while his +present companion was swept in and lodged against the thwarts. And so +those two waifs drove off in the raging waves. Both of them were bleeding +from many wounds, but they had no fatal hurts. + +The boat, though filled with water, was so light that it could not sink. +Moreover, it was ballasted, and amid all its wild gyrations it kept right +side up. Even the ceaseless downpour from the sky could not drive it +beneath the waves. + +After a while the currents that had been setting westward changed their +direction, and the boat was driven toward the north. It swept on past +toppling skyscrapers until it was over the place where Madison Square once +spread its lawns, looked down upon by gigantic structures, most of which +had now either crumbled and disappeared or were swaying to their fall. Here +there was an eddy, and the boat turned round and round amid floating debris +until two other draggled creatures, who had been clinging to floating +objects, succeeded by desperate efforts in pulling themselves into it. +Others tried but failed, and no one lent a helping hand. Those who were +already in the boat neither opposed nor aided the efforts of those who +battled to enter it. No words were heard in the fearful uproar--only +inarticulate cries. + +Suddenly the current changed again, and the boat, with its dazed occupants, +was hurried off in the direction of the Hudson. Night was now beginning +once more to drop an obscuring curtain over the scene, and under that +curtain the last throes of drowning New York were hidden. When the sun +again faintly illuminated the western hemisphere the whole Atlantic +seaboard was buried under the sea. + +As the water rose higher, Cosmo Versal's Ark at last left its cradle, and +cumbrously floated off, moving first eastward, then turning in the +direction of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Cosmo had his engines in operation, +but their full power was not developed as soon as he had expected, and +the great vessel drifted at the will of the currents and the wind, the +latter coming now from one side and now from another, rising at times to +hurricane strength and then dying away until only a spanking breeze swept +the ever-falling rain into swishing sheets. Occasionally the wind failed +entirely, and for many minutes at a time the water fell in vertical +streams. + +At length the motive power of the Ark was developed, and it began to obey +its helm. From the shelter of a "captain's bridge," constructed at the +forward end of the huge levium dome that covered the vessel, Cosmo Versal, +with Captain Arms, a liberally bewhiskered, veteran navigator in whose +skill he confided, peered over the interminable waste of waters. There was +nothing in sight except floating objects that had welled up from the +drowned city and the surrounding villages. Here and there the body of an +animal or a human being was seen in the tossing waves, and Cosmo Versal +sadly shook his head as he pointed them out, but the stout mariner at his +side chewed his tobacco, and paid attention only to his duties, shouting +orders from time to time through a speaking-tube, or touching an electric +button. + +Cosmo Versal brought a rain-gage and again and again allowed it to fill +itself. The story was always the same--two inches per minute, ten feet per +hour, the water mounted. + +The nebula had settled down to regular work, and, if Cosmo's calculations +were sound, there would be no intermission for four months. + +After the power of the propellers had been developed the Ark was steered +southeastward. Its progress was very slow. In the course of eight hours +it had not gone more than fifty miles. The night came on, and the speed +was reduced until there was only sufficient way to insure the command of +the vessel's movements. Powerful searchlights were employed as long as +the stygian darkness continued. + +With the return of the pallid light, at what should have been daybreak, +Cosmo and his navigator were again at their post. In fact, the former +had not slept at all, keeping watch through the long hours, with +Captain Arms within easy call. + +As the light became stronger, Cosmo said to the captain: + +"Steer toward New York. I wish to see if the last of the tall buildings on +the upper heights have gone under." + +"It will be very dangerous to go that way," objected Captain Arms. "There +are no landmarks, and we may strike a snag." + +"Not if we are careful," replied Cosmo. "All but the highest ground is now +buried very deep." + +"It is taking a fool's risk," growled Captain Arms, through his brush, but +nevertheless he obeyed. + +It was true that they had nothing to go by. The air was too thick with +water, and the light too feeble for them to be able to lay their course +by sighting the distant hills of New Jersey which yet remained above the +level of the flood. Still, by a kind of seaman's instinct, Captain Arms +made his way, until he felt that he ought to venture no farther. He had +just turned to Cosmo Versal with the intention of voicing his protest +when the Ark careened slightly, shivered from stem to stern, and then +began a bumping movement that nearly threw the two men from their feet. + +"We are aground!" cried the captain, and instantly turned a knob that set +in motion automatic machinery which cut off the engines from the +propellers, and at the same time slowed down the engines themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + +The Ark had lodged on the loftiest part of the Palisades. It was only after +long and careful study of their position, rendered possible by occasional +glimpses of the Orange Hills and high points further up the course of the +Hudson, that Cosmo Versal and Captain Arms were able to reach that +conclusion. Where New York had stood nothing was visible but an expanse of +turbid and rushing water. + +But suppose the hard trap rocks had penetrated the bottom of the Ark! It +was a contingency too terrible to be thought of. Yet the facts must be +ascertained at once. + +Cosmo, calling Joseph Smith, and commanding him to go among the frightened +passengers and assure them, in his name, that there was no danger, hurried, +with the captain and a few trusty men, into the bowels of the vessel. They +thoroughly sounded the bottom plates. No aperture and no indentation was +to be found. + +But, then, the bottom was double, and the outer plates might have been +perforated. If this had happened the fact would reveal itself through the +leakage of water into the intervening space. To ascertain if that had +occurred it was necessary to unscrew the covers of some of the manholes in +the inner skin of levium. + +It was an anxious moment when they cautiously removed one of these covers. +At the last turns of the screw the workman who handled it instinctively +turned his head aside, and made ready for a spring, more than half +expecting that the cover would be driven from his hands, and a stream of +water would burst in. + +But the cover remained in place after it was completely loosened, and until +it had been lifted off. A sigh of relief broke from every breast. No water +was visible. + +"Climb in there, and explore the bottom," Cosmo commanded. + +There was a space of eighteen inches between the two bottoms, which were +connected and braced by the curved ribs of the hull. A man immediately +disappeared in the opening and began the exploration. Cosmo ordered the +removal of other covers at various points, and the exploration was extended +over the whole bottom. He himself passed through one of the manholes and +aided in the work. + +At last it was determined, beyond any doubt, that even the outer skin was +uninjured. Not so much as a dent could be found in it. + +"By the favor of Providence," said Cosmo Versal, as his great head emerged +from a manhole, "the Ark has touched upon a place where the rocks are +covered with soil, and no harm has come to us. In a very short time the +rising water will lift us off." + +"And, with my consent, you'll do no more navigating over hills and +mountains," grumbled Captain Arms. "The open sea for the sailor." + +The covers were carefully replaced, and the party, in happier spirits, +returned to the upper decks, where the good news was quickly spread. + +The fact was that while the inspection was under way the Ark had floated +off, and when Cosmo and the captain reached their bridge the man who had +been left in charge reported that the vessel had swung halfway round. + +"She's headed for the old Atlantic," sung out Captain Arms. "The sooner +we're off the better." + +But before the captain could signal the order to go ahead, Cosmo Versal +laid his hand on his arm and said: + +"Wait a moment; listen." + +Through the lashing of the rain a voice penetrated with a sound between a +call and a scream. There could be no doubt that it was human. The captain +and Cosmo looked at one another in speechless astonishment. The idea that +any one outside the Ark could have survived, and could now be afloat amid +this turmoil of waters, had not occurred to their minds. They experienced +a creeping of the nerves. In a few minutes the voice came again, louder +than before, and the words that it pronounced being now clearly audible, +the two listeners could not believe their ears. + +"Cosmo Versal!" it yelled. "Cosmo-o-o Ver-sa-al! A billion for a share! A +_billion_, I say, a _bil-li-on_ for a share!" + +Then they perceived a little way off to the left something which looked +like the outline of a boat, sunk to the gunwales, washed over by every +wave; and standing in it, up to their waists in water, were four men, one +of whom was gesticulating violently, while the others seemed dazed and +incapable of voluntary movement. + +It was the boat of levium that had been thrown out of the wreckage when the +battleship ran down the Municipal tower, and we must now follow the thread +of its adventures up to the time of its encounter with the Ark. + +As the boat was driven westward from the drowned site of Madison Square it +gradually freed itself from the objects floating around, most of which soon +sunk, and in an hour or two its inmates were alone--the sole survivors of a +dense population of many millions. + +Alone they were in impenetrable darkness, for, as we have said, night had +by this time once more fallen. + +They floated on, half drowned, chilled to the bone, not trying to speak, +not really conscious of one another's presence. The rain beat down upon +them, the waves washed over them, the unsinkable boat sluggishly rose and +fell with the heaving of the water, and occasionally they were nearly flung +overboard by a sudden lurch--and yet they clung with desperate tenacity to +the thwarts, as if life were still dear, as if they thought that they might +yet survive, though the world was drowned. + +Thus hours passed, and at last a glimmer appeared in the streaming air, and +a faint light stole over the face of the water. If they saw one another, +it was with unrecognizing eyes. They were devoured with hunger, but they +did not know it. + +Suddenly one of them--it was he who had been so miraculously thrown into +the boat when it shot out of the tangle of falling beams and walls-- +raised his head and threw up his arms, a wild light gleaming in his eyes. + +In a hoarse, screaming voice he yelled: + +"Cosmo Versal!" + +No other syllables that the tongue could shape would have produced the +effect of that name. It roused the three men who heard it from their +lethargy of despair, and thrilled them to the marrow. With amazed eyes they +stared at their companion. He did not look at them, but gazed off into the +thick rain. Again his voice rose in a maniacal shriek: + +"Cosmo Versal! Do you hear me? Let me in! A billion for a share!" + +The men looked at each other, and, even in their desperate situation, felt +a stir of pity in their hearts. They were not too dazed to comprehend that +their companion had gone mad. One of them moved to his side, and laid a +hand upon his shoulder, as if he would try to soothe him. + +But the maniac threw him off, nearly precipitating him over the side of +the submerged boat, crying: + +"What are _you_ doing in my boat? Overboard with you! I am looking for +Cosmo Versal! He's got the biggest thing afloat! Securities! Securities! +Gilt-edged! A _billion_, I tell you! Here I have them--look! Gilt-edged, +every one!" and he snatched a thick bundle of papers from his pocket and +waved them wildly until they melted into a pulpy mass with the downpour. + +The others now shrank away from him in fear. Fear? Yes, for still they +loved their lives, and the staggering support beneath their feet had become +as precious to them as the solid earth. They would have fought with the +fury of madmen to retain their places in that half-swamped shell. They were +still capable of experiencing a keener fear than that of the flood. They +were as terrified by the presence of this maniac as they would have been +on encountering him in their homes. + +But he did not attempt to follow them. He still looked off through the +driving rain, balancing himself to the sluggish lurching of the boat, and +continuing to rave, and shout, and shake his soaked bundle of papers, +until, exhausted by his efforts, and half-choked by the water that drove in +his face, he sank helpless upon a thwart. + +Then they fell back into their lethargy, but in a little while he was on +his feet again, gesticulating and raging--and thus hours passed on, and +still they were afloat, and still clinging to life. + +Suddenly, looming out of the strange gloom, they perceived the huge form of +the Ark, and all struggled to their feet, but none could find voice but the +maniac. + +As soon as he saw the men, Cosmo Versal had run down to the lowest deck, +and ordered the opening of a gangway on that side. When the door swung +back he found himself within a few yards of the swamped boat, but ten feet +above its level. Joseph Smith, Professor Moses, Professor Jones, Professor +Able, and others of the passengers, and several of the crew, hurried to his +side, while the rest of the passengers crowded as near as they could get. + +The instant that Cosmo appeared the maniac redoubled his cries. + +"Here they are," he yelled, shaking what remained of his papers. "A +billion--all gilt-edged! Let me in. But shut out the others. They're +only little fellows. They've got no means. They can't float an enterprise +like this. Ah, you're a bright one! You and me, Cosmo Versal--we'll +squeeze 'em all out. I'll give you the secrets. We'll own the earth! I'm +_Amos Blank!_" + +Cosmo Versal recognized the man in spite of the dreadful change that had +come over him. His face was white and drawn, his eyes staring, his head +bare, his hair matted with water, his clothing in shreds--but it was +unmistakably Amos Blank, a man whose features the newspapers had rendered +familiar to millions, a man who had for years stood before the public as +the unabashed representative of the system of remorseless repression of +competition, and shameless corruption of justice and legislation. After the +world, for nearly two generations, had enjoyed the blessings of the reforms +in business methods and social ideals that had been inaugurated by the +great uprising of the people in the first quarter of the twentieth +century, Amos Blank, and lesser men of his ilk, had swung back the +pendulum, and re-established more firmly than ever the reign of monopoly +and iniquitous privilege. + +The water-logged little craft floated nearer until it almost touched the +side of the Ark directly below the gangway. The madman's eyes glowed with +eagerness, and he reached up his papers, continually yelling his refrain: +"A billion! Gilt-edged! Let me in! Don't give the rabble a show!" + +Cosmo made no reply, but gazed down upon the man and his bedraggled +companions with impassive features, but thoughtful eyes. Any one who knew +him intimately, as Joseph Smith alone did, could have read his mind. He was +asking himself what he ought to do. Here was the whole fundamental question +to be gone over again. To what purpose had he taken so great pains to +select the flower of mankind? Here was the head and chief of the offense +that he had striven to eliminate appealing to him to be saved under +circumstances which went straight to the heart and awoke every sentiment of +humanity. + +Presently he said in as low a voice as could be made audible: + +"Joseph, advise me. What should I do?" + +"You were willing to take Professor Pludder," replied Smith evasively, but +with a plain leaning to the side of mercy. + +"You know very well that that was different," Cosmo returned irritably. +"Pludder was not morally rotten. He was only mistaken. He had the +fundamental scientific quality, and I'm sorry he threw himself away in +his obstinacy. But this man--" + +"Since he is _alone_," broke in Joseph Smith with a sudden illumination, +"he could do no harm." + +Cosmo Versal's expression instantly brightened. + +"You are right!" he exclaimed. "By himself he can do nothing. I am sure +there is no one aboard who would sympathize with his ideas. Alone, he is +innocuous. Besides, he's insane, and I can't leave him to drown in that +condition. And I must take the others, too. Let down a landing stage," he +continued in a louder voice, addressing some members of the crew. + +In a few minutes all four of the unfortunates, seeming more dead than live, +were helped into the Ark. + +Amos Blank immediately precipitated himself upon Cosmo Versal, and, seizing +him by the arm, tried to lead him apart, saying in his ear, as he glared +round upon the faces of the throng which crowded every available space. + +"Hist! Overboard with 'em! What's all this trash? Shovel 'em out! +They'll want to get in with us; they'll queer the game!" + +Then he turned furiously upon the persons nearest him, and began to push +them toward the open gangway. At a signal from Cosmo Versal, two men +seized him and pinioned his arms. At that his mood changed, and, +wrenching himself loose, he once more ran to Cosmo, waving his bedraggled +bundle, and shouting: + +"A billion! Here's the certificates--gilt-edge! But," he continued, with +a cunning leer, and suddenly thrusting the sodden papers into his pocket, +"you'll make out the receipts first. I'll put in _five_ billions to make +it a sure go, if you won't let in another soul." + +Cosmo shook off the man's grasp, and again calling the two members of the +crew who had before pinioned his arms, told them to lead him away, at the +same time saying to him: + +"You go with these men into my room. I'll see you later." + +Blank took it in the best part, and willingly accompanied his conductors, +only stopping a moment to wink over his shoulder at Cosmo, and then he +was led through the crowd, which regarded him with unconcealed +astonishment, and in many cases with no small degree of fear. As soon as +he was beyond earshot, Cosmo directed Joseph Smith to hurry ahead of the +party and conduct them to a particular apartment, which he designated at +the same time, saying to Smith: + +"Turn the key on him as soon as he's inside." + +Amos Blank, now an insane prisoner in Cosmo Versal's Ark, had been the +greatest financial power in the world's metropolis, a man of iron nerve and +the clearest of brains, who always kept his head and never uttered a +foolish word. It was he who had stood over the flight of steps in the +Municipal Building, coolly measuring with his eye the rise of the water, +exposing the terrible error that sent such a wave of unreasoning joy +through the hearts of the thousands of refugees crowded into the doomed +edifice, and receiving blows and curses for making the truth known. + +He had himself taken refuge there, after visiting his office and filling +his pockets with his most precious papers. How, by a marvelous stroke of +fate, he became one of the four persons who alone escaped from New York +after the downpour began is already known. + + +The other men taken from the boat were treated like rescued mariners +snatched from a wreck at sea. Every attention was lavished upon them, and +Cosmo Versal did not appear to regret, as far as they were concerned, that +his ship's company had been so unexpectedly recruited. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + +We now turn our attention for a time from the New World to the Old. What +did the thronging populations of Europe, Africa, and Asia do when the signs +of coming disaster chased one on another's heels, when the oceans began to +burst their bonds, and when the windows of the firmament were opened? + +The picture that can be drawn must necessarily be very fragmentary, +because the number who escaped was small and the records that they left +are few. + +The savants of the older nations were, in general, quite as incredulous +and as set in their opposition to Cosmo Versal's extraordinary out- +givings as those of America. They decried his science and denounced his +predictions as the work of a fool or a madman. The president of the Royal +Astronomical Society of Great Britain proved to the satisfaction of most +of his colleagues that a nebula could not possibly contain enough water +to drown an asteroid, let alone the earth. + +"The nebulae," said this learned astronomer, amid the plaudits of his +hearers, "are infinitely rarer in composition than the rarest gas left +in the receiver of an exhausted air-pump. I would undertake to swallow +from a wineglass the entire substance of any nebula that could enter the +space between the earth and the sun, if it were condensed into the liquid +state." + +"It might be intoxicating," called out a facetious member. + +"Will the chair permit me to point out," said another with great gravity, +"that such a proceeding would be eminently rash, for the nebulous fluid +might be highly poisonous." ["Hear! Hear!" and laughter.] + +"What do you say of this strange darkness and these storms?" asked an +earnest-looking man. (This meeting was held after the terrors of the +_third sign_ had occurred.) + +"I say," replied the president, "that that is the affair of the +Meteorological Society, and has nothing to do with astronomy. I dare say +that they can account for it." + +"And I dare say they can't," cried a voice. + +"Hear! Hear!" "Who are you?" "Put him out!" "I dare say he's right!" "Cosmo +Versal!" Everybody was talking at once. + +"Will this gentleman identify himself?" asked the president. "Will he +please explain his words?" + +"That I will," said a tall man with long whiskers, rising at the rear end +of the room. "I am pretty well known. I----" + +"It's Jameson, the astrologer," cried a voice. "What's _he_ doing here?" + +"Yes," said the whiskered man, "it's Jameson, the astrologer, and he has +come here to let you know that Cosmo Versal was born under the sign Cancer, +the first of the watery triplicity, and that Berosus, the Chaldean, +declared----" + +An uproar immediately ensued; half the members were on their feet at once; +there was a scuffle in the back part of the room, and Jameson, the +astrologer, was hustled out, shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Berosus, the Chaldean, predicted that the world would be drowned when +all the planets should assemble in the sign Cancer--_and where are they +now?_ Blind and stupid dolts that you are--_where are they now?"_ + +It was some time before order could be restored, and a number of members +disappeared, having followed Jameson, the astrologer, possibly through +sympathy, or possibly with a desire to learn more about the prediction of +Berosus, the father of astrology. + +When those who remained, and who constituted the great majority of the +membership, had quieted down, the president remarked that the interruption +which they had just experienced was quite in line with all the other +proceedings of the disturbers of public tranquillity who, under the lead +of a crazy American charlatan, were trying to deceive the ignorant +multitude. But they would find themselves seriously in error if they +imagined that their absurd ideas were going to be "taken over" in England. + +"I dare say," he concluded, "that there is some _scheme_ behind it all." + +"Another American 'trust'!" cried a voice. + +The proceedings were finally brought to an end, but not before a modest +member had risen in his place and timidly remarked that there was one +question that he would like to put to the chair--one thing that did not +seem to have been made quite clear--"Where _were_ the planets now?" + +A volley of hoots, mingled with a few "hears!" constituted the only +reply. + +Scenes not altogether unlike this occurred in the other great learned +societies--astronomical, meteorological, and geological. The official +representatives of science were virtually unanimous in condemnation of +Cosmo Versal, and in persistent assertion that nothing that had occurred +was inexplicable by known laws. But in no instance did they make it clear +to anybody precisely what were the laws that they invoked, or how it +happened that Cosmo Versal had been able to predict so many strange things +which everybody knew really had come to pass, such as the sudden storms and +the great darkness. + +We are still, it must not be forgotten, dealing with a time anterior to the +rising of the sea. + +The Paris Academy of Sciences voted that the subject was unworthy of +serious investigation, and similar action was taken at Berlin, St. +Petersburg, Vienna, and elsewhere. + +But among the people at large universal alarm prevailed, and nothing was +so eagerly read as the dispatches from New York, detailing the proceedings +of Cosmo Versal, and describing the progress of his great levium ark. In +England many procured copies of Cosmo's circulars, in which the proper +methods to be pursued in the construction of arks were carefully set forth. +Some set to work to build such vessels; but, following British methods of +construction, they doubled the weight of everything, with the result that, +if Cosmo had seen what they were about he would have told them that such +arks would go to the bottom faster than to the top. + +In Germany the balloon idea took full possession of the public mind. +Germany had long before developed the greatest fleet of dirigible balloons +in existence, preferring them to every other type of flying apparatus. It +was reported that the Kaiser was of the opinion that if worst came to worst +the best manner of meeting the emergency would be by the multiplication of +dirigibles and the increase of their capacity. + +The result was that a considerable number of wealthy Germans began the +construction of such vessels. But when interviewed they denied that they +were preparing for a flood. They said that they simply wished to enlarge +and increase the number of their pleasure craft, after the example of the +Kaiser. All this was in contemptuous defiance of the warning which Cosmo +Versal had been careful to insert in his circulars, that "balloons and +aeros of all kinds will be of no use whatever; the only safety will be +found in arks, and they must be provisioned for at least five years." + +The most remarkable thing of all happened in France. It might naturally +have been expected that a Frenchman who thought it worth his while to take +any precautions against the extinction of the human race would, when it +became a question of a flood, have turned to the aero, for from the +commencement of aerial navigation French engineers had maintained an +unquestionable superiority in the construction and perfection of that kind +of machine. + +Their aeros could usually fly longer and carry more dead weight than those +of any other nation. In the transoceanic aero races which occasionally took +place the French furnished the most daring and the most frequently +successful competitors. + +But the French mind is masterly in appreciation of details, and Cosmo +Versal's reasons for condemning the aero and the balloon as means of +escaping the flood were promptly divined. In the first place it was seen +that no kind of airship could be successfully provisioned for a flight of +indefinite length, and in the second place the probable strength of the +winds, or the crushing weight of the descending water, in case, as Cosmo +predicted, a nebula should condense upon the earth, would either sweep an +aero or a balloon to swift destruction, or carry it down into the waves +like a water-soaked butterfly. + +Accordingly, when a few Frenchmen began seriously to consider the +question of providing a way of escape from the flood--always supposing, for +the sake of argument, that there would be a flood--they got together, under +the leadership of an engineer officer named Yves de Beauxchamps, and +discussed the matter in all its aspects. They were not long in arriving at +the conclusion that the best and most logical thing that could possibly be +done would be to construct a _submarine_. + +In fact, this was almost an inevitable conclusion for them, because before +the abandonment of submarines in war on account of their _too_ great +powers of destruction--a circumstance which had also led to the prohibition +of the use of explosive bombs in the aerial navies--the French had held +the lead in the construction and management of submersible vessels, even +more decisively than in the case of aeros. + +"A large submarine," said De Beauxchamps, "into whose construction a +certain amount of levium entered, would possess manifest advantages over +Versal's Ark. It could be provisioned to any extent desired, it would +escape the discomforts of the waves, winds, and flooding rain, and it +could easily rise to the surface whenever that might be desirable for +change of air. It would have all the amphibious advantages of a whale." + +The others were decidedly of De Beauxchamps's opinion, and it was +enthusiastically resolved that a vessel of this kind should be begun at +once. + +"If we don't need it for a flood," said De Beauxchamps, "we can employ it +for a pleasure vessel to visit the wonders of the deep. We will then make +a reality of that marvelous dream of our countryman of old, that prince of +dreamers, Jules Verne." + +"Let's name it for him!" cried one. + +"Admirable! Charming!" they all exclaimed. "_Vive le 'Jules Verne'!_" + +Within two days, but without the knowledge of the public, the keel of the +submersible _Jules Verne_ was laid. But we shall hear of that remarkable +craft again. + +While animated, and in some cases violent, discussions were taking place +in the learned circles of Europe, and a few were making ready in such +manner as they deemed most effective for possible contingencies, waves of +panic swept over the remainder of the Old World. There were yet hundreds +of millions in Africa and Asia to whom the advantages of scientific +instruction had not extended, but who, while still more or less under the +dominion of ignorance and superstition, were in touch with the _news_ of +the whole planet. + +The rumor that a wise man in America had discovered that the world was +to be drowned was not long in reaching the most remote recesses of the +African forests and of the boundless steppes of the greater continent, +and, however it might be ridiculed or received with skeptical smiles in +the strongholds of civilization, it met with ready belief in less +enlightened minds. + +Then, the three "signs"--the first great heat, the onslaught of storm and +lightning, and the _Noche Triste_, the great darkness--had been world-wide +in their effects, and each had heightened the terror caused by its +predecessor. Moreover, in the less enlightened parts of the world the +reassurances of the astronomers and others did not penetrate at all, or, +if they did, had no effect, for not only does bad news run while good news +walks, but it talks faster. + +It will be recalled that one of the most disquieting incidents in America, +immediately preceding the catastrophal rising of the oceans, was the +melting of the Arctic snows and ice-fields, with consequent inundations +in the north. This stage in the progress of the coming disaster was +accentuated in Europe by the existence of the vast glaciers of the Alps. +The Rocky Mountains, in their middle course, had relatively little snow and +almost no true glaciers, and consequently there were no scenes of this kind +in the United States comparable with those that occurred in the heart of +Europe. + +After the alarm caused by the great darkness in September had died out, and +the long spell of continuous clear skies began, the summer resorts of +Switzerland were crowded as they had seldom been. People were driven there +by the heat, for one thing; and then, owing to the early melting of the +winter's deposit of snow, the Alps presented themselves in a new aspect. + +Mountain-climbers found it easy to make ascents upon peaks which had always +hitherto presented great difficulties on account of the vast snow-fields, +seamed with dangerous crevasses, which hung upon their flanks. These were +now so far removed that it was practicable for amateur climbers to go where +always before only trained Alpinists, accompanied by the most experienced +guides, dared to venture. + +But as the autumn days ran on and new snows fell, the deep-seated glaciers +began to dissolve, and masses of ice that had lain for untold centuries in +the mighty laps of the mountains, projecting frozen noses into the valleys, +came tumbling down, partly in the form of torrents of water and partly in +roaring avalanches. + +The great Aletsch glacier was turned into a river that swept down into the +valley of the Rhone, carrying everything before it. The glaciers at the +head of the Rhone added their contribution. The whole of the Bernese +Oberland seemed to have suddenly been dissolved like a huge mass of sugar +candy, and on the north the valley of Interlaken was inundated, while the +lakes of Thun and Brientz were lost in an inland sea which rapidly spread +over all the lower lands between the Alps and the Swiss Jura. + +Farther east the Rhine, swollen by the continual descent of the glacier +water, burst its banks, and broadened out until Strasburg lay under water +with the finger of its ancient cathedral helplessly pointing skyward out +of the midst of the flood. All the ancient cities of the great valley from +Basle to Mayence saw their streets inundated and the foundations of their +most precious architectural monuments undermined by the searching water. + +The swollen river reared back at the narrow pass through the Taunus range, +and formed a huge eddy that swirled over the old city of Bingen. Then it +tore down between the castle-crowned heights, sweeping away the villages +on the river banks from Bingen to Coblentz, lashing the projecting rocks +of the Lorelei, and carrying off houses, churches, and old abbeys in a +rush of ruin. + +It widened out as it approached Bonn and Cologne, but the water was still +deep enough to inundate those cities, and finally it spread over the plain +of Holland, finding a score of new mouths through which to pour into the +German Ocean, while the reclaimed area of the Zuyder Zee once more joined +the ocean, and Amsterdam and the other cities of the Netherlands were +buried, in many cases to the tops of the house doors. + +West and south the situation was the same. The Mer de Glace at Chamonix, +and all the other glaciers of the Mont Blanc range, disappeared, sending +floods down to Geneva and over the Dauphiny and down into the plains of +Piedmont and Lombardy. The ruin was tremendous and the loss of life +incalculable. Geneva, Turin, Milan, and a hundred other cities, were +swept by torrents. + +The rapidity of this melting of the vast snow-beds and glaciers of the +Alps was inconceivable, and the effect of the sudden denudation upon the +mountains themselves was ghastly. Their seamed and cavernous sides stood +forth, gaunt and naked, a revelation of Nature in her most fearful aspects +such as men had never looked upon. Mont Blanc, without its blanket of snow +and ice, towered like the blackened ruin of a fallen world, a sight that +made the beholders shudder. + +But this flood ended as suddenly as it had begun. When the age-long +accumulations of snow had all melted the torrents ceased to pour down from +the mountains, and immediately the courageous and industrious inhabitants +of the Netherlands began to repair their broken dikes, while in Northern +Italy and the plains of Southeastern France every effort was made to +repair the terrible losses. + +Of course similar scenes had been enacted, and on even a more fearful +scale, in the plains of India, flooded by the melting of the enormous icy +burden that covered the Himalayas, the "Abode of Snow." And all over the +world, wherever icy mountains reared themselves above inhabited lands, +the same story of destruction and death was told. + +Then, after an interval, came the yet more awful invasion of the sea. + +But few details can be given from lack of records. The Thames roared +backward on its course, and London and all central England were inundated. +A great bore of sea-water swept along the shores of the English Channel, +and bursting through the Skager Rack, covered the lower end of Sweden, and +rushed up the Gulf of Finland, burying St. Petersburg, and turning all +Western Russia, and the plains of Pomerania into a sea. The Netherlands +disappeared. The Atlantic poured through the narrow pass of the Strait of +Gibraltar, leaving only the Lion Rock visible above the waves. + +At length the ocean found its way into the Desert of Sahara, large +areas of which had been reclaimed, and were inhabited by a considerable +population of prosperous farmers. Nowhere did the sudden coming of the +flood cause greater consternation than here--strange as that statement +may seem. The people had an undefined idea that they were protected by a +sort of barrier from any possible inundation. + +It had taken so many years and such endless labor to introduce into the +Sahara sufficient water to transform its potentially rich soil into arable +land that the thought of any sudden superabundance of that element was far +from the minds of the industrious agriculturalists. They had heard of the +inundations caused by the melting of the mountain snows elsewhere, but +there were no snow-clad mountains near them to be feared. + +Accordingly, when a great wave of water came rushing upon them, surmounted, +where it swept over yet unredeemed areas of the desert, by immense clouds +of whirling dust, that darkened the air and recalled the old days of the +simoom, they were taken completely by surprise. But as the water rose +higher they tried valiantly to escape. They were progressive people, and +many of them had aeros. Besides, two or three lines of aero expresses +crossed their country. All who could do so immediately embarked in +airships, some fleeing toward Europe, and others hovering about, gazing +in despair at the spreading waters beneath them. + +As the invasion of the sea grew more and more serious, this flight by +airship became a common spectacle over all the lower-lying parts of Europe, +and in the British Isles. But, in the midst of it, the heavens opened their +flood-gates, as they had done in the New World, and then the aeros, flooded +with rain, and hurled about by contending blasts of wind, drooped, +fluttered, and fell by hundreds into the fast mounting waves. The nebula +was upon them! + +In the meantime those who had provided arks of one kind or another, tried +desperately to get them safely afloat. All the vessels that succeeded in +leaving their wharves were packed with fugitives. Boats of every sort were +pressed into use, and the few that survived were soon floating over the +sites of the drowned homes of their occupants. + +Before it was too late Yves de Beauxchamps and his friends launched their +submarine, and plunged into the bosom of the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + +We return to follow the fortunes of Cosmo Versal's Ark. + +After he had so providentially picked up the crazed billionaire, Amos +Blank, and his three companions, Cosmo ordered Captain Arms to bear away +southeastward, bidding farewell to the drowned shores of America, and +sailing directly over the lower part of Manhattan, and western Long +Island. The navigation was not easy, and if the Ark had not been a +marvelously buoyant vessel it would not long have survived. At the +beginning the heavy and continuous rain kept down the waves, and the +surface of the sea was comparatively smooth, but after a while a curious +phenomenon began to be noticed; immense billows would suddenly appear, +rushing upon the Ark now from one direction and now from another, canting +it over at a dangerous angle, and washing almost to the top of the huge +ellipsoid of the dome. At such times it was difficult for anybody to +maintain a footing, and there was great terror among the passengers. But +Cosmo, and stout Captain Arms, remained at their post, relieving one +another at frequent intervals, and never entrusting the sole charge of +the vessel to any of their lieutenants. + +Cosmo Versal himself was puzzled to account for the origin of the mighty +billows, for it seemed impossible that they could be raised by the wind +notwithstanding the fact that it blew at times with hurricane force. But +at last the explanation came of itself. + +Both Cosmo and the captain happened to be on the bridge together when they +saw ahead something that looked like an enormous column as black as ink, +standing upright on the surface of the water. A glance showed that it was +in swift motion, and, more than that, was approaching in a direct line +toward the Ark. In less than two minutes it was upon them. + +The instant that it met the Ark a terrific roaring deafened them, and the +rounded front of the dome beneath their eyes disappeared under a deluge of +descending water so dense that the vision could not penetrate it. In +another half minute the great vessel seemed to have been driven to the +bottom of the sea. But for the peculiar construction of the shelter of the +bridge its occupants would have been drowned at their posts. As it was they +were soaked as if they had been plunged overboard. Impenetrable darkness +surrounded them. + +But the buoyant vessel shook itself, rolled from side to side, and rose +with a staggering motion until it seemed to be poised on the summit of a +watery mountain. Immediately the complete darkness passed, the awful +downpour ceased, although the rain still fell in torrents, and the Ark +began to glide downward with sickening velocity, as if it were sliding +down a liquid slope. + +It was a considerable time before the two men, clinging to the supports of +the bridge, were able to maintain their equilibrium sufficiently to render +it possible to utter a few connected words. As soon as he could speak with +reasonable comfort Cosmo exclaimed: + +"Now I see what it is that causes the billows, but it is a phenomenon that +I should never have anticipated. It is all due to the nebula. Evidently +there are irregularities of some kind in its constitution which cause the +formation of almost solid masses of water in the atmosphere--suspended +lakes, as it were--which then plunge down in a body as if a hundred +thousand Niagaras were pouring together from the sky. + +"These sudden accessions of water raise stupendous waves which sweep off +in every direction, and that explains the billows that we have +encountered." + +"Well, this nebular navigation beats all my experience," said Captain Arms, +wiping the water out of his eyes. "I was struck by a waterspout once in +the Indian Ocean, and I thought that that capped the climax, but it was +only a catspaw to this. Give me a clear offing and I don't care how much +wind blows, but blow me if I want to get under any more lakes in the sky." + +"We'll have to take whatever comes," returned Cosmo, "but I don't think +there is much danger of running directly into many of these downpours as +we did into this one. Now that we know what they are, we can, perhaps, +detect them long enough in advance to steer out of their way. Anyhow, +we've got a good vessel under our feet. Anything but an ark of levium +would have gone under for good, and if I had not covered the vessel with +the dome there would have been no chance for a soul in her." + +As a matter of fact, the Ark did not encounter any more of the columns of +descending water, but the frequent billows that were met showed that they +were careering over the face of the swollen sea in every direction. + +But there was another trouble of a different nature. The absence of sun +and stars deprived them of the ordinary means of discovering their place. +They could only make a rough guess as to the direction in which they were +going. The gyrostatic compasses gave them considerable assistance, and +they had perfect chronometers, but these latter could be of no use without +celestial observations of some kind. + +At length Cosmo devised a means of obtaining observations that were of +sufficient value to partially serve their purpose. He found that while +the disk of the sun was completely hidden in the watery sky, yet it was +possible to determine its location by means of the varying intensity of +the light. + +Where the sun was a concentrated glow appeared, shading gradually off on +all sides. With infinite pains Cosmo, assisted by the experience of the +captain, succeeded in determining the center of the maximum illumination, +and, assuming that to represent the true place of the sun, they got +something in the nature of observations for altitude and azimuth, and +Captain Arms even drew on his chart "Sumner lines" to determine the +position of the Ark, although he smiled at the thought of their absurd +inaccuracy. Still, it was the best they could do, and was better than +nothing at all. + +They kept a log going also, although, as the captain pointed out, it was +not of much use to know how fast they were traveling, since they could not +know the precise direction, within a whole point of the compass, or perhaps +several points. + +"Besides," he remarked, "what do we know of the currents? This is not the +old Atlantic. If I could feel the Gulf Stream I'd know whereabouts I was, +but these currents come from all directions, and a man might as well try +to navigate in a tub of boiling water." + +"But we can, at least, keep working eastward," said Cosmo. "My idea is +first to make enough southing to get into the latitude of the Sahara +Desert, and then run directly east, so as to cross Africa where there are +no mountains, and where we shall be certain of having plenty of water under +our keel. + +"Then, having got somewhere in the neighborhood of Suez, we can steer +down into the region of the Indian Ocean, and circle round south of the +Himalayas. I want to keep an eye on those mountains, and stay around the +place where they disappear, because that will be the first part of the +earth to emerge from the flood and it is there that we shall ultimately +make land." + +"Well, we're averaging eight knots," said the captain, "and at that rate +we ought to be in the longitude of the African coast in about twenty days. +How high will the water stand then?" + +"My gages show," replied Cosmo, "that the regular fall amounts to exactly +the same thing as at the beginning--two inches a minute. Of course the +spouts increase the amount locally, but I don't think that they add +materially to the general rise of the flood. Two inches per minute means +4,800 feet in twenty days. That'll be sufficient to make safe navigation +for us all the way across northern Africa. We'll have to be careful in +getting out into the Indian Ocean area, for there are mountains on both +sides that might give us trouble, but the higher ones will still be in +sight, and they will serve to indicate the location of the lower ranges +already submerged, but not covered deeply enough to afford safe going over +them." + +"All right," said Captain Arms, "you're the commodore, but if we don't +hang our timbers on the Mountains of the Moon, or the Alps, or old Ararat, +I'm a porpoise. Why can't you keep circling round at a safe distance, in +the middle of the Atlantic, until all these reefs get a good depth of +water on 'em?" + +"Because," Cosmo replied, "even if we keep right on now it will probably +take two months, allowing for delays in getting round dangerous places, +to come within sight of the Himalayas, and in two months the flood will +have risen nearly 15,000 feet, thus hiding many of the landmarks. If we +should hold off here a couple of months before starting eastward nothing +but the one highest peak on the globe would be left in sight by the time +we arrived there, and that wouldn't be anything more than a rock, so that +with the uncertainty of our navigation we might not be able to find it at +all. I must know the spot where Tibet sinks, and then manage to keep in +its neighborhood." + +That ended the argument. + +"Give me a safe port, with lights and bearings, and I'll undertake to hit +it anywhere in the two hemispheres, but blow me if I fancy steering for +the top of the world by dead reckoning, or no reckoning at all," grumbled +the captain. + +At night, of course, they had not even the slight advantage that their +observations of the probable place of the sun gave them when it was above +the horizon. Then they had to go solely by the indications of the compass. +Still, they forged steadily ahead, and when they got into what they deemed +the proper latitude, they ran for the site of the drowned Sahara. + +After about a week the billowing motion caused by the descent of the "lakes +in the sky" ceased entirely, to their great delight, but the lawless nebula +was now preparing another surprise for them. + +On the ninth night after their departure from their lodgment on the +Palisades Cosmo Versal was sleeping in his bunk close by the bridge, where +he could be called in an instant, dreaming perhaps of the glories of the +new world that was to emerge out of the deluge, when he was abruptly +awakened by the voice of Captain Arms, who appeared to be laboring under +uncontrollable excitement. + +"Tumble up quicker'n you ever did in your life!" he exclaimed, his big +brown beard wagging almost in Cosmo's face. "The flood's over!" + +Cosmo sprang out of bed and pulled on his coat in a second. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"Look for yourself," said the captain, pointing overhead. + +Cosmo Versal glanced up and saw the sky ablaze with stars! The rain had +entirely ceased. The surface of the sea was almost as smooth as glass, +though rising and falling slowly, with a long, rolling motion. The Ark +rode steadily, shivering, like an ocean liner, under the impulse of its +engines, and the sudden silence, succeeding the ceaseless roar of the +downpour, which had never been out of their ears from the start of the +voyage, seemed supernatural. + +"When did this happen?" he demanded. + +"It began not more than five minutes ago. I was just saying to myself that +we ought to be somewhere near the center of the old Atlantic as it used to +be, and wondering whether we had got our course laid right to go fairly +between the Canaries and the Cape de Verdes, for I didn't want to be +harpooned by Gogo or the Peak of Teneriffe, when all of a sudden there +came a lightening in the nor'east and the stars broke out there. + +"I was so set aback that I didn't do anything for two or three minutes but +stare at the stars. Then the rain stopped and a curtain seemed to roll off +the sky, and in a minute more it was clear down to the horizon all around. +Then I got my wits together and ran to call you." + +Cosmo glanced around and above, seeming to be as much astonished as the +captain had been. He rubbed his huge bald dome and looked all round again +before speaking. At last he said: + +"It's the nebula again. There must be a hole in it." + +"Its whole bottom's knocked out, I reckon," said the captain. "Maybe it's +run out of water--sort o' squeezed itself dry." + +Cosmo shook his head. + +"We are not yet in the heart of it," he said. "It is evident to me now that +what I took for the nucleus was only a close-coiled spiral, and we're run +out of that, but the worst is yet to come. When we strike the center, then +we'll catch it, and there'll be no more intermissions." + +"How long will that be?" inquired Captain Arms. + +"It may be a week, and it may be a month, though I hardly think it will be +so long as that. The earth is going about twelve miles a second--that's +more than a million miles a day--directly toward the center of the nebula. +It has taken ten days to go through the spiral that we have encountered, +making that about ten million miles thick. It's not likely that the gap +between this spiral and the nucleus of the nebula is more than thirty +million miles across, at the most; so you see we'll probably be in the +nucleus within a month, and possibly much less than a month." + +Captain Arms took a chew of tobacco. + +"We can get our bearings now," he remarked. "Look, there's the moon just +rising, and on my word, she is going to occult Aldebaran within an hour. +I'll get an observation for longitude, and another on Polaris for latitude. +No running on submerged mountains for us now." + +The captain was as good as his word, and when his observations had been +made and the calculations completed he announced that the position of the +Ark was: Latitude, 16 degrees 10 minutes north; longitude, 42 degrees 28 +minutes west. + +"Lucky for us," he exclaimed, "that the sky cleared. If we'd kept on as +we were going we'd have struck the Cape de Verdes, and if that had +happened at night we'd probably have left our bones on a drowning volcano. +We ought to have been ten or twelve degrees farther north to make a safe +passage over the Sahara. What's the course now? Are you still for running +down the Himalaya mountains?" + +"I'll decide later what to do," said Cosmo Versal. "Make your northing, +and then we'll cruise around a little and see what's best to be done." + +When day came on, brilliant with sunshine, and the astonished passengers, +hurrying out of their bunks, crowded about the now opened gangways and the +portholes, which Cosmo had also ordered to be opened, and gazed with +delight upon the smooth blue sea, the utmost enthusiasm took possession of +them. + +The flood was over! + +They were sure of it, and they shook hands with one another and +congratulated themselves and hurrahed, and gave cheers for the Ark and +cheers for Cosmo Versal. Then they began to think of their drowned homes +and of their lost friends, and sadness followed joy. Cosmo was mobbed by +eager inquiries wherever he made his appearance. + +Was it all over for good? Would the flood dry up in a few days? How long +would it be before New York would be free of water? Were they going right +back there? Did he think there was a chance that many had escaped in boats +and ships? Couldn't they pick up the survivors if they hurried back? + +Cosmo tried to check the enthusiasm. + +"It's too early for rejoicing," he assured them. "It's only a break in +the nebula. We've got a respite for a short time, but there's worse +coming. The drowning of the world will proceed. We are the only +survivors, except perhaps some of those who inhabited the highlands. +Everything less than 2,400 feet above the former level of the sea is now +under water. When the flood begins again it will keep on until it is +six miles deep over the old sea margins." + +"Why not go back and try to rescue those who you say may have found +safety on the highlands?" asked one. + +"I have chosen my company," he said, "and I had good reasons for the +choice I made. I have already added to the number, because simple humanity +compelled me, but I can take no more. The quantity of provisions aboard +the Ark is not greater than will be needed by ourselves. If the rest of +the world is drowned it is not my fault. I did my best to warn them. +Besides, we could do nothing in the way of rescue even if we should go +back for that purpose. We could not approach the submerged plateaus. We +would be aground before we got within sight of them." + +These words went far to change the current of feeling among the +passengers. When they learned that there would be danger for themselves +in the course that had been proposed their humanity proved to be less +strong than their desire for self-preservation. Nevertheless, as we shall +see, the Ark ultimately went back to America, though not for any reason +that had yet been suggested. + +Meanwhile the unexpected respite furnished by the sudden cessation of the +downpour from the sky had other important results, to which we now turn. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + +When Professor Abiel Pludder indited his savage response to Cosmo +Versal's invitation to become one of the regenerators of mankind by +embarking in the Ark, he was expressing his professional prejudice rather +than his intellectual conviction. As Cosmo had remarked, Pludder had a +good brain and great scientific acuteness, and, although he did not +believe in the nebular theory of a flood, and was obstinately opposed to +everything that was not altogether regular and according to recognized +authority in science, yet he could not shut his eyes to the fact that +something was going wrong in the machinery of the heavens. But it annoyed +him to find that his own explanations were always falsified by the event, +while Cosmo Versal seemed to have a superhuman foreglimpse of whatever +happened. + +His pride would not allow him to recede from the position that he had +taken, but he could not free himself from a certain anxiety about the +future. After he had refused Cosmo Versal's invitation, the course of +events strengthened this anxiety. He found that the official +meteorologists were totally unable to account for the marvelous vagaries +of the weather. + +Finally, when the news came of tremendous floods in the north, and of the +overflowing of Hudson Bay, he secretly determined to make some +preparations of his own. He still rejected the idea of a watery nebula, +but he began to think it possible that all the lowlands of the earth might +be overflowed by the sea, and by the melting of mountain snows and +glaciers, together with deluging rainfall. After what had passed, he could +not think of making any public confession of his change of heart, but his +sense of humanity compelled him to give confidential warning to his friends +that it would be well to be prepared to get on high ground at a moment's +notice. + +He was on the point of issuing, but without his signature, an official +statement cautioning the public against unprecedented inundations, when the +first tidal wave arrived on the Atlantic coast and rendered any utterance +of that kind unnecessary. People's eyes were opened, and now they would +look out for themselves. + +Pludder's private preparations amounted to no more than the securing of a +large express aero, in which, if the necessity for suddenly leaving +Washington should arise, he intended to take flight, together with +President Samson, who was his personal friend, and a number of other close +friends, with their families. He did not think that it would be necessary, +in any event, to go farther than the mountains of Virginia. + +The rising of the sea, mounting higher at each return, at length convinced +him that the time had come to get away. Hundreds of air craft had already +departed westward, not only from Washington, but from New York, +Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and other seaboard cities, before +Professor Pludder assembled his friends by telephone on the Capitol +grounds, where his aero was waiting. + +The lower streets of the city were under water from the overflow of the +Potomac, which was backed up by the influx of the Atlantic into Chesapeake +Bay, and the most distressing scenes were enacted there, people fleeing in +the utmost disorder toward higher ground, carrying their children and some +of their household goods, and uttering doleful cries. Many, thinking that +the best way to escape, embarked in frail boats on the river, which was +running up-stream with frightful velocity, and rising perceptibly higher +every second. Most of these boats were immediately overturned or swamped. + +If the start had been delayed but a little longer, the aero would have been +mobbed by the excited people, who uttered yells of disappointment and rage +when they saw it rise from its tower and sail over the city. It was the +last airship that left Washington, and it carried the last persons who +escaped from the national capital before the downpour from the atmosphere +began which put an end to all possibility of getting away. + +There were on board, in addition to a crew of three, twenty-two persons. +These included President Samson, with his wife and three children, seven +other men with their families, making, together, sixteen persons, and +Professor Pludder, who had no family. + +More because they wished to escape from the painful scenes beneath them +than because they deemed that there was any occasion for particular haste, +they started off at high speed, and it was probably lucky for them that +this speed was maintained after they had left Washington out of sight. +They rapidly approached the Blue Ridge in the neighborhood of Luray, and +Pludder was about to order a landing there as night was approaching, when +with great suddenness the sky filled with dense clouds and a tremendous +downpour began. This was the same phenomenon which has already been +described as following closely the attack at New York on Cosmo Versal's +Ark. + +The aero, luckily, was one of the best type, and well covered, so that they +were protected from the terrible force of the rain, but in the tumult there +could be no more thought of descending. It would have been impossible to +make a landing in the midst of the storm and the pouring water, which +rushed in torrents down the mountainside. Professor Pludder was a brave man +and full of resources when driven into a corner. Being familiar with the +construction and management of aeros, for he had been educated as an +engineer, he now took charge of the airship. + +Within twenty minutes after the sky had opened its batteries--for the rain +had almost the force of plunging shot--a mighty wind arose, and the aero, +pitching, tossing, and dipping like a mad thing, was driven with frightful +speed eastward. This wild rush continued for more than an hour. By this +time it was full night, and the pouring rain around them was as +impenetrable to the sight as a black wall. + +They had their electric lamps inside, and their searchlights, but it was +impossible to tell where they were. Pludder turned the searchlight +downward, but he could not make out the features of the ground beneath +them. It is likely that they were driven at least as far as Chesapeake Bay, +and they may have passed directly over Washington. + +At last, however, the wind slewed round, and began to blow with +undiminished violence from the northeast. Plunging and swerving, and +sometimes threatened with a complete somersault, the aero hurried away in +its crazy flight, while its unfortunate inmates clung to one another, and +held on by any object within reach, in the endeavor to keep from being +dashed against the metallic walls. + +The crew of the aero were picked men, but no experience could have +prepared them for the work which they now had to do. Without the ready +brain of Professor Pludder to direct their efforts, and without his +personal exertions, their aerial ship would have been wrecked within a +quarter of an hour after the storm struck it. He seemed transformed into +another person. Hatless and coatless, and streaming with water, he worked +like a demon. He was ready at each emergency with some device which, under +his direction, had the effect of magic. + +A hundred times the aero plunged for the ground, but was saved and turned +upward again just as it seemed on the point of striking. Up and down, +right and left, it ran and pitched and whirled, like a cork in a whirlpool. +Sometimes it actually skimmed the ground, plowing its way through a +torrent of rushing water, and yet it rose again and was saved from +destruction. + +This terrible contest lasted another hour after the turning of the wind, +and then the latter died out. Relieved from its pressure, the aero ran on +with comparative ease. Professor Pludder, suspecting that they might now +be getting into a mountainous district, made every effort to keep the +craft at a high elevation, and this, notwithstanding the depressing force +of the rain, they succeeded in doing. After the dying out of the wind they +kept on, by the aid of their propellers, in the same direction in which it +had been driving them, because, in the circumstances, one way was as good +as another. + +The terrible discomfort of the President and his companions in the cabin +of the aero was greatly relieved by the cessation of the wind, but still +they were in a most unfortunate state. The rain, driven by the fierce +blasts, had penetrated through every crevice, and they were drenched to +the skin. No one tried to speak, for it would have been almost impossible +to make oneself heard amid the uproar. They simply looked at one another +in dismay and prayed for safety. + +Professor Pludder, not now compelled to spend every moment in the +management of the craft, entered the cabin occasionally, pressed the hand +of the President, smiled encouragingly on the women and children, and did +all he could, in pantomime, to restore some degree of confidence. Inside, +the lights were aglow, but outside it was as dark as pitch, except where +the broad finger of the searchlight, plunging into the mass of tumbling +water, glittered and flashed. + +The awful night seemed endless, but at last a pale illumination appeared +in the air, and they knew that day had come. The spectacle of the skyey +deluge was now so terrible that it struck cold even to their already +benumbed hearts. The atmosphere seemed to have been turned into a mighty +cataract thundering down upon the whole face of the earth. Now that they +could see as well as hear, the miracle of the preservation of the aero +appeared incredible. + +As the light slowly brightened, Professor Pludder, constantly on the +outlook, caught a glimpse of a dark, misty object ahead. It loomed up so +suddenly, and was already so close, that before he could sufficiently +alter the course of the aero, it struck with such violence as to crush +the forward end of the craft and break one of the aeroplanes. Everybody +was pitched headforemost, those inside falling on the flooring, while +Pludder and the three men of the crew were thrown out upon a mass of +rocks. All were more or less seriously injured, but none was killed or +totally disabled. + +Pludder sprang to his feet, and, slipping and plunging amid the downpour, +managed to get back to the wreck and aid the President and the others to +get upon their feet. + +"We're lodged on a mountain!" he yelled. "Stay inside, under the shelter +of the roof!" + +The three men who, together with the professor, had been precipitated out +among the rocks, also scrambled in, and there they stood, or sat, the most +disconsolate and despairing group of human beings that ever the eye of an +overseeing Providence looked down upon. + +The President presented the most pitiable sight of all. Like the rest, +his garments were sopping, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was ghastly, +and his tall silk hat, which he had jammed down upon his brow, had been +softened by the water and crushed by repeated blows into the form of a +closed accordion. Of the women and children it is needless to speak; no +description could convey an idea of their condition. + +In these circumstances, the real strength of Professor Abiel Pludder's +mind was splendidly displayed. He did not lose his head, and he +comprehended the situation, and what it was necessary to do, in a flash. +He got out some provisions and distributed them to the company, in some +cases actually forcing them to eat. With his own hands he prepared coffee, +with the apparatus always carried by express aeros, and made them drink +it. + +When all had thus been refreshed he approached President Samson and +shouted in his ear: + +"We shall have to stay here until the downpour ceases. To guard against the +effects of a tempest, if one should arise, we must secure the aero in its +place. For that I need the aid of every man in the party. We have, +fortunately, struck in a spot on the mountain where we are out of the way +of the torrents of water that are pouring down through the ravines on +either side. We can make our lodgment secure, but we must go to work +immediately." + +Stimulated by his example, the President and the others set to work, and +with great difficulty, for they had to guard their eyes and nostrils from +the driving rain, which, sometimes, in spite of their precautions, nearly +smothered them, they succeeded in fastening the aero to the rocks by means +of metallic cables taken from its stores. When this work was finished they +returned under the shelter of the cabin roof and lay down exhausted. So +worn out were they that all of them quickly fell into a troubled sleep. + +It would be needless to relate in detail the sufferings, mental and +physical, that they underwent during the next ten days. While they were +hanging there on the mountain the seaboard cities of the world were +drowned, and Cosmo Versal's Ark departed on the remarkable voyage that has +been described in a former chapter. They had plenty of provisions, for the +aero had been well stored, but partly through precaution and partly because +of lack of appetite they ate sparingly. The electric generators of the aero +had not been injured in the wreck of the craft, and they were able to +supply themselves with sufficient heat, and with light inside the cabin at +night. + +Once they had a strange visitor--a half-drowned bear, which had +struggled up the mountain from its den somewhere below--but that was the +only living creature beside themselves that they saw. After gazing +wistfully at the aero from the top of a rock the poor bear, fighting the +choking rain with its soaked paws, stumbled into one of the torrents that +poured furiously down on each side, and was swept from their sight. + +Fortunately, the wind that they had anticipated did not come, but +frequently they saw or heard the roaring downpours of solid watery +columns like those that had so much astonished Cosmo Versal and Captain +Arms in the midst of the Atlantic, but none came very near them. + +Professor Pludder ventured out from time to time, clambering a little way +up and down the projecting ridge of the mountain on which they were lodged, +and at length was able to assure his companions that they were on the +northwestern face of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak of the Appalachian +range. With the aid of his pocket aneroid, making allowance for the +effect of the lifting of the whole atmosphere by the flood, and summoning +his knowledge of the locality--for he had explored, in former years, all +the mountains in this region--he arrived at the conclusion that their +place of refuge was elevated about four thousand feet above the former +level of the sea. + +At first their range of vision did not allow them to see the condition of +the valleys below them, but as the water crept higher it gradually came +into view. It rose steadily up the slopes beneath, which had already been +stripped of their covering of trees and vegetation by the force of the +descending torrents, until on the tenth day it had arrived almost within +reach. Since, as has just been said, they were four thousand feet above +the former level of the sea, it will be observed that the water must +have been rising much more rapidly than the measurements of Cosmo Versal +indicated. Its average rate of rise had been three instead of two inches +per minute, and the world was buried deeper than Cosmo thought. The cause +of his error will be explained later. + +The consternation of the little party when they thus beheld the rapid +drowning of the world below them, and saw no possibility of escape for +themselves if the water continued to advance, as it evidently would do, +cannot be depicted. Some of them were driven insane, and were with +difficulty prevented by those who retained their senses from throwing +themselves into the flood. + +Pludder was the only one who maintained a command over his nerves, +although he now at last _believed in the nebula_. He recognized that there +was no other possible explanation of the flood than that which Cosmo Versal +had offered long before it began. In his secret heart he had no expectation +of ultimate escape, yet he was strong enough to continue to encourage his +companions with hopes which he could not himself entertain. + +When, after nightfall on the tenth day, the water began to lap the lower +parts of the aero, he was on the point of persuading the party to clamber +up the rocks in search of the shelter above, but as he stepped out of the +door of the cabin to reconnoiter the way, with the aid of the searchlight +which he had turned up along the ridge, he was astonished to find the rain +rapidly diminishing in force; and a few minutes later it ceased entirely, +and the stars shone out. + +The sudden cessation of the roar upon the roof brought everybody to their +feet, and before Professor Pludder could communicate the good news all +were out under the sky, rejoicing and offering thanks for their +deliverance. The women were especially affected. They wept in one +another's arms, or convulsively clasped their children to their breasts. + +At length the President found his voice. + +"What has happened?" he asked. + +Professor Pludder, with the new light that had come to him, was as ready +with an explanation as Cosmo Versal himself had been under similar +circumstances. + +"We must have run out of the nebula." + +"The nebula!" returned Mr. Samson in surprise. "Has there been a nebula, +then?" + +"Without question," was the professor's answer. "Nothing but an encounter +with a watery nebula could have had such a result." + +"But you always said----" began the President. + +"Yes," Pludder broke in, "but one may be in error sometimes." + +"Then, Cosmo Versal----" + +"Let us not discuss Cosmo Versal," exclaimed Professor Pludder, with a +return of his old dictatorial manner. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + +Morning dawned brilliantly on Mount Mitchell and revealed to the +astonished eyes of the watchers an endless expanse of water, gleaming and +sparkling in the morning sunlight. It was a spectacle at once beautiful +and fearful, and calculated to make their hearts sink with pity no less +than with terror. But for a time they were distracted from the awful +thoughts which such a sight must inspire by anxiety concerning themselves. +They could not drive away the fear that, at any moment, the awful clouds +might return and the terrible downpour be resumed. + +But Professor Pludder, whose comprehension of the cause of the deluge was +growing clearer the more he thought about it, did not share the anxiety +of the President and the others. + +"The brightness of the sky," he said, "shows that there is no considerable +quantity of condensing vapor left in the atmosphere. If the earth has run +out of the nebula, that is likely to be the end of the thing. If there is +more of the nebulous matter in surrounding space we may miss it entirely, +or, if not, a long time would elapse before we came upon it. + +"The gaps that exist in nebulae are millions of miles across, and the +earth would require days and weeks to go such distances, granting that it +were traveling in the proper direction. I think it altogether probable +that this nebula, which must be a small one as such things go, consists +of a single mass, and that, having traversed it, we are done with it. We +are out of our troubles." + +"Well, hardly," said the President. "Here we are, prisoners on a mountain, +with no way of getting down, the whole land beneath being turned into a +sea. We can't stay here indefinitely. For how long a time are we +provisioned?" + +"We have compressed food enough to last this party a month," replied +Professor Pludder; "that is to say, if we are sparing of it. For water we +cannot lack, since this that surrounds us is not salt, and if it were we +could manage to distil it. But, of course, when I said we were out of our +troubles I meant only that there was no longer any danger of being +swallowed up by the flood. It is true that we cannot think of remaining +here. We must get off." + +"But how? Where can we go?" + +Professor Pludder thought a long time before he answered this question. +Finally he said, measuring his words: + +"The water is four thousand feet above the former level of the sea. There +is no land sufficiently lofty to rise above it this side of the Colorado +plateau." + +"And how far is that?" + +"Not less than eleven hundred miles in an air line." + +The President shuddered. + +"Then, all this vast country of ours from here to the feet of the Rocky +Mountains is now under water thousands of feet deep!" + +"There can be no doubt of it. The Atlantic Coast States, the Southern +States, the Mississippi Valley, the region of the Great Lakes, and Canada +are now a part of the Atlantic Ocean." + +"And all the great cities--gone! Merciful Father! What a thought!" + +The President mused for a time, and gradually a frown came upon his brow. +He glanced at Professor Pludder with a singular look. Then his cheek +reddened, and an angry expression came into his eyes. Suddenly he turned +to the professor and said sternly: + +"You said you did not wish to discuss Cosmo Versal. I should not think +you would! Who predicted this deluge? Did _you_?" + +"I----" began Professor Pludder, taken aback by the President's manner. + +"Oh, yes," interrupted the President, "I know what you would say. You +didn't predict it because you didn't see it coming. But _why_ didn't +you see it? What have we got observatories and scientific societies +for if they can't _see_ or _comprehend_ anything? Didn't Cosmo Versal +warn you? Didn't he tell you where to look, and what to look for? Didn't +he show you his proofs?" + +"We thought they were fallacious," stammered Professor Pludder. + +"You _thought_ they were fallacious--well, _were_ they fallacious? Does +this spectacle of a nation drowned look 'fallacious' to you? Why didn't +you study the matter until you understood it? Why did you issue +officially, and with my ignorant sanction--may God forgive me for my +blindness!--statement after statement, assuring the people that there was +no danger--statements that were even abusive toward him who alone should +have been heard? + +"And yet, as now appears, you knew nothing about it. Millions upon millions +have perished through your obstinate opposition to the truth. They might +have saved themselves if they had been permitted to listen to the many +times reiterated warnings of Cosmo Versal. + +"Oh, if _I_ had only listened to him, and issued a proclamation as he urged +me to do! But I followed _your_ advice--_you_, in whose learning and +pretended science I put blind faith! _Abiel Pludder, I would not have upon +my soul the weight that now rests on yours for all the wealth that the lost +world carried down into its watery grave!_" + +As the President ceased speaking he turned away and sank upon a rock, +pressing his hands upon his throat to suppress the sobs that broke forth +despite his efforts. His form shook like an aspen. + +The others crowded around excitedly, some of the women in hysterics, and +the men not knowing what to do or say. Professor Pludder, completely +overwhelmed by the suddenness and violence of the attack, went off by +himself and sat down with his head in his hands. After a while he arose +and approached the President, who had not moved from his place on the +rock. + +"George," he said--they had known each other from boyhood--"I have made a +terrible mistake. And yet I was not alone in it. The majority of my +colleagues were of my opinion, as were all the learned societies of +Europe. No such thing as a watery nebula has ever been known to science. +It was inconceivable." + +"Some of your colleagues did not think so," said the President, looking +up. + +"But they were not really convinced, and they were aware that they were +flying in the face of all known laws." + +"I am afraid," said the President dryly, "that science does not know all +the laws of the universe yet." + +"I repeat," resumed Professor Pludder, "that I made a fearful mistake. I +have recognized the truth too late. I accept the awful burden of blame +that rests upon me, and I now wish to do everything in my power to +retrieve the consequences of my terrible error." + +The President arose and grasped the professor's hand. + +"Forgive me, Abiel," he said, with emotion, "if I have spoken too much in +the manner of a judge pronouncing sentence. I was overwhelmed by the +thought of the inconceivable calamity that has come upon us. I believe +that you acted conscientiously and according to your best lights, and it +is not for any mortal to judge you for an error thus committed. Let us +think only of what _we_ must do now." + +"To that thought," responded Professor Pludder, returning the pressure of +the President's hand, "I shall devote all my energy. If I can save only +this little party I shall have done something in the way of atonement." + +It was a deep humiliation for a man of Professor Pludder's proud and +uncompromising nature to confess that he had committed an error more +fearful in its consequences than had ever been laid at the door of a human +being, but Cosmo Versal had rightly judged him when he assured Joseph +Smith that Pludder was morally sound, and, in a scientific sense, had +the root of the matter in him. When his mental vision was clear, and +unclouded by prejudice, no one was more capable of high achievements. + +He quickly proved his capacity now, as he had already proved it during +the preceding, adventures of the President's party. It was perfectly plain +to him that their only chance was in getting to Colorado at the earliest +possible moment. The eastern part of the continent was hopelessly buried, +and even on the high plains of the Middle West the fury of the downpour +might have spread universal disaster and destroyed nearly all the +vegetation; but, in any event, it was there alone that the means of +prolonging life could be sought. + +With the problem squarely before his mind, he was not long in finding a +solution. His first step was to make a thorough examination of the aero, +with the hope that the damage that it had suffered might be reparable. He +had all the tools that would be needed, as it was the custom for express +aeros to carry a complete equipment for repairs; but unfortunately one of +the planes of the aero was wrecked beyond the possibility of repair. He +knew upon what delicate adjustments the safety of the modern airship +depended, and he did not dare undertake a voyage with a lame craft. + +Then the idea occurred to him of trying to escape by water. The aero was +a machine of the very latest type, and made of levium, consequently it +would float better than wood. + +If the opposition of shipbuilders, incited and backed by selfish interests, +had not prevented the employment of levium in marine construction, millions +of lives might now have been saved; but, as we have before said, only a +few experimental boats of levium had been made. + +Moreover, like all aeros intended for long trips, this one had what was +called a "boat-bottom," intended to enable it to remain afloat with its +burden in case of an accidental fall into a large body of water. Pludder +saw that this fact would enable him to turn the wreck into a raft. + +It would only be necessary to reshape the craft a little, and this was the +easier because the aero was put together in such a manner with screw-bolts +and nuts that it could be articulated or disarticulated as readily as a +watch. He had entire confidence in his engineering skill, and in the +ability of the three experienced men of the crew to aid him. He decided to +employ the planes for outriders, which would serve to increase the +buoyancy and stability. + +As soon as he had completed his plan in his mind he explained his +intentions to the President. The latter and the other members of the party +were at first as much startled as surprised by the idea of embarking on a +voyage of eleven hundred miles in so questionable a craft, but Professor +Pludder assured them that everything would go well. + +"But how about the propulsion?" asked Mr. Samson. "You can't depend on the +wind, and we've got no sails." + +"I have thought that all out," said Pludder. "I shall use the engine, and +rearrange one of the aerial screws so that it will serve for a propeller. +I do not expect to get up any great speed, but if we can make only as much +as two miles an hour we shall arrive on the borders of the Colorado upland, +five thousand feet above sea, within about twenty-three days. We may be +able to do better than that." + +Nobody felt much confidence in this scheme except its inventor, but it +appeared to be the only thing that could be done, and so they all fell to +work, each aiding as best he could, and after four days of hard work the +remarkable craft was ready for its adventurous voyage. + +Professor Pludder had succeeded even better than he anticipated in +transforming one of the aerial screws into a propeller. Its original +situation was such that it naturally, as it were, fell into the proper +place when the "hull" was partly submerged, and, the blades being made of +concentric rows of small plates, there was no difficulty in reducing them +to a manageable size. The position of the engine did not need to be +shifted at all. + +The "outriders," made up of the discarded planes, promised to serve their +purpose well, and the cabin remained for a comfortable "deck-house." A +rudder had been contrived by an alteration of the one which had served for +guiding the aero in its flights. + +The water was close to their feet, and there was no great difficulty in +pushing the affair off the rocks and getting it afloat. The women and +children were first put aboard, and then the men scrambled in, and Pludder +set the motors going. The improvised propeller churned and spluttered, +but it did its work after a fashion, and, under a blue sky, in dazzling +sunshine, with a soft southerly breeze fanning the strange sea that +spread around them, they soon saw the bared rocks and deeply scored +flanks of Mount Mitchell receding behind them. + +They were delighted to find that they were making, at the very start, no +less than three miles an hour. Pludder clapped his hands and exclaimed: + +"This is capital! In but little over two weeks we shall be safe on the +great plains. I have good hope that many have survived there, and that we +shall find a plenty of everything needed. With the instruments that were +aboard the aero I can make observations to determine our position, and I +shall steer for the Pike's Peak region." + +When the party had become accustomed to their situation, and had gained +confidence in their craft by observing how buoyantly it bore them, they +became almost cheerful in their demeanor. The children gradually lost all +fear, and, with the thoughtless joy of childhood in the pleasures and +wonders of the present moment, amused themselves in the cabin, and about +the deck, which had been surrounded with guard lines made of wire cable. + +The water was almost waveless, and, if no storm should arise, there +appeared to be no reason for anxiety concerning the outcome of their +adventure. But as they drove slowly on over the submerged range of the +Great Smokies, and across the valleys of Eastern Tennessee, and then over +the Cumberland range, and so out above the lowlands, they could not keep +their thoughts from turning to what lay beneath that fearful ocean. And +occasionally something floated to the surface that wrenched their heart- +strings and caused them to avert their faces. + +Professor Pludder kept them informed of their location. Now they were over +central Tennessee; now Nashville lay more than three thousand feet beneath +their keel; now they were crossing the valley of the Tennessee River; now +the great Mississippi was under them, hidden deep beneath the universal +flood; now they were over the highlands of southern Missouri; and now over +those of Kansas. + +"George," said Professor Pludder one day, addressing the President, with +more emotion than was often to be detected in his voice, "would you like +to know what is beneath us now?" + +"What is it, Abiel?" + +"Our boyhood home--Wichita." + +The President bowed his head upon his hands and groaned. + +"Yes," continued Professor Pludder musingly, "there it lies, three thousand +feet deep. There is the Arkansas, along whose banks we used to play, with +its golden waters now mingling feebly with the mighty flood that covers +them. There is the schoolhouse and the sandy road where we ran races +barefoot in the hot summer dust. There is your father's house, and mine, +and the homes of all our early friends--and where are _they?_ Would to God +that I had not been so blind!" + +"But there was another not so blind," said the President, with something +of the condemnatory manner of his former speech. + +"I know it--I know it too well now," returned the professor. "But do not +condemn me, George, for what I did not foresee and could not help." + +"I am sorry," said the President sadly, "that you have awakened these old +memories. But I do not condemn you, though I condemn your science--or your +lack of science. But we can do nothing. Let us speak of it no more." + +The weather was wonderful, considering what had so recently occurred. No +clouds formed in the sky, there was only a gentle breeze stirring, at +night the heavens glittered with starry gems, and by day the sun shone so +hotly that awnings were spread over those whose duties required them to be +employed outside the shelter of the cabin. The improvised propeller and +rudder worked to admiration, and some days they made as much as eighty +miles in the twenty-four hours. + +At length, on the fourteenth day of their strange voyage, they caught +sight of a curiously shaped "pike" that projected above the horizon far to +the west. At the same time they saw, not far away toward the north and +toward the south, a low line, like a sea-beach. + +"We are getting into shallow water now," said Professor Pludder. "I have +been following the course of the Arkansas in order to be sure of a +sufficient depth, but now we must be very careful. We are close to the +site of Las Animas, which is surrounded with land rising four thousand +feet above sea-level. If we should get aground there would be no hope for +us. That pike in the distance is Pike's Peak." + +"And what is that long line of beach that stretches on the north and +south?" asked the President. + +"It is the topographic line of four thousand feet," replied the +professor. + +"And we shall encounter it ahead?" + +"Yes, it makes a curve about Las Animas, and then the land lies at an +average elevation of four thousand feet, until it takes another rise +beyond Pueblo." + +"But we cannot sail across this half-submerged area," said the President. + +"There are depressions," Professor Pludder responded, "and I hope to be +able to follow their traces until we reach land that still lies well +above the water." + +Near nightfall they got so close to the "beach" that they could hear the +surf, not a thundering sound, but a soft, rippling wash of the slight +waves. The water about them was ruddy with thick sediment. Professor +Pludder did not dare to venture farther in the coming darkness, and he +dropped overboard two of the aero's grapples, which he had heavily +weighted and attached to wire cables. They took the ground at a depth of +only ten feet. There was no wind and no perceptible current, and so they +rode all night at anchor off this strangest of coasts. + +At daybreak they lifted their anchors, and went in search of the +depressions of which the professor had spoken. So accurate was his +topographic knowledge and so great his skill, that late in the afternoon +they saw a tall chimney projecting above the water a little ahead. + +"There's all that remains of Pueblo," said Professor Pludder. + +They anchored again that night, and the next day, cautiously approaching +a bluff that arose precipitously from the water, their hearts were +gladdened by the sight of three men, standing on a bluff, excitedly +beckoning to them, and shouting at the top of their voices. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MUTINY IN THE ARK + + +We left Cosmo Versal and his arkful of the flower of mankind in the midst +of what was formerly the Atlantic Ocean, but which had now expanded over +so many millions of square miles that had once been the seats of vast +empires that to an eye looking at it with a telescope from Mars it would +have been unrecognizable. + +All of eastern North America, all of South America to the feet of the +Andes, all but the highest mountains of Europe, nearly all of Africa, +except some of the highlands of the south, all of northern and +southwestern Asia, as well as the peninsula of India, all of China and +the adjacent lands and islands except the lofty peaks, the whole of +Australia, and the archipelagoes of the Pacific, had become parts of the +floor of a mighty ocean which rolled unbroken from pole to pole. + +The Great Deep had resumed its ancient reign, and what was left of the +habitable globe presented to view only far separated islands and the +serrated tops of such ranges as the Alps, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, +and the Andes. The astonished inhabitants of the ocean depths now swam +over the ruins of great cities, and brushed with their fins the chiseled +capitals of columns that had supported the proudest structures of human +hands. + +We have seen how the unexpected arrest of the flood had left Cosmo +uncertain as to the course that he ought to pursue. But he did not long +remain in doubt. He was sure that the downpour would be resumed after an +interval which at the most could not exceed a few weeks, and he resolved +to continue his way toward the future land of promise in Asia. + +But he thought that he would have time to turn his prow in the direction +of Europe, for he felt a great desire to know by actual inspection to what +height the water had attained. He was certain that it could not be less +than he had estimated--the indications of his rain-gage had been too +unvarying to admit of doubt on that point--but he had no means of direct +measurement since he could not sound the tremendous depths beneath the +Ark. + +After long meditation on the probable effects of the descending columns of +water which he had seen, he concluded that they might have added more +rapidly than he first supposed to the increase of the general level. +Besides, he reflected that there was no proof that the general downpour +might not have been greater over some parts of the earth than others. All +these doubts could be dissipated if he could get a good look at some lofty +mountain range, such as the Sierra Nevada of Spain, or the Pyrenees, or, +if he could venture within sight of them, the Alps. + +So he said to Captain Arms: + +"Steer for the coast of Europe." + +The fine weather had produced a good effect upon the spirits of the +company. Not only were the ports and the gangways all open, but Cosmo +ordered the temporary removal of rows of adjustable plates on the sides of +the vessel, which transformed the broad outer gangways, running its whole +length, into delightful promenade decks. There, in cozy chairs, and +protected with rugs, the passengers sat, fanned by a refreshing breeze, +and dazzled by the splendor of the ocean. + +They recalled, by their appearance, a shipload of summer tourists bound +for the wonders and pleasures of foreign parts. This likeness to a +pleasure cruise was heightened by the constant attentions of the crew, +under Cosmo's orders, who carried about refreshing drinks and lunches, +and conducted themselves like regular ocean "stewards." + +It seemed impossible to believe that the world had been drowned, and some +almost persuaded themselves that the whole thing was a dream. + +It must not be supposed that the thousand-odd persons who composed this +remarkable ship's company were so hard-hearted, so selfish, so forgetful, +so morally obtuse, that they never thought of the real horror of their +situation, and of the awful calamity that had overwhelmed so many millions +of their fellow-creatures. They thought of all that only too seriously +and in spite of themselves. The women especially were overwhelmed by it. +But they did not wish to dwell upon it, and Cosmo Versal did not wish that +they should. + +At night he had musicians play in the grand saloon; he distributed books +among the passengers from a large library which he had selected; and at +last he had the stage set, and invited his friends, the players, to +entertain the company. + +But he would have no plays but those of Shakespeare. + +There were, probably, not half a dozen persons in the Ark who had ever +seen representations of these great dramas, and very few who had read them, +so that they had the advantage of complete novelty. + +The play selected for the first representation was the tragedy of "King +Lear," a strange choice, it would, at first sight, seem, but Cosmo Versal +had a deep knowledge of human nature. He knew that only tragedy would be +endured there, and that it must be tragedy so profound and overmastering +that it would dominate the feelings of those who heard and beheld it. It +was the principle of immunizing therapeutics, where poison paralyzes +poison. + +It came out as he anticipated. The audience, unused to such depth of +dramatic passion, for the plays to which they had been accustomed had been +far from the Shakespearian standard, was wholly absorbed in the +development of the tragedy. It was a complete revelation to them, and they +were carried out of themselves, and found in the sympathy awakened by this +heart-crushing spectacle of the acme of human woe an unconscious solace for + their own moral anguish. + +Afterward Cosmo put upon the stage "Hamlet," and "Othello," and "Macbeth," +and "Coriolanus," and "Julius Caesar," but he avoided, for the present, the +less tragic dramas. And all of them, being new to the hearers, produced an +enormous effect. + +On alternate nights he substituted music for the drama, and, as this was +confined to the most majestic productions of the great masters of the past, +many of whose works, like those of Shakespeare, had long been neglected if +not forgotten, their power over the spirits of the company was, perhaps, +even more pronounced. + +Cosmo Versal was already beginning the education of his chosen band of +race regenerators, while he mused upon the wonders that the science of +eugenics would achieve after the world should have reemerged from the +waters. + +One of the most singular effects of the music was that produced upon the +insane billionaire, Amos Blank. He had been confined in the room that +Cosmo had assigned to him, and was soothed, whenever Cosmo could find time +to visit him, with pretended acquiescence in his crazed notion that the +trip of the Ark was part of a scheme to "corner" the resources of the +world. + +Cosmo persuaded him that the secret was unknown except to themselves, and +that it was essential to success that he (Blank) should remain in +retirement, and accordingly the latter expressed no desire to leave his +place of imprisonment, which he regarded as the headquarters of the +combination, passing hours in covering sheets of paper with columns of +figures, which he fancied represented the future profits of the +enterprise. + +One night when a symphony of Beethoven was to be played, Cosmo led Amos +Blank through the crowded saloon and placed him near the musicians. He +resisted at first, and when he saw the crowd he drew back, exclaiming: + +"What? Not overboard yet?" + +But Cosmo soothed him with some whispered promise, and he took his seat, +glancing covertly around him. Then the instruments struck up, and +immediately fixed his attention. As the musical theme developed his eyes +gradually lost their wild look, and a softened expression took its place. +He sank lower in his seat, and rested his head upon his hand. His whole +soul seemed, at last, to be absorbed in the music. When it was finished +Blank was a changed man. + +Then Cosmo clearly explained to him all that had happened. + +After the first overwhelming effect of his reawakening to the realities +of his situation had passed, the billionaire was fully restored to all +his faculties. Henceforth he mingled with the other passengers and, as if +the change that had come over his spirit had had greater results than the +simple restoration of sanity, he became one of the most popular and useful +members of Cosmo Versal's family of pilgrims. + +Among the other intellectual diversions which Cosmo provided was something +quite unique, due to his own mental bias. This consisted of "conferences," +held in the grand saloon, afternoons, in the presence of the entire +company, at which the principal speakers were his two "speculative +geniuses," Costake Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone. They did not care +very much for one another and each thought that the time allotted to the +other was wasted. + +Theriade wished to talk continuously of the infinite energy stored up in +the atoms of matter, and of the illimitable power which the release of +that energy, by the system that he had all but completed, would place at +the disposition of man; and at the same time Sir Athelstone could with +difficulty be held in leash while he impatiently awaited an opportunity to +explain how excessively near he had arrived to the direct production of +protoplasm from inanimate matter, and the chemical control of living cells, +so that henceforth man could people or unpeople the earth as he liked. + +One evening, when everybody not on duty was in bed, Captain Arms, with his +whiskers fairly bristling, entered Cosmo's cabin, where the latter was +dictating to Joseph Smith, and softly approaching his chief, with a furtive +glance round the room, stooped and whispered something in his ear. A +startled, though incredulous, expression appeared on Cosmo's face, and he +sprang to his feet, but before speaking he obeyed a sign from the captain +and told Smith to leave the room. Then he locked the door and returned to +his table, where he dropped into a chair, exclaiming in a guarded voice: + +"Great Heaven, can this be possible! Have you not made a mistake?" + +"No," returned the captain in a stridulous whisper, "I have made no +mistake. I'm absolutely sure. If something is not done instantly we are +lost!" + +"This is terrible!" returned Cosmo, taking his head in his hands. "You +say it is that fellow Campo? I never liked his looks." + +"He is the ringleader," replied the captain. "The first suspicion of what +he was up to came to me through an old sailor who has been with me on many +a voyage. He overheard Campo talking with another man and he listened. +Trust an old sea dog to use his ears and keep himself out of notice." + +"And what did they say?" + +"Enough to freeze the marrow in your bones! Campo proposed to begin by +throwing 'old Versal' and me into the sea, and then he said, with us gone, +and nobody but a lot of muddle-headed scientists to deal with, it would be +easy to take the ship; seize all the treasure in her; make everybody who +would not join the mutiny walk the plank, except the women, and steer for +some place where they could land and lead a jolly life. + +"'You see,' says Campo, 'this flood is a fake. There ain't going to be no +more flood; it's only a shore wash. But there's been enough of it to fix +things all right for us. We've got the world in our fist! There's millions +of money aboard this ship, and there's plenty of female beauty, and we've +only got to reach out and take it.'" + +Cosmo Versal's brow darkened as he listened, and a look that would have +cowed the mutineers if they could have seen it came into his eyes. His +hand nervously clutched a paper-knife which broke in his grasp, as he said +in a voice trembling with passion: + +"They don't _know_ me--_you_ don't know me. Show me the proofs of this +conspiracy. Who are the others? Campo and his friend can't be alone." + +"Alone!" exclaimed the captain, unconsciously raising his voice. "There's +a dozen as black-handed rascals in it as ever went unswung." + +"Do you know them?" + +"Jim Waters does." + +"Why haven't you told me sooner? How long has it been going on?" + +"Almost ever since the deluge stopped, I think; but it was only last night +that Waters got on the track of it, and only now that he told me. This +fellow that Waters heard Campo talking to is plainly a new recruit. I say +there are a dozen, because Waters has found out that number; but I don't +know but that there may be a hundred." + +"How did these wretches get aboard?" demanded Cosmo, fiercely opening and +shutting his fists. + +"Excuse me," said the captain, "but that is up to you to say." + +"So it is," replied Cosmo, with a grim look; "and it's 'up to me' to say +what'll become of them. I see how it is, they must have got in with the +last lot that I took--under assumed names, very likely. I've been more +than once on the point of calling that man Campo up and questioning him. I +was surprised by his hangdog look the first time I saw him. But I have +been so busy." + +"You'll have to get busy in another sense if you mean to save this ship +and your life," said the captain earnestly. + +"So I shall. Are you armed? No? Then take these--and use 'em when I give +the word." + +He handed the captain two heavy automatic pistols, and put a pair in his +own side pockets. + +"Now," he continued, "the first thing is to make sure that we've got the +right men--and _all of them_. Call in Joseph Smith." + +The captain went to the door, and as he approached it there was a knock. +He turned the key and cautiously opened a crack to look out. The door was +instantly slammed in his face, and six men rushed in, with Campo, a burly, +black-browed fellow, at their head. Three of the men threw the captain on +his back, and pinioned his hands before he could draw a weapon, while +Campo and the others sprang toward Cosmo Versal, Campo pointing a pistol +at his head. + +"It's all up, Mr. Versal!" cried Campo with a sneer. "I'll take command of +this ship, and you'll go fish for nebulas." + +Cosmo had one advantage; he was behind his desk, and it was a broad and +long one, and placed almost against the wall. They could not get at him +without getting round the desk. Campo did not fire, though he might have +shot Cosmo in his tracks; but evidently he was nourishing the idea of +making him walk the plank. With a sign he commanded his co-conspirators +to flank the desk at each end, while he kept Cosmo covered with his +pistol. + +But with a lightning movement, Cosmo dropped under the desk, and, favored +by his slight form and his extreme agility, darted like a cat past Campo's +legs, and, almost before the latter could turn round, was out of the open +door. Campo fired at the retreating form, but the bullet went wide of the +mark. The pistol was practically noiseless, and the sound reached no ears +in the staterooms. + +It happened that a switch controlling the lights in the gangway was on the +wall by Cosmo's door, and in passing he swiftly reached up and turned it +off. Thus he was in complete darkness, and when Campo darted out of the +door he could not see the fugitive. He could hear his footsteps, however, +and with two of his companions he rushed blindly after him, firing two or +three shots at random. But Cosmo had turned at the first cross passage, +and then at the next, this part of the Ark being a labyrinth of corridors, +and the pursuers quickly lost all trace of him. + +Campo and his companions made their way back to Cosmo's cabin, where their +fellows were guarding Captain Arms. They found the switch in the passage +and turned on the light. They were almost immediately joined by several +other conspirators conducting Joseph Smith, bound and gagged. They held a +short consultation, and Campo, with many curses, declared that Cosmo +Versal must be caught at all hazards. + +"The big-headed fiend!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "Let me get my +grippers on him and I'll squelch him like a bug!" + +They threw Joseph Smith into the room beside the helpless captain, after +taking the latter's pistols, locked the door from the outside, and +hurried off on their search. In the passages they encountered several +more of their friends. They now numbered fifteen, all armed. This may +seem a small number to undertake to capture the Ark; but it must be +remembered that among the thousand-odd inmates, exclusive of the crew, +only about one in three was a man, and the majority of these were +peaceable scientists who, it was to be presumed, had no fight in them. + +At any rate, Campo, with the reckless courage of his kind, felt confident +that if he could get Cosmo Versal, with the captain and Joseph Smith, out +of the way, he could easily overmaster the others. He had not much fear +of the crew, for he knew that they were not armed, and he had succeeded +in winning over three of their number, the only ones he had thought +at all dangerous, because he had read their character. More than half +the crew were employed about the engines or on the animal deck, and most +of the others were simply stewards who would not stand before the pistols. + +But, while the mutineers were hurriedly searching the corridors, Cosmo +had run straight to the bridge, where he found two of his men in charge, +and whence he sent an electric call to all the men employed in the +navigation of the vessel. They came running from various directions, but +a dozen of them were caught in the passages by the mutineers and bound +before they could comprehend what had happened. Seven, however, succeeded +in reaching the bridge, and among these was Jim Waters. + +"There's a mutiny," said Cosmo. "We've got to fight for our lives. Have +you got arms?" + +Not one had a weapon except Waters, who displayed a pistol half as long +as his arm. + +"Here, Peterson, take this," said Cosmo, handing a pistol to one of the +two mariners who had been on the bridge. "They will be here in a minute. +If Campo had been a sailor, he'd have had possession here the first thing. +I'll turn off all lights." + +With that he pressed a button which put out every lamp in the ark. But +there was a full moon, and they concealed themselves in the shadows. + +Presently they heard the mutineers approaching, stumbling and cursing in +the darkness. Cosmo directed Peterson and Waters to place themselves at +his side, and told them to fire when he gave the word. + +The next instant four men appeared crossing a moonlit place at the foot of +the steps on the outside of the dome. + +"Wait," whispered Cosmo. "The pistols go at a pull. We can sweep down a +dozen in ten seconds. Let them all get in sight first." + +Half a minute later there were twelve men climbing the steps and cautiously +looking up. + +"Fire!" cried Cosmo, setting the example, and three streams of blue flame +pulsated from the bridge. The sound of the bullets striking made more +noise than the explosions. + +Five or six of the men below fell, knocking down their comrades, and a +loud curse burst from the lips of Campo, who had a bullet through his arm. + +The mutineers tumbled in a heap at the bottom, and instantly Cosmo, +switching on all lights, led the way down upon them. His men, who had no +arms, seized anything they could get their hands on that would serve to +strike a blow, and followed him. + +The conspirators were overwhelmed by the suddenness and fury of the attack. + +Four of them were killed outright and five were wounded, one so severely +that he survived only a few hours. + +Cosmo's quick and overwhelming victory was due to the fact that the +mutineers, in mounting the steps, could not see him and his men in the +shadows, and when the automatic weapons, which fired three shots per +second by repeated pressure of the trigger, from a chamber containing +twenty-one cartridges, once opened on them they could do nothing in the +hail of missiles, especially when crowded together on the steps. + +Campo was the only one who had any fight left in him. He struck Cosmo a +blow on the head that felled him, and then darted out upon the forepart +of the dome, running on the cleats, and made his way to the top. + +Cosmo was on his feet in a second and rushing in pursuit, closely followed +by Jim Waters. The fugitive ran for the ratlines leading to the lookout on +the central mast. He climbed them like a squirrel, and the man in the +cro'nest, amazed at the sight below him, stared at the approaching +mutineer, unable to utter a cry. Campo, who, as the moonbeams showed, now +had a knife in his teeth, rapidly approached, and the lookout shrank in +terror. But before Campo could reach the cro'nest, a blinding light +dazzled his eyes. Cosmo had shouted an order to Peterson to run back to +the bridge and turn a searchlight upon the mast. Then Campo heard a +thundering voice below him: + +"Take another step and I'll blow you into the sea!" + +He glanced below, and saw Cosmo and Waters covering him with their +pistols. + +"Not another step!" roared Cosmo again. "Come down, and I'll give you a +trial for your life." + +Campo hesitated; but, seeing that he could be shot down, and finding a +gleam of hope in Cosmo's words, he turned and came slowly down. The +moment he touched the bottom he was seized by Waters and another man, +and, under Cosmo's directions, his hands were bound behind his back. + +Ten minutes later the members of the crew who had been caught by the +mutineers in the gangways were all unbound, and then Cosmo broke open the +door of his cabin, the key having been lost or thrown away by Campo, and +the captain and Joseph Smith were released. + +"Well, we've got 'em," said Cosmo grimly to the captain. "The mutiny is +at an end, and there'll never be another." + +In the meantime many of the passengers had been aroused by the unaccustomed +noises, although the pistols had not made enough sound to be heard from +the place where they were fired. Nightcapped heads appeared on all sides, +and some, in scanty clothing, were wandering in the passageways, demanding +what the trouble was. Cosmo, the captain, and Joseph Smith reassured them, +saying that there was no danger, and that something had happened which +would be explained in the morning. + +The prisoners--and the whole fifteen were finally captured--were locked up +in a strong room, and a surgeon was sent to dress their wounds. Cosmo +Versal and the captain resumed their accustomed places on the bridge, +where they talked over the affair, and Cosmo explained his plans for the +morrow. + +"I'll give him his trial, as I promised," Cosmo said in conclusion, "and +you'll see what it will be. _Mutiny aboard this Ark!_" And he struck the +rail a violent blow with his fist. + +The next morning directly after breakfast Cosmo called all passengers and +crew into the grand saloon, where many wondering looks were exchanged and +many puzzling questions asked. When the mutineers, with hands tied behind +their backs and their many bandages on arms and legs, were led in, +exclamations of astonishment were heard, and some of the timid ones shrank +away in fear. + +Cosmo lost no time with preliminaries. + +"These men," he said, taking his stand upon the platform, "have mutinied +and tried to capture the Ark. This fellow"--pointing to Campo--"was the +concocter and leader of the plot. He intended to throw me and Captain +Arms, and all of you whom he did not wish to retain for his fiendish +purposes, into the sea. But Heaven has delivered them into our hands. I +have promised them a trial, and they shall have it. But it will be a +trial in which justice shall not be cheated. I find that a moral poison +has stolen into this selected company, and I will eliminate it for once +and all." + +The expressions of amazement and alarm redoubled in intensity. + +"Professor Abel Able, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, +Costake Theriade," Cosmo continued, "you will please come forward to act +as members of the jury, of which I name myself also a member. I shall be +both judge and juror here, but I will hear what the rest of you may have +to say." + +The men named stepped forward with some evidences of embarrassment, and +Cosmo gravely gave them seats beside him. Then he commanded that the +prisoners should confront the jury, and, heavily guarded, they were led to +the front. + +The brutishness of Campo's face had never struck the passengers who had +seen him before as it did now. He looked a veritable jailbird. At the same +time he was evidently in terror for his life. He muttered something which +nobody understood. + +Cosmo, who had informed himself of all the circumstances from Waters, and +by privately questioning the others, had satisfied himself that the entire +scheme of the mutiny was of Campo's contrivance, and that they had been led +into it solely by his persuasion and threats, ordered Waters to speak. The +seaman told a straight story of what he had heard and seen. Cosmo himself +then related the events of the night. When he had finished he turned to +Campo and demanded what he had to say. + +Campo again muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to defend +himself, simply saying: + +"You promised me a trial." + +"And haven't I given you a trial?" demanded Cosmo with flashing eyes. "You +thought you held the world in your grasp. It is _I_ that hold it in _my_ +grasp, and _you_, too! You were going to make us 'walk the plank.' It is +_you_ who are going to walk it! Is that the verdict?" (turning to the four +jurymen). + +Some of them nodded, some simply stared at Cosmo, surprised by the +vehemence of his manner. + +"Enough," he said. "As to you," addressing the other prisoners, "you have +had your lesson; see that you don't forget it! Release them, and lead Campo +to the promenade deck." + +Nobody thought that Cosmo would literally execute his threat to make the +mutineer walk the plank, but, as he had told Captain Arms, they didn't know +him. They were about to see that in Cosmo Versal they had not only a +prophet, a leader, and a judge, but an inexorable master also. + +A plank was prepared and placed sloping from the rail. + +"Walk!" said Cosmo firmly. + +To everybody's surprise Campo, with blinded eyes, started immediately up +the plank, followed its full length with quick, unfaltering step, and +plunging from the end, disappeared in the sea. + +Many had turned away, unable to look, but many also saw the tragedy to the +end. Then a profound sigh was heard from the whole company of the +spectators. As they turned away, talking in awed voices, they felt, as +never before, that the world had shrunk to the dimensions of the Ark, and +that Cosmo Versal was its dictator. + +That same afternoon Cosmo arranged one of his "conferences," and nobody +dared to be absent, although all minds were yet too much excited to follow +the discussions which few could understand. But at length Costake Theriade +concentrated their attention by a wild burst of eloquence about the wonders +of the inter-atomic forces. Sir Athelstone, unable to endure the applause +that greeted his rival, abruptly sprang to his feet, his round face red +with anger, and shouted: + +"I say, you know, this is twaddle!" + +"Will the Englishman interrupt not?" cried Theriade, with his eyes ablaze. +"Shall I project not the Sir Englishman to the feeshes?" + +He looked as if he were about to try to execute his threat, and Sir +Athelstone assumed a boxing attitude; but before hostilities could begin a +loud shout from the deck, followed by cries and exclamations, caused +everybody to rush out of the saloon. + +Those who succeeded in getting a glimpse over the shoulders of the members +of the crew, who were already lined up along the only portion of the +bulwarks available for seeing the part of the ocean on which attention +seemed to be fixed, stared open-mouthed at a round-backed mass of shining +metal, with a circular aperture on the top, the cover of which was canted +to one side, and there stood a man, waving a gold-laced red kepi, and +bowing and smiling with great civility. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE _JULES VERNE_ + + +The swell of the sea caused the strange-looking craft to rise and sink a +little, and sometimes the water ran bubbling all around the low rim of the +aperture, in the center of which the red-capped man stood, resting on some +invisible support, repeating his salutations and amicable smiles, and +balancing his body to the rocking of the waves with the unconscious +skill of a sailor. + +The Ark was running slowly, but it would very soon have left the stranger +in its wake if he had not also been in motion. It was evident that the +object under his feet must be a submersible vessel of some kind, although +it was of a type which Captain Arms, standing beside Cosmo on the bridge, +declared that he had never set eyes on before. It lay so low in the water +that nothing could be seen of its motive machinery, but it kept its place +alongside the Ark with the ease of a dolphin, and gradually edged in closer +and closer. + +When it was so near that he could be heard speaking in a voice hardly +raised above the ordinary pitch, the man, first again lifting his cap with +an easy gesture, addressed Cosmo Versal by name, using the English language +with a scarcely perceptible accent: + +"M. Versal, I offer you my felicitations upon the magnificent appearance of +your Ark, and I present my compliments to the ladies and gentlemen of your +company." + +And then he bowed once more to the passengers, who were almost crowding +each other over the side in their eagerness to both see and hear. + +"Thank you," responded Cosmo, "but who are you?" + +"Capitaine Yves de Beauxchamps, of the French army." + +"Where's the navy, then?" blurted out Captain Arms. + +De Beauxchamps glanced at the speaker a little disdainfully, and then +replied gravely: + +"Alas! At the bottom of the sea--with all the other navies." + +"And how have you escaped?" demanded Cosmo Versal. + +"As you see, in a submersible." + +"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Cosmo. "And you have been in the sea ever +since the beginning of the flood?" + +"Since the first rise of the ocean on the coast at Brest." + +"Have you no companions?" + +"Six--in truth, seven." + +"Astonishing!" said Cosmo Versal. "But I heard nothing of the preparation +of a submersible. In fact, the idea of such a thing never occurred to me. +You must have made your preparations secretly." + +"We did. We did not share your certainty, M. Versal, concerning the arrival +of a deluge. Even when we embarked we were not sure that it would be more +than an affair of the coasts." + +"But you must be on the point of starvation by this time. The flood has +only begun. This cessation is but for a time, while we are passing a gap in +the nebula. You will come aboard the Ark. I had chosen my company, but your +gallant escape, and the ability that you have shown, prove that you are +worthy to aid in the re-establishment of the race, and I have no doubt that +your companions are equally worthy." + +The Frenchman bowed politely, and with a slight smile replied: + +"I believe, M. Versal, that the _Jules Verne_ is as safe and comfortable, +and proportionately as well provisioned, as your Ark." + +"So you call it the _Jules Verne?_" returned Cosmo, smiling in his turn. + +"We were proud to give it that name, and its conduct has proved that it is +worthy of it." + +"But you will surely come aboard and shake hands, and let us offer you a +little hospitality," said Cosmo. + +"I should be extremely happy to pay my compliments to the ladies," +responded De Beauxchamps, "but I must postpone that pleasure for the +present. In the meantime, however, I should be glad if you would lower a +landing stage, and permit me to send aboard the seventh member of our +party, who, I venture to think, may find the Ark a more comfortable abode +than our submersible." + +"And who may that person be?" + +"_The King of England._" + +Exclamations of surprise and wonder were heard on all sides. + +"Yes," resumed the Frenchman, "we picked up his majesty the first day after +the deluge began to descend from the sky." + +"I will lower a ladder at once," Cosmo called out, and immediately ran down +to the lowest deck, commanding his men to make haste. + +The _Jules Verne_ was skillfully brought close up to the side of the Ark, +so that the visible part of her rounded back was nearly in contact with the +bottom of the companion-ladder when it had been lowered. The sea was so +calm that there was little difficulty in executing this maneuver. De +Beauxchamps disappeared in the depths of the submersible, and after a few +minutes re-emerged into sight, supporting on his arm a stout, rather short +man, whose face, it was evident, had once been full and ruddy, but now it +was pale and worn. + +"It is he!" exclaimed an English member of Cosmo's company to some of his +fellow-countrymen who had forced their way to the front. + +_"It is the king!"_ + +And then occurred a singular thing, inspired by the marvelous circumstances +of this meeting of the sovereign of a drowned kingdom, upon the bosom of +the waters that had destroyed it, with the mere handful which remained +alive out of all the millions of his subjects. + +These loyal Englishmen bared their heads (and there were three women among +them) and sang, with a pathos that surely the old hymn had never expressed +before, their national anthem: "God Save the King." + +The effect was immense. Every head aboard the Ark was immediately +uncovered. De Beauxchamps removed his cap, and one or two bared heads could +be seen peering out of the interior of the submersible below him. As the +king was steadied across to the bottom of the companion-ladder, the voices +of the singers rose louder, and many of the other passengers, moved by +sympathy, or carried away by epidemic feeling, joined in the singing. Never +had any monarch a greeting like that! Its recipient was moved to the depths +of his soul, and but for the aid given him would have been unable to ascend +the swaying steps. + +As he was assisted upon the deck, the song ceased and a great cheer broke +forth. There were tears in his eyes, and he trembled in every limb, when he +returned the welcoming pressure of Cosmo Versal's hand. + +The moment he saw that the king was safely aboard the Ark, De Beauxchamps, +with a farewell salutation, disappeared into the interior of the _Jules +Verne_, and the submersible sank out of sight as gently as if it had been a +huge fish that had come to the top of the sea to take a look about. + +After the sensation caused by the arrival of the English monarch aboard the +Ark had somewhat quieted down, and after his majesty had had an opportunity +to recover himself, Cosmo Versal invited his new guest to tell the story of +his escape. They were seated in Cosmo's cabin, and there were present +Joseph Smith, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, and Amos +Blank, beside several other members of the ship's company, including two of +the loyal Englishmen who quite naturally had been the first to strike up +the national anthem on seeing their rescued king. + +Richard Edward, or Richard IV as he was officially entitled, was one of the +best kings England ever had. He was popular not only because of his almost +democratic manners and the simplicity of his life, but more because he was +a great lover of peace. We have already seen how he was chosen, solely on +that account, to be of the number of the rulers invited to go in the Ark. +He had not even replied to Cosmo's invitation, but that was simply because, +like everybody about him in whom he placed confidence, he regarded Cosmo +Versal as a mere mountebank, and thought that there was no more danger of a +flood that would cover the earth than of the fall of the moon out of the +sky. + +Before responding to Cosmo's request he made a gracious reference to the +indifference with which he had formerly treated his present host. + +"I am sorry, Mr. Versal," he said, with a deprecatory smile, "that I did +not sooner recognize the fact that your knowledge surpassed that of my +scientific advisers." + +"Your majesty was not alone," replied Cosmo gravely, turning with his +finger a small globe that stood on his desk. "From all these deep-sunken +continents" (waving his hand toward the globe), "if the voices once heard +there could now speak, there would arise a mighty sound of lament for that +great error." + +The king looked at him with an expression of surprise. He glanced from +Cosmo's diminutive figure to his great overhanging brow, marked with the +lines of thought, and a look of instinctive deference came into his eyes. + +"But," continued Cosmo Versal, "it is bootless to speak of these things +now. I beg that your majesty will condescend to enlighten us concerning the +fate of that great kingdom, of ancient renown, over which you so worthily +reigned." + +An expression of deepest pain passed across the face of Richard Edward. For +some moments he remained buried in a mournful silence, and many sighs came +from his breast. All looked at him with profound commiseration. At last he +raised his head, and said, sorrowfully and brokenly: + +"My kingdom is drowned--my subjects have perished, almost to the last soul +--my family, my gracious consort, my children--all, all--gone!" + +Here he broke down, and could speak no more. Not a word was heard, for a +time in the room, and the two Englishmen present wept with their +unfortunate king. + +Cosmo Versal was no less deeply moved than the others. He sat, for a while, +in complete silence. Then he arose and, going to the king, put his hand +upon his shoulder, and talked to him long, in a low, consoling voice. At +last the broken-spirited monarch was able to suppress his emotions +sufficiently to recite, but with many interruptions while he remastered +his feelings, the story of his woes and of his marvelous escape. + +"Sir Francis Brook," he said, "prepared a barge, when the water invaded +London, and in that barge we escaped--her royal majesty, our children, and +a number of members of the royal household. The barge was the only vessel +of levium that existed in England. Sir Francis had furnished and +provisioned it well, and we did not think that it would be necessary to go +farther than to some high point in the interior. Sir Francis was of the +opinion that Wales would afford a secure refuge. + +"It was a terrible thing to see the drowning of London, the sweeping of the +awful bore that came up the Thames from the sea, the shipping wrecked by +the tearing waves, the swirl of the fast-rising water round the immense +basin in which the city lay, the downfall of the great buildings-- +Westminster Abbey was one of the first that succumbed--the overturned +boats, and even great vessels floating on their sides, or bottom up, the +awful spectacle of the bodies of the drowned tossing in the waves--all +these sights were before our horrified eyes while the vast eddy swept us +round and round until the water rose so high that we were driven off +toward the southwest. + +"That we should have escaped at all was a miracle of miracles. It was the +wonderful buoyancy of the levium barge that saved us. But the terrors of +that scene can never fade from my memory. And the fearful sufferings of +the queen! And our children--but I _cannot_ go on with this!" + +"Calm yourself, your majesty," said Cosmo sympathetically. "The whole +world has suffered with you. If we are spared and are yet alive, it is +through the hand of Providence--to which all of us must bow." + +"We must have passed over Surrey and Hampshire," the king resumed, "the +invasion of the sea having buried the hills." + +"I am surprised at that," said Cosmo. "I did not think that the sea had +anywhere attained so great an elevation before the nebula condensed. At +New York the complete drowning of the city did not occur until the +downpour from the sky began." + +"Oh! that deluge from the heavens!" cried the king. "What we had suffered +before seemed but little in comparison. It came upon us after night; +and the absolute darkness, the awful roaring, the terrific force of the +falling water, the sense of suffocation, the rapid filling of the barge +until the water was about our necks--these things drove us wild with +despair. + +"I tried to sustain my poor queen in my arms, but she struggled to seize +the children and hold them above the water, and in her efforts she escaped +from my hands, and henceforth I could find her no more. I stumbled about, +but it was impossible to see; it was impossible to hear. At last I fell +unconscious face downward, as it afterward appeared, upon a kind of bench +at the rear end of the barge, which was covered with a narrow metallic +roofing, and raised above the level of the bulwarks. It was there that I +had tried to shelter the queen and the children. + +"In some way I must have become lodged there, under the awning, in such a +position that the pitching of the barge failed to throw me off. I never +regained consciousness until I heard a voice shouting in my ear, and felt +some one pulling me, and when I had recovered my senses, I found myself in + the submersible." + +"And all your companions were gone?" asked Cosmo, in a voice shaking with +pity. + +"Yes, oh, Lord! All! They had been swept overboard by the waves--and would +that I had gone with them!" + +The poor king broke down again and sobbed. After a long pause Cosmo asked +gently: + +"Did the Frenchman tell you how he came upon the barge?" + +"He said that in rising to the surface to find out the state of things +there the submersible came up directly under the barge, canting it in such +a way that I was rolled out and he caught me as I was swept close to the +opening." + +"But how was it that the downpour, entering the submersible, when the cover +was removed, did not fill it with water?" + +"He had the cover so arranged that it served as an almost complete +protection from the rain. Some water did enter, but not much." + +"A wonderful man, that Frenchman," said Cosmo. "He would be an acquisition +for me. What did he say his name was? Oh, yes, De Beauxchamps--I'll make a +note of that. I shouldn't wonder if we heard of him again." + +Cosmo Versal was destined to encounter Yves de Beauxchamps and his +wonderful submersible _Jules Verne_ sooner, and under more dramatic +circumstances than he probably anticipated. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + +After the English king had so strangely become a member of its company the +Ark resumed its course in the direction of what had once been Europe. The +spot where the meeting with the _Jules Verne_ had occurred was west of Cape +Finisterre and, according to the calculations of Captain Arms, in longitude +fifteen degrees four minutes west; latitude forty-four degrees nine minutes +north. + +Cosmo decided to run into the Bay of Biscay, skirting its southern coast in +order to get a view of the Cantabrian Mountains, many of whose peaks, he +thought, ought still to lie well above the level of the water. + +"There are the Peaks of Europa," said Captain Arms, "which lie less than +twenty miles directly back from the coast. The highest point is eight +thousand six hundred and seventy feet above sea level, or what used to be +sea level. We could get near enough to it, without any danger, to see how +high the water goes." + +"Do you know the locality?" demanded Cosmo. + +"As well as I know a compass-card!" exclaimed the captain. "I've seen the +Europa peaks a hundred times. I was wrecked once on that coast, and being +of an inquiring disposition, I took the opportunity to go up into the range +and see the old mines--and a curious sight it was, too. But the most +curious sight of all was the shepherdesses of Tresvido, dressed just like +the men, in homespun breeches that never wore out. You'd meet 'em anywhere +on the slopes of the Pico del Ferro, cruising about with their flocks. And +the cheese that they made! There never was any such cheese!" + +"Well, if you know the place so well," said Cosmo, "steer for it as fast as +you can. I'm curious to find out just how high this flood has gone, up to +the present moment." + +"Maybe we can rescue a shepherdess," returned the captain, chuckling. +"She'd be an ornament to your new Garden of Eden." + +They kept on until, as they approached longitude five degrees west, they +began to get glimpses of the mountains of northern Spain. The coast was all +under deep water, and also the foothills and lower ranges, but some of the +peaks could be made out far inland. At length, by cautious navigation, +Captain Arms got the vessel quite close to the old shore line of the +Asturias, and then he recognized the Europa peaks. + +"There they are," he cried. "I'd know 'em if they'd emigrated to the middle +of Africa. There's the old Torre de Cerredo and the Pena Santa." + +"How high did you say the main peak is?" asked Cosmo. + +"She's eight thousand six hundred and seventy feet." + +"From your knowledge of the coast, do you think it safe to run in closer?" + +"Yes, if you're sure the water is not less than two thousand four hundred +feet above the old level we can get near enough to see the water-line on +the peaks, from the cro'nest, which is two hundred feet high." + +"Go ahead, then." + +They got closer than they had imagined possible, so close that, from the +highest lookout on the Ark, they were able with their telescopes to see +very clearly where the water washed the barren mountainsides at what seemed +to be a stupendous elevation. + +"I'm sorry about your shepherdesses," said Cosmo, smiling. "I don't think +you'd find any there to rescue if you could get to them. They must all +have been lost in the torrents that poured down those mountains." + +"More's the pity," said Captain Arms. "That was a fine lot of women. +There'll be no more cheese like what they made at Tresvido." + +Cosmo inquired if the captain's acquaintance with the topography of the +range enabled him to say how high that water was. The captain, after long +inspection, declared that he felt sure that it was not less than four +thousand feet above the old coast line. + +"Then," said Cosmo, "if you're right about the elevation of what you call +the Torre de Cerredo there must be four thousand six hundred and seventy +feet of its upper part still out of water. We'll see if that is so." + +Cosmo made the measurements with instruments, and announced that the result +showed the substantial accuracy of Captain Arms's guess. + +"I suspected as much," he muttered. "Those tremendous downpours, which may +have been worse elsewhere than where we encountered them, have increased +the rise nearly seventy per cent, above what my gages indicated. Now that I +know this," he continued, addressing the captain: "I'll change the course +of the Ark. I'm anxious to get into the Indian Ocean as soon as possible. +It would be a great waste of time to go back in order to cross the Sahara, +and with this increase of level it isn't necessary. We'll just set out +across southern France, keeping along north of the Pyrenees, and so down +into the region of the Mediterranean." + +Captain Arms was astonished by the boldness of this suggestion, and at +first he strongly objected to their taking such a course. + +"There's some pretty high ground in southern France," he said. "There's the +Cevennes Mountains, which approach a good long way toward the Pyrenees. Are +you sure the depth of water is the same everywhere?" + +"What a question for an old mariner to ask!" returned Cosmo. "Don't you +know that the level of the sea is the same everywhere? The flood doesn't +make any difference. It seeks its level like any other water." + +"But it may be risky steering between those mountains," persisted the +captain. + +"Nonsense! As long as the sky is clear you can get good observations, and +you ought to be navigator enough not to run on a mountain." + +Cosmo Versal, as usual, was unalterable in his resolution--he only changed +when he had reasons of his own--and the course of the Ark was laid, +accordingly, for the old French coast of the Landes, so low that it was now +covered with nearly four thousand feet of water. The feelings of the +passengers were deeply stirred when they learned that they were actually +sailing over buried Europe, and they gazed in astonishment at the water +beneath them, peering down into it as if they sought to discover the +dreadful secrets that it hid, and talking excitedly in a dozen languages. + +The Ark progressed slowly, making not more than five or six knots, and on +the second day after they dropped the Penas de Europa they were passing +along the northern flank of the Pyrenees and over the basin in which had +lain the beautiful city of Pau. The view of the Pyrenees from this point +had always been celebrated before the deluge as one of the most remarkable +in the world. + +Now it had lost its beauty, but gained in spectacular grandeur. All of +France, as far as the eye extended, was a sea, with long oceanic swells +slowly undulating its surface. This sea abruptly came to an end where it +met the mountains, which formed for it a coast unlike any that the hundreds +of eyes which wonderingly surveyed it from the Ark had ever beheld. + +Beyond the drowned vales and submerged ranges, which they knew lay beneath +the watery floor, before them, rose the heads of the Pic du Midi, the Pic +de Ger, the Pic de Bigorre, the Massif du Gabizos, the Pic Monne, and +dozens of other famous eminences, towering in broken ranks like the +bearskins of a "forlorn hope," resisting to the last, in pictures of +old-time battles. + +Here, owing to the configuration of the drowned land it was possible for +the Ark to approach quite close to some of the wading mountains, and Cosmo +seized the opportunity to make a new measure of the height of the flood, +which he found to be surely not less than his former estimates had shown. + +Surveying with telescopes the immense shoulders of the Monne, the Viscos, +the d'Ardiden, and the nearer heights, when they were floating above the +valley of Lourdes, Cosmo and the captain saw the terrible effects that had +been produced by the torrents of rain, which had stripped off the +vegetation whose green robe had been the glory of the high Pyrenees on the +French side. + +Presently their attention was arrested by some moving objects, and at a +second glance they perceived that these were human beings. + +"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Cosmo Versal. "There are survivors here. They have +climbed the mountains, and found shelter among the rocks. I should not have +thought it possible." + +"And there are women among them," said Captain Arms, lowering his +telescope. "You will not leave them there!" + +"But what can I do?" + +"Lower away the boats," replied the captain. "We've got plenty of them." + +"There may be thousands there," returned Cosmo, musing. "I can't take them +all." + +"Then take as many as you can. By gad, sir, _I'll_ not leave 'em!" + +By this time some of the passengers who had powerful glasses had discovered +the refugees on the distant heights, and great excitement spread throughout +the Ark. Cries arose from all parts of the vessel: + +"Rescue them!" "Go to their aid!" "Don't let them perish!" + +Cosmo Versal was in a terrible quandary. He was by no means without +humanity, and was capable of deep and sympathetic feeling, as we have seen, +but he already had as many persons in the Ark as he thought ought to be +taken, considering the provision that had been made, and, besides, he could +not throw off, at once, his original conviction of the necessity of +carefully choosing his companions. He remained for a long time buried in +thought, while the captain fumed with impatience and at last declared that +if Cosmo did not give the order to lower away the boats he would do it +himself. + +At length Cosmo, yielding rather to his own humane feelings than to the +urging of others, consented to make the experiment. Half a dozen levium +launches were quickly lowered and sent off, while the Ark, with slowed +engines, remained describing a circle as near the mountains as it was safe +to go. Cosmo himself embarked in the leading boat. + +The powerful motors of the launches carried them rapidly to the high slopes +where the unfortunates had sought refuge, and as they approached, and the +poor fugitives saw that deliverance was at hand, they began to shout, and +cheer, and cry, and many of them fell on their knees upon the rocks and +stretched their hands toward the heavens. + +The launches were compelled to move with great caution when they got near +the ragged sides of the submerged mountains (it was the Peyre Dufau on +which the people had taken refuge), but the men aboard them were determined +to effect the rescue, and they regarded no peril too closely. At last +Cosmo's launch found a safe landing, and the others quickly followed it. + +When Cosmo sprang out on a flat rock a crowd of men, women, and children, +weeping, crying, sobbing, and uttering prayers and blessings, instantly +surrounded him. Some wrung his hands in an ecstasy of joy, some embraced +him, some dropped on their knees before him and sought to kiss his hands. +Cosmo could not restrain his tears, and the crews of the launches were +equally affected. + +Many of these people could only speak the patois of the mountains, but some +were refugees from the resorts in the valleys below, and among these were +two English tourists who had been caught among the mountains by the sudden +rising of the flood. They exhibited comparative _sang froid_, and served as +spokesmen for the others. + +"Bah Jove!" exclaimed one of them, "but you're welcome, you know! This has +been a demnition close call! But what kind of a craft have you got out +there?" + +"I'm Cosmo Versal." + +"Then that's the Ark we've heard about! 'Pon honor, I should have +recognized you, for I've seen your picture often enough. You've come to +take us off, I suppose?" + +"Certainly," replied Cosmo. "How many are there?" + +"All that you see here; about a hundred, I should say. No doubt there are +others on the mountains round. There must have been a thousand of us when +we started, but most of them perished, overcome by the downpour, or swept +away by the torrents. Lord Swansdown (indicating his companion, who bowed +gravely and stiffly) and myself--I'm Edward Whistlington--set out to walk +over the Pyrenees from end to end, after the excitement about the great +darkness died out, and we got as far as the Marbore, and then running down +to Gavarnie we heard news of the sea rising, but we didn't give too much +credit to that, and afterward, keeping up in the heights, we didn't hear +even a rumor from the world below. + +"The sky opened on us like a broadside from an aerial squadron, and how we +ever managed to get here I'm sure I can hardly tell. We were actually +_carried_ down the mountainsides by the water, and how it failed to drown +us will be an everlasting mystery. Somehow, we found ourselves among these +people, who were trying to go _up_, assuring us that there was nothing +but water below. And at last we discovered some sort of shelter here--and +here we've been ever since." + +"You cannot have had much to eat," said Cosmo. + +"Not _too_ much, I assure you," replied the Englishman, with a melancholy +smile. "But these people shared with us what little they had, or could +find--anything and everything that was eatable. They're a devilish fine +lot, I tell you! + +"When the terrible rain suddenly ceased and the sky cleared," he resumed, +"we managed to get dry, after a day or two, and since then we've been +chewing leather until there isn't a shoe or a belt left. We thought at +first of trying to build rafts--but then where could we go? It wasn't any +use to sail out over a drowned country, with nothing in sight but the +mountains around us, which looked no better than the one we were barely +existing on." + +"Then I must get you aboard the Ark before you starve," said Cosmo. + +"Many have died of starvation already," returned Whistlington. "You can't +get us off a moment too quick." + +Cosmo Versal had by this time freed himself of every trace of the +reluctance which he had at first felt to increasing the size of his ship's +company by adding recruits picked up at random. His sympathies were +thoroughly aroused, and while he hastened the loading and departure of the +launches, he asked the Englishmen who, with the impassive endurance of +their race, stayed behind to the last, whether they thought that there were +other refugees on the mountains whom they could reach. + +"I dare say there are thousands of the poor devils on these peaks around +us, wandering among the rocks," replied Edward Whistlington, "but I fancy +you couldn't reach 'em." + +"If I see any I'll try," returned Cosmo, sweeping with his powerful +telescope all the mountain flanks within view. + +At last, on the slopes of the lofty Mont Aigu across the submerged valley +toward the south, he caught sight of several human figures, one of which +was plainly trying to make signals, probably to attract attention from the +Ark. Immediately, with the Englishmen and the remainder of those who had +been found on the Peyre Dufau, he hastened in his launch to the rescue. + +They found four men and three women, who had escaped from the narrow valley +containing the _bains de Gazost_, and who were in the last stages of +starvation. These were taken aboard, and then, no more being in sight, +Cosmo returned to the Ark, where the other launches had already arrived. + +And these were the last that were rescued from the mighty range of the +Pyrenees, in whose deep valleys had lain the famous resorts of Cauterets, +the Eaux Bonnes, the Eaux Chaudes, the Bagnieres de Luchon, the Bagnieres +de Bigorre, and a score of others. No doubt, as the Englishmen had said, +thousands had managed to climb the mountains, but none could now be seen, +and those who may have been there were left to perish. + +There was great excitement in the Ark on the arrival of the refugees. The +passengers overwhelmed them with kind attentions, and when they had +sufficiently recovered, listened with wonder and the deepest sympathy to +their exciting tales of suffering and terror. + +Lord Swansdown and Edward Whistlington were amazed to find their king +aboard the Ark, and the English members of the company soon formed a sort +of family party, presided over by the unfortunate monarch. The rescued +persons numbered, in all, one hundred and six. + +The voyage of the Ark was now resumed, skirting the Pyrenees, but at an +increasing distance. Finally Captain Arms announced that, according to his +observations, they were passing over the site of the ancient and populous +city of Toulouse. This recalled to Cosmo Versal's memory the beautiful +scenes of the fair and rich land that lay so deep under the Ark, and he +began to talk with the captain about the glories of its history. + +He spoke of the last great conqueror that the world had known, Napoleon, +and was discussing his marvelous career, and referring to the fact that he +had died on a rock in the midst of that very ocean which had now swallowed +up all the scenes of his conquests, when the lookout telephoned down that +there was something visible on the water ahead. + +In a little while they saw it--a small moving object, which rapidly +approached the Ark. As it drew nearer both exclaimed at once: + +"The _Jules Verne!_" + +There could be no mistaking it. It was riding with its back just above the +level of the sea; the French flag was fluttering from a small mast, and +already they could perceive the form of De Beauxchamps, standing in his old +attitude, with his feet below the rim of the circular opening at the top. +Cosmo ordered the Stars and Stripes to be displayed in salute, and, greatly +pleased over the encounter, hurried below and had the companion-ladder made +ready. + +"He's got to come aboard this time, anyhow!" he exclaimed. "I'll take no +refusal. I want to know that fellow better." + +But this time De Beauxchamps had no thought of refusing the hospitalities +of the Ark. As soon as he was within hearing he called out: + +"My salutations to M. Versal and his charming fellow-voyagers. May I be +permitted to come aboard and present myself in person? I have something +deeply interesting to tell." + +Everybody in the Ark who could find a standing-place was watching the +_Jules Verne_ and trying to catch a glimpse of its gallant captain, and to +hear what he said; and the moment his request was preferred a babel of +voices arose, amid which could be distinguished such exclamations as: + +"Let him come!" "A fine fellow!" "Welcome, De Beauxchamps!" "Hurrah for the +_Jules Verne!_" + +King Richard was in the fore rank of the spectators, waving his hand to his +preserver. + +"Certainly you can come aboard," cried Cosmo heartily, at the same time +hastening the preparations for lowering the ladder. "We are all glad to see +you. And bring your companions along with you." + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + +De Beauxchamps accepted Cosmo Versal's invitation to bring his +companions with him into the Ark. The submersible was safely moored +alongside, where she rode easily in company with the larger vessel, and +all mounted the companion-ladder. The Frenchman's six companions were +dressed, like himself, in the uniform of the army. + +"Curious," muttered Captain Arms in Cosmo's ear, "that these _soldiers_ +should be the only ones to get off--and in a vessel, too. What were the +seamen about?" + +"What were _our_ seamen about?" returned Cosmo. "How many of _them_ got +off? I warned them that ships would not do. But it was a bright idea of +this De Beauxchamps and his friends to build a submersible. It didn't +occur to me, or I would have advised their construction everywhere for +small parties. But it would never have done for us. A submersible would +not have been capacious enough for the party I wanted to take." + +By this time the visitors were aboard, and Cosmo and the others who +could get near enough to grasp them by the hand greeted them effusively. +King Richard received De Beauxchamps with emotion, and thanked him again +and again for having saved his life; but, in the end, he covered his +face and said in a broken voice: + +"M. De Beauxchamps, my gratitude to you is very deep--but, oh, the +queen--the queen--and the children! I should have done better to perish +with them." + +Cosmo and De Beauxchamps soothed him as well as they could, and the +former led the way into the grand saloon, in order that as many as +possible might see and greet their visitors, who had come so +mysteriously up out of the sea. + +All of the Frenchmen were as affable as their leader, and he presented +them in turn. De Beauxchamps conversed almost gaily with such of the +ladies as had sufficient command of their feelings to join the throng +that pressed about him and his companions. He was deeply touched by the +story of the recent rescue of his countrymen from the Pyrenees, and he +went among them, trying to cheer them up, with the _elan_ that no +misfortune can eradicate from the Gallic nature. + +At length Cosmo reminded him that he had said that he had some +interesting news to communicate. + +"Yes," said De Beauxchamps, "I have just come from a visit to Paris." + +Exclamations of amazement and incredulity were heard on all sides. + +"It is true," resumed the Frenchman, though now his voice lost all its +gayety. "I had conceived the project of such a visit before I met the +Ark and transferred His Majesty, the King of England, to your care. As +soon as that was done I set out to make the attempt." + +"But tell me first," interrupted Cosmo, "how you succeeded in finding +the Ark again." + +"That was not very difficult," replied De Beauxchamps, smiling. "Of +course, it was to some extent accidental, for I didn't _know_ that you +would be here, navigating over France; but I had an idea that you +_might_ come this way if you had an intention of seeing what had +happened to Europe. It is my regular custom to rise frequently to the +surface to take a look around and make sure of my bearings, and you know +that the Ark makes a pretty large point on the waters. I saw it long +before you caught sight of me." + +"Very well," said Cosmo. "Please go on with your story. It must, indeed, +be an extraordinary one." + +"I was particularly desirous of seeing Paris again, deep as I knew her +to lie under the waves," resumed De Beauxchamps, "because it was my +home, and I had a house in the Champs Elysees. You cannot divorce the +heart of a Frenchman from his home, though you should bury it under +twenty oceans." + +"Your family were lost?" + +"Thank God, I had no family. If I had had they would be with me. My +companions are all like myself in that respect. We have lost many +friends, but no near relatives. As I was saying, I started for France, +poor drowned France, as soon as I left you. With the powerful +searchlight of the _Jules Verne_ I could feel confident of avoiding +obstructions; and, besides, I knew very closely the height to which the +flood had risen, and having the topography of my country at my fingers' +ends, as does every officer of the army, I was able to calculate the +depth at which we should run in order to avoid the hilltops." + +"But surely," said Cosmo, "it is impossible--at least, it seems so to +me--that you can descend to any great depth--the pressure must be +tremendous a few hundred feet down, to say nothing of possible +thousands." + +"All that," replied the Frenchman, "has been provided for. You probably +do not know to what extent we had carried experiments in France on the +deep submersion of submarines before their general abandonment when they +were prohibited by international agreement in war. I was myself perhaps +the leader in those investigations, and in the construction of the +_Jules Verne_ I took pains to improve on all that had hitherto been +done. + +"Without going into any description of my devices, I may simply remind +you nature has pointed out ways of avoiding the consequences of the +inconceivable pressures which calculation indicates at depths of a +kilometer, or more, in her construction of the deep-sea fishes. It was +by a study of them that I arrived at the secret of both penetrating to +depths that would theoretically have seemed entirely impossible and of +remaining at such depths." + +"Marvelous!" exclaimed Cosmo; "marvelous beyond belief!" + +"I may add," continued De Beauxchamps, smiling at the effect that his +words had had upon the mind of the renowned Cosmo Versal, "that the +peculiar properties of levium, which you so wisely chose for your Ark, +aided _me_ in quite a different way. But I must return to my story. + +"We passed over the coast of France near the point where I knew lay the +mouth of the Loire. I could have found my way by means of the compass +sufficiently well; but since the sky was clear I frequently came to the +surface in order, for greater certainty, to obtain sights of the sun and +stars. + +"I dropped down at Tours and at Blois, and we plainly saw the walls of +the old chateaux in the gleam of the searchlight below us. There were +monsters of the deep, such as the eye of man never beheld, swimming +slowly about them, many of them throwing a strange luminosity into the +water from their phosphorescent organs, as if they were inspecting these +novelties of the sea-bottom. + +"Arrived over Orleans, we turned in the direction of Paris. As we +approached the site of the city I sank the submersible until we almost +touched the higher hills. My searchlight is so arranged that it can be +directed almost every way--up, down, to this side, and to that--and we +swept it round us in every direction. + +"The light readily penetrated the water and revealed sights which I have +no power to describe, and some--reminders of the immense population of +human beings which had there met its end--which I would not describe if +I could. To see a drowned face suddenly appear outside the window, +almost within touch--ah, that was too horrible! + +"We passed over Versailles, with the old palace still almost intact; +over Sevres, with its porcelain manufactory yet in part standing--the +tidal waves that had come up the river from the sea evidently caused +much destruction just before the downpour began--and finally we +'entered' Paris. + +"We could see the embankments of the Seine beneath us as we passed up +its course from the Point du Jour. From the site of the Champ de Mars I +turned northward in search of the older part of the Champs Elysees, +where my house was, and we came upon the great Arc de Triomphe, which, +you remember, dates from the time of Napoleon. + +"It was apparently uninjured, even the huge bronze groups remaining in +their places, and the searchlight, traversing its face, fell upon the +heroic group on the east facade of the Marseillaise. You must have seen +that, M. Versal?" + +"Yes, many a time," Cosmo replied. "The fury in the face of the female +figure representing the spirit of war, chanting the 'Marseillaise,' and, +sword in hand, sweeping over the heads of the soldiers, is the most +terrible thing of human making that I ever looked upon." + +"It was not so terrible as another thing that our startled eyes beheld +there," said De Beauxchamps. "Coiled round the upper part of the arch, +with its head resting directly upon that of the figure of which you +speak, was a monstrous, ribbon-shaped creature, whose flat, reddish +body, at least a meter in width and apparently thirty meters long, and +bordered with a sort of floating frill of a pinkish color, undulated +with a motion that turned us sick at heart. + +"But the head was the most awful object that the fancy of a madman could +conceive. There were two great round, projecting eyes, encircled with +what I suppose must have been phosphorescent organs, which spread around +in the water a green light that was absolutely horrifying. + +"I turned away the searchlight, and the eyes of that creature stared +straight at us with a dreadful, stony look; and then the effect of the +phosphorescence, heightened by the absence of the greater light, became +more terrible than before. We were unmanned, and I hardly had nerve +enough to turn the submersible away and hurry from the neighborhood." + +"I had not supposed," said Cosmo, "that creatures of such a size could +live in the deeper parts of the sea." + +"I know," returned De Beauxchamps, "that many have thought that the +abysmal creatures were generally of small size, but they knew nothing +about it. What could one have expected to learn of the secrets of life +in the ocean depths from the small creatures which alone the trawls +brought to the surface? The great monsters could not be captured in that +way. But we have _seen_ them--seen them taking possession of beautiful, +drowned Paris--and we know what they are." + +The fascinated hearers who had crowded about to listen to the narrative +of De Beauxchamps shuddered at this part of it, and some of the women +turned away with exclamations of horror. + +"I see that I am drawing my picture in too fearful colors," he said, +"and I shall refrain from telling of the other inhabitants of the abyss +that we found in possession of what I, as a Frenchman, must call the +most splendid capital that the world contained. + +"Oh, to think that all that beauty, all those great palaces filled with +the master-works of art, all those proud architectural piles, all that +scene of the most joyous life that the earth contained, is now become +the dwelling-place of the terrible _fauna_ of the deep, creatures that +never saw the sun; that never felt the transforming force of the +evolution which had made the face of the globe so glorious; that never +quitted their abysmal homes until this awful flood spread their empire +over the whole earth!" + +There was a period of profound silence while De Beauxchamps's face +worked spasmodically under the influence of emotions, the sight of which +would alone have sufficed to convince his hearers of the truth of what +he had been telling. Finally Cosmo Versal, breaking the silence, asked: + +"Did you find your home?" + +"Yes. It was there. I found it out. I illuminated it with the +searchlight. I gazed into the broken windows, trying to peer through the +watery medium that filled and darkened the interior. The roof was +broken, but the walls were intact. I thought of the happy, happy years +that I had passed there when I _had_ a family, and when Paris was an +Eden, the sunshine of the world. And then I wished to see no more, and +we rose out of the midst of that sunken city and sought the daylight far +above. + +"I had thought to tell you," he continued, after a pause, "of the +condition in which we found the great monuments of the city--of the +Pantheon, yet standing on its hill with its roof crushed in; of Notre +Dame--a wreck, but the towers still standing proudly; of the old palace +of the Louvre, through whose broken roofs and walls we caught glimpses +of the treasures washed by the water within--but I find that I have not +courage to go on. I had imagined that it would be a relief to speak of +these things, but I do not find it so." + +"After leaving Paris, then you made no other explorations?" said Cosmo. + +"None. I should have had no heart for more. I had seen enough. And yet I +do not regret that I went there. I should never have been content not to +have seen my beautiful city once more, even lying in her watery shroud. +I loved her living; I have seen her dead. It is finished. What more is +there, M. Versal?" With a sudden change of manner: "You have predicted +all this, and perhaps you know more. Where do _we_ go to die?" + +"We shall _not_ die," replied Cosmo Versal forcefully. "The Ark and your +_Jules Verne_ will save us." + +"To what purpose?" demanded the Frenchman, his animation all gone. "Can +there be any pleasure in floating upon or beneath the waves that cover a +lost world? Is a brief prolongation of such a life worth the effort of +grasping for?" + +"Yes," said Cosmo with still greater energy. "We may still _save the +race_. I have chosen most of my companions in the Ark for that purpose. +Not only may we save the race of man, but we may lead it up upon a +higher plane; we may apply the principles of eugenics as they have never +yet been applied. You, M. De Beauxchamps, have shown that you are of the +stock that is required for the regeneration of the world." + +"But where can the world be regenerated?" asked De Beauxchamps with a +bitter laugh. "There is nothing left but mountain-tops." + +"Even they will be covered," said Cosmo. + +"Do you mean that the deluge has not yet reached its height?" + +"Certainly it has not. We are in an open space in the enveloping nebula. +After a little we shall enter the nucleus, and then will come the +worst." + +"And yet you talk of saving the race!" exclaimed the Frenchman with +another bitter laugh. + +"I do," replied Cosmo, "and it will be done." + +"But how?" + +"Through the re-emergence of land." + +"That recalls our former conversation," put in Professor Abel Able. "It +appears to me impossible that, when the earth is once covered with a +universal ocean, it can ever disappear or materially lower its level. +Geological ages would be required for the level of the water to be +lowered even a few feet by the escape of vapor into space." + +"No," returned Cosmo Versal, "I have demonstrated that that idea is +wrong. Under the immense pressure of an ocean rising six miles above the +ancient sea level the water will rapidly be forced into the interstices +of the crust, and thus a material reduction of level will be produced +within a few years--five at the most. That will give us a foothold. I +have no doubt that even now the water around us is slightly lowering +through that cause. + +"But in itself that will not be sufficient. I have gone all over this +ground in my original calculations. The intrusion of the immense mass of +ocean water into the interior of the crust of the earth will result in a +grand geological upheaval. The lands will re-emerge above the new sea +level as they emerged above the former one through the internal stresses +of the globe." + +The scientific men present listened with breathless interest, but some +of them with many incredulous shakings of the head. + +"You must be aware," continued Cosmo, addressing them particularly, +"that it has been demonstrated that the continents and the great +mountain ranges are buoyed up, and, as it were, are floating somewhat +like slags on the internal magma. The mean density of the crust is less +under the land and the mountains than under the old sea-beds. This is +especially true of the Himalayan region. + +"That uplift is probably the most recent of all, and it is there, where +at present the highest land of the globe exists, that I expect that the +new upheaval will be most strongly manifested. It is for that reason, +and not merely because it is now the highest part of the earth, that I +am going with the Ark to Asia." + +"But," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "the upheaval of which you speak +may produce a complete revolution in the surface of the earth, and if +new lands are upthrust they may appear at unexpected points." + +"Not at all," returned Cosmo. "The tectonic features of the globe were +fixed at the beginning. As Asia has hitherto been the highest and the +greatest mass of land, it will continue to be so in the future. It is +there, believe me, that we shall replant the seed of humanity." + +"Do you not think," asked Professor Alexander Jones, "that there will be +a tremendous outburst of volcanic energy, if such upheavals occur, and +may not that render the re-emerging lands uninhabitable?" + +"No doubt," Cosmo replied, "every form of plutonic energy will be +immensely re-enforced. You remember the recent outburst of all the +volcanoes when the sea burst over the borders of the continents. But +these forces will be mainly expended in an effort of uplifting. +Unquestionably there will be great volcanic spasms, but they will not +prevent the occupation of the broadening areas of land which will not be +thus affected." + +"Upon these lands," exclaimed Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, in a loud voice, +"I will develop life from the barren minerals of the crust. The age of +chemical parthenogenesis will then have dawned upon the earth, and man +will have become a creator." + +"Will the Sir Englishman give me room for a word!" cried Costake +Theriade, raising his tall form on his toes and agitating his arms in +the air. "He will create not anything! It is _I_ that will unloose the +energies of the atoms of matter and make of the new man a new god." + +Cosmo Versal quieted the incipient outbreak of his jealous "speculative +geniuses," and the discussion of his theory was continued for some time. +At length De Beauxchamps, shrugging his shoulders, exclaimed, with a +return of his habitual gayety: + +"_Tres bien! Vive_ the world of Cosmo Versal! I salute the new Eve that +is to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + +When Professor Pludder, the President, and their companions on the +aero-raft, saw the three men on the bluff motioning and shouting to +them, they immediately sought the means of bringing their craft to land. +This did not prove to be exceedingly difficult, for there was a +convenient rock with deep water around it on which they could disembark. + +The men ran down to meet them, and to help them ashore, exhibiting the +utmost astonishment at seeing them there. + +"Whar in creation did _you_ come from?" exclaimed one, giving the +professor a pull up the bank. "Mebbe you're Cosmo Versal, and that's yer +Ark." + +"I'm Professor Pludder, and this is the President of the United States." + +"The President of the Un----See here, stranger, I'll take considerable +from you, considering the fix yer in, but you don't want to go too far." + +"It's true," asseverated the professor. "This gentleman is the +President, and we've escaped from Washington. Please help the ladies." + +"I'll help the ladies all right, but I'm blamed if I believe yer yarn. +How'd you git here? You couldn't hev floated across the continent on +that thing." + +"We came on the raft that you see," interrupted Mr. Samson. "We left the +Appalachian Mountains two weeks ago." + +"Well, by--it must be true!" muttered the man. "They couldn't hev come +from anywhar else in that direction. I reckon the hull blamed continent +is under water." + +"So it is," said Professor Pludder, "and we made for Colorado, knowing +that it was the only land left above the flood." + +All finally got upon the bluff, rejoiced to feel solid ground once more +beneath their feet. But it was a desolate prospect that they saw before +them. The face of the land had been scoured and gullied by the pouring +waters, the vegetation had been stripped off, except where in hollows it +had been covered with new-formed lakes, some of which had drained off +after the downpour ceased, the water finding its way into the enveloping +sea. + +They asked the three men what had become of the other inhabitants, and +whether there was any shelter at hand. + +"We've be'n wiped out," said the original spokesman. "Cosmo Versal has +done a pretty clean job with his flood. There's a kind of a cover that +we three hev built, a ways back yonder, out o' timber o' one kind and +another that was lodged about. But it wouldn't amount to much if there +was another cloudburst. It wouldn't stand a minute. It's good to sleep +in." + +"Are you the only survivors in this region?" asked the President. + +"I reckon you see all thet's left of us. The' ain't one out o' a hundred +that's left alive in these parts." + +"What became of them?" + +"Swept off!" replied the man, with an expressive gesture--"and drownded +right out under the sky." + +"And how did you and your companions escape?" + +"By gitting up amongst some rocks that was higher'n the average." + +"How did you manage to live--what did you have to eat?" + +"We didn't eat much--we didn't hev much time to think o' eatin'. We had +one hoss with us, and he served, when his time come. After the sky +cleared we skirmished about and dug up something that we could manage to +eat, lodged in gullies where the water had washed together what had been +in houses and cellars. We've got a gun and a little ammunition, and once +in a while we could kill an animal that had contrived to escape +somehow." + +"And you think that there are no other human beings left alive anywhere +around here?" + +"I _know_ th' ain't. The's probably some up in the foothills, and around +the Pike. They had a better chance to git among rocks. We hed jest made +up our minds to go hunting for 'em when we ketched sight o' you, and +then we concluded to stay and see who you was." + +"I'm surprised that you didn't go sooner." + +"We couldn't. There was a roarin' torrent coming down from the mountains +that cut us off. It's only last night that it stopped." + +"Well, it's evident that we cannot stay here," said Professor Pludder. +"We must go with these men toward the mountains. Let us take what's left +of the compressed provisions out of the raft, and then we'll eat a good +meal and be off." + +The three men were invited to share the repast, and they ate with an +appetite that would have amused their hosts if they had not been so +anxious to reserve as much as possible of their provisions for future +necessities. + +The meal finished, they started off, their new friends aiding to carry +provisions, and what little extra clothing there was. The aspect of the +country they traversed affrighted them. Here and there were partially +demolished houses or farm structures, or cellars, choked with debris of +what had once been houses. + +Farm implements and machinery were scattered about and half buried in +the torrent-furrowed land. In the wreck of one considerable village +through which they passed they found a stone church, and several stone +houses of considerable pretensions, standing almost intact as to walls, +but with roofs, doors, and windows smashed and torn off. + +It was evident that this place, which lay in a depression of the land, +had been buried by the rushing water as high as high as the top stories +of the buildings. From some of the sights that they saw they shrank +away, and afterward tried to forget them. + +Owing to the presence of the women and children their progress was +slower than it might overwise have been. They had great difficulty in +crossing the course of the torrent which their companions had described +as cutting them off from the foothills of the Pike's Peak range. + +The water had washed out a veritable canon, a hundred or more feet deep +in places, and with ragged, precipitous walls and banks, which they had +to descend on one side and ascend on the other. Here the skill and local +knowledge of their three new-found friends stood them in good stead. +There was yet enough water in the bottom of the great gully to compel +them to wade, carrying the women and children. + +But, just before nightfall, they succeeded in reaching a range of rocky +heights, where they determined to pass the night. They managed to make a +fire with brush that had been swept down the mountain flanks and had +remained wedged in the rocks, and thus they dried their soaked garments, +and were able to do some cooking, and to have a blaze to give them a +little heat during the night, for the air turned cold after the +disappearance of the sun. + +When the others had sunk into an uneasy slumber, the President and +Professor Pludder sat long, replenishing the fire, and talking of what +would be their future course. + +"I think," said the professor, "that we shall find a considerable +population alive among the mountains. There is nothing in Colorado below +four thousand feet elevation, and not much below five thousand. The +great inner 'parks' were probably turned into lakes, but they will drain +off, as the land around us here has done already. + +"Those who managed to find places of comparative shelter will now +descend into the level lands and try to hunt up the sites of their +homes. If only some plants and grain have been preserved they can, after +a fashion, begin to cultivate the soil." + +"But there _is_ no soil," said the President, shuddering at the +recollection of the devastation he had witnessed. "It has all been +washed off." + +"No," replied the professor, "there's yet a good deal in the low places, +where the water rested." + +"But it is now the middle of winter." + +"Reckoned by the almanac it is, but you see that the temperature is that +of summer, and has been such for months. I think that this is due in +some way to the influence of the nebula, although I cannot account for +it. At any rate it will be possible to plant and sow. + +"The whole body of the atmosphere having been raised four thousand feet, +the atmospheric conditions here now are virtually the same as at the +former sea-level. If we can find the people and reassure them, we must +take the lead in restoring the land to fertility, and also in the +reconstruction of homes." + +"Suppose the flood should recommence?" + +"There is no likelihood of it." + +"Then," said the President, putting his face between his hands and +gazing sadly into the fire, "here is all that remains of the mightiest +nation of the world, the richest, the most populous--and we are to build +up out of this remnant a new fatherland." + +"This is not the only remnant," said Professor Pludder. "One-quarter, at +least, of the area of the United States is still above sea-level. Think +of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, the larger part of California, +Wyoming, a part of Montana, two-thirds of Idaho, a half of Oregon and +Washington--all above the critical level of four thousand feet, and all +except the steepest moutainsides can be reclaimed. + +"There is hope for our country yet. Remember that the climate of this +entire region will now be changed, since the barometric isobars have +been lifted up, and the line of thirty inches pressure now meets the +edge of the Colorado plateau. There may be a corresponding change in the +rainfall and in all the conditions of culture and fertility." + +"Yes," sighed the President, "but I cannot, I cannot withdraw my mind +from the thought of the _millions, millions, millions_ who have +perished!" + +"I do not say that we should forget them," replied Professor Pludder; +"Heaven forbid! But I do say that we must give our attention to those +that remain, and turn our faces steadily toward the future." + +"Abiel," returned the President, pressing the professor's hand, "you are +right. My confidence in you was shaken, but now I follow you again." + +Thus they talked until midnight, and then got a little rest with the +others. They were up and off at break of day, and as they mounted higher +they began to encounter immense rocks that had come tumbling down from +above. + +"How can you talk of people escaping toward the mountains if they had to +encounter these?" demanded the President. + +"Some of these rocks have undoubtedly been brought down by the +torrents," Professor Pludder replied, "but I believe that the greater +number fell earlier, during the earthquakes that accompanied the first +invasions of the sea." + +"But those earthquakes may have continued all through." + +"I do not think so. We have felt no trembling of the earth. I believe +that the convulsions lasted only for a brief period, while the rocks +were yielding to the pressure along the old sea-coast. After a little +the crust below adjusted itself to the new conditions. And even if the +rocks fell while people were trying to escape from the flood below, they +must, like the water, have followed the gorges and hollow places, while +the fugitives would, of course, keep upon the ridges." + +Whatever perils they may have encountered, people had certainly escaped +as the professor had averred. When the party, in the middle of the day, +were seated at their lunch, on an elevated point from which they could +see far over the strange ocean that they had left behind them, while the +southern buttresses of Pike's Peak rose steeply toward the north, they +discovered the first evidence of the existence of refugees in the +mountains. This was a smoke rising over an intervening ridge, which +their new companions declared could be due to nothing less than a large +camp-fire. + +They hastened to finish their meal, and then climbed the ridge. As soon +as they were upon it they found themselves looking down into a broad, +shallow canon, where there were nearly twenty rudely constructed cabins, +with a huge fire blazing in the midst of the place, and half a dozen +red-shirted men busy about it, evidently occupied in the preparation of +the dinner of a large party. + +Their friends recognized an acquaintance in one of the men below and +hailed him with delight. Instantly men, women, and children came running +out of the huts to look at them, and as they descended into this +improvised village they were received with a hospitality that was almost +hilarious. + +The refugees consisted of persons who had escaped from the lower lands +in the immediate vicinity, and they were struck dumb when told that they +were entertaining the President of the United States and his family. + +The entire history of their adventures was related on both sides. The +refugees told how, at the commencement of the great rain, when it became +evident that the water would inundate their farms and buildings, they +loaded themselves with as many provisions as they could carry, and, in +spite of the suffocating downpour that filled the air, managed to fight +their way to the ridge overhanging the deep cut in which they were now +encamped. + +Hardly a quarter of those who started arrived in safety. They sheltered +themselves to the number of about thirty, in a huge cavern, which faced +down the mountain, and had a slightly upward sloping floor, so that the +water did not enter. Here, by careful economy, they were able to eke out +their provisions until the sky cleared, after which the men, being used +to outdoor labor and hunting, contrived to supply the wants of the +forlorn little community. + +They managed to kill a few animals, and found the bodies of others +recently killed, or drowned. Later they descended into the lowlands, as +the water ran off, and searching among the ruins of their houses found +some remnants of supplies in the cellars and about the foundations of +the barns. They were preparing to go down in a body and seek to +re-establish themselves on the sites of their old homes, when the +President's party came upon them. + +The meeting with these refugees was but the first of a series of similar +encounters on the way along the eastern face of the Pike's Peak range. +In the aggregate they met several hundred survivors who had established +themselves on the site of Colorado Springs, where a large number of +houses, standing on the higher ground, had escaped. + +They had been soaked with water, descending through the shattered roofs +and broken windows, and pouring into the basements and cellars. The +fugitives came from all directions, some from the caverns on the +mountains, and some from the rocks toward the north and east. A +considerable number asserted that they had found refuge in the Garden of +the Gods. + +As near as could be estimated, about a quarter of the population +remained alive. + +The strong points of Professor Pludder now, once more, came out +conspicuously. He proved himself an admirable organizer. He explored all +the country round, and enheartened everybody, setting them to work to +repair the damage as much as possible. + +Some horses and cattle were found which, following their instincts, had +managed to escape the flood. In the houses and other buildings yet +standing a great deal of food and other supplies were discovered, so +that there was no danger of a famine. As he had anticipated, the soil +had not all been washed away from the flat land, and he advised the +inhabitants to plant quick-growing seeds at once. + +He utilized the horses to send couriers in all directions, some going +even as far as Denver. Everywhere virtually the same conditions were +found--many had escaped and were alive, only needing the guidance of a +quicker intelligence, and this was supplied by the advice which the +professor instructed his envoys to spread among the people. He sought to +cheer them still more by the information that the President was among +them, and looking out for their welfare. + +One thing which his couriers at last began to report to him was a cause +of surprise. They said that the level of the water was rapidly falling. +Some who had gone far toward the east declared that it had gone down +hundreds of feet. But the professor reflected that this was impossible, +because evaporation could not account for it, and he could not persuade +himself that so much water could have found its way into the interior of +the crust. + +He concluded that his informants had allowed their hopes to affect their +eyesight, and, strong as usual in his professional dogmas, he made no +personal examination. Besides, Professor Pludder was beginning to be +shaken in his first belief that all trouble from the nebula was at an +end. Once having been forced to accept the hypothesis that a watery +nebula had met the earth, he began to reflect that they might not be +through with it. + +In any event, he deemed it wise to prepare for it if it _should_ come +back. Accordingly he advised that the population that remained should +concentrate in the stronger houses, built of stone, and that every +effort should be made to strengthen them further and to make the roofs +as solid as possible. He also directed that no houses should be occupied +that were not situated on high ground, surrounded with slopes that would +give ready flow to the water in case the deluging rain should +recommence. + +He had no fixed conviction that it would recommence, but he was uneasy, +owing to his reflections, and wished to be on the safe side. He sent +similar instructions as far as his horsemen could reach. + +The wisdom of his doubts became manifest about two weeks after the +arrival of the President's party. Without warning the sky, which had +been perfectly blue and cloudless for a month, turned a sickly yellow. +Then mists hid the head, and in a little while the entire outline of +Pike's Peak, and after that a heavy rain began. + +Terror instantly seized the people, and at first nobody ventured out of +doors. But as time went on and the rain did not assume the proportions +of the former _debacle_, although it was very heavy and continuous, hope +revived. Everybody was on the watch for a sudden clearing up. + +Instead of clearing, however, the rain became very irregular, gushing at +times in torrents which were even worse than the original downpour, but +these tremendous gushes were of brief duration, so that the water had an +opportunity to run off the higher ground before the next downpour +occurred. + +This went on for a week, and then the people were terrified at finding +that water was pouring up through all the depressions of the land, +cutting off the highlands from Pike's Peak with an arm of the sea. It +was evident that the flood had been rapidly rising, and if it should +rise but little higher they would be caught in a trap. The inland sea, +it was clear, had now invaded the whole of Colorado to the feet of the +mountains, and was creeping up on them. + +Just at this time a series of earthquakes began. They were not severe, +but were continuous. The ground cracked open in places, and some houses +were overturned, but there were no wall-shattering shocks--only a +continual and dreadful trembling, accompanied by awful subterranean +sounds. + +This terrible state of affairs had lasted for a day before a remarkable +discovery was made, which filled many hearts with joy, although it +seemed to puzzle Professor Pludder as much as it rejoiced him. + +The new advance of the sea was arrested! There could be no question of +that, for too many had anxiously noted the points to which the water had +attained. + +We have said that Professor Pludder was puzzled. He was seeking, in his +mind, a connection between the seismic tremors and the cessation of the +advance of the sea. Inasmuch as the downpour continued, the flood ought +still to rise. + +He rejected as soon as it occurred to him the idea that the earth could +be drinking up the waters as fast as they fell, and that the trembling +was an accompaniment of this gigantic deglutition. + +Sitting in a room with the President and other members of the party from +Washington, he remained buried in his thoughts, answering inquiries only +in monosyllables. Presently he opened his eyes very wide and a +long-drawn "A-ah!" came from his mouth. Then he sprang to his feet and +cried out, but only as if uttering a thought aloud to himself, the +strange word: + +_"Batholite!"_ + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + +At the time when the President of the United States and his companions +were beginning to discover the refugees around Pike's Peak, Cosmo +Versal's Ark accompanied by the _Jules Verne_, whose commander had +decided to remain in touch with his friends, was crossing the submerged +hills and valleys of Languedoc under a sun as brilliant as that which +had once made them a land of gold. + +De Beauxchamps remained aboard the Ark much of the time. Cosmo liked to +have him, with himself and Captain Arms, on the bridge, because there +they could talk freely about their plans and prospects, and the +Frenchman was a most entertaining companion. + +Meanwhile, the passengers in the saloons and on the promenade decks +formed little knots and coteries for conversation, for reading, and for +mutual diversion, or strolled about from side to side, watching the +endless expanse of waters for the occasional appearance of some +inhabitant of the deep that had wandered over the new ocean's bottom. + +These animals seemed to be coming to the surface to get bearings. Every +such incident reminded the spectators of what lay beneath the waves, and +led them to think and talk of the awful fate that had overwhelmed their +fellow men, until the spirits of the most careless were subdued by the +pervading melancholy. + +King Richard, strangely enough, had taken a liking for Amos Blank, who +was frequently asked to join the small and somewhat exclusive circle of +compatriots that continually surrounded the fallen monarch. The +billionaire and the king often leaned elbow to elbow over the rail, and +put their heads companionably together while pointing out some object on +the sea. Lord Swansdown felt painfully cut by this, but, of course, he +could offer no objection. + +Finally Cosmo invited the king to come upon the bridge, from which +passengers were generally excluded, and the king insisted that Blank +should go, too. Cosmo consented, for Blank seemed to him to have become +quite a changed man, and he found him sometimes full of practical +suggestions. + +So it happened that when Captain Arms announced that the Ark was passing +over the ancient city of Carcassonne, Cosmo, the king, De Beauxchamps, +Amos Blank, and the captain were all together on the bridge. When +Captain Arms mentioned their location, King Richard became very +thoughtful. After a time he said musingly: + +"Ah! how all these names, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Languedoc, bring back +to me the memory of my namesake of olden times, Richard I. of England. +This, over which we are floating, was the land of the Troubadours, and +Richard was the very Prince of Troubadours. With all his faults England +never had a king like him!" + +"Knowing your devotion to peace, which was the reason why I wished you +to be of the original company in the Ark, I am surprised to hear you say +that," said Cosmo. + +"Ah!" returned the King, "But Coeur de Lion was a true Englishman, even +in his love of fighting. What would he say if he knew where England lies +to-day? What would he say if he knew the awful fate that has come upon +this fair and pleasant land, from whose poets and singers he learned the +art of minstrelsy?" + +"He would say, 'Do not despair,'" replied Cosmo. "' Show the courage of +an Englishman, and fight for your race if you cannot for your country.'" + +"But may not England, may not all these lands, emerge again from the +floods?" asked the king. + +"Not in our time, not in our children's time," said Cosmo Versal, +thoughtfully shaking his head. + +"In the remote future, yes--but I cannot tell how remote. Tibet was once +an appanage of your crown, before China taught the West what war meant, +and in Tibet you may help to found a new empire, but I must tell you +that it will not resemble the empires of the past. Democracy will be its +corner stone, and science its law." + +"Then I devote myself to democracy and science," responded King Richard. + +"Good! Admirable!" exclaimed Amos Blank and De Beauxchamps +simultaneously, while Captain Arms would probably have patted the king +on the back had not his attention, together with that of the others, +been distracted by a huge whale blowing almost directly in the course of +the Ark. + +"Blessed if I ever expected to see a sight like that in these parts!" +exclaimed the captain. "This lifting the ocean up into the sky is +upsetting the order of nature. I'd as soon expect to sight a cachalot on +top of the Rocky Mountains." + +"They'll be there, too, before long," said Cosmo. + +"I wonder what he's looking for," continued Captain Arms. "He must have +come down from the north. He couldn't have got in through the Pyrenees +or the Sierra Nevadas. He's just navigated right over the whole country +straight down from the English Channel." + +The whale sounded at the approach of the Ark, but in a little while he +was blowing again off toward the south, and then the passengers caught +sight of him, and there was great excitement. + +He seemed to be of enormous size, and he sent his fountain to an +extraordinary height in the air. On he went, appearing and disappearing, +steering direct for Africa, until, with glasses, they could see his +white plume blowing on the very edge of the horizon. + +Not even the reflection that they themselves were sailing over Europe +impressed some of the passengers with so vivid a sense of their +situation as the sight of this monstrous inhabitant of the ocean taking +a view of his new domain. + +At night Cosmo continued the concerts and the presentation of the +Shakespearian dramas, and for an hour each afternoon he had a +"conference" in the saloon, at which Theriade and Sir Athelstone were +almost the sole performers. + +Their disputes, and Cosmo's efforts to keep the peace, amused for a +while, but at length the audiences diminished until Cosmo, with his +constant companions, the Frenchman, the king, Amos Blank, the three +professors from Washington, and a few other savants were the only +listeners. + +But the music and the plays always drew immensely. + +Joseph Smith was kept busy most of the time in Cosmo's cabin, copying +plans for the regeneration of mankind. + +When they knew that they had finally left the borders of France and were +sailing above the Mediterranean Sea, it became necessary to lay their +course with considerable care. Cosmo decided that the only safe plan +would be to run south of Sardinia, and then keep along between Sicily +and Tunis, and so on toward lower Egypt. + +There he intended to seek a way over the mountains north of the Sinai +peninsula into the Syrian desert, from which he could reach the ancient +valley of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. He would then pass down +the Arabian Sea, swing round India and Ceylon, and, by way of the Bay of +Bengal and the plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, approach the +Himalayas. + +Captain Arms was rather inclined to follow the Gulf of Suez and the +depression of the Red Sea, but Cosmo was afraid that they would have +difficulty in getting the Ark safely through between the Mt. Sinai peaks +and the Jebel Gharib range. + +"Well, you're the commodore," said the captain at the end of the +discussion, "but hang me if I'd not rather follow a sea, where I know +the courses, than go navigating over mountains and deserts in the land +of Shinar. We'll land on top of Jerusalem yet, you'll see!" + +Feeling sure of plenty of water under keel, they now made better speed +and De Beauxchamps retired into the _Jules Verne_, and detached it from +the Ark, finding that he could distance the latter easily with the +submersible running just beneath the surface of the water. + +"Come up to blow, and take a look around from the bridge, once in a +while," the captain called out to him as he disappeared and the cover +closed over him. The _Jules Verne_ immediately sank out of sight. + +They passed round Sardinia, and between the old African coast and +Sicily, and were approaching the Malta Channel when their attention was +drawn to a vast smoke far off toward the north. + +"It's Etna in eruption," said Cosmo to the captain. + +"A magnificent sight!" exclaimed King Richard, who happened to be on the +bridge. + +"Yes, and I'd like to see it nearer," remarked Cosmo, as a wonderful +column of smoke, as black as ink, seemed to shoot up to the very zenith. + +"You'd better keep away," Captain Arms said warningly. "There's no good +comes of fooling round volcanoes in a ship." + +"Oh, it's safe enough," returned Cosmo. "We can run right over the +southeastern corner of Sicily and get as near as we like. There is +nothing higher than about three thousand feet in that part of the +island, so we'll have a thousand feet to spare." + +"But maybe the water has lowered." + +"Not more than a foot or two," said Cosmo. "Go ahead." + +The captain plainly didn't fancy the adventure, but he obeyed orders, +and the Ark's nose was turned northward, to the delight of many of the +passengers who had become greatly interested when they learned that the +tremendous smoke that they saw came from Mount Etna. + +Some of them were nervous, but the more adventurous spirits heartily +applauded Cosmo Versal's design to give them a closer view of so +extraordinary a spectacle. Even from their present distance the sight +was one that might have filled them with terror if they had not already +been through adventures which had hardened their nerves. The smoke was +truly terrific in appearance. + +It did not spread low over the sea, but rose in an almost vertical +column, widening out at a height of several miles, until it seemed to +canopy the whole sky toward the north. + +It could be seen spinning in immense rolling masses, the outer parts of +which were turned by the sunshine to a dingy brown color, while the main +stem of the column, rising directly from the great crater, was of pitchy +blackness. + +An awful roaring was audible, sending a shiver through the Ark. At the +bottom of the mass of smoke, through which gleams of fire were seen to +shoot as they drew nearer, appeared the huge conical form of the +mountain, whose dark bulk still rose nearly seven thousand feet above +the sea that covered the great, beautiful, and historic island beneath +it. + +They had got within about twenty miles of the base of the mountain, when +a shout was heard by those on the bridge, and Cosmo and the captain, +looking for its source, saw the _Jules Verne_, risen to the surface a +little to starboard, and De Beauxchamps excitedly signaling to them. +They just made out the words, "Sheer off!" when the Ark, with a groaning +sound, took ground, and they were almost precipitated over the rail of +the bridge. + +"Aground again, by ----!" exclaimed Captain Arms, instantly signaling +all astern. "I told you not to go fooling round a volcano." + +"This beats me!" cried Cosmo Versal. "I wonder if the island has begun +to rise." + +"More likely the sea has begun to fall," growled Captain Arms. + +"Do you know where we are?" asked Cosmo. + +"We can't be anywhere but on the top of Monte Lauro," replied the +captain. + +"But that's only three thousand feet high." + +"It's exactly three thousand two hundred and thirty feet," said the +captain. "I haven't navigated the old Mediterranean a hundred times for +nothing." + +"But even then we should have near seven hundred and fifty feet to +spare, allowing for the draft of the Ark, and a slight subsidence of the +water." + +"Well, you haven't allowed enough, that's plain," said the captain. + +"But it's impossible that the flood can have subsided more than seven +hundred feet already." + +"I don't care how impossible it is--here we are! We're stuck on a +mountain-top, and if we don't leave our bones on it I'm a porpoise." + +By this time the _Jules Verne_ was alongside, and De Beauxchamps shouted +up: + +"I was running twenty feet under water, keeping along with the Ark, when +my light suddenly revealed the mountain ahead. I hurried up and tried to +warn you, but it was too late." + +"Can't you go down and see where we're fast?" asked Cosmo. + +"Certainly; that's just what I was about to propose," replied the +Frenchman, and immediately the submersible disappeared. + +After a long time, during which Cosmo succeeded in allaying the fears of +his passengers, the submersible reappeared, and De Beauxchamps made his +report. He said that the Ark was fast near the bow on a bed of shelly +limestone. + +He thought that by using the utmost force of the _Jules Verne_, whose +engines were very powerful, in pushing the Ark, combined with the +backing of her own engines, she might be got off. + +"Hurry up, then, and get to work," cried Captain Arms. "This flood is on +the ebb, and a few hours more will find us stuck here like a ray with +his saw in a whale's back." + +De Beauxchamps's plan was immediately adopted. The _Jules Verne_ +descended, and pushed with all her force, while the engines of the Ark +were reversed, and within fifteen minutes they were once more afloat. + +Without waiting for a suggestion from Cosmo Versal, the Frenchman +carefully inspected with his searchlight the bottom of the Ark where she +had struck, and when he came to the surface he was able to report that +no serious damage had resulted. + +"There's no hole," he said, "only a slight denting of one of the plates, +which will not amount to anything." + +Cosmo, however, was not content until he had made a careful inspection +by opening some of the manholes in the inner skin of the vessel. He +found no cause for anxiety, and in an hour the Ark resumed its voyage +eastward, passing over the site of ancient Syracuse. + +By this time a change of the wind had sent the smoke from Etna in their +direction, and now it lay thick upon the water, and rendered it, for a +while, impossible to see twenty fathoms from the bridge. + +"It's old Etna's dying salute," said Cosmo. "He won't have his head +above water much longer." + +"But the flood is going down," exclaimed Captain Arms. + +"Yes, and that puzzles me. There must have been an enormous absorption +of water into the interior, far greater than I ever imagined possible. +But wait until the nucleus of the nebula strikes us! In the meantime, +this lowering of the water renders it necessary for us to make haste, or +we may not get over the mountains round Suez before the downpour +recommences." + +As soon as they escaped from the smoke of Etna they ran full speed ahead +again, and, keeping well south of Crete, at length, one morning they +found themselves in the latitude and longitude of Alexandria. + +The weather was still superb, and Cosmo was very desirous of getting a +line on the present height of the water. He thought that he could make a +fair estimate of this from the known elevation of the mountains about +Sinai. Accordingly they steered in that direction, and on the way passed +directly over the site of Cairo. + +Then the thought of the pyramids came to them all, and De Beauxchamps, +who had come aboard the Ark, and who was always moved by sentimental +considerations, proposed that they should spend a few hours here, while +he descended to inspect the condition in which the flood had left those +mighty monuments. + +Cosmo not only consented to this, but he even offered to be a member of +the party. The Frenchman was only too glad to have his company. Cosmo +Versal descended into the submersible after instructing Captain Arms to +hover in the neighborhood. + +The passengers and crew of the Ark, with expressions of anxiety that +would have pleased their subject if he had heard them, watched the +_Jules Verne_ disappear into the depths beneath. + +The submersible was gone so long that the anxiety of those aboard the +Ark deepened into alarm, and finally became almost panic. They had never +before known how much they depended upon Cosmo Versal. + +He was their only reliance, their only hope. He alone had known how to +keep up their spirits, and when he had assured them, as he so often did, +that the flooding would surely recommence, they had hardly been +terrified because of their unexpressed confidence that, let come what +would, his great brain would find a way out for them. + +Now he was gone, down into the depths of this awful sea, where their +imaginations pictured a thousand unheard-of perils, and perhaps they +would never see him again! Without him they knew themselves to be +helpless. Even Captain Arms almost lost his nerve. + +The strong good sense of Amos Blank alone saved them from the utter +despair that began to seize upon them as hour after hour passed without +the reappearance of the _Jules Verne_. + +His experience had taught him how to keep a level head in an emergency, +and how to control panics. With King Richard always at his side, he went +about among the passengers and fairly laughed them out of their fears. + +Without discussing the matter at all, he convinced them, by the simple +force of his own apparent confidence, that they were worrying themselves +about nothing. + +He was, in fact, as much alarmed as any of the others, but he never +showed it. He started a rumor, after six hours had elapsed, that Cosmo +himself had said that they would probably require ten or twelve hours +for their exploration. + +Cosmo had said nothing of the kind, but Blank's prevarication had its +intended effect, and fortunately, before the lapse of another six hours, +there was news from under the sea. + +And what was happening in the mysterious depths below the Ark? What had +so long detained the submersible? + +The point where the descent was made had been so well chosen that the +_Jules Verne_ almost struck the apex of the Great Pyramid as it +approached the bottom. The water was somewhat muddy from the sands of +the desert, and the searchlight streamed through a yellowish medium, +recalling the "golden atmosphere" for which Egypt had been celebrated. +But, nevertheless, the light was so powerful that they could see +distinctly at a distance of several rods. + +The pyramid appeared to have been but little injured, although the +tremendous tidal wave that had swept up the Nile during the invasion of +the sea before the downpour began had scooped out the sand down to the +bed-rock on all sides. + +Finding nothing of particular interest in a circuit of the pyramid, they +turned in the direction of the Great Sphinx. + +This, too, had been excavated to its base, and it now stood up to its +full height, and a terrible expression seemed to have come into its +enigmatic features. + +Cosmo wished to get a close look at it, and they ran the submersible +into actual contact with the forepart of the gigantic statue, just under +the mighty chin. + +While they paused there, gazing out of the front window of the vessel, a +bursting sound was heard, followed by a loud crash, and the _Jules +Verne_ was shaken from stem to stern. Every man of them threw himself +against the sides of the vessel, for the sound came from overhead, and +they had an instinctive notion that the roof was being crushed down upon +them. + +A second resounding crash was heard, shaking them like an earthquake, +and the little vessel rolled partly over upon its side. + +"We are lost!" cried De Beauxchamps. "The Sphinx is falling upon us! We +shall be buried alive here!" + +A third crash came over their heads, and the submersible seemed to sink +beneath them as if seeking to avoid the fearful blows that were rained +upon its roof. + +Still, the stout curved ceiling, strongly braced within, did not yield, +although they saw, with affright, that it was bulged inward, and some of +the braces were torn from their places. But no water came in. + +Stunned by the suddenness of the accident, for a few moments they did +nothing but cling to such supports as were within their reach, expecting +that another blow would either force the vessel completely over or break +the roof in. + +But complete silence now reigned, and the missiles from above ceased to +strike the submersible. The searchlight continued to beam out of the +fore end of the vessel, and following its broad ray with their eyes, +they uttered one cry of mingled amazement and fear, and then stared +without a word at such a spectacle as the wildest imagination could not +have pictured. + +The front of the Sphinx had disappeared, and the light, penetrating +beyond the place where it had stood, streamed upon the face and breast +of an enormous black figure, seated on a kind of throne, and staring +into their faces with flaming eyes which at once fascinated and +terrified them. + +To their startled imaginations the eyes seemed to roll in their sockets, +and flashes of fire to dart from them. Their expression was menacing and +terrifying beyond belief. At the same time the aspect of the face was so +majestic that they cowered before it. + +The cheekbones were high, massive, and polished until they shone in the +light; the nose and chin were powerful in their contours; and the brow +wore an intimidating frown. It seemed to the awed onlookers as if they +had sacrilegiously burst into the sanctuary of an offended god. + +But, after a minute or two of stupefaction, they thought again of the +desperateness of their situation, and turned from staring at the strange +idol to consider what they should do. + +The fact that no water was finding its way into the submersible somewhat +reassured them, but the question now arose whether it could be withdrawn +from its position. + +They had no doubt that the front of the Sphinx, saturated by the water +after the thousands of years that it had stood there, exposed to the +desiccating influences of the sun and the desert sands, had suddenly +disintegrated, and fallen upon them, pinning their vessel fast under the +fragments of the huge head. + +De Beauxchamps tried the engines and found that they had no effect in +moving the _Jules Verne_. He tried again and again by reversing to +disengage the vessel, but it would not stir. Then they debated the only +other means of escape. + +"Although I have levium life-suits," said the Frenchman, "and although +the top of the _Jules Verne_ can probably be opened, for the door seems +not to have been touched, yet the instant it is removed the water will +rush in, and it will be impossible to pump out the vessel." + +"Are your life-suits so arranged that they will permit of moving the +limbs?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Certainly they are." + +"And can they be weighted so as to remain at the bottom?" + +"They are arranged for that," responded De Beauxchamps. + +"And can the weights be detached by the inmates without permitting the +entrance of water?" + +"It can be done, although a very little water might enter during the +operation." + +"Then," said Cosmo, "let us put on the suits, open the door, take out +the ballast so that, if released, the submersible will rise to the +surface through its own buoyancy, and then see if we cannot loosen the +vessel from outside." + +It was a suggestion whose boldness made even the owner and constructor +of the _Jules Verne_ stare for a moment, but evidently it was the only +possible way in which the vessel might be saved; and knowing that, in +case of failure, they could themselves float to the surface after +removing the weights from the bottom of the suits, they unanimously +decided to try Cosmo Versal's plan. + +It was terribly hard work getting the ballast out of the submersible, +working as they had to do under water, which rushed in as soon as the +door was opened, and in their awkward suits, which were provided with +apparatus for renewing the supply of oxygen; but at last they succeeded. + +Then they clambered outside, and labored desperately to release the +vessel from the huge fragments of stone that pinned it down. Finally, +exhausted by their efforts, and unable to make any impression, they gave +up. + +De Beauxchamps approached Cosmo and motioned to him that it was time to +ascend to the surface and leave the _Jules Verne_ to her fate. But Cosmo +signaled back that he wished first to examine more closely the strange +statue that was gazing upon them in the still unextinguished beam of the +searchlight with what they might now have regarded as a look of mockery. + +The others, accordingly, waited while Cosmo Versal, greatly impeded by +his extraordinary garment, clambered up to the front of the figure. +There he saw something which redoubled his amazement. + +On the broad breast he saw a representation of a world overwhelmed with +a deluge and encircling it was what he instantly concluded to be the +picture of a nebula. Underneath, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, with +which Cosmo was familiar, was an inscription in letters of gold, which +could only be translated thus: + + I Come Again-- + At the End of Time. + +"Great Heavens!" he said to himself. "It is a prophecy of the Second +Deluge!" + +[Illustration: "IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE."] + +He continued to gaze, amazed, at the figure and the inscription, until +De Beauxchamps clambered to his side and indicated to him that it was +necessary that they should ascend without further delay, showing him by +signs that the air-renewing apparatus would give out. + +With a last lingering look at the figure, Cosmo imitated the others by +detaching the weights from below his feet, and a minute later they were +all shooting rapidly toward the surface of the sea, De Beauxchamps, as +he afterwards declared, uttering a prayer for the repose of the _Jules +Verne_. + +The imaginary time which Amos Blank had fixed as the limit set by Cosmo +for the return from the depths was nearly gone, and he was beginning to +cast about for some other invention to quiet the rising fears of the +passengers, when a form became visible which made the eyes of Captain +Arms, the first to catch sight of it, start from their sockets. He +rubbed them, and looked again--but there it was! + +A huge head, human in outline, with bulging, glassy eyes, popped +suddenly out of the depths, followed by the upper part of a gigantic +form which was no less suggestive of a monstrous man, and which +immediately began to wave its arms! + +Before the captain could collect his senses another shot to the surface, +and then another and another, until there were seven of them floating +and awkwardly gesticulating within a radius of a hundred fathoms on the +starboard side of the vessel. + +The whole series of apparitions did not occupy more than a quarter of a +minute in making their appearance. + +By the time the last had sprung into sight Captain Arms had recovered +his wits, and he shouted an order to lower a boat, at the same time +running down from the bridge to superintend the operation. Many of the +crew and passengers had in the meantime seen the strange objects, and +they were thrown into a state of uncontrollable excitement. + +"It's them!" shouted the captain over his shoulder, in response to a +hundred inquiries all put at once, and forgetting his grammar in the +excitement. "They've come up in diving-suits." + +Amos Blank comprehended the situation at once; and while the captain was +getting out the boat, he explained matters to the crowd. + +"The submersible must be lost," he said quietly, "but the men have +escaped, so there is no great harm done. It does great credit to that +Frenchman that he should have been prepared for such an emergency. Those +are levium suits, and I've no doubt that he has got hydrogen somewhere +inside to increase their buoyancy." + +Within a quarter of an hour all the seven had been picked up by the +boat, and it returned to the Ark. The strange forms were lifted aboard +with tackle to save time; and as the first one reached the deck, it +staggered about on its big limbs for a moment. + +Then the metallic head opened, and the features of De Beauxchamps were +revealed. + +Before anybody could assist him he had freed himself from the suit, and +immediately he began to aid the others. In ten minutes they all stood +safe and sound before the astonished eyes of the spectators. Cosmo had +suffered from the confinement, and he sank upon a seat, but De +Beauxchamps seemed to be the most affected. With downcast look he said, +sadly shaking his head: + +"The poor _Jules Verne_! I shall never see her again." + +"What has happened?" demanded Captain Arms. + +"It was the Father of Horror," muttered Cosmo Versal. + +"The Father of Horror--what's that?" + +"Why, the Great Sphinx," returned Cosmo, gradually recovering his +breath. "Didn't you know that that was what the Arabs always called the +Sphinx? + +"It was that which fell upon the submersible--split right open and +dropped its great chin upon us as we were sailing round it, and pinned +us fast. But the sight that we saw when the Sphinx fell apart! Tell +them, De Beauxchamps." + +The Frenchman took up the narrative, while, with breathless attention, +passengers and crew crowded about to listen to his tale. + +"When we got to the bottom," he said, "we first inspected the Great +Pyramid, going all round it with our searchlight. It was in good +condition, although the tide that had come up the Nile with the invasion +of the sea had washed away the sands to a great depth all about. When we +had completed the circuit of the pyramid, we saw the Sphinx, which had +been excavated by the water so that it stood up to its full height. + +"We ran close around it, and when we were under the chin the whole +thing, saturated by the water, which no doubt caused an expansion +within--you know how many thousand years the gigantic idol had been +sun-dried--dropped apart. + +"The submersible was caught by the falling mass, and partly crushed. We +labored for hours and hours to release the vessel, but there was little +that we could do. It almost broke my heart to think of leaving the +_Jules Verne_ there, but it had to be done. + +"At last we put on the levium floating-suits, opened the cover at the +top, and came to the surface. The last thing I saw was the searchlight, +still burning, and illuminating the most marvelous spectacle that human +eyes ever gazed upon." + +"Oh, what was it? What was it?" demanded a score of voices in chorus. + +"It is impossible to describe it. It was the secret of old Egypt +revealed at last--at the end of the world!" + +"But what was it like?" + +"Like a glimpse into the remotest corridors of time," interposed Cosmo +Versal, with a curious look in his eyes. + +"Some of you may have heard that long ago holes were driven through the +Sphinx in the hope of discovering something hidden inside, but they +missed the secret. The old god kept it well until his form fell apart. +We were pinned so close to it that we could not help seeing it, even in +the excitement of our situation. + +"It had always been supposed that the Sphinx was the symbol of +something--it _was_, and more than a symbol! The explorers away back in +the nineteenth century who thought that they had found something +mysterious in the Great Pyramid went wide of the mark when they +neglected the Sphinx." + +"But what did you see?" + +_"We saw the prophecy of the Second Deluge,"_ said Cosmo, rising to his +feet, his piercing eyes aflame. "In the heart of the huge mass, +approachable, no doubt, by some concealed passage in the rock beneath, +known only to the priests, stood a gigantic idol, carved out of black +marble. + +"It had enormous eyes of some gem that blazed in the electric beam from +the searchlight, with huge golden ears and beard, and on its breast was +a representation of a drowning world, with a great nebula sweeping over +it." + +"It might have been a history instead of a prophecy," suggested one of +the listening savants. "Perhaps it only told what had once happened." + +"No," replied Cosmo, shaking his big head. "It was a prophecy. Under it, +in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which I recognized, was an +inscription which could only be translated by the words, 'I come +again--at the end of time!'" + +There was a quality in Cosmo Versal's voice which made the hearers +shudder with horror. + +"Yes," he added. "It comes again! The prophecy was hidden, but science +had its means of revelation, too, if the world would but have listened +to its voice. Even without the prophecy I have saved the flower of +mankind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + + +When the company in the Ark had recovered from the astonishment produced +by the narratives of De Beauxchamps and Cosmo Versal, and particularly +the vivid description given by the latter of the strange idol concealed +in the breast of the "Father of Horror," and the inferences which he +drew concerning its prophetic character, the question again arose as to +their future course. + +Captain Arms was still for undertaking to follow the trough of the Red +Sea, but Cosmo declared that this course would be doubly dangerous now +that the water had lowered and that they no longer had the _Jules Verne_ +to act as a submarine scout, warning them of hidden perils. + +They must now go by their own soundings, and this would be especially +dangerous in the close neighborhood of half-submerged mountains, whose +buttresses and foothills might rise suddenly out of the depths with +slopes so steep that the lead would afford no certain guidance. + +It was first necessary to learn if possible the actual height of the +water, and whether it was still subsiding. It was partly for this +purpose that they had passed over Egypt instead of keeping directly on +toward the coast of lower Palestine. + +But now Cosmo abandoned his purpose of taking his measurement by the aid +of Mount Sinai or some of its neighboring peaks, on account of the +dangerous character of that rugged region. If they had been furnished +with deep-sea sounding apparatus they might have made a direct +measurement of the depth in Egypt, but that was one of the few things +which Cosmo Versal had overlooked in furnishing the Ark, and such an +operation could not be undertaken. + +He discovered that there was a mountain north of the Gulf of Akaba +having an elevation of 3,450 feet, and since this was 220 feet higher +than Monte Lauro, in Sicily, on which the Ark had grounded, he counted +on it as a gage which would serve his purpose. + +So they passed almost directly over Suez, and about 120 miles farther +east they found the mountain they sought, rising to the west of the Wadi +el Arabia, a continuation of the depression at whose deepest point lay +the famous "Dead Sea," so often spoken of in the books of former times. + +Here Cosmo was able to make a very accurate estimate from the height of +the peak above the water, and he was gratified to find that the +recession had not continued. The level of the water appeared to be +exactly the same as when they made their unfortunate excursion in the +direction of smoking Etna. + +"It's all right," he said to Captain Arms. "We can get over into the +Syrian desert without much danger, although we must go slowly and +carefully until we are well past these ranges that come down from the +direction of the Dead Sea. After that I do not see that there is +anything in our way until we reach the ancient plains of Babylon." + +King Richard, who was full of the history of the Crusades, as well as of +Bible narratives, wished to have the Ark turn northward, so that they +might sail over Jerusalem, and up the Valley of the Jordan within sight +of Mount Hermon and the Lebanon range. + +Cosmo had had enough of that kind of adventure, while Captain Arms +declared that he would resign on the spot if there was to be any more +"fool navigating on mountain tops." But there were many persons in the +Ark who would have been very glad if King Richard's suggestion had been +carried out. + +The feelings of some were deeply stirred when they learned that they +were now crossing the lower end of Palestine, and that the scenes of so +many incidents in the history of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua lay buried +beneath the blue water, whose almost motionless surface was marked with +a broad trail of foaming bubbles in the wake of the immense vessel. + +Cosmo greatly regretted the absence of the submersible when they were +picking their way over this perilous region, but they encountered no +real difficulty, and at length found, by celestial observations, that +they were beyond all dangers and safely arrived over the deeply +submerged desert. + +They kept on for several days toward the rising sun, and then Captain +Arms announced that the observations showed that they were over the site +of Babylon. + +This happened just at the time of the midday dinner, and over the +dessert Cosmo seized the opportunity to make a little speech, which +could be heard by all in the saloon. + +"We are now arrived," he said, "over the very spot where the descendants +of Noah are said to have erected a tower, known as the Tower of Babel, +and which they intended to build so high that it would afford a secure +refuge in case there should be another deluge. + +"How vain were such expectations, if they were ever entertained, is +sufficiently shown by the fact that, at this moment, the water rolls +more than three thousand feet deep over the place where they put their +tower, and before the present deluge is over it will be thirty thousand +feet deep. + +"More than half a mile beneath our feet lie the broad plains of Chaldea, +where tradition asserts that the study of astronomy began. It was +Berosus, a Chaldean, who predicted that there would come a second +deluge. + +"It occurs to me, since seeing the astounding spectacle disclosed by the +falling apart of the Sphinx, that these people may have had an +infinitely more profound knowledge of the secrets of the heavens than +tradition has assigned to them. + +"On the breast of the statue in the Sphinx was the figure of a crowned +man, encircled by a huge ring, and having behind him the form of a boat +containing two other human figures. The boat was represented as floating +in a flood of waters. + +"Now, this corresponds exactly with figures that have been found among +the most ancient ruins in Chaldea. I regard that ring as symbolical of a +nebula enveloping the earth, and I think that the second deluge, which +we have lived to see, was foretold here thousands of years ago." + +"Who foretold it first, then, the people who placed the statue in the +Sphinx, or these astronomers of Chaldea?" asked Professor Abel Able. + +"I believe," Cosmo replied, "that the knowledge originated here, beneath +us, and that it was afterward conveyed to the Egyptians, who embodied it +in their great symbolical god." + +"Are we to understand," demanded Professor Jeremiah Moses, "that this +figure was all that you saw on the breast of the statue, and that you +simply inferred that the ring represented a nebula?" + +"Not at all," Cosmo replied. "The principal representation was that of a +world overwhelmed with a flood, and of a nebula descending upon it." + +"How do you know that it was intended for a nebula?" + +"Because it had the aspect of one, and it was clearly shown to be +descending from the high heavens." + +"A cloud," suggested Professor Moses. + +"No, not a cloud. Mark this, which is a marvel in itself: It had _the +form of a spiral nebula_. It was unmistakable." + +At this point the discussion was interrupted by a call to Cosmo Versal +from Captain Arms on the bridge. He hastily left the table and ascended +to the captain's side. + +He did not need to be told what to look for. Off in the north the sky +had become a solid black mass, veined with the fiercest lightning. The +pealing of the thunder came in a continuous roll, which soon grew so +loud as to shake the Ark. + +"Up with the side-plates!" shouted Cosmo, setting twenty bells ringing +at once. "Close tight every opening! Screw down the port shutters!" + +The crew of the Ark was, in a few seconds, running to and fro, executing +the orders that came in swift succession from the commander's bridge, +and the passengers were thrown into wild commotion. But nobody had time +to attend to them. + +"It is upon us!" yelled Cosmo in the captain's ear, for the uproar had +become deafening. "The nucleus is here!" + +The open promenade decks had not yet all been turned into inner +corridors when the downpour began upon the Ark. A great deal of water +found its way aboard, but the men worked with a will, as fearful for +their own safety as for that of others, and in a little while everything +had been made snug and tight. + +In a short time a tremendous tempest was blowing, the wind coming from +the north, and the Ark, notwithstanding her immense breadth of beam, was +canted over to leeward at an alarming angle. On the larboard side the +waves washed to the top of the great elliptical dome and broke over it, +and their thundering blows shook the vessel to her center, causing many +to believe that she was about to founder. + +The disorder was frightful. Men and women were flung about like tops, +and no one could keep his feet. Crash after crash, that could be heard +amid the howling of the storm, the battering of the waves, and the awful +roar of the deluge descending on the roof, told the fate of the +tableware and dishes that had been hastily left in the big dining +saloon. + +Chairs recently occupied by the passengers on what had been the +promenade decks, and from which they had so serenely, if often +sorrowfully, looked over the broad, peaceful surface of the waters, were +now darting, rolling, tumbling, and banging about, intermingled with +rugs, hats, coats, and other abandoned articles of clothing. + +The pitching and rolling of the Ark were so much worse than they had +been during the first days of the cataclysm, that Cosmo became very +solicitous about his collection of animals. + +He hurried down to the animal deck, and found, indeed, that things were +in a lamentable shape. The trained keepers were themselves so much at +the mercy of the storm that they had had all they could do to save +themselves from being trampled to death by the frightened beasts. + +The animals had been furnished with separate pens, but during the long +continued calm the keepers, for the sake of giving their charges greater +freedom and better air, had allowed many of them to go at large in the +broad central space around which the pens were placed, and the tempest +had come so unexpectedly that there had been no time to separate them +and get them back into their lodgings. + +When Cosmo descended the scene that met his eyes caused him to cry out +in dismay, but he could not have been heard if he had spoken through a +trumpet. The noise and uproar were stunning, and the spectacle was +indescribable. The keepers had taken refuge on a kind of gallery running +round the central space, and were hanging on there for their lives. + +Around them, on the railings, clinging with their claws, wildly flapping +their wings, and swinging with every roll of the vessel, were all the +fowls and every winged creature in the Ark except the giant turkeys, +whose power of wing was insufficient to lift them out of the melee. + +But all the four-footed beasts were rolling, tumbling, and struggling in +the open space below. With every lurch of the Ark they were swept across +the floor in an indistinguishable mass. + +The elephants wisely did not attempt to get upon their feet, but allowed +themselves to slide from side to side, sometimes crushing the smaller +animals, and sometimes, in spite of all their efforts, rolling upon +their backs, with their titanic limbs swaying above them, and their +trunks wildly grasping whatever came within their reach. + +The huge Californian cattle were in no better case, and the poor sheep +presented a pitiable spectacle as they were tumbled in woolly heaps from +side to side. + +Strangest sight of all was that of the great Astoria turtles. They had +been pitched upon their backs and were unable to turn themselves over, +and their big carapaces served admirably for sliders. + +They glided with the speed of logs in a chute, now this way, now that, +shooting like immense projectiles through the throng of struggling +beasts, cutting down those that happened to be upon their feet, and not +ending their course until they had crashed against the nearest wall. + +As one of the turtles slid toward the bottom of the steps on which Cosmo +was clinging it cut under the legs of one of the giant turkeys, and the +latter, making a superphasianidaean effort, half leaped, half flapped +its way upon the steps to the side of Cosmo Versal, embracing him with +one of its stumpy wings, while its red neck and head, with bloodshot +eyes, swayed high above his bald dome. + +The keepers gradually made their way round the gallery to Cosmo's side, +and he indicated to them by signs that they must quit the place with +him, and wait for a lull of the tempest before trying to do anything for +their charges. + +A few hours later the wind died down, and then they collected all that +remained alive of the animals in their pens and secured them as best +they could against the consequences of another period of rolling and +pitching. + +The experiences of the passengers had been hardly less severe, and panic +reigned throughout the Ark. After the lull came, however, some degree of +order was restored, and Cosmo had all who were in a condition to leave +their rooms assemble in the grand saloon, where he informed them of the +situation of affairs, and tried to restore their confidence. The roar on +the roof, in spite of the sound-absorbing cover which had been +re-erected, compelled him to use a trumpet. + +"I do not conceal from you," he said in conclusion, "that the worst has +now arrived. I do not look for any cessation of the flood from the sky +until we shall have passed through the nucleus of the nebula. But the +Ark is a stout vessel, we are fully provisioned, and we shall get +through. + +"All your chambers have been specially padded, as you may have remarked, +and I wish you to remain in them, only issuing when summoned for +assembly here. + +"I shall call you out whenever the condition of the sea renders it safe +for you to leave your rooms. Food will be regularly served in your +quarters, and I beg you to have perfect confidence in me and my +assistants." + +But the confidence which Cosmo Versal recommended to the others was +hardly shared by himself and Captain Arms. The fury of the blast which +had just left them had exceeded everything that Cosmo had anticipated, +and he saw that, in the face of such hurricanes, the Ark would be +practically unmanageable. + +One of his first cares was to ascertain the rate at which the downpour +was raising the level of the water. This, too, surprised him. His gages +showed, time after time, that the rainfall was at the rate of about four +inches per minute. Sometimes it amounted to as much as six! + +"The central part of the nebula," he said to the captain, through the +speaking-tube which they had arranged for their intercommunications on +the bridge, "is denser than I had supposed. The condensation is +enormous, but it is irregular, and I think it very likely that it is +more rapid in the north, where the front of the globe is plunging most +directly into the nebulous mass. + +"From this we should anticipate a tremendous flow southward, which may +sweep us away in that direction. This will not be a bad thing for a +while, since it is southward that we must go in order to reach the +region of the Indian Ocean. But, in order not to be carried too rapidly +that way, I think it would be the best thing to point the Ark toward the +northeast." + +"How am I to know anything about the points in this blackness?" growled +the captain. + +"You must go the best you can by the compass," said Cosmo. + +Cosmo Versal, as subsequently appeared, was right in supposing that the +nucleus of the nebula was exceedingly irregular in density. The +condensation was not only much heavier in the north, but it was very +erratic. + +Some parts of the earth received a great deal more water from the opened +flood-gates above than others, and this difference, for some reason that +has never been entirely explained, was especially marked between the +eastern and western hemispheres. + +We have already seen that when the downpour recommenced in Colorado it +was much less severe than during the first days of the flood. This +difference continued. It seems that all the denser parts of the nucleus +happened to encounter the planet on its eastern side. + +This may have been partly due to the fact that as the rotating earth +moved on in its eastward motion round the sun the comparatively dense +masses of the nebula were always encountered at the times when the +eastern hemisphere was in advance. The fact, which soon became apparent +to Cosmo, that the downpour was always the most severe in the morning +hours, bears out this hypothesis. + +It accords with what has been observed with respect to meteors, viz., +that they are more abundant in the early morning. But then it must be +supposed that the condensed masses in the nebula were relatively so +small that they became successively exhausted, so to speak, before the +western hemisphere had come fairly into the line of fire. + +Of course the irregularity in the arrival of the water did not, in the +end, affect the general level of the flood, which became the same all +over the globe, but it caused immense currents, as Cosmo had foreseen. + +But there was one consequence which he had overlooked. The currents, +instead of sweeping the Ark continually southward, as he had +anticipated, formed a gigantic whirl, set up unquestionably by the great +ranges of the Himalayas, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Caucasus. + +This tremendous maelstrom formed directly over Persia and Arabia, and, +turning in the direction of the hands of a watch, its influence extended +westward beyond the place where the Ark now was. + +The consequence was that, in spite of all their efforts, Cosmo and the +captain found their vessel swept resistlessly up the course of the +valley containing the Euphrates and the Tigris. + +They were unable to form an opinion of their precise location, but they +knew the general direction of the movement, and by persistent logging +got some idea of the rate of progress. + +Fortunately the wind seldom blew with its first violence, but the +effects of the whirling current could be but little counteracted by the +utmost engine power of the Ark. + +Day after day passed in this manner, although, owing to the density of +the rain, the difference between day and night was only perceptible by +the periodical changes from absolute blackness to a very faint +illumination when the sun was above the horizon. + +The rise of the flood, which could not have been at a less rate than six +hundred feet every twenty-four hours, lifted the Ark above the level of +the mountains of Kurdistan by the time that they arrived over the upper +part of the Mesopotamian plain, and the uncertain observations which +they occasionally obtained of the location of the sun, combined with +such dead reckoning as they were able to make, finally convinced them +that they must certainly be approaching the location of the Black Sea +and the Caucasus range. + +"I'll tell you what you're going to do," yelled Captain Arms. "You're +going to make a smash on old Ararat, where your predecessor, Noah, made +his landfall." + +"_Tres bien!_" shouted De Beauxchamps, who was frequently on the bridge, +and whose Gallic spirits nothing could daunt. "That's a good omen! M. +Versal should send out one of his turkeys to spy a landing place." + +They were really nearer Ararat than they imagined, and Captain Arms's +prediction narrowly missed fulfillment. Within a couple of hours after +he had spoken a dark mass suddenly loomed through the dense air directly +in their track. + +Almost at the same time, and while the captain was making desperate +efforts to sheer off, the sky lightened a little, and they saw an +immense heap of rock within a hundred fathoms of the vessel. + +"Ararat, by all that's good!" yelled the captain. "Sta'board! Sta'board, +I tell you! Full power ahead!" + +The Ark yielded slowly to her helm, and the screws whirled madly, +driving her rapidly past the rocks, so close that they might have tossed +a biscuit upon them. The set of the current also aided them, and they +got past the danger. + +"Mountain navigation again!" yelled the captain. "Here we are in a nest +of these sky-shoals! What are you going to do now?" + +"It is impossible to tell," returned Cosmo, "whether this is Great or +Little Ararat. The former is over 17,000 feet high, and the latter at +least 13,000. It is now twelve days since the flooding recommenced. + +"If we assume a rise of 600 feet in twenty-four hours, that makes a +total of 7,200 feet, which, added to the 3,300 that we had before, gives +10,500 feet for the present elevation. This estimate may be considerably +out of the way. + +"I feel sure that both the Ararats are yet well above the water line. We +must get out of this region as quickly as possible. Luckily the swirl of +the current is now setting us eastward. We are on its northern edge. It +will carry the Ark down south of Mount Demavend, and the Elburz range, +and over the Persian plateau, and if we can escape from it, as I hope, +by getting away over Beluchistan, we can go directly over India and +skirt the southern side of the Himalayas. Then we shall be near the goal +which we have had in mind." + +"Bless me!" said the captain, staring with mingled admiration and doubt +at Cosmo Versal, "if you couldn't beat old Noah round the world, and +give him half the longitude. But I'd rather _you'd_ navigate this +hooker. The ghost of Captain Sumner itself couldn't work a traverse over +Beluchistan." + +"You'll do it all right," returned Cosmo, "and the next time you drop +your anchor it will probably be on the head of Mount Everest." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + +Now that they were going with the current instead of striving to stem +it, the Ark made much more rapid way than during the time that it was +drifting toward the Black Sea. + +They averaged at least six knots, and, with the aid of the current, +could have done much better, but they thought it well to be cautious, +especially as they had so little means of guessing at their exact +location from day to day. The water was rough. + +There was, most of the time, little wind, and often a large number of +the passengers assembled in the saloon. + +The noise of the deluge on the roof was so much greater than it had been +at the start that it was difficult to converse, but there was plenty of +light, and they could, at least, see one another, and communicate by +signs if not very easily by the voice. Cosmo's library was well +selected, and many passed hours in reading stories of the world they +were to see no more! + +King Richard and Amos Blank imitated Cosmo and the captain by furnishing +themselves with a speaking-tube, which they put alternately to their +lips and their ears, and thus held long conversations, presumably +exchanging with one another the secrets of high finance and kingly +government. + +Both of them had enough historical knowledge and sufficient imagination +to be greatly impressed by the fact that they were drifting, amidst this +terrible storm, over the vast empire that Alexander the Great had +conquered. + +They mused over the events of the great Macedonian's long marches +through deserts and over mountains, and the king, who loved the story of +these glories of the past, though he had cultivated peace in his own +dominions, often sighed while they recalled them to one another. Lord +Swansdown and the other Englishmen aboard seldom joined their king since +he had preferred the company of an untitled American to theirs. + +The first named could not often have made a member of the party if he +had wished, for he kept his room most of the time, declaring that he had +never been so beastly seasick in his life. He thought that such an +abominable roller as the Ark should never have been permitted to go into +commission, don't you know. + +On the morning of the twelfth day after they left the neighborhood of +Mount Ararat Captain Arms averred that their position must be somewhere +near longitude 69 degrees east, latitude 26 degrees north. + +"Then you have worked your traverse over Beluchistan very well," said +Cosmo, "and we are now afloat above the valley of the River Indus. We +have the desert of northwestern India ahead, and from that locality we +can continue right down the course of the Ganges. In fact it would be +perfectly safe to turn northward and skirt the Himalayas within reach of +the high peaks. I think that's what I'll do." + +"If you go fooling round any more peaks," shouted Captain Arms, in a +fog-horn voice, "you'll have to do your own steering! I've had enough of +that kind of navigation!" + +Nevertheless when Cosmo Versal gave the order the captain turned the +prow of the Ark toward the presumable location of the great Himalayan +range, although the rebellion of his spirit showed in the erect set of +his whiskers. They were now entirely beyond the influence of the whirl +that had at first got them into trouble, and then helped them out of it, +in western Asia. + +Behind the barrier of the ancient "Roof of the World" the sea was +relatively calm, although, at times, they felt the effect of currents +pouring down from the north, which had made their way through the lofty +passes from the Tibetan side. + +Cosmo calculated from his estimate of the probable rate of rise of the +flood and from the direction and force of the currents that all but the +very highest of the Pamirs must already be submerged. + +It was probable, he thought, that the water had attained a level of +between seventeen and eighteen thousand feet. This, as subsequent events +indicated, was undoubtedly an underestimate. The downpour in the north +must have been far greater than Cosmo thought, and the real height of +the flood was considerably in excess of what he supposed. + +If they could have seen some of the gigantic peaks as they approached +the mountains in the eastern Punjab, south of Cashmere, they would have +been aware of the error. + +As it was, owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a short +distance even when the light was brightest, they kept farther south than +was really necessary, and after passing, as they believed, over Delhi, +steered south by east, following substantially the course that Cosmo had +originally named along the line of the Ganges valley. + +They were voyaging much slower now, and after another ten days had +passed an unexpected change came on. The downpour diminished in +severity, and at times the sun broke forth, and for an hour or two the +rain would cease entirely, although the sky had a coppery tinge, and at +night small stars were not clearly visible. + +Cosmo was greatly surprised at this. He could only conclude that the +central part of the nebula had been less extensive, though more dense, +than he had estimated. It was only thirty-four days since the deluge had +recommenced, and unless present appearances were deceptive, its end +might be close at hand. + +Captain Arms seized the opportunity to make celestial and solar +observations which delighted his seaman's heart, and with great glee he +informed Cosmo that they were in longitude 88 degrees 20 minutes east, +latitude 24 degrees 15 minutes north, and he would stake his reputation +as a navigator upon it. + +"Almost exactly the location of Moorshedabad, in Bengal," said Cosmo, +consulting his chart. "The mighty peak of Kunchingunga is hardly more +than two hundred miles toward the north, and Mount Everest, the highest +point in the world, is within a hundred miles of that!" + +"But you're not going skimming around _them_!" cried the captain with +some alarm. + +"I shall, if the sky continues in its present condition, go as far as +Darjeeling," replied Cosmo. "Then we can turn eastward and get over +upper Burmah and so on into China. From there we can turn north again. + +"I think we can manage to get into Tibet somewhere between the ranges. +It all depends upon the height of the water, and that I can ascertain +exactly by getting a close look at Kunchingunga. I would follow the line +of the Brahmaputra River if I dared, but the way is too beset with +perils." + +"I think you've made a big mistake," said the captain. "Why didn't you +come directly across Russia, after first running up to the Black Sea +from the Mediterranean, and so straight into Tibet?" + +"I begin to think that that's what I ought to have done," responded +Cosmo, thoughtfully, "but when we started the water was not high enough +to make me sure of that route, and after we got down into Egypt I didn't +want to run back. But I guess it would have been better." + +"Better a sight than steering among these five-mile peaks," growled +Captain Arms. "How high does Darjeeling lie? I don't want to run aground +again." + +"Oh, that's perfectly safe," responded Cosmo. "Darjeeling is only about +7,350 feet above the old sea-level. I think we can go almost to the foot +of Kunchingunga without any danger." + +"Well, the name sounds dangerous enough in itself," said the captain, +"but I suppose you'll have your way. Give me the bearings and we'll be +off." + +They took two days to get to the location of Darjeeling, for at times +the sky darkened and the rain came down again in tremendous torrents. +But these spells did not last more than two or three hours, and the +weather cleared between them. + +As soon as they advanced beyond Darjeeling, keeping a sharp outlook for +Kunchingunga, Cosmo began to perceive the error of his calculation of +the height of the flood. + +The mountain should still have projected more than three thousand feet +above the waves, allowing that the average rise during the thirty-six +days since the recommencement of the flood had been six hundred feet a +day. + +But, in fact, they did not see it at all, and thought at first that it +had been totally submerged. At last they found it, a little rocky +island, less than two hundred feet above the water, according to Cosmo's +careful measure, made from a distance of a quarter of a mile. + +"This is great news for us," he exclaimed, as soon as he had completed +the work. "This will save us a long journey round. The water must now +stand at about 27,900 feet, and although there are a considerable number +of peaks in the Himalayas approaching such an elevation, there are only +three or four known to reach or exceed it, of which Kunchingunga is one. + +"We can, then, run right over the roof of the world, and there we'll be, +in Tibet. Then we can determine from what side it is safest to approach +Mount Everest, for I am very desirous to get near that celebrated peak, +and, if possible, see it go under." + +"But the weather isn't safe yet," objected Captain Arms. "Suppose we +should be caught in another downpour, and everything black about us! I'm +not going to navigate this ship by searchlight among mountains +twenty-eight thousand feet tall, when the best beam that ever shot from +a mirror won't show an object a hundred fathoms away." + +"Very well," Cosmo replied, "we'll circle around south for a few days +and see what will happen. I think myself that it's not quite over yet. +The fact is, I hope it isn't, for now that it has gone so far, I'd like +to see the top-knot of the earth covered." + +"Well, it certainly couldn't do any more harm if it got up as high as +the moon," responded the captain. + +They spent four days sailing to and fro over India, and during the first +three of those days there were intermittent downpours. But the whole of +the last period of twenty-four hours was entirely without rain, and the +color of the sky changed so much that Cosmo declared he would wait no +longer. + +"Everest," he said, "is only 940 feet higher than Kunchingunga, and it +may be sunk out of sight before we can get there." + +"Do you think the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps, while +King Richard and Amos Blank listened eagerly for the reply, for now that +the weather had cleared, the old company was all assembled on the +bridge. + +"Yes, slowly," said Cosmo. "There is a perceptible current from the +north which indicates that condensation is still going on there. You'll +see that it'll come extremely close to the six miles I predicted before +it's all over." + +By the time they had returned to the neighborhood of the mountains the +sky had become blue, with only occasionally a passing sunshower, and +Cosmo ordered the promenades to be thrown open, and the passengers, with +great rejoicings, resumed their daily lounging and walking on deck. + +It required a little effort of thought to make them realize their +situation, but when they did it grew upon them until they could not +sufficiently express their wonder. + +Here they were, on an almost placid sea, with tepid airs blowing gently +in their faces, and a scorching sun overhead, whose rays had to be +shielded off, floating over the highest pinnacles of the roof of the +world, the traditional "Abode of Snow!" + +All around them, beneath the rippled blue surface, lined here and there +with little white windrows of foam, stood submerged peaks, 24,000, +25,000, 26,000, 27,000, 28,000 feet in elevation! They sailed over their +summits and saw them not. + +All began now to sympathize with Cosmo's desire to find Everest before +it should have disappeared with its giant brothers. Its location was +accurately known from the Indian government surveys, and Captain Arms +had every facility for finding the exact position of the Ark. They +advanced slowly toward the northwest, a hundred glasses eagerly scanning +the horizon ahead. + +Finally, at noon on the third day of their search, the welcome cry of +"Land ho!" came down from the cro'nest. Captain Arms immediately set his +course for the landfall, and in the course of a little more than an hour +had it broad abeam. + +"It's Everest, without question," said Cosmo. "It's the crown of the +world." + +But how strange was its appearance! A reddish-brown mass of rock, rising +abruptly out of the blue water, really a kind of crown in form, but not +more than a couple of square rods in extent, and about three feet high +at its loftiest point. + +There was no snow, of course, for that had long since disappeared, owing +to the rise of temperature, and no snow would have fallen in that +latitude now, even in mid-winter, because the whole base of the +atmosphere had been lifted up nearly six miles. + +Sea-level pressures were prevailing where the barometric column would +once have dropped almost to the bottom of its tube. It was all that was +left of the world! + +North of them, under the all-concealing ocean, lay the mighty plateau of +Tibet; far toward the east was China, deeply buried with its 500,000,000 +of inhabitants; toward the south lay India, over which they had so long +been sailing; northwestward the tremendous heights of the Pamir region +and of the Hindu-Kush were sunk beneath the sea. + +"When this enormous peak was covered with snow," said Cosmo, "its height +was estimated at 29,002 feet, or almost five and three-quarter miles. +The removal of the snow has, of course, lowered it, but I think it +probable that this point, being evidently steep on all sides, and of +very small area, was so swept by the wind that the snow was never very +deep upon it. + +"If we allow ten, or even twenty feet for the snow, the height of this +rock cannot be much less than 29,000 feet above the former sea-level. +But I do not dare to approach closer, because Everest had a broad +summit, and we might possibly ground upon a sharp ridge." + +"And you are sure that the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps +again. + +"Watch and you will see," Cosmo responded. + +The Ark was kept circling very slowly within a furlong of the rocky +crown, and everybody who had a glass fixed his eyes upon it. + +"The peak is certainly sinking," said De Beauxchamps at last. "I believe +it has gone down three inches in the last fifteen minutes." + +"Keep your eyes fixed on some definite point," said Cosmo to the others +who were looking, "and you will easily note the rise of the water." + +They watched it until nobody felt any doubt. Inch by inch the crown of +the world was going under. In an hour Cosmo's instruments showed that +the highest point had settled to a height of but two feet above the sea. + +"But when will the elevation that you have predicted begin?" asked one. + +"Its effects will not become evident immediately," Cosmo replied. "It +may possibly already have begun, but if so, it is masked by the +continued rise of the water." + +"And how long shall we have to wait for the re-emergence of Tibet?" + +"I cannot tell, but it will be a long time. But do not worry about that. +We have plenty of provisions, and the weather will continue fine after +the departure of the nebula." + +They circled about until only a foot or so of the rock remained above +the reach of the gently washing waves. Suddenly struck by a happy +thought, De Beauxchamps exclaimed: + +"I must have a souvenir from the crown of the disappearing world. M. +Versal, will you permit me to land upon it with one of your boats?" + +De Beauxchamps's suggestion was greeted with cheers, and twenty others +immediately expressed a desire to go. + +"No," said Cosmo to the eager applicants, "it is M. De Beauxchamps's +idea; let him go alone. Yes," he continued, addressing the Frenchman, +"you can have a boat, and I will send two men with you to manage it. +You'd better hurry, or there will be nothing left to land upon." + +The necessary orders were quickly given, and in five minutes De +Beauxchamps, watched by envious eyes, was rapidly approaching the +disappearing rock. They saw him scramble out upon it, and they gave a +mighty cheer as he waved his hand at them. + +He had taken a hammer with him, and with breathless interest they +watched him pounding and prying about the rock. They could see that he +selected the very highest point for his operations. + +While he worked away, evidently filling his pockets, the interest of the +onlookers became more and more intense. + +"Look out!" they presently began to shout at him, "you will be caught by +the water." + +But he paid no attention, working with feverish rapidity. Suddenly the +watchers saw a little ripple break over the last speck of dry land on +the globe, and De Beauxchamps standing up to his shoe-laces in water. +Cries of dismay came from the Ark. De Beauxchamps now gave over his +work, and, with apparent reluctance, entered the boat, which was rowed +close up to the place where he was standing. + +As the returning boat approached the Ark, another volley of cheers broke +forth, and the Frenchman, standing up to his full height, waved with a +triumphant air something that sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine. + +"I congratulate you, M. De Beauxchamps," cried Cosmo, as the adventurer +scrambled aboard. "You have stood where no human foot has ever been +before, and I see that you have secured your souvenir of the world that +was." + +"Yes," responded De Beauxchamps exultantly, "and see what it is--a +worthy decoration for such a coronet." + +He held up his prize, amid exclamations of astonishment and admiration +from those who were near enough to see it. + +"The most beautiful specimen of amethyst I ever beheld!" cried a +mineralogist enthusiastically, taking it from De Beauxchamps's hand. +"What was the rock?" + +"Unfortunately, I am no mineralogist," replied the Frenchman, "and I +cannot tell you, but these gems were abundant. I could have almost +filled the boat if I had had time. + +"The amethyst," he added gayly, "is the traditional talisman against +intoxication, but, although these adorned her tiara, the poor old world +has drunk her fill." + +"But it is only water," said Cosmo, smiling. + +"Too much, at any rate," returned the Frenchman. + +"I should say," continued the mineralogist, "that the rock was some +variety of syenite, from its general appearance." + +"I know nothing of that," replied De Beauxchamps, "but I have the jewels +of the terrestrial queen, and," he continued gallantly, "I shall have +the pleasure of bestowing them upon the ladies." + +He emptied his pockets, and found that he had enough to give every woman +aboard the Ark a specimen, with several left over for some of the men, +Cosmo, of course, being one of the recipients. + +"There," said De Beauxchamps, as he handed the stone to Cosmo, "there is +a memento from the Gaurisankar." + +"I beg your pardon--Mount Everest, if you please," interposed Edward +Whistlington. + +"No," responded the Frenchman stoutly, "it is the Gaurisankar. Why will +you English persist in renaming everything in the world? Gaurisankar is +the native name, and, in my opinion, far more appropriate and euphonious +than Everest." + +This discussion was not continued, for now everybody became interested +in the movements of the Ark. Cosmo had decided that it would be safe to +approach close to the point where the last peak of the mountain had +disappeared. + +Cautiously they drew nearer and nearer, until, looking through the +wonderfully transparent water, they caught sight of a vast precipice +descending with frightful steepness, down and down, until all was lost +in the profundity beneath. + +The point on which De Beauxchamps had landed was now covered so deep +that the water had ceased to swirl about it, but lay everywhere in an +unbroken sheet, which was every moment becoming more placid and +refulgent in the sunshine. + +The world was drowned at last! As they looked abroad over the convex +surface, they thought, with a shudder, that now the earth, seen from +space, was only a great, glassy ball, mirroring the sun and the stars. + +But they were ignorant of what had happened far in the west! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + +After the disappearance of Mt. Everest, Cosmo Versal made a careful +measurement of the depth of water on the peak, which he found to be +forty feet, and then decided to cruise eastward with the Ark, sailing +slowly, and returning after a month to see whether by that time there +would be any indications of the reappearance of land. + +No part of his extraordinary theory of the deluge was more +revolutionary, or scientifically incredible, than this idea that the +continents would gradually emerge again, owing to internal stresses set +up in the crust of the earth. + +This, he anticipated, would be caused by the tremendous pressure of the +water, which must be ten or twelve miles deep over the greatest +depressions of the old ocean-bottoms. He expected that geological +movements would attend the intrusion of the water into subterranean +cavities and into the heated magma under volcanic regions. + +He often debated the question with the savants aboard the Ark, and, +despite their incredulity, he persisted in his opinion. He could not be +shaken, either, in his belief that the first land to emerge would be the +Himalayas, the Pamirs, and the plateau of Tibet. + +"We may have to wait some years before any considerable area is +exposed," he admitted, "but it must not be forgotten that what land does +first appear above the water will lie at the existing sea-level, and +will have an oceanic climate, suitable for the rapid development of +plants. + +"We have aboard all things needed for quick cultivation, and in one +season we could begin to raise crops." + +"But at first," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "only mountain tops will +emerge, and how can you expect to cultivate them?" + +"There is every probability," replied Cosmo, "that even the rocks of a +mountain will be sufficiently friable after their submergence to be +readily reduced to the state of soil, especially with the aid of the +chemical agents which I have brought along, and I have no fear that I +could not, in a few weeks, make even the top of Everest fertile. + +"I anticipate, in fact, that it will be on that very summit that we +shall begin the re-establishment of the race. Then, as the plateaus +below come to the surface, we can gradually descend and enlarge the +field of our operations." + +"Suppose Everest should be turned into a volcano?" + +"That cannot happen," said Cosmo. "A volcano is built up by the +extrusion of lava and cinders from below, and these cannot break forth +at the top of a mountain already formed, especially when that mountain +has no volcanic chimney and no crater, and Everest had neither." + +"If the lowering of the flood that caused our stranding on a mountain +top in Sicily was due to the absorption of water into the interior of +the crust, why may not that occur again, and thus bring the Himalayas +into view, without any rising on their part?" demanded Professor Moses. + +"I think," said Cosmo, "that all the water that could enter the crust +has already done so, during the time that the depression of level which +so surprised us was going on. Now we must wait for geologic changes, +resulting from the gradual yielding of the internal mass to the new +forces brought to bear upon it. + +"As the whole earth has gained in _weight_ by the condensation of the +nebula upon it, its plastic crust will proportionally gain in _girth_ by +internal expansion, which will finally bring all the old continents to +the surface, but Asia first of all." + +Whether Cosmo Versal's hypotheses were right or wrong, he always had a +reply to any objection, and the prestige which he had gained by his +disastrously correct theory about the watery nebula gave him an +advantage so enormous that nobody felt enough confidence in himself to +stand long against anything that he might advance. + +Accordingly, everybody in the Ark found himself looking forward to the +re-emergence of Mount Everest almost as confidently as did their leader, +Cosmo Versal. + +They began their waiting voyage by sailing across the plateau of Tibet +and the lofty chain of the Yung-ling Mountains out over China. + +The interest of all aboard was excited to the highest degree when they +found themselves sailing over the mighty domains of the Chinese +President-Emperor, who had developed an enormous power, making him the +ruler of the whole eastern world. + +He, with his half-billion or more of subjects, now reposed at the bottom +of an ocean varying from three to five or six miles in depth. Deep +beneath the Ark lay the broad and once populous valleys of the +Yangtse-Kiang and the Hoang-Ho, the "Scourge of China." + +Finally they swung round northward and re-entered the region of Tibet, +seeking once more the drowned crown of the world. In the meantime Cosmo +had had the theatrical exhibitions and the concerts resumed in the +evenings, and sometimes there was music, and even dancing on the long +promenades, open to the outer air. + +Let not that be a matter of surprise or blame, for the spirit of joy in +life is unconquerable, as it should be if life is worth while. So it +happened that, not infrequently, and not with any blameworthy intention, +or in any spirit of heartless forgetfulness, this remarkable company of +world-wanderers drifted, in the moonlight, above the universal watery +grave of the drowned millions, with the harmonies of stringed +instruments stealing out upon the rippling waves, and the soft sound of +swiftly shuffling feet tripping over the smooth decks. + +Costake Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone resumed their stormy efforts +to talk each other down, but now even Cosmo was seldom a listener, +except when he had to interfere to keep the peace. + +King Richard and Amos Blank, however, usually heard them out, but it was +evident from their expressions that they enjoyed the prospective +fisticuffs rather more than the exposition of strange scientific +doctrines. + +Perhaps the happiest man aboard was Captain Arms. At last he could make +as many and as certain observations as he chose, and he studied the +charts of Asia until he declared that now he knew the latitude and +longitude of the mountains better than he did those of the seaports of +the old oceans. + +He had not the least difficulty in finding the location of Mount Everest +again, and when he announced that they were floating over it, Cosmo +immediately prepared to make another measurement of the depth of water +on the peak. The result was hardly gratifying. He found that it had +diminished but four inches. He said to Captain Arms: + +"The range is rising, but less rapidly than I hoped. Even if the present +rate should be doubled it would require five years for the emergence of +the highest point. Instead of remaining in this part of the world we +shall have an abundance of time to voyage round the earth, going +leisurely, and when we get back again perhaps there will be enough land +visible to give us a good start." + +"Mr. Versal," said the captain, "you remember that you promised me that +I should drop my anchor on the head of Mount Everest if I worked a +traverse across Beluchistan." + +"Certainly I remember it; and also that you were not much disposed to +undertake the task. However, you did it well, and I suppose that now you +want me to fulfill the bargain?" + +"Exactly," replied the captain. "I'd just like to get a mud-hook in the +top-knot of the earth. I reckon that that'll lay over all the sea yarns +ever spun." + +"Very well," returned Cosmo. "Try it, if you've got cable enough." + +"Enough and to spare," cried the captain, "and I'll have the +Gaurisankar, as the Frenchman calls it, hooked in a jiffy." + +This was an operation which called everybody to the rails to watch +it. Hundreds of eyes tried to follow the anchor as it descended +perpendicularly upon the mountain-top, nearly forty feet beneath. +Through the clear water they could dimly see the dark outline of the +summit below, and they gazed at it with wonder, and a sort of terror. + +Somehow they felt that never before had they fully appreciated the awful +depths over which they had been floating. The anchor steadily dropped +until it rested on the rock. + +It got a hold finally, and in a few minutes the great vessel was +swinging slowly round, held by a cable whose grasp was upon the top of +the world! When the sensation had been sufficiently enjoyed the anchor +was tripped, and the nose of the Ark was turned northwestward. Cosmo +Versal announced his intention to circumnavigate the drowned globe. + +The news of what they were about to do was both welcome and saddening to +the inmates of the vessel. They wished to pass once more over the lands +where they had first seen the light, and at the same time they dreaded +the memories that such a voyage would inevitably bring back with +overwhelming force. But, at any rate, it would be better than drifting +for years over Tibet and China. + +While everybody else was discussing the prospects of the new voyage, and +wondering how long it would last, Yves de Beauxchamps was concentrating +all his attention upon a new project which had sprung up in his active +mind as soon as Cosmo's intention was announced. He took Cosmo aside and +said to him: + +"M. Versal, the dearest memory that I have treasured in my heart is that +of the last sight of my drowned home, my beautiful dead Paris. It may be +that the home-loving instincts of my race arouse in me a melancholy +pleasure over such a sight which would not be shared by you, of a +different blood; but if, perchance, you do share my feelings on this +subject I believe that I can promise you a similar visit to the great +metropolis where your life began, and where you executed those labors +whose result has been to preserve a remnant of humanity to repeople the +earth." + +Cosmo Versal's quick intelligence instantly comprehended the Frenchman's +design, but it startled him, and apparently insuperable difficulties at +once occurred to his mind. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," he responded, grasping his friend warmly by the +hand, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amiable +intention, and I assure you that nothing could afford me greater +satisfaction than to see once more that mighty city, even though it can +now be but an awful ruin, tenanted by no life except the terrible +creatures of the deep. But, while I foresee what your plan must be, I +can hardly conceive that its execution could be possible. You are +thinking, of course, of constructing a diving apparatus capable of +penetrating to a depth of nearly six miles in the sea. Setting aside the +question whether we could find in the stores of the Ark the materials +that would be needed, it appears to me most improbable that we could +make the apparatus of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure, and +could then cause it to sink to so great a depth, and afterward bring it +safely to the surface." + +The Frenchman smiled. + +"M. Versal," he replied, "I have taken the liberty to look over the +stock of materials which you have so wisely prepared for possible +repairs to the Ark and for use after the Ark lands, and I know that +among them I can find all that I shall need. You yourself know how +completely you are provided with engineering tools and machines of all +kinds. You have even an electric foundry aboard. With the aid of your +mechanical genius, and the skill of your assistants, together with that +of my own men, who are accustomed to work of this kind, I have not the +faintest doubt that I can design and construct a diving-bell, large +enough to contain a half-dozen persons, and perfectly capable of +penetrating to any depth. Of course I cannot make it of levium, but you +have a sufficient supply of herculeum steel, the strength of which is so +immense that the walls of the bell can be made to remit the pressure +even at a depth of six miles. From my previous experiments I am +confident that there will be no difficulty in sinking and afterward +raising this apparatus. It is only necessary that the mean specific +gravity of the bell shall be greater than that of the water at a given +depth, and you know that as far back as the end of the nineteenth +century your own countrymen sent down sounding apparatus more than six +miles in the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam." + +"But the air inside the bell--" Cosmo began. + +"Excuse me," interrupted De Beauxchamps, "but that air need be under no +greater pressure than at the surface. I shall know how to provide for +that. Remember the _Jules Verne_. Simply give me _carte blanche_ in this +matter, let me have the materials to work with, afford me the advantage +of your advice and assistance whenever I shall need them, and I promise +you that by the time we have arrived over the site of New York we shall +be prepared for the descent." + +Cosmo was deeply impressed by the Frenchman's enthusiastic +self-confidence. He had a great admiration for the constructor of the +_Jules Verne_, and, besides, the proposed adventure was exactly after +his own heart. After meditating a while, he said heartily: + +"Well, M. De Beauxchamps, I give my consent. Everything you wish shall +be at your disposal, and you can begin as soon as you choose. Only, let +the thing be kept a secret between us and the workmen who are employed. +If it should turn out a failure it would not do that the people in the +Ark should be aware of it. I can give you a working room on one of the +lower decks, where there will be no interference with your proceedings, +and no knowledge of what you are about can leak out." + +"That is exactly what I should wish," returned De Beauxchamps, smiling +with delight, "and I renew my promise that you shall not be +disappointed." + +So, without a suspicion of what was going on entering the minds of any +person in the great company outside the small company of men who were +actually employed in the work, the construction of De Beauxchamps's +great diving-bell was begun, and pushed with all possible speed, +consistent with the proper execution of the work. In the meantime the +Ark continued its course toward the west. + +They ran slowly, for there was no hurry, and the Ark had now become to +its inhabitants as a house and a home--their only foothold on the whole +round earth, and that but a little floating island of buoyant metal. +They crossed the Pamirs and the Hindu-Kush, the place where the Caspian +Sea had been swallowed up in the universal ocean, and ran over Ararat, +which three months before had put them into such fearful danger, but +whose loftiest summit now lay twelve thousand feet beneath their keel. + +At length, after many excursions toward the north and toward the south, +in the halcyon weather that had seldom failed since the withdrawal of +the nebula, they arrived at the place (or above it) which had stood +during centuries for a noon-mark on the globe. + +It was midday when Captain Arms, having made his observations, said to +Cosmo and the others on the bridge: + +"Noon at Greenwich, and noon on the Ark. Latitude, fifty-one degrees +thirty minutes. That brings you as nearly plumb over the place as you'd +be likely to hit it. Right down there lies the old observatory that set +the chronometers of the world, and kept the clocks and watches up to +their work." + +King Richard turned aside upon hearing the captain's words. They brought +a too vivid picture of the great capital, six miles under their feet, +and a too poignant recollection of the disastrous escape of the royal +family from overwhelmed London seven months before. + +As reckoned by the almanac, it was the 15th of September, more than +sixteen months since Cosmo had sent out his first warning to the public, +when the Ark crossed the meridian of seventy-four degrees west, in about +forty-one degrees north latitude, and the adventurers knew that New York +was once more beneath them. + +There was great emotion among both passengers and crew, for the majority +of them had either dwelt in New York or been in some way associated with +its enterprises and its people, and, vain as must be the hope of seeing +any relic of the buried metropolis, every eye was on the alert. + +They looked off across the boundless sea in every direction, +interrogating every suspicious object on the far horizon, and even +peering curiously into the blue abyss, as if something might suddenly +appear there which would speak to them like a voice from the past. + +But they saw only shafts of sunlight running into bottomless depths, and +occasionally some oceanic creature floating lazily far below. The color +of the sea was wonderful. It had attracted their attention after the +submergence of Mount Everest, but at that time it had not yet assumed +its full splendor. + +At first, no doubt, there was considerable dissolved matter in the +water, but gradually this settled, and the sea became bluer and +bluer--not the deep indigo of the old ocean, but a much lighter and more +brilliant hue--and here, over the site of New York, the waters were of a +bright, luminous sapphire, that dazzled the eye. + +Cosmo declared that the change of the sea-color was undoubtedly due to +some quality in the nebula from whose condensation the water had been +produced, but neither his own analyses, nor those of the chemists aboard +the Ark, were able to detect the subtle element to whose presence the +peculiar tint was due. + +But whatever it may have been, it imparted to the ocean an ethereal, +imponderous look, which was sometimes startling. There were moments when +they almost expected to see it expand back into the nebulous form and +fly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + +During the long voyage from the sunken Himalayas to still deeper sunken +New York, De Beauxchamps, with his fellow-countrymen and the skilled +mechanics assigned by Cosmo Versal to aid them, had finished the +construction of the huge diving-bell. No one not in the secret had the +slightest idea of what had been done, owing to the remote situation of +the deck on which the construction was carried out. + +Now, while a thousand pairs of eyes were interrogating the smooth +surface of the sea, and striving to penetrate its cerulean depths, a +great surprise was sprung upon the passengers. The rear gangway of the +lowest deck was cleared, a heavy crane-like beam was set projecting over +the water, and men began to rig a flexible cable, which had been +specially prepared for the purpose of lowering the bell into the depths, +and of raising it again when the adventurers should wish to return to +the surface. Everybody's attention was immediately attracted to these +strange preparations, and the utmost curiosity was aroused. A chorus of +wondering exclamations broke out when a metallic globe, twenty feet in +diameter, and polished until it shone like a giant thermometer bulb, was +rolled out and carefully attached to the cable by means of a strong ring +set in one side of the bell. The excitement of the passengers would soon +have become uncontrollable if Cosmo had not at this point summoned the +entire ship's company into the great saloon. As soon as all were +assembled he mounted his dais and began to speak. + +"My fellow-citizens of the old world, which has perished, and of the +new, which is to take its place," he said, "we owe to the genius of M. +De Beauxchamps an apparatus which is about to enable us to inspect, by +an actual visit, the remains of the vast metropolis, which we saw in all +its majesty and beauty but so few months ago, and which now lies forever +silent at the bottom of this universal ocean. + +"If it were practicable I should wish to afford to every one of you a +farewell glimpse of that mighty city, to which the hearts of so many +here are bound, but you can readily understand that that would be +impossible. Only six persons can go in this exploring bell, and they +have been chosen; but a faithful account will be brought back to you of +all that they see and learn. The adventuring company will consist of M. +De Beauxchamps, M. Pujol, his first assistant, Mr. Amos Blank, King +Richard, Professor Abel Able, and myself. Captain Arms has ascertained +the location of the center of Manhattan Island, over which we are now +floating. The quietness of the sea, the absence of any apparent current, +and the serenity of the heavens are favoring circumstances, which may be +relied upon to enable Captain Arms to keep the Ark constantly poised +almost precisely over our point of descent. It is not possible to +predict the exact duration of our absence in the depths, but it will +not, in any case, exceed about twenty hours. + +"Once arrived at the bottom, nearly six miles down, we shall attach the +cable to some secure anchorage, by means of a radio-control, operated +from within the bell, and then, with the bell free, we shall make +explorations, as extensive as possible. The radio-control of which I +have spoken governs also the attachment of the cable to the bell. This +appliance has been prepared and tested with such care that we have no +doubt of its entire efficiency. I mention these things in order to +remove from your minds any fear as to the success of our enterprise. + +"The bell being once detached, we shall be able to move it from point to +point by means of a pair of small propellers, which you will perceive on +the outside of the bell, and which are also controlled from within. +These will be used to increase our speed of descent. From a calculation +of the density of the sea-water at the depth to which we shall descend, +we estimate that the bell with its contents will press upon the bottom +with a gravitational force of only five pounds, so that it will move +with very slight effort, and may even, when in motion, float like a +fish. + +"For the purposes of observation we have provided, on four sides of the +bell, a series of circular windows, with glass of immense thickness and +strength, but of extraordinary transparency. Through these windows we +shall be able to see in almost all directions. It was our intention to +provide wireless telephone apparatus with which we might have kept you +informed of all our doings and discoveries, but unfortunately we have +found it impracticable to utilize our control for that purpose. We +shall, however, be able to send and receive signals as long as we are +connected with the cable. + +"I should add that the construction of the bell, although suggested by +M. De Beauxchamps immediately after our departure from Mount Everest, +has been carried on in secret simply because we did not wish to subject +you to the immense disappointment which you would certainly have +experienced if this brilliant conception of our gifted friend, after +being once made known to you, had proved to be a failure. Our +preparations have all been made, and within an hour we shall begin the +descent." + +It is quite impossible to describe the excitement of the passengers +while they listened to this extraordinary communication. When Cosmo +Versal had finished speaking he stood for some minutes looking at his +audience with a triumphant smile. First a murmur of excited voices +arose, and then somebody proposed three cheers, which were given and +repeated until the levium dome rang with the reverberations. Nobody knew +exactly why he was cheering, but the infectious enthusiasm carried +everything before it. Then the crowd began to ask questions, addressed +not to Cosmo but to one another. The wildest suggestions were made. One +woman who had left some treasured heirlooms in a Fifth Avenue mansion +demanded of her husband that he should commission Cosmo Versal to +recover them. + +"I'm sure they're there," she insisted. "They were locked in the safe." + +"But, don't you see," protested the poor man, "he can't get outside of +that bell to get 'em." + +"I don't see _why_ he can't, if he should really try. I think it's too +mean! They were my grandmother's jewels." + +"But, my dear, how could he get out?" + +"Well, _how does he get in?_ What's his radio-control good for; won't +that help him? What is he going down there for if he can't do a little +thing like that, to oblige?" + +She pouted at her husband because he persistently refused to present her +request to Cosmo, and declared that she would do it herself, then, for +she must have those jewels, now that they were so near. + +But Cosmo was saved from this, and other equally unreasonable demands, +by a warning from De Beauxchamps that all was ready, and that no time +should be lost. Then everybody hastened out on the decks to watch the +departure of the adventurers. Many thoughtfully shook their heads, +predicting that they would never be seen again. As soon as this feeling +began to prevail the enthusiasm quickly evaporated, and efforts were +made to dissuade Cosmo and De Beauxchamps from making the attempt. But +they were deaf to all remonstrance, and pushing out of the chattering +crowd, Cosmo ordered the gangway about the bell to be cleared of all +bystanders. The opposition heated his blood a little, and he began to +bear himself with an air which recalled his aspect when he quelled and +punished the mutiny. This was enough to silence instantly every objector +to his proceedings. Henceforth they kept their thoughts to themselves, +although some muttered, under their breath such epithets as "fool" and +"harebrain." + +In about half an hour after Cosmo's speech the bell, with its hardy +explorers safely inclosed within, was lowered away, and a minute later +hundreds were craning their necks over the rails to watch the shining +globe engulf itself swiftly in the sapphire depths. It was about nine +o'clock in the morning when the descent was begun, and for a long time, +so remarkable was the transparency of the water, they could see the bell +sinking, and becoming smaller until it resembled a blue pearl. Sometimes +a metallic flash shot from its polished sides like a gleam of violet +lightning. But at length it passed from view, swallowed up in the +tremendous watery chasm. + +We turn now to trace the adventures of the bell and its inmates as they +entered the awful twilight of the ocean, and, sinking deeper, passed +gradually into a profundity which the sun's most powerful rays were +unable to penetrate. Fortunately every one of the adventurers left a +description of his experiences and sensations, so that there is no lack +of authentic information to guide us. + +The windows, as Cosmo had said, were so arranged that they afforded +views on all sides. These views were, of course, restricted by the +combined effects of the smallness of the windows and their great +thickness; the inmates were somewhat like prisoners looking out of round +ports cut through massive walls, but the range of view was much widened +when they placed themselves close to the glasses, because the latter +were in the form of truncated cones with the base outward. + +Glancing through the ports on the upper side of the bell Cosmo and his +companions could perceive the huge form of the Ark, hanging like a cloud +above them, but rapidly receding, while from the side ports they saw +great shafts of azure sunlight, thrown into wonderful undulations by the +disturbance of the water. These soon became fainter and gradually +disappeared, but before the gloom of the depths settled about them they +were thrilled by the spectacle of sharks and other huge fishes nosing +about the outer side of the transparent cones, and sometimes opening +their jaws as if trying to seize them. Most of the cone-shaped windows +had flat surfaces, but a few were of spherical outline both without and +within, and the radius of curvature had been so calculated that these +particular windows served as huge magnifying lenses for an eye placed at +a given distance. Once or twice a marine monster happened to place +himself in the field of one of these magnifying windows, startling the +observers almost out of their senses with his frightful appearance. + +There were also four windows reserved for projecting a searchlight into +the outer darkness. The inner side of the bell corresponded in curvature +with the outer, so that the adventurers had no flat flooring on any side +to stand upon, but this caused little inconvenience, since the walls +were abundantly provided with hand and foot holds, enabling the inmates +to maintain themselves in almost any position they could wish. + +After a while they passed below the range of daylight, and then they +turned on the searchlight. The storage batteries which supplied energy +for the searchlight and the propellers served also to operate an +apparatus for clearing the air of carbonic acid, and De Beauxchamps had +carefully calculated the limit of time that the air could be kept in a +breathable condition. This did not exceed forty-eight hours--but as we +have seen they had no intention of remaining under water longer than +twenty hours at the utmost. + +When the bell entered the night of the sea-depths they passed into an +apparently lifeless zone, where the searchlight, projected now on one +side and now on another, revealed no more of the living forms which they +had encountered above, but showed only a desert of solid transparent +water. Here, amid this awful isolation, they experienced for the first +time a feeling of dread and terror. An overpowering sense of loneliness +and helplessness came over them, and only the stout heart of Cosmo +Versal, and his reassuring words, kept the others from making the signal +which would have caused the bell to be hastily drawn back to the Ark. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," said Cosmo, breaking the impressive silence, "to +what depth have we now descended?" + +"A thousand fathoms," replied the Frenchman, consulting his automatic +register. + +"Good! We have been only thirty minutes in reaching this depth. We shall +sink more slowly as we get deeper, but I think we can count upon +reaching the bottom in not more than four hours from the moment of our +departure. It will require only two hours for them to draw us back again +with the powerful engines of the Ark, especially when aided by our +propellers. This will leave fourteen hours for our explorations, if we +stay out the limit that we have fixed." + +There was such an air of confidence in Cosmo's manner and words that +this simple statement did much to enhearten the others. + +"The absence of life in this part of the sea," Cosmo continued +cheerfully, "does not surprise me. It has long been known that the life +of the ocean is confined to regions near the surface and the bottom. We +shall certainly find plenty of wonderful creatures below." + +When they knew that they must be near the bottom they turned the light +downward, and every available window was occupied by an eager watcher. +Presently a cry of "Look! Look there!" broke from several voices at +once. + +The searchlight, penetrating far through the clear water beneath the +bell, fell in a circle round a most remarkable object--tall, gaunt, and +spectral, with huge black ribs. + +"Why, it's the Metropolitan tower, still standing!" cried Amos Blank. +"Who would have believed it possible?" + +"No doubt there was some lucky circumstance about its anchorage," +returned Cosmo. "Although it was built so long ago, it was made +immensely strong, and well braced, and as the water did not undermine it +at the start, it has been favored by the very density of that which now +surrounds it, and which tends to buoy it up and hold it steady. But you +observe that it has been stripped of the covering of stone." + +"Would it not be well to utilize it for anchoring the cable?" asked De +Beauxchamps. + +"We could have nothing better," said Cosmo. + +De Beauxchamps immediately called to the Ark, and directed the movements +of those in charge of the drum of the cable so nicely that the descent +ceased at the exact moment when the bell came to rest upon a group of +beams at the top of the tower. The radio-control, which is so familiar +in its thousand applications to-day, was then a new thing, having been +invented only a year or so before the deluge, and De Beauxchamps's form +of the apparatus was crude. The underlying principle, however, was the +same as that now employed--transmission through a metallic wall of +impulses capable of being turned into mechanic energy. With its aid they +had no difficulty in detaching the cable from the bell, but it required +some careful maneuvering to secure a satisfactory attachment to the +beams of the tower. At last, however, this was effected, and immediately +they set out for their exploration of drowned New York. + +They began with the skeleton tower itself, which had only once or twice +been exceeded in height by the famous structures of the era of +skyscrapers. In some places they found the granite skin yet _in situ_, +but almost everywhere it had been stripped off, probably by the +tremendous waves which swept over it as the flood attained its first +thousand feet of elevation. They saw no living forms, except a few +curiously shaped phosphorescent creatures of no great size, which +scurried away out of the beam of the search-light. They saw no trace of +the millions of their fellow-beings who had been swallowed up in this +vast grave, and for this all secretly gave thanks. The soil of Madison +Square had evidently been washed away, for no signs of the trees which +had once shaded it were seen, and a reddish ooze had begun to collect +upon the exposed rocks. All around were the shattered ruins of other +great buildings, some, like the Metropolitan tower, yet retaining their +steel skeletons, others tumbled down, and lying half-buried in the ooze. + +Finding nothing of great interest in this neighborhood they turned the +course of the bell northward, passing everywhere over interminable +ruins, and as soon as they began to skirt the ridge of Morningside +Heights the huge form of the cathedral of St. John fell within the +circle of projected light. It was unroofed, and some of the walls had +fallen, but some of the immense arches yet retained their upright +position. Here, for the first time, they encountered the real giants of +the submarine depths. De Beauxchamps, who had seen some of these +creatures during his visit to Paris in the _Jules Verne_, declared that +nothing which he had seen there was so terrifying as what they now +beheld. One creature, which seemed to be the unresisted master of this +kingdom of phosphorescent life, appears to have exceeded in strangeness +the utmost descriptive powers of all those who looked upon it, for their +written accounts are filled with ejaculations, and are more or less +inconsistent with one another. The reader gathers from them, however, +the general impression that it made upon their astonished minds. + +The creatures were of a livid hue, and had the form of a globe, as large +as the bell itself, with a valvular opening on one side which was +evidently a mouth, surrounded with a circle of eyelike disks, projecting +shafts of self-evolved light into the water. They moved about with +surprising ease, rising and sinking at will, sometimes rolling along the +curve of an arch, emitting flashes of green fire, and occasionally +darting across the intervening spaces in pursuit of their prey, which +consisted of smaller prosphorescent animals that fled in the utmost +consternation. When the adventurers in the bell saw one of the globular +monsters seize its victim they were filled with horror. It had driven +its prey into a corner of the wrecked choir, and suddenly it flattened +itself like a rubber bulb pressed against the wall, completely covering +the creature that was to be devoured, although the effect of its +struggles could be perceived; and then, to the amazement of the +onlookers, the living globe slowly turned itself inside out, engulfing +the victim in the process. + +"Great heavens," exclaimed Professor Abel Able, "it is a gigantic +_hydroid polyps!_ That is precisely the way in which those little +creatures swallow their prey; outside becomes inside, what was the +surface of the body is turned into the lining of the digestive cavity, +and every time they take a meal the process of introversion is repeated. +This monster is nothing but a huge self-sustaining maw!" + +"_Tres bien_," exclaimed De Beauxchamps, with a slight laugh, "and he +finds himself in New York, quite _chez soi_." + +Nobody appeared to notice the sarcasm, and, in any case they would +quickly have forgotten it, for no sooner had the tragic spectacle which +they had witnessed been finished than they suddenly found the bell +surrounded by a crowd of the globe-shaped creatures, jostling one +another, and flattening themselves against its metallic walls. They +pushed the bell about, rolling themselves all over it, and apparently +finding nothing terrifying in the searchlight, which was hardly brighter +than the phosphorescent gleams which shot from their own luminescent +organs. One of them got one of its luminous disks exactly in the field +of a magnifying window, and King Richard, who happened to have his eye +in the focus, started back with a cry of alarm. + +"I cannot describe what I saw," the king wrote in his notebook. "It was +a glimpse of fiery cones, triangles, and circles, ranged in tier behind +tier with a piercing eye in the center, and the light that came from +them resembled nothing that I have ever seen. It seemed to be a _living +emanation_, and almost paralyzed me." + +"We must get away from them," cried De Beauxchamps, as soon as the first +overwhelming effect of the attack upon the bell had passed. And +immediately he set the propellers at their highest speed. + +The bell shook and half rolled over, there was a scurrying among the +monsters outside, and two or three of them floated away partly in +collapse, as if they had been seriously wounded by the short propeller +blades. + +The direction of flight chanced to carry them past the dome of the +Columbia University Library, which was standing almost intact, and then +they floated near the monumental tomb of General Grant, which had +crowned a noble elevation overlooking the Hudson River. A portion of the +upper part of this structure had been carried away, but the larger part +remained in position. They saw no more of the globular creatures which +had haunted the ruins of the cathedral, but, instead, there appeared +around the bell an immense multitude of small luminescent animals, many +of them most beautifully formed, and emitting from their light-producing +organs various exquisite colors which turned the surrounding water into +an all-embracing rainbow. + +[Illustration: "AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF +GENERAL GRANT"] + +But a more marvelous phenomenon quickly made its appearance, causing +them to gasp with astonishment. As they drew near the dismantled dome a +brilliant gleam suddenly streamed into the ports on the side turned +toward the monument--a gush of light so bright that the air inside the +bell seemed to have been illuminated with a golden sunrise. They glanced +toward the monument, and saw that it was surmounted by some vibrating +object which seemed instinct with blinding fire. The colors that sprang +from it changed rapidly from gold to purple, and then, through +shimmering hues of bronze, to a deep rich orange. It looked like a sun, +poised on the horizon. The spectacle was so dazzling, so unexpected, so +beautiful, and, associated with the architectural memorial of one of the +greatest characters in American history, so strangely suggestive, that +even King Richard and the two Frenchmen were strongly moved, while Cosmo +and his fellow-countrymen grasped each other by the hand, and the former +said, in solemn tones: + +"My friends, to my mind, this scene, however accidental, has something +of prophecy about it. It changes the current of my thought--America is +not dead; in some way she yet survives upon the earth." + +Long they gazed and wondered, but at last, partly recovering from their +astonishment, at the suggestion of De Beauxchamps, they drew nearer the +monument. But when they had arrived within a few yards of it, the +blinding light disappeared as if snuffed out, and they saw nothing but +the broken gray walls of the dome. The moving object, which had been +dimly visible at the beginning, and had evidently been the source of the +light, had vanished. + +"The creature that produced the illumination," said Professor Abel Able, +"has been alarmed by our approach, and has withdrawn into the interior." + +This was, no doubt, the true explanation, but they could perceive no +signs of life about the place, and they finally turned away from it with +strange sensations. + +Avoiding the neighborhood of the cathedral, they steered the bell down +the former course of the Hudson, but afterward ventured once more over +the drowned city until they arrived at the site of the great station of +the Pennsylvania Railroad, which they found completely unroofed. They +sank the bell into the vast space where the tunnels entered from +underneath the old river bed, and again they had a startling experience. +Something huge, elongated, and spotted, and provided with expanding +claw-like limbs, slowly withdrew as their light streamed upon the +reddish ooze covering the great floor. The nondescript retreated +backward into the mouth of a tunnel. They endeavored, cautiously, to +follow it, turning a magnifying window in its direction, and obtaining a +startling view of glaring eyes, but the creature hastened its retreat, +and the last glimpse they had was of a grotesque head, which threw out +piercing rays of green fire as it passed deeper into the tunnel. + +"This is too terrible," exclaimed King Richard, shuddering. "In Heaven's +name, let us go no farther." + +"We must visit Wall Street," said Amos Blank. "We must see what the +former financial center of the world now looks like." + +Accordingly they issued from the ruined station, and, resuming their +course southward, arrived at length over the great money center. The +tall buildings which had shouldered each other in that wonderful +district, turning the streets into immense gorges, had, to a certain +extent, protected one another against the effects of the waves, and the +skeletons of many were yet standing. In the midst of them the dark spire +of old Trinity still pointed stoutly upward, as if continuing its +hopeless struggle against the spirit of worldly grandeur whose aspiring +creations, though in ruins, yet dwarfed this symbol of immortality. At +the intersection of the Wall and Broad Street canons they found an +enormous steel edifice, which had been completed a short time before the +deluge, tumbled in ruins upon the classic form of the old Stock +Exchange, the main features of whose front were yet recognizable. The +weight of the fallen building had been so great that it had crushed the +roof of the treasure vaults which had occupied its ground floor, and the +fragments of safes with their contents had been hurled over the northern +expanse of Broad Street. The red ooze had covered most of the wasted +wealth there heaped up, but in places piles of gold showed through the +covering. Amos Blank became greatly excited at this. His old +proclivities seemed to resume their sway and his former madness to +return, and he buried his finger nails in his clenched palms as he +pressed his face against a window, exclaiming: + +"_My gold!_ MY GOLD! Let me out of this! I must have it!" + +"Nobody can get out of the bell, Mr. Blank," said Cosmo soothingly. "And +the gold is now of no use to anybody." + +"I tell you," cried Blank, "that that is _my_ gold. It comes from _my_ +vaults, and I _must_ get out!" And he dashed his fists wildly against +the glass until his knuckles were covered with blood. Then he sought +about for some implement with which to break the glass. They were +compelled to seize him, and a dreadful struggle followed in the +restricted space within the bell. In the midst of it Blank's face became +set, and his eyes stared wildly out of a window. + +The others followed the direction of his gaze, and they were almost +frozen into statues. Close beside the bell, which had, during the +struggle, floated near to the principal heap of mingled treasure and +ruin, heavily squatted on the very summit of the pile, was such a +creature as no words could depict--of a ghastly color, bulky and +malformed, furnished with three burning eyes that turned now green, now +red with lambent flame, and great shapeless limbs, which it uplifted one +after the other, striking awkward, pawing blows at the bell! It seemed +to the horrified onlookers to be the very demon of greed defending its +spoil. Blank sank helpless on the bottom side of the bell, and the +others remained for a time petrified, and unable to speak. Suddenly the +dreadful creature, making a forward lunge from its perch, struck the +bell a mighty blow that sent it spinning in a partly upward direction. +The inmates were tumbled over one another, bruised and cut by the +projections that served for hand and foot holds. So great had been the +impact of the blow that the bell continued to revolve for several +minutes, and they could do nothing to help themselves, except to seize +the holds as they came within their grasp, and hang on for dear life. +The violent shaking up roused Blank from his trance, and he hung on +desperately with the others. + +After a while the bell ceased to spin, and began to sink again toward +the bottom. De Beauxchamps, who had recovered some degree of +self-command, instantly began to operate the control governing the +propellers, and in a few minutes he had the bell moving in a fixed +direction. + +"This way, this way," cried Cosmo, glancing out of the windows to orient +himself. "We have seen enough! We must get back to the cable, and return +to the Ark!" + +They were terror-stricken now, and pushing the propellers to their +utmost, they fled toward the site of the Metropolitan tower. On their +way, although for a time they passed over the course of the East River, +they saw no signs of the great bridges except the partly demolished but +yet beautiful towers of the oldest of them, which had been constructed +of heavy granite blocks. They found the cable attached as they had left +it, and, although they were yet nervous from their recent experience, +they had no great difficulty in re-attaching it to the bell. Then, with +a sigh of relief, they signaled, and shouted through the telephone to +the Ark. + +But no answer came, and there was no responsive movement of the cable! +They signaled and called again, but without result. + +"My God!" said Cosmo, in a faltering voice. "Can anything have happened +to the cable?" + +They looked at each other with blanched cheeks, and no man found a word +to reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +NEW AMERICA + + +There had been great excitement on the Ark when the first communication +from the bell was received, announcing the arrival of the adventurers at +the Metropolitan tower. The news spread everywhere in a few seconds, and +the man in charge of the signaling apparatus and telephone would have +been mobbed if Captain Arms had not rigorously shut off all +communication with him, compelling the eager inquirers to be content +with such information as he himself saw fit to give them. When the +announcement was made that the bell had been cut loose, and the +exploration begun, the excitement was intensified, and a Babel of voices +resounded all over the great ship. + +As hour after hour passed with no further communication from below the +anxiety of the multitude became almost unbearable. Some declared that +the adventurers would never be able to re-attach the bell to the cable, +and the fear rapidly spread that they would never be seen again. Captain +Arms strove in vain to reassure the excited passengers, but they grew +every moment more demoralized, and he was nearly driven out of his +senses by the insistent questioning to which he was subjected. It was +almost a relief to him when the lookout announced an impending change of +weather--although he well new the peril which such a change might bring. + +It came on more rapidly than anybody could have anticipated. The sky, in +the middle of the afternoon, became clouded, the sun was quickly hidden, +and a cold blast arose, quickly strengthening into a regular blow. The +Ark began to drift as the rising waves assailed its vast flanks. + +"Pay out the cable!" roared Captain Arms through his trumpet. + +If he had not been instantly obeyed it is probable that the cable would +have been dragged from its precarious fastening below. Then he instantly +set the engines at work, and strove to turn the Ark so as to keep it +near the point of descent. At first they succeeded very well, but the +captain knew that the wind was swiftly increasing in force, and that he +could not long continue to hold his place. It was a terrible emergency, +but he proved himself equal to it. + +"We must float the cable," he shouted to his first assistant. "Over with +the big buoy." + +This buoy of levium had been prepared for other possible emergencies. It +was flat, presenting little surface to the wind, and when, working with +feverish speed, aided by an electric launch, they had attached the cable +to it, it sank so low that its place on the sea was indicated only by +the short mast, capped with a streamer, which rose above it. + +When this work was completed a sigh of relief whistled through Captain +Arms's huge whiskers. + +"May Davy Jones hold that cable tight!" he exclaimed. "Now for +navigating the Ark. If I had my old _Maria Jane_ under my feet I'd defy +Boreas himself to blow me away from here--but this whale!" + +The wind increased fast, and in spite of every effort the Ark was driven +farther and farther toward the southwest, until the captain's telescope +no longer showed the least glimpse of the streamer on the buoy. Then +night came on, and yet the wind continued to blow. The captain compelled +all the passengers to go to their rooms. It would be useless to +undertake to describe the terror and despair of that night. When the sun +rose again the captain found that they had been driven seventy-five +miles from the site of New York, and yet, although the sky had now +partly cleared, the violence of the wind had not diminished. + +Captain Arms had the passengers' breakfast served in their rooms, simply +sending them word that all would be well in the end. But in his secret +heart he doubted if he could find the buoy again. He feared that it +would be torn loose with the cable. + +About noon the wind lulled, and at last the Ark could be effectively +driven in the direction of the buoy. But their progress was slow, and +night came on once more. During the hours of darkness the wind ceased +entirely, and the sea became calm. With the sunrise the search for the +buoy was begun in earnest. The passengers were now allowed to go upon +some of the decks, and to assemble in the grand saloon, but no +interference was permitted with the navigators of the Ark. Never had +Captain Arms so fully exhibited his qualities as a seaman. + +"We'll find that porpoise if it's still afloat," he declared. + +About half after eight o'clock a cry ran through the ship, bringing +everybody out on the decks. + +The captain had discovered the buoy through his glass! + +It lay away to the nor'ard, about a mile, and as they approached all +could see the streamer, hanging down its pole, a red streak in the +sunshine. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The Ark echoed with glad cries from stem to +stern. A thousand questions were shouted at the captain on his bridge, +but he was imperturbable. He only glanced at his watch, and then said, +in an undertone, to Joseph Smith, who stood beside him: + +"Forty-seven hours and twenty minutes. By the time we can get the cable +back on the drum it will be full forty-eight hours since they started, +and the air in the bell could be kept in condition no longer than that. +It may take as much as two hours more to draw it up." + +"Can you do it so rapidly as that?" asked Smith, his voice trembling. + +"I'll do it or bust," returned the captain. "Perhaps they may yet be +alive." + +Smith turned his eyes upward and clasped his hands. The Ark was put to +its utmost speed, and within the time estimated by the captain the cable +was once more on the great drum. Before starting it the captain attached +the telephone and shouted down. There was no reply. + +"Start gently, and then, if she draws, drive for your lubberly lives," +he said to the men in charge of the big donkey engine. + +The moment it began to turn he inspected the indicator. + +"Hurrah!" he exclaimed. "She pulls; the bell is attached." + +The crowded decks broke into a cheer. In a few minutes the Ark was +vibrating with the strokes of the engine. Within five minutes the +strong, slender cable was issuing out of the depths at the rate of 250 +feet a minute. But there were six miles of it! The engineer controlling +the drum shook his head. + +"We may break the cable," he said. + +"Go on!" shouted Captain Arms. "It's their only chance. Every second of +delay means sure death." + +Within forty minutes the cable was coming up 300 feet a minute. The +speed increased as the bell rose out of the depths. It was just one hour +and forty-five minutes after the drum began to revolve when the anxious +watchers were thrown into a furore of excitement by the appearance of a +shining blue point deep beneath. It was the bell! Again there broke +forth a tempest of cheers. + +Rapidly the rising bell grew larger under their eyes, until at last it +burst the surface of the sea. The engine had been skillfully slowed at +the last moment, and the rescued bell stopped at the level of the deck +open to receive it. With mad haste it was drawn aboard and the hermetic +door was opened. Those who were near enough glanced inside and turned +pale. Tumbled in a heap at the bottom lay the six men, with yellow faces +and blank, staring eyes. In an instant they were lifted out and two +doctors sprang to the side of each. Were they dead? Could any skill +revive them? A hush as of death spread over the great vessel. + +They were not dead. The skill of the physicians brought them, one after +another, slowly back to consciousness. But it was two full days before +they could rise from their beds, and three before they could begin to +tell their story--the story of the wonders they had seen, and of the +dreadful struggle for breath in the imprisoned bell before they had sunk +into unconsciousness. Not a word was ever spoken about the strange +outbreak of Blank at the sight of the gold, although the others all +recorded it in their notebooks. He himself never referred to it, and it +seemed to have faded from his mind. + +As soon as it was evident that the rescued men would recover, Captain +Arms, acting on his own responsibility, had started the Ark on its +westward course. It was a long and tedious journey that they had yet +before them, but the monotony was broken by the undying interest in the +marvelous story of the adventures of the bell. + +Three weeks after they left the vicinity of New York, the observations +showed that they must be nearing the eastern border of the Colorado +plateau. Then one day a bird alighted on the railing of the bridge, +close beside Cosmo and Captain Arms. + +"A bird!" cried Cosmo. "But it is incredible that a bird should be here! +How can it ever have kept itself afloat? It surely could not have +remained in the air all this time, and it could not have rested on the +waves during the downpour from the sky! Its presence here is absolutely +miraculous!" + +The poor bird, evidently exhausted by a long journey, remained upon the +rail, and permitted Cosmo to approach closely before taking flight to +another part of the Ark. Cosmo at first thought that it might have +escaped from his aviary below. + +But close inspection satisfied him that it was of a different species +from any that he had taken into the Ark, and the more he thought of the +strangeness of its appearance here the greater was his bewilderment. + +While he was puzzling over the subject the bird was seen by many of the +passengers, flitting from one part of the vessel to another, and they +were as much astonished as Cosmo had been, and all sorts of conjectures +were made to account for the little creature's escape from the flood. + +But within an hour or two Cosmo and the captain, who were now much +oftener alone upon the bridge than they had been during their passage +over the eastern continents, had another, and an incomparably greater, +surprise. + +It was the call of "Land, ho!" from the lookout. + +"Land!" exclaimed Cosmo. "Land! How can there be any land?" + +Captain Arms was no less incredulous, and he called the lookout down, +accused him of having mistaken a sleeping whale for a landfall, and sent +another man aloft in his place. But in a few minutes the same call of +"Land, ho!" was repeated. + +The captain got the bearings of the mysterious object this time, and the +Ark was sent for it at her highest speed. It rose steadily out of the +water until there could be no possibility of not recognizing it as the +top of a mountain. + +When it had risen still higher, until its form seemed gigantic against +the horizon, Captain Arms, throwing away his tobacco with an emphatic +gesture, and striking his palm on the rail, fairly shouted: + +"The Pike! By--the old Pike! There she blows!" + +"Do you mean Pike's Peak?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Do I mean Pike's Peak?" cried the captain, whose excitement had become +uncontrollable. "Yes, I mean Pike's Peak, and the deuce to him! Wasn't I +born at his foot? Didn't I play ball in the Garden of the Gods? And look +at him, Mr. Versal! There he stands! No water-squirting pirate of a +nebula could down the old Pike!" + +The excitement of everybody else was almost equal to the captain's, when +the grand mass of the mountain, with its characteristic profile, came +into view from the promenade-decks. + +De Beauxchamps, King Richard, and Amos Blank hurried to the bridge, +which they were still privileged to invade, and the two former in +particular asked questions faster than they could be answered. +Meanwhile, they were swiftly approaching the mountain. + +King Richard seemed to be under the impression that they had completed +the circuit of the world ahead of time, and his first remark was to the +effect that Mount Everest appeared to be rising faster than they had +anticipated. + +"That's none of your pagodas!" exclaimed the captain disdainfully; +"that's old Pike; and if you can find a better crown for the world, I'd +like to see it." + +The king looked puzzled, and Cosmo explained that they were still near +the center of the American continent, and that the great peak before +them was the sentinel of the Rocky Mountains. + +"But," replied the king, "I understood you that the whole world was +covered, and that the Himalayas would be the first to emerge." + +"That's what I believed," said Cosmo, "but the facts are against me." + +"So you thought you were going to run over the Rockies!" exclaimed the +captain gleefully. "They're no Gaurisankars, hey, M. De Beauxchamps?" + +"_Vive les Rockies! Vive le Pike!_" cried the Frenchman, catching the +captain's enthusiasm. + +"But how do you explain it?" asked King Richard. + +"It's the batholite," responded Cosmo, using exactly the same phrase +that Professor Pludder had employed some months before. + +"And pray explain to me what is a batholite?" + +Before Cosmo Versal could reply there was a terrific crash, and the Ark, +for the third time in her brief career, had made an unexpected landing. +But this time the accident was disastrous. + +All on the bridge, including Captain Arms, who should surely have known +the lay of the land about his childhood's home, had been so interested +in their talk that before they were aware of the danger the great vessel +had run her nose upon a projecting buttress of the mountain. + +She was going at full speed, too. Not a person aboard but was thrown +from his feet, and several were severely injured. + +The prow of the Ark was driven high upon a sloping surface of rock, and +the tearing sounds showed only too clearly that this time both bottoms +had been penetrated, and that there could be no hope of saving the huge +ship or getting her off. + +Perhaps at no time in all their adventures had the passengers of the Ark +been so completely terrorized and demoralized, and many members of the +crew were in no better state. Cosmo and the captain shouted orders, and +ran down into the hold to see the extent of the damage. Water was +pouring in through the big rents in torrents. + +There was plainly nothing to be done but to get everybody out of the +vessel and upon the rocks as rapidly as possible. + +The forward parts of the promenade-deck directly overhung the rock upon +which the Ark had forced itself, and it was possible for many to be let +down that way. At the same time boats were set afloat, and dozens got +ashore in them. + +While everybody was thus occupied with things immediately concerning +their safety, nobody paid any attention to the approach of a boat, which +had set out from a kind of bight in the face of the mountain. + +Cosmo was at the head of the accommodation-ladder that was being let +down on the starboard side, when he heard a shout, and, lifting his eyes +from his work, was startled to see a boat containing, beside the rowers, +two men whom he instantly recognized--they were President Samson and +Professor Pludder. + +Their sudden appearance here astonished him as much as that of Pike's +Peak itself had done. He dropped his hands and stared at them as their +boat swiftly approached. The ladder had just been got ready, and the +moment the boat touched its foot Professor Pludder mounted to the deck +of the Ark as rapidly as his great weight would permit. + +He stretched out his hand as his foot met the deck, and smilingly said: + +"Versal, you were right about the nebula." + +"Pludder," responded Cosmo, immediately recovering his aplomb, and +taking the extended hand of the professor, "you certainly know the truth +when you see it." + +Not another word was exchanged between them for the time, and Professor +Pludder instantly set to work aiding the passengers to descend the +ladder. Cosmo waved his hand in greeting to the President, who remained +in the boat, and politely lifted his tall, but sadly battered hat in +response. + +The Ark had become so firmly lodged that, after the passengers had all +got ashore, Cosmo decided to open a way through the forward end of the +vessel by removing some of the plates, so that the animals could be +taken ashore direct from their deck by simply descending a slightly +sloping gangway. + +This was a work that required a whole day, and while it was going +forward under Cosmo's directions the passengers, and such of the crew as +were not needed, found their way, led by the professor and the +President, round a bluff into a kind of mountain lap, where they were +astonished to see many rough cottages, situated picturesquely among the +rocks, and small cultivated spaces, with grass and flowers, surrounding +them. + +Here dwelt some hundreds of people, who received the shipwrecked company +with Western hospitality, after the first effects of their astonishment +had worn off. It appears that, owing to its concealment by a projecting +part of the mountain, the Ark had not been seen until just at the moment +when it went ashore. + +Although it was now the early part of September, the air was warm and +balmy, and barn-yard fowls were clucking and scratching about the rather +meager soil around the houses and outbuildings. + +There was not room in this place for all the newcomers, but Professor +Pludder assured them that in many of the neighboring hollows, which had +formerly been mountain gorges, there were similar settlements, and that +room would be found for all. + +Parties were sent off under the lead of guides, and great was the +amazement, and, it may be added, joy, with which they were received in +the little communities that clustered about the flanks of the mountain. + +About half of Cosmo's animals had perished, most of them during the +terrible experiences attending the arrival of the nucleus, which have +already been described, but those that remained were in fairly good +condition, and with the possible exception of the elephants, they seemed +glad to feel solid ground once more under their feet. + +The elephants had considerable difficulty in making their way over the +rocks to the little village, but finally all were got to a place of +security. The great Californian cattle caused hardly less trouble than +the elephants, but the Astorian turtles appeared to feel themselves at +home at once. + +Cosmo, with King Richard, De Beauxchamps, Amos Blank, Captain Arms, and +Joseph Smith, became the guests of Professor Pludder and the President +in their modest dwellings, and as soon as a little order had been +established explanations began. Professor Pludder was the first +spokesman, the scene being the President's "parlor." + +He told of their escape from Washington and of their arrival on the +Colorado plateau. + +"When the storm recommenced," he said, "I recognized the complete truth +of your theory, Mr. Versal--I had partially recognized it before--and I +made every preparation for the emergency. + +"The downfall, upon the whole, was not as severe here as it had been +during the earlier days of the deluge, but it must have been far more +severe elsewhere. + +"The sea around us began to rise, and then suddenly the rise ceased. +After studying the matter I concluded that a batholite was rising under +this region, and that there was a chance that we might escape +submergence through its influence." + +"Pardon me," interrupted King Richard, "but Mr. Versal has already +spoken of a 'batholite.' What does that mean?" + +"I imagine," replied the professor, smiling, "that neither Mr. Versal +nor I have used the term in a strictly technical sense. At least we have +vastly extended and modified its meaning in order to meet the +circumstances of our case. + +"Batholite is a word of the old geology, derived, from a language which +was once widely cultivated, Greek, and meaning, in substance, stone, or +rock, 'from the depths.' + +"The conception underlying it is that of an immense mass of plastic rock +rising under the effects of pressure from the interior of the globe, +forcing, and in part melting its way to the surface, or lifting up the +superincumbent crust. + +"Geologists had discovered the existence of many great batholites that +had risen in former ages, and there were some gigantic ones known in +this part of America." + +"That," interposed Cosmo, "was the basis of my idea that the continents +would rise again, only I supposed that the rise would first manifest +itself in the Himalayan region. + +"However, since it has resulted in the saving of so many lives here, I +cannot say that my disappointment goes beyond the natural mortification +of a man of science upon discovering that he has been in error." + +"I believe," said Professor Pludder, "that at least a million have +survived here in the heart of the continent through the uprising of the +crust. We have made explorations in many directions, and have found that +through all the Coloradan region people have succeeded in escaping to +the heights. + +"Since the water, although it began to rise again after the first arrest +of the advance of the sea, never attained a greater elevation than about +7,500 feet as measured from the old sea-level contours, there must be +millions of acres, not to say square miles, that are still habitable. + +"I even hope that the uprising has extended far through the Rocky +Mountain region." + +Professor Pludder then went on to tell how they had escaped from the +neighborhood of Colorado Springs when the readvance of the sea began, +and how at last it became evident that the influence of the underlying +"batholite" would save them from submergence. + +In some places, he said, violent phenomena had been manifested, and +severe earthquakes had been felt, but upon the whole, he thought, not +many had perished through that cause. + +As soon as some degree of confidence that they were, after all, to +escape the flood, had been established, they had begun to cultivate such +soil as they could find, and now, after months of fair weather, they had +become fairly established in their new homes. + +When Cosmo, on his side, had told of the adventures of the Ark, and of +the disappearance of the crown of the world in Asia, and when De +Beauxchamps had entertained the wondering listeners with his account of +the submarine explorations of the _Jules Verne_ and the diving bell, the +company at last broke up. + +From this point--the arrival of the Ark in Colorado, and its wreck on +Pike's Peak--the literature of our subject becomes abundant, but we +cannot pause to review it in detail. + +The re-emergence of the Colorado mountain region continued slowly, and +without any disastrous convulsions, and the level of the water receded +year by year as the land rose, and the sea lost by evaporation into +space and by chemical absorption in the crust. + +In some other parts of the Rockies, as Professor Pludder had +anticipated, an uprising had occurred, and it was finally estimated that +as many as three million persons survived the deluge. + +It was not the selected band with which Cosmo Versal had intended to +regenerate mankind, but from the Ark he spread a leaven which had its +effect on the succeeding generations. + +He taught his principles of eugenics, and implanted deep the germs of +science, in which he was greatly aided by Professor Pludder, and, as all +readers of this narrative know, we have every reason to believe that our +new world, although its population has not yet grown to ten millions, is +far superior, in every respect, to the old world that was drowned. + +As the dry land spread wider extensive farms were developed, and for a +long time there was almost no other occupation than that of cultivating +the rich soil. + +President Samson was, by unanimous vote, elected President of the +republic of New America, and King Richard became his Secretary of State, +an office, he declared, of which he was prouder than he had been of his +kingship, when the sound of the British drumbeat accompanied the sun +around the world. + +Amos Blank, returning to his old methods, soon became the leading +farmer, buying out the others until the government sternly interfered +and compelled him to relinquish everything but five hundred acres of +ground. + +But on this Blank developed a most surprising collection of domestic +animals, principally from the stocks that Cosmo had saved in the Ark. + +The elephants died, and the Astorian turtles did not reproduce their +kind, but the gigantic turkeys and the big cattle and sheep did +exceedingly well, and many other varieties previously unknown were +gradually developed with the aid of Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, who found +every opportunity to apply his theories in practice. + +Of Costake Theriade, and the inter-atomic force, it is only necessary to +remind the reader that the marvelous mechanical powers which we possess +to-day, and which we draw directly from the hidden stores of the +electrons, trace their origin to the brain of the "speculative genius" +from Roumania, whom Cosmo Versal had the insight to save from the great +second deluge. + +All of these actors long ago passed from the scene, President Samson +being the last survivor, after winning by his able administration the +title of the second father of his country. But to the last he showed his +magnanimity by honoring Cosmo Versal, and upon the latter's death he +caused to be carved, high on the brow of the great mountain on which his +voyage ended, in gigantic letters, cut deep in the living rock, and +covered with shining, incorrodible levium, an inscription that will +transmit his fame to the remotest posterity: + + HERE RESTED THE ARK OF + COSMO VERSAL! + _He Foresaw and Prepared for the Second Deluge, + And Although Nature + Aided Him in Unexpected Ways, + Yet, but for Him, His Warnings, and His Example + The World of Man Would Have Ceased + To Exist._ + + +It would be unjust to Mr. Samson to suppose that any ironical intention +was in his mind when he composed this lofty inscription. + + +_Postscriptum_ + +While these words are being written, news comes of the return of an +aero, driven by inter-atomic energy, from a voyage of exploration round +the earth. + +It appears that the Alps are yet deeply buried, but that Mount Everest +now lifts its head more than ten thousand feet above the sea, and that +some of the loftiest plains of Tibet are beginning to re-emerge. + +Thus Cosmo Versal's prediction is fulfilled, though he has not lived to +see it. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECOND DELUGE *** + +This file should be named 72dlg10.txt or 72dlg10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 72dlg11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 72dlg10a.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. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext05 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext05 + +Or /etext04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, +91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + + PROJECT GUTENBERG LITERARY ARCHIVE FOUNDATION + 809 North 1500 West + Salt Lake City, UT 84116 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/72dlg10.zip b/old/72dlg10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..032fa55 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/72dlg10.zip diff --git a/old/82dlg10.txt b/old/82dlg10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82b8dbb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/82dlg10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10794 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Deluge, by Garrett P. Serviss + +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: The Second Deluge + +Author: Garrett P. Serviss + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9194] +[This file was first posted on September 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECOND DELUGE *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Erica Jacobson, Sandra Brown, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + +By + +Garrett P. Serviss + +1912 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" [Page 106] ] + + + +FOREWORD + + +What is here set down is the fruit of long and careful research among +disjointed records left by survivors of the terrible events described. +The writer wishes frankly to say that, in some instances, he has +followed the course which all historians are compelled to take by using +his imagination to round out the picture. But he is able conscientiously +to declare that in the substance of his narrative, as well as in every +detail which is specifically described, he has followed faithfully the +accounts of eyewitnesses, or of those who were in a position to know the +truth of what they related. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. COSMO VERSÁL + + II. MOCKING AT FATE + + III. THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + IV. THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + V. THE THIRD SIGN + + VI. SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + VII. THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + VIII. STORMING THE ARK + + IX. THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + X. THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + XI. "A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + XII. THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + XIII. STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + XIV. THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + XV. PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + XVI. MUTINY IN THE ARK + + XVII. THE _JULES VERNE_ + +XVIII. NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + XIX. TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + XX. THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + XXI. "THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + XXII. THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + +XXIII. ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + XXIV. THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + XXV. NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + XXVI. NEW AMERICA + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" + +"THE GREAT BATTLESHIP ... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL-RIBBED WALLS" + +"IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE" + +"AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF GENERAL GRANT" + + + + +THE SECOND DELUGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +COSMO VERSÁL + + +An undersized, lean, wizen-faced man, with an immense bald head, as +round and smooth and shining as a giant soap-bubble, and a pair of beady +black eyes, set close together, so that he resembled a gnome of amazing +brain capacity and prodigious power of concentration, sat bent over a +writing desk with a huge sheet of cardboard before him, on which he was +swiftly drawing geometrical and trigonometrical figures. Compasses, +T-squares, rulers, protractors, and ellipsographs obeyed the touch of +his fingers as if inspired with life. + +The room around him was a jungle of terrestrial and celestial globes, +chemists' retorts, tubes, pipes, and all the indescribable apparatus +that modern science has invented, and which, to the uninitiated, seems +as incomprehensible as the ancient paraphernalia of alchemists and +astrologers. The walls were lined with book shelves, and adorned along +the upper portions with the most extraordinary photographs and drawings. +Even the ceiling was covered with charts, some representing the sky, +while many others were geological and topographical pictures of the face +of the earth. + +Beside the drawing-board lay a pad of paper, and occasionally the little +man nervously turned to this, and, grasping a long pencil, made +elaborate calculations, covering the paper with a sprinkling of +mathematical symbols that looked like magnified animalcula. While he +worked, under a high light from a single window placed well up near the +ceiling, his forehead contracted into a hundred wrinkles, his cheeks +became feverous, his piercing eyes glowed with inner fire, and drops of +perspiration ran down in front of his ears. One would have thought that +he was laboring to save his very soul and had but a few seconds of +respite left. + +Presently he threw down the pencil, and with astonishing agility let +himself rapidly, but carefully, off the stool on which he had been +sitting, keeping the palms of his hands on the seat beside his hips +until he felt his feet touch the floor. Then he darted at a book-shelf, +pulled down a ponderous tome, flapped it open in a clear space on the +floor, and dropped on his knees to consult it. + +After turning a leaf or two he found what he was after, read down the +page, keeping a finger on the lines, and, having finished his reading, +jumped to his feet and hurried back to the stool, on which he mounted so +quickly that it was impossible to see how he managed it--without an +upset. Instantly he made a new diagram, and then fell to figuring +furiously on the pad, making his pencil gyrate so fast that its upper +end vibrated like the wing of a dragon-fly. + +At last he threw down the pencil, and, encircling his knees with his +clasped arms, sank in a heap on the stool. The lids dropped over his +shining eyes, and he became buried in thought. + +When he reopened his eyes and unbent his brows, his gaze happened to be +directed toward a row of curious big photographs which ran like a +pictured frieze round the upper side of the wall of the room. A casual +observer might have thought that the little man had been amusing himself +by photographing the explosions of fireworks on a Fourth of July night; +but it was evident by his expression that these singular pictures had no +connection with civic pyrotechnics, but must represent something of +incomparably greater importance, and, in fact, of stupendous import. + +The little man's face took on a rapt look, in which wonder and fear +seemed to be blended. With a sweep of his hand he included the whole +series of photographs in a comprehensive glance, and then, settling his +gaze upon a particularly bizarre object in the center, he began to speak +aloud, although there was nobody to listen to him. + +"My God!" he said. "That's it! That Lick photograph of the Lord Rosse +Nebula is its very image, except that there's no electric fire in it. +The same great whirl of outer spirals, and then comes the awful central +mass--and we're going to plunge straight into it. Then quintillions of +tons of water will condense on the earth and cover it like a universal +cloudburst. And then good-by to the human race--unless--unless--I, Cosmo +Versál, inspired by science, can save a remnant to repeople the planet +after the catastrophe." + +Again, for a moment, he closed his eyes, and puckered his hemispherical +brow, while, with drawn-up knees, he seemed perilously balanced on the +high stool. Several times he slowly shook his head, like a dreaming owl, +and when his eyes reopened their fire was gone, and a reflective film +covered them. He began to speak, more deliberately than before, and in a +musing tone: + +"What can I do? I don't believe there is a mountain on the face of the +globe lofty enough to lift its head above that flood. Hum, hum! It's no +use thinking about mountains! The flood will be six miles deep--six +miles from the present sea-level; my last calculation proves it beyond +all question. And that's only a minimum--it may be miles deeper, for no +mortal man can tell exactly what'll happen when the earth plunges into a +nebula. + +"We'll have to float; that's the thing. I'll have to build an ark. I'll +be a second Noah. But I'll advise the whole world to build arks. + +"Millions might save themselves that way, for the flood is not going to +last forever. We'll get through the nebula in a few months, and then the +waters will gradually recede, and the high lands will emerge again. +It'll be an awful long time, though; I doubt if the earth will ever be +just as it was before. There won't be much room, except for fish--but +there won't be many inhabitants for what dry land there is." + +Once more he fell into silent meditation, and while he mused there came +a knock at the door. The little man started up on his seat, alert as a +squirrel, and turned his eyes over his shoulder, listening intently. The +knock was repeated--three quick sharp raps. Evidently he at once +recognized them. + +"All right," he called out, and, letting himself down, ran swiftly to +the door and opened it. + +A tall, thin man, with bushy black hair, heavy eyebrows, a high, narrow +forehead, and a wide, clean shaven mouth, wearing a solemn kind of +smile, entered and grasped the little man by both hands. + +"Cosmo," he said, without wasting any time on preliminaries, "have you +worked it out?" + +"I have just finished." + +"And you find the worst?" + +"Yes, worse than I ever dreamed it would be. The waters will be six +miles deep." + +"Phew!" exclaimed the other, his smile fading. "That is indeed serious. +And when does it begin?" + +"Inside of a year. We're within three hundred million miles of the +watery nebula now, and you know that the earth travels more than that +distance in twelve months." + +"Have you seen it?" + +"How could I see it--haven't I told you it is invisible? If it could be +seen all these stupid astronomers would have spotted it long ago. But +I'll tell you what I have seen." + +Cosmo Versál's voice sank into a whisper, and he shuddered slightly as +he went on: + +"Only last night I was sweeping the sky with the telescope when I +noticed, in Hercules and Lyra, and all that part of the heavens, a +dimming of some of the fainter stars. It was like the shadow of the +shroud of a ghost. Nobody else would have noticed it, and I wouldn't if +I had not been looking for it. It's knowledge that clarifies the eyes +and breeds knowledge, Joseph Smith. It was not truly visible, and yet I +could see that it was there. I tried to make out the shape of the +thing--but it was too indefinite. But I know very well what it is. See +here"--he suddenly broke off--"Look at that photograph." (He was +pointing at the Lord Rosse Nebula on the wall). "It's like that, only +it's coming edgewise toward us. We may miss some of the outer spirals, +but we're going smash into the center." + +With fallen jaw, and black brows contracted, Joseph Smith stared at the +photograph. + +"It doesn't shine like that," he said at last. + +The little man snorted contemptuously. + +"What have I told you about its invisibility?" he demanded. + +"But how, then, do you know that it is of a watery nature?" + +Cosmo Versál threw up his hands and waved them in an agony of +impatience. He climbed upon his stool to get nearer the level of the +other's eyes, and fixing him with his gaze, exclaimed: + +"You know very well how I know it. I know it because I have demonstrated +with my new spectroscope, which analyzes extra-visual rays, that all +those dark nebulae that were photographed in the Milky Way years ago are +composed of watery vapor. They are far off, on the limits of the +universe. This one is one right at hand. It's a little one compared with +them--but it's enough, yes, it's enough! You know that more than two +years ago I began to correspond with astronomers all over the world +about this thing, and not one of them would listen to me. Well, they'll +listen when it's too late perhaps. + +"They'll listen when the flood-gates are opened and the inundation +begins. It's not the first time that this thing has happened. I haven't +a doubt that the flood of Noah, that everybody pretends to laugh at now, +was caused by the earth passing through a watery nebula. But this will +be worse than that; there weren't two thousand million people to be +drowned then." + +For five minutes neither spoke. Cosmo Versál swung on the stool, and +played with an ellipsograph; Joseph Smith dropped his chin on his breast +and nervously fingered the pockets of his long vest. At last he raised +his head and asked, in a low voice: + +"What are you going to do, Cosmo?" + +"I'm going to get ready," was the short reply. + +"How?" + +"Build an ark." + +"But will you give no warning to others?" + +"I'll do my best. I'll telephone to all the officials, scientific and +otherwise, in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. I'll write +in every language to all the newspapers and magazines. I'll send out +circulars. I'll counsel everybody to drop every other occupation and +begin to build arks--but nobody will heed me. You'll see. My ark will be +the only one, but I'll save as many in it as I can. And I depend upon +you, Joseph, to help me. From all appearances, it's the only chance that +the human race has of survival. + +"If I hadn't made this discovery they would all have been wiped out like +miners in a flooded pit. We may persuade a few to be saved--but what an +awful thing it is that when the truth is thrust into their very faces +people won't believe, won't listen, won't see, won't be helped, but will +die like dogs in their obstinate ignorance and blindness." + +"But they will, they must, listen to you," said Joseph Smith eagerly. + +"They _won't_, but I must _make_ them," replied Cosmo Versál. +"Anyhow, I must make a few of the best of them hear me. The fate of a +whole race is at stake. If we can save a handful of the best blood and +brain of mankind, the world will have a new chance, and perhaps a better +and higher race will be the result. Since I can't save them all, I'll +pick and choose. I'll have the flower of humanity in my ark. I'll at +least snatch that much from the jaws of destruction." + +The little man was growing very earnest and his eyes were aglow with the +fire of enthusiastic purpose. As he dropped his head on one side, it +looked too heavy for the stemlike neck, but it conveyed an impression of +immense intellectual power. Its imposing contour lent force to his +words. + +"The flower of humanity," he continued after a slight pause. "Who +composes it? I must decide that question. Is it the billionaires? Is it +the kings and rulers? Is it the men of science? Is it the society +leaders? Bah! I'll have to think on that. I can't take them all, but +I'll give them all a chance to save themselves--though I know they won't +act on the advice." + +Here he paused. + +"Won't the existing ships do--especially if more are built?" Joseph +Smith suddenly asked, interrupting Cosmo's train of thought. + +"Not at all," was the reply. "They're not suited to the kind of +navigation that will be demanded. They're not buoyant enough, nor +manageable enough, and they haven't enough carrying capacity for power +and provisions. They'll be swamped at the wharves, or if they should get +away they'd be sent to the bottom inside a few hours. Nothing but +specially constructed arks will serve. And _there's_ more trouble +for me--I must devise a new form of vessel. Heavens, how short the time +is! Why couldn't I have found this out ten years ago? It's only to-day +that I have myself learned the full truth, though I have worked on it so +long." + +"How many will you be able to carry in your ark?" asked Smith. + +"I can't tell yet. That's another question to be carefully considered. I +shall build the vessel of this new metal, levium, half as heavy as +aluminum and twice as strong as steel. I ought to find room without the +slightest difficulty for a round thousand in it." + +"Surely many more than that!" exclaimed Joseph Smith. "Why, there are +ocean-liners that carry several times as many." + +"You forget," replied Cosmo Versál, "that we must have provisions enough +to last for a long time, because we cannot count on the immediate +re-emergence of any land, even the most mountainous, and the most +compressed food takes space when a great quantity is needed. It won't do +to overcrowd the vessel, and invite sickness. Then, too, I must take +many animals along." + +"Animals," returned Smith. "I hadn't thought of that. But is it +necessary?" + +"Absolutely. Would you have less foresight than Noah? I shall not +imitate him by taking male and female of every species, but I must at +least provide for restocking such land as eventually appears above the +waters with the animals most useful to man. Then, too, animals are +essential to the life of the earth. Any agricultural chemist would tell +you that. They play an indispensable part in the vital cycle of the +soil. I must also take certain species of insects and birds. I'll +telephone Professor Hergeschmitberger at Berlin to learn precisely what +are the capitally important species of the animal kingdom." + +"And when will you begin the construction of the ark?" + +"Instantly. There's not a moment to lose. And it's equally important to +send out warnings broadcast immediately. There you can help me. You know +what I want to say. Write it out at once; put it as strong as you can; +send it everywhere; put it in the shape of posters; hurry it to the +newspaper offices. Telephone, in my name, to the Carnegie Institution, +to the Smithsonian Institution, to the Royal Society, to the French, +Russian, Italian, German, and all the other Academies and Associations +of Science to be found anywhere on earth. + +"Don't neglect the slightest means of publicity. Thank Heaven, the money +to pay for all this is not lacking. If my good father, when he piled up +his fortune from the profits of the Transcontinental Aerian Company, +could have foreseen the use to which his son would put it for the +benefit--what do I say, for the benefit? nay, for the _salvation_--of +mankind, he would have rejoiced in his work." + +"Ah, that reminds me," exclaimed Joseph Smith. "I was about to ask, a +few minutes ago, why airships would not do for this business. Couldn't +people save themselves from the flood by taking refuge in the +atmosphere?" + +Cosmo Versál looked at his questioner with an ironical smile. + +"Do you know," he asked, "how long a dirigible can be kept afloat? Do +you know for how long a voyage the best aeroplane types can be +provisioned with power? There's not an air-ship of any kind that can go +more than two weeks at the very uttermost without touching solid earth, +and then it must be mighty sparing of its power. If we can save mankind +now, and give it another chance, perhaps the time will come when power +can be drawn out of the ether of space, and men can float in the air as +long as they choose. + +"But as things are now, we must go back to Noah's plan, and trust to the +buoyant power of water. I fully expect that when the deluge begins +people will flock to the high-lands and the mountains in air-ships--but +alas! that won't save them. Remember what I have told you--this flood is +going to be six miles deep!" + +The second morning after the conversation between Cosmo Versál and +Joseph Smith, New York was startled by seeing, in huge red letters, on +every blank wall, on the bare flanks of towering sky-scrapers, on the +lofty stations of aeroplane lines, on bill-boards, fences, +advertising-boards along suburban roads, in the Subway stations, and +fluttering from strings of kites over the city, the following +announcement: + + THE WORLD IS TO BE DROWNED! + + Save Yourselves While It Is Yet Time! + Drop Your Business: It Is of No Consequence! + Build Arks: It Is Your Only Salvation! + The Earth Is Going To Plunge into a Watery + Nebula: There Is No Escape! + Hundreds of Millions Will Be Drowned: You Have + Only a Few Months To Get Ready! + For Particulars Address: Cosmo Versál, + 3000 Fifth Avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MOCKING AT FATE + + +When New York recovered from its first astonishment over the +extraordinary posters, it indulged in a loud laugh. Everybody knew who +Cosmo Versál was. His eccentricities had filled many readable columns in +the newspapers. Yet there was a certain respect for him, too. This was +due to his extraordinary intellectual ability and unquestionable +scientific knowledge. But his imagination was as free as the winds, and +it often led him upon excursions in which nobody could follow him, and +which caused the more steady-going scientific brethren to shake their +heads. They called him able but flighty. The public considered him +brilliant and amusing. + +His father, who had sprung from some unknown source in southeastern +Europe, and, beginning as a newsboy in New York, had made his way to the +front in the financial world, had left his entire fortune to Cosmo. The +latter had no taste for finance or business, but a devouring appetite +for science, to which, in his own way, he devoted all his powers, all +his time, and all his money. He never married, was never seen in +society, and had very few intimates--but he was known by sight, or +reputation, to everybody. There was not a scientific body or association +of any consequence in the world of which he was not a member. Those +which looked askance at his bizarre ideas were glad to accept pecuniary +aid from him. + +The notion that the world was to be drowned had taken possession of him +about three years before the opening scene of this narrative. To work +out the idea, he built an observatory, set up a laboratory, invented +instruments, including his strange spectroscope, which was scoffed at by +the scientific world. + +Finally, submitting the results of his observations to mathematical +treatment, he proved, to his own satisfaction, the absolute correctness +of his thesis that the well-known "proper motion of the solar system" +was about to result in an encounter between the earth and an invisible +watery nebula, which would have the effect of inundating the globe. As +this startling idea gradually took shape, he communicated it to +scientific men in all lands, but failed to find a single disciple, +except his friend Joseph Smith, who, without being able to follow all +his reasonings, accepted on trust the conclusions of Cosmo's more +powerful mind. Accordingly, at the end of his investigation, he enlisted +Smith as secretary, propagandist, and publicity agent. + +New York laughed a whole day and night at the warning red letters. They +were the talk of the town. People joked about them in cafés, clubs, at +home, in the streets, in the offices, in the exchanges, in the +street-cars, on the Elevated, in the Subways. Crowds gathered on corners +to watch the flapping posters aloft on the kite lines. The afternoon +newspapers issued specials which were all about the coming flood, and +everywhere one heard the cry of the newsboys: _"Extra-a-a! Drowning of +a Thousand Million people! Cosmo Versál predicts the End of the +World!"_ On their editorial pages the papers were careful to discount +the scare lines, and terrific pictures, that covered the front sheets, +with humorous jibes at the author of the formidable prediction. + +_The Owl,_ which was the only paper that put the news in half a +column of ordinary type, took a judicial attitude, called upon the city +authorities to tear down the posters, and hinted that "this absurd +person, Cosmo Versál, who disgraces a once honored name with his +childish attempt to create a sensation that may cause untold harm among +the ignorant masses," had laid himself open to criminal prosecution. + +In their latest editions, several of the papers printed an interview +with Cosmo Versál, in which he gave figures and calculations that, on +their face, seemed to offer mathematical proof of the correctness of his +forecast. In impassioned language, he implored the public to believe +that he would not mislead them, spoke of the instant necessity of +constructing arks of safety, and averred that the presence of the +terrible nebula that was so soon to drown the world was already manifest +in the heavens. + +Some readers of these confident statements began to waver, especially +when confronted with mathematics which they could not understand. But +still, in general, the laugh went on. It broke into boisterousness in +one of the largest theaters where a bright-witted "artist," who always +made a point of hitting off the very latest sensation, got himself up in +a lifelike imitation of the well-known figure of Cosmo Versál, topped +with a bald head as big as a bushel, and sailed away into the flies with +a pretty member of the ballet, whom he had gallantly snatched from a +tumbling ocean of green baize, singing at the top of his voice until +they disappeared behind the proscenium arch: + + "Oh, th' Nebula is coming + To drown the wicked earth, + With all his spirals humming + 'S he waltzes in his mirth. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, + Get ready to embark, + And skip away to safety + With Cosmo and his ark. + + "Th' Nebula is a direful bird + 'S he skims the ether blue! + He's angry over what he's heard, + 'N's got his eye on you. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "When Nebulas begin to pipe + The bloomin' O.H.[subscript]2 + Y'bet yer life the time is ripe + To think what you will do. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He'll tip th' Atlantic o'er its brim, + And swamp the mountains tall; + He'll let the broad Pacific in, + And leave no land at all. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc. + + "He's got an option on the spheres; + He's leased the Milky Way; + He's caught the planets in arrears, + 'N's bound to make 'em pay. + + _Chorus_ + "Don't hesitate a second, etc." + +The roars of laughter and applause with which this effusion of +vaudeville genius was greeted, showed the cheerful spirit in which the +public took the affair. No harm seemed to have come to the "ignorant +masses" yet. + +But the next morning there was a suspicious change in the popular mind. +People were surprised to see new posters in place of the old ones, more +lurid in letters and language than the original. The morning papers had +columns of description and comment, and some of them seemed disposed to +treat the prophet and his prediction with a certain degree of +seriousness. + +The savants who had been interviewed overnight, did not talk very +convincingly, and made the mistake of flinging contempt on both Cosmo +and "the gullible public." + +Naturally, the public wouldn't stand for that, and the pendulum of +opinion began to swing the other way. Cosmo helped his cause by sending +to every newspaper a carefully prepared statement of his observations +and calculations, in which he spoke with such force of conviction that +few could read his words without feeling a thrill of apprehensive +uncertainty. This was strengthened by published dispatches which showed +that he had forwarded his warnings to all the well-known scientific +bodies of the world, which, while decrying them, made no effective +response. + +And then came a note of positive alarm in a double-leaded bulletin from +the new observatory at Mount McKinley, which affirmed that during the +preceding night _a singular obscurity_ had been suspected in the +northern sky, seeming to veil many stars below the twelfth magnitude. It +was added that the phenomenon was unprecedented, but that the +observation was both difficult and uncertain. + +Nowhere was the atmosphere of doubt and mystery, which now began to hang +over the public, so remarkable as in Wall Street. The sensitive currents +there responded like electric waves to the new influence, and, to the +dismay of hard-headed observers, the market dropped as if it had been +hit with a sledge-hammer. Stocks went down five, ten, in some cases +twenty points in as many minutes. + +The speculative issues slid down like wheat into a bin when the chutes +are opened. Nobody could trace the exact origin of the movement, but +selling-orders came tumbling in until there was a veritable panic. + +From London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, flashed dispatches +announcing that the same unreasonable slump had manifested itself there, +and all united in holding Cosmo Versál solely responsible for the +foolish break in prices. Leaders of finance rushed to the exchanges +trying by arguments and expostulations to arrest the downfall, but in +vain. + +In the afternoon, however, reason partially resumed its sway; then a +quick recovery was felt, and many who had rushed to sell all they had, +found cause to regret their precipitancy. The next day all was on the +mend, as far as the stock market was concerned, but among the people at +large the poison of awakened credulity continued to spread, nourished by +fresh announcements from the fountain head. + +Cosmo issued another statement to the effect that he had perfected plans +for an ark of safety, which he would begin at once to construct in the +neighborhood of New York, and he not only offered freely to give his +plans to any who wished to commence construction on their own account, +but he urged them, in the name of Heaven, to lose no time. This produced +a prodigious effect, and multitudes began to be infected with a nameless +fear. + +Meanwhile an extraordinary scene occurred, behind closed doors, at the +headquarters of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Joseph Smith, +acting under Cosmo Versál's direction, had forwarded an elaborate +_précis_ of the latter's argument, accompanied with full +mathematical details, to the head of the institution. The character of +this document was such that it could not be ignored. Moreover, the +savants composing the council of the most important scientific +association in the world were aware of the state of the public mind, and +felt that it was incumbent upon them to do something to allay the alarm. +Of late years a sort of supervisory control over scientific news of all +kinds had been accorded to them, and they appreciated the fact that a +duty now rested upon their shoulders. + +Accordingly, a special meeting was called to consider the communication +from Cosmo Versál. It was the general belief that a little critical +examination would result in complete proof of the fallacy of all his +work, proof which could be put in a form that the most uninstructed +would understand. + +But the papers, diagrams, and mathematical formulae had no sooner been +spread upon the table under the knowing eyes of the learned members of +the council, than a chill of conscious impuissance ran through them. +They saw that Cosmo's mathematics were unimpeachable. His formulae were +accurately deduced, and his operations absolutely correct. + +They could do nothing but attack his fundamental data, based on the +alleged revelations of his new form of spectroscope, and on telescopic +observations which were described in so much detail that the only way to +combat them was by the general assertion that they were illusory. This +was felt to be a very unsatisfactory method of procedure, as far as the +public was concerned, because it amounted to no more than attacking the +credibility of a witness who pretended to describe only what he himself +had seen--and there is nothing so hard as to prove a negative. + +Then, Cosmo had on his side the whole force of that curious tendency of +the human mind which habitually gravitates toward whatever is +extraordinary, revolutionary, and mysterious. + +But a yet greater difficulty arose. Mention has been made of the strange +bulletin from the Mount McKinley observatory. That had been incautiously +sent out to the public by a thoughtless observer, who was more intent +upon describing a singular phenomenon than upon considering its possible +effect on the popular imagination. He had immediately received an +expostulatory dispatch from headquarters which henceforth shut his +mouth--but he had told the simple truth, and how embarrassing that was +became evident when, on the very table around which the savants were now +assembled, three dispatches were laid in quick succession from the great +observatories of Mount Hekla, Iceland, the North Cape, and Kamchatka, +all corroborating the statement of the Mount McKinley observer, that an +inexplicable veiling of faint stars had manifested itself in the boreal +quarter of the sky. + +When the president read these dispatches--which the senders had taken +the precaution to mark "confidential"--the members of the council looked +at one another with no little dismay. Here was the most unprejudiced +corroboration of Cosmo Versál's assertion that the great nebula was +already within the range of observation. How could they dispute such +testimony, and what were they to make of it? + +Two or three of the members began to be shaken in their convictions. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Professor Alexander Jones, "but this is very +curious! And suppose the fellow should be right, after all?" + +"Right!" cried the president, Professor Pludder, disdainfully. "Who ever +heard of a watery nebula? The thing's absurd!" + +"I don't see that it's absurd," replied Professor Jones. "There's plenty +of proof of the existence of hydrogen in some of the nebulae." + +"So there is," chimed in Professor Abel Able, "and if there's hydrogen +there may be oxygen, and there you have all that's necessary. It's not +the idea that a nebula may consist of watery vapor that's absurd, but it +is that a watery nebula, large enough to drown the earth by condensation +upon it could have approached so near as this one must now be without +sooner betraying its presence." + +"How so?" demanded a voice. + +"By its attraction. Cosmo Versál says it is already less than three +hundred million miles away. If it is massive enough to drown the earth, +it ought long ago to have been discovered by its disturbance of the +planetary orbits." + +"Not at all," exclaimed Professor Jeremiah Moses. "If you stick to that +argument you'll be drowned sure. Just look at these facts. The earth +weighs six and a half sextillions of tons, and the ocean one and a half +quintillions. The average depth of the oceans is two and one-fifth +miles. Now--if the level of the oceans were raised only about 1,600 +feet, practically all the inhabited parts of the world would be flooded. +To cause that increase in the level of the oceans only about one-eighth +part would have to be added to their total mass, or, say, one-seventh +part, allowing for the greater surface to be covered. That would be one +thirty-thousandth of the weight of the globe, and if you suppose that +only one-hundredth of the entire nebula were condensed on the earth, the +whole mass of the nebula would not need to exceed one three-hundredth of +the weight of the earth, or a quarter that of the moon--and nobody here +will be bold enough to say that the approach of a mass no greater than +that would be likely to be discovered through its attraction when it was +three hundred million miles away." + +Several of the astronomers present shook their heads at this, and +Professor Pludder irritably declared that it was absurd. + +"The attraction would be noticeable when it was a thousand millions of +miles away," he continued. + +"Yes, 'noticeable' I admit," replied Professor Moses, "but all the same +you wouldn't notice it, because you wouldn't be looking for it unless +the nebula were visible first, and even then it would require months of +observation to detect the effects. And how are you going to get around +those bulletins? The thing is beginning to be visible now, and I'll bet +that if, from this time on, you study carefully the planetary motions, +you will find evidence of the disturbance becoming stronger and +stronger. Versál has pointed out that very thing, and calculated the +perturbations. This thing has come like a thief in the night." + +"You'd better hurry up and secure a place in the ark," said Professor +Pludder sarcastically. + +"I don't know but I shall, if I can get one," returned Professor Moses. +"You may not think this is such a laughing matter a few months hence." + +"I'm surprised," pursued the president, "that a man of your scientific +standing should stultify himself by taking seriously such balderdash as +this. I tell you the thing is absurd." + +"And I tell you, _you_ are absurd to say so!" retorted Professor +Moses, losing his temper. "You've got four of the biggest telescopes in +the world under your control; why don't you order your observers to look +for this thing?" + +Professor Pludder, who was a very big man, reared up his rotund form, +and, bringing his fist down upon the table with a resounding whack, +exclaimed: + +"I'll do nothing so ridiculous! These bulletins have undoubtedly been +influenced by the popular excitement. There has possibly been a little +obscurity in the atmosphere--cirrus clouds, or something--and the +observers have imagined the rest. I'm not going to insult science by +encouraging the proceedings of a mountebank like Cosmo Versál. What +we've got to do is to prepare a dispatch for the press reassuring the +populace and throwing the weight of this institution on the side of +common sense and public tranquillity. Let the secretary indite such a +dispatch, and then we'll edit it and send it out." + +Professor Pludder, naturally dictatorial, was sometimes a little +overbearing, but being a man of great ability, and universally respected +for his high rank in the scientific world, his colleagues usually bowed +to his decisions. On this occasion his force of character sufficed to +silence the doubters, and when the statement intended for the press had +received its final touches it contained no hint of the seeds of discord +that Cosmo Versál had sown among America's foremost savants. The next +morning it appeared in all the newspapers as follows: + + _Official Statement from the Carnegie Institution_ + + In consequence of the popular excitement caused by the + sensational utterance of a notorious pretender to scientific + knowledge in New York, the council of this institution + authorizes the statement that it has examined the alleged + grounds on which the prediction of a great flood, to be caused + by a nebula encountering the earth, is based, and finds, as all + real men of science knew beforehand, that the entire matter is + simply a canard. + + The nebulae are not composed of water; if they were composed of + water they could not cause a flood on the earth; the report that + some strange, misty object is visible in the starry heavens is + based on a misapprehension; and finally, the so-called + calculations of the author of this inexcusable hoax are baseless + and totally devoid of validity. + + The public is earnestly advised to pay no further attention to + the matter. If there were any danger to the earth--and such a + thing is not to be seriously considered--astronomers would know + it long in advance, and would give due and official warning. + +Unfortunately for the popular effect of this pronouncement, on the very +morning when it appeared in print, thirty thousand people were crowded +around the old aviation field at Mineola, excitedly watching Cosmo +Versál, with five hundred workmen, laying the foundations of a huge +platform, while about the field were stretched sheets of canvas +displaying the words: + + THE ARK OF SAFETY + Earnest Inspection Invited by All + Attendants will Furnish Gratis Plans for Similar + Constructions + Small Arks Can Be Built for Families + Act While There Is Yet Time + +The multitude saw at a glance that here was a work that would cost +millions, and the spectacle of this immense expenditure, the evidence +that Cosmo was backing his words with his money, furnished a silent +argument which was irresistible. In the midst of all, flying about among +his men, was Cosmo, impressing every beholder with the feeling that +intellect was in charge. + +Like the gray coat of Napoleon on a battlefield, the sight of that +mighty brow bred confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE + + +The utterance of the Carnegie Institution indeed fell flat, and Cosmo +Versál's star reigned in the ascendent. He pushed his preparations with +amazing speed, and not only politics, but even the war that had just +broken out in South America was swallowed up in the newspapers by +endless descriptions of the mysterious proceedings at Mineola. Cosmo +still found time every day to write articles and to give out interviews; +and Joseph Smith was kept constantly on the jump, running for +street-cars or trains, or leaping, with his long coat flapping, into and +out of elevators on ceaseless missions to the papers, the scientific +societies, and the meetings of learned or unlearned bodies which had +been persuaded to investigate the subject of the coming flood. Between +the work of preparation and that of proselytism it is difficult to see +how Cosmo found time to sleep. + +Day by day the Ark of Safety rose higher upon its great platform, its +huge metallic ribs and broad, bulging sides glinting strangely in the +unbroken sunshine--for, as if imitating the ominous quiet before an +earthquake, the July sky had stripped itself of all clouds. No +thunder-storms broke the serenity of the long days, and never had the +overarching heavens seemed so spotless and motionless in their cerulean +depths. + +All over the world, as the news dispatches showed, the same strange calm +prevailed. Cosmo did not fail to call attention to this unparalleled +repose of nature as a sure prognostic of the awful event in preparation. + +The heat became tremendous. Hundreds were stricken down in the blazing +streets. Multitudes fled to the seashore, and lay panting under +umbrellas on the burning sands, or vainly sought relief by plunging into +the heated water, which, rolling lazily in with the tide, felt as if it +had come from over a boiler. + +Still, perspiring crowds constantly watched the workmen, who struggled +with the overpowering heat, although Cosmo had erected canvas screens +for them and installed a hundred immense electric fans to create a +breeze. + +Beginning with five hundred men, he had, in less than a month, increased +his force to nearer five thousand, many of whom, not engaged in the +actual construction, were preparing the materials and bringing them +together. The ark was being made of pure levium, the wonderful new metal +which, although already employed in the construction of aeroplanes and +the framework of dirigible balloons, had not before been used for +shipbuilding, except in the case of a few small boats, and these used +only in the navy. + +For mere raw material Cosmo must have expended an enormous sum, and his +expenses were quadrupled by the fact that he was compelled, in order to +save time, practically to lease several of the largest steel plants in +the country. Fortunately levium was easily rolled into plates, and the +supply was sufficient, owing to the discovery two years before of an +expeditious process of producing the metal from its ores. + +The wireless telegraph and telephone offices were besieged by +correspondents eager to send inland, and all over Europe and Asia, the +latest particulars of the construction of the great ark. Nobody followed +Cosmo's advice or example, but everybody was intensely interested and +puzzled. + +At last the government officials found themselves forced to take +cognizance of the affair. They could no longer ignore it after they +discovered that it was seriously interfering with the conduct of public +business. Cosmo Versál's pressing orders, accompanied by cash, displaced +or delayed orders of the government commanding materials for the navy +and the air fleet. In consequence, about the middle of July he received +a summons to visit the President of the United States. Cosmo hurried to +Washington on the given date, and presented his card at the White House. +He was shown immediately into the President's reception-room, where he +found the entire Cabinet in presence. As he entered he was the focus of +a formidable battery of curious and not too friendly eyes. + +President Samson was a large, heavy man, more than six feet tall. Every +member of his Cabinet was above the average in avoirdupois, and the +heavyweight president of the Carnegie Institution, Professor Pludder, +who had been specially invited, added by his presence to the air of +ponderosity that characterized the assemblage. All seemed magnified by +the thin white garments which they wore on account of the oppressive +heat. Many of them had come in haste from various summer resorts, and +were plainly annoyed by the necessity of attending at the President's +command. + +Cosmo Versál was the only cool man there, and his diminutive form +presented a striking contrast to the others. But he looked as if he +carried more brains than all of them put together. + +He was not in the least overawed by the hostile glances of the +statesmen. On the contrary, his lips perceptibly curled, in a +half-disdainful smile, as he took the big hand which the President +extended to him. As soon as Cosmo Versál had sunk into the embrace of a +large easy chair, the President opened the subject. + +"I have directed you to come," he said in a majestic tone, "in order the +sooner to dispel the effects of your unjustifiable predictions and +extraordinary proceedings on the public mind--and, I may add, on public +affairs. Are you aware that you have interfered with the measures of +this government for the defense of the country? You have stepped in +front of the government, and delayed the beginning of four battleships +which Congress has authorized in urgent haste on account of the +threatening aspect of affairs in the East? I need hardly say to you that +we shall, if necessary, find means to set aside the private agreements +under which you are proceeding, as inimical to public interests, but you +have already struck a serious blow at the security of your country." + +The President pronounced the last sentence with oratorical unction, and +Cosmo was conscious of an approving movement of big official shoulders +around him. The disdain deepened on his lips. + +After a moment's pause the President continued: + +"Before proceeding to extremities I have wished to see you personally, +in order, in the first place, to assure myself that you are mentally +responsible, and then to appeal to your patriotism, which should lead +you to withdraw at once an obstruction so dangerous to the nation. Do +you know the position in which you have placed yourself?" + +Cosmo Versál got upon his feet and advanced to the center of the room +like a little David. Every eye was fixed upon him. His voice was steady, +but intense with suppressed nervousness. + +"Mr. President," he said, "you have accused me of obstructing the +measures of the government for the defense of the country. Sir, I am +trying to save the whole human race from a danger in comparison with +which that of war is infinitesimal--a danger which is rushing down upon +us with appalling speed, and which will strike every land on the globe +simultaneously. Within seven months not a warship or any other existing +vessel will remain afloat." + +The listeners smiled, and nodded significantly to one another, but the +speaker only grew more earnest. + +"You think I am insane," he said, "but the truth is you are hoodwinked +by official stupidity. That man," pointing at Professor Pludder, "who +knows me well, and who has had all my proofs laid before him, is either +too thick-headed to understand a demonstration or too pig-headed to +confess his own error." + +"Come, come," interrupted the President sternly, while Professor Pludder +flushed very red, "this will not do! Indulge in no personalities here. I +have, strained a point in offering to listen to you at all, and I have +invited the head of the greatest of our scientific societies to be +present, with the hope that here before us all he might convince you of +your folly, and thus bring the whole unfortunate affair promptly to an +end." + +"_He_ convince _me_ !" cried Cosmo Versál disdainfully. "He is +incapable of understanding the A, B, C of my work. But let me tell you +this, Mr. President--there are men in his own council who are not so +blind. I know what occurred at the recent meeting of that council, and I +know that the ridiculous announcement put forth in its name to deceive +the public was whipped into shape by him, and does not express the real +opinion of many of the members." + +Professor Pludder's face grew redder than ever. + +"Name one!" he thundered. + +"Ah," said Cosmo sneeringly, "that hits hard, doesn't it? You want me to +name _one_; well, I'll name _three_. What did Professor +Alexander Jones and Professor Abel Able say about the existence of +watery nebula, and what was the opinion expressed by Professor Jeremiah +Moses about the actual approach of one out of the northern sky, and what +it could do if it hit the earth? What was the unanimous opinion of the +entire council about the correctness of my mathematical work? And what," +he continued, approaching Professor Pludder and shaking his finger up at +him--"_what have you done with those three dispatches from Iceland, +the North Cape, and Kamchatka, which absolutely confirmed my +announcement that the nebula was already visible?_" + +Professor Pludder began stammeringly: + +"Some spy--" + +"Ah," cried Cosmo, catching him up, "_a spy_, hey? Then, you admit +it! Mr. President, I beg you to notice that he admits it. Sir, this is a +conspiracy to conceal the truth. Great Heaven, the world is on the point +of being drowned, and yet the pride of officialism is so strong in this +plodder--Pludder--and others of his ilk that they'd sooner take the +chance of letting the human race be destroyed than recognize the truth!" + +Cosmo Versál spoke with such tremendous concentration of mental energy, +and with such evident sincerity of conviction, and he had so plainly put +Professor Pludder to rout, that the President, no less than the other +listening statesmen, was thrown into a quandary. + +There was a creaking of heavily burdened chairs, a ponderous stir all +round the circle, while a look of perplexity became visible on every +face. Professor Pludder's conduct helped to produce the change of moral +atmosphere. He had been so completely surprised by Cosmo's accusation, +based on facts which he had supposed were known only to himself and the +council, that he was unable for a minute to speak at all, and before he +could align his faculties his triumphant little opponent renewed the +attack. + +"Mr. President," he said, laying his hand on the arm of Mr. Samson's big +chair, which was nearly on a level with his breast, and speaking with +persuasive earnestness, "you are the executive head of a mighty +nation--the nation that sets the pace for the world. It is in your power +to do a vast, an incalculable, service to humanity. One official word +from you would save millions upon millions of lives. I implore you, +instead of interfering with my work, to give instant order for the +construction of as many arks, based upon the plans I have perfected, as +the navy yard can possibly turn out. Issue a proclamation to the people, +warning them that this is their only chance of escape." + +By a curious operation of the human mind, this speech cost Cosmo nearly +all the advantage that he had previously gained. His ominous suggestion +of a great nebula rushing out of the heavens to overwhelm the earth had +immensely impressed the imagination of his hearers, and his +uncontradicted accusation that Professor Pludder was concealing the +facts had almost convinced them that he was right. But when he mentioned +"arks," the strain was relieved, and a smile broke out on the broad face +of the President. He shook his head, and was about to speak, when Cosmo, +perceiving that he had lost ground, changed his tactics. + +"Still you are incredulous!" he exclaimed. "But the proof is before you! +Look at the blazing heavens! The annals of meteorology do not record +another such summer as this. The vanguard of the fatal nebula is already +upon us. The signs of disaster are in the sky. But, note what I +say--this is only the _first_ sign. There is another following on +its heels which may be here at any moment. To heat will succeed cold, +and as we rush through the tenuous outer spirals the earth will +alternately be whipped with tempests of snow and sleet, and scorched by +fierce outbursts of solar fire. For three weeks the atmosphere has been +heated by the inrush of invisible vapor--but look out, I warn you, for +the change that is impending!" + +These extraordinary words, pronounced with the wild air of a prophet, +completed the growing conviction of the listeners that they really had a +madman to deal with, and Professor Pludder, having recovered his +self--command, rose to his feet. + +"Mr. President," he began, "the evidence which we have just seen of an +unbalanced mind--" + +He got no further. A pall of darkness suddenly dropped upon the room. An +inky curtain seemed to have fallen from the sky. At the same time the +windows were shaken by tremendous blasts of wind, and, as the electric +lights were hastily turned on, huge snowflakes, intermingled with +rattling hailstones, were seen careering outside. In a few seconds +several large panes of glass were broken, and the chilling wind, +sweeping round the apartment, made the teeth of the thinly clad +statesmen chatter, while the noise of the storm became deafening. The +sky lightened, but at the same moment dreadful thunderpeals shook the +building. Two or three trees in the White House grounds were struck by +the bolts, and their broken branches were driven through the air and +carried high above the ground by the whirling winds, and one of them was +thrown against the building with such force that for a moment it seemed +as if the wall had been shattered. + +After the first stunning effect of this outbreak of the elements had +passed, everybody rushed to the windows to look out--everybody except +Cosmo Versál, who remained standing in the center of the room. + +"I told you!" he said; but nobody listened to him. What they saw outside +absorbed every faculty. The noise was so stunning that they could not +have heard him. + +We have said that the air lightened after the passage of the first pall +of darkness, but it was not the reappearance of the sun that caused the +brightening. It was an awful light, which seemed to be born out of the +air itself. It had a menacing, coppery hue, continually changing in +character. The whole upper atmosphere was choked with dense clouds, +which swirled and tumbled, and twisted themselves into great vortical +rolls, spinning like gigantic millshafts. Once, one of these vortexes +shot downward, with projectile speed, rapidly assuming the terrible form +of the trombe of a tornado, and where it struck the ground it tore +everything to pieces--trees, houses, the very earth itself were ground +to powder and then whirled aloft by the resistless suction. + +Occasionally the darkness returned for a few minutes, as if a cover had +been clapped upon the sky, and then, again, the murk would roll off, and +the reddish gleam would reappear. These swift alternations of +impenetrable gloom and unearthly light shook the hearts of the +dumfounded statesmen even more than the roar and rush of the storm. + +A cry of horror broke from the onlookers when a man and a woman suddenly +appeared trying to cross the White House grounds to reach a place of +comparative safety, and were caught up by the wind, clinging desperately +to each other, and hurled against a wall, at whose base they fell in a +heap. + +Then came another outburst of lightning, and a vicious bolt descended +upon the Washington Monument, and, twisting round it, seemed to envelop +the great shaft in a pulsating corkscrew of blinding fire. The report +that instantly followed made the White House dance upon its foundations, +and, as if that had been a signal, the flood-gates of the sky +immediately opened, and rain so dense that it looked like a solid +cataract of water poured down upon the earth. The raging water burst +into the basement of the building, and ran off in a shoreless river +toward the Potomac. + +The streaming rain, still driven by the wind, poured through the broken +windows, driving the President and the others to the middle of the room, +where they soon stood in rills of water soaking the thick carpet. + +They were all as pale as death. Their eyes sought one another's faces in +dumb amazement. Cosmo Versál alone retained perfect self-command. In +spite of his slight stature he looked their master. Raising his voice to +the highest pitch, in order to be heard, he shouted: + +"These are the first drops of the Deluge! Will you believe now?" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR + + +The tempest of hail, snow, lightning, and rain, which burst so +unexpectedly over Washington, was not a local phenomenon. It leveled the +antennae of the wireless telegraph systems all over the world, cutting +off communication everywhere. Only the submarine telephone cables +remained unaffected, and by them was transmitted the most astonishing +news of the ravages of the storm. Rivers had careered over their banks, +low-lying towns were flooded, the swollen sewers of cities exploded and +inundated the streets, and gradually news came in from country districts +showing that vast areas of land had been submerged, and hundreds +drowned. + +The downfall of rain far exceeded everything that the meteorological +bureaus had ever recorded. + +The vagaries of the lightning, and the frightful power that it +exhibited, were especially terrifying. + +In London the Victoria Tower was partly dismantled by a bolt. + +In Moscow the ancient and beautiful Church of St. Basil was nearly +destroyed. + +The celebrated Leaning Tower of Pisa, the wonder of centuries, was flung +to the ground. + +The vast dome of St. Peter's at Rome was said to have been encased +during three whole minutes with a blinding armor of electric fire, +though the only harm done was the throwing down of a statue in one of +the chapels. + +But, strangest freak of all, in New York a tremendous bolt, which seems +to have entered the Pennsylvania tunnel on the Jersey side, followed the +rails under the river, throwing two trains from the track, and, emerging +in the great station in the heart of the city, expanded into a +rose-colored sphere, which exploded with an awful report, and blew the +great roof to pieces. And yet, although the fragments were scattered a +dozen blocks away, hundreds of persons who were in the stations suffered +no other injury than such as resulted from being flung violently to the +floor, or against the walls. + +Cosmo Versál's great ark seemed charmed. Not a single discharge of +lightning occurred in its vicinity, a fact which he attributed to the +dielectric properties of levium. Nevertheless, the wind carried away all +his screens and electric fans. + +If this storm had continued the predicted deluge would unquestionably +have occurred at once, and even its prophet would have perished through +having begun his preparations too late. But the disturbed elements sank +into repose as suddenly as they had broken out with fury. The rain did +not last, in most places, more than twenty-four hours, although the +atmosphere continued to be filled with troubled clouds for a week. At +the end of that time the sun reappeared, as hot as before, and a +spotless dome once more over-arched the earth; but from this time the +sky never resumed its former brilliant azure--there was always a strange +coppery tinge, the sight of which was appalling, although it gradually +lost its first effect through familiarity. + +The indifference and derision with which Cosmo's predictions and +elaborate preparations had hitherto been regarded now vanished, and the +world, in spite of itself, shivered with vague apprehension. No +reassurances from those savants who still refused to admit the validity +of Cosmo Versál's calculations and deductions had any permanent effect +upon the public mind. + +With amusing inconsequence people sold stocks again, until all the +exchanges were once more swept with panic--and then put the money in +their strong boxes, as if they thought that the mere possession of the +lucre could protect them. They hugged the money and remained deaf to +Cosmo's reiterated advice to build arks with it. + +After all, they were only terrified, not convinced, and they felt that, +somehow, everything would come out right, now that they had their +possessions well in hand. + +For, in spite of the scare, nobody really believed that an actual deluge +was coming. There might be great floods, and great suffering and loss, +but the world was not going to be drowned! Such things only occurred in +early and dark ages. + +Some nervous persons found comfort in the fact that when the skies +cleared after the sudden downpour brilliant rainbows were seen. Their +hearts bounded with joy. + +"The 'Bow of Promise!'" they cried. "Behold the unvarying assurance that +the world shall never again be drowned." + +Then a great revival movement was set on foot, starting in the +Mississippi valley under the leadership of an eloquent exhorter, who +declared that, although a false prophet had arisen, whose delusive +prediction was contrary to Scripture, yet it was true that the world was +about to be punished in unexpected ways for its many iniquities. + +This movement rapidly spread all over the country, and was taken up in +England and throughout Protestant Europe, and soon prayers were offered +in thousands of churches to avert the wrath of Heaven. Multitudes thus +found their fears turned into a new direction, and by a strange +reaction, Cosmo Versál came to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist who +was seeking to mislead mankind. + +Just at this juncture, to add to the dismay and uncertainty, a grand and +fearful comet suddenly appeared. It came up unexpectedly from the south, +blazed brightly close beside the sun, even at noonday, and a few nights +later was visible after sunset with an immense fiery head and a broad +curved tail that seemed to pulsate from end to end. It was so bright +that it cast shadows at night, as distinct as those made by the moon. No +such cometary monster had ever before been seen. People shuddered when +they looked at it. It moved with amazing speed, sweeping across the +firmament like a besom of destruction. Calculation showed that it was +not more than 3,000,000 miles from the earth. + +But one night the wonder and dread awakened by the comet were magnified +a hundredfold by an occurrence so unexpected and extraordinary that the +spectators gasped in amazement. + +The writer happens to have before him an entry in a diary, which is, +probably, the sole contemporary record of this event. It was written in +the city of Washington by no less a person than Professor Jeremiah +Moses, of the Council of the Carnegie Institution. Let it tell its own +story: + +"A marvelous thing happened this night. I walked out into the park near +my house with the intention of viewing the great comet. The park on my +side (the west), is bordered with a dense screen of tall trees, and I +advanced toward the open place in the center in order to have an +unobstructed sight of the flaming stranger. As I passed across the edge +of the shadow of the trees--the ground ahead being brilliantly +illuminated by the light of the comet--I suddenly noticed, with an +involuntary start, that I was being preceded by a _double shadow_, +with a black center, which forked away from my feet. + +"I cast my eyes behind me to find the cause of the phenomenon, and saw, +to my inexpressible amazement, that _the comet had divided into +two_. There were two distinct heads, already widely separated, but +each, it seemed to me, as brilliant as the original one had been, and +each supplied with a vast plume of fire a hundred degrees in length, and +consequently stretching far past the zenith. The cause of the double +shadow was evident at once--but what can have produced this sudden +disruption of the comet? It must have occurred since last evening, and +already, if the calculated distance of the comet is correct, the parts +of the severed head are 300,000 miles asunder!" + +Underneath this entry was scribbled: + +"Can this have anything to do with Cosmo Versál's flood?" + +Whether it had anything to do with the flood or not, at any rate the +public believed that it had. People went about with fear written on +their faces. + +The double shadows had a surprising effect. The phantasm was pointed +out, and stared at with superstitious terror by thousands every night. +The fact that there was nothing really mysterious about it made no +difference. Even those who knew well that it was an inevitable optical +result of the division of the bright comet were thrilled with +instinctive dread when they saw that forked umbra, mimicking their every +movement. There is nothing that so upsets the mind as a sudden change in +the aspect of familiar things. + +The astronomers now took their turn. Those who were absolutely +incredulous about Cosmo's prediction, and genuinely desirous of allaying +the popular alarm, issued statements in which, with a disingenuousness +that may have been unintentional, they tried to sidetrack his arguments. + +Professor Pludder led the way with a pronunciamento declaring that "the +absurd vaporings of the modern Nostradamus of New York" had now +demonstrated their own emptiness. + +"A comet," said Professor Pludder, with reassuring seriousness, "cannot +drown the earth. It is composed of rare gases, which, as the experience +of Halley's comet many years ago showed, are unable to penetrate the +atmosphere even when an actual encounter occurs. In this case there +cannot even be an encounter; the comet is now moving away. Its division +is not an unprecedented occurrence, for many previous comets have met +with similar accidents. This comet happened to be of unusual size, and +the partition of the head occurred when it was relatively nearby--whence +the startling phenomena observed. There is nothing to be feared." + +It will be remarked that Professor Pludder entirely avoided the real +issue. Cosmo Versál had never said that the comet would drown the earth. +In fact, he had been as much surprised by its appearance as everybody +else. But when he read Professor Pludder's statement, followed by others +of similar import, he took up the cudgels with a vengeance. All over the +world, translated into a dozen languages, he scattered his reply, and +the effect was startling. + +"My fellow-citizens of the world in all lands, and of every race," he +began, "you are face to face with destruction! And yet, while its +heralds are plainly signaling from the sky, and shaking the earth with +lightning to awaken it, blind leaders of blind try to deceive you! + +"They are defying science itself! + +"They say that the comet cannot touch the earth. That is true. It is +passing away. I myself did not foresee its coming. It arrived by +accident, _but every step that it has made through the silent depths +of space has been a proclamation of the presence of the nebula_, +which is the real agent of the perdition of the world! + +"Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens? You have all +noticed it. Why that blinding brightness which the comet has displayed, +exceeding all that has ever been beheld in such visitors. The +explanation is plain: the comet has been feeding on the substance of the +nebula, which is rare yet because we have only encountered some of its +outlying spirals. + +"But it is coming on with terrible speed. In a few short months we shall +be plunged into its awful center, and then the oceans will swell to the +mountaintops, and the continents will become the bottoms of angry seas. + +"When the flood begins it will be too late to save yourselves. You have +already lost too much precious time. I tell you solemnly that not one in +a million can now be saved. Throw away every other consideration, and +try, try desperately, to be of the little company of those who escape! + +"Remember that your only chance is in building arks--arks of levium, the +metal that floats. I have sent broadcast plans for such arks. They can +be made of any size, but the larger the better. In my own ark I can take +only a selected number, and when the complement is made up not another +soul will be admitted. + +"I have established all my facts by mathematical proofs. The most expert +mathematicians of the world have been unable to detect any error in my +calculations. They try to dispute the data, but the data are already +before you for your own judgment. The heavens are so obscured that only +the brightest stars can now be seen." (This was a fact which had caused +bewilderment in the observatories.) "The recent outburst of storms and +floods was the second sign of the approaching end, and the third sign +will not be long delayed--and after that the deluge!" + +It is futile to try to describe the haunting fear and horror which +seized upon the majority of the millions who read these words. Business +was paralyzed, for men found it impossible to concentrate their minds +upon ordinary affairs. Every night the twin comets, still very bright, +although they were fast retreating, brandished their fiery scimitars in +the sky--more fearful to the imagination now, since Cosmo Versál had +declared that it was the nebula that stimulated their energies. And by +day the sky was watched with anxious eyes striving to detect signs of a +deepening of the menacing hue, which, to an excited fancy, suggested a +tinge of blood. + +Now, at last, Cosmo's warnings and entreaties bore practical fruit. Men +began to inquire about places in his ark, and to make preparations for +building arks of their own. + +He had not been interfered with after his memorable interview with the +President of the United States, and had pushed his work at Mineola with +redoubled energy, employing night gangs of workmen so that progress was +continuous throughout the twenty-four hours. + +Standing on its platform, the ark, whose hull was approaching +completion, rose a hundred feet into the air. It was 800 feet long and +250 broad--proportions which practical ship-builders ridiculed, but +Cosmo, as original in this as in everything else, declared that, taking +into account the buoyancy of levium, no other form would answer as well. +He estimated that when its great engines were in place, its immense +stores of material for producing power, its ballast, and its supplies of +food stowed away, and its cargo of men and animals taken aboard, it +would not draw more than twenty feet of water. + +Hardly a day passed now without somebody coming to Cosmo to inquire +about the best method of constructing arks. He gave the required +information, in all possible detail, with the utmost willingness. He +drew plans and sketches, made all kinds of practical suggestions, and +never failed to urge the utmost haste. He inspired every visitor at the +same time with alarm and a resolution to go to work at once. + +Some did go to work. But their progress was slow, and as days passed, +and the comets gradually faded out of sight, and then the dome of the +sky showed a tendency to resume its natural blueness, the enthusiasm of +Cosmo's imitators weakened, together with their confidence in his +prophetic powers. + +They concluded to postpone their operations until the need of arks +should become more evident. + +As to those who had sent inquiries about places in Cosmo's ark, now that +the danger seemed to be blowing away, they did not even take the trouble +to answer the very kind responses that he had made. + +It is a singular circumstance that not one of these anxious inquirers +seemed to have paid particular attention to a very significant sentence +in his reply. If they had given it a little thought, it would probably +have set them pondering, although they might have been more puzzled than +edified. The sentence ran as follows: + +"While assuring you that my ark has been built for the benefit of my +fellow men, I am bound to tell you that I reserve absolutely the right +to determine who are truly representative of _homo sapiens_." + +The fact was that Cosmo had been turning over in his mind the great +fundamental question which he had asked himself when the idea of trying +to save the human race from annihilation had first occurred to him, and +apparently he had fixed upon certain principles that were to guide him. + +Since, when the mind is under great strain through fear, the slightest +relaxation, caused by an apparently favorable change, produces a rebound +of hope, as unreasoning as the preceding terror, so, on this occasion, +the vanishing of the comets, and the fading of the disquieting color of +the sky, had a wonderful effect in restoring public confidence in the +orderly procession of nature. + +Cosmo Versál's vogue as a prophet of disaster was soon gone, and once +more everybody began to laugh at him. People turned again to their +neglected affairs with the general remark that they "guessed the world +would manage to wade through." + +Those who had begun preparations to build arks looked very sheepish when +their friends guyed them about their childish credulity. + +Then a feeling of angry resentment arose, and one day Cosmo Versál was +mobbed in the street, and the gamins threw stones at him. + +People forgot the extraordinary storm of lightning and rain, the split +comet, and all the other circumstances which, a little time before, had +filled them with terror. + +But they were making a fearful mistake! + +With eyes blindfolded they were walking straight into the jaws of +destruction. + +Without warning, and as suddenly almost as an explosion, the _third +sign_ appeared, and on its heels came a veritable Reign of Terror! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE THIRD SIGN + + +In the middle of the night, at New York, hundreds of thousands +simultaneously awoke with a feeling of suffocation. + +They struggled for breath as if they had suddenly been plunged into a +steam bath. + +The air was hot, heavy, and terribly oppressive. + +The throwing open of windows brought no relief. The outer air was as +stifling as that within. + +It was so dark that, on looking out, one could not see his own +doorsteps. The arc-lamps in the street flickered with an ineffective +blue gleam which shed no illumination round about. + +House lights, when turned on, looked like tiny candles inclosed in thick +blue globes. + +Frightened men and women stumbled around in the gloom of their chambers +trying to dress themselves. + +Cries and exclamations rang from room to room; children wailed; +hysterical mothers ran wildly hither and thither, seeking their little +ones. Many fainted, partly through terror and partly from the difficulty +of breathing. Sick persons, seized with a terrible oppression of the +chest, gasped, and never rose from their beds. + +At every window, and in every doorway, throughout the vast city, +invisible heads and forms were crowded, making their presence known by +their voices--distracted householders striving to peer through the +strange darkness, and to find out the cause of these terrifying +phenomena. + +Some managed to get a faint glimpse of their watches by holding them +close against lamps, and thus noted the time. It was two o'clock in the +morning. + +Neighbors, unseen, called to one another, but got little comfort from +the replies. + +"What is it? In God's name, what has happened?" + +"I don't know. I can hardly breathe." + +"It is awful! We shall all be suffocated." + +"Is it a fire?" + +"No! No! It cannot be a fire." + +"The air is full of steam. The stones and the window-panes are streaming +with moisture." + +"Great Heavens, how stifling it is!" + +Then, into thousands of minds at once leaped the thought of _the +flood!_ + +The memory of Cosmo Versál's reiterated warnings came back with +overwhelming force. It must be the _third sign_ that he had +foretold. _It had really come!_ + +Those fateful words--"the flood" and "Cosmo Versál"--ran from lip to +lip, and the hearts of those who spoke, and those who heard, sank like +lead in their bosoms. + +He would be a bold man, more confident in his powers of description than +the present writer, who should attempt to picture the scenes in New York +on that fearful night. + +The gasping and terror-stricken millions waited and longed for the hour +of sunrise, hoping that then the stygian darkness would be dissipated, +so that people might, at least, see where to go and what to do. Many, +oppressed by the almost unbreathable air, gave up in despair, and no +longer even hoped for morning to come. + +In the midst of it all a collision occurred directly over Central Park +between two aero-expresses, one coming from Boston and the other from +Albany. (The use of small aeroplanes within the city limits had, for +some time, been prohibited on account of the constant danger of +collisions, but the long-distance lines were permitted to enter the +metropolitan district, making their landings and departures on specially +constructed towers.) These two, crowded with passengers, had, as it +afterward appeared, completely lost their bearings--the strongest +electric lights being invisible a few hundred feet away, while the +wireless signals were confusing--and, before the danger was apprehended, +they crashed together. + +The collision occurred at a height of a thousand feet, on the Fifth +Avenue side of the park. Both of the airships had their aeroplanes +smashed and their decks crumpled up, and the unfortunate crews and +passengers were hurled through the impenetrable darkness to the ground. + +Only four or five, who were lucky enough to be entangled with the +lighter parts of the wreckage, escaped with their lives. But they were +too much injured to get upon their feet, and there they lay, their +sufferings made tenfold worse by the stifling air, and the horror of +their inexplicable situation, until they were found and humanely +relieved, more than ten hours after their fall. + +The noise of the collision had been heard in Fifth Avenue, and its +meaning was understood; but amid the universal terror no one thought of +trying to aid the victims. Everybody was absorbed in wondering what +would become of himself. + +When the long attended hour of sunrise approached, the watchers were +appalled by the absence of even the slightest indication of the +reappearance of the orb of day. There was no lightening of the dense +cloak of darkness, and the great city seemed dead. + +For the first time in its history it failed to awake after its regular +period of repose, and to send forth its myriad voices. It could not be +seen; it could not be heard; it made no sign. As far as any outward +indication of its existence was concerned the mighty capital had ceased +to be. + +It was this frightful silence of the streets, and of all the outer +world, that terrified the people, cooped up in their houses, and their +rooms, by the walls of darkness, more than almost any other +circumstance; it gave such an overwhelming sense of the universality of +the disaster, whatever that disaster might be. Except where the voices +of neighbors could be heard, one could not be sure that the whole +population, outside his own family, had not perished. + +As the hours passed, and yet no light appeared, another intimidating +circumstance manifested itself. From the start everybody had noticed the +excessive humidity of the dense air. Every solid object that the hands +came in contact with in the darkness was wet, as if a thick fog had +condensed upon it. This supersaturation of the air (a principal cause of +the difficulty experienced in breathing) led to a result which would +quickly have been foreseen if people could have had the use of their +eyes, but which, coming on invisibly, produced a panic fear when at last +its presence was strikingly forced upon the attention. + +The moisture collected on all exposed surfaces--on the roofs, the walls, +the pavements--until its quantity became sufficient to form little +rills, which sought the gutters, and there gathered force and volume. +Presently the streams became large enough to create a noise of flowing +water that attracted the attention of the anxious watchers at the open +windows. Then cries of dismay arose. If the water had been visible it +would not have been terrible. + +But, to the overstrained imagination, the bubbling and splashing sound +that came out of the darkness was magnified into the rush of a torrent. +It seemed to grow louder every moment. What was but a murmur on the +ear-drum became a roar in the excited brain-cells. + +Once more were heard the ominous words, "The flood!" + +They spread from room to room, and from house to house. The wild scenes +that had attended the first awakening were tame in comparison with what +now occurred. Self-control, reason--everything--gave way to panic. + +If they could only have _seen_ what they were about! + +But then they would not have been about it. Then their reason would not +have been dethroned. + +Darkness is the microscope of the imagination, and it magnifies a +million times! + +Some timorously descended their doorsteps, and feeling a current of +water in the gutter, recoiled with cries of horror, as if they had +slipped down the bank of a flooded river. As they retreated they +believed that the water was rising at their heels! + +Others made their way to the roofs, persuaded that the flood was already +inundating the basements and the lower stories of their dwellings. + +Women wrung their hands and wept, and children cried, and men pushed and +stumbled about, and shouted, and would have done something if only they +could have seen what to do. That was the pity of it! It was as if the +world had been stricken blind, and then the trump of an archangel had +sounded, crying: + +"Fly! Fly! for the Avenger is on your heels!" + +How could they fly? + +This awful strain could not have lasted. It would have needed no deluge +to finish New York if that maddening pall of darkness had remained +unbroken a few hours longer. But, just when thousands had given up in +despair, there came a rapid change. + +At the hour of noon light suddenly broke overhead. Beginning in a round +patch inclosed in an iridescent halo, it spread swiftly, seeming to melt +its way down through the thick, dark mass that choked the air, and in +less than fifteen minutes New York and all its surroundings emerged into +the golden light of noonday. + +People who had expected at any moment to feel the water pitilessly +rising about them looked out of their windows, and were astonished to +see only tiny rivulets which were already shriveling out of sight in the +gutters. In a few minutes there was no running water left, although the +dampness on the walls and walks showed how great the humidity of the air +had been. + +At the same time the oppression was lifted from the respiratory +apparatus, and everybody breathed freely once more, and felt courage +returning with each respiration. + +The whole great city seemed to utter a vast sigh of relief. + +And then its voice was heard, as it had never been heard before, rising +higher and louder every moment. It was the first time that morning had +ever broken at midday. + +The streets became filled, with magical quickness, by hundreds of +thousands, who chattered, and shouted, and laughed, and shook hands, and +asked questions, and told their experiences, and demanded if anybody had +ever heard of such a thing before, and wondered what it could have been, +and what it meant, and whether it would come back again. + +Telephones of all kinds were kept constantly busy. Women called up their +friends, and talked hysterically; men called up their associates and +partners, and tried to talk business. + +There was a rush for the Elevated, for the Subways, for the street +auto-cars. The great arteries of traffic became jammed, and the noise +rose louder and louder. + +Belated aero-expresses arrived at the towers from East and West, and +their passengers hurried down to join the excited multitudes below. + +In an incredibly brief time the newsboys were out with extras. Then +everybody read with the utmost avidity what everybody knew already. + +But before many hours passed there was real news, come by wireless, and +by submarine telephone and telegraph, telling how the whole world had +been swept by the marvelous cloak of darkness. + +In Europe it had arrived during the morning hours; in Asia during the +afternoon. + +The phenomena had varied in different places. In some the darkness had +not been complete, but everywhere it was accompanied by extraordinary +humidity, and occasionally by brief but torrential rains. The terror had +been universal, and all believed that it was the _third sign_ +predicted by Cosmo Versál. + +Of course, the latter was interviewed, and he gave out a characteristic +manifesto. + +"One of the outlying spirals of the nebula has struck the earth," he +said. "But do not be deceived. It is nothing in comparison with what is +coming. _And it is the LAST WARNING that will be given!_ You have +obstinately shut your eyes to the truth, _and you have thrown away +your lives!_" + +This, together with the recent awful experience, produced a great +effect. Those who had begun to lay foundations for arks thought of +resuming the work. Those who had before sought places with Cosmo called +him up by telephone. But only the voice of Joseph Smith answered, and +his words were not reassuring. + +"Mr. Versál," he said, "directs me to say that at present he will allot +no places. He is considering whom he will take." + +The recipients of this reply looked very blank. But at least one of +them, a well-known broker in Wall Street, was more angered than +frightened: + +"Let him go to the deuce!" he growled; "him and his flood together!" + +Then he resolutely set out to bull the market. + +It seems incredible--but such is human nature--that a few days of bright +sunshine should once more have driven off the clouds of fear that had +settled so densely over the popular mind. Of course, not everybody +forgot the terrors of the _third sign_--they had struck too deep, +but gradually the strain was relaxed, and people in general accepted the +renewed assurances of the savants of the Pludder type that nothing that +had occurred was inexplicable by the ordinary laws of nature. The great +darkness, they averred, differed from previous occurrences of the kind +only in degree, and it was to be ascribed to nothing more serious than +atmospheric vagaries, such as that which produced the historic Dark Day +in New England in the year 1780. + +But more nervous persons noticed, with certain misgivings, that Cosmo +Versál pushed on his operations, if possible more energetically than +before. And there was a stir of renewed interest when the announcement +came out one day that the ark was finished. Then thousands hurried to +Mineola to look upon the completed work. + +The extraordinary massiveness of the ark was imposing. Towering +ominously on its platform, which was so arranged that when the waters +came they should lift the structure from its cradle and set it afloat +without any other launching, it seemed in itself a prophecy of impending +disaster. + +Overhead it was roofed with an oblong dome of levium, through which rose +four great metallic chimneys, placed above the mighty engines. The roof +sloped down to the vertical sides, to afford protection from in-bursting +waves. Rows of portholes, covered with thick, stout glass, indicated the +location of the superposed decks. On each side four gangways gave access +to the interior, and long, sloping approaches offered means of entry +from the ground. + +Cosmo had a force of trained guards on hand, but everybody who wished +was permitted to enter and inspect the ark. Curious multitudes +constantly mounted and descended the long approaches, being kept moving +by the guards. + +Inside they wandered about astonished by what they saw. + +The three lower decks were devoted to the storage of food and of fuel +for the electric generators which Cosmo Versál had been accumulating for +months. + +Above these were two decks, which the visitors were informed would be +occupied by animals, and by boxes of seeds and prepared roots of plants, +with which it was intended to restore the vegetable life of the planet +after the water should have sufficiently receded. + +The five remaining decks were for human beings. There were roomy +quarters for the commander and his officers, others for the crew, +several large saloons, and five hundred sets of apartments of various +sizes to be occupied by the passengers whom Cosmo should choose to +accompany him. They had all the convenience of the most luxurious +staterooms of the trans-oceanic liners. Many joking remarks were +exchanged by the visitors as they inspected these rooms. + +Cosmo ran about among his guests, explaining everything, showing great +pride in his work, pointing out a thousand particulars in which his +foresight had been displayed--but, to everybody's astonishment, he +uttered no more warnings, and made no appeals. On the contrary, as some +observant persons noticed, he seemed to avoid any reference to the fate +of those who should not be included in his ship's company. + +Some sensitive souls were disturbed by detecting in his eyes a look that +seemed to express deep pity and regret. Occasionally he would draw +apart, and gaze at the passing crowds with a compassionate expression, +and then, slowly turning his back, while his fingers worked nervously, +would disappear, with downcast head, in his private room. + +The comparatively few who particularly noticed this conduct of Cosmo's +were deeply moved--more than they had been by all the enigmatic events +of the past months. One man, Amos Blank, a rich manufacturer, who was +notorious for the merciless methods that he had pursued in eliminating +his weaker competitors, was so much disturbed by Cosmo Versál's change +of manner that he sought an opportunity to speak to him privately. Cosmo +received him with a reluctance that he could not but notice, and which, +somehow, increased his anxiety. + +"I--I--thought," said the billionaire hesitatingly, "that I ought--that +is to say, that I might, perhaps, inquire--might inform myself--under +what conditions one could, supposing the necessity to arise, obtain a +passage in your--in your ark. Of course the question of cost does not +enter in the matter--not with me." + +Cosmo gazed at the man coldly, and all the compassion that had recently +softened his steely eyes disappeared. For a moment he did not speak. +Then he said, measuring his words and speaking with an emphasis that +chilled the heart of his listener: + +"Mr. Blank, the necessity has arisen." + +"So you say--so you say--" began Mr. Blank. + +"So I say," interrupted Cosmo sternly, "and I say further that this ark +has been constructed to save those who are worthy of salvation, in order +that all that is good and admirable in humanity may not perish from the +earth." + +"Exactly, exactly," responded the other, smiling, and rubbing his hands. +"You are quite right to make a proper choice. If your flood is going to +cause a general destruction of mankind, of course you are bound to +select the best, the most advanced, those who have pushed to the front, +those who have means, those with the strongest resources. The masses, +who possess none of these qualifications and claims--" + +Again Cosmo Versál interrupted him, more coldly than before: + +"It costs nothing to be a passenger in this ark. Ten million dollars, a +hundred millions, would not purchase a place in it! Did you ever hear +the parable of the camel and the needle's eye? The price of a ticket +here is an irreproachable record!" + +With these astonishing words Cosmo turned his back upon his visitor and +shut the door in his face. + +The billionaire staggered back, rubbed his head, and then went off +muttering: + +"An idiot! A plain idiot! There will be no flood." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND + + +After a day or two, during which the ark was left open for inspection, +and was visited by many thousands, Cosmo Versál announced that no more +visitors would be admitted. He placed sentinels at all entrances, and +began the construction of a shallow ditch, entirely inclosing the +grounds. Public curiosity was intensely excited by this singular +proceeding, especially when it became known that the workmen were +stringing copper wires the whole length of the ditch. + +"What the deuce is he up to now?" was the question on everybody's lips. + +But Cosmo and his employees gave evasive replies to all inquiries. A +great change had come about in Cosmo's treatment of the public. No one +was any longer encouraged to watch the operations. + +When the wires were all placed and the ditch was finished, it was +covered up so that it made a broad flat-topped wall, encircling the +field. + +Speculation was rife for several days concerning the purpose of the +mysterious ditch and its wires, but no universally satisfactory +explanation was found. + +One enterprising reporter worked out an elaborate scheme, which he +ascribed to Cosmo Versál, according to which the wired ditch was to +serve as a cumulator of electricity, which would, at the proper moment, +launch the ark upon the waters, thus avoiding all danger of a fatal +detention in case the flood should rise too rapidly. + +This seemed so absurd on its face that it went far to quiet apprehension +by reawakening doubts of Cosmo's sanity--the more especially since he +made no attempt to contradict the assertion that the scheme was his. + +Nobody guessed what his real intention was; if people had guessed, it +might have been bad for their peace of mind. + +The next move of Cosmo Versál was taken without any knowledge or +suspicion on the part of the public. He had now established himself in +his apartments in the ark, and was never seen in the city. + +One evening, when all was quiet about the ark, night work being now +unnecessary, Cosmo and Joseph Smith sat facing one another at a square +table lighted by a shaded lamp. Smith had a pile of writing paper before +him, and was evidently prepared to take copious notes. + +Cosmo's great brow was contracted with thought, and he leaned his cheek +upon his hand. It was clear that his meditations were troublesome. For +at least ten minutes he did not open his lips, and Smith watched him +anxiously. At last he said, speaking slowly: + +"Joseph, this is the most trying problem that I have had to solve. The +success of all my work depends upon my not making a mistake now. + +"The burden of responsibility that rests on my shoulders is such as no +mortal has ever borne. It is too great for human capacity--and yet how +can I cast it off? + +"I am to decide who shall be saved! _I_, _I_ alone, _I_, +Cosmo Versál, hold in my hands the fate of a race numbering two thousand +million souls!--the fate of a planet which, without my intervention, +would become simply a vast tomb. It is for _me_ to say whether the +_genus homo_ shall be perpetuated, and in what form it shall be +perpetuated. Joseph, this is terrible! These are the functions of deity, +not of man." + +Joseph Smith seemed no longer to breathe, so intense was his attention. +His eyes glowed under the dark brows, and his pencil trembled in his +fingers. After a slight pause Cosmo Versál went on: + +"If I felt any doubt that Providence had foreordained me to do this +work, and given me extraordinary faculties, and extraordinary knowledge, +to enable me to perform it, I would, this instant, blow out my brains." + +Again he was silent, the secretary, after fidgeting about, bending and +unbending his brows, and tapping nervously upon the table, at last said +solemnly: + +"Cosmo, you _are_ ordained; you must _do the work._" + +"I must," returned Cosmo Versál, "I know that; and yet the sense of my +responsibility sometimes covers me with a cloud of despair. The other +day, when the ark was crowded with curiosity seekers, the thought that +not one of all those tens of thousands could escape, and that hundreds +of millions of others must also be lost, overwhelmed me. Then I began to +reproach myself for not having been a more effective agent in warning my +fellows of their peril. Joseph, I have miserably failed. I ought to have +produced universal conviction that I was right, and I have not done it." + +"It is not your fault, Cosmo," said Joseph Smith, reaching out his long +arm to touch his leader's hand. "It is an unbelieving generation. They +have rejected even the signs in the heavens. The voice of an archangel +would not have convinced them." + +"It is true," replied Cosmo. "And the truth is the more bitter to me +because I spoke in the name of science, and the very men who represent +science have been my most determined opponents, blinding the people's +eyes--after willfully shutting their own." + +"You say you have been weak," interposed Smith, "which you have not +been; but you would be weak if you now shrank from your plain duty." + +"True!" cried Cosmo, in a changed voice. "Let us then proceed. I had a +lesson the other day. Amos Blank came to me, puffed with his pillaged +millions. I saw then what I had to do. I told him plainly that he was +not among the chosen. Hand me that book over there." + +The secretary pushed a large volume within Cosmo's reach. He opened it. +It was a "Year-Book of Science, Politics, Sociology, History, and +Government." + +Cosmo ran over its pages, stopping to read a few lines here and there, +seeming to make mental notes. After a while he pushed the book aside, +looked at his companion thoughtfully, and began: + +"The trouble with the world is that morally and physically it has for +thousands of years grown more and more corrupt. The flower of +civilization, about which people boast so much, nods over the stagnant +waters of a moral swamp and draws its perilous beauty from the poisons +of the miasma. + +"The nebula, in drowning the earth, brings opportunity for a new birth +of mankind. You will remember, Joseph, that the same conditions are said +to have prevailed in the time of Noah. There was no science then, and we +do not know exactly on what principles the choice was made of those who +should escape; but the simple history of Noah shows that he and his +friends represented the best manhood of that early age. + +"But the seeds of corruption were not eliminated, and the same problem +recurs to-day. + +"I have to determine whom I will save. I attack the question by +inquiring who represent the best elements of humanity? Let us first +consider men by classes." + +"And why not by races?" asked Smith. + +"I shall not look to see whether a man is black, white, or yellow; +whether his skull is brachycephalic or dolichocephalic," replied Cosmo. +"I shall look inside. No race has ever shown itself permanently the +best." + +"Then by classes you mean occupations?" + +"Well, yes, for the occupation shows the tendency, the quintessence of +character. Some men are born rulers and leaders; others are born +followers. Both are necessary, and I must have both kinds." + +"You will begin perhaps with the kings, the presidents?" + +"Not at all. I shall begin with the men of science. They are the true +leaders." + +"But they have betrayed you--they have shut their eyes and blindfolded +others," objected Joseph Smith, as if in extenuation. + +"You do not understand me," said Cosmo, with a commiserating smile. "If +my scientific brethren have not seen as clearly as I have done, the +fault lies not in science, but in lack of comprehension. Nevertheless, +they are on the right track; they have the gist of the matter in them; +they are trained in the right method. If I should leave them out, the +regenerated world would start a thousand years behind time. Besides, +many of them are not so blind; some of them have got a glimpse of the +truth." + +"Not such men as Pludder," said Smith. + +"All the same, I am going to save Pludder," said Cosmo Versál. + +Joseph Smith fairly jumped with astonishment. + +"You--are--going--to--save--Pludder," he faltered. "But he is the worst +of all." + +"Not from my present view-point. Pludder has a good brain; he can handle +the tools; he is intellectually honest; he has done great things for +science in the past. And, besides, I do not conceal from you the fact +that I should like to see him convicted out of his own mouth." + +"But," persisted Smith, "I have heard you say that he was--" + +"No matter what you have heard me say," interrupted Cosmo impatiently. +"I say now that he shall go with us. Put down his name at the head of +the list." + +Dumfounded and muttering under his breath, Smith obeyed. + +"I can take exactly one thousand individuals, exclusive of the crew," +continued Versál, paying no attention to his confidant's repeated +shaking of his head. "Good Heavens, think of that! One thousand out of +two thousand millions! But so be it. Nobody would listen to me, and now +it is too late. I must fix the number for each class." + +"There is one thing--one curious question--that occurs to me," put in +Smith hesitatingly. "What about families?" + +"There you've hit it," cried Cosmo. "That's exactly what bothers me. +There must be as many women as men--that goes without saying. Then, too, +the strongest moral element is in the women, although they don't weigh +heavily for science. But the aged people and the children--there's the +difficulty. If I invite a man who possesses unquestionable +qualifications, but has a large family, what am I to do? I can't crowd +out others as desirable as he for the sake of carrying all of his +stirpes. The principles of eugenics demand a wide field of selection." + +Cosmo Versál covered his eyes, rested his big head on his hands, and his +elbows on the table. Presently he looked up with an air of decision. + +"I see what I must do," he said. "I can take only four persons belonging +to any one family. Two of them may be children--a man, his wife, and two +children--no more." + +"But that will be very hard lines for them--" began Joseph Smith. + +"Hard lines!" Cosmo broke in. "Do you think it is easy lines for me? +Good Heavens, man! I am forced to this decision. It rends my heart to +think of it, but I can't avoid the responsibility." + +Smith dropped his eyes, and Cosmo resumed his reflections. In a little +while he spoke again: + +"Another thing that I must fix is an age limit. But that will have to be +subject to certain exceptions. Very aged persons in general will not +do--they could not survive the long voyage, and only in the rare +instances where their experience of life might be valuable would they +serve any good purpose in reëstablishing the race. Children are +indispensable--but they must not be too young--infants in arms would not +do at all. Oh, this is sorry work! But I must harden my heart." + +Joseph Smith looked at his chief, and felt a twinge of sympathy, +tempered by admiration, for he saw clearly the terrible contest in his +friend's mind and appreciated the heroic nature of the decision to which +the inexorable logic of facts had driven it. + +Cosmo Versál was again silent for a long time. Finally he appeared to +throw off the incubus, and, with a return of his ordinary decisiveness, +exclaimed: + +"Enough. I have settled the general principle. Now to the choice." + +Then, closing his eyes, as if to assist his memory, he ran over a list +of names well known in the world of science, and Smith set them down in +a long row under the name of "Abiel Pludder," with which he had begun. + +At last Cosmo Versál ceased his dictation. + +"There," he said, "that is the end of that category. I may add to or +subtract from it later. According to probability, making allowance for +bachelors, each name will represent three persons; there are +seventy-five names, which means two hundred and twenty-five places +reserved for science. I will now make a series of other categories and +assign the number of places for each." + +He seized a sheet of paper and fell to work, while Smith looked on, +drumming with his fingers and contorting his huge black eyebrows. For +half an hour complete silence reigned, broken only by the gliding sound +of Cosmo Versál's pencil, occasionally emphasized by a soft thump. At +the end of that time he threw down the pencil and held out the paper to +his companion. + +"Of course," he said, "this is not a complete list of human occupations. +I have set down the principal ones as they occurred to me. There will be +time to correct any oversight. Read it." + +Smith, by force of habit, read it aloud: + + No. of Probable No. +Occupation Names of Places + +Science (already assigned) 75 225 +Rulers 15 45 +Statesmen 10 30 +Business magnates 10 30 +Philanthropists 5 15 +Artists 15 45 +Religious teachers 20 60 +School-teachers 20 60 +Doctors 30 90 +Lawyers 1 3 +Writers 6 18 +Editors 2 6 +Players 14 42 +Philosophers 1 3 +Musicians 12 36 +Speculative geniuses 3 9 +"Society" 0 0 +Agriculture and mechanics 90 270 + ____ ____ + Totals 329 987 +Special reservations 13 + ____ + Grand total, places 1000 + +Several times while Joseph Smith was reading he raised his eyebrows, as +if in surprise or mental protest, but made no remark. + +"Now," resumed Cosmo when the secretary had finished, "let us begin with +the rulers. I do not know them as intimately as I know the men of +science, but I am sure I have given them places enough. Suppose you take +this book and call them over to me." + +Smith opened the "year-book," and began: + +"George Washington Samson, President of the United States." + +"He goes. He is not intellectually brilliant, but he has strong sense +and good moral fiber. I'll save him if for no other reason than his veto +of the Antarctic Continent grab bill." + +"Shen Su, Son of Heaven, President-Emperor of China." + +"Put him down. I like him. He is a true Confucian." + +Joseph Smith read off several other names at which Cosmo shook his head. +Then he came to: + +"Richard Edward, by the grace of God, King of Great--" + +"Enough," broke in Cosmo; "we all know him--the man who has done more +for peace by putting half the British navy out of commission than any +other ruler in history. I can't leave him out." + +"Achille Dumont, President of the French republic." + +"I'll take him." + +"William IV, German Emperor." + +"Admitted, for he has at last got the war microbe out of the family +blood." + +Then followed a number of rulers who were not lucky enough to meet with +Cosmo Versál's approval, and when Smith read: + +"Alexander V, Emperor of all the Russias," the big head was violently +shaken, and its owner exclaimed: + +"There will be many Russians in the ark, for tyranny has been like a +lustration to that people; but I will carry none of its Romanoff seeds +to my new world." + +The selection was continued until fifteen names had been obtained, +including that of the new, dark-skinned President of Liberia, and Cosmo +declared that he would not add another one. + +Then came the ten statesmen who were chosen with utter disregard to +racial and national lines. + +In selecting his ten business magnates, Cosmo stated his rule: + +"I exclude no man simply because he is a billionaire. I consider the way +he made his money. The world must always have rich men. How could I have +built the ark if I had been poor?" + +"Philanthropists," read Smith. + +"I should have taken a hundred if I could have found them," said Cosmo. +"There are plenty of candidates, but these five [naming them] are the +only genuine ones, and I am doubtful about several of them. But I must +run some chances, philanthropy being indispensable." + +For the fifteen representatives of art Cosmo confined his selection +largely to architecture. + +"The building instinct must be preserved," he explained. "One of the +first things we shall need after the flood recedes is a variety of all +kinds of structures. But it's a pretty bad lot at the best. I shall try +to reform their ideas during the voyage. As to the other artists, they, +too, will need some hints that I can give them, and that they can +transmit to their children." + +Under the head of religious teachers, Cosmo remarked that he had tried +to be fair to all forms of genuine faith that had a large following. The +school-teachers represented the principal languages, and Cosmo selected +the names from a volume on "The Educational Systems of the World," +remarking that he ran some risk here, but it could not easily be +avoided. + +"Doctors--they get a rather liberal allowance, don't they?" asked Smith. + +"Not half as large as I'd like to have it," was the response. "The +doctors are the salt of the earth. It breaks my heart to have to leave +out so many whose worth I know." + +"And only one lawyer!" pursued Joseph. "That's curious." + +"Not in the least curious. Do you think I want to scatter broadcast the +seeds of litigation in a regenerated world? Put down the name of Chief +Justice Good of the United States Supreme Court. He'll see that equity +prevails." + +"And only six writers," continued Smith. + +"And that's probably too many," said Cosmo. "Set down under that head +Peter Inkson, whom I will engage to record the last scenes on the +drowning earth; James Henry Blackwitt, who will tell the story of the +voyage; Jules Bourgeois, who can describe the personnel of the +passengers; Sergius Narishkoff, who will make a study of their +psychology; and Nicolao Ludolfo, whose description of the ark will be an +invaluable historic document a thousand years hence." + +"But you have included no poets," remarked Smith. + +"Not necessary," responded Cosmo. "Every human being is a poet at +bottom." + +"And no novelists," persisted the secretary. + +"They will spring up thicker than weeds before the waters are half +gone--at least, they would if I let one aboard the ark." + +"Editors--two?" + +"That's right. And two too many, perhaps. I'll take Jinks of the +_Thunderer_, and Bullock of the _Owl._" + +"But both of them have persistently called you an idiot." + +"For that reason I want them. No world could get along without some real +idiots." + +"I am rather surprised at the next entry, if you will permit me to speak +of it," said Joseph Smith. "Here you have forty-two places reserved for +players." + +"That means twenty-eight adults, and probably some youngsters who will +be able to take parts," returned Cosmo, rubbing his hands with a +satisfied smile. "I have taken as many players as I conscientiously +could, not only because of their future value, but because they will do +more than anything else to keep up the spirits of everybody in the ark. +I shall have a stage set in the largest saloon." + +Joseph Smith scowled, but held his peace. Then, glancing again at the +paper, he remarked that there was but one philosopher to be provided +for. + +"It is easy to name him," said Cosmo. "Kant Jacobi Leergeschwätz." + +"Why he?" + +"Because he will harmlessly represent the metaphysical _genus_, for +nobody will ever understand him." + +"Musicians twelve?" + +"Chosen for the same reason as the players," said Cosmo, rapidly writing +down twelve names because they were not easy to pronounce, and handing +them to Smith, who duly copied them off. + +When this was done Cosmo himself called out the next +category--"'speculative geniuses.'" + +"I mean by that," he continued, "not Wall Street speculators, but +foreseeing men who possess the gift of looking into the 'seeds of time,' +but who never get a hearing in their own day, and are hardly ever +remembered by the future ages which enjoy the fruits whose buds they +recognized." + +Cosmo mentioned two names which Joseph Smith had never heard, and told +him they ought to be written in golden ink. + +"They are _sui generis_, and alone in the world. They are the most +precious cargo I shall have aboard," he added. + +Smith shrugged his shoulders and stared blankly at the paper, while +Cosmo sank into a reverie. Finally the secretary said, smiling with +evident approval this time: + +"'Society' zero." + +"Precisely, for what does 'society' represent except its own vanity?" + +"And then comes agriculture and mechanics." + +For this category Cosmo seemed to be quite as well prepared as for that +of science. He took from his pocket a list already made out and handed +it to Joseph Smith. It contained forty names marked "cultivators, +farmers, gardeners," and fifty "mechanics." + +"At the beginning of the twentieth century," he said, "I should have had +to reverse that proportion--in fact, my entire list would then have been +top-heavy, and I should have been forced to give half of all the places +to agriculture. But thanks to our scientific farming, the personnel +employed in cultivation is now reduced to a minimum while showing +maximum results. I have already stored the ark with seeds of the latest +scientifically developed plants, and with all the needed agricultural +implements and machinery." + +"There yet remain thirteen places 'specially reserved,'" said Smith, +referring to the paper. + +"I shall fill those later," responded Cosmo, and then added with a +thoughtful look, "I have some humble friends." + +"The next thing," he continued, after a pause, "is to prepare the +letters of invitation. But we have done enough for to-night. I will give +you the form to-morrow." + +And all this while half the world had been peacefully sleeping, and the +other half going about its business, more and more forgetful of recent +events, and if it had known what those two men were about it would +probably have exploded in a gust of laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE + + +Cosmo Versál had begun the construction of his ark in the latter part of +June. It was now the end of November. The terrors of the _third +sign_ had occurred in September. Since then the sky had nearly +resumed its normal color, there had been no storms, but the heat of +summer had not relaxed. People were puzzled by the absence of the usual +indications of autumn, although vegetation had shriveled on account of +the persistent high temperature and constant sunshine. + +"An extraordinary year," admitted the meteorologists, "but there have +been warm falls before, and it is simply a question of degree. Nature +will restore the balance and in good time, and probably we shall have a +severe winter." + +On the 31st of November, the brassy sky at New York showed no signs of +change, when the following dispatch, which most of the newspapers +triple-leaded and capped with stunning headlines, quivered down from +Churchill, Keewatin: + + During last night the level of the water in Hudson Bay rose + fully nine feet. Consternation reigned this morning when + ship-owners found their wharves inundated, and vessels straining + at short cables. The ice-breaker "Victoria" was lifted on the + back of a sandy bar, having apparently been driven by a heavy + wave, which must have come from the East. There are other + indications that the mysterious rise began with a "bore" from + the eastward. It is thought that the vast mass of icebergs set + afloat on Davis's Strait by the long continued hot weather + melting the shore glaciers, has caused a jam off the mouth of + Hudson Strait, and turned the Polar current suddenly into the + bay. But this is only a theory. A further rise is anticipated. + +Startling as was this news, it might not, by itself, have greatly +disturbed the public mind if it had not been followed, in a few hours, +by intelligence of immense floods in Alaska and in the basin of the +Mackenzie River. + +And the next day an etherogram from Obdorsk bordered on the grotesque, +and filled many sensitive readers with horror. + +It is said that in the vast tundra regions of Northern Siberia the +frozen soil had dissolved into a bottomless slough, from whose depths +uprose prehistoric mammoths, their long hair matted with mud, and their +curved tusks of ivory gleaming like trumpets over the field of their +resurrection. The dispatch concluded with a heart-rending account of the +loss of a large party of ivory hunters, who, having ventured too far +from the more solid land, suddenly found the ground turning to black +ooze beneath their feet, and, despite their struggles, were all engulfed +within sight of their friends, who dared not try to approach them. + +Cosmo Versál, when interviewed, calmly remarked that the flood was +beginning in the north, because it was the northern part of the globe +that was nearest the heart of the nebula. The motion of the earth being +northward, that end of its axis resembled the prow of a ship. + +"But this," he added, "is not the true deluge. The Arctic ice-cap is +melting, and the frozen soil is turning into a sponge in consequence of +the heat of friction developed in the air by the inrush of nebulous +matter. The aqueous vapor, however, has not yet touched the earth. It +will begin to manifest its presence within a few days, and then the +globe will drink water at every pore. The vapor will finally condense +into falling oceans." + +"What would you advise people to do?" asked one of the reporters. + +The reply was given in a perfectly even voice, without change of +countenance: + +"_Commit suicide_! They have practically done that already." + +It was nearly two weeks later when the first signs of a change of +weather were manifested in middle latitudes. It came on with a rapid +veiling of the sky, followed by a thin, misty, persistent rain. The heat +grew more oppressive, but the rain did not become heavier, and after a +few days there would be, for several consecutive hours, a clear spell, +during which the sun would shine, though with a sickly, pallid light. + +There was a great deal of mystification abroad, and nobody felt at ease. +Still, the ebullitions of terror that had accompanied the earlier +caprices of the elements were not renewed. People were getting used to +these freaks. + +In the middle of one of the clear spells a remarkable scene occurred at +Mineola. + +It was like a panorama of the seventh chapter of Genesis. + +It was the procession of the beasts. + +Cosmo Versál had concluded that the time was come for housing his +animals in the ark. He wished to accustom them to their quarters before +the voyage began. The resulting spectacle filled the juvenile world with +irrepressible joy, and immensely interested their elders. + +No march of a menagerie had ever come within sight of equaling this +display. Many of the beasts were such as no one there had ever seen +before. Cosmo had consulted experts, but, in the end, he had been guided +in his choice by his own judgment. Nobody knew as well as he exactly +what was wanted. He had developed in his mind a scheme for making the +new world that was to emerge from the waters better in every respect +than the old one. + +Mingled with such familiar creatures as sheep, cows, dogs, and barn-yard +fowls, were animals of the past, which the majority of the onlookers had +only read about or seen pictures of, or perhaps, in a few cases, heard +described in childhood, by grandfathers long since sleeping in their +graves. + +Cosmo had rapidly collected them from all parts of the world, but as +they arrived in small consignments, and were carried in closed vans, +very few persons had any idea of what he was doing. + +The greatest sensation was produced by four beautiful horses, which had +been purchased at an enormous price from an English duke, who never +would have parted with them--for they were almost the last living +representatives of the equine race left on the earth--if financial +stress had not compelled the sacrifice. + +These splendid animals were dapple gray, with long white tails, and +flowing manes borne proudly on their arching necks, and as they were led +at the head of the procession, snorting at the unwonted scene about +them, their eyes bright with excitement, prancing and curvetting, cries +of admiration and rounds of applause broke from the constantly growing +throngs of spectators. + +Those who had only known the horse from pictures and sculptures were +filled with astonishment by its living beauty. People could not help +saying to themselves: + +"What a pity that the honking auto, in its hundred forms of mechanical +ugliness, should have driven these beautiful and powerful creatures out +of the world! What could our forefathers have been thinking of?" + +A few elephants, collected from African zoölogical gardens, and some +giraffes, also attracted a great deal of attention, but the horses were +the favorites with the crowd. + +Cosmo might have had lions and tigers, and similar beasts, which had +been preserved, in larger numbers than the useful horse, but when Joseph +Smith suggested their inclusion he shook his head, declaring that it was +better that they should perish. As far as possible, he averred, he would +eliminate all carnivores. + +In some respects, even more interesting to the onlookers than the +animals of the past, were the animals of the future that marched in the +procession. Few of them had ever been seen outside the experimental +stations where they had been undergoing the process of artificial +evolution. + +There were the stately white Californian cattle, without horns, but of +gigantic stature, the cows, it was said, being capable of producing +twenty times more milk than their ancestral species, and of a vastly +superior quality. + +There were the Australian rabbits, as large as Newfoundland dogs, though +short-legged, and furnishing food of the most exquisite flavor; and the +Argentine sheep, great balls of snowy wool, moving smartly along on legs +three feet in length. + +The greatest astonishment was excited by the "grand astoria terrapin," a +developed species of diamond-back tortoise, whose exquisitely sculptured +convex back, lurching awkwardly as it crawled, rose almost three feet +above the ground; and the "new century turkey," which carried its beacon +head and staring eyes as high as a tall man's hat. + +The end of the procession was formed of animals familiar to everybody, +and among them were cages of monkeys (concerning whose educational +development Cosmo Versál had theories of his own) and a large variety of +birds, together with boxes of insect eggs and chrysalids. + +The delight of the boys who had chased after the procession culminated +when the animals began to ascend the sloping ways into the ark. + +The horses shied and danced, making the metallic flooring resound like a +rattle of thunder; the elephants trumpeted; the sheep baaed and crowded +themselves into inextricable masses against the guard-rails; the huge +new cattle moved lumberingly up the slope, turning their big white heads +inquiringly about; the tall turkeys stretched their red coral necks and +gobbled with Brobdingnagian voices; and the great terrapins were +ignominiously attached to cables and drawn up the side of the ark, +helplessly waving their immense flappers in the air. + +And when the sensational entry was finished, the satisfied crowd turned +away, laughing, joking, chattering, with never a thought that it was +anything more than the most amusing exhibition they had ever seen! + +But when they got back in the city streets they met a flying squadron of +yelling newsboys, and seizing the papers from their hands read, in big +black letters: + + "AWFUL FLOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI! + + "Thousands of People Drowned! + + "THE STORM COMING THIS WAY!" + +It was a startling commentary on the recent scene at the ark, and many +turned pale as they read. + +But the storm did not come in the way expected. The deluging rains +appeared to be confined to the Middle West and the Northwest, while at +New York the sky simply grew thicker and seemed to squeeze out moisture +in the form of watery dust. This condition lasted for some time, and +then came what everybody, even the most skeptical, had been secretly +dreading. + +The ocean began to rise! + +The first perception of this startling fact, according to a newspaper +account, came in a very strange, roundabout way to a man living on the +outskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city had +spread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay. + +About three o'clock in the morning, this man, who it appears was a +policeman off duty, was awakened by scurrying sounds in the house. He +struck a light, and seeing dark forms issuing from the cellar, went down +to investigate. The ominous gleam of water, reflecting the light of his +lamp, told him that the cellar was inundated almost to the top of the +walls. + +"Come down here, Annie!" he shouted to his wife. "Sure 'tis Cosmo Versál +is invadin' the cellar with his flood. The rats are lavin' us." + +Seeing that the slight foundation walls were crumbling, he hurried his +family into the street, and not too soon, for within ten minutes the +house was in ruins. + +Neighbors, living in equally frail structures, were awakened, and soon +other undermined houses fell. Terror spread through the quarter, and +gradually half the city was aroused. + +When day broke, residents along the water-front in Manhattan found their +cellars flooded, and South and West Streets swimming with water, which +was continually rising. It was noted that the hour was that of +flood-tide, but nobody had ever heard of a tide so high as this. + +Alarm deepened into terror when the time for the tide to ebb arrived and +there was no ebbing. On the contrary, the water continued to rise. The +government observer at the Highlands telephoned that Sandy Hook was +submerged. Soon it was known that Coney Island, Rockaway, and all the +seaside places along the south shore of Long Island were under water. +The mighty current poured in through the Narrows with the velocity of a +mill-race. The Hudson, set backward on its course, rushed northward with +a raging bore at its head that swelled higher until it licked the feet +of the rock chimneys of the Palisades. + +But when the terror inspired by this sudden invasion from the sea was at +its height there came unexpected relief. The water began to fall more +rapidly than it had risen. It rushed out through the Narrows faster than +it had rushed in, and ships, dragged from their anchorage in the upper +harbor, were carried out seaward, some being stranded on the sandbanks +and shoals in the lower bay. + +Now again houses standing on made ground, whose foundations had been +undermined, fell with a crash, and many were buried in the ruins. + +Notwithstanding the immense damage and loss of life, the recession of +the waters immediately had a reassuring effect, and the public, in +general, was disposed to be comforted by the explanation of the weather +officials, who declared that what had occurred was nothing more than an +unprecedentedly high tide, probably resulting from some unforeseen +disturbance out at sea. + +The phenomenon had been noted all along the Atlantic coast. The chief +forecaster ventured the assertion that a volcanic eruption had occurred +somewhere on the line from Halifax to Bermuda. He thought that the +probable location of the upheaval had been at Munn's Reef, about halfway +between those points, and the more he discussed his theory the readier +he became to stake his reputation on its correctness, for, he said, it +was impossible that any combination of the effects of high and low +pressures could have created such a surge of the ocean, while a volcanic +wave, combining with the regular oscillation of the tide, could have +done it easily. + +But Cosmo Versál smiled at this explanation, and said in reply: + +"The whole Arctic ice-cap is dissolved, and the condensation of the +nebula is at hand. But there is worse behind. When the wave comes back +it will rise higher." + +As the time for the next flood-tide grew near, anxious eyes were on the +watch to see how high the water would go. There was something in the +mere manner of its approach that made the nerves tingle. + +It speeded toward the beaches, combing into rollers at an unwonted +distance from shore; plunged with savage violence upon the sands of the +shallows, as if it would annihilate them; and then, spreading swiftly, +ran with terrific speed up the strand, seeming to devour everything it +touched. After each recoil it sprang higher and roared louder and grew +blacker with the mud that it had ground up from the bottom. Miles inland +the ground trembled with the fast-repeated shocks. + +Again the Hudson was hurled backward until a huge bore of water burst +over the wharves at Albany. Every foot of ground in New York less than +twenty feet above the mean high tide level was inundated. The +destruction was enormous, incalculable. Ocean liners moored along the +wharves were, in some cases, lifted above the level of the neighboring +streets, and sent crashing into the buildings along the water-front. + +Etherograms told, in broken sentences, of similar experiences on the +western coasts of Europe, and from the Pacific came the news of the +flooding of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and, +in fact, every coast-lying town. On the western coast of South America +the incoming waves broke among the foothills of the Andes. + +It was as if the mighty basins of the world's two greatest oceans were +being rocked to and fro, sending the waters spinning from side to side. + +And to add to the horror of the situation, every volcano on the globe +seemed to burst simultaneously into activity, probably through the +effects of the invasion of sea water into the subterranean fire, while +the strain of the unwonted weight thrown upon the coasts broke open the +tectonic lines of weakness in the earth's crust, causing the most +terrible earthquakes, which destroyed much that the water could not +reach. + +From Alaska to Patagonia, from Kamchatka through Japan to the East +Indies, from Mount Hecla to Vesuvius, Etna, and Teneriffe, the raging +oceans were bordered with pouring clouds of volcanic smoke, hurled +upward in swift succeeding puffs, as if every crater had become the +stack of a stupendous steam-engine driven at its maddest speed; while +immense rivers of lava flamed down the mountain flanks and plunged into +the invading waters with reverberated roarings, hissings, and explosions +that seemed to shake the framework of the globe. + +During the second awful shoreward heave of the Atlantic a scene occurred +off New York Bay that made the stoutest nerves quiver. A great crowd had +collected on the Highlands of the Navesink to watch the ingress of the +tidal wave. + +Suddenly, afar off, the smoke of an approaching ocean liner was seen. It +needed but a glance to show that she was struggling with tremendous +surges. Sometimes she sank completely out of sight; then she reappeared, +riding high on the waves. Those who had glasses recognized her. Word ran +from mouth to mouth that it was the great _Atlantis_, the mightiest +of the ocean monarchs, of a hundred thousand tons register, coming from +Europe, and bearing, without question, many thousands of souls. + +She was flying signals of distress, and filling the ether with her +inarticulate calls for help, which quavered into every radiograph +station within a radius of hundreds of miles. + +But, at the same time, she was battling nobly for herself and for the +lives of her passengers and crew. From her main peak the Stars and +Stripes streamed in the tearing wind. There were many in the watching +throngs who personally knew her commander, Captain Basil Brown, and who +felt that if any human being could bring the laboring ship through +safely, he could. Aid from land was not to be thought of for a moment. + +As she swiftly drew nearer, hurled onward by the resistless surges with +the speed of an express train, the captain was recognized on his bridge, +balancing himself amid the lurches of the vessel; and even at that +distance, and in those terrible circumstances, there was something in +his bearing perceptible to those who breathlessly watched him, through +powerful glasses, which spoke of perfect self-command, entire absence of +fear, and iron determination to save his ship or die with her under his +feet. + +It could be seen that he was issuing orders and watching their +execution, but precisely what their nature was, of course, could only be +guessed. His sole hope must be to keep the vessel from being cast +ashore. There was no danger from the shoals, for they were by this time +deeply covered by the swelling of the sea. + +Slowly, slowly, with a terrific straining of mechanic energies, which +pressed the jaws of the watchers together with spasmodic sympathy, as if +their own nervous power were cooperating in the struggle, the gallant +ship bore her head round to face the driving waves. From the ten huge, +red stacks columns of inky black smoke poured out as the stokers crammed +the furnaces beneath. It was man against nature, human nerve and +mechanical science against blind force. + +It began to look as if the _Atlantis_ would win the battle. She was +now fearfully close to the shore, but her bow had been turned into the +very eye of the sea, and one could almost feel the tension of her steel +muscles as she seemed to spring to the encounter. The billows that split +themselves in quick succession on her sharp stem burst into shooting +geysers three hundred feet high. + +The hearts of the spectators almost ceased to beat. Their souls were +wrapped up with the fate of the brave ship. They forgot the terrors of +their own situation, the peril of the coming flood, and saw nothing but +the agonized struggle before their eyes. With all their inward strength +they prayed against the ocean. + +Such a contest could not last long. Suddenly, as the _Atlantis_ +swerved a little aside, a surge that towered above her loftiest deck +rushed upon her. She was lifted like a cockleshell upon its crest, her +huge hull spun around, and the next minute, with a crash that resounded +above the roar of the maddened sea, she was dashed in pieces. + +At the very last moment before the vessel disappeared in the whirling +breakers, to be strewed in broken and twisted bits of battered metal +upon the pounding sands, Captain Basil Brown was seen on the commander's +bridge. + +No sooner had this tragedy passed than the pent-up terror broke forth, +and men ran for their lives, ran for their homes, ran to _do +something_--something, but what?--to save themselves and their dear +ones. + +For now, at last, they _believed!_ + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +STORMING THE ARK + + +There was to be no more respite now. The time of warnings was past. The +"signs" had all been shown to a skeptical and vacillating world, and at +last the fulfillment was at hand. + +There was no crying of "extras" in the streets, for men had something +more pressing to think of than sending and reading news about their +distresses and those of their fellow-men. Many of the newspapers ceased +publication; every business place was abandoned; there was no thought +but of the means of escape. + +But how should they escape? And whither should they fly? + +The lower lying streets were under water. The Atlantic still surged back +and forth as if the ocean itself were in agony. And every time the waves +poured in they rose higher. The new shores of the bay, and the new +coasts of Long Island and New Jersey, receding inward hour by hour, were +strewn with the wrecks of hundreds of vessel of all kinds which had been +caught by the surges and pitilessly hurled to destruction. + +Even if men did not yet fully believe in Cosmo Versál's theory of a +whelming nebula, they were terrified to the bottom of their souls by the +conviction, which nobody could resist, that the vast ice-fields of the +north, the glaciers of Greenland, the icy mountains of Alaska, had +melted away under the terrible downpour of heat, and were swelling the +oceans over their brims. And then a greater fear dropped like a blanket +upon them. Some one thought of the _antarctic ice._ + +The latest dispatches that had come, before the cessation of all +communication to the newspapers, had told of the prevalence of stifling +heat throughout the southern hemisphere, and of the vast fleets of +antarctic icebergs that filled the south seas. The mighty deposits of +ice, towering to mountain heights, that stretched a thousand miles in +every direction around the south pole were melting as the arctic ice had +melted, and, when the water thus formed was added to the already +overflowing seas, to what elevation might not the flood attain! + +The antarctic ice was known to be the principal mass of frozen water on +the globe. The frigid cap of the north was nothing in comparison with +it. It had long been believed that that tremendous accumulation +unbalanced the globe and was the principal cause of the unsteadiness of +the earth's axis of rotation. + +Every fresh exploration had only served to magnify the conception of the +incredible vastness of that deposit. The skirts of the Antarctic +Continent had proved to be rich in minerals wherever the rocks could +find a place to penetrate through the gigantic burden of ice, and the +principal nations had quarreled over the possession or control of these +protruding bits of wealth-crammed strata. But behind the bordering +cliffs of ice, rising in places a thousand feet above the level of the +sea, and towering farther inland so high that this region was, in mean +elevation, the loftiest on the planet, nothing but ice could be seen. + +And now that ice was dissolving and flowing into the swollen oceans, +adding billions of tons of water every minute! + +Men did not stop to calculate, as Cosmo Versál had done, just how much +the dissolution of all the ice and permanent snow of the globe would add +to the volume of the seas. He knew that it would be but a drop in the +bucket--although sufficient to start the flood--and that the great thing +to be feared was the condensation of the aqueous nebula, already +beginning to enwrap the planet in its stifling folds. + +The public could understand the melting ice, although it could not fully +understand the nebula; it could understand the swelling sea, and the +raging rivers, and the lakes breaking over their banks--and the terror +and despair became universal. + +But what should they _do?_ + +Those who had thought of building arks hurried to see if the work might +not yet be completed, but most of them had begun their foundations on +low land, which was already submerged. + +Then a cry arose, terrible in its significance and in its +consequences--one of those cries that the vanished but unconquerable god +Pan occasionally sets ringing, nobody can tell how: + +"Cosmo's ark! Get aboard! Storm it!" + +And thereupon there was a mighty rush for Mineola. Nobody who caught the +infection stopped to reason. Some of them had to wade through water, +which in places was knee-deep. They came from various directions, and +united in a yelling mob. They meant to carry the ark with a rush. They +would not be denied. As the excited throngs neared the great vessel they +saw its huge form rising like a mount of safety, with an American flag +flapping over it, and they broke into a mighty cheer. On they sped, +seized with the unreason of a crowd, shouting, falling over one another, +struggling, fighting for places, men dragging their wives and children +through the awful crush, many trampled helpless under the myriads of +struggling feet--driving the last traces of sanity from one another's +minds. + +The foremost ranks presently spied Cosmo Versál, watching them from an +open gangway sixty feet above their heads. They were dismayed at finding +the approaches gone. How should they get into the ark? How could they +climb up its vertical sides? + +But they would find means. They would re-erect the approaches. They +would _get in somehow_. + +Cosmo waved them off with frantic gesticulations; then, through a +trumpet, he shouted in a voice audible above the din: + +"Keep back, for your lives!" + +But they paid no attention to him; they rushed upon the raised wall, +surrounding the field where Cosmo had buried his mysterious lines of +wire. Then the meaning of that enigmatical work was flashed upon them. + +As the first to arrive laid their hands upon the top of the low wall +they fell as if shot through the brain, tumbling backward on those +behind. Others pushed wildly on, but the instant they touched the wall +they too collapsed. Wicked blue-green sparks occasionally flashed above +the struggling mass. + +The explanation was clear. Cosmo, foreseeing the probability of a +despairing attack, had surrounded the ark with an impassable electric +barrier. The sound of a whirring dynamo could be heard. A tremendous +current was flowing through the hidden wires and transmitting its +paralyzing energy to the metallic crest of the wall. + +Still those behind pushed on, until rank after rank had sunk helpless at +the impregnable line of defense. They were not killed--at least, not +many--but the shock was so paralyzing that those who had experienced its +effects made no further attempts to cross the barrier. Many lay for a +time helpless upon the sodden ground. + +Cosmo and Joseph Smith, who had now appeared at his side, continued to +shout warnings, which began to be heeded when the nature of the obstacle +became known. The rush was stopped, and the multitude stood at bay, +dazed, and uncertain what to do. Then a murmur arose, growing louder and +more angry and threatening, until suddenly a shot was heard in the midst +of the crowd, and Cosmo was seen to start backward, while Joseph Smith +instantly dodged out of sight. + +A cry arose: + +"Shoot him! That's right! Shoot the devil! He's a witch! He's drowning +the world!" + +They meant it--at least, half of them did. It was the logic of terror. + +Hundreds of shots were now fired from all quarters, and heads that had +been seen flitting behind the various portholes instantly disappeared. +The bullets rattled on the huge sides of the ark, but they came from +small pistols and had not force enough to penetrate. + +Cosmo Versál alone remained in sight. Occasionally a quick motion showed +that even his nerves were not steady enough to defy the whistling of the +bullets passing close; but he held his ground, and stretched out his +hand to implore attention. + +When the fusillade ceased for a moment he put his trumpet again to his +lips and shouted: + +"I have done my best to save you, but you would not listen. Although I +know that you must perish, I would not myself harm a hair of your heads. +Go back, I implore you. You may prolong your lives if you will fly to +the highlands and the mountains--but here you cannot enter. _The ark +is full._" + +Another volley of shots was the only answer. One broad-shouldered man +forced his way to the front, took his stand close to the wall, and +yelled in stentorian tones: + +"Cosmo Versál, listen to me! You are the curse of the world! You have +brought this flood upon us with your damnable incantations. Your +infernal nebula is the seal of Satan! Here, beast and devil, here at my +feet, lies my only son, slain by your hellish device. By the Eternal I +swear you shall go back to the pit!" + +Instantly a pistol flashed in the speaker's hand, and five shots rang in +quick succession. One after another they whistled by Cosmo's head and +flattened themselves upon the metal-work behind. Cosmo Versál, +untouched, folded his arms and looked straight at his foe. The man, +staring a moment confusedly, as if he could not comprehend his failure, +threw up his arms with a despairing gesture, and fell prone upon the +ground. + +Then yells and shots once more broke out. Cosmo stepped back, and a +great metallic door swung to, closing the gangway. + +But three minutes later the door opened, and the mob saw two +machine-guns trained upon them. + +Once more Cosmo appeared, with the trumpet. + +"If you fire again," he cried, "I shall sweep you with grapeshot. I have +told you how you can prolong your lives. Now go!" + +Not another shot was fired. In the face of the guns, whose terrible +power all comprehended, no one dared to make a hostile movement. + +But, perhaps, if Cosmo Versál had not set new thoughts running in the +minds of the assailants by telling them there was temporary safety to be +found by seeking high ground, even the terror of the guns would not have +daunted them. Now their hopefulness was reawakened, and many began to +ponder upon his words. + +"He says we must perish, and yet that we can find safety in the hills +and mountains," said one man. "I believe half of that is a lie. We are +not going to be drowned. The water won't rise much higher. The flood +from the south pole that they talk about must be here by this time, and +then what's left to come?" + +"The nebula," suggested one. + +"Aw, the nebula be hanged! There's no such thing! I live on high ground; +I'm going to keep a sharp outlook, and if the water begins to shut off +Manhattan I'll take my family up the Hudson to the Highlands. I guess +old Storm King'll keep his head above. That's where I come from--up that +way. I used to hear people say when I was a boy that New York was bound +to sink some day. I used to laugh at that then, but it looks mighty like +it now, don't it?" + +"Say," put in another, "what did the fellow mean by saying the ark was +_full_? That's funny, ain't it? Who's he got inside, anyway?" + +"Oh, he ain't got nobody," said another. + +"Yes, he has. I seen a goodish lot through the portholes. He's got +somebody, sure." + +"A lot of fools like himself, most likely." + +"Well, if he's a fool, and they's fools, what are _we_, I'd like to +know? What did you come here for, hey?" + +It was a puzzling question, and brought forth only a sheepish laugh, +followed by the remark: + +"I guess we fooled ourselves considerable. We got scared too easy." + +"Maybe you'll feel scared again when you see the water climbing up the +streets in New York. I don't half like this thing. I'm going to follow +his advice and light out for higher ground." + +Soon conversation of this sort was heard on all sides, and the crowd +began to disperse, only those lingering behind who had friends or +relatives that had been struck down at the fatal wall. It turned out +that not more than one or two had been mortally shocked. The rest were +able to limp away, and many had fully recovered within five minutes +after suffering the shock. In half an hour not a dozen persons were in +sight from the ark. + +But when the retreating throngs drew near the shores of the Sound, and +the East River, which had expanded into a true arm of the sea, and found +that there had been a perceptible rise since they set out to capture the +ark, they began to shake their heads and fear once more entered their +hearts. + +Thousands then and there resolved that they would not lose another +instant in setting out for high land, up the Hudson, in Connecticut, +among the hills of New Jersey. In fact, many had already fled thither, +some escaping on aeros; and hosts would now have followed but for a +marvelous change that came just before nightfall and prevented them. + +For some days the heavens had alternately darkened and lightened, as +gushes of mist came and went, but there had been no actual rain. Now, +without warning, a steady downpour began. Even at the beginning it would +have been called, in ordinary times, a veritable cloudburst; but it +rapidly grew worse and worse, until there was no word in the vernacular +or in the terminology of science to describe it. + +It seemed, in truth, that "all the fountains of the great deep were +broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." The water thundered +upon the roofs, and poured off them in torrents. In five minutes every +sloping street had become an angry river, and every level place a +swelling lake. People caught out of doors were almost beaten to the +ground by the force of the water falling upon them as if they had been +standing under a cataract. + +In a short time every cellar and every basement was filled to +overflowing, and in the avenues the flood, lapping every instant higher +upon the doorsteps and the walls, rushed by with frightful roarings, +bearing in its awful embrace pieces of furniture, clothing, bedding, +washed out of ground-floor rooms--and, alas! human beings; some +motionless, already mercifully deprived of life, but others struggling +and shouting for aid which could not be given. + +So terrible a spectacle no one had ever looked upon, no one had ever +imagined. Those who beheld it were too stunned to cry out, too +overwhelmed with terror and horror to utter a word. They stood, or fell +into chairs or upon the floor, trembling in every limb, with staring +eyes and drooping jaws, passively awaiting their fate. + +As night came on there was no light. The awful darkness of the _third +sign_ once more settled upon the great city, but now it was not the +terror of indefinite expectation that crushed down the souls of men and +women--it was the weight of doom accomplished! + +There was no longer any room for self-deception; every quaking heart +felt now that the nebula had come. _Cosmo Versál had been right!_ + +After the water had attained a certain height in the streets and yards, +depending upon the ratio between the amount descending from the sky and +that which could find its way to the rivers, the flood for the time +being rose no higher. The actual drowning of New York could not happen +until the Hudson and the East River should become so swollen that the +water would stand above the level of the highest buildings, and turn the +whole region round about, as far as the Orange hills, the Ramapo +Mountains, the Highlands, and the Housatonic hills, into an inland sea. + +But before we tell that story we must return to see what was going on at +Mineola. Cosmo Versál, on that awful night when New York first knew +beyond the shadow of a doubt, or the gleam of a hope, that it was +doomed, presided over a remarkable assembly in the grand saloon of his +ark. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED + + +How did it happen that Cosmo Versál was able to inform the mob when it +assailed the ark that he had no room left? + +Who composed his ship's company, whence had they come, and how had they +managed to embark without the knowledge of the public? + +The explanation is quite simple. It was all due to the tremendous +excitement that had prevailed ever since the seas began to overflow. In +the universal confusion people had to think of other things nearer their +doors than the operations of Cosmo Versál. Since the embarkation of the +animals the crowds had ceased to visit the field at Mineola, and it was +only occasionally that even a reporter was sent there. Accordingly, +there were many hours every day when no curiosity-seekers were in sight +of the ark, and at night the neighborhood was deserted; and this state +of affairs continued until the sudden panic which led to the attack that +has been described. + +Cosmo Versál, of course, had every reason to conceal the fact that he +was carefully selecting his company. It was a dangerous game to play, +and he knew it. The consequence was that he enjoined secrecy upon his +invited guests, and conducted them, a few at a time, into the ark, +assuring them that their lives might be in peril if they were +recognized. And once under the domain of the fear which led them to +accept his invitation, they were no less anxious than he to avoid +publicity. Some of them probably desired to avoid recognition through +dread of ridicule; for, after all, the flood might not turn out to be so +bad as Cosmo had predicted. + +So it happened that the ark was filled, little by little, and the public +knew nothing about it. + +And who composed the throng which, while the awful downpour roared on +the ellipsoidal cover of the ark, and shook it to its center and while +New York, a few miles away, saw story after story buried under the +waters, crowded Cosmo's brilliantly lighted saloon, and raised their +voices to a high pitch in order to be heard? + +Had all the invitations which he dictated to Joseph Smith after their +memorable discussion, and which were sent forth in the utmost haste, +flying to every point of the compass, been accepted, and was it the +famous leaders of science, the rulers and crowned heads who had passed +his critical inspection that were now knocking elbows under the great +dome of levium? Had kings and queens stolen incognito under the shelter +of the ark, and magnates of the financial world hidden themselves there? + +It would have been well for them all if they had been there. But, in +fact, many of those to whom the invitations had gone did not even take +the trouble to thank their would-be savior. A few, however, who did not +come in person, sent responses. Among these was the President of the +United States. Mr. Samson's letter was brief but characteristic. It +read: + +To COSMO VERSÁL, ESQ. + +Sir: + +The President directs me to say that he is grateful for your invitation, +and regrets that he cannot accept it. He is informed by those to whose +official advice he feels bound to listen, that the recent extraordinary +events possess no such significance as you attach to them. + +Respectfully, FOR THE PRESIDENT, + +JAMES JENKS, Secretary. + +It must be remembered that this letter was written before the oceanic +overflow began. After that, possibly, the President and his advisers +changed their opinion. But then communication by rail was cut off, and +as soon as the downpour from the sky commenced the aero express lines +were abandoned. The airships would have been deluged, and blown to +destruction by the tremendous gusts which, at intervals, packed the +rain-choked air itself into solid billows of water. + +None of the rulers of the old world responded, but about half the men of +science, and representatives of the other classes that Cosmo had set +down on his list, were wise enough to accept, and they hurried to New +York before the means of transit by land and sea were destroyed. + +Among these were Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, +Austrians, Poles, people from the Balkan states, Swedes, Danes, +Russians, and a few from India, China, and Japan. The clatter of their +various tongues made a very Babel inside the ark, when they talked to +one another in groups, but nearly all of them were able to speak +English, which, after many years of experiment, had been adopted as the +common language for transacting the world's affairs. + +There was another letter, which Cosmo read with real regret, although +hardly with surprise. It was from Professor Pludder. Instead of +expressing gratitude for the invitation, as the President, trained in +political blandiloquence, had done, Professor Pludder indulged in +denunciation. + +"You are insane," he said. "You do not know what you are talking about. +Your letter is an insult to science. These inundations" (this, too, was +written before the sky had opened its flood-gates) "are perfectly +explicable by the ordinary laws of nature. Your talk of a nebula is so +ridiculous that it deserves no reply. If any lunatic accepts your absurd +invitation, and goes into your 'ark,' he will find himself in Bedlam, +where he ought to be." + +"I guess you were right," Cosmo remarked to Joseph Smith, after reading +this outburst. "Pludder would not contribute to the regeneration of +mankind. We are better off without him." + +But Cosmo Versál was mistaken in thinking he had heard the last of Abiel +Pludder. The latter was destined to show that he was hardly a less +remarkable specimen of _homo sapiens_ than the big-headed prophet +of the second deluge himself. + +As soon as it became evident that there would be room to spare in the +ark, Cosmo set at work to fill up the list. He went over his categories +once more, but now, owing to the pressure of time, he was obliged to +confine his selections to persons within easy reach. They came, nearly +all, from New York, or its vicinity; and since these last invitations +went out just on the eve of the events described in the last two +chapters, there was no delay in the acceptances, and the invitees +promptly presented themselves in person. + +Cosmo's warning to them of the necessity of secrecy was superfluous, for +the selfishness of human nature never had a better illustration than +they afforded. The lucky recipients of the invitations stole away +without a word of farewell, circumspectly disappearing, generally at +night, and often in disguise; and when the attack occurred on the ark, +there were, behind the portholes, many anxious eyes cautiously staring +out and recognizing familiar faces in the mob, while the owners of those +eyes trembled in their shoes lest their friends might succeed in forcing +an entrance. After all, it was to be doubted if Cosmo Versál, with all +his vigilance, had succeeded in collecting a company representing +anything above the average quality of the race. + +But there was one thing that did great credit to his heart. When he +found that he had room unoccupied, before adding to his lists he +consented to take more than two children in a family. It was an immense +relief, for--it must be recorded--there were some who, in order to +qualify themselves, had actually abandoned members of their own +families! Let it also be said, however, that many, when they found that +the conditions imposed were inexorable, and that they could only save +themselves by leaving behind others as dear to them as their own lives, +indignantly refused, and most of these did not even reply to the +invitations. + +It was another indication of Cosmo's real humanity, as well as of his +shrewdness, that, as far as they were known, and could be reached, the +persons who had thus remained true to the best instincts of nature were +the first to receive a second invitation, with an injunction to bring +their entire families. So it happened that, after all, there were aged +men and women, as well as children in arms, mingled in that remarkable +assemblage. + +It will be recalled that thirteen places had been specially reserved, to +be filled by Cosmo Versál's personal friends. His choice of these +revealed another pleasing side of his mind. He took thirteen men and +women who had been, in one capacity or another, employed for many years +in his service. Some of them were old family servants that had been in +his father's house. + +"Every one of these persons," he said to Joseph Smith, "is worth his +weight in gold. Their disinterested fidelity to duty is a type of +character that almost became extinct generations ago, and no more +valuable leaven could be introduced into the society of the future. +Rather than leave them, I would stay behind myself." + +Finally there was the crew. This comprised one hundred and fifty +members, all of them chosen from the body of engineers, mechanics, and +workmen who had been employed in the construction of the ark. Cosmo +himself was, of course, the commander, but he had for his lieutenants +skilled mariners, electrical and mechanical engineers, and men whom he +himself had instructed in the peculiar duties that would fall to them in +the navigation and management of the ark, every detail of which he had +laboriously worked out with a foresight that seemed all but superhuman. + +All of the passengers and crew were aboard when the baffled mob +retreated from Mineola, and some, when that danger was past, wished to +descend to the ground, and go and look at the rising waters, which had +not yet invaded the neighborhood. But Cosmo absolutely forbade any +departures from the ark. The condensation of the nebula, he declared, +was likely to begin any minute, and the downpour would be so fierce that +a person might be drowned in the open field. + +It came even sooner than he had anticipated, with the results that we +have already noted in New York. At first many thought that the ark +itself would be destroyed, so dreadful was the impact of the falling +water. The women and children, and some of the men, were seized with +panic, and Cosmo had great difficulty in reassuring them. + +"The flood will not reach us for several hours yet," he said. "The level +of the water must rise at least a hundred feet more before we shall be +afloat. Inside here we are perfectly safe. The ark is exceedingly strong +and absolutely tight. You have nothing to fear." + +Then he ordered an ingenious sound-absorbing screen, which he had +prepared, to be drawn over the great ceiling of the saloon, the effect +of which was to shut out the awful noise of the water roaring upon the +roof of the ark. A silence that was at first startling by contrast to +the preceding din prevailed as soon as the screen was in place. + +Amid a hush of expectancy, Cosmo now mounted a dais at one end of the +room. Never before had the intellectual superiority of the man seemed so +evident. His huge "dome of thought," surmounting his slight body, +dominated the assembly like the front of Jove. Chairs near him were +occupied by Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, Professor +Alexander Jones, and the two "speculative geniuses" whom he had named to +Joseph Smith. These were Costaké Theriade, of Rumania, a tall, dark, +high-browed thinker, who was engaged in devising ways to extract and +recover interatomic energy; and Sir Wilfred Athelstone, whose specialty +was bio-chemistry, and who was said to have produced amazing results in +artificial parthenogenesis and the production of new species. + +As soon as attention was concentrated upon him, Cosmo Versál began to +speak. + +"My friends," he said, "the world around us is now sinking beneath a +flood that will not be arrested until America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and +Australia have disappeared. We stand at the opening of a new age. You +alone who are here assembled, and your descendants, will constitute the +population of the new world that is to be. + +"In this ark, which owes its existence to the foreseeing eye of science, +you will be borne in safety upon the bosom of the battling waters, and +we will disembark upon the first promising land that reappears, and +begin the plantation and development of a new society of men and women, +which, I trust, will afford a practical demonstration of the principles +of eugenics. + +"I have, as far as possible, and as far as the pitiful blindness of +mankind permitted me to go, selected and assembled here representatives +of the best tendencies of humanity. You are a chosen remnant, and the +future of this planet depends upon you. + +"I have been fortunate in securing the companionship of men of science +who will be able to lead and direct. The ark is fully provisioned for a +period which must exceed the probable duration of the flood. I have +taken pains not to overcrowd it, and every preparation has been made for +any contingencies which may arise. + +"It is inexpressibly sad to part thus with the millions of our +fellow-beings who would not heed the warnings that were lavished upon +them; but, while our hearts may be rent with the thought, it is our duty +to cast off the burden of vain regrets and concentrate all our energies +upon the great work before us. + +"I salute," he continued, raising his voice and lifting a glass of wine +from the little table before him, "the world of the past--may its faults +be forgotten--and the world of the future--may it rise on the wings of +science to nobler prospects!" + +He poured out the wine like a libation; and as his voice ceased to echo, +and he sank into his seat, an uncontrollable wave of emotion ran over +the assembly. Many of the women wept, and the men conversed in whispers. +After a considerable interval, during which no one spoke above his +breath, Professor Able Abel arose and said: + +"The gratitude which we owe to this man"--indicating Cosmo Versál--"can +best be expressed, not in words, but by acts. He has led us thus far; he +must continue to lead us to the end. We were blind, while he was full of +light. It will become us hereafter to heed well whatever he may say. I +now wish to ask if he can foresee where upon the re-emerging planet a +foothold is first likely to be obtained. Where lies our land of +promise?" + +"I can answer that question," Cosmo replied, "only in general terms. You +are all aware that the vast table-land of Tibet is the loftiest region +upon the globe. In its western part it lies from fourteen to seventeen +or eighteen thousand feet above the ordinary level of the sea. Above it +rise the greatest mountain peaks in existence. Here the first +considerable area is likely to be uncovered. It is upon the Pamirs, the +'Roof of the World,' that we shall probably make our landing." + +"May I ask," said Professor Abel Able, "in what manner you expect the +waters of the flood to be withdrawn, after the earth is completely +drowned?" + +"That," was the reply, "was one of the fundamental questions that I +examined, but I do not care to enter into a discussion of it now. I may +simply say that it is not only upon the disappearance of the waters that +our hopes depend, but upon circumstances that I shall endeavor to make +clear hereafter. The new cradle of mankind will be located near the old +one, and the roses of the Vale of Cashmere will canopy it." + +Cosmo Versál's words made a profound impression upon his hearers, and +awoke thoughts that carried their minds off into strange reveries. No +more questions were asked, and gradually the assemblage broke up into +groups of interested talkers. + +It was now near midnight. Cosmo, beckoning Professor Abel Able, +Professor Alexander Jones, and Professor Jeremiah Moses to accompany +him, made his way out of the saloon, and, secretly opening one of the +gangway doors, they presently stood, sheltering themselves from the +pouring rain, in a position which enabled them to look toward New York. + +Nothing, of course, was visible through the downpour; but they were +startled at hearing fearful cries issuing out of the darkness. The rural +parts of the city, filled with gardens and villas, lay round within a +quarter of a mile of the ark, and the sound, accelerated by the +water-charged atmosphere, struck upon their ears with terrible +distinctness. Sometimes, when a gust of wind blew the rain into their +faces, the sound deepened into a long, despairing wail, which seemed to +be borne from afar off, mingled with the roar of the descending +torrent--the death-cry of the vast metropolis! + +"Merciful Heaven, I cannot endure this!" cried Professor Moses. + +"Go to my cabin," Cosmo yelled in his ear, "and take the others with +you. I will join you there in a little while. I wish to measure the rate +of rise of the water." + +They gladly left him, and fled into the interior of the ark. Cosmo +procured an electric lamp; and the moment its light streamed out he +perceived that the water had already submerged the great cradle in which +the ark rested, and was beginning to creep up the metallic sides. He +lowered a graduated tape into it, provided with an automatic register. +In a few minutes he had completed his task, and then he went to rejoin +his late companions in his cabin. + +"In about an hour," he said to them, "we shall be afloat. The water is +rising at the rate of one-thirtieth of an inch per second." + +"No more than that?" asked Professor Jones with an accent of surprise. + +"That is quite enough," Cosmo replied. "One-thirtieth of an inch per +second means two inches in a minute, and ten feet in an hour. In +twenty-four hours from now the water will stand two hundred and forty +feet above its present level, and then only the tallest structures in +New York will lift their tops above it, if, indeed, they are not long +before overturned by undermining or the force of the waves." + +"But it will be a long time before the hills and highlands are +submerged," suggested Professor Jones. "Are you perfectly sure that the +flood will cover them?" + +Cosmo Versál looked at his interlocutor, and slowly shook his head. + +"It is truly a disappointment to me," he said at length, "to find that, +even now, remnants of doubt cling to your minds. I tell you that the +nebula is condensing at its maximum rate. It is likely to continue to do +so for at least four months. In four months, at the rate of two inches +per minute, the level of the water will rise 28,800 feet. There is only +one peak in the world which is surely known to attain a slightly greater +height than that--Mount Everest, in the Himalayas. Even in a single +month the rise will amount to 7,200 feet. That is 511 feet higher than +the loftiest mountain in the Appalachians. In one month, then, there +will be nothing visible of North America east of the Rockies. And in +another month they will have gone under." + +Not another word was said. The three professors sat, wide-eyed and +open-mouthed, staring at Cosmo Versál, whose bald head was crowned with +an aureole by the electric light that beamed from the ceiling, while, +with a gold pocket pencil, he fell to figuring upon a sheet of paper. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK + + +While Cosmo Versál was calculating, from the measured rise of the water, +the rate of condensation of the nebula, and finding that it added +twenty-nine trillion two hundred and ninety billion tons to the weight +of the earth every minute--a computation that seemed to give him great +mental satisfaction--the metropolis of the world, whose nucleus was the +island of Manhattan, and every other town and city on the globe that +lay near the ordinary level of the sea, was swiftly sinking beneath the +swelling flood. + +Everywhere, over all the broad surface of the planet, a wail of despair +arose from the perishing millions, beaten down by the water that poured +from the unpitying sky. Even on the highlands the situation was little +better than in the valleys. The hills seemed to have been turned into the +crests of cataracts from which torrents of water rushed down on all sides, +stripping the soil from the rocks, and sending the stones and bowlders +roaring and leaping into the lowlands and the gorges. Farmhouses, barns, +villas, trees, animals, human beings--all were swept away together. + +Only on broad elevated plateaus, where higher points rose above the general +level, were a few of the inhabitants able to find a kind of refuge. By +seeking these high places, and sheltering themselves as best they could +among immovable rocks, they succeeded, at least, in delaying their fate. +Notwithstanding the fact that the atmosphere was filled with falling water, +they could yet breathe, if they kept the rain from striking directly in +their faces. It was owing to this circumstance, and to some extraordinary +occurrences which we shall have to relate, that the fate of the human race +was not precisely that which Cosmo Versál had predicted. + +We quitted the scene in New York when the shadow of night had just fallen, +and turned the gloom of the watery atmosphere into impenetrable darkness. +The events of that dreadful night we shall not attempt to depict. When the +hours of daylight returned, and the sun should have brightened over the +doomed city, only a faint, phosphorescent luminosity filled the sky. It +was just sufficient to render objects dimly visible. If the enclosing +nebula had remained in a cloud-like state it would have cut off all light, +but having condensed into raindrops, which streamed down in parallel lines, +except when sudden blasts of wind swept them into a confused mass, the +sunlight was able to penetrate through the interstices, aided by the +transparency of the water, and so a slight but variable illumination was +produced. + +In this unearthly light many tall structures of the metropolis, which had +as yet escaped the effects of undermining by the rushing torrents in the +streets, towered dimly toward the sky, shedding streams of water from every +cornice. Most of the buildings of only six or eight stories had already +been submerged, with the exception of those that stood on the high grounds +in the upper part of the island, and about Spuyten Duyvil. + +In the towers and upper stories of the lofty buildings still standing in +the heart of the city, crowds of unfortunates assembled, gazing with +horror at the spectacles around them, and wringing their hands in helpless +despair. When the light brightened they could see below them the angry +water, creeping every instant closer to their places of refuge, beaten +into foam by the terrible downpour, and sometimes, moved by a mysterious +impulse, rising in sweeping waves which threatened to carry everything +before them. + +Every few minutes one of the great structures would sway, crack, crumble, +and go down into the seething flood, the cries of the lost souls being +swallowed up in the thunder of the fall. And when this occurred within +sight of neighboring towers yet intact, men and women could be seen, some +with children in their arms, madly throwing themselves from windows and +ledges, seeking quick death now that hope was no more! + +Strange and terrible scenes were enacted in the neighborhood of what had +been the water-fronts. Most of the vessels moored there had been virtually +wrecked by the earlier invasion of the sea. Some had been driven upon the +shore, others had careened and been swamped at their wharves. But a few had +succeeded in cutting loose in time to get fairly afloat. Some tried to go +out to sea, but were wrecked by running against obstacles, or by being +swept over the Jersey flats. Some met their end by crashing into the +submerged pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Others steered up the course +of the Hudson River, but that had become a narrow sea, filled with floating +and tossing debris of every sort, and all landmarks being invisible, the +luckless navigators lost their way, and perished, either through collisions +with other vessels, or by driving upon a rocky shore. + +The fate of the gigantic building containing the offices of the municipal +government, which stood near the ancient City Hall, and which had been the +culminating achievement of the famous epoch of "sky-scrapers," was a thing +so singular, and at the same time dramatic, that in a narrative dealing +with less extraordinary events than we are obliged to record it would +appear altogether incredible. + +With its twoscore lofty stories, and its massive base, this wonderful +structure rose above the lower quarter of the city, and dominated it, like +a veritable Tower of Babel, made to defy the flood. Many thousands of +people evidently regarded it in that very light, and they had fled from all +quarters, as soon as the great downpour began, to find refuge within its +mountainous flanks. There were men--clerks, merchants, brokers from the +downtown offices--and women and children from neighboring tenements. + +By good chance, but a few weeks before, this building had been fitted with +a newly invented system of lighting, by which each story was supplied with +electricity from a small dynamo of its own, and so it happened that now the +lamps within were all aglow, lightening the people's hearts a little with +their cheering radiance. + +Up and up they climbed, the water ever following at their heels, from floor +to floor, until ten of the great stages were submerged. But there were more +than twice as many stages yet above, and they counted them with unexpiring +hope, telling one another, with the assurance of desperation, that long +before the flood could attain so stupendous an altitude the rain would +surely cease, and the danger, as far as they were concerned, would pass +away. + +"See! See!" cries one. "It is stopping! It is coming no higher! I've been +watching that step, and the water has stopped! It hasn't risen for ten +minutes!" + +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" yells the crowd behind and above. And the glad cry is +taken up and reverberated from story to story until it bursts wildly out +into the rain-choked air at the very summit. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! We are saved! The flood has stopped!" + +Men madly embrace each other. Women burst into tears and hug their children +to their breasts, filled with a joy and thankfulness that can find no +expression in words. + +"You are wrong," says another man, crouching beside him who first spoke. +"It has not stopped--it is still rising." + +"_What_! I tell you it _has_ stopped," snaps the other. "Look at that step! +It stopped right below it." + +"_You've been watching the wrong step_. It's rising!" + +"You fool! Shut your mouth! I say it has _stopped_." + +"No, it has not." + +"It has! It has!" + +"Look at _that_ step, then! See the water just now coming over it." + +The obstinate optimist stares a moment, turns pale, and then, with an oath, +strikes his more clear-headed neighbor in the face! And the excited crowd +behind, with the blind instinctive feeling that, somehow, he has robbed +them of the hope which was but now as the breath of life to them, strike +him and curse him, too. + +But he had seen only too clearly. + +With the steady march of fate--two inches a minute, as Cosmo Versál had +accurately measured it--the water still advances and climbs upward. + +In a little while they were driven to another story, and then to another. +But hope would not down. They could not believe that the glad news, which +had so recently filled them with joy, was altogether false. The water +_must_ have stopped rising _once_; it had been _seen_. Then, it would +surely stop _again_, stop to rise no more. + +Poor deluded creatures! With the love of life so strong within them, they +could not picture, in their affrighted minds, the terrible consummation to +which they were being slowly driven, when, jammed into the narrow chambers +at the very top of the mighty structure, their remorseless enemy would +seize them at last. + +But they were nearer the end than they could have imagined even if they had +accepted and coolly reasoned upon the facts that were so plain before them. +And, after all, it was not to come upon them only after they had fought +their way to the highest loft and into the last corner. + +A link of this strange chain of fatal events now carries us to the spot +where the United States Navy Yard in Brooklyn once existed. That place was +sunk deep beneath the waters. All of the cruisers, battleships, and other +vessels that had been at anchor or at moorings there had gone under. One +only, the boast of the American navy, the unconquerable _Uncle Sam_, which, +in the last great war that the world had known, had borne the starry flag +to victories whose names broke men's voices and filled their eyes with +tears of pride, had escaped, through the incomparable seamanship of Captain +Robert Decatur, who had been her commander for thirty years. + +But though the _Uncle Sam_ managed to float upon the rising flood, she +was unable to get away because of the obstructions lodged about the great +bridges that spanned the East River. A curious eddy that the raging +currents formed over what was once the widest part of that stream kept +her revolving round and round, never departing far in any direction, +and, with majestic strength, riding down or brushing aside the floating +timbers, wooden houses, and other wreckage that pounded furiously against +her mighty steel sides. + +Just at the time when the waters had mounted to the eighteenth story of the +beleaguered Municipal Building, a sudden change occurred in these currents. +They swept westward with resistless force, and the _Uncle Sam_ was +carried directly over the drowned city. First she encountered the cables of +the Manhattan Bridge, striking them near the western tower, and, swinging +round, wrenched the tower itself from its foundations and hurled it beneath +the waters. + +Then she rushed on, riding with the turbid flood high above the buried +roofs, finding no other obstruction in her way until she approached the +Municipal Building, which was stoutly resisting the push of the waves. + + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT BATTLESHIP... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL- +RIBBED WALLS"] + + +Those who were near the windows and on the balconies, on the eastern side +of the building, saw the great battleship coming out of the gray gloom +like some diluvian monster, and before they could comprehend what it was, +it crashed, prow on, into the steel-ribbed walls, driving them in as if +they had been the armored sides of an enemy. + +So tremendous was the momentum of the striking mass that the huge vessel +passed, like a projectile, through walls and floors and partitions. But as +she emerged in the central court the whole vast structure came thundering +down upon her, and ship and building together sank beneath the boiling +waves. + +But out of the awful tangle of steel girders, that whipped the air and the +water as if some terrible spidery life yet clung to them, by one of those +miracles of chance which defy all the laws of probability and reason, a +small boat of levium, that had belonged to the _Uncle Sam_, was cast forth, +and floated away, half submerged but unsinkable; and clinging to its +thwarts, struggling for breath, insane with terror, were two men, the sole +survivors of all those thousands. + +One of them was a seaman who had taken refuge, with a crowd of comrades, +in the boat before the battleship rushed down upon the building. All of +his comrades had been hurled out and lost when the blow came, while his +present companion was swept in and lodged against the thwarts. And so +those two waifs drove off in the raging waves. Both of them were bleeding +from many wounds, but they had no fatal hurts. + +The boat, though filled with water, was so light that it could not sink. +Moreover, it was ballasted, and amid all its wild gyrations it kept right +side up. Even the ceaseless downpour from the sky could not drive it +beneath the waves. + +After a while the currents that had been setting westward changed their +direction, and the boat was driven toward the north. It swept on past +toppling skyscrapers until it was over the place where Madison Square once +spread its lawns, looked down upon by gigantic structures, most of which +had now either crumbled and disappeared or were swaying to their fall. Here +there was an eddy, and the boat turned round and round amid floating debris +until two other draggled creatures, who had been clinging to floating +objects, succeeded by desperate efforts in pulling themselves into it. +Others tried but failed, and no one lent a helping hand. Those who were +already in the boat neither opposed nor aided the efforts of those who +battled to enter it. No words were heard in the fearful uproar--only +inarticulate cries. + +Suddenly the current changed again, and the boat, with its dazed occupants, +was hurried off in the direction of the Hudson. Night was now beginning +once more to drop an obscuring curtain over the scene, and under that +curtain the last throes of drowning New York were hidden. When the sun +again faintly illuminated the western hemisphere the whole Atlantic +seaboard was buried under the sea. + +As the water rose higher, Cosmo Versál's Ark at last left its cradle, and +cumbrously floated off, moving first eastward, then turning in the +direction of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Cosmo had his engines in operation, +but their full power was not developed as soon as he had expected, and +the great vessel drifted at the will of the currents and the wind, the +latter coming now from one side and now from another, rising at times to +hurricane strength and then dying away until only a spanking breeze swept +the ever-falling rain into swishing sheets. Occasionally the wind failed +entirely, and for many minutes at a time the water fell in vertical +streams. + +At length the motive power of the Ark was developed, and it began to obey +its helm. From the shelter of a "captain's bridge," constructed at the +forward end of the huge levium dome that covered the vessel, Cosmo Versál, +with Captain Arms, a liberally bewhiskered, veteran navigator in whose +skill he confided, peered over the interminable waste of waters. There was +nothing in sight except floating objects that had welled up from the +drowned city and the surrounding villages. Here and there the body of an +animal or a human being was seen in the tossing waves, and Cosmo Versál +sadly shook his head as he pointed them out, but the stout mariner at his +side chewed his tobacco, and paid attention only to his duties, shouting +orders from time to time through a speaking-tube, or touching an electric +button. + +Cosmo Versál brought a rain-gage and again and again allowed it to fill +itself. The story was always the same--two inches per minute, ten feet per +hour, the water mounted. + +The nebula had settled down to regular work, and, if Cosmo's calculations +were sound, there would be no intermission for four months. + +After the power of the propellers had been developed the Ark was steered +southeastward. Its progress was very slow. In the course of eight hours +it had not gone more than fifty miles. The night came on, and the speed +was reduced until there was only sufficient way to insure the command of +the vessel's movements. Powerful searchlights were employed as long as +the stygian darkness continued. + +With the return of the pallid light, at what should have been daybreak, +Cosmo and his navigator were again at their post. In fact, the former +had not slept at all, keeping watch through the long hours, with +Captain Arms within easy call. + +As the light became stronger, Cosmo said to the captain: + +"Steer toward New York. I wish to see if the last of the tall buildings on +the upper heights have gone under." + +"It will be very dangerous to go that way," objected Captain Arms. "There +are no landmarks, and we may strike a snag." + +"Not if we are careful," replied Cosmo. "All but the highest ground is now +buried very deep." + +"It is taking a fool's risk," growled Captain Arms, through his brush, but +nevertheless he obeyed. + +It was true that they had nothing to go by. The air was too thick with +water, and the light too feeble for them to be able to lay their course +by sighting the distant hills of New Jersey which yet remained above the +level of the flood. Still, by a kind of seaman's instinct, Captain Arms +made his way, until he felt that he ought to venture no farther. He had +just turned to Cosmo Versál with the intention of voicing his protest +when the Ark careened slightly, shivered from stem to stern, and then +began a bumping movement that nearly threw the two men from their feet. + +"We are aground!" cried the captain, and instantly turned a knob that set +in motion automatic machinery which cut off the engines from the +propellers, and at the same time slowed down the engines themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"A BILLION FOR A SHARE" + + +The Ark had lodged on the loftiest part of the Palisades. It was only after +long and careful study of their position, rendered possible by occasional +glimpses of the Orange Hills and high points further up the course of the +Hudson, that Cosmo Versál and Captain Arms were able to reach that +conclusion. Where New York had stood nothing was visible but an expanse of +turbid and rushing water. + +But suppose the hard trap rocks had penetrated the bottom of the Ark! It +was a contingency too terrible to be thought of. Yet the facts must be +ascertained at once. + +Cosmo, calling Joseph Smith, and commanding him to go among the frightened +passengers and assure them, in his name, that there was no danger, hurried, +with the captain and a few trusty men, into the bowels of the vessel. They +thoroughly sounded the bottom plates. No aperture and no indentation was +to be found. + +But, then, the bottom was double, and the outer plates might have been +perforated. If this had happened the fact would reveal itself through the +leakage of water into the intervening space. To ascertain if that had +occurred it was necessary to unscrew the covers of some of the manholes in +the inner skin of levium. + +It was an anxious moment when they cautiously removed one of these covers. +At the last turns of the screw the workman who handled it instinctively +turned his head aside, and made ready for a spring, more than half +expecting that the cover would be driven from his hands, and a stream of +water would burst in. + +But the cover remained in place after it was completely loosened, and until +it had been lifted off. A sigh of relief broke from every breast. No water +was visible. + +"Climb in there, and explore the bottom," Cosmo commanded. + +There was a space of eighteen inches between the two bottoms, which were +connected and braced by the curved ribs of the hull. A man immediately +disappeared in the opening and began the exploration. Cosmo ordered the +removal of other covers at various points, and the exploration was extended +over the whole bottom. He himself passed through one of the manholes and +aided in the work. + +At last it was determined, beyond any doubt, that even the outer skin was +uninjured. Not so much as a dent could be found in it. + +"By the favor of Providence," said Cosmo Versál, as his great head emerged +from a manhole, "the Ark has touched upon a place where the rocks are +covered with soil, and no harm has come to us. In a very short time the +rising water will lift us off." + +"And, with my consent, you'll do no more navigating over hills and +mountains," grumbled Captain Arms. "The open sea for the sailor." + +The covers were carefully replaced, and the party, in happier spirits, +returned to the upper decks, where the good news was quickly spread. + +The fact was that while the inspection was under way the Ark had floated +off, and when Cosmo and the captain reached their bridge the man who had +been left in charge reported that the vessel had swung halfway round. + +"She's headed for the old Atlantic," sung out Captain Arms. "The sooner +we're off the better." + +But before the captain could signal the order to go ahead, Cosmo Versál +laid his hand on his arm and said: + +"Wait a moment; listen." + +Through the lashing of the rain a voice penetrated with a sound between a +call and a scream. There could be no doubt that it was human. The captain +and Cosmo looked at one another in speechless astonishment. The idea that +any one outside the Ark could have survived, and could now be afloat amid +this turmoil of waters, had not occurred to their minds. They experienced +a creeping of the nerves. In a few minutes the voice came again, louder +than before, and the words that it pronounced being now clearly audible, +the two listeners could not believe their ears. + +"Cosmo Versál!" it yelled. "Cosmo-o-o Ver-sá-al! A billion for a share! A +_billion_, I say, a _bil-li-on_ for a share!" + +Then they perceived a little way off to the left something which looked +like the outline of a boat, sunk to the gunwales, washed over by every +wave; and standing in it, up to their waists in water, were four men, one +of whom was gesticulating violently, while the others seemed dazed and +incapable of voluntary movement. + +It was the boat of levium that had been thrown out of the wreckage when the +battleship ran down the Municipal tower, and we must now follow the thread +of its adventures up to the time of its encounter with the Ark. + +As the boat was driven westward from the drowned site of Madison Square it +gradually freed itself from the objects floating around, most of which soon +sunk, and in an hour or two its inmates were alone--the sole survivors of a +dense population of many millions. + +Alone they were in impenetrable darkness, for, as we have said, night had +by this time once more fallen. + +They floated on, half drowned, chilled to the bone, not trying to speak, +not really conscious of one another's presence. The rain beat down upon +them, the waves washed over them, the unsinkable boat sluggishly rose and +fell with the heaving of the water, and occasionally they were nearly flung +overboard by a sudden lurch--and yet they clung with desperate tenacity to +the thwarts, as if life were still dear, as if they thought that they might +yet survive, though the world was drowned. + +Thus hours passed, and at last a glimmer appeared in the streaming air, and +a faint light stole over the face of the water. If they saw one another, +it was with unrecognizing eyes. They were devoured with hunger, but they +did not know it. + +Suddenly one of them--it was he who had been so miraculously thrown into +the boat when it shot out of the tangle of falling beams and walls-- +raised his head and threw up his arms, a wild light gleaming in his eyes. + +In a hoarse, screaming voice he yelled: + +"Cosmo Versál!" + +No other syllables that the tongue could shape would have produced the +effect of that name. It roused the three men who heard it from their +lethargy of despair, and thrilled them to the marrow. With amazed eyes they +stared at their companion. He did not look at them, but gazed off into the +thick rain. Again his voice rose in a maniacal shriek: + +"Cosmo Versál! Do you hear me? Let me in! A billion for a share!" + +The men looked at each other, and, even in their desperate situation, felt +a stir of pity in their hearts. They were not too dazed to comprehend that +their companion had gone mad. One of them moved to his side, and laid a +hand upon his shoulder, as if he would try to soothe him. + +But the maniac threw him off, nearly precipitating him over the side of +the submerged boat, crying: + +"What are _you_ doing in my boat? Overboard with you! I am looking for +Cosmo Versál! He's got the biggest thing afloat! Securities! Securities! +Gilt-edged! A _billion_, I tell you! Here I have them--look! Gilt-edged, +every one!" and he snatched a thick bundle of papers from his pocket and +waved them wildly until they melted into a pulpy mass with the downpour. + +The others now shrank away from him in fear. Fear? Yes, for still they +loved their lives, and the staggering support beneath their feet had become +as precious to them as the solid earth. They would have fought with the +fury of madmen to retain their places in that half-swamped shell. They were +still capable of experiencing a keener fear than that of the flood. They +were as terrified by the presence of this maniac as they would have been +on encountering him in their homes. + +But he did not attempt to follow them. He still looked off through the +driving rain, balancing himself to the sluggish lurching of the boat, and +continuing to rave, and shout, and shake his soaked bundle of papers, +until, exhausted by his efforts, and half-choked by the water that drove in +his face, he sank helpless upon a thwart. + +Then they fell back into their lethargy, but in a little while he was on +his feet again, gesticulating and raging--and thus hours passed on, and +still they were afloat, and still clinging to life. + +Suddenly, looming out of the strange gloom, they perceived the huge form of +the Ark, and all struggled to their feet, but none could find voice but the +maniac. + +As soon as he saw the men, Cosmo Versál had run down to the lowest deck, +and ordered the opening of a gangway on that side. When the door swung +back he found himself within a few yards of the swamped boat, but ten feet +above its level. Joseph Smith, Professor Moses, Professor Jones, Professor +Able, and others of the passengers, and several of the crew, hurried to his +side, while the rest of the passengers crowded as near as they could get. + +The instant that Cosmo appeared the maniac redoubled his cries. + +"Here they are," he yelled, shaking what remained of his papers. "A +billion--all gilt-edged! Let me in. But shut out the others. They're +only little fellows. They've got no means. They can't float an enterprise +like this. Ah, you're a bright one! You and me, Cosmo Versál--we'll +squeeze 'em all out. I'll give you the secrets. We'll own the earth! I'm +_Amos Blank!_" + +Cosmo Versál recognized the man in spite of the dreadful change that had +come over him. His face was white and drawn, his eyes staring, his head +bare, his hair matted with water, his clothing in shreds--but it was +unmistakably Amos Blank, a man whose features the newspapers had rendered +familiar to millions, a man who had for years stood before the public as +the unabashed representative of the system of remorseless repression of +competition, and shameless corruption of justice and legislation. After the +world, for nearly two generations, had enjoyed the blessings of the reforms +in business methods and social ideals that had been inaugurated by the +great uprising of the people in the first quarter of the twentieth +century, Amos Blank, and lesser men of his ilk, had swung back the +pendulum, and re-established more firmly than ever the reign of monopoly +and iniquitous privilege. + +The water-logged little craft floated nearer until it almost touched the +side of the Ark directly below the gangway. The madman's eyes glowed with +eagerness, and he reached up his papers, continually yelling his refrain: +"A billion! Gilt-edged! Let me in! Don't give the rabble a show!" + +Cosmo made no reply, but gazed down upon the man and his bedraggled +companions with impassive features, but thoughtful eyes. Any one who knew +him intimately, as Joseph Smith alone did, could have read his mind. He was +asking himself what he ought to do. Here was the whole fundamental question +to be gone over again. To what purpose had he taken so great pains to +select the flower of mankind? Here was the head and chief of the offense +that he had striven to eliminate appealing to him to be saved under +circumstances which went straight to the heart and awoke every sentiment of +humanity. + +Presently he said in as low a voice as could be made audible: + +"Joseph, advise me. What should I do?" + +"You were willing to take Professor Pludder," replied Smith evasively, but +with a plain leaning to the side of mercy. + +"You know very well that that was different," Cosmo returned irritably. +"Pludder was not morally rotten. He was only mistaken. He had the +fundamental scientific quality, and I'm sorry he threw himself away in +his obstinacy. But this man--" + +"Since he is _alone_," broke in Joseph Smith with a sudden illumination, +"he could do no harm." + +Cosmo Versál's expression instantly brightened. + +"You are right!" he exclaimed. "By himself he can do nothing. I am sure +there is no one aboard who would sympathize with his ideas. Alone, he is +innocuous. Besides, he's insane, and I can't leave him to drown in that +condition. And I must take the others, too. Let down a landing stage," he +continued in a louder voice, addressing some members of the crew. + +In a few minutes all four of the unfortunates, seeming more dead than live, +were helped into the Ark. + +Amos Blank immediately precipitated himself upon Cosmo Versál, and, seizing +him by the arm, tried to lead him apart, saying in his ear, as he glared +round upon the faces of the throng which crowded every available space. + +"Hist! Overboard with 'em! What's all this trash? Shovel 'em out! +They'll want to get in with us; they'll queer the game!" + +Then he turned furiously upon the persons nearest him, and began to push +them toward the open gangway. At a signal from Cosmo Versál, two men +seized him and pinioned his arms. At that his mood changed, and, +wrenching himself loose, he once more ran to Cosmo, waving his bedraggled +bundle, and shouting: + +"A billion! Here's the certificates--gilt-edge! But," he continued, with +a cunning leer, and suddenly thrusting the sodden papers into his pocket, +"you'll make out the receipts first. I'll put in _five_ billions to make +it a sure go, if you won't let in another soul." + +Cosmo shook off the man's grasp, and again calling the two members of the +crew who had before pinioned his arms, told them to lead him away, at the +same time saying to him: + +"You go with these men into my room. I'll see you later." + +Blank took it in the best part, and willingly accompanied his conductors, +only stopping a moment to wink over his shoulder at Cosmo, and then he +was led through the crowd, which regarded him with unconcealed +astonishment, and in many cases with no small degree of fear. As soon as +he was beyond earshot, Cosmo directed Joseph Smith to hurry ahead of the +party and conduct them to a particular apartment, which he designated at +the same time, saying to Smith: + +"Turn the key on him as soon as he's inside." + +Amos Blank, now an insane prisoner in Cosmo Versál's Ark, had been the +greatest financial power in the world's metropolis, a man of iron nerve and +the clearest of brains, who always kept his head and never uttered a +foolish word. It was he who had stood over the flight of steps in the +Municipal Building, coolly measuring with his eye the rise of the water, +exposing the terrible error that sent such a wave of unreasoning joy +through the hearts of the thousands of refugees crowded into the doomed +edifice, and receiving blows and curses for making the truth known. + +He had himself taken refuge there, after visiting his office and filling +his pockets with his most precious papers. How, by a marvelous stroke of +fate, he became one of the four persons who alone escaped from New York +after the downpour began is already known. + + +The other men taken from the boat were treated like rescued mariners +snatched from a wreck at sea. Every attention was lavished upon them, and +Cosmo Versál did not appear to regret, as far as they were concerned, that +his ship's company had been so unexpectedly recruited. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD + + +We now turn our attention for a time from the New World to the Old. What +did the thronging populations of Europe, Africa, and Asia do when the signs +of coming disaster chased one on another's heels, when the oceans began to +burst their bonds, and when the windows of the firmament were opened? + +The picture that can be drawn must necessarily be very fragmentary, +because the number who escaped was small and the records that they left +are few. + +The savants of the older nations were, in general, quite as incredulous +and as set in their opposition to Cosmo Versál's extraordinary out- +givings as those of America. They decried his science and denounced his +predictions as the work of a fool or a madman. The president of the Royal +Astronomical Society of Great Britain proved to the satisfaction of most +of his colleagues that a nebula could not possibly contain enough water +to drown an asteroid, let alone the earth. + +"The nebulae," said this learned astronomer, amid the plaudits of his +hearers, "are infinitely rarer in composition than the rarest gas left +in the receiver of an exhausted air-pump. I would undertake to swallow +from a wineglass the entire substance of any nebula that could enter the +space between the earth and the sun, if it were condensed into the liquid +state." + +"It might be intoxicating," called out a facetious member. + +"Will the chair permit me to point out," said another with great gravity, +"that such a proceeding would be eminently rash, for the nebulous fluid +might be highly poisonous." ["Hear! Hear!" and laughter.] + +"What do you say of this strange darkness and these storms?" asked an +earnest-looking man. (This meeting was held after the terrors of the +_third sign_ had occurred.) + +"I say," replied the president, "that that is the affair of the +Meteorological Society, and has nothing to do with astronomy. I dare say +that they can account for it." + +"And I dare say they can't," cried a voice. + +"Hear! Hear!" "Who are you?" "Put him out!" "I dare say he's right!" "Cosmo +Versál!" Everybody was talking at once. + +"Will this gentleman identify himself?" asked the president. "Will he +please explain his words?" + +"That I will," said a tall man with long whiskers, rising at the rear end +of the room. "I am pretty well known. I----" + +"It's Jameson, the astrologer," cried a voice. "What's _he_ doing here?" + +"Yes," said the whiskered man, "it's Jameson, the astrologer, and he has +come here to let you know that Cosmo Versál was born under the sign Cancer, +the first of the watery triplicity, and that Berosus, the Chaldean, +declared----" + +An uproar immediately ensued; half the members were on their feet at once; +there was a scuffle in the back part of the room, and Jameson, the +astrologer, was hustled out, shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Berosus, the Chaldean, predicted that the world would be drowned when +all the planets should assemble in the sign Cancer--_and where are they +now?_ Blind and stupid dolts that you are--_where are they now?"_ + +It was some time before order could be restored, and a number of members +disappeared, having followed Jameson, the astrologer, possibly through +sympathy, or possibly with a desire to learn more about the prediction of +Berosus, the father of astrology. + +When those who remained, and who constituted the great majority of the +membership, had quieted down, the president remarked that the interruption +which they had just experienced was quite in line with all the other +proceedings of the disturbers of public tranquillity who, under the lead +of a crazy American charlatan, were trying to deceive the ignorant +multitude. But they would find themselves seriously in error if they +imagined that their absurd ideas were going to be "taken over" in England. + +"I dare say," he concluded, "that there is some _scheme_ behind it all." + +"Another American 'trust'!" cried a voice. + +The proceedings were finally brought to an end, but not before a modest +member had risen in his place and timidly remarked that there was one +question that he would like to put to the chair--one thing that did not +seem to have been made quite clear--"Where _were_ the planets now?" + +A volley of hoots, mingled with a few "hears!" constituted the only +reply. + +Scenes not altogether unlike this occurred in the other great learned +societies--astronomical, meteorological, and geological. The official +representatives of science were virtually unanimous in condemnation of +Cosmo Versál, and in persistent assertion that nothing that had occurred +was inexplicable by known laws. But in no instance did they make it clear +to anybody precisely what were the laws that they invoked, or how it +happened that Cosmo Versál had been able to predict so many strange things +which everybody knew really had come to pass, such as the sudden storms and +the great darkness. + +We are still, it must not be forgotten, dealing with a time anterior to the +rising of the sea. + +The Paris Academy of Sciences voted that the subject was unworthy of +serious investigation, and similar action was taken at Berlin, St. +Petersburg, Vienna, and elsewhere. + +But among the people at large universal alarm prevailed, and nothing was +so eagerly read as the dispatches from New York, detailing the proceedings +of Cosmo Versál, and describing the progress of his great levium ark. In +England many procured copies of Cosmo's circulars, in which the proper +methods to be pursued in the construction of arks were carefully set forth. +Some set to work to build such vessels; but, following British methods of +construction, they doubled the weight of everything, with the result that, +if Cosmo had seen what they were about he would have told them that such +arks would go to the bottom faster than to the top. + +In Germany the balloon idea took full possession of the public mind. +Germany had long before developed the greatest fleet of dirigible balloons +in existence, preferring them to every other type of flying apparatus. It +was reported that the Kaiser was of the opinion that if worst came to worst +the best manner of meeting the emergency would be by the multiplication of +dirigibles and the increase of their capacity. + +The result was that a considerable number of wealthy Germans began the +construction of such vessels. But when interviewed they denied that they +were preparing for a flood. They said that they simply wished to enlarge +and increase the number of their pleasure craft, after the example of the +Kaiser. All this was in contemptuous defiance of the warning which Cosmo +Versál had been careful to insert in his circulars, that "balloons and +aeros of all kinds will be of no use whatever; the only safety will be +found in arks, and they must be provisioned for at least five years." + +The most remarkable thing of all happened in France. It might naturally +have been expected that a Frenchman who thought it worth his while to take +any precautions against the extinction of the human race would, when it +became a question of a flood, have turned to the aero, for from the +commencement of aerial navigation French engineers had maintained an +unquestionable superiority in the construction and perfection of that kind +of machine. + +Their aeros could usually fly longer and carry more dead weight than those +of any other nation. In the transoceanic aero races which occasionally took +place the French furnished the most daring and the most frequently +successful competitors. + +But the French mind is masterly in appreciation of details, and Cosmo +Versál's reasons for condemning the aero and the balloon as means of +escaping the flood were promptly divined. In the first place it was seen +that no kind of airship could be successfully provisioned for a flight of +indefinite length, and in the second place the probable strength of the +winds, or the crushing weight of the descending water, in case, as Cosmo +predicted, a nebula should condense upon the earth, would either sweep an +aero or a balloon to swift destruction, or carry it down into the waves +like a water-soaked butterfly. + +Accordingly, when a few Frenchmen began seriously to consider the +question of providing a way of escape from the flood--always supposing, for +the sake of argument, that there would be a flood--they got together, under +the leadership of an engineer officer named Yves de Beauxchamps, and +discussed the matter in all its aspects. They were not long in arriving at +the conclusion that the best and most logical thing that could possibly be +done would be to construct a _submarine_. + +In fact, this was almost an inevitable conclusion for them, because before +the abandonment of submarines in war on account of their _too_ great +powers of destruction--a circumstance which had also led to the prohibition +of the use of explosive bombs in the aerial navies--the French had held +the lead in the construction and management of submersible vessels, even +more decisively than in the case of aeros. + +"A large submarine," said De Beauxchamps, "into whose construction a +certain amount of levium entered, would possess manifest advantages over +Versál's Ark. It could be provisioned to any extent desired, it would +escape the discomforts of the waves, winds, and flooding rain, and it +could easily rise to the surface whenever that might be desirable for +change of air. It would have all the amphibious advantages of a whale." + +The others were decidedly of De Beauxchamps's opinion, and it was +enthusiastically resolved that a vessel of this kind should be begun at +once. + +"If we don't need it for a flood," said De Beauxchamps, "we can employ it +for a pleasure vessel to visit the wonders of the deep. We will then make +a reality of that marvelous dream of our countryman of old, that prince of +dreamers, Jules Verne." + +"Let's name it for him!" cried one. + +"Admirable! Charming!" they all exclaimed. "_Vive le 'Jules Verne'!_" + +Within two days, but without the knowledge of the public, the keel of the +submersible _Jules Verne_ was laid. But we shall hear of that remarkable +craft again. + +While animated, and in some cases violent, discussions were taking place +in the learned circles of Europe, and a few were making ready in such +manner as they deemed most effective for possible contingencies, waves of +panic swept over the remainder of the Old World. There were yet hundreds +of millions in Africa and Asia to whom the advantages of scientific +instruction had not extended, but who, while still more or less under the +dominion of ignorance and superstition, were in touch with the _news_ of +the whole planet. + +The rumor that a wise man in America had discovered that the world was +to be drowned was not long in reaching the most remote recesses of the +African forests and of the boundless steppes of the greater continent, +and, however it might be ridiculed or received with skeptical smiles in +the strongholds of civilization, it met with ready belief in less +enlightened minds. + +Then, the three "signs"--the first great heat, the onslaught of storm and +lightning, and the _Noche Triste_, the great darkness--had been world-wide +in their effects, and each had heightened the terror caused by its +predecessor. Moreover, in the less enlightened parts of the world the +reassurances of the astronomers and others did not penetrate at all, or, +if they did, had no effect, for not only does bad news run while good news +walks, but it talks faster. + +It will be recalled that one of the most disquieting incidents in America, +immediately preceding the catastrophal rising of the oceans, was the +melting of the Arctic snows and ice-fields, with consequent inundations +in the north. This stage in the progress of the coming disaster was +accentuated in Europe by the existence of the vast glaciers of the Alps. +The Rocky Mountains, in their middle course, had relatively little snow and +almost no true glaciers, and consequently there were no scenes of this kind +in the United States comparable with those that occurred in the heart of +Europe. + +After the alarm caused by the great darkness in September had died out, and +the long spell of continuous clear skies began, the summer resorts of +Switzerland were crowded as they had seldom been. People were driven there +by the heat, for one thing; and then, owing to the early melting of the +winter's deposit of snow, the Alps presented themselves in a new aspect. + +Mountain-climbers found it easy to make ascents upon peaks which had always +hitherto presented great difficulties on account of the vast snow-fields, +seamed with dangerous crevasses, which hung upon their flanks. These were +now so far removed that it was practicable for amateur climbers to go where +always before only trained Alpinists, accompanied by the most experienced +guides, dared to venture. + +But as the autumn days ran on and new snows fell, the deep-seated glaciers +began to dissolve, and masses of ice that had lain for untold centuries in +the mighty laps of the mountains, projecting frozen noses into the valleys, +came tumbling down, partly in the form of torrents of water and partly in +roaring avalanches. + +The great Aletsch glacier was turned into a river that swept down into the +valley of the Rhône, carrying everything before it. The glaciers at the +head of the Rhône added their contribution. The whole of the Bernese +Oberland seemed to have suddenly been dissolved like a huge mass of sugar +candy, and on the north the valley of Interlaken was inundated, while the +lakes of Thun and Brientz were lost in an inland sea which rapidly spread +over all the lower lands between the Alps and the Swiss Jura. + +Farther east the Rhine, swollen by the continual descent of the glacier +water, burst its banks, and broadened out until Strasburg lay under water +with the finger of its ancient cathedral helplessly pointing skyward out +of the midst of the flood. All the ancient cities of the great valley from +Basle to Mayence saw their streets inundated and the foundations of their +most precious architectural monuments undermined by the searching water. + +The swollen river reared back at the narrow pass through the Taunus range, +and formed a huge eddy that swirled over the old city of Bingen. Then it +tore down between the castle-crowned heights, sweeping away the villages +on the river banks from Bingen to Coblentz, lashing the projecting rocks +of the Lorelei, and carrying off houses, churches, and old abbeys in a +rush of ruin. + +It widened out as it approached Bonn and Cologne, but the water was still +deep enough to inundate those cities, and finally it spread over the plain +of Holland, finding a score of new mouths through which to pour into the +German Ocean, while the reclaimed area of the Zuyder Zee once more joined +the ocean, and Amsterdam and the other cities of the Netherlands were +buried, in many cases to the tops of the house doors. + +West and south the situation was the same. The Mer de Glace at Chamonix, +and all the other glaciers of the Mont Blanc range, disappeared, sending +floods down to Geneva and over the Dauphiny and down into the plains of +Piedmont and Lombardy. The ruin was tremendous and the loss of life +incalculable. Geneva, Turin, Milan, and a hundred other cities, were +swept by torrents. + +The rapidity of this melting of the vast snow-beds and glaciers of the +Alps was inconceivable, and the effect of the sudden denudation upon the +mountains themselves was ghastly. Their seamed and cavernous sides stood +forth, gaunt and naked, a revelation of Nature in her most fearful aspects +such as men had never looked upon. Mont Blanc, without its blanket of snow +and ice, towered like the blackened ruin of a fallen world, a sight that +made the beholders shudder. + +But this flood ended as suddenly as it had begun. When the age-long +accumulations of snow had all melted the torrents ceased to pour down from +the mountains, and immediately the courageous and industrious inhabitants +of the Netherlands began to repair their broken dikes, while in Northern +Italy and the plains of Southeastern France every effort was made to +repair the terrible losses. + +Of course similar scenes had been enacted, and on even a more fearful +scale, in the plains of India, flooded by the melting of the enormous icy +burden that covered the Himalayas, the "Abode of Snow." And all over the +world, wherever icy mountains reared themselves above inhabited lands, +the same story of destruction and death was told. + +Then, after an interval, came the yet more awful invasion of the sea. + +But few details can be given from lack of records. The Thames roared +backward on its course, and London and all central England were inundated. +A great bore of sea-water swept along the shores of the English Channel, +and bursting through the Skager Rack, covered the lower end of Sweden, and +rushed up the Gulf of Finland, burying St. Petersburg, and turning all +Western Russia, and the plains of Pomerania into a sea. The Netherlands +disappeared. The Atlantic poured through the narrow pass of the Strait of +Gibraltar, leaving only the Lion Rock visible above the waves. + +At length the ocean found its way into the Desert of Sahara, large +areas of which had been reclaimed, and were inhabited by a considerable +population of prosperous farmers. Nowhere did the sudden coming of the +flood cause greater consternation than here--strange as that statement +may seem. The people had an undefined idea that they were protected by a +sort of barrier from any possible inundation. + +It had taken so many years and such endless labor to introduce into the +Sahara sufficient water to transform its potentially rich soil into arable +land that the thought of any sudden superabundance of that element was far +from the minds of the industrious agriculturalists. They had heard of the +inundations caused by the melting of the mountain snows elsewhere, but +there were no snow-clad mountains near them to be feared. + +Accordingly, when a great wave of water came rushing upon them, surmounted, +where it swept over yet unredeemed areas of the desert, by immense clouds +of whirling dust, that darkened the air and recalled the old days of the +simoom, they were taken completely by surprise. But as the water rose +higher they tried valiantly to escape. They were progressive people, and +many of them had aeros. Besides, two or three lines of aero expresses +crossed their country. All who could do so immediately embarked in +airships, some fleeing toward Europe, and others hovering about, gazing +in despair at the spreading waters beneath them. + +As the invasion of the sea grew more and more serious, this flight by +airship became a common spectacle over all the lower-lying parts of Europe, +and in the British Isles. But, in the midst of it, the heavens opened their +flood-gates, as they had done in the New World, and then the aeros, flooded +with rain, and hurled about by contending blasts of wind, drooped, +fluttered, and fell by hundreds into the fast mounting waves. The nebula +was upon them! + +In the meantime those who had provided arks of one kind or another, tried +desperately to get them safely afloat. All the vessels that succeeded in +leaving their wharves were packed with fugitives. Boats of every sort were +pressed into use, and the few that survived were soon floating over the +sites of the drowned homes of their occupants. + +Before it was too late Yves de Beauxchamps and his friends launched their +submarine, and plunged into the bosom of the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA + + +We return to follow the fortunes of Cosmo Versál's Ark. + +After he had so providentially picked up the crazed billionaire, Amos +Blank, and his three companions, Cosmo ordered Captain Arms to bear away +southeastward, bidding farewell to the drowned shores of America, and +sailing directly over the lower part of Manhattan, and western Long +Island. The navigation was not easy, and if the Ark had not been a +marvelously buoyant vessel it would not long have survived. At the +beginning the heavy and continuous rain kept down the waves, and the +surface of the sea was comparatively smooth, but after a while a curious +phenomenon began to be noticed; immense billows would suddenly appear, +rushing upon the Ark now from one direction and now from another, canting +it over at a dangerous angle, and washing almost to the top of the huge +ellipsoid of the dome. At such times it was difficult for anybody to +maintain a footing, and there was great terror among the passengers. But +Cosmo, and stout Captain Arms, remained at their post, relieving one +another at frequent intervals, and never entrusting the sole charge of +the vessel to any of their lieutenants. + +Cosmo Versál himself was puzzled to account for the origin of the mighty +billows, for it seemed impossible that they could be raised by the wind +notwithstanding the fact that it blew at times with hurricane force. But +at last the explanation came of itself. + +Both Cosmo and the captain happened to be on the bridge together when they +saw ahead something that looked like an enormous column as black as ink, +standing upright on the surface of the water. A glance showed that it was +in swift motion, and, more than that, was approaching in a direct line +toward the Ark. In less than two minutes it was upon them. + +The instant that it met the Ark a terrific roaring deafened them, and the +rounded front of the dome beneath their eyes disappeared under a deluge of +descending water so dense that the vision could not penetrate it. In +another half minute the great vessel seemed to have been driven to the +bottom of the sea. But for the peculiar construction of the shelter of the +bridge its occupants would have been drowned at their posts. As it was they +were soaked as if they had been plunged overboard. Impenetrable darkness +surrounded them. + +But the buoyant vessel shook itself, rolled from side to side, and rose +with a staggering motion until it seemed to be poised on the summit of a +watery mountain. Immediately the complete darkness passed, the awful +downpour ceased, although the rain still fell in torrents, and the Ark +began to glide downward with sickening velocity, as if it were sliding +down a liquid slope. + +It was a considerable time before the two men, clinging to the supports of +the bridge, were able to maintain their equilibrium sufficiently to render +it possible to utter a few connected words. As soon as he could speak with +reasonable comfort Cosmo exclaimed: + +"Now I see what it is that causes the billows, but it is a phenomenon that +I should never have anticipated. It is all due to the nebula. Evidently +there are irregularities of some kind in its constitution which cause the +formation of almost solid masses of water in the atmosphere--suspended +lakes, as it were--which then plunge down in a body as if a hundred +thousand Niagaras were pouring together from the sky. + +"These sudden accessions of water raise stupendous waves which sweep off +in every direction, and that explains the billows that we have +encountered." + +"Well, this nebular navigation beats all my experience," said Captain Arms, +wiping the water out of his eyes. "I was struck by a waterspout once in +the Indian Ocean, and I thought that that capped the climax, but it was +only a catspaw to this. Give me a clear offing and I don't care how much +wind blows, but blow me if I want to get under any more lakes in the sky." + +"We'll have to take whatever comes," returned Cosmo, "but I don't think +there is much danger of running directly into many of these downpours as +we did into this one. Now that we know what they are, we can, perhaps, +detect them long enough in advance to steer out of their way. Anyhow, +we've got a good vessel under our feet. Anything but an ark of levium +would have gone under for good, and if I had not covered the vessel with +the dome there would have been no chance for a soul in her." + +As a matter of fact, the Ark did not encounter any more of the columns of +descending water, but the frequent billows that were met showed that they +were careering over the face of the swollen sea in every direction. + +But there was another trouble of a different nature. The absence of sun +and stars deprived them of the ordinary means of discovering their place. +They could only make a rough guess as to the direction in which they were +going. The gyrostatic compasses gave them considerable assistance, and +they had perfect chronometers, but these latter could be of no use without +celestial observations of some kind. + +At length Cosmo devised a means of obtaining observations that were of +sufficient value to partially serve their purpose. He found that while +the disk of the sun was completely hidden in the watery sky, yet it was +possible to determine its location by means of the varying intensity of +the light. + +Where the sun was a concentrated glow appeared, shading gradually off on +all sides. With infinite pains Cosmo, assisted by the experience of the +captain, succeeded in determining the center of the maximum illumination, +and, assuming that to represent the true place of the sun, they got +something in the nature of observations for altitude and azimuth, and +Captain Arms even drew on his chart "Sumner lines" to determine the +position of the Ark, although he smiled at the thought of their absurd +inaccuracy. Still, it was the best they could do, and was better than +nothing at all. + +They kept a log going also, although, as the captain pointed out, it was +not of much use to know how fast they were traveling, since they could not +know the precise direction, within a whole point of the compass, or perhaps +several points. + +"Besides," he remarked, "what do we know of the currents? This is not the +old Atlantic. If I could feel the Gulf Stream I'd know whereabouts I was, +but these currents come from all directions, and a man might as well try +to navigate in a tub of boiling water." + +"But we can, at least, keep working eastward," said Cosmo. "My idea is +first to make enough southing to get into the latitude of the Sahara +Desert, and then run directly east, so as to cross Africa where there are +no mountains, and where we shall be certain of having plenty of water under +our keel. + +"Then, having got somewhere in the neighborhood of Suez, we can steer +down into the region of the Indian Ocean, and circle round south of the +Himalayas. I want to keep an eye on those mountains, and stay around the +place where they disappear, because that will be the first part of the +earth to emerge from the flood and it is there that we shall ultimately +make land." + +"Well, we're averaging eight knots," said the captain, "and at that rate +we ought to be in the longitude of the African coast in about twenty days. +How high will the water stand then?" + +"My gages show," replied Cosmo, "that the regular fall amounts to exactly +the same thing as at the beginning--two inches a minute. Of course the +spouts increase the amount locally, but I don't think that they add +materially to the general rise of the flood. Two inches per minute means +4,800 feet in twenty days. That'll be sufficient to make safe navigation +for us all the way across northern Africa. We'll have to be careful in +getting out into the Indian Ocean area, for there are mountains on both +sides that might give us trouble, but the higher ones will still be in +sight, and they will serve to indicate the location of the lower ranges +already submerged, but not covered deeply enough to afford safe going over +them." + +"All right," said Captain Arms, "you're the commodore, but if we don't +hang our timbers on the Mountains of the Moon, or the Alps, or old Ararat, +I'm a porpoise. Why can't you keep circling round at a safe distance, in +the middle of the Atlantic, until all these reefs get a good depth of +water on 'em?" + +"Because," Cosmo replied, "even if we keep right on now it will probably +take two months, allowing for delays in getting round dangerous places, +to come within sight of the Himalayas, and in two months the flood will +have risen nearly 15,000 feet, thus hiding many of the landmarks. If we +should hold off here a couple of months before starting eastward nothing +but the one highest peak on the globe would be left in sight by the time +we arrived there, and that wouldn't be anything more than a rock, so that +with the uncertainty of our navigation we might not be able to find it at +all. I must know the spot where Tibet sinks, and then manage to keep in +its neighborhood." + +That ended the argument. + +"Give me a safe port, with lights and bearings, and I'll undertake to hit +it anywhere in the two hemispheres, but blow me if I fancy steering for +the top of the world by dead reckoning, or no reckoning at all," grumbled +the captain. + +At night, of course, they had not even the slight advantage that their +observations of the probable place of the sun gave them when it was above +the horizon. Then they had to go solely by the indications of the compass. +Still, they forged steadily ahead, and when they got into what they deemed +the proper latitude, they ran for the site of the drowned Sahara. + +After about a week the billowing motion caused by the descent of the "lakes +in the sky" ceased entirely, to their great delight, but the lawless nebula +was now preparing another surprise for them. + +On the ninth night after their departure from their lodgment on the +Palisades Cosmo Versál was sleeping in his bunk close by the bridge, where +he could be called in an instant, dreaming perhaps of the glories of the +new world that was to emerge out of the deluge, when he was abruptly +awakened by the voice of Captain Arms, who appeared to be laboring under +uncontrollable excitement. + +"Tumble up quicker'n you ever did in your life!" he exclaimed, his big +brown beard wagging almost in Cosmo's face. "The flood's over!" + +Cosmo sprang out of bed and pulled on his coat in a second. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"Look for yourself," said the captain, pointing overhead. + +Cosmo Versál glanced up and saw the sky ablaze with stars! The rain had +entirely ceased. The surface of the sea was almost as smooth as glass, +though rising and falling slowly, with a long, rolling motion. The Ark +rode steadily, shivering, like an ocean liner, under the impulse of its +engines, and the sudden silence, succeeding the ceaseless roar of the +downpour, which had never been out of their ears from the start of the +voyage, seemed supernatural. + +"When did this happen?" he demanded. + +"It began not more than five minutes ago. I was just saying to myself that +we ought to be somewhere near the center of the old Atlantic as it used to +be, and wondering whether we had got our course laid right to go fairly +between the Canaries and the Cape de Verdes, for I didn't want to be +harpooned by Gogo or the Peak of Teneriffe, when all of a sudden there +came a lightening in the nor'east and the stars broke out there. + +"I was so set aback that I didn't do anything for two or three minutes but +stare at the stars. Then the rain stopped and a curtain seemed to roll off +the sky, and in a minute more it was clear down to the horizon all around. +Then I got my wits together and ran to call you." + +Cosmo glanced around and above, seeming to be as much astonished as the +captain had been. He rubbed his huge bald dome and looked all round again +before speaking. At last he said: + +"It's the nebula again. There must be a hole in it." + +"Its whole bottom's knocked out, I reckon," said the captain. "Maybe it's +run out of water--sort o' squeezed itself dry." + +Cosmo shook his head. + +"We are not yet in the heart of it," he said. "It is evident to me now that +what I took for the nucleus was only a close-coiled spiral, and we're run +out of that, but the worst is yet to come. When we strike the center, then +we'll catch it, and there'll be no more intermissions." + +"How long will that be?" inquired Captain Arms. + +"It may be a week, and it may be a month, though I hardly think it will be +so long as that. The earth is going about twelve miles a second--that's +more than a million miles a day--directly toward the center of the nebula. +It has taken ten days to go through the spiral that we have encountered, +making that about ten million miles thick. It's not likely that the gap +between this spiral and the nucleus of the nebula is more than thirty +million miles across, at the most; so you see we'll probably be in the +nucleus within a month, and possibly much less than a month." + +Captain Arms took a chew of tobacco. + +"We can get our bearings now," he remarked. "Look, there's the moon just +rising, and on my word, she is going to occult Aldebaran within an hour. +I'll get an observation for longitude, and another on Polaris for latitude. +No running on submerged mountains for us now." + +The captain was as good as his word, and when his observations had been +made and the calculations completed he announced that the position of the +Ark was: Latitude, 16 degrees 10 minutes north; longitude, 42 degrees 28 +minutes west. + +"Lucky for us," he exclaimed, "that the sky cleared. If we'd kept on as +we were going we'd have struck the Cape de Verdes, and if that had +happened at night we'd probably have left our bones on a drowning volcano. +We ought to have been ten or twelve degrees farther north to make a safe +passage over the Sahara. What's the course now? Are you still for running +down the Himalaya mountains?" + +"I'll decide later what to do," said Cosmo Versál. "Make your northing, +and then we'll cruise around a little and see what's best to be done." + +When day came on, brilliant with sunshine, and the astonished passengers, +hurrying out of their bunks, crowded about the now opened gangways and the +portholes, which Cosmo had also ordered to be opened, and gazed with +delight upon the smooth blue sea, the utmost enthusiasm took possession of +them. + +The flood was over! + +They were sure of it, and they shook hands with one another and +congratulated themselves and hurrahed, and gave cheers for the Ark and +cheers for Cosmo Versál. Then they began to think of their drowned homes +and of their lost friends, and sadness followed joy. Cosmo was mobbed by +eager inquiries wherever he made his appearance. + +Was it all over for good? Would the flood dry up in a few days? How long +would it be before New York would be free of water? Were they going right +back there? Did he think there was a chance that many had escaped in boats +and ships? Couldn't they pick up the survivors if they hurried back? + +Cosmo tried to check the enthusiasm. + +"It's too early for rejoicing," he assured them. "It's only a break in +the nebula. We've got a respite for a short time, but there's worse +coming. The drowning of the world will proceed. We are the only +survivors, except perhaps some of those who inhabited the highlands. +Everything less than 2,400 feet above the former level of the sea is now +under water. When the flood begins again it will keep on until it is +six miles deep over the old sea margins." + +"Why not go back and try to rescue those who you say may have found +safety on the highlands?" asked one. + +"I have chosen my company," he said, "and I had good reasons for the +choice I made. I have already added to the number, because simple humanity +compelled me, but I can take no more. The quantity of provisions aboard +the Ark is not greater than will be needed by ourselves. If the rest of +the world is drowned it is not my fault. I did my best to warn them. +Besides, we could do nothing in the way of rescue even if we should go +back for that purpose. We could not approach the submerged plateaus. We +would be aground before we got within sight of them." + +These words went far to change the current of feeling among the +passengers. When they learned that there would be danger for themselves +in the course that had been proposed their humanity proved to be less +strong than their desire for self-preservation. Nevertheless, as we shall +see, the Ark ultimately went back to America, though not for any reason +that had yet been suggested. + +Meanwhile the unexpected respite furnished by the sudden cessation of the +downpour from the sky had other important results, to which we now turn. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT + + +When Professor Abiel Pludder indited his savage response to Cosmo +Versál's invitation to become one of the regenerators of mankind by +embarking in the Ark, he was expressing his professional prejudice rather +than his intellectual conviction. As Cosmo had remarked, Pludder had a +good brain and great scientific acuteness, and, although he did not +believe in the nebular theory of a flood, and was obstinately opposed to +everything that was not altogether regular and according to recognized +authority in science, yet he could not shut his eyes to the fact that +something was going wrong in the machinery of the heavens. But it annoyed +him to find that his own explanations were always falsified by the event, +while Cosmo Versál seemed to have a superhuman foreglimpse of whatever +happened. + +His pride would not allow him to recede from the position that he had +taken, but he could not free himself from a certain anxiety about the +future. After he had refused Cosmo Versál's invitation, the course of +events strengthened this anxiety. He found that the official +meteorologists were totally unable to account for the marvelous vagaries +of the weather. + +Finally, when the news came of tremendous floods in the north, and of the +overflowing of Hudson Bay, he secretly determined to make some +preparations of his own. He still rejected the idea of a watery nebula, +but he began to think it possible that all the lowlands of the earth might +be overflowed by the sea, and by the melting of mountain snows and +glaciers, together with deluging rainfall. After what had passed, he could +not think of making any public confession of his change of heart, but his +sense of humanity compelled him to give confidential warning to his friends +that it would be well to be prepared to get on high ground at a moment's +notice. + +He was on the point of issuing, but without his signature, an official +statement cautioning the public against unprecedented inundations, when the +first tidal wave arrived on the Atlantic coast and rendered any utterance +of that kind unnecessary. People's eyes were opened, and now they would +look out for themselves. + +Pludder's private preparations amounted to no more than the securing of a +large express aero, in which, if the necessity for suddenly leaving +Washington should arise, he intended to take flight, together with +President Samson, who was his personal friend, and a number of other close +friends, with their families. He did not think that it would be necessary, +in any event, to go farther than the mountains of Virginia. + +The rising of the sea, mounting higher at each return, at length convinced +him that the time had come to get away. Hundreds of air craft had already +departed westward, not only from Washington, but from New York, +Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and other seaboard cities, before +Professor Pludder assembled his friends by telephone on the Capitol +grounds, where his aero was waiting. + +The lower streets of the city were under water from the overflow of the +Potomac, which was backed up by the influx of the Atlantic into Chesapeake +Bay, and the most distressing scenes were enacted there, people fleeing in +the utmost disorder toward higher ground, carrying their children and some +of their household goods, and uttering doleful cries. Many, thinking that +the best way to escape, embarked in frail boats on the river, which was +running up-stream with frightful velocity, and rising perceptibly higher +every second. Most of these boats were immediately overturned or swamped. + +If the start had been delayed but a little longer, the aero would have been +mobbed by the excited people, who uttered yells of disappointment and rage +when they saw it rise from its tower and sail over the city. It was the +last airship that left Washington, and it carried the last persons who +escaped from the national capital before the downpour from the atmosphere +began which put an end to all possibility of getting away. + +There were on board, in addition to a crew of three, twenty-two persons. +These included President Samson, with his wife and three children, seven +other men with their families, making, together, sixteen persons, and +Professor Pludder, who had no family. + +More because they wished to escape from the painful scenes beneath them +than because they deemed that there was any occasion for particular haste, +they started off at high speed, and it was probably lucky for them that +this speed was maintained after they had left Washington out of sight. +They rapidly approached the Blue Ridge in the neighborhood of Luray, and +Pludder was about to order a landing there as night was approaching, when +with great suddenness the sky filled with dense clouds and a tremendous +downpour began. This was the same phenomenon which has already been +described as following closely the attack at New York on Cosmo Versál's +Ark. + +The aero, luckily, was one of the best type, and well covered, so that they +were protected from the terrible force of the rain, but in the tumult there +could be no more thought of descending. It would have been impossible to +make a landing in the midst of the storm and the pouring water, which +rushed in torrents down the mountainside. Professor Pludder was a brave man +and full of resources when driven into a corner. Being familiar with the +construction and management of aeros, for he had been educated as an +engineer, he now took charge of the airship. + +Within twenty minutes after the sky had opened its batteries--for the rain +had almost the force of plunging shot--a mighty wind arose, and the aero, +pitching, tossing, and dipping like a mad thing, was driven with frightful +speed eastward. This wild rush continued for more than an hour. By this +time it was full night, and the pouring rain around them was as +impenetrable to the sight as a black wall. + +They had their electric lamps inside, and their searchlights, but it was +impossible to tell where they were. Pludder turned the searchlight +downward, but he could not make out the features of the ground beneath +them. It is likely that they were driven at least as far as Chesapeake Bay, +and they may have passed directly over Washington. + +At last, however, the wind slewed round, and began to blow with +undiminished violence from the northeast. Plunging and swerving, and +sometimes threatened with a complete somersault, the aero hurried away in +its crazy flight, while its unfortunate inmates clung to one another, and +held on by any object within reach, in the endeavor to keep from being +dashed against the metallic walls. + +The crew of the aero were picked men, but no experience could have +prepared them for the work which they now had to do. Without the ready +brain of Professor Pludder to direct their efforts, and without his +personal exertions, their aerial ship would have been wrecked within a +quarter of an hour after the storm struck it. He seemed transformed into +another person. Hatless and coatless, and streaming with water, he worked +like a demon. He was ready at each emergency with some device which, under +his direction, had the effect of magic. + +A hundred times the aero plunged for the ground, but was saved and turned +upward again just as it seemed on the point of striking. Up and down, +right and left, it ran and pitched and whirled, like a cork in a whirlpool. +Sometimes it actually skimmed the ground, plowing its way through a +torrent of rushing water, and yet it rose again and was saved from +destruction. + +This terrible contest lasted another hour after the turning of the wind, +and then the latter died out. Relieved from its pressure, the aero ran on +with comparative ease. Professor Pludder, suspecting that they might now +be getting into a mountainous district, made every effort to keep the +craft at a high elevation, and this, notwithstanding the depressing force +of the rain, they succeeded in doing. After the dying out of the wind they +kept on, by the aid of their propellers, in the same direction in which it +had been driving them, because, in the circumstances, one way was as good +as another. + +The terrible discomfort of the President and his companions in the cabin +of the aero was greatly relieved by the cessation of the wind, but still +they were in a most unfortunate state. The rain, driven by the fierce +blasts, had penetrated through every crevice, and they were drenched to +the skin. No one tried to speak, for it would have been almost impossible +to make oneself heard amid the uproar. They simply looked at one another +in dismay and prayed for safety. + +Professor Pludder, not now compelled to spend every moment in the +management of the craft, entered the cabin occasionally, pressed the hand +of the President, smiled encouragingly on the women and children, and did +all he could, in pantomime, to restore some degree of confidence. Inside, +the lights were aglow, but outside it was as dark as pitch, except where +the broad finger of the searchlight, plunging into the mass of tumbling +water, glittered and flashed. + +The awful night seemed endless, but at last a pale illumination appeared +in the air, and they knew that day had come. The spectacle of the skyey +deluge was now so terrible that it struck cold even to their already +benumbed hearts. The atmosphere seemed to have been turned into a mighty +cataract thundering down upon the whole face of the earth. Now that they +could see as well as hear, the miracle of the preservation of the aero +appeared incredible. + +As the light slowly brightened, Professor Pludder, constantly on the +outlook, caught a glimpse of a dark, misty object ahead. It loomed up so +suddenly, and was already so close, that before he could sufficiently +alter the course of the aero, it struck with such violence as to crush +the forward end of the craft and break one of the aeroplanes. Everybody +was pitched headforemost, those inside falling on the flooring, while +Pludder and the three men of the crew were thrown out upon a mass of +rocks. All were more or less seriously injured, but none was killed or +totally disabled. + +Pludder sprang to his feet, and, slipping and plunging amid the downpour, +managed to get back to the wreck and aid the President and the others to +get upon their feet. + +"We're lodged on a mountain!" he yelled. "Stay inside, under the shelter +of the roof!" + +The three men who, together with the professor, had been precipitated out +among the rocks, also scrambled in, and there they stood, or sat, the most +disconsolate and despairing group of human beings that ever the eye of an +overseeing Providence looked down upon. + +The President presented the most pitiable sight of all. Like the rest, +his garments were sopping, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was ghastly, +and his tall silk hat, which he had jammed down upon his brow, had been +softened by the water and crushed by repeated blows into the form of a +closed accordion. Of the women and children it is needless to speak; no +description could convey an idea of their condition. + +In these circumstances, the real strength of Professor Abiel Pludder's +mind was splendidly displayed. He did not lose his head, and he +comprehended the situation, and what it was necessary to do, in a flash. +He got out some provisions and distributed them to the company, in some +cases actually forcing them to eat. With his own hands he prepared coffee, +with the apparatus always carried by express aeros, and made them drink +it. + +When all had thus been refreshed he approached President Samson and +shouted in his ear: + +"We shall have to stay here until the downpour ceases. To guard against the +effects of a tempest, if one should arise, we must secure the aero in its +place. For that I need the aid of every man in the party. We have, +fortunately, struck in a spot on the mountain where we are out of the way +of the torrents of water that are pouring down through the ravines on +either side. We can make our lodgment secure, but we must go to work +immediately." + +Stimulated by his example, the President and the others set to work, and +with great difficulty, for they had to guard their eyes and nostrils from +the driving rain, which, sometimes, in spite of their precautions, nearly +smothered them, they succeeded in fastening the aero to the rocks by means +of metallic cables taken from its stores. When this work was finished they +returned under the shelter of the cabin roof and lay down exhausted. So +worn out were they that all of them quickly fell into a troubled sleep. + +It would be needless to relate in detail the sufferings, mental and +physical, that they underwent during the next ten days. While they were +hanging there on the mountain the seaboard cities of the world were +drowned, and Cosmo Versál's Ark departed on the remarkable voyage that has +been described in a former chapter. They had plenty of provisions, for the +aero had been well stored, but partly through precaution and partly because +of lack of appetite they ate sparingly. The electric generators of the aero +had not been injured in the wreck of the craft, and they were able to +supply themselves with sufficient heat, and with light inside the cabin at +night. + +Once they had a strange visitor--a half-drowned bear, which had +struggled up the mountain from its den somewhere below--but that was the +only living creature beside themselves that they saw. After gazing +wistfully at the aero from the top of a rock the poor bear, fighting the +choking rain with its soaked paws, stumbled into one of the torrents that +poured furiously down on each side, and was swept from their sight. + +Fortunately, the wind that they had anticipated did not come, but +frequently they saw or heard the roaring downpours of solid watery +columns like those that had so much astonished Cosmo Versál and Captain +Arms in the midst of the Atlantic, but none came very near them. + +Professor Pludder ventured out from time to time, clambering a little way +up and down the projecting ridge of the mountain on which they were lodged, +and at length was able to assure his companions that they were on the +northwestern face of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak of the Appalachian +range. With the aid of his pocket aneroid, making allowance for the +effect of the lifting of the whole atmosphere by the flood, and summoning +his knowledge of the locality--for he had explored, in former years, all +the mountains in this region--he arrived at the conclusion that their +place of refuge was elevated about four thousand feet above the former +level of the sea. + +At first their range of vision did not allow them to see the condition of +the valleys below them, but as the water crept higher it gradually came +into view. It rose steadily up the slopes beneath, which had already been +stripped of their covering of trees and vegetation by the force of the +descending torrents, until on the tenth day it had arrived almost within +reach. Since, as has just been said, they were four thousand feet above +the former level of the sea, it will be observed that the water must +have been rising much more rapidly than the measurements of Cosmo Versál +indicated. Its average rate of rise had been three instead of two inches +per minute, and the world was buried deeper than Cosmo thought. The cause +of his error will be explained later. + +The consternation of the little party when they thus beheld the rapid +drowning of the world below them, and saw no possibility of escape for +themselves if the water continued to advance, as it evidently would do, +cannot be depicted. Some of them were driven insane, and were with +difficulty prevented by those who retained their senses from throwing +themselves into the flood. + +Pludder was the only one who maintained a command over his nerves, +although he now at last _believed in the nebula_. He recognized that there +was no other possible explanation of the flood than that which Cosmo Versál +had offered long before it began. In his secret heart he had no expectation +of ultimate escape, yet he was strong enough to continue to encourage his +companions with hopes which he could not himself entertain. + +When, after nightfall on the tenth day, the water began to lap the lower +parts of the aero, he was on the point of persuading the party to clamber +up the rocks in search of the shelter above, but as he stepped out of the +door of the cabin to reconnoiter the way, with the aid of the searchlight +which he had turned up along the ridge, he was astonished to find the rain +rapidly diminishing in force; and a few minutes later it ceased entirely, +and the stars shone out. + +The sudden cessation of the roar upon the roof brought everybody to their +feet, and before Professor Pludder could communicate the good news all +were out under the sky, rejoicing and offering thanks for their +deliverance. The women were especially affected. They wept in one +another's arms, or convulsively clasped their children to their breasts. + +At length the President found his voice. + +"What has happened?" he asked. + +Professor Pludder, with the new light that had come to him, was as ready +with an explanation as Cosmo Versál himself had been under similar +circumstances. + +"We must have run out of the nebula." + +"The nebula!" returned Mr. Samson in surprise. "Has there been a nebula, +then?" + +"Without question," was the professor's answer. "Nothing but an encounter +with a watery nebula could have had such a result." + +"But you always said----" began the President. + +"Yes," Pludder broke in, "but one may be in error sometimes." + +"Then, Cosmo Versál----" + +"Let us not discuss Cosmo Versál," exclaimed Professor Pludder, with a +return of his old dictatorial manner. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE + + +Morning dawned brilliantly on Mount Mitchell and revealed to the +astonished eyes of the watchers an endless expanse of water, gleaming and +sparkling in the morning sunlight. It was a spectacle at once beautiful +and fearful, and calculated to make their hearts sink with pity no less +than with terror. But for a time they were distracted from the awful +thoughts which such a sight must inspire by anxiety concerning themselves. +They could not drive away the fear that, at any moment, the awful clouds +might return and the terrible downpour be resumed. + +But Professor Pludder, whose comprehension of the cause of the deluge was +growing clearer the more he thought about it, did not share the anxiety +of the President and the others. + +"The brightness of the sky," he said, "shows that there is no considerable +quantity of condensing vapor left in the atmosphere. If the earth has run +out of the nebula, that is likely to be the end of the thing. If there is +more of the nebulous matter in surrounding space we may miss it entirely, +or, if not, a long time would elapse before we came upon it. + +"The gaps that exist in nebulae are millions of miles across, and the +earth would require days and weeks to go such distances, granting that it +were traveling in the proper direction. I think it altogether probable +that this nebula, which must be a small one as such things go, consists +of a single mass, and that, having traversed it, we are done with it. We +are out of our troubles." + +"Well, hardly," said the President. "Here we are, prisoners on a mountain, +with no way of getting down, the whole land beneath being turned into a +sea. We can't stay here indefinitely. For how long a time are we +provisioned?" + +"We have compressed food enough to last this party a month," replied +Professor Pludder; "that is to say, if we are sparing of it. For water we +cannot lack, since this that surrounds us is not salt, and if it were we +could manage to distil it. But, of course, when I said we were out of our +troubles I meant only that there was no longer any danger of being +swallowed up by the flood. It is true that we cannot think of remaining +here. We must get off." + +"But how? Where can we go?" + +Professor Pludder thought a long time before he answered this question. +Finally he said, measuring his words: + +"The water is four thousand feet above the former level of the sea. There +is no land sufficiently lofty to rise above it this side of the Colorado +plateau." + +"And how far is that?" + +"Not less than eleven hundred miles in an air line." + +The President shuddered. + +"Then, all this vast country of ours from here to the feet of the Rocky +Mountains is now under water thousands of feet deep!" + +"There can be no doubt of it. The Atlantic Coast States, the Southern +States, the Mississippi Valley, the region of the Great Lakes, and Canada +are now a part of the Atlantic Ocean." + +"And all the great cities--gone! Merciful Father! What a thought!" + +The President mused for a time, and gradually a frown came upon his brow. +He glanced at Professor Pludder with a singular look. Then his cheek +reddened, and an angry expression came into his eyes. Suddenly he turned +to the professor and said sternly: + +"You said you did not wish to discuss Cosmo Versál. I should not think +you would! Who predicted this deluge? Did _you_?" + +"I----" began Professor Pludder, taken aback by the President's manner. + +"Oh, yes," interrupted the President, "I know what you would say. You +didn't predict it because you didn't see it coming. But _why_ didn't +you see it? What have we got observatories and scientific societies +for if they can't _see_ or _comprehend_ anything? Didn't Cosmo Versál +warn you? Didn't he tell you where to look, and what to look for? Didn't +he show you his proofs?" + +"We thought they were fallacious," stammered Professor Pludder. + +"You _thought_ they were fallacious--well, _were_ they fallacious? Does +this spectacle of a nation drowned look 'fallacious' to you? Why didn't +you study the matter until you understood it? Why did you issue +officially, and with my ignorant sanction--may God forgive me for my +blindness!--statement after statement, assuring the people that there was +no danger--statements that were even abusive toward him who alone should +have been heard? + +"And yet, as now appears, you knew nothing about it. Millions upon millions +have perished through your obstinate opposition to the truth. They might +have saved themselves if they had been permitted to listen to the many +times reiterated warnings of Cosmo Versál. + +"Oh, if _I_ had only listened to him, and issued a proclamation as he urged +me to do! But I followed _your_ advice--_you_, in whose learning and +pretended science I put blind faith! _Abiel Pludder, I would not have upon +my soul the weight that now rests on yours for all the wealth that the lost +world carried down into its watery grave!_" + +As the President ceased speaking he turned away and sank upon a rock, +pressing his hands upon his throat to suppress the sobs that broke forth +despite his efforts. His form shook like an aspen. + +The others crowded around excitedly, some of the women in hysterics, and +the men not knowing what to do or say. Professor Pludder, completely +overwhelmed by the suddenness and violence of the attack, went off by +himself and sat down with his head in his hands. After a while he arose +and approached the President, who had not moved from his place on the +rock. + +"George," he said--they had known each other from boyhood--"I have made a +terrible mistake. And yet I was not alone in it. The majority of my +colleagues were of my opinion, as were all the learned societies of +Europe. No such thing as a watery nebula has ever been known to science. +It was inconceivable." + +"Some of your colleagues did not think so," said the President, looking +up. + +"But they were not really convinced, and they were aware that they were +flying in the face of all known laws." + +"I am afraid," said the President dryly, "that science does not know all +the laws of the universe yet." + +"I repeat," resumed Professor Pludder, "that I made a fearful mistake. I +have recognized the truth too late. I accept the awful burden of blame +that rests upon me, and I now wish to do everything in my power to +retrieve the consequences of my terrible error." + +The President arose and grasped the professor's hand. + +"Forgive me, Abiel," he said, with emotion, "if I have spoken too much in +the manner of a judge pronouncing sentence. I was overwhelmed by the +thought of the inconceivable calamity that has come upon us. I believe +that you acted conscientiously and according to your best lights, and it +is not for any mortal to judge you for an error thus committed. Let us +think only of what _we_ must do now." + +"To that thought," responded Professor Pludder, returning the pressure of +the President's hand, "I shall devote all my energy. If I can save only +this little party I shall have done something in the way of atonement." + +It was a deep humiliation for a man of Professor Pludder's proud and +uncompromising nature to confess that he had committed an error more +fearful in its consequences than had ever been laid at the door of a human +being, but Cosmo Versál had rightly judged him when he assured Joseph +Smith that Pludder was morally sound, and, in a scientific sense, had +the root of the matter in him. When his mental vision was clear, and +unclouded by prejudice, no one was more capable of high achievements. + +He quickly proved his capacity now, as he had already proved it during +the preceding, adventures of the President's party. It was perfectly plain +to him that their only chance was in getting to Colorado at the earliest +possible moment. The eastern part of the continent was hopelessly buried, +and even on the high plains of the Middle West the fury of the downpour +might have spread universal disaster and destroyed nearly all the +vegetation; but, in any event, it was there alone that the means of +prolonging life could be sought. + +With the problem squarely before his mind, he was not long in finding a +solution. His first step was to make a thorough examination of the aero, +with the hope that the damage that it had suffered might be reparable. He +had all the tools that would be needed, as it was the custom for express +aeros to carry a complete equipment for repairs; but unfortunately one of +the planes of the aero was wrecked beyond the possibility of repair. He +knew upon what delicate adjustments the safety of the modern airship +depended, and he did not dare undertake a voyage with a lame craft. + +Then the idea occurred to him of trying to escape by water. The aero was +a machine of the very latest type, and made of levium, consequently it +would float better than wood. + +If the opposition of shipbuilders, incited and backed by selfish interests, +had not prevented the employment of levium in marine construction, millions +of lives might now have been saved; but, as we have before said, only a +few experimental boats of levium had been made. + +Moreover, like all aeros intended for long trips, this one had what was +called a "boat-bottom," intended to enable it to remain afloat with its +burden in case of an accidental fall into a large body of water. Pludder +saw that this fact would enable him to turn the wreck into a raft. + +It would only be necessary to reshape the craft a little, and this was the +easier because the aero was put together in such a manner with screw-bolts +and nuts that it could be articulated or disarticulated as readily as a +watch. He had entire confidence in his engineering skill, and in the +ability of the three experienced men of the crew to aid him. He decided to +employ the planes for outriders, which would serve to increase the +buoyancy and stability. + +As soon as he had completed his plan in his mind he explained his +intentions to the President. The latter and the other members of the party +were at first as much startled as surprised by the idea of embarking on a +voyage of eleven hundred miles in so questionable a craft, but Professor +Pludder assured them that everything would go well. + +"But how about the propulsion?" asked Mr. Samson. "You can't depend on the +wind, and we've got no sails." + +"I have thought that all out," said Pludder. "I shall use the engine, and +rearrange one of the aerial screws so that it will serve for a propeller. +I do not expect to get up any great speed, but if we can make only as much +as two miles an hour we shall arrive on the borders of the Colorado upland, +five thousand feet above sea, within about twenty-three days. We may be +able to do better than that." + +Nobody felt much confidence in this scheme except its inventor, but it +appeared to be the only thing that could be done, and so they all fell to +work, each aiding as best he could, and after four days of hard work the +remarkable craft was ready for its adventurous voyage. + +Professor Pludder had succeeded even better than he anticipated in +transforming one of the aerial screws into a propeller. Its original +situation was such that it naturally, as it were, fell into the proper +place when the "hull" was partly submerged, and, the blades being made of +concentric rows of small plates, there was no difficulty in reducing them +to a manageable size. The position of the engine did not need to be +shifted at all. + +The "outriders," made up of the discarded planes, promised to serve their +purpose well, and the cabin remained for a comfortable "deck-house." A +rudder had been contrived by an alteration of the one which had served for +guiding the aero in its flights. + +The water was close to their feet, and there was no great difficulty in +pushing the affair off the rocks and getting it afloat. The women and +children were first put aboard, and then the men scrambled in, and Pludder +set the motors going. The improvised propeller churned and spluttered, +but it did its work after a fashion, and, under a blue sky, in dazzling +sunshine, with a soft southerly breeze fanning the strange sea that +spread around them, they soon saw the bared rocks and deeply scored +flanks of Mount Mitchell receding behind them. + +They were delighted to find that they were making, at the very start, no +less than three miles an hour. Pludder clapped his hands and exclaimed: + +"This is capital! In but little over two weeks we shall be safe on the +great plains. I have good hope that many have survived there, and that we +shall find a plenty of everything needed. With the instruments that were +aboard the aero I can make observations to determine our position, and I +shall steer for the Pike's Peak region." + +When the party had become accustomed to their situation, and had gained +confidence in their craft by observing how buoyantly it bore them, they +became almost cheerful in their demeanor. The children gradually lost all +fear, and, with the thoughtless joy of childhood in the pleasures and +wonders of the present moment, amused themselves in the cabin, and about +the deck, which had been surrounded with guard lines made of wire cable. + +The water was almost waveless, and, if no storm should arise, there +appeared to be no reason for anxiety concerning the outcome of their +adventure. But as they drove slowly on over the submerged range of the +Great Smokies, and across the valleys of Eastern Tennessee, and then over +the Cumberland range, and so out above the lowlands, they could not keep +their thoughts from turning to what lay beneath that fearful ocean. And +occasionally something floated to the surface that wrenched their heart- +strings and caused them to avert their faces. + +Professor Pludder kept them informed of their location. Now they were over +central Tennessee; now Nashville lay more than three thousand feet beneath +their keel; now they were crossing the valley of the Tennessee River; now +the great Mississippi was under them, hidden deep beneath the universal +flood; now they were over the highlands of southern Missouri; and now over +those of Kansas. + +"George," said Professor Pludder one day, addressing the President, with +more emotion than was often to be detected in his voice, "would you like +to know what is beneath us now?" + +"What is it, Abiel?" + +"Our boyhood home--Wichita." + +The President bowed his head upon his hands and groaned. + +"Yes," continued Professor Pludder musingly, "there it lies, three thousand +feet deep. There is the Arkansas, along whose banks we used to play, with +its golden waters now mingling feebly with the mighty flood that covers +them. There is the schoolhouse and the sandy road where we ran races +barefoot in the hot summer dust. There is your father's house, and mine, +and the homes of all our early friends--and where are _they?_ Would to God +that I had not been so blind!" + +"But there was another not so blind," said the President, with something +of the condemnatory manner of his former speech. + +"I know it--I know it too well now," returned the professor. "But do not +condemn me, George, for what I did not foresee and could not help." + +"I am sorry," said the President sadly, "that you have awakened these old +memories. But I do not condemn you, though I condemn your science--or your +lack of science. But we can do nothing. Let us speak of it no more." + +The weather was wonderful, considering what had so recently occurred. No +clouds formed in the sky, there was only a gentle breeze stirring, at +night the heavens glittered with starry gems, and by day the sun shone so +hotly that awnings were spread over those whose duties required them to be +employed outside the shelter of the cabin. The improvised propeller and +rudder worked to admiration, and some days they made as much as eighty +miles in the twenty-four hours. + +At length, on the fourteenth day of their strange voyage, they caught +sight of a curiously shaped "pike" that projected above the horizon far to +the west. At the same time they saw, not far away toward the north and +toward the south, a low line, like a sea-beach. + +"We are getting into shallow water now," said Professor Pludder. "I have +been following the course of the Arkansas in order to be sure of a +sufficient depth, but now we must be very careful. We are close to the +site of Las Animas, which is surrounded with land rising four thousand +feet above sea-level. If we should get aground there would be no hope for +us. That pike in the distance is Pike's Peak." + +"And what is that long line of beach that stretches on the north and +south?" asked the President. + +"It is the topographic line of four thousand feet," replied the +professor. + +"And we shall encounter it ahead?" + +"Yes, it makes a curve about Las Animas, and then the land lies at an +average elevation of four thousand feet, until it takes another rise +beyond Pueblo." + +"But we cannot sail across this half-submerged area," said the President. + +"There are depressions," Professor Pludder responded, "and I hope to be +able to follow their traces until we reach land that still lies well +above the water." + +Near nightfall they got so close to the "beach" that they could hear the +surf, not a thundering sound, but a soft, rippling wash of the slight +waves. The water about them was ruddy with thick sediment. Professor +Pludder did not dare to venture farther in the coming darkness, and he +dropped overboard two of the aero's grapples, which he had heavily +weighted and attached to wire cables. They took the ground at a depth of +only ten feet. There was no wind and no perceptible current, and so they +rode all night at anchor off this strangest of coasts. + +At daybreak they lifted their anchors, and went in search of the +depressions of which the professor had spoken. So accurate was his +topographic knowledge and so great his skill, that late in the afternoon +they saw a tall chimney projecting above the water a little ahead. + +"There's all that remains of Pueblo," said Professor Pludder. + +They anchored again that night, and the next day, cautiously approaching +a bluff that arose precipitously from the water, their hearts were +gladdened by the sight of three men, standing on a bluff, excitedly +beckoning to them, and shouting at the top of their voices. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MUTINY IN THE ARK + + +We left Cosmo Versál and his arkful of the flower of mankind in the midst +of what was formerly the Atlantic Ocean, but which had now expanded over +so many millions of square miles that had once been the seats of vast +empires that to an eye looking at it with a telescope from Mars it would +have been unrecognizable. + +All of eastern North America, all of South America to the feet of the +Andes, all but the highest mountains of Europe, nearly all of Africa, +except some of the highlands of the south, all of northern and +southwestern Asia, as well as the peninsula of India, all of China and +the adjacent lands and islands except the lofty peaks, the whole of +Australia, and the archipelagoes of the Pacific, had become parts of the +floor of a mighty ocean which rolled unbroken from pole to pole. + +The Great Deep had resumed its ancient reign, and what was left of the +habitable globe presented to view only far separated islands and the +serrated tops of such ranges as the Alps, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, +and the Andes. The astonished inhabitants of the ocean depths now swam +over the ruins of great cities, and brushed with their fins the chiseled +capitals of columns that had supported the proudest structures of human +hands. + +We have seen how the unexpected arrest of the flood had left Cosmo +uncertain as to the course that he ought to pursue. But he did not long +remain in doubt. He was sure that the downpour would be resumed after an +interval which at the most could not exceed a few weeks, and he resolved +to continue his way toward the future land of promise in Asia. + +But he thought that he would have time to turn his prow in the direction +of Europe, for he felt a great desire to know by actual inspection to what +height the water had attained. He was certain that it could not be less +than he had estimated--the indications of his rain-gage had been too +unvarying to admit of doubt on that point--but he had no means of direct +measurement since he could not sound the tremendous depths beneath the +Ark. + +After long meditation on the probable effects of the descending columns of +water which he had seen, he concluded that they might have added more +rapidly than he first supposed to the increase of the general level. +Besides, he reflected that there was no proof that the general downpour +might not have been greater over some parts of the earth than others. All +these doubts could be dissipated if he could get a good look at some lofty +mountain range, such as the Sierra Nevada of Spain, or the Pyrenees, or, +if he could venture within sight of them, the Alps. + +So he said to Captain Arms: + +"Steer for the coast of Europe." + +The fine weather had produced a good effect upon the spirits of the +company. Not only were the ports and the gangways all open, but Cosmo +ordered the temporary removal of rows of adjustable plates on the sides of +the vessel, which transformed the broad outer gangways, running its whole +length, into delightful promenade decks. There, in cozy chairs, and +protected with rugs, the passengers sat, fanned by a refreshing breeze, +and dazzled by the splendor of the ocean. + +They recalled, by their appearance, a shipload of summer tourists bound +for the wonders and pleasures of foreign parts. This likeness to a +pleasure cruise was heightened by the constant attentions of the crew, +under Cosmo's orders, who carried about refreshing drinks and lunches, +and conducted themselves like regular ocean "stewards." + +It seemed impossible to believe that the world had been drowned, and some +almost persuaded themselves that the whole thing was a dream. + +It must not be supposed that the thousand-odd persons who composed this +remarkable ship's company were so hard-hearted, so selfish, so forgetful, +so morally obtuse, that they never thought of the real horror of their +situation, and of the awful calamity that had overwhelmed so many millions +of their fellow-creatures. They thought of all that only too seriously +and in spite of themselves. The women especially were overwhelmed by it. +But they did not wish to dwell upon it, and Cosmo Versál did not wish that +they should. + +At night he had musicians play in the grand saloon; he distributed books +among the passengers from a large library which he had selected; and at +last he had the stage set, and invited his friends, the players, to +entertain the company. + +But he would have no plays but those of Shakespeare. + +There were, probably, not half a dozen persons in the Ark who had ever +seen representations of these great dramas, and very few who had read them, +so that they had the advantage of complete novelty. + +The play selected for the first representation was the tragedy of "King +Lear," a strange choice, it would, at first sight, seem, but Cosmo Versál +had a deep knowledge of human nature. He knew that only tragedy would be +endured there, and that it must be tragedy so profound and overmastering +that it would dominate the feelings of those who heard and beheld it. It +was the principle of immunizing therapeutics, where poison paralyzes +poison. + +It came out as he anticipated. The audience, unused to such depth of +dramatic passion, for the plays to which they had been accustomed had been +far from the Shakespearian standard, was wholly absorbed in the +development of the tragedy. It was a complete revelation to them, and they +were carried out of themselves, and found in the sympathy awakened by this +heart-crushing spectacle of the acme of human woe an unconscious solace for + their own moral anguish. + +Afterward Cosmo put upon the stage "Hamlet," and "Othello," and "Macbeth," +and "Coriolanus," and "Julius Caesar," but he avoided, for the present, the +less tragic dramas. And all of them, being new to the hearers, produced an +enormous effect. + +On alternate nights he substituted music for the drama, and, as this was +confined to the most majestic productions of the great masters of the past, +many of whose works, like those of Shakespeare, had long been neglected if +not forgotten, their power over the spirits of the company was, perhaps, +even more pronounced. + +Cosmo Versál was already beginning the education of his chosen band of +race regenerators, while he mused upon the wonders that the science of +eugenics would achieve after the world should have reemerged from the +waters. + +One of the most singular effects of the music was that produced upon the +insane billionaire, Amos Blank. He had been confined in the room that +Cosmo had assigned to him, and was soothed, whenever Cosmo could find time +to visit him, with pretended acquiescence in his crazed notion that the +trip of the Ark was part of a scheme to "corner" the resources of the +world. + +Cosmo persuaded him that the secret was unknown except to themselves, and +that it was essential to success that he (Blank) should remain in +retirement, and accordingly the latter expressed no desire to leave his +place of imprisonment, which he regarded as the headquarters of the +combination, passing hours in covering sheets of paper with columns of +figures, which he fancied represented the future profits of the +enterprise. + +One night when a symphony of Beethoven was to be played, Cosmo led Amos +Blank through the crowded saloon and placed him near the musicians. He +resisted at first, and when he saw the crowd he drew back, exclaiming: + +"What? Not overboard yet?" + +But Cosmo soothed him with some whispered promise, and he took his seat, +glancing covertly around him. Then the instruments struck up, and +immediately fixed his attention. As the musical theme developed his eyes +gradually lost their wild look, and a softened expression took its place. +He sank lower in his seat, and rested his head upon his hand. His whole +soul seemed, at last, to be absorbed in the music. When it was finished +Blank was a changed man. + +Then Cosmo clearly explained to him all that had happened. + +After the first overwhelming effect of his reawakening to the realities +of his situation had passed, the billionaire was fully restored to all +his faculties. Henceforth he mingled with the other passengers and, as if +the change that had come over his spirit had had greater results than the +simple restoration of sanity, he became one of the most popular and useful +members of Cosmo Versál's family of pilgrims. + +Among the other intellectual diversions which Cosmo provided was something +quite unique, due to his own mental bias. This consisted of "conferences," +held in the grand saloon, afternoons, in the presence of the entire +company, at which the principal speakers were his two "speculative +geniuses," Costaké Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone. They did not care +very much for one another and each thought that the time allotted to the +other was wasted. + +Theriade wished to talk continuously of the infinite energy stored up in +the atoms of matter, and of the illimitable power which the release of +that energy, by the system that he had all but completed, would place at +the disposition of man; and at the same time Sir Athelstone could with +difficulty be held in leash while he impatiently awaited an opportunity to +explain how excessively near he had arrived to the direct production of +protoplasm from inanimate matter, and the chemical control of living cells, +so that henceforth man could people or unpeople the earth as he liked. + +One evening, when everybody not on duty was in bed, Captain Arms, with his +whiskers fairly bristling, entered Cosmo's cabin, where the latter was +dictating to Joseph Smith, and softly approaching his chief, with a furtive +glance round the room, stooped and whispered something in his ear. A +startled, though incredulous, expression appeared on Cosmo's face, and he +sprang to his feet, but before speaking he obeyed a sign from the captain +and told Smith to leave the room. Then he locked the door and returned to +his table, where he dropped into a chair, exclaiming in a guarded voice: + +"Great Heaven, can this be possible! Have you not made a mistake?" + +"No," returned the captain in a stridulous whisper, "I have made no +mistake. I'm absolutely sure. If something is not done instantly we are +lost!" + +"This is terrible!" returned Cosmo, taking his head in his hands. "You +say it is that fellow Campo? I never liked his looks." + +"He is the ringleader," replied the captain. "The first suspicion of what +he was up to came to me through an old sailor who has been with me on many +a voyage. He overheard Campo talking with another man and he listened. +Trust an old sea dog to use his ears and keep himself out of notice." + +"And what did they say?" + +"Enough to freeze the marrow in your bones! Campo proposed to begin by +throwing 'old Versál' and me into the sea, and then he said, with us gone, +and nobody but a lot of muddle-headed scientists to deal with, it would be +easy to take the ship; seize all the treasure in her; make everybody who +would not join the mutiny walk the plank, except the women, and steer for +some place where they could land and lead a jolly life. + +"'You see,' says Campo, 'this flood is a fake. There ain't going to be no +more flood; it's only a shore wash. But there's been enough of it to fix +things all right for us. We've got the world in our fist! There's millions +of money aboard this ship, and there's plenty of female beauty, and we've +only got to reach out and take it.'" + +Cosmo Versál's brow darkened as he listened, and a look that would have +cowed the mutineers if they could have seen it came into his eyes. His +hand nervously clutched a paper-knife which broke in his grasp, as he said +in a voice trembling with passion: + +"They don't _know_ me--_you_ don't know me. Show me the proofs of this +conspiracy. Who are the others? Campo and his friend can't be alone." + +"Alone!" exclaimed the captain, unconsciously raising his voice. "There's +a dozen as black-handed rascals in it as ever went unswung." + +"Do you know them?" + +"Jim Waters does." + +"Why haven't you told me sooner? How long has it been going on?" + +"Almost ever since the deluge stopped, I think; but it was only last night +that Waters got on the track of it, and only now that he told me. This +fellow that Waters heard Campo talking to is plainly a new recruit. I say +there are a dozen, because Waters has found out that number; but I don't +know but that there may be a hundred." + +"How did these wretches get aboard?" demanded Cosmo, fiercely opening and +shutting his fists. + +"Excuse me," said the captain, "but that is up to you to say." + +"So it is," replied Cosmo, with a grim look; "and it's 'up to me' to say +what'll become of them. I see how it is, they must have got in with the +last lot that I took--under assumed names, very likely. I've been more +than once on the point of calling that man Campo up and questioning him. I +was surprised by his hangdog look the first time I saw him. But I have +been so busy." + +"You'll have to get busy in another sense if you mean to save this ship +and your life," said the captain earnestly. + +"So I shall. Are you armed? No? Then take these--and use 'em when I give +the word." + +He handed the captain two heavy automatic pistols, and put a pair in his +own side pockets. + +"Now," he continued, "the first thing is to make sure that we've got the +right men--and _all of them_. Call in Joseph Smith." + +The captain went to the door, and as he approached it there was a knock. +He turned the key and cautiously opened a crack to look out. The door was +instantly slammed in his face, and six men rushed in, with Campo, a burly, +black-browed fellow, at their head. Three of the men threw the captain on +his back, and pinioned his hands before he could draw a weapon, while +Campo and the others sprang toward Cosmo Versál, Campo pointing a pistol +at his head. + +"It's all up, Mr. Versál!" cried Campo with a sneer. "I'll take command of +this ship, and you'll go fish for nebulas." + +Cosmo had one advantage; he was behind his desk, and it was a broad and +long one, and placed almost against the wall. They could not get at him +without getting round the desk. Campo did not fire, though he might have +shot Cosmo in his tracks; but evidently he was nourishing the idea of +making him walk the plank. With a sign he commanded his co-conspirators +to flank the desk at each end, while he kept Cosmo covered with his +pistol. + +But with a lightning movement, Cosmo dropped under the desk, and, favored +by his slight form and his extreme agility, darted like a cat past Campo's +legs, and, almost before the latter could turn round, was out of the open +door. Campo fired at the retreating form, but the bullet went wide of the +mark. The pistol was practically noiseless, and the sound reached no ears +in the staterooms. + +It happened that a switch controlling the lights in the gangway was on the +wall by Cosmo's door, and in passing he swiftly reached up and turned it +off. Thus he was in complete darkness, and when Campo darted out of the +door he could not see the fugitive. He could hear his footsteps, however, +and with two of his companions he rushed blindly after him, firing two or +three shots at random. But Cosmo had turned at the first cross passage, +and then at the next, this part of the Ark being a labyrinth of corridors, +and the pursuers quickly lost all trace of him. + +Campo and his companions made their way back to Cosmo's cabin, where their +fellows were guarding Captain Arms. They found the switch in the passage +and turned on the light. They were almost immediately joined by several +other conspirators conducting Joseph Smith, bound and gagged. They held a +short consultation, and Campo, with many curses, declared that Cosmo +Versál must be caught at all hazards. + +"The big-headed fiend!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "Let me get my +grippers on him and I'll squelch him like a bug!" + +They threw Joseph Smith into the room beside the helpless captain, after +taking the latter's pistols, locked the door from the outside, and +hurried off on their search. In the passages they encountered several +more of their friends. They now numbered fifteen, all armed. This may +seem a small number to undertake to capture the Ark; but it must be +remembered that among the thousand-odd inmates, exclusive of the crew, +only about one in three was a man, and the majority of these were +peaceable scientists who, it was to be presumed, had no fight in them. + +At any rate, Campo, with the reckless courage of his kind, felt confident +that if he could get Cosmo Versál, with the captain and Joseph Smith, out +of the way, he could easily overmaster the others. He had not much fear +of the crew, for he knew that they were not armed, and he had succeeded +in winning over three of their number, the only ones he had thought +at all dangerous, because he had read their character. More than half +the crew were employed about the engines or on the animal deck, and most +of the others were simply stewards who would not stand before the pistols. + +But, while the mutineers were hurriedly searching the corridors, Cosmo +had run straight to the bridge, where he found two of his men in charge, +and whence he sent an electric call to all the men employed in the +navigation of the vessel. They came running from various directions, but +a dozen of them were caught in the passages by the mutineers and bound +before they could comprehend what had happened. Seven, however, succeeded +in reaching the bridge, and among these was Jim Waters. + +"There's a mutiny," said Cosmo. "We've got to fight for our lives. Have +you got arms?" + +Not one had a weapon except Waters, who displayed a pistol half as long +as his arm. + +"Here, Peterson, take this," said Cosmo, handing a pistol to one of the +two mariners who had been on the bridge. "They will be here in a minute. +If Campo had been a sailor, he'd have had possession here the first thing. +I'll turn off all lights." + +With that he pressed a button which put out every lamp in the ark. But +there was a full moon, and they concealed themselves in the shadows. + +Presently they heard the mutineers approaching, stumbling and cursing in +the darkness. Cosmo directed Peterson and Waters to place themselves at +his side, and told them to fire when he gave the word. + +The next instant four men appeared crossing a moonlit place at the foot of +the steps on the outside of the dome. + +"Wait," whispered Cosmo. "The pistols go at a pull. We can sweep down a +dozen in ten seconds. Let them all get in sight first." + +Half a minute later there were twelve men climbing the steps and cautiously +looking up. + +"Fire!" cried Cosmo, setting the example, and three streams of blue flame +pulsated from the bridge. The sound of the bullets striking made more +noise than the explosions. + +Five or six of the men below fell, knocking down their comrades, and a +loud curse burst from the lips of Campo, who had a bullet through his arm. + +The mutineers tumbled in a heap at the bottom, and instantly Cosmo, +switching on all lights, led the way down upon them. His men, who had no +arms, seized anything they could get their hands on that would serve to +strike a blow, and followed him. + +The conspirators were overwhelmed by the suddenness and fury of the attack. + +Four of them were killed outright and five were wounded, one so severely +that he survived only a few hours. + +Cosmo's quick and overwhelming victory was due to the fact that the +mutineers, in mounting the steps, could not see him and his men in the +shadows, and when the automatic weapons, which fired three shots per +second by repeated pressure of the trigger, from a chamber containing +twenty-one cartridges, once opened on them they could do nothing in the +hail of missiles, especially when crowded together on the steps. + +Campo was the only one who had any fight left in him. He struck Cosmo a +blow on the head that felled him, and then darted out upon the forepart +of the dome, running on the cleats, and made his way to the top. + +Cosmo was on his feet in a second and rushing in pursuit, closely followed +by Jim Waters. The fugitive ran for the ratlines leading to the lookout on +the central mast. He climbed them like a squirrel, and the man in the +cro'nest, amazed at the sight below him, stared at the approaching +mutineer, unable to utter a cry. Campo, who, as the moonbeams showed, now +had a knife in his teeth, rapidly approached, and the lookout shrank in +terror. But before Campo could reach the cro'nest, a blinding light +dazzled his eyes. Cosmo had shouted an order to Peterson to run back to +the bridge and turn a searchlight upon the mast. Then Campo heard a +thundering voice below him: + +"Take another step and I'll blow you into the sea!" + +He glanced below, and saw Cosmo and Waters covering him with their +pistols. + +"Not another step!" roared Cosmo again. "Come down, and I'll give you a +trial for your life." + +Campo hesitated; but, seeing that he could be shot down, and finding a +gleam of hope in Cosmo's words, he turned and came slowly down. The +moment he touched the bottom he was seized by Waters and another man, +and, under Cosmo's directions, his hands were bound behind his back. + +Ten minutes later the members of the crew who had been caught by the +mutineers in the gangways were all unbound, and then Cosmo broke open the +door of his cabin, the key having been lost or thrown away by Campo, and +the captain and Joseph Smith were released. + +"Well, we've got 'em," said Cosmo grimly to the captain. "The mutiny is +at an end, and there'll never be another." + +In the meantime many of the passengers had been aroused by the unaccustomed +noises, although the pistols had not made enough sound to be heard from +the place where they were fired. Nightcapped heads appeared on all sides, +and some, in scanty clothing, were wandering in the passageways, demanding +what the trouble was. Cosmo, the captain, and Joseph Smith reassured them, +saying that there was no danger, and that something had happened which +would be explained in the morning. + +The prisoners--and the whole fifteen were finally captured--were locked up +in a strong room, and a surgeon was sent to dress their wounds. Cosmo +Versál and the captain resumed their accustomed places on the bridge, +where they talked over the affair, and Cosmo explained his plans for the +morrow. + +"I'll give him his trial, as I promised," Cosmo said in conclusion, "and +you'll see what it will be. _Mutiny aboard this Ark!_" And he struck the +rail a violent blow with his fist. + +The next morning directly after breakfast Cosmo called all passengers and +crew into the grand saloon, where many wondering looks were exchanged and +many puzzling questions asked. When the mutineers, with hands tied behind +their backs and their many bandages on arms and legs, were led in, +exclamations of astonishment were heard, and some of the timid ones shrank +away in fear. + +Cosmo lost no time with preliminaries. + +"These men," he said, taking his stand upon the platform, "have mutinied +and tried to capture the Ark. This fellow"--pointing to Campo--"was the +concocter and leader of the plot. He intended to throw me and Captain +Arms, and all of you whom he did not wish to retain for his fiendish +purposes, into the sea. But Heaven has delivered them into our hands. I +have promised them a trial, and they shall have it. But it will be a +trial in which justice shall not be cheated. I find that a moral poison +has stolen into this selected company, and I will eliminate it for once +and all." + +The expressions of amazement and alarm redoubled in intensity. + +"Professor Abel Able, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, +Costaké Theriade," Cosmo continued, "you will please come forward to act +as members of the jury, of which I name myself also a member. I shall be +both judge and juror here, but I will hear what the rest of you may have +to say." + +The men named stepped forward with some evidences of embarrassment, and +Cosmo gravely gave them seats beside him. Then he commanded that the +prisoners should confront the jury, and, heavily guarded, they were led to +the front. + +The brutishness of Campo's face had never struck the passengers who had +seen him before as it did now. He looked a veritable jailbird. At the same +time he was evidently in terror for his life. He muttered something which +nobody understood. + +Cosmo, who had informed himself of all the circumstances from Waters, and +by privately questioning the others, had satisfied himself that the entire +scheme of the mutiny was of Campo's contrivance, and that they had been led +into it solely by his persuasion and threats, ordered Waters to speak. The +seaman told a straight story of what he had heard and seen. Cosmo himself +then related the events of the night. When he had finished he turned to +Campo and demanded what he had to say. + +Campo again muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to defend +himself, simply saying: + +"You promised me a trial." + +"And haven't I given you a trial?" demanded Cosmo with flashing eyes. "You +thought you held the world in your grasp. It is _I_ that hold it in _my_ +grasp, and _you_, too! You were going to make us 'walk the plank.' It is +_you_ who are going to walk it! Is that the verdict?" (turning to the four +jurymen). + +Some of them nodded, some simply stared at Cosmo, surprised by the +vehemence of his manner. + +"Enough," he said. "As to you," addressing the other prisoners, "you have +had your lesson; see that you don't forget it! Release them, and lead Campo +to the promenade deck." + +Nobody thought that Cosmo would literally execute his threat to make the +mutineer walk the plank, but, as he had told Captain Arms, they didn't know +him. They were about to see that in Cosmo Versál they had not only a +prophet, a leader, and a judge, but an inexorable master also. + +A plank was prepared and placed sloping from the rail. + +"Walk!" said Cosmo firmly. + +To everybody's surprise Campo, with blinded eyes, started immediately up +the plank, followed its full length with quick, unfaltering step, and +plunging from the end, disappeared in the sea. + +Many had turned away, unable to look, but many also saw the tragedy to the +end. Then a profound sigh was heard from the whole company of the +spectators. As they turned away, talking in awed voices, they felt, as +never before, that the world had shrunk to the dimensions of the Ark, and +that Cosmo Versál was its dictator. + +That same afternoon Cosmo arranged one of his "conferences," and nobody +dared to be absent, although all minds were yet too much excited to follow +the discussions which few could understand. But at length Costaké Theriade +concentrated their attention by a wild burst of eloquence about the wonders +of the inter-atomic forces. Sir Athelstone, unable to endure the applause +that greeted his rival, abruptly sprang to his feet, his round face red +with anger, and shouted: + +"I say, you know, this is twaddle!" + +"Will the Englishman interrupt not?" cried Theriade, with his eyes ablaze. +"Shall I project not the Sir Englishman to the feeshes?" + +He looked as if he were about to try to execute his threat, and Sir +Athelstone assumed a boxing attitude; but before hostilities could begin a +loud shout from the deck, followed by cries and exclamations, caused +everybody to rush out of the saloon. + +Those who succeeded in getting a glimpse over the shoulders of the members +of the crew, who were already lined up along the only portion of the +bulwarks available for seeing the part of the ocean on which attention +seemed to be fixed, stared open-mouthed at a round-backed mass of shining +metal, with a circular aperture on the top, the cover of which was canted +to one side, and there stood a man, waving a gold-laced red kepi, and +bowing and smiling with great civility. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE _JULES VERNE_ + + +The swell of the sea caused the strange-looking craft to rise and sink a +little, and sometimes the water ran bubbling all around the low rim of the +aperture, in the center of which the red-capped man stood, resting on some +invisible support, repeating his salutations and amicable smiles, and +balancing his body to the rocking of the waves with the unconscious +skill of a sailor. + +The Ark was running slowly, but it would very soon have left the stranger +in its wake if he had not also been in motion. It was evident that the +object under his feet must be a submersible vessel of some kind, although +it was of a type which Captain Arms, standing beside Cosmo on the bridge, +declared that he had never set eyes on before. It lay so low in the water +that nothing could be seen of its motive machinery, but it kept its place +alongside the Ark with the ease of a dolphin, and gradually edged in closer +and closer. + +When it was so near that he could be heard speaking in a voice hardly +raised above the ordinary pitch, the man, first again lifting his cap with +an easy gesture, addressed Cosmo Versál by name, using the English language +with a scarcely perceptible accent: + +"M. Versál, I offer you my felicitations upon the magnificent appearance of +your Ark, and I present my compliments to the ladies and gentlemen of your +company." + +And then he bowed once more to the passengers, who were almost crowding +each other over the side in their eagerness to both see and hear. + +"Thank you," responded Cosmo, "but who are you?" + +"Capitaine Yves de Beauxchamps, of the French army." + +"Where's the navy, then?" blurted out Captain Arms. + +De Beauxchamps glanced at the speaker a little disdainfully, and then +replied gravely: + +"Alas! At the bottom of the sea--with all the other navies." + +"And how have you escaped?" demanded Cosmo Versál. + +"As you see, in a submersible." + +"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Cosmo. "And you have been in the sea ever +since the beginning of the flood?" + +"Since the first rise of the ocean on the coast at Brest." + +"Have you no companions?" + +"Six--in truth, seven." + +"Astonishing!" said Cosmo Versál. "But I heard nothing of the preparation +of a submersible. In fact, the idea of such a thing never occurred to me. +You must have made your preparations secretly." + +"We did. We did not share your certainty, M. Versál, concerning the arrival +of a deluge. Even when we embarked we were not sure that it would be more +than an affair of the coasts." + +"But you must be on the point of starvation by this time. The flood has +only begun. This cessation is but for a time, while we are passing a gap in +the nebula. You will come aboard the Ark. I had chosen my company, but your +gallant escape, and the ability that you have shown, prove that you are +worthy to aid in the re-establishment of the race, and I have no doubt that +your companions are equally worthy." + +The Frenchman bowed politely, and with a slight smile replied: + +"I believe, M. Versál, that the _Jules Verne_ is as safe and comfortable, +and proportionately as well provisioned, as your Ark." + +"So you call it the _Jules Verne?_" returned Cosmo, smiling in his turn. + +"We were proud to give it that name, and its conduct has proved that it is +worthy of it." + +"But you will surely come aboard and shake hands, and let us offer you a +little hospitality," said Cosmo. + +"I should be extremely happy to pay my compliments to the ladies," +responded De Beauxchamps, "but I must postpone that pleasure for the +present. In the meantime, however, I should be glad if you would lower a +landing stage, and permit me to send aboard the seventh member of our +party, who, I venture to think, may find the Ark a more comfortable abode +than our submersible." + +"And who may that person be?" + +"_The King of England._" + +Exclamations of surprise and wonder were heard on all sides. + +"Yes," resumed the Frenchman, "we picked up his majesty the first day after +the deluge began to descend from the sky." + +"I will lower a ladder at once," Cosmo called out, and immediately ran down +to the lowest deck, commanding his men to make haste. + +The _Jules Verne_ was skillfully brought close up to the side of the Ark, +so that the visible part of her rounded back was nearly in contact with the +bottom of the companion-ladder when it had been lowered. The sea was so +calm that there was little difficulty in executing this maneuver. De +Beauxchamps disappeared in the depths of the submersible, and after a few +minutes re-emerged into sight, supporting on his arm a stout, rather short +man, whose face, it was evident, had once been full and ruddy, but now it +was pale and worn. + +"It is he!" exclaimed an English member of Cosmo's company to some of his +fellow-countrymen who had forced their way to the front. + +_"It is the king!"_ + +And then occurred a singular thing, inspired by the marvelous circumstances +of this meeting of the sovereign of a drowned kingdom, upon the bosom of +the waters that had destroyed it, with the mere handful which remained +alive out of all the millions of his subjects. + +These loyal Englishmen bared their heads (and there were three women among +them) and sang, with a pathos that surely the old hymn had never expressed +before, their national anthem: "God Save the King." + +The effect was immense. Every head aboard the Ark was immediately +uncovered. De Beauxchamps removed his cap, and one or two bared heads could +be seen peering out of the interior of the submersible below him. As the +king was steadied across to the bottom of the companion-ladder, the voices +of the singers rose louder, and many of the other passengers, moved by +sympathy, or carried away by epidemic feeling, joined in the singing. Never +had any monarch a greeting like that! Its recipient was moved to the depths +of his soul, and but for the aid given him would have been unable to ascend +the swaying steps. + +As he was assisted upon the deck, the song ceased and a great cheer broke +forth. There were tears in his eyes, and he trembled in every limb, when he +returned the welcoming pressure of Cosmo Versál's hand. + +The moment he saw that the king was safely aboard the Ark, De Beauxchamps, +with a farewell salutation, disappeared into the interior of the _Jules +Verne_, and the submersible sank out of sight as gently as if it had been a +huge fish that had come to the top of the sea to take a look about. + +After the sensation caused by the arrival of the English monarch aboard the +Ark had somewhat quieted down, and after his majesty had had an opportunity +to recover himself, Cosmo Versál invited his new guest to tell the story of +his escape. They were seated in Cosmo's cabin, and there were present +Joseph Smith, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, and Amos +Blank, beside several other members of the ship's company, including two of +the loyal Englishmen who quite naturally had been the first to strike up +the national anthem on seeing their rescued king. + +Richard Edward, or Richard IV as he was officially entitled, was one of the +best kings England ever had. He was popular not only because of his almost +democratic manners and the simplicity of his life, but more because he was +a great lover of peace. We have already seen how he was chosen, solely on +that account, to be of the number of the rulers invited to go in the Ark. +He had not even replied to Cosmo's invitation, but that was simply because, +like everybody about him in whom he placed confidence, he regarded Cosmo +Versál as a mere mountebank, and thought that there was no more danger of a +flood that would cover the earth than of the fall of the moon out of the +sky. + +Before responding to Cosmo's request he made a gracious reference to the +indifference with which he had formerly treated his present host. + +"I am sorry, Mr. Versál," he said, with a deprecatory smile, "that I did +not sooner recognize the fact that your knowledge surpassed that of my +scientific advisers." + +"Your majesty was not alone," replied Cosmo gravely, turning with his +finger a small globe that stood on his desk. "From all these deep-sunken +continents" (waving his hand toward the globe), "if the voices once heard +there could now speak, there would arise a mighty sound of lament for that +great error." + +The king looked at him with an expression of surprise. He glanced from +Cosmo's diminutive figure to his great overhanging brow, marked with the +lines of thought, and a look of instinctive deference came into his eyes. + +"But," continued Cosmo Versál, "it is bootless to speak of these things +now. I beg that your majesty will condescend to enlighten us concerning the +fate of that great kingdom, of ancient renown, over which you so worthily +reigned." + +An expression of deepest pain passed across the face of Richard Edward. For +some moments he remained buried in a mournful silence, and many sighs came +from his breast. All looked at him with profound commiseration. At last he +raised his head, and said, sorrowfully and brokenly: + +"My kingdom is drowned--my subjects have perished, almost to the last soul +--my family, my gracious consort, my children--all, all--gone!" + +Here he broke down, and could speak no more. Not a word was heard, for a +time in the room, and the two Englishmen present wept with their +unfortunate king. + +Cosmo Versál was no less deeply moved than the others. He sat, for a while, +in complete silence. Then he arose and, going to the king, put his hand +upon his shoulder, and talked to him long, in a low, consoling voice. At +last the broken-spirited monarch was able to suppress his emotions +sufficiently to recite, but with many interruptions while he remastered +his feelings, the story of his woes and of his marvelous escape. + +"Sir Francis Brook," he said, "prepared a barge, when the water invaded +London, and in that barge we escaped--her royal majesty, our children, and +a number of members of the royal household. The barge was the only vessel +of levium that existed in England. Sir Francis had furnished and +provisioned it well, and we did not think that it would be necessary to go +farther than to some high point in the interior. Sir Francis was of the +opinion that Wales would afford a secure refuge. + +"It was a terrible thing to see the drowning of London, the sweeping of the +awful bore that came up the Thames from the sea, the shipping wrecked by +the tearing waves, the swirl of the fast-rising water round the immense +basin in which the city lay, the downfall of the great buildings-- +Westminster Abbey was one of the first that succumbed--the overturned +boats, and even great vessels floating on their sides, or bottom up, the +awful spectacle of the bodies of the drowned tossing in the waves--all +these sights were before our horrified eyes while the vast eddy swept us +round and round until the water rose so high that we were driven off +toward the southwest. + +"That we should have escaped at all was a miracle of miracles. It was the +wonderful buoyancy of the levium barge that saved us. But the terrors of +that scene can never fade from my memory. And the fearful sufferings of +the queen! And our children--but I _cannot_ go on with this!" + +"Calm yourself, your majesty," said Cosmo sympathetically. "The whole +world has suffered with you. If we are spared and are yet alive, it is +through the hand of Providence--to which all of us must bow." + +"We must have passed over Surrey and Hampshire," the king resumed, "the +invasion of the sea having buried the hills." + +"I am surprised at that," said Cosmo. "I did not think that the sea had +anywhere attained so great an elevation before the nebula condensed. At +New York the complete drowning of the city did not occur until the +downpour from the sky began." + +"Oh! that deluge from the heavens!" cried the king. "What we had suffered +before seemed but little in comparison. It came upon us after night; +and the absolute darkness, the awful roaring, the terrific force of the +falling water, the sense of suffocation, the rapid filling of the barge +until the water was about our necks--these things drove us wild with +despair. + +"I tried to sustain my poor queen in my arms, but she struggled to seize +the children and hold them above the water, and in her efforts she escaped +from my hands, and henceforth I could find her no more. I stumbled about, +but it was impossible to see; it was impossible to hear. At last I fell +unconscious face downward, as it afterward appeared, upon a kind of bench +at the rear end of the barge, which was covered with a narrow metallic +roofing, and raised above the level of the bulwarks. It was there that I +had tried to shelter the queen and the children. + +"In some way I must have become lodged there, under the awning, in such a +position that the pitching of the barge failed to throw me off. I never +regained consciousness until I heard a voice shouting in my ear, and felt +some one pulling me, and when I had recovered my senses, I found myself in + the submersible." + +"And all your companions were gone?" asked Cosmo, in a voice shaking with +pity. + +"Yes, oh, Lord! All! They had been swept overboard by the waves--and would +that I had gone with them!" + +The poor king broke down again and sobbed. After a long pause Cosmo asked +gently: + +"Did the Frenchman tell you how he came upon the barge?" + +"He said that in rising to the surface to find out the state of things +there the submersible came up directly under the barge, canting it in such +a way that I was rolled out and he caught me as I was swept close to the +opening." + +"But how was it that the downpour, entering the submersible, when the cover +was removed, did not fill it with water?" + +"He had the cover so arranged that it served as an almost complete +protection from the rain. Some water did enter, but not much." + +"A wonderful man, that Frenchman," said Cosmo. "He would be an acquisition +for me. What did he say his name was? Oh, yes, De Beauxchamps--I'll make a +note of that. I shouldn't wonder if we heard of him again." + +Cosmo Versál was destined to encounter Yves de Beauxchamps and his +wonderful submersible _Jules Verne_ sooner, and under more dramatic +circumstances than he probably anticipated. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE + + +After the English king had so strangely become a member of its company the +Ark resumed its course in the direction of what had once been Europe. The +spot where the meeting with the _Jules Verne_ had occurred was west of Cape +Finisterre and, according to the calculations of Captain Arms, in longitude +fifteen degrees four minutes west; latitude forty-four degrees nine minutes +north. + +Cosmo decided to run into the Bay of Biscay, skirting its southern coast in +order to get a view of the Cantabrian Mountains, many of whose peaks, he +thought, ought still to lie well above the level of the water. + +"There are the Peaks of Europa," said Captain Arms, "which lie less than +twenty miles directly back from the coast. The highest point is eight +thousand six hundred and seventy feet above sea level, or what used to be +sea level. We could get near enough to it, without any danger, to see how +high the water goes." + +"Do you know the locality?" demanded Cosmo. + +"As well as I know a compass-card!" exclaimed the captain. "I've seen the +Europa peaks a hundred times. I was wrecked once on that coast, and being +of an inquiring disposition, I took the opportunity to go up into the range +and see the old mines--and a curious sight it was, too. But the most +curious sight of all was the shepherdesses of Tresvido, dressed just like +the men, in homespun breeches that never wore out. You'd meet 'em anywhere +on the slopes of the Pico del Ferro, cruising about with their flocks. And +the cheese that they made! There never was any such cheese!" + +"Well, if you know the place so well," said Cosmo, "steer for it as fast as +you can. I'm curious to find out just how high this flood has gone, up to +the present moment." + +"Maybe we can rescue a shepherdess," returned the captain, chuckling. +"She'd be an ornament to your new Garden of Eden." + +They kept on until, as they approached longitude five degrees west, they +began to get glimpses of the mountains of northern Spain. The coast was all +under deep water, and also the foothills and lower ranges, but some of the +peaks could be made out far inland. At length, by cautious navigation, +Captain Arms got the vessel quite close to the old shore line of the +Asturias, and then he recognized the Europa peaks. + +"There they are," he cried. "I'd know 'em if they'd emigrated to the middle +of Africa. There's the old Torre de Cerredo and the Peńa Santa." + +"How high did you say the main peak is?" asked Cosmo. + +"She's eight thousand six hundred and seventy feet." + +"From your knowledge of the coast, do you think it safe to run in closer?" + +"Yes, if you're sure the water is not less than two thousand four hundred +feet above the old level we can get near enough to see the water-line on +the peaks, from the cro'nest, which is two hundred feet high." + +"Go ahead, then." + +They got closer than they had imagined possible, so close that, from the +highest lookout on the Ark, they were able with their telescopes to see +very clearly where the water washed the barren mountainsides at what seemed +to be a stupendous elevation. + +"I'm sorry about your shepherdesses," said Cosmo, smiling. "I don't think +you'd find any there to rescue if you could get to them. They must all +have been lost in the torrents that poured down those mountains." + +"More's the pity," said Captain Arms. "That was a fine lot of women. +There'll be no more cheese like what they made at Tresvido." + +Cosmo inquired if the captain's acquaintance with the topography of the +range enabled him to say how high that water was. The captain, after long +inspection, declared that he felt sure that it was not less than four +thousand feet above the old coast line. + +"Then," said Cosmo, "if you're right about the elevation of what you call +the Torre de Cerredo there must be four thousand six hundred and seventy +feet of its upper part still out of water. We'll see if that is so." + +Cosmo made the measurements with instruments, and announced that the result +showed the substantial accuracy of Captain Arms's guess. + +"I suspected as much," he muttered. "Those tremendous downpours, which may +have been worse elsewhere than where we encountered them, have increased +the rise nearly seventy per cent, above what my gages indicated. Now that I +know this," he continued, addressing the captain: "I'll change the course +of the Ark. I'm anxious to get into the Indian Ocean as soon as possible. +It would be a great waste of time to go back in order to cross the Sahara, +and with this increase of level it isn't necessary. We'll just set out +across southern France, keeping along north of the Pyrenees, and so down +into the region of the Mediterranean." + +Captain Arms was astonished by the boldness of this suggestion, and at +first he strongly objected to their taking such a course. + +"There's some pretty high ground in southern France," he said. "There's the +Cevennes Mountains, which approach a good long way toward the Pyrenees. Are +you sure the depth of water is the same everywhere?" + +"What a question for an old mariner to ask!" returned Cosmo. "Don't you +know that the level of the sea is the same everywhere? The flood doesn't +make any difference. It seeks its level like any other water." + +"But it may be risky steering between those mountains," persisted the +captain. + +"Nonsense! As long as the sky is clear you can get good observations, and +you ought to be navigator enough not to run on a mountain." + +Cosmo Versál, as usual, was unalterable in his resolution--he only changed +when he had reasons of his own--and the course of the Ark was laid, +accordingly, for the old French coast of the Landes, so low that it was now +covered with nearly four thousand feet of water. The feelings of the +passengers were deeply stirred when they learned that they were actually +sailing over buried Europe, and they gazed in astonishment at the water +beneath them, peering down into it as if they sought to discover the +dreadful secrets that it hid, and talking excitedly in a dozen languages. + +The Ark progressed slowly, making not more than five or six knots, and on +the second day after they dropped the Peńas de Europa they were passing +along the northern flank of the Pyrenees and over the basin in which had +lain the beautiful city of Pau. The view of the Pyrenees from this point +had always been celebrated before the deluge as one of the most remarkable +in the world. + +Now it had lost its beauty, but gained in spectacular grandeur. All of +France, as far as the eye extended, was a sea, with long oceanic swells +slowly undulating its surface. This sea abruptly came to an end where it +met the mountains, which formed for it a coast unlike any that the hundreds +of eyes which wonderingly surveyed it from the Ark had ever beheld. + +Beyond the drowned vales and submerged ranges, which they knew lay beneath +the watery floor, before them, rose the heads of the Pic du Midi, the Pic +de Ger, the Pic de Bigorre, the Massif du Gabizos, the Pic Monné, and +dozens of other famous eminences, towering in broken ranks like the +bearskins of a "forlorn hope," resisting to the last, in pictures of +old-time battles. + +Here, owing to the configuration of the drowned land it was possible for +the Ark to approach quite close to some of the wading mountains, and Cosmo +seized the opportunity to make a new measure of the height of the flood, +which he found to be surely not less than his former estimates had shown. + +Surveying with telescopes the immense shoulders of the Monné, the Viscos, +the d'Ardiden, and the nearer heights, when they were floating above the +valley of Lourdes, Cosmo and the captain saw the terrible effects that had +been produced by the torrents of rain, which had stripped off the +vegetation whose green robe had been the glory of the high Pyrenees on the +French side. + +Presently their attention was arrested by some moving objects, and at a +second glance they perceived that these were human beings. + +"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Cosmo Versál. "There are survivors here. They have +climbed the mountains, and found shelter among the rocks. I should not have +thought it possible." + +"And there are women among them," said Captain Arms, lowering his +telescope. "You will not leave them there!" + +"But what can I do?" + +"Lower away the boats," replied the captain. "We've got plenty of them." + +"There may be thousands there," returned Cosmo, musing. "I can't take them +all." + +"Then take as many as you can. By gad, sir, _I'll_ not leave 'em!" + +By this time some of the passengers who had powerful glasses had discovered +the refugees on the distant heights, and great excitement spread throughout +the Ark. Cries arose from all parts of the vessel: + +"Rescue them!" "Go to their aid!" "Don't let them perish!" + +Cosmo Versál was in a terrible quandary. He was by no means without +humanity, and was capable of deep and sympathetic feeling, as we have seen, +but he already had as many persons in the Ark as he thought ought to be +taken, considering the provision that had been made, and, besides, he could +not throw off, at once, his original conviction of the necessity of +carefully choosing his companions. He remained for a long time buried in +thought, while the captain fumed with impatience and at last declared that +if Cosmo did not give the order to lower away the boats he would do it +himself. + +At length Cosmo, yielding rather to his own humane feelings than to the +urging of others, consented to make the experiment. Half a dozen levium +launches were quickly lowered and sent off, while the Ark, with slowed +engines, remained describing a circle as near the mountains as it was safe +to go. Cosmo himself embarked in the leading boat. + +The powerful motors of the launches carried them rapidly to the high slopes +where the unfortunates had sought refuge, and as they approached, and the +poor fugitives saw that deliverance was at hand, they began to shout, and +cheer, and cry, and many of them fell on their knees upon the rocks and +stretched their hands toward the heavens. + +The launches were compelled to move with great caution when they got near +the ragged sides of the submerged mountains (it was the Peyre Dufau on +which the people had taken refuge), but the men aboard them were determined +to effect the rescue, and they regarded no peril too closely. At last +Cosmo's launch found a safe landing, and the others quickly followed it. + +When Cosmo sprang out on a flat rock a crowd of men, women, and children, +weeping, crying, sobbing, and uttering prayers and blessings, instantly +surrounded him. Some wrung his hands in an ecstasy of joy, some embraced +him, some dropped on their knees before him and sought to kiss his hands. +Cosmo could not restrain his tears, and the crews of the launches were +equally affected. + +Many of these people could only speak the patois of the mountains, but some +were refugees from the resorts in the valleys below, and among these were +two English tourists who had been caught among the mountains by the sudden +rising of the flood. They exhibited comparative _sang froid_, and served as +spokesmen for the others. + +"Bah Jove!" exclaimed one of them, "but you're welcome, you know! This has +been a demnition close call! But what kind of a craft have you got out +there?" + +"I'm Cosmo Versál." + +"Then that's the Ark we've heard about! 'Pon honor, I should have +recognized you, for I've seen your picture often enough. You've come to +take us off, I suppose?" + +"Certainly," replied Cosmo. "How many are there?" + +"All that you see here; about a hundred, I should say. No doubt there are +others on the mountains round. There must have been a thousand of us when +we started, but most of them perished, overcome by the downpour, or swept +away by the torrents. Lord Swansdown (indicating his companion, who bowed +gravely and stiffly) and myself--I'm Edward Whistlington--set out to walk +over the Pyrenees from end to end, after the excitement about the great +darkness died out, and we got as far as the Marboré, and then running down +to Gavarnie we heard news of the sea rising, but we didn't give too much +credit to that, and afterward, keeping up in the heights, we didn't hear +even a rumor from the world below. + +"The sky opened on us like a broadside from an aerial squadron, and how we +ever managed to get here I'm sure I can hardly tell. We were actually +_carried_ down the mountainsides by the water, and how it failed to drown +us will be an everlasting mystery. Somehow, we found ourselves among these +people, who were trying to go _up_, assuring us that there was nothing +but water below. And at last we discovered some sort of shelter here--and +here we've been ever since." + +"You cannot have had much to eat," said Cosmo. + +"Not _too_ much, I assure you," replied the Englishman, with a melancholy +smile. "But these people shared with us what little they had, or could +find--anything and everything that was eatable. They're a devilish fine +lot, I tell you! + +"When the terrible rain suddenly ceased and the sky cleared," he resumed, +"we managed to get dry, after a day or two, and since then we've been +chewing leather until there isn't a shoe or a belt left. We thought at +first of trying to build rafts--but then where could we go? It wasn't any +use to sail out over a drowned country, with nothing in sight but the +mountains around us, which looked no better than the one we were barely +existing on." + +"Then I must get you aboard the Ark before you starve," said Cosmo. + +"Many have died of starvation already," returned Whistlington. "You can't +get us off a moment too quick." + +Cosmo Versál had by this time freed himself of every trace of the +reluctance which he had at first felt to increasing the size of his ship's +company by adding recruits picked up at random. His sympathies were +thoroughly aroused, and while he hastened the loading and departure of the +launches, he asked the Englishmen who, with the impassive endurance of +their race, stayed behind to the last, whether they thought that there were +other refugees on the mountains whom they could reach. + +"I dare say there are thousands of the poor devils on these peaks around +us, wandering among the rocks," replied Edward Whistlington, "but I fancy +you couldn't reach 'em." + +"If I see any I'll try," returned Cosmo, sweeping with his powerful +telescope all the mountain flanks within view. + +At last, on the slopes of the lofty Mont Aigu across the submerged valley +toward the south, he caught sight of several human figures, one of which +was plainly trying to make signals, probably to attract attention from the +Ark. Immediately, with the Englishmen and the remainder of those who had +been found on the Peyre Dufau, he hastened in his launch to the rescue. + +They found four men and three women, who had escaped from the narrow valley +containing the _bains de Gazost_, and who were in the last stages of +starvation. These were taken aboard, and then, no more being in sight, +Cosmo returned to the Ark, where the other launches had already arrived. + +And these were the last that were rescued from the mighty range of the +Pyrenees, in whose deep valleys had lain the famous resorts of Cauterets, +the Eaux Bonnes, the Eaux Chaudes, the Bagničres de Luchon, the Bagničres +de Bigorre, and a score of others. No doubt, as the Englishmen had said, +thousands had managed to climb the mountains, but none could now be seen, +and those who may have been there were left to perish. + +There was great excitement in the Ark on the arrival of the refugees. The +passengers overwhelmed them with kind attentions, and when they had +sufficiently recovered, listened with wonder and the deepest sympathy to +their exciting tales of suffering and terror. + +Lord Swansdown and Edward Whistlington were amazed to find their king +aboard the Ark, and the English members of the company soon formed a sort +of family party, presided over by the unfortunate monarch. The rescued +persons numbered, in all, one hundred and six. + +The voyage of the Ark was now resumed, skirting the Pyrenees, but at an +increasing distance. Finally Captain Arms announced that, according to his +observations, they were passing over the site of the ancient and populous +city of Toulouse. This recalled to Cosmo Versál's memory the beautiful +scenes of the fair and rich land that lay so deep under the Ark, and he +began to talk with the captain about the glories of its history. + +He spoke of the last great conqueror that the world had known, Napoleon, +and was discussing his marvelous career, and referring to the fact that he +had died on a rock in the midst of that very ocean which had now swallowed +up all the scenes of his conquests, when the lookout telephoned down that +there was something visible on the water ahead. + +In a little while they saw it--a small moving object, which rapidly +approached the Ark. As it drew nearer both exclaimed at once: + +"The _Jules Verne!_" + +There could be no mistaking it. It was riding with its back just above the +level of the sea; the French flag was fluttering from a small mast, and +already they could perceive the form of De Beauxchamps, standing in his old +attitude, with his feet below the rim of the circular opening at the top. +Cosmo ordered the Stars and Stripes to be displayed in salute, and, greatly +pleased over the encounter, hurried below and had the companion-ladder made +ready. + +"He's got to come aboard this time, anyhow!" he exclaimed. "I'll take no +refusal. I want to know that fellow better." + +But this time De Beauxchamps had no thought of refusing the hospitalities +of the Ark. As soon as he was within hearing he called out: + +"My salutations to M. Versál and his charming fellow-voyagers. May I be +permitted to come aboard and present myself in person? I have something +deeply interesting to tell." + +Everybody in the Ark who could find a standing-place was watching the +_Jules Verne_ and trying to catch a glimpse of its gallant captain, and to +hear what he said; and the moment his request was preferred a babel of +voices arose, amid which could be distinguished such exclamations as: + +"Let him come!" "A fine fellow!" "Welcome, De Beauxchamps!" "Hurrah for the +_Jules Verne!_" + +King Richard was in the fore rank of the spectators, waving his hand to his +preserver. + +"Certainly you can come aboard," cried Cosmo heartily, at the same time +hastening the preparations for lowering the ladder. "We are all glad to see +you. And bring your companions along with you." + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA + + +De Beauxchamps accepted Cosmo Versál's invitation to bring his +companions with him into the Ark. The submersible was safely moored +alongside, where she rode easily in company with the larger vessel, and +all mounted the companion-ladder. The Frenchman's six companions were +dressed, like himself, in the uniform of the army. + +"Curious," muttered Captain Arms in Cosmo's ear, "that these _soldiers_ +should be the only ones to get off--and in a vessel, too. What were the +seamen about?" + +"What were _our_ seamen about?" returned Cosmo. "How many of _them_ got +off? I warned them that ships would not do. But it was a bright idea of +this De Beauxchamps and his friends to build a submersible. It didn't +occur to me, or I would have advised their construction everywhere for +small parties. But it would never have done for us. A submersible would +not have been capacious enough for the party I wanted to take." + +By this time the visitors were aboard, and Cosmo and the others who +could get near enough to grasp them by the hand greeted them effusively. +King Richard received De Beauxchamps with emotion, and thanked him again +and again for having saved his life; but, in the end, he covered his +face and said in a broken voice: + +"M. De Beauxchamps, my gratitude to you is very deep--but, oh, the +queen--the queen--and the children! I should have done better to perish +with them." + +Cosmo and De Beauxchamps soothed him as well as they could, and the +former led the way into the grand saloon, in order that as many as +possible might see and greet their visitors, who had come so +mysteriously up out of the sea. + +All of the Frenchmen were as affable as their leader, and he presented +them in turn. De Beauxchamps conversed almost gaily with such of the +ladies as had sufficient command of their feelings to join the throng +that pressed about him and his companions. He was deeply touched by the +story of the recent rescue of his countrymen from the Pyrenees, and he +went among them, trying to cheer them up, with the _élan_ that no +misfortune can eradicate from the Gallic nature. + +At length Cosmo reminded him that he had said that he had some +interesting news to communicate. + +"Yes," said De Beauxchamps, "I have just come from a visit to Paris." + +Exclamations of amazement and incredulity were heard on all sides. + +"It is true," resumed the Frenchman, though now his voice lost all its +gayety. "I had conceived the project of such a visit before I met the +Ark and transferred His Majesty, the King of England, to your care. As +soon as that was done I set out to make the attempt." + +"But tell me first," interrupted Cosmo, "how you succeeded in finding +the Ark again." + +"That was not very difficult," replied De Beauxchamps, smiling. "Of +course, it was to some extent accidental, for I didn't _know_ that you +would be here, navigating over France; but I had an idea that you +_might_ come this way if you had an intention of seeing what had +happened to Europe. It is my regular custom to rise frequently to the +surface to take a look around and make sure of my bearings, and you know +that the Ark makes a pretty large point on the waters. I saw it long +before you caught sight of me." + +"Very well," said Cosmo. "Please go on with your story. It must, indeed, +be an extraordinary one." + +"I was particularly desirous of seeing Paris again, deep as I knew her +to lie under the waves," resumed De Beauxchamps, "because it was my +home, and I had a house in the Champs Elysées. You cannot divorce the +heart of a Frenchman from his home, though you should bury it under +twenty oceans." + +"Your family were lost?" + +"Thank God, I had no family. If I had had they would be with me. My +companions are all like myself in that respect. We have lost many +friends, but no near relatives. As I was saying, I started for France, +poor drowned France, as soon as I left you. With the powerful +searchlight of the _Jules Verne_ I could feel confident of avoiding +obstructions; and, besides, I knew very closely the height to which the +flood had risen, and having the topography of my country at my fingers' +ends, as does every officer of the army, I was able to calculate the +depth at which we should run in order to avoid the hilltops." + +"But surely," said Cosmo, "it is impossible--at least, it seems so to +me--that you can descend to any great depth--the pressure must be +tremendous a few hundred feet down, to say nothing of possible +thousands." + +"All that," replied the Frenchman, "has been provided for. You probably +do not know to what extent we had carried experiments in France on the +deep submersion of submarines before their general abandonment when they +were prohibited by international agreement in war. I was myself perhaps +the leader in those investigations, and in the construction of the +_Jules Verne_ I took pains to improve on all that had hitherto been +done. + +"Without going into any description of my devices, I may simply remind +you nature has pointed out ways of avoiding the consequences of the +inconceivable pressures which calculation indicates at depths of a +kilometer, or more, in her construction of the deep-sea fishes. It was +by a study of them that I arrived at the secret of both penetrating to +depths that would theoretically have seemed entirely impossible and of +remaining at such depths." + +"Marvelous!" exclaimed Cosmo; "marvelous beyond belief!" + +"I may add," continued De Beauxchamps, smiling at the effect that his +words had had upon the mind of the renowned Cosmo Versál, "that the +peculiar properties of levium, which you so wisely chose for your Ark, +aided _me_ in quite a different way. But I must return to my story. + +"We passed over the coast of France near the point where I knew lay the +mouth of the Loire. I could have found my way by means of the compass +sufficiently well; but since the sky was clear I frequently came to the +surface in order, for greater certainty, to obtain sights of the sun and +stars. + +"I dropped down at Tours and at Blois, and we plainly saw the walls of +the old châteaux in the gleam of the searchlight below us. There were +monsters of the deep, such as the eye of man never beheld, swimming +slowly about them, many of them throwing a strange luminosity into the +water from their phosphorescent organs, as if they were inspecting these +novelties of the sea-bottom. + +"Arrived over Orleans, we turned in the direction of Paris. As we +approached the site of the city I sank the submersible until we almost +touched the higher hills. My searchlight is so arranged that it can be +directed almost every way--up, down, to this side, and to that--and we +swept it round us in every direction. + +"The light readily penetrated the water and revealed sights which I have +no power to describe, and some--reminders of the immense population of +human beings which had there met its end--which I would not describe if +I could. To see a drowned face suddenly appear outside the window, +almost within touch--ah, that was too horrible! + +"We passed over Versailles, with the old palace still almost intact; +over Sčvres, with its porcelain manufactory yet in part standing--the +tidal waves that had come up the river from the sea evidently caused +much destruction just before the downpour began--and finally we +'entered' Paris. + +"We could see the embankments of the Seine beneath us as we passed up +its course from the Point du Jour. From the site of the Champ de Mars I +turned northward in search of the older part of the Champs Élysées, +where my house was, and we came upon the great Arc de Triomphe, which, +you remember, dates from the time of Napoleon. + +"It was apparently uninjured, even the huge bronze groups remaining in +their places, and the searchlight, traversing its face, fell upon the +heroic group on the east façade of the Marseillaise. You must have seen +that, M. Versál?" + +"Yes, many a time," Cosmo replied. "The fury in the face of the female +figure representing the spirit of war, chanting the 'Marseillaise,' and, +sword in hand, sweeping over the heads of the soldiers, is the most +terrible thing of human making that I ever looked upon." + +"It was not so terrible as another thing that our startled eyes beheld +there," said De Beauxchamps. "Coiled round the upper part of the arch, +with its head resting directly upon that of the figure of which you +speak, was a monstrous, ribbon-shaped creature, whose flat, reddish +body, at least a meter in width and apparently thirty meters long, and +bordered with a sort of floating frill of a pinkish color, undulated +with a motion that turned us sick at heart. + +"But the head was the most awful object that the fancy of a madman could +conceive. There were two great round, projecting eyes, encircled with +what I suppose must have been phosphorescent organs, which spread around +in the water a green light that was absolutely horrifying. + +"I turned away the searchlight, and the eyes of that creature stared +straight at us with a dreadful, stony look; and then the effect of the +phosphorescence, heightened by the absence of the greater light, became +more terrible than before. We were unmanned, and I hardly had nerve +enough to turn the submersible away and hurry from the neighborhood." + +"I had not supposed," said Cosmo, "that creatures of such a size could +live in the deeper parts of the sea." + +"I know," returned De Beauxchamps, "that many have thought that the +abysmal creatures were generally of small size, but they knew nothing +about it. What could one have expected to learn of the secrets of life +in the ocean depths from the small creatures which alone the trawls +brought to the surface? The great monsters could not be captured in that +way. But we have _seen_ them--seen them taking possession of beautiful, +drowned Paris--and we know what they are." + +The fascinated hearers who had crowded about to listen to the narrative +of De Beauxchamps shuddered at this part of it, and some of the women +turned away with exclamations of horror. + +"I see that I am drawing my picture in too fearful colors," he said, +"and I shall refrain from telling of the other inhabitants of the abyss +that we found in possession of what I, as a Frenchman, must call the +most splendid capital that the world contained. + +"Oh, to think that all that beauty, all those great palaces filled with +the master-works of art, all those proud architectural piles, all that +scene of the most joyous life that the earth contained, is now become +the dwelling-place of the terrible _fauna_ of the deep, creatures that +never saw the sun; that never felt the transforming force of the +evolution which had made the face of the globe so glorious; that never +quitted their abysmal homes until this awful flood spread their empire +over the whole earth!" + +There was a period of profound silence while De Beauxchamps's face +worked spasmodically under the influence of emotions, the sight of which +would alone have sufficed to convince his hearers of the truth of what +he had been telling. Finally Cosmo Versál, breaking the silence, asked: + +"Did you find your home?" + +"Yes. It was there. I found it out. I illuminated it with the +searchlight. I gazed into the broken windows, trying to peer through the +watery medium that filled and darkened the interior. The roof was +broken, but the walls were intact. I thought of the happy, happy years +that I had passed there when I _had_ a family, and when Paris was an +Eden, the sunshine of the world. And then I wished to see no more, and +we rose out of the midst of that sunken city and sought the daylight far +above. + +"I had thought to tell you," he continued, after a pause, "of the +condition in which we found the great monuments of the city--of the +Pantheon, yet standing on its hill with its roof crushed in; of Nôtre +Dame--a wreck, but the towers still standing proudly; of the old palace +of the Louvre, through whose broken roofs and walls we caught glimpses +of the treasures washed by the water within--but I find that I have not +courage to go on. I had imagined that it would be a relief to speak of +these things, but I do not find it so." + +"After leaving Paris, then you made no other explorations?" said Cosmo. + +"None. I should have had no heart for more. I had seen enough. And yet I +do not regret that I went there. I should never have been content not to +have seen my beautiful city once more, even lying in her watery shroud. +I loved her living; I have seen her dead. It is finished. What more is +there, M. Versál?" With a sudden change of manner: "You have predicted +all this, and perhaps you know more. Where do _we_ go to die?" + +"We shall _not_ die," replied Cosmo Versál forcefully. "The Ark and your +_Jules Verne_ will save us." + +"To what purpose?" demanded the Frenchman, his animation all gone. "Can +there be any pleasure in floating upon or beneath the waves that cover a +lost world? Is a brief prolongation of such a life worth the effort of +grasping for?" + +"Yes," said Cosmo with still greater energy. "We may still _save the +race_. I have chosen most of my companions in the Ark for that purpose. +Not only may we save the race of man, but we may lead it up upon a +higher plane; we may apply the principles of eugenics as they have never +yet been applied. You, M. De Beauxchamps, have shown that you are of the +stock that is required for the regeneration of the world." + +"But where can the world be regenerated?" asked De Beauxchamps with a +bitter laugh. "There is nothing left but mountain-tops." + +"Even they will be covered," said Cosmo. + +"Do you mean that the deluge has not yet reached its height?" + +"Certainly it has not. We are in an open space in the enveloping nebula. +After a little we shall enter the nucleus, and then will come the +worst." + +"And yet you talk of saving the race!" exclaimed the Frenchman with +another bitter laugh. + +"I do," replied Cosmo, "and it will be done." + +"But how?" + +"Through the re-emergence of land." + +"That recalls our former conversation," put in Professor Abel Able. "It +appears to me impossible that, when the earth is once covered with a +universal ocean, it can ever disappear or materially lower its level. +Geological ages would be required for the level of the water to be +lowered even a few feet by the escape of vapor into space." + +"No," returned Cosmo Versál, "I have demonstrated that that idea is +wrong. Under the immense pressure of an ocean rising six miles above the +ancient sea level the water will rapidly be forced into the interstices +of the crust, and thus a material reduction of level will be produced +within a few years--five at the most. That will give us a foothold. I +have no doubt that even now the water around us is slightly lowering +through that cause. + +"But in itself that will not be sufficient. I have gone all over this +ground in my original calculations. The intrusion of the immense mass of +ocean water into the interior of the crust of the earth will result in a +grand geological upheaval. The lands will re-emerge above the new sea +level as they emerged above the former one through the internal stresses +of the globe." + +The scientific men present listened with breathless interest, but some +of them with many incredulous shakings of the head. + +"You must be aware," continued Cosmo, addressing them particularly, +"that it has been demonstrated that the continents and the great +mountain ranges are buoyed up, and, as it were, are floating somewhat +like slags on the internal magma. The mean density of the crust is less +under the land and the mountains than under the old sea-beds. This is +especially true of the Himalayan region. + +"That uplift is probably the most recent of all, and it is there, where +at present the highest land of the globe exists, that I expect that the +new upheaval will be most strongly manifested. It is for that reason, +and not merely because it is now the highest part of the earth, that I +am going with the Ark to Asia." + +"But," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "the upheaval of which you speak +may produce a complete revolution in the surface of the earth, and if +new lands are upthrust they may appear at unexpected points." + +"Not at all," returned Cosmo. "The tectonic features of the globe were +fixed at the beginning. As Asia has hitherto been the highest and the +greatest mass of land, it will continue to be so in the future. It is +there, believe me, that we shall replant the seed of humanity." + +"Do you not think," asked Professor Alexander Jones, "that there will be +a tremendous outburst of volcanic energy, if such upheavals occur, and +may not that render the re-emerging lands uninhabitable?" + +"No doubt," Cosmo replied, "every form of plutonic energy will be +immensely re-enforced. You remember the recent outburst of all the +volcanoes when the sea burst over the borders of the continents. But +these forces will be mainly expended in an effort of uplifting. +Unquestionably there will be great volcanic spasms, but they will not +prevent the occupation of the broadening areas of land which will not be +thus affected." + +"Upon these lands," exclaimed Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, in a loud voice, +"I will develop life from the barren minerals of the crust. The age of +chemical parthenogenesis will then have dawned upon the earth, and man +will have become a creator." + +"Will the Sir Englishman give me room for a word!" cried Costaké +Theriade, raising his tall form on his toes and agitating his arms in +the air. "He will create not anything! It is _I_ that will unloose the +energies of the atoms of matter and make of the new man a new god." + +Cosmo Versál quieted the incipient outbreak of his jealous "speculative +geniuses," and the discussion of his theory was continued for some time. +At length De Beauxchamps, shrugging his shoulders, exclaimed, with a +return of his habitual gayety: + +"_Trčs bien! Vive_ the world of Cosmo Versál! I salute the new Eve that +is to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO + + +When Professor Pludder, the President, and their companions on the +aero-raft, saw the three men on the bluff motioning and shouting to +them, they immediately sought the means of bringing their craft to land. +This did not prove to be exceedingly difficult, for there was a +convenient rock with deep water around it on which they could disembark. + +The men ran down to meet them, and to help them ashore, exhibiting the +utmost astonishment at seeing them there. + +"Whar in creation did _you_ come from?" exclaimed one, giving the +professor a pull up the bank. "Mebbe you're Cosmo Versál, and that's yer +Ark." + +"I'm Professor Pludder, and this is the President of the United States." + +"The President of the Un----See here, stranger, I'll take considerable +from you, considering the fix yer in, but you don't want to go too far." + +"It's true," asseverated the professor. "This gentleman is the +President, and we've escaped from Washington. Please help the ladies." + +"I'll help the ladies all right, but I'm blamed if I believe yer yarn. +How'd you git here? You couldn't hev floated across the continent on +that thing." + +"We came on the raft that you see," interrupted Mr. Samson. "We left the +Appalachian Mountains two weeks ago." + +"Well, by--it must be true!" muttered the man. "They couldn't hev come +from anywhar else in that direction. I reckon the hull blamed continent +is under water." + +"So it is," said Professor Pludder, "and we made for Colorado, knowing +that it was the only land left above the flood." + +All finally got upon the bluff, rejoiced to feel solid ground once more +beneath their feet. But it was a desolate prospect that they saw before +them. The face of the land had been scoured and gullied by the pouring +waters, the vegetation had been stripped off, except where in hollows it +had been covered with new-formed lakes, some of which had drained off +after the downpour ceased, the water finding its way into the enveloping +sea. + +They asked the three men what had become of the other inhabitants, and +whether there was any shelter at hand. + +"We've be'n wiped out," said the original spokesman. "Cosmo Versál has +done a pretty clean job with his flood. There's a kind of a cover that +we three hev built, a ways back yonder, out o' timber o' one kind and +another that was lodged about. But it wouldn't amount to much if there +was another cloudburst. It wouldn't stand a minute. It's good to sleep +in." + +"Are you the only survivors in this region?" asked the President. + +"I reckon you see all thet's left of us. The' ain't one out o' a hundred +that's left alive in these parts." + +"What became of them?" + +"Swept off!" replied the man, with an expressive gesture--"and drownded +right out under the sky." + +"And how did you and your companions escape?" + +"By gitting up amongst some rocks that was higher'n the average." + +"How did you manage to live--what did you have to eat?" + +"We didn't eat much--we didn't hev much time to think o' eatin'. We had +one hoss with us, and he served, when his time come. After the sky +cleared we skirmished about and dug up something that we could manage to +eat, lodged in gullies where the water had washed together what had been +in houses and cellars. We've got a gun and a little ammunition, and once +in a while we could kill an animal that had contrived to escape +somehow." + +"And you think that there are no other human beings left alive anywhere +around here?" + +"I _know_ th' ain't. The's probably some up in the foothills, and around +the Pike. They had a better chance to git among rocks. We hed jest made +up our minds to go hunting for 'em when we ketched sight o' you, and +then we concluded to stay and see who you was." + +"I'm surprised that you didn't go sooner." + +"We couldn't. There was a roarin' torrent coming down from the mountains +that cut us off. It's only last night that it stopped." + +"Well, it's evident that we cannot stay here," said Professor Pludder. +"We must go with these men toward the mountains. Let us take what's left +of the compressed provisions out of the raft, and then we'll eat a good +meal and be off." + +The three men were invited to share the repast, and they ate with an +appetite that would have amused their hosts if they had not been so +anxious to reserve as much as possible of their provisions for future +necessities. + +The meal finished, they started off, their new friends aiding to carry +provisions, and what little extra clothing there was. The aspect of the +country they traversed affrighted them. Here and there were partially +demolished houses or farm structures, or cellars, choked with débris of +what had once been houses. + +Farm implements and machinery were scattered about and half buried in +the torrent-furrowed land. In the wreck of one considerable village +through which they passed they found a stone church, and several stone +houses of considerable pretensions, standing almost intact as to walls, +but with roofs, doors, and windows smashed and torn off. + +It was evident that this place, which lay in a depression of the land, +had been buried by the rushing water as high as high as the top stories +of the buildings. From some of the sights that they saw they shrank +away, and afterward tried to forget them. + +Owing to the presence of the women and children their progress was +slower than it might overwise have been. They had great difficulty in +crossing the course of the torrent which their companions had described +as cutting them off from the foothills of the Pike's Peak range. + +The water had washed out a veritable cańon, a hundred or more feet deep +in places, and with ragged, precipitous walls and banks, which they had +to descend on one side and ascend on the other. Here the skill and local +knowledge of their three new-found friends stood them in good stead. +There was yet enough water in the bottom of the great gully to compel +them to wade, carrying the women and children. + +But, just before nightfall, they succeeded in reaching a range of rocky +heights, where they determined to pass the night. They managed to make a +fire with brush that had been swept down the mountain flanks and had +remained wedged in the rocks, and thus they dried their soaked garments, +and were able to do some cooking, and to have a blaze to give them a +little heat during the night, for the air turned cold after the +disappearance of the sun. + +When the others had sunk into an uneasy slumber, the President and +Professor Pludder sat long, replenishing the fire, and talking of what +would be their future course. + +"I think," said the professor, "that we shall find a considerable +population alive among the mountains. There is nothing in Colorado below +four thousand feet elevation, and not much below five thousand. The +great inner 'parks' were probably turned into lakes, but they will drain +off, as the land around us here has done already. + +"Those who managed to find places of comparative shelter will now +descend into the level lands and try to hunt up the sites of their +homes. If only some plants and grain have been preserved they can, after +a fashion, begin to cultivate the soil." + +"But there _is_ no soil," said the President, shuddering at the +recollection of the devastation he had witnessed. "It has all been +washed off." + +"No," replied the professor, "there's yet a good deal in the low places, +where the water rested." + +"But it is now the middle of winter." + +"Reckoned by the almanac it is, but you see that the temperature is that +of summer, and has been such for months. I think that this is due in +some way to the influence of the nebula, although I cannot account for +it. At any rate it will be possible to plant and sow. + +"The whole body of the atmosphere having been raised four thousand feet, +the atmospheric conditions here now are virtually the same as at the +former sea-level. If we can find the people and reassure them, we must +take the lead in restoring the land to fertility, and also in the +reconstruction of homes." + +"Suppose the flood should recommence?" + +"There is no likelihood of it." + +"Then," said the President, putting his face between his hands and +gazing sadly into the fire, "here is all that remains of the mightiest +nation of the world, the richest, the most populous--and we are to build +up out of this remnant a new fatherland." + +"This is not the only remnant," said Professor Pludder. "One-quarter, at +least, of the area of the United States is still above sea-level. Think +of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, the larger part of California, +Wyoming, a part of Montana, two-thirds of Idaho, a half of Oregon and +Washington--all above the critical level of four thousand feet, and all +except the steepest moutainsides can be reclaimed. + +"There is hope for our country yet. Remember that the climate of this +entire region will now be changed, since the barometric isobars have +been lifted up, and the line of thirty inches pressure now meets the +edge of the Colorado plateau. There may be a corresponding change in the +rainfall and in all the conditions of culture and fertility." + +"Yes," sighed the President, "but I cannot, I cannot withdraw my mind +from the thought of the _millions, millions, millions_ who have +perished!" + +"I do not say that we should forget them," replied Professor Pludder; +"Heaven forbid! But I do say that we must give our attention to those +that remain, and turn our faces steadily toward the future." + +"Abiel," returned the President, pressing the professor's hand, "you are +right. My confidence in you was shaken, but now I follow you again." + +Thus they talked until midnight, and then got a little rest with the +others. They were up and off at break of day, and as they mounted higher +they began to encounter immense rocks that had come tumbling down from +above. + +"How can you talk of people escaping toward the mountains if they had to +encounter these?" demanded the President. + +"Some of these rocks have undoubtedly been brought down by the +torrents," Professor Pludder replied, "but I believe that the greater +number fell earlier, during the earthquakes that accompanied the first +invasions of the sea." + +"But those earthquakes may have continued all through." + +"I do not think so. We have felt no trembling of the earth. I believe +that the convulsions lasted only for a brief period, while the rocks +were yielding to the pressure along the old sea-coast. After a little +the crust below adjusted itself to the new conditions. And even if the +rocks fell while people were trying to escape from the flood below, they +must, like the water, have followed the gorges and hollow places, while +the fugitives would, of course, keep upon the ridges." + +Whatever perils they may have encountered, people had certainly escaped +as the professor had averred. When the party, in the middle of the day, +were seated at their lunch, on an elevated point from which they could +see far over the strange ocean that they had left behind them, while the +southern buttresses of Pike's Peak rose steeply toward the north, they +discovered the first evidence of the existence of refugees in the +mountains. This was a smoke rising over an intervening ridge, which +their new companions declared could be due to nothing less than a large +camp-fire. + +They hastened to finish their meal, and then climbed the ridge. As soon +as they were upon it they found themselves looking down into a broad, +shallow cańon, where there were nearly twenty rudely constructed cabins, +with a huge fire blazing in the midst of the place, and half a dozen +red-shirted men busy about it, evidently occupied in the preparation of +the dinner of a large party. + +Their friends recognized an acquaintance in one of the men below and +hailed him with delight. Instantly men, women, and children came running +out of the huts to look at them, and as they descended into this +improvised village they were received with a hospitality that was almost +hilarious. + +The refugees consisted of persons who had escaped from the lower lands +in the immediate vicinity, and they were struck dumb when told that they +were entertaining the President of the United States and his family. + +The entire history of their adventures was related on both sides. The +refugees told how, at the commencement of the great rain, when it became +evident that the water would inundate their farms and buildings, they +loaded themselves with as many provisions as they could carry, and, in +spite of the suffocating downpour that filled the air, managed to fight +their way to the ridge overhanging the deep cut in which they were now +encamped. + +Hardly a quarter of those who started arrived in safety. They sheltered +themselves to the number of about thirty, in a huge cavern, which faced +down the mountain, and had a slightly upward sloping floor, so that the +water did not enter. Here, by careful economy, they were able to eke out +their provisions until the sky cleared, after which the men, being used +to outdoor labor and hunting, contrived to supply the wants of the +forlorn little community. + +They managed to kill a few animals, and found the bodies of others +recently killed, or drowned. Later they descended into the lowlands, as +the water ran off, and searching among the ruins of their houses found +some remnants of supplies in the cellars and about the foundations of +the barns. They were preparing to go down in a body and seek to +re-establish themselves on the sites of their old homes, when the +President's party came upon them. + +The meeting with these refugees was but the first of a series of similar +encounters on the way along the eastern face of the Pike's Peak range. +In the aggregate they met several hundred survivors who had established +themselves on the site of Colorado Springs, where a large number of +houses, standing on the higher ground, had escaped. + +They had been soaked with water, descending through the shattered roofs +and broken windows, and pouring into the basements and cellars. The +fugitives came from all directions, some from the caverns on the +mountains, and some from the rocks toward the north and east. A +considerable number asserted that they had found refuge in the Garden of +the Gods. + +As near as could be estimated, about a quarter of the population +remained alive. + +The strong points of Professor Pludder now, once more, came out +conspicuously. He proved himself an admirable organizer. He explored all +the country round, and enheartened everybody, setting them to work to +repair the damage as much as possible. + +Some horses and cattle were found which, following their instincts, had +managed to escape the flood. In the houses and other buildings yet +standing a great deal of food and other supplies were discovered, so +that there was no danger of a famine. As he had anticipated, the soil +had not all been washed away from the flat land, and he advised the +inhabitants to plant quick-growing seeds at once. + +He utilized the horses to send couriers in all directions, some going +even as far as Denver. Everywhere virtually the same conditions were +found--many had escaped and were alive, only needing the guidance of a +quicker intelligence, and this was supplied by the advice which the +professor instructed his envoys to spread among the people. He sought to +cheer them still more by the information that the President was among +them, and looking out for their welfare. + +One thing which his couriers at last began to report to him was a cause +of surprise. They said that the level of the water was rapidly falling. +Some who had gone far toward the east declared that it had gone down +hundreds of feet. But the professor reflected that this was impossible, +because evaporation could not account for it, and he could not persuade +himself that so much water could have found its way into the interior of +the crust. + +He concluded that his informants had allowed their hopes to affect their +eyesight, and, strong as usual in his professional dogmas, he made no +personal examination. Besides, Professor Pludder was beginning to be +shaken in his first belief that all trouble from the nebula was at an +end. Once having been forced to accept the hypothesis that a watery +nebula had met the earth, he began to reflect that they might not be +through with it. + +In any event, he deemed it wise to prepare for it if it _should_ come +back. Accordingly he advised that the population that remained should +concentrate in the stronger houses, built of stone, and that every +effort should be made to strengthen them further and to make the roofs +as solid as possible. He also directed that no houses should be occupied +that were not situated on high ground, surrounded with slopes that would +give ready flow to the water in case the deluging rain should +recommence. + +He had no fixed conviction that it would recommence, but he was uneasy, +owing to his reflections, and wished to be on the safe side. He sent +similar instructions as far as his horsemen could reach. + +The wisdom of his doubts became manifest about two weeks after the +arrival of the President's party. Without warning the sky, which had +been perfectly blue and cloudless for a month, turned a sickly yellow. +Then mists hid the head, and in a little while the entire outline of +Pike's Peak, and after that a heavy rain began. + +Terror instantly seized the people, and at first nobody ventured out of +doors. But as time went on and the rain did not assume the proportions +of the former _débâcle_, although it was very heavy and continuous, hope +revived. Everybody was on the watch for a sudden clearing up. + +Instead of clearing, however, the rain became very irregular, gushing at +times in torrents which were even worse than the original downpour, but +these tremendous gushes were of brief duration, so that the water had an +opportunity to run off the higher ground before the next downpour +occurred. + +This went on for a week, and then the people were terrified at finding +that water was pouring up through all the depressions of the land, +cutting off the highlands from Pike's Peak with an arm of the sea. It +was evident that the flood had been rapidly rising, and if it should +rise but little higher they would be caught in a trap. The inland sea, +it was clear, had now invaded the whole of Colorado to the feet of the +mountains, and was creeping up on them. + +Just at this time a series of earthquakes began. They were not severe, +but were continuous. The ground cracked open in places, and some houses +were overturned, but there were no wall-shattering shocks--only a +continual and dreadful trembling, accompanied by awful subterranean +sounds. + +This terrible state of affairs had lasted for a day before a remarkable +discovery was made, which filled many hearts with joy, although it +seemed to puzzle Professor Pludder as much as it rejoiced him. + +The new advance of the sea was arrested! There could be no question of +that, for too many had anxiously noted the points to which the water had +attained. + +We have said that Professor Pludder was puzzled. He was seeking, in his +mind, a connection between the seismic tremors and the cessation of the +advance of the sea. Inasmuch as the downpour continued, the flood ought +still to rise. + +He rejected as soon as it occurred to him the idea that the earth could +be drinking up the waters as fast as they fell, and that the trembling +was an accompaniment of this gigantic deglutition. + +Sitting in a room with the President and other members of the party from +Washington, he remained buried in his thoughts, answering inquiries only +in monosyllables. Presently he opened his eyes very wide and a +long-drawn "A-ah!" came from his mouth. Then he sprang to his feet and +cried out, but only as if uttering a thought aloud to himself, the +strange word: + +_"Batholite!"_ + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"THE FATHER OF HORROR" + + +At the time when the President of the United States and his companions +were beginning to discover the refugees around Pike's Peak, Cosmo +Versál's Ark accompanied by the _Jules Verne_, whose commander had +decided to remain in touch with his friends, was crossing the submerged +hills and valleys of Languedoc under a sun as brilliant as that which +had once made them a land of gold. + +De Beauxchamps remained aboard the Ark much of the time. Cosmo liked to +have him, with himself and Captain Arms, on the bridge, because there +they could talk freely about their plans and prospects, and the +Frenchman was a most entertaining companion. + +Meanwhile, the passengers in the saloons and on the promenade decks +formed little knots and coteries for conversation, for reading, and for +mutual diversion, or strolled about from side to side, watching the +endless expanse of waters for the occasional appearance of some +inhabitant of the deep that had wandered over the new ocean's bottom. + +These animals seemed to be coming to the surface to get bearings. Every +such incident reminded the spectators of what lay beneath the waves, and +led them to think and talk of the awful fate that had overwhelmed their +fellow men, until the spirits of the most careless were subdued by the +pervading melancholy. + +King Richard, strangely enough, had taken a liking for Amos Blank, who +was frequently asked to join the small and somewhat exclusive circle of +compatriots that continually surrounded the fallen monarch. The +billionaire and the king often leaned elbow to elbow over the rail, and +put their heads companionably together while pointing out some object on +the sea. Lord Swansdown felt painfully cut by this, but, of course, he +could offer no objection. + +Finally Cosmo invited the king to come upon the bridge, from which +passengers were generally excluded, and the king insisted that Blank +should go, too. Cosmo consented, for Blank seemed to him to have become +quite a changed man, and he found him sometimes full of practical +suggestions. + +So it happened that when Captain Arms announced that the Ark was passing +over the ancient city of Carcassonne, Cosmo, the king, De Beauxchamps, +Amos Blank, and the captain were all together on the bridge. When +Captain Arms mentioned their location, King Richard became very +thoughtful. After a time he said musingly: + +"Ah! how all these names, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Languedoc, bring back +to me the memory of my namesake of olden times, Richard I. of England. +This, over which we are floating, was the land of the Troubadours, and +Richard was the very Prince of Troubadours. With all his faults England +never had a king like him!" + +"Knowing your devotion to peace, which was the reason why I wished you +to be of the original company in the Ark, I am surprised to hear you say +that," said Cosmo. + +"Ah!" returned the King, "But Coeur de Lion was a true Englishman, even +in his love of fighting. What would he say if he knew where England lies +to-day? What would he say if he knew the awful fate that has come upon +this fair and pleasant land, from whose poets and singers he learned the +art of minstrelsy?" + +"He would say, 'Do not despair,'" replied Cosmo. "' Show the courage of +an Englishman, and fight for your race if you cannot for your country.'" + +"But may not England, may not all these lands, emerge again from the +floods?" asked the king. + +"Not in our time, not in our children's time," said Cosmo Versál, +thoughtfully shaking his head. + +"In the remote future, yes--but I cannot tell how remote. Tibet was once +an appanage of your crown, before China taught the West what war meant, +and in Tibet you may help to found a new empire, but I must tell you +that it will not resemble the empires of the past. Democracy will be its +corner stone, and science its law." + +"Then I devote myself to democracy and science," responded King Richard. + +"Good! Admirable!" exclaimed Amos Blank and De Beauxchamps +simultaneously, while Captain Arms would probably have patted the king +on the back had not his attention, together with that of the others, +been distracted by a huge whale blowing almost directly in the course of +the Ark. + +"Blessed if I ever expected to see a sight like that in these parts!" +exclaimed the captain. "This lifting the ocean up into the sky is +upsetting the order of nature. I'd as soon expect to sight a cachalot on +top of the Rocky Mountains." + +"They'll be there, too, before long," said Cosmo. + +"I wonder what he's looking for," continued Captain Arms. "He must have +come down from the north. He couldn't have got in through the Pyrenees +or the Sierra Nevadas. He's just navigated right over the whole country +straight down from the English Channel." + +The whale sounded at the approach of the Ark, but in a little while he +was blowing again off toward the south, and then the passengers caught +sight of him, and there was great excitement. + +He seemed to be of enormous size, and he sent his fountain to an +extraordinary height in the air. On he went, appearing and disappearing, +steering direct for Africa, until, with glasses, they could see his +white plume blowing on the very edge of the horizon. + +Not even the reflection that they themselves were sailing over Europe +impressed some of the passengers with so vivid a sense of their +situation as the sight of this monstrous inhabitant of the ocean taking +a view of his new domain. + +At night Cosmo continued the concerts and the presentation of the +Shakespearian dramas, and for an hour each afternoon he had a +"conference" in the saloon, at which Theriade and Sir Athelstone were +almost the sole performers. + +Their disputes, and Cosmo's efforts to keep the peace, amused for a +while, but at length the audiences diminished until Cosmo, with his +constant companions, the Frenchman, the king, Amos Blank, the three +professors from Washington, and a few other savants were the only +listeners. + +But the music and the plays always drew immensely. + +Joseph Smith was kept busy most of the time in Cosmo's cabin, copying +plans for the regeneration of mankind. + +When they knew that they had finally left the borders of France and were +sailing above the Mediterranean Sea, it became necessary to lay their +course with considerable care. Cosmo decided that the only safe plan +would be to run south of Sardinia, and then keep along between Sicily +and Tunis, and so on toward lower Egypt. + +There he intended to seek a way over the mountains north of the Sinai +peninsula into the Syrian desert, from which he could reach the ancient +valley of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. He would then pass down +the Arabian Sea, swing round India and Ceylon, and, by way of the Bay of +Bengal and the plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, approach the +Himalayas. + +Captain Arms was rather inclined to follow the Gulf of Suez and the +depression of the Red Sea, but Cosmo was afraid that they would have +difficulty in getting the Ark safely through between the Mt. Sinai peaks +and the Jebel Gharib range. + +"Well, you're the commodore," said the captain at the end of the +discussion, "but hang me if I'd not rather follow a sea, where I know +the courses, than go navigating over mountains and deserts in the land +of Shinar. We'll land on top of Jerusalem yet, you'll see!" + +Feeling sure of plenty of water under keel, they now made better speed +and De Beauxchamps retired into the _Jules Verne_, and detached it from +the Ark, finding that he could distance the latter easily with the +submersible running just beneath the surface of the water. + +"Come up to blow, and take a look around from the bridge, once in a +while," the captain called out to him as he disappeared and the cover +closed over him. The _Jules Verne_ immediately sank out of sight. + +They passed round Sardinia, and between the old African coast and +Sicily, and were approaching the Malta Channel when their attention was +drawn to a vast smoke far off toward the north. + +"It's Etna in eruption," said Cosmo to the captain. + +"A magnificent sight!" exclaimed King Richard, who happened to be on the +bridge. + +"Yes, and I'd like to see it nearer," remarked Cosmo, as a wonderful +column of smoke, as black as ink, seemed to shoot up to the very zenith. + +"You'd better keep away," Captain Arms said warningly. "There's no good +comes of fooling round volcanoes in a ship." + +"Oh, it's safe enough," returned Cosmo. "We can run right over the +southeastern corner of Sicily and get as near as we like. There is +nothing higher than about three thousand feet in that part of the +island, so we'll have a thousand feet to spare." + +"But maybe the water has lowered." + +"Not more than a foot or two," said Cosmo. "Go ahead." + +The captain plainly didn't fancy the adventure, but he obeyed orders, +and the Ark's nose was turned northward, to the delight of many of the +passengers who had become greatly interested when they learned that the +tremendous smoke that they saw came from Mount Etna. + +Some of them were nervous, but the more adventurous spirits heartily +applauded Cosmo Versál's design to give them a closer view of so +extraordinary a spectacle. Even from their present distance the sight +was one that might have filled them with terror if they had not already +been through adventures which had hardened their nerves. The smoke was +truly terrific in appearance. + +It did not spread low over the sea, but rose in an almost vertical +column, widening out at a height of several miles, until it seemed to +canopy the whole sky toward the north. + +It could be seen spinning in immense rolling masses, the outer parts of +which were turned by the sunshine to a dingy brown color, while the main +stem of the column, rising directly from the great crater, was of pitchy +blackness. + +An awful roaring was audible, sending a shiver through the Ark. At the +bottom of the mass of smoke, through which gleams of fire were seen to +shoot as they drew nearer, appeared the huge conical form of the +mountain, whose dark bulk still rose nearly seven thousand feet above +the sea that covered the great, beautiful, and historic island beneath +it. + +They had got within about twenty miles of the base of the mountain, when +a shout was heard by those on the bridge, and Cosmo and the captain, +looking for its source, saw the _Jules Verne_, risen to the surface a +little to starboard, and De Beauxchamps excitedly signaling to them. +They just made out the words, "Sheer off!" when the Ark, with a groaning +sound, took ground, and they were almost precipitated over the rail of +the bridge. + +"Aground again, by ----!" exclaimed Captain Arms, instantly signaling +all astern. "I told you not to go fooling round a volcano." + +"This beats me!" cried Cosmo Versál. "I wonder if the island has begun +to rise." + +"More likely the sea has begun to fall," growled Captain Arms. + +"Do you know where we are?" asked Cosmo. + +"We can't be anywhere but on the top of Monte Lauro," replied the +captain. + +"But that's only three thousand feet high." + +"It's exactly three thousand two hundred and thirty feet," said the +captain. "I haven't navigated the old Mediterranean a hundred times for +nothing." + +"But even then we should have near seven hundred and fifty feet to +spare, allowing for the draft of the Ark, and a slight subsidence of the +water." + +"Well, you haven't allowed enough, that's plain," said the captain. + +"But it's impossible that the flood can have subsided more than seven +hundred feet already." + +"I don't care how impossible it is--here we are! We're stuck on a +mountain-top, and if we don't leave our bones on it I'm a porpoise." + +By this time the _Jules Verne_ was alongside, and De Beauxchamps shouted +up: + +"I was running twenty feet under water, keeping along with the Ark, when +my light suddenly revealed the mountain ahead. I hurried up and tried to +warn you, but it was too late." + +"Can't you go down and see where we're fast?" asked Cosmo. + +"Certainly; that's just what I was about to propose," replied the +Frenchman, and immediately the submersible disappeared. + +After a long time, during which Cosmo succeeded in allaying the fears of +his passengers, the submersible reappeared, and De Beauxchamps made his +report. He said that the Ark was fast near the bow on a bed of shelly +limestone. + +He thought that by using the utmost force of the _Jules Verne_, whose +engines were very powerful, in pushing the Ark, combined with the +backing of her own engines, she might be got off. + +"Hurry up, then, and get to work," cried Captain Arms. "This flood is on +the ebb, and a few hours more will find us stuck here like a ray with +his saw in a whale's back." + +De Beauxchamps's plan was immediately adopted. The _Jules Verne_ +descended, and pushed with all her force, while the engines of the Ark +were reversed, and within fifteen minutes they were once more afloat. + +Without waiting for a suggestion from Cosmo Versál, the Frenchman +carefully inspected with his searchlight the bottom of the Ark where she +had struck, and when he came to the surface he was able to report that +no serious damage had resulted. + +"There's no hole," he said, "only a slight denting of one of the plates, +which will not amount to anything." + +Cosmo, however, was not content until he had made a careful inspection +by opening some of the manholes in the inner skin of the vessel. He +found no cause for anxiety, and in an hour the Ark resumed its voyage +eastward, passing over the site of ancient Syracuse. + +By this time a change of the wind had sent the smoke from Etna in their +direction, and now it lay thick upon the water, and rendered it, for a +while, impossible to see twenty fathoms from the bridge. + +"It's old Etna's dying salute," said Cosmo. "He won't have his head +above water much longer." + +"But the flood is going down," exclaimed Captain Arms. + +"Yes, and that puzzles me. There must have been an enormous absorption +of water into the interior, far greater than I ever imagined possible. +But wait until the nucleus of the nebula strikes us! In the meantime, +this lowering of the water renders it necessary for us to make haste, or +we may not get over the mountains round Suez before the downpour +recommences." + +As soon as they escaped from the smoke of Etna they ran full speed ahead +again, and, keeping well south of Crete, at length, one morning they +found themselves in the latitude and longitude of Alexandria. + +The weather was still superb, and Cosmo was very desirous of getting a +line on the present height of the water. He thought that he could make a +fair estimate of this from the known elevation of the mountains about +Sinai. Accordingly they steered in that direction, and on the way passed +directly over the site of Cairo. + +Then the thought of the pyramids came to them all, and De Beauxchamps, +who had come aboard the Ark, and who was always moved by sentimental +considerations, proposed that they should spend a few hours here, while +he descended to inspect the condition in which the flood had left those +mighty monuments. + +Cosmo not only consented to this, but he even offered to be a member of +the party. The Frenchman was only too glad to have his company. Cosmo +Versál descended into the submersible after instructing Captain Arms to +hover in the neighborhood. + +The passengers and crew of the Ark, with expressions of anxiety that +would have pleased their subject if he had heard them, watched the +_Jules Verne_ disappear into the depths beneath. + +The submersible was gone so long that the anxiety of those aboard the +Ark deepened into alarm, and finally became almost panic. They had never +before known how much they depended upon Cosmo Versál. + +He was their only reliance, their only hope. He alone had known how to +keep up their spirits, and when he had assured them, as he so often did, +that the flooding would surely recommence, they had hardly been +terrified because of their unexpressed confidence that, let come what +would, his great brain would find a way out for them. + +Now he was gone, down into the depths of this awful sea, where their +imaginations pictured a thousand unheard-of perils, and perhaps they +would never see him again! Without him they knew themselves to be +helpless. Even Captain Arms almost lost his nerve. + +The strong good sense of Amos Blank alone saved them from the utter +despair that began to seize upon them as hour after hour passed without +the reappearance of the _Jules Verne_. + +His experience had taught him how to keep a level head in an emergency, +and how to control panics. With King Richard always at his side, he went +about among the passengers and fairly laughed them out of their fears. + +Without discussing the matter at all, he convinced them, by the simple +force of his own apparent confidence, that they were worrying themselves +about nothing. + +He was, in fact, as much alarmed as any of the others, but he never +showed it. He started a rumor, after six hours had elapsed, that Cosmo +himself had said that they would probably require ten or twelve hours +for their exploration. + +Cosmo had said nothing of the kind, but Blank's prevarication had its +intended effect, and fortunately, before the lapse of another six hours, +there was news from under the sea. + +And what was happening in the mysterious depths below the Ark? What had +so long detained the submersible? + +The point where the descent was made had been so well chosen that the +_Jules Verne_ almost struck the apex of the Great Pyramid as it +approached the bottom. The water was somewhat muddy from the sands of +the desert, and the searchlight streamed through a yellowish medium, +recalling the "golden atmosphere" for which Egypt had been celebrated. +But, nevertheless, the light was so powerful that they could see +distinctly at a distance of several rods. + +The pyramid appeared to have been but little injured, although the +tremendous tidal wave that had swept up the Nile during the invasion of +the sea before the downpour began had scooped out the sand down to the +bed-rock on all sides. + +Finding nothing of particular interest in a circuit of the pyramid, they +turned in the direction of the Great Sphinx. + +This, too, had been excavated to its base, and it now stood up to its +full height, and a terrible expression seemed to have come into its +enigmatic features. + +Cosmo wished to get a close look at it, and they ran the submersible +into actual contact with the forepart of the gigantic statue, just under +the mighty chin. + +While they paused there, gazing out of the front window of the vessel, a +bursting sound was heard, followed by a loud crash, and the _Jules +Verne_ was shaken from stem to stern. Every man of them threw himself +against the sides of the vessel, for the sound came from overhead, and +they had an instinctive notion that the roof was being crushed down upon +them. + +A second resounding crash was heard, shaking them like an earthquake, +and the little vessel rolled partly over upon its side. + +"We are lost!" cried De Beauxchamps. "The Sphinx is falling upon us! We +shall be buried alive here!" + +A third crash came over their heads, and the submersible seemed to sink +beneath them as if seeking to avoid the fearful blows that were rained +upon its roof. + +Still, the stout curved ceiling, strongly braced within, did not yield, +although they saw, with affright, that it was bulged inward, and some of +the braces were torn from their places. But no water came in. + +Stunned by the suddenness of the accident, for a few moments they did +nothing but cling to such supports as were within their reach, expecting +that another blow would either force the vessel completely over or break +the roof in. + +But complete silence now reigned, and the missiles from above ceased to +strike the submersible. The searchlight continued to beam out of the +fore end of the vessel, and following its broad ray with their eyes, +they uttered one cry of mingled amazement and fear, and then stared +without a word at such a spectacle as the wildest imagination could not +have pictured. + +The front of the Sphinx had disappeared, and the light, penetrating +beyond the place where it had stood, streamed upon the face and breast +of an enormous black figure, seated on a kind of throne, and staring +into their faces with flaming eyes which at once fascinated and +terrified them. + +To their startled imaginations the eyes seemed to roll in their sockets, +and flashes of fire to dart from them. Their expression was menacing and +terrifying beyond belief. At the same time the aspect of the face was so +majestic that they cowered before it. + +The cheekbones were high, massive, and polished until they shone in the +light; the nose and chin were powerful in their contours; and the brow +wore an intimidating frown. It seemed to the awed onlookers as if they +had sacrilegiously burst into the sanctuary of an offended god. + +But, after a minute or two of stupefaction, they thought again of the +desperateness of their situation, and turned from staring at the strange +idol to consider what they should do. + +The fact that no water was finding its way into the submersible somewhat +reassured them, but the question now arose whether it could be withdrawn +from its position. + +They had no doubt that the front of the Sphinx, saturated by the water +after the thousands of years that it had stood there, exposed to the +desiccating influences of the sun and the desert sands, had suddenly +disintegrated, and fallen upon them, pinning their vessel fast under the +fragments of the huge head. + +De Beauxchamps tried the engines and found that they had no effect in +moving the _Jules Verne_. He tried again and again by reversing to +disengage the vessel, but it would not stir. Then they debated the only +other means of escape. + +"Although I have levium life-suits," said the Frenchman, "and although +the top of the _Jules Verne_ can probably be opened, for the door seems +not to have been touched, yet the instant it is removed the water will +rush in, and it will be impossible to pump out the vessel." + +"Are your life-suits so arranged that they will permit of moving the +limbs?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Certainly they are." + +"And can they be weighted so as to remain at the bottom?" + +"They are arranged for that," responded De Beauxchamps. + +"And can the weights be detached by the inmates without permitting the +entrance of water?" + +"It can be done, although a very little water might enter during the +operation." + +"Then," said Cosmo, "let us put on the suits, open the door, take out +the ballast so that, if released, the submersible will rise to the +surface through its own buoyancy, and then see if we cannot loosen the +vessel from outside." + +It was a suggestion whose boldness made even the owner and constructor +of the _Jules Verne_ stare for a moment, but evidently it was the only +possible way in which the vessel might be saved; and knowing that, in +case of failure, they could themselves float to the surface after +removing the weights from the bottom of the suits, they unanimously +decided to try Cosmo Versál's plan. + +It was terribly hard work getting the ballast out of the submersible, +working as they had to do under water, which rushed in as soon as the +door was opened, and in their awkward suits, which were provided with +apparatus for renewing the supply of oxygen; but at last they succeeded. + +Then they clambered outside, and labored desperately to release the +vessel from the huge fragments of stone that pinned it down. Finally, +exhausted by their efforts, and unable to make any impression, they gave +up. + +De Beauxchamps approached Cosmo and motioned to him that it was time to +ascend to the surface and leave the _Jules Verne_ to her fate. But Cosmo +signaled back that he wished first to examine more closely the strange +statue that was gazing upon them in the still unextinguished beam of the +searchlight with what they might now have regarded as a look of mockery. + +The others, accordingly, waited while Cosmo Versál, greatly impeded by +his extraordinary garment, clambered up to the front of the figure. +There he saw something which redoubled his amazement. + +On the broad breast he saw a representation of a world overwhelmed with +a deluge and encircling it was what he instantly concluded to be the +picture of a nebula. Underneath, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, with +which Cosmo was familiar, was an inscription in letters of gold, which +could only be translated thus: + + I Come Again-- + At the End of Time. + +"Great Heavens!" he said to himself. "It is a prophecy of the Second +Deluge!" + +[Illustration: "IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE."] + +He continued to gaze, amazed, at the figure and the inscription, until +De Beauxchamps clambered to his side and indicated to him that it was +necessary that they should ascend without further delay, showing him by +signs that the air-renewing apparatus would give out. + +With a last lingering look at the figure, Cosmo imitated the others by +detaching the weights from below his feet, and a minute later they were +all shooting rapidly toward the surface of the sea, De Beauxchamps, as +he afterwards declared, uttering a prayer for the repose of the _Jules +Verne_. + +The imaginary time which Amos Blank had fixed as the limit set by Cosmo +for the return from the depths was nearly gone, and he was beginning to +cast about for some other invention to quiet the rising fears of the +passengers, when a form became visible which made the eyes of Captain +Arms, the first to catch sight of it, start from their sockets. He +rubbed them, and looked again--but there it was! + +A huge head, human in outline, with bulging, glassy eyes, popped +suddenly out of the depths, followed by the upper part of a gigantic +form which was no less suggestive of a monstrous man, and which +immediately began to wave its arms! + +Before the captain could collect his senses another shot to the surface, +and then another and another, until there were seven of them floating +and awkwardly gesticulating within a radius of a hundred fathoms on the +starboard side of the vessel. + +The whole series of apparitions did not occupy more than a quarter of a +minute in making their appearance. + +By the time the last had sprung into sight Captain Arms had recovered +his wits, and he shouted an order to lower a boat, at the same time +running down from the bridge to superintend the operation. Many of the +crew and passengers had in the meantime seen the strange objects, and +they were thrown into a state of uncontrollable excitement. + +"It's them!" shouted the captain over his shoulder, in response to a +hundred inquiries all put at once, and forgetting his grammar in the +excitement. "They've come up in diving-suits." + +Amos Blank comprehended the situation at once; and while the captain was +getting out the boat, he explained matters to the crowd. + +"The submersible must be lost," he said quietly, "but the men have +escaped, so there is no great harm done. It does great credit to that +Frenchman that he should have been prepared for such an emergency. Those +are levium suits, and I've no doubt that he has got hydrogen somewhere +inside to increase their buoyancy." + +Within a quarter of an hour all the seven had been picked up by the +boat, and it returned to the Ark. The strange forms were lifted aboard +with tackle to save time; and as the first one reached the deck, it +staggered about on its big limbs for a moment. + +Then the metallic head opened, and the features of De Beauxchamps were +revealed. + +Before anybody could assist him he had freed himself from the suit, and +immediately he began to aid the others. In ten minutes they all stood +safe and sound before the astonished eyes of the spectators. Cosmo had +suffered from the confinement, and he sank upon a seat, but De +Beauxchamps seemed to be the most affected. With downcast look he said, +sadly shaking his head: + +"The poor _Jules Verne_! I shall never see her again." + +"What has happened?" demanded Captain Arms. + +"It was the Father of Horror," muttered Cosmo Versál. + +"The Father of Horror--what's that?" + +"Why, the Great Sphinx," returned Cosmo, gradually recovering his +breath. "Didn't you know that that was what the Arabs always called the +Sphinx? + +"It was that which fell upon the submersible--split right open and +dropped its great chin upon us as we were sailing round it, and pinned +us fast. But the sight that we saw when the Sphinx fell apart! Tell +them, De Beauxchamps." + +The Frenchman took up the narrative, while, with breathless attention, +passengers and crew crowded about to listen to his tale. + +"When we got to the bottom," he said, "we first inspected the Great +Pyramid, going all round it with our searchlight. It was in good +condition, although the tide that had come up the Nile with the invasion +of the sea had washed away the sands to a great depth all about. When we +had completed the circuit of the pyramid, we saw the Sphinx, which had +been excavated by the water so that it stood up to its full height. + +"We ran close around it, and when we were under the chin the whole +thing, saturated by the water, which no doubt caused an expansion +within--you know how many thousand years the gigantic idol had been +sun-dried--dropped apart. + +"The submersible was caught by the falling mass, and partly crushed. We +labored for hours and hours to release the vessel, but there was little +that we could do. It almost broke my heart to think of leaving the +_Jules Verne_ there, but it had to be done. + +"At last we put on the levium floating-suits, opened the cover at the +top, and came to the surface. The last thing I saw was the searchlight, +still burning, and illuminating the most marvelous spectacle that human +eyes ever gazed upon." + +"Oh, what was it? What was it?" demanded a score of voices in chorus. + +"It is impossible to describe it. It was the secret of old Egypt +revealed at last--at the end of the world!" + +"But what was it like?" + +"Like a glimpse into the remotest corridors of time," interposed Cosmo +Versál, with a curious look in his eyes. + +"Some of you may have heard that long ago holes were driven through the +Sphinx in the hope of discovering something hidden inside, but they +missed the secret. The old god kept it well until his form fell apart. +We were pinned so close to it that we could not help seeing it, even in +the excitement of our situation. + +"It had always been supposed that the Sphinx was the symbol of +something--it _was_, and more than a symbol! The explorers away back in +the nineteenth century who thought that they had found something +mysterious in the Great Pyramid went wide of the mark when they +neglected the Sphinx." + +"But what did you see?" + +_"We saw the prophecy of the Second Deluge,"_ said Cosmo, rising to his +feet, his piercing eyes aflame. "In the heart of the huge mass, +approachable, no doubt, by some concealed passage in the rock beneath, +known only to the priests, stood a gigantic idol, carved out of black +marble. + +"It had enormous eyes of some gem that blazed in the electric beam from +the searchlight, with huge golden ears and beard, and on its breast was +a representation of a drowning world, with a great nebula sweeping over +it." + +"It might have been a history instead of a prophecy," suggested one of +the listening savants. "Perhaps it only told what had once happened." + +"No," replied Cosmo, shaking his big head. "It was a prophecy. Under it, +in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which I recognized, was an +inscription which could only be translated by the words, 'I come +again--at the end of time!'" + +There was a quality in Cosmo Versál's voice which made the hearers +shudder with horror. + +"Yes," he added. "It comes again! The prophecy was hidden, but science +had its means of revelation, too, if the world would but have listened +to its voice. Even without the prophecy I have saved the flower of +mankind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES + + +When the company in the Ark had recovered from the astonishment produced +by the narratives of De Beauxchamps and Cosmo Versál, and particularly +the vivid description given by the latter of the strange idol concealed +in the breast of the "Father of Horror," and the inferences which he +drew concerning its prophetic character, the question again arose as to +their future course. + +Captain Arms was still for undertaking to follow the trough of the Red +Sea, but Cosmo declared that this course would be doubly dangerous now +that the water had lowered and that they no longer had the _Jules Verne_ +to act as a submarine scout, warning them of hidden perils. + +They must now go by their own soundings, and this would be especially +dangerous in the close neighborhood of half-submerged mountains, whose +buttresses and foothills might rise suddenly out of the depths with +slopes so steep that the lead would afford no certain guidance. + +It was first necessary to learn if possible the actual height of the +water, and whether it was still subsiding. It was partly for this +purpose that they had passed over Egypt instead of keeping directly on +toward the coast of lower Palestine. + +But now Cosmo abandoned his purpose of taking his measurement by the aid +of Mount Sinai or some of its neighboring peaks, on account of the +dangerous character of that rugged region. If they had been furnished +with deep-sea sounding apparatus they might have made a direct +measurement of the depth in Egypt, but that was one of the few things +which Cosmo Versál had overlooked in furnishing the Ark, and such an +operation could not be undertaken. + +He discovered that there was a mountain north of the Gulf of Akaba +having an elevation of 3,450 feet, and since this was 220 feet higher +than Monte Lauro, in Sicily, on which the Ark had grounded, he counted +on it as a gage which would serve his purpose. + +So they passed almost directly over Suez, and about 120 miles farther +east they found the mountain they sought, rising to the west of the Wadi +el Arabia, a continuation of the depression at whose deepest point lay +the famous "Dead Sea," so often spoken of in the books of former times. + +Here Cosmo was able to make a very accurate estimate from the height of +the peak above the water, and he was gratified to find that the +recession had not continued. The level of the water appeared to be +exactly the same as when they made their unfortunate excursion in the +direction of smoking Etna. + +"It's all right," he said to Captain Arms. "We can get over into the +Syrian desert without much danger, although we must go slowly and +carefully until we are well past these ranges that come down from the +direction of the Dead Sea. After that I do not see that there is +anything in our way until we reach the ancient plains of Babylon." + +King Richard, who was full of the history of the Crusades, as well as of +Bible narratives, wished to have the Ark turn northward, so that they +might sail over Jerusalem, and up the Valley of the Jordan within sight +of Mount Hermon and the Lebanon range. + +Cosmo had had enough of that kind of adventure, while Captain Arms +declared that he would resign on the spot if there was to be any more +"fool navigating on mountain tops." But there were many persons in the +Ark who would have been very glad if King Richard's suggestion had been +carried out. + +The feelings of some were deeply stirred when they learned that they +were now crossing the lower end of Palestine, and that the scenes of so +many incidents in the history of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua lay buried +beneath the blue water, whose almost motionless surface was marked with +a broad trail of foaming bubbles in the wake of the immense vessel. + +Cosmo greatly regretted the absence of the submersible when they were +picking their way over this perilous region, but they encountered no +real difficulty, and at length found, by celestial observations, that +they were beyond all dangers and safely arrived over the deeply +submerged desert. + +They kept on for several days toward the rising sun, and then Captain +Arms announced that the observations showed that they were over the site +of Babylon. + +This happened just at the time of the midday dinner, and over the +dessert Cosmo seized the opportunity to make a little speech, which +could be heard by all in the saloon. + +"We are now arrived," he said, "over the very spot where the descendants +of Noah are said to have erected a tower, known as the Tower of Babel, +and which they intended to build so high that it would afford a secure +refuge in case there should be another deluge. + +"How vain were such expectations, if they were ever entertained, is +sufficiently shown by the fact that, at this moment, the water rolls +more than three thousand feet deep over the place where they put their +tower, and before the present deluge is over it will be thirty thousand +feet deep. + +"More than half a mile beneath our feet lie the broad plains of Chaldea, +where tradition asserts that the study of astronomy began. It was +Berosus, a Chaldean, who predicted that there would come a second +deluge. + +"It occurs to me, since seeing the astounding spectacle disclosed by the +falling apart of the Sphinx, that these people may have had an +infinitely more profound knowledge of the secrets of the heavens than +tradition has assigned to them. + +"On the breast of the statue in the Sphinx was the figure of a crowned +man, encircled by a huge ring, and having behind him the form of a boat +containing two other human figures. The boat was represented as floating +in a flood of waters. + +"Now, this corresponds exactly with figures that have been found among +the most ancient ruins in Chaldea. I regard that ring as symbolical of a +nebula enveloping the earth, and I think that the second deluge, which +we have lived to see, was foretold here thousands of years ago." + +"Who foretold it first, then, the people who placed the statue in the +Sphinx, or these astronomers of Chaldea?" asked Professor Abel Able. + +"I believe," Cosmo replied, "that the knowledge originated here, beneath +us, and that it was afterward conveyed to the Egyptians, who embodied it +in their great symbolical god." + +"Are we to understand," demanded Professor Jeremiah Moses, "that this +figure was all that you saw on the breast of the statue, and that you +simply inferred that the ring represented a nebula?" + +"Not at all," Cosmo replied. "The principal representation was that of a +world overwhelmed with a flood, and of a nebula descending upon it." + +"How do you know that it was intended for a nebula?" + +"Because it had the aspect of one, and it was clearly shown to be +descending from the high heavens." + +"A cloud," suggested Professor Moses. + +"No, not a cloud. Mark this, which is a marvel in itself: It had _the +form of a spiral nebula_. It was unmistakable." + +At this point the discussion was interrupted by a call to Cosmo Versál +from Captain Arms on the bridge. He hastily left the table and ascended +to the captain's side. + +He did not need to be told what to look for. Off in the north the sky +had become a solid black mass, veined with the fiercest lightning. The +pealing of the thunder came in a continuous roll, which soon grew so +loud as to shake the Ark. + +"Up with the side-plates!" shouted Cosmo, setting twenty bells ringing +at once. "Close tight every opening! Screw down the port shutters!" + +The crew of the Ark was, in a few seconds, running to and fro, executing +the orders that came in swift succession from the commander's bridge, +and the passengers were thrown into wild commotion. But nobody had time +to attend to them. + +"It is upon us!" yelled Cosmo in the captain's ear, for the uproar had +become deafening. "The nucleus is here!" + +The open promenade decks had not yet all been turned into inner +corridors when the downpour began upon the Ark. A great deal of water +found its way aboard, but the men worked with a will, as fearful for +their own safety as for that of others, and in a little while everything +had been made snug and tight. + +In a short time a tremendous tempest was blowing, the wind coming from +the north, and the Ark, notwithstanding her immense breadth of beam, was +canted over to leeward at an alarming angle. On the larboard side the +waves washed to the top of the great elliptical dome and broke over it, +and their thundering blows shook the vessel to her center, causing many +to believe that she was about to founder. + +The disorder was frightful. Men and women were flung about like tops, +and no one could keep his feet. Crash after crash, that could be heard +amid the howling of the storm, the battering of the waves, and the awful +roar of the deluge descending on the roof, told the fate of the +tableware and dishes that had been hastily left in the big dining +saloon. + +Chairs recently occupied by the passengers on what had been the +promenade decks, and from which they had so serenely, if often +sorrowfully, looked over the broad, peaceful surface of the waters, were +now darting, rolling, tumbling, and banging about, intermingled with +rugs, hats, coats, and other abandoned articles of clothing. + +The pitching and rolling of the Ark were so much worse than they had +been during the first days of the cataclysm, that Cosmo became very +solicitous about his collection of animals. + +He hurried down to the animal deck, and found, indeed, that things were +in a lamentable shape. The trained keepers were themselves so much at +the mercy of the storm that they had had all they could do to save +themselves from being trampled to death by the frightened beasts. + +The animals had been furnished with separate pens, but during the long +continued calm the keepers, for the sake of giving their charges greater +freedom and better air, had allowed many of them to go at large in the +broad central space around which the pens were placed, and the tempest +had come so unexpectedly that there had been no time to separate them +and get them back into their lodgings. + +When Cosmo descended the scene that met his eyes caused him to cry out +in dismay, but he could not have been heard if he had spoken through a +trumpet. The noise and uproar were stunning, and the spectacle was +indescribable. The keepers had taken refuge on a kind of gallery running +round the central space, and were hanging on there for their lives. + +Around them, on the railings, clinging with their claws, wildly flapping +their wings, and swinging with every roll of the vessel, were all the +fowls and every winged creature in the Ark except the giant turkeys, +whose power of wing was insufficient to lift them out of the męlée. + +But all the four-footed beasts were rolling, tumbling, and struggling in +the open space below. With every lurch of the Ark they were swept across +the floor in an indistinguishable mass. + +The elephants wisely did not attempt to get upon their feet, but allowed +themselves to slide from side to side, sometimes crushing the smaller +animals, and sometimes, in spite of all their efforts, rolling upon +their backs, with their titanic limbs swaying above them, and their +trunks wildly grasping whatever came within their reach. + +The huge Californian cattle were in no better case, and the poor sheep +presented a pitiable spectacle as they were tumbled in woolly heaps from +side to side. + +Strangest sight of all was that of the great Astoria turtles. They had +been pitched upon their backs and were unable to turn themselves over, +and their big carapaces served admirably for sliders. + +They glided with the speed of logs in a chute, now this way, now that, +shooting like immense projectiles through the throng of struggling +beasts, cutting down those that happened to be upon their feet, and not +ending their course until they had crashed against the nearest wall. + +As one of the turtles slid toward the bottom of the steps on which Cosmo +was clinging it cut under the legs of one of the giant turkeys, and the +latter, making a superphasianidaean effort, half leaped, half flapped +its way upon the steps to the side of Cosmo Versál, embracing him with +one of its stumpy wings, while its red neck and head, with bloodshot +eyes, swayed high above his bald dome. + +The keepers gradually made their way round the gallery to Cosmo's side, +and he indicated to them by signs that they must quit the place with +him, and wait for a lull of the tempest before trying to do anything for +their charges. + +A few hours later the wind died down, and then they collected all that +remained alive of the animals in their pens and secured them as best +they could against the consequences of another period of rolling and +pitching. + +The experiences of the passengers had been hardly less severe, and panic +reigned throughout the Ark. After the lull came, however, some degree of +order was restored, and Cosmo had all who were in a condition to leave +their rooms assemble in the grand saloon, where he informed them of the +situation of affairs, and tried to restore their confidence. The roar on +the roof, in spite of the sound-absorbing cover which had been +re-erected, compelled him to use a trumpet. + +"I do not conceal from you," he said in conclusion, "that the worst has +now arrived. I do not look for any cessation of the flood from the sky +until we shall have passed through the nucleus of the nebula. But the +Ark is a stout vessel, we are fully provisioned, and we shall get +through. + +"All your chambers have been specially padded, as you may have remarked, +and I wish you to remain in them, only issuing when summoned for +assembly here. + +"I shall call you out whenever the condition of the sea renders it safe +for you to leave your rooms. Food will be regularly served in your +quarters, and I beg you to have perfect confidence in me and my +assistants." + +But the confidence which Cosmo Versál recommended to the others was +hardly shared by himself and Captain Arms. The fury of the blast which +had just left them had exceeded everything that Cosmo had anticipated, +and he saw that, in the face of such hurricanes, the Ark would be +practically unmanageable. + +One of his first cares was to ascertain the rate at which the downpour +was raising the level of the water. This, too, surprised him. His gages +showed, time after time, that the rainfall was at the rate of about four +inches per minute. Sometimes it amounted to as much as six! + +"The central part of the nebula," he said to the captain, through the +speaking-tube which they had arranged for their intercommunications on +the bridge, "is denser than I had supposed. The condensation is +enormous, but it is irregular, and I think it very likely that it is +more rapid in the north, where the front of the globe is plunging most +directly into the nebulous mass. + +"From this we should anticipate a tremendous flow southward, which may +sweep us away in that direction. This will not be a bad thing for a +while, since it is southward that we must go in order to reach the +region of the Indian Ocean. But, in order not to be carried too rapidly +that way, I think it would be the best thing to point the Ark toward the +northeast." + +"How am I to know anything about the points in this blackness?" growled +the captain. + +"You must go the best you can by the compass," said Cosmo. + +Cosmo Versál, as subsequently appeared, was right in supposing that the +nucleus of the nebula was exceedingly irregular in density. The +condensation was not only much heavier in the north, but it was very +erratic. + +Some parts of the earth received a great deal more water from the opened +flood-gates above than others, and this difference, for some reason that +has never been entirely explained, was especially marked between the +eastern and western hemispheres. + +We have already seen that when the downpour recommenced in Colorado it +was much less severe than during the first days of the flood. This +difference continued. It seems that all the denser parts of the nucleus +happened to encounter the planet on its eastern side. + +This may have been partly due to the fact that as the rotating earth +moved on in its eastward motion round the sun the comparatively dense +masses of the nebula were always encountered at the times when the +eastern hemisphere was in advance. The fact, which soon became apparent +to Cosmo, that the downpour was always the most severe in the morning +hours, bears out this hypothesis. + +It accords with what has been observed with respect to meteors, viz., +that they are more abundant in the early morning. But then it must be +supposed that the condensed masses in the nebula were relatively so +small that they became successively exhausted, so to speak, before the +western hemisphere had come fairly into the line of fire. + +Of course the irregularity in the arrival of the water did not, in the +end, affect the general level of the flood, which became the same all +over the globe, but it caused immense currents, as Cosmo had foreseen. + +But there was one consequence which he had overlooked. The currents, +instead of sweeping the Ark continually southward, as he had +anticipated, formed a gigantic whirl, set up unquestionably by the great +ranges of the Himalayas, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Caucasus. + +This tremendous maelstrom formed directly over Persia and Arabia, and, +turning in the direction of the hands of a watch, its influence extended +westward beyond the place where the Ark now was. + +The consequence was that, in spite of all their efforts, Cosmo and the +captain found their vessel swept resistlessly up the course of the +valley containing the Euphrates and the Tigris. + +They were unable to form an opinion of their precise location, but they +knew the general direction of the movement, and by persistent logging +got some idea of the rate of progress. + +Fortunately the wind seldom blew with its first violence, but the +effects of the whirling current could be but little counteracted by the +utmost engine power of the Ark. + +Day after day passed in this manner, although, owing to the density of +the rain, the difference between day and night was only perceptible by +the periodical changes from absolute blackness to a very faint +illumination when the sun was above the horizon. + +The rise of the flood, which could not have been at a less rate than six +hundred feet every twenty-four hours, lifted the Ark above the level of +the mountains of Kurdistan by the time that they arrived over the upper +part of the Mesopotamian plain, and the uncertain observations which +they occasionally obtained of the location of the sun, combined with +such dead reckoning as they were able to make, finally convinced them +that they must certainly be approaching the location of the Black Sea +and the Caucasus range. + +"I'll tell you what you're going to do," yelled Captain Arms. "You're +going to make a smash on old Ararat, where your predecessor, Noah, made +his landfall." + +"_Trčs bien!_" shouted De Beauxchamps, who was frequently on the bridge, +and whose Gallic spirits nothing could daunt. "That's a good omen! M. +Versál should send out one of his turkeys to spy a landing place." + +They were really nearer Ararat than they imagined, and Captain Arms's +prediction narrowly missed fulfillment. Within a couple of hours after +he had spoken a dark mass suddenly loomed through the dense air directly +in their track. + +Almost at the same time, and while the captain was making desperate +efforts to sheer off, the sky lightened a little, and they saw an +immense heap of rock within a hundred fathoms of the vessel. + +"Ararat, by all that's good!" yelled the captain. "Sta'board! Sta'board, +I tell you! Full power ahead!" + +The Ark yielded slowly to her helm, and the screws whirled madly, +driving her rapidly past the rocks, so close that they might have tossed +a biscuit upon them. The set of the current also aided them, and they +got past the danger. + +"Mountain navigation again!" yelled the captain. "Here we are in a nest +of these sky-shoals! What are you going to do now?" + +"It is impossible to tell," returned Cosmo, "whether this is Great or +Little Ararat. The former is over 17,000 feet high, and the latter at +least 13,000. It is now twelve days since the flooding recommenced. + +"If we assume a rise of 600 feet in twenty-four hours, that makes a +total of 7,200 feet, which, added to the 3,300 that we had before, gives +10,500 feet for the present elevation. This estimate may be considerably +out of the way. + +"I feel sure that both the Ararats are yet well above the water line. We +must get out of this region as quickly as possible. Luckily the swirl of +the current is now setting us eastward. We are on its northern edge. It +will carry the Ark down south of Mount Demavend, and the Elburz range, +and over the Persian plateau, and if we can escape from it, as I hope, +by getting away over Beluchistan, we can go directly over India and +skirt the southern side of the Himalayas. Then we shall be near the goal +which we have had in mind." + +"Bless me!" said the captain, staring with mingled admiration and doubt +at Cosmo Versál, "if you couldn't beat old Noah round the world, and +give him half the longitude. But I'd rather _you'd_ navigate this +hooker. The ghost of Captain Sumner itself couldn't work a traverse over +Beluchistan." + +"You'll do it all right," returned Cosmo, "and the next time you drop +your anchor it will probably be on the head of Mount Everest." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD + + +Now that they were going with the current instead of striving to stem +it, the Ark made much more rapid way than during the time that it was +drifting toward the Black Sea. + +They averaged at least six knots, and, with the aid of the current, +could have done much better, but they thought it well to be cautious, +especially as they had so little means of guessing at their exact +location from day to day. The water was rough. + +There was, most of the time, little wind, and often a large number of +the passengers assembled in the saloon. + +The noise of the deluge on the roof was so much greater than it had been +at the start that it was difficult to converse, but there was plenty of +light, and they could, at least, see one another, and communicate by +signs if not very easily by the voice. Cosmo's library was well +selected, and many passed hours in reading stories of the world they +were to see no more! + +King Richard and Amos Blank imitated Cosmo and the captain by furnishing +themselves with a speaking-tube, which they put alternately to their +lips and their ears, and thus held long conversations, presumably +exchanging with one another the secrets of high finance and kingly +government. + +Both of them had enough historical knowledge and sufficient imagination +to be greatly impressed by the fact that they were drifting, amidst this +terrible storm, over the vast empire that Alexander the Great had +conquered. + +They mused over the events of the great Macedonian's long marches +through deserts and over mountains, and the king, who loved the story of +these glories of the past, though he had cultivated peace in his own +dominions, often sighed while they recalled them to one another. Lord +Swansdown and the other Englishmen aboard seldom joined their king since +he had preferred the company of an untitled American to theirs. + +The first named could not often have made a member of the party if he +had wished, for he kept his room most of the time, declaring that he had +never been so beastly seasick in his life. He thought that such an +abominable roller as the Ark should never have been permitted to go into +commission, don't you know. + +On the morning of the twelfth day after they left the neighborhood of +Mount Ararat Captain Arms averred that their position must be somewhere +near longitude 69 degrees east, latitude 26 degrees north. + +"Then you have worked your traverse over Beluchistan very well," said +Cosmo, "and we are now afloat above the valley of the River Indus. We +have the desert of northwestern India ahead, and from that locality we +can continue right down the course of the Ganges. In fact it would be +perfectly safe to turn northward and skirt the Himalayas within reach of +the high peaks. I think that's what I'll do." + +"If you go fooling round any more peaks," shouted Captain Arms, in a +fog-horn voice, "you'll have to do your own steering! I've had enough of +that kind of navigation!" + +Nevertheless when Cosmo Versál gave the order the captain turned the +prow of the Ark toward the presumable location of the great Himalayan +range, although the rebellion of his spirit showed in the erect set of +his whiskers. They were now entirely beyond the influence of the whirl +that had at first got them into trouble, and then helped them out of it, +in western Asia. + +Behind the barrier of the ancient "Roof of the World" the sea was +relatively calm, although, at times, they felt the effect of currents +pouring down from the north, which had made their way through the lofty +passes from the Tibetan side. + +Cosmo calculated from his estimate of the probable rate of rise of the +flood and from the direction and force of the currents that all but the +very highest of the Pamirs must already be submerged. + +It was probable, he thought, that the water had attained a level of +between seventeen and eighteen thousand feet. This, as subsequent events +indicated, was undoubtedly an underestimate. The downpour in the north +must have been far greater than Cosmo thought, and the real height of +the flood was considerably in excess of what he supposed. + +If they could have seen some of the gigantic peaks as they approached +the mountains in the eastern Punjab, south of Cashmere, they would have +been aware of the error. + +As it was, owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a short +distance even when the light was brightest, they kept farther south than +was really necessary, and after passing, as they believed, over Delhi, +steered south by east, following substantially the course that Cosmo had +originally named along the line of the Ganges valley. + +They were voyaging much slower now, and after another ten days had +passed an unexpected change came on. The downpour diminished in +severity, and at times the sun broke forth, and for an hour or two the +rain would cease entirely, although the sky had a coppery tinge, and at +night small stars were not clearly visible. + +Cosmo was greatly surprised at this. He could only conclude that the +central part of the nebula had been less extensive, though more dense, +than he had estimated. It was only thirty-four days since the deluge had +recommenced, and unless present appearances were deceptive, its end +might be close at hand. + +Captain Arms seized the opportunity to make celestial and solar +observations which delighted his seaman's heart, and with great glee he +informed Cosmo that they were in longitude 88 degrees 20 minutes east, +latitude 24 degrees 15 minutes north, and he would stake his reputation +as a navigator upon it. + +"Almost exactly the location of Moorshedabad, in Bengal," said Cosmo, +consulting his chart. "The mighty peak of Kunchingunga is hardly more +than two hundred miles toward the north, and Mount Everest, the highest +point in the world, is within a hundred miles of that!" + +"But you're not going skimming around _them_!" cried the captain with +some alarm. + +"I shall, if the sky continues in its present condition, go as far as +Darjeeling," replied Cosmo. "Then we can turn eastward and get over +upper Burmah and so on into China. From there we can turn north again. + +"I think we can manage to get into Tibet somewhere between the ranges. +It all depends upon the height of the water, and that I can ascertain +exactly by getting a close look at Kunchingunga. I would follow the line +of the Brahmaputra River if I dared, but the way is too beset with +perils." + +"I think you've made a big mistake," said the captain. "Why didn't you +come directly across Russia, after first running up to the Black Sea +from the Mediterranean, and so straight into Tibet?" + +"I begin to think that that's what I ought to have done," responded +Cosmo, thoughtfully, "but when we started the water was not high enough +to make me sure of that route, and after we got down into Egypt I didn't +want to run back. But I guess it would have been better." + +"Better a sight than steering among these five-mile peaks," growled +Captain Arms. "How high does Darjeeling lie? I don't want to run aground +again." + +"Oh, that's perfectly safe," responded Cosmo. "Darjeeling is only about +7,350 feet above the old sea-level. I think we can go almost to the foot +of Kunchingunga without any danger." + +"Well, the name sounds dangerous enough in itself," said the captain, +"but I suppose you'll have your way. Give me the bearings and we'll be +off." + +They took two days to get to the location of Darjeeling, for at times +the sky darkened and the rain came down again in tremendous torrents. +But these spells did not last more than two or three hours, and the +weather cleared between them. + +As soon as they advanced beyond Darjeeling, keeping a sharp outlook for +Kunchingunga, Cosmo began to perceive the error of his calculation of +the height of the flood. + +The mountain should still have projected more than three thousand feet +above the waves, allowing that the average rise during the thirty-six +days since the recommencement of the flood had been six hundred feet a +day. + +But, in fact, they did not see it at all, and thought at first that it +had been totally submerged. At last they found it, a little rocky +island, less than two hundred feet above the water, according to Cosmo's +careful measure, made from a distance of a quarter of a mile. + +"This is great news for us," he exclaimed, as soon as he had completed +the work. "This will save us a long journey round. The water must now +stand at about 27,900 feet, and although there are a considerable number +of peaks in the Himalayas approaching such an elevation, there are only +three or four known to reach or exceed it, of which Kunchingunga is one. + +"We can, then, run right over the roof of the world, and there we'll be, +in Tibet. Then we can determine from what side it is safest to approach +Mount Everest, for I am very desirous to get near that celebrated peak, +and, if possible, see it go under." + +"But the weather isn't safe yet," objected Captain Arms. "Suppose we +should be caught in another downpour, and everything black about us! I'm +not going to navigate this ship by searchlight among mountains +twenty-eight thousand feet tall, when the best beam that ever shot from +a mirror won't show an object a hundred fathoms away." + +"Very well," Cosmo replied, "we'll circle around south for a few days +and see what will happen. I think myself that it's not quite over yet. +The fact is, I hope it isn't, for now that it has gone so far, I'd like +to see the top-knot of the earth covered." + +"Well, it certainly couldn't do any more harm if it got up as high as +the moon," responded the captain. + +They spent four days sailing to and fro over India, and during the first +three of those days there were intermittent downpours. But the whole of +the last period of twenty-four hours was entirely without rain, and the +color of the sky changed so much that Cosmo declared he would wait no +longer. + +"Everest," he said, "is only 940 feet higher than Kunchingunga, and it +may be sunk out of sight before we can get there." + +"Do you think the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps, while +King Richard and Amos Blank listened eagerly for the reply, for now that +the weather had cleared, the old company was all assembled on the +bridge. + +"Yes, slowly," said Cosmo. "There is a perceptible current from the +north which indicates that condensation is still going on there. You'll +see that it'll come extremely close to the six miles I predicted before +it's all over." + +By the time they had returned to the neighborhood of the mountains the +sky had become blue, with only occasionally a passing sunshower, and +Cosmo ordered the promenades to be thrown open, and the passengers, with +great rejoicings, resumed their daily lounging and walking on deck. + +It required a little effort of thought to make them realize their +situation, but when they did it grew upon them until they could not +sufficiently express their wonder. + +Here they were, on an almost placid sea, with tepid airs blowing gently +in their faces, and a scorching sun overhead, whose rays had to be +shielded off, floating over the highest pinnacles of the roof of the +world, the traditional "Abode of Snow!" + +All around them, beneath the rippled blue surface, lined here and there +with little white windrows of foam, stood submerged peaks, 24,000, +25,000, 26,000, 27,000, 28,000 feet in elevation! They sailed over their +summits and saw them not. + +All began now to sympathize with Cosmo's desire to find Everest before +it should have disappeared with its giant brothers. Its location was +accurately known from the Indian government surveys, and Captain Arms +had every facility for finding the exact position of the Ark. They +advanced slowly toward the northwest, a hundred glasses eagerly scanning +the horizon ahead. + +Finally, at noon on the third day of their search, the welcome cry of +"Land ho!" came down from the cro'nest. Captain Arms immediately set his +course for the landfall, and in the course of a little more than an hour +had it broad abeam. + +"It's Everest, without question," said Cosmo. "It's the crown of the +world." + +But how strange was its appearance! A reddish-brown mass of rock, rising +abruptly out of the blue water, really a kind of crown in form, but not +more than a couple of square rods in extent, and about three feet high +at its loftiest point. + +There was no snow, of course, for that had long since disappeared, owing +to the rise of temperature, and no snow would have fallen in that +latitude now, even in mid-winter, because the whole base of the +atmosphere had been lifted up nearly six miles. + +Sea-level pressures were prevailing where the barometric column would +once have dropped almost to the bottom of its tube. It was all that was +left of the world! + +North of them, under the all-concealing ocean, lay the mighty plateau of +Tibet; far toward the east was China, deeply buried with its 500,000,000 +of inhabitants; toward the south lay India, over which they had so long +been sailing; northwestward the tremendous heights of the Pamir region +and of the Hindu-Kush were sunk beneath the sea. + +"When this enormous peak was covered with snow," said Cosmo, "its height +was estimated at 29,002 feet, or almost five and three-quarter miles. +The removal of the snow has, of course, lowered it, but I think it +probable that this point, being evidently steep on all sides, and of +very small area, was so swept by the wind that the snow was never very +deep upon it. + +"If we allow ten, or even twenty feet for the snow, the height of this +rock cannot be much less than 29,000 feet above the former sea-level. +But I do not dare to approach closer, because Everest had a broad +summit, and we might possibly ground upon a sharp ridge." + +"And you are sure that the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps +again. + +"Watch and you will see," Cosmo responded. + +The Ark was kept circling very slowly within a furlong of the rocky +crown, and everybody who had a glass fixed his eyes upon it. + +"The peak is certainly sinking," said De Beauxchamps at last. "I believe +it has gone down three inches in the last fifteen minutes." + +"Keep your eyes fixed on some definite point," said Cosmo to the others +who were looking, "and you will easily note the rise of the water." + +They watched it until nobody felt any doubt. Inch by inch the crown of +the world was going under. In an hour Cosmo's instruments showed that +the highest point had settled to a height of but two feet above the sea. + +"But when will the elevation that you have predicted begin?" asked one. + +"Its effects will not become evident immediately," Cosmo replied. "It +may possibly already have begun, but if so, it is masked by the +continued rise of the water." + +"And how long shall we have to wait for the re-emergence of Tibet?" + +"I cannot tell, but it will be a long time. But do not worry about that. +We have plenty of provisions, and the weather will continue fine after +the departure of the nebula." + +They circled about until only a foot or so of the rock remained above +the reach of the gently washing waves. Suddenly struck by a happy +thought, De Beauxchamps exclaimed: + +"I must have a souvenir from the crown of the disappearing world. M. +Versál, will you permit me to land upon it with one of your boats?" + +De Beauxchamps's suggestion was greeted with cheers, and twenty others +immediately expressed a desire to go. + +"No," said Cosmo to the eager applicants, "it is M. De Beauxchamps's +idea; let him go alone. Yes," he continued, addressing the Frenchman, +"you can have a boat, and I will send two men with you to manage it. +You'd better hurry, or there will be nothing left to land upon." + +The necessary orders were quickly given, and in five minutes De +Beauxchamps, watched by envious eyes, was rapidly approaching the +disappearing rock. They saw him scramble out upon it, and they gave a +mighty cheer as he waved his hand at them. + +He had taken a hammer with him, and with breathless interest they +watched him pounding and prying about the rock. They could see that he +selected the very highest point for his operations. + +While he worked away, evidently filling his pockets, the interest of the +onlookers became more and more intense. + +"Look out!" they presently began to shout at him, "you will be caught by +the water." + +But he paid no attention, working with feverish rapidity. Suddenly the +watchers saw a little ripple break over the last speck of dry land on +the globe, and De Beauxchamps standing up to his shoe-laces in water. +Cries of dismay came from the Ark. De Beauxchamps now gave over his +work, and, with apparent reluctance, entered the boat, which was rowed +close up to the place where he was standing. + +As the returning boat approached the Ark, another volley of cheers broke +forth, and the Frenchman, standing up to his full height, waved with a +triumphant air something that sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine. + +"I congratulate you, M. De Beauxchamps," cried Cosmo, as the adventurer +scrambled aboard. "You have stood where no human foot has ever been +before, and I see that you have secured your souvenir of the world that +was." + +"Yes," responded De Beauxchamps exultantly, "and see what it is--a +worthy decoration for such a coronet." + +He held up his prize, amid exclamations of astonishment and admiration +from those who were near enough to see it. + +"The most beautiful specimen of amethyst I ever beheld!" cried a +mineralogist enthusiastically, taking it from De Beauxchamps's hand. +"What was the rock?" + +"Unfortunately, I am no mineralogist," replied the Frenchman, "and I +cannot tell you, but these gems were abundant. I could have almost +filled the boat if I had had time. + +"The amethyst," he added gayly, "is the traditional talisman against +intoxication, but, although these adorned her tiara, the poor old world +has drunk her fill." + +"But it is only water," said Cosmo, smiling. + +"Too much, at any rate," returned the Frenchman. + +"I should say," continued the mineralogist, "that the rock was some +variety of syenite, from its general appearance." + +"I know nothing of that," replied De Beauxchamps, "but I have the jewels +of the terrestrial queen, and," he continued gallantly, "I shall have +the pleasure of bestowing them upon the ladies." + +He emptied his pockets, and found that he had enough to give every woman +aboard the Ark a specimen, with several left over for some of the men, +Cosmo, of course, being one of the recipients. + +"There," said De Beauxchamps, as he handed the stone to Cosmo, "there is +a memento from the Gaurisankar." + +"I beg your pardon--Mount Everest, if you please," interposed Edward +Whistlington. + +"No," responded the Frenchman stoutly, "it is the Gaurisankar. Why will +you English persist in renaming everything in the world? Gaurisankar is +the native name, and, in my opinion, far more appropriate and euphonious +than Everest." + +This discussion was not continued, for now everybody became interested +in the movements of the Ark. Cosmo had decided that it would be safe to +approach close to the point where the last peak of the mountain had +disappeared. + +Cautiously they drew nearer and nearer, until, looking through the +wonderfully transparent water, they caught sight of a vast precipice +descending with frightful steepness, down and down, until all was lost +in the profundity beneath. + +The point on which De Beauxchamps had landed was now covered so deep +that the water had ceased to swirl about it, but lay everywhere in an +unbroken sheet, which was every moment becoming more placid and +refulgent in the sunshine. + +The world was drowned at last! As they looked abroad over the convex +surface, they thought, with a shudder, that now the earth, seen from +space, was only a great, glassy ball, mirroring the sun and the stars. + +But they were ignorant of what had happened far in the west! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME + + +After the disappearance of Mt. Everest, Cosmo Versál made a careful +measurement of the depth of water on the peak, which he found to be +forty feet, and then decided to cruise eastward with the Ark, sailing +slowly, and returning after a month to see whether by that time there +would be any indications of the reappearance of land. + +No part of his extraordinary theory of the deluge was more +revolutionary, or scientifically incredible, than this idea that the +continents would gradually emerge again, owing to internal stresses set +up in the crust of the earth. + +This, he anticipated, would be caused by the tremendous pressure of the +water, which must be ten or twelve miles deep over the greatest +depressions of the old ocean-bottoms. He expected that geological +movements would attend the intrusion of the water into subterranean +cavities and into the heated magma under volcanic regions. + +He often debated the question with the savants aboard the Ark, and, +despite their incredulity, he persisted in his opinion. He could not be +shaken, either, in his belief that the first land to emerge would be the +Himalayas, the Pamirs, and the plateau of Tibet. + +"We may have to wait some years before any considerable area is +exposed," he admitted, "but it must not be forgotten that what land does +first appear above the water will lie at the existing sea-level, and +will have an oceanic climate, suitable for the rapid development of +plants. + +"We have aboard all things needed for quick cultivation, and in one +season we could begin to raise crops." + +"But at first," said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "only mountain tops will +emerge, and how can you expect to cultivate them?" + +"There is every probability," replied Cosmo, "that even the rocks of a +mountain will be sufficiently friable after their submergence to be +readily reduced to the state of soil, especially with the aid of the +chemical agents which I have brought along, and I have no fear that I +could not, in a few weeks, make even the top of Everest fertile. + +"I anticipate, in fact, that it will be on that very summit that we +shall begin the re-establishment of the race. Then, as the plateaus +below come to the surface, we can gradually descend and enlarge the +field of our operations." + +"Suppose Everest should be turned into a volcano?" + +"That cannot happen," said Cosmo. "A volcano is built up by the +extrusion of lava and cinders from below, and these cannot break forth +at the top of a mountain already formed, especially when that mountain +has no volcanic chimney and no crater, and Everest had neither." + +"If the lowering of the flood that caused our stranding on a mountain +top in Sicily was due to the absorption of water into the interior of +the crust, why may not that occur again, and thus bring the Himalayas +into view, without any rising on their part?" demanded Professor Moses. + +"I think," said Cosmo, "that all the water that could enter the crust +has already done so, during the time that the depression of level which +so surprised us was going on. Now we must wait for geologic changes, +resulting from the gradual yielding of the internal mass to the new +forces brought to bear upon it. + +"As the whole earth has gained in _weight_ by the condensation of the +nebula upon it, its plastic crust will proportionally gain in _girth_ by +internal expansion, which will finally bring all the old continents to +the surface, but Asia first of all." + +Whether Cosmo Versál's hypotheses were right or wrong, he always had a +reply to any objection, and the prestige which he had gained by his +disastrously correct theory about the watery nebula gave him an +advantage so enormous that nobody felt enough confidence in himself to +stand long against anything that he might advance. + +Accordingly, everybody in the Ark found himself looking forward to the +re-emergence of Mount Everest almost as confidently as did their leader, +Cosmo Versál. + +They began their waiting voyage by sailing across the plateau of Tibet +and the lofty chain of the Yung-ling Mountains out over China. + +The interest of all aboard was excited to the highest degree when they +found themselves sailing over the mighty domains of the Chinese +President-Emperor, who had developed an enormous power, making him the +ruler of the whole eastern world. + +He, with his half-billion or more of subjects, now reposed at the bottom +of an ocean varying from three to five or six miles in depth. Deep +beneath the Ark lay the broad and once populous valleys of the +Yangtse-Kiang and the Hoang-Ho, the "Scourge of China." + +Finally they swung round northward and re-entered the region of Tibet, +seeking once more the drowned crown of the world. In the meantime Cosmo +had had the theatrical exhibitions and the concerts resumed in the +evenings, and sometimes there was music, and even dancing on the long +promenades, open to the outer air. + +Let not that be a matter of surprise or blame, for the spirit of joy in +life is unconquerable, as it should be if life is worth while. So it +happened that, not infrequently, and not with any blameworthy intention, +or in any spirit of heartless forgetfulness, this remarkable company of +world-wanderers drifted, in the moonlight, above the universal watery +grave of the drowned millions, with the harmonies of stringed +instruments stealing out upon the rippling waves, and the soft sound of +swiftly shuffling feet tripping over the smooth decks. + +Costaké Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone resumed their stormy efforts +to talk each other down, but now even Cosmo was seldom a listener, +except when he had to interfere to keep the peace. + +King Richard and Amos Blank, however, usually heard them out, but it was +evident from their expressions that they enjoyed the prospective +fisticuffs rather more than the exposition of strange scientific +doctrines. + +Perhaps the happiest man aboard was Captain Arms. At last he could make +as many and as certain observations as he chose, and he studied the +charts of Asia until he declared that now he knew the latitude and +longitude of the mountains better than he did those of the seaports of +the old oceans. + +He had not the least difficulty in finding the location of Mount Everest +again, and when he announced that they were floating over it, Cosmo +immediately prepared to make another measurement of the depth of water +on the peak. The result was hardly gratifying. He found that it had +diminished but four inches. He said to Captain Arms: + +"The range is rising, but less rapidly than I hoped. Even if the present +rate should be doubled it would require five years for the emergence of +the highest point. Instead of remaining in this part of the world we +shall have an abundance of time to voyage round the earth, going +leisurely, and when we get back again perhaps there will be enough land +visible to give us a good start." + +"Mr. Versál," said the captain, "you remember that you promised me that +I should drop my anchor on the head of Mount Everest if I worked a +traverse across Beluchistan." + +"Certainly I remember it; and also that you were not much disposed to +undertake the task. However, you did it well, and I suppose that now you +want me to fulfill the bargain?" + +"Exactly," replied the captain. "I'd just like to get a mud-hook in the +top-knot of the earth. I reckon that that'll lay over all the sea yarns +ever spun." + +"Very well," returned Cosmo. "Try it, if you've got cable enough." + +"Enough and to spare," cried the captain, "and I'll have the +Gaurisankar, as the Frenchman calls it, hooked in a jiffy." + +This was an operation which called everybody to the rails to watch +it. Hundreds of eyes tried to follow the anchor as it descended +perpendicularly upon the mountain-top, nearly forty feet beneath. +Through the clear water they could dimly see the dark outline of the +summit below, and they gazed at it with wonder, and a sort of terror. + +Somehow they felt that never before had they fully appreciated the awful +depths over which they had been floating. The anchor steadily dropped +until it rested on the rock. + +It got a hold finally, and in a few minutes the great vessel was +swinging slowly round, held by a cable whose grasp was upon the top of +the world! When the sensation had been sufficiently enjoyed the anchor +was tripped, and the nose of the Ark was turned northwestward. Cosmo +Versál announced his intention to circumnavigate the drowned globe. + +The news of what they were about to do was both welcome and saddening to +the inmates of the vessel. They wished to pass once more over the lands +where they had first seen the light, and at the same time they dreaded +the memories that such a voyage would inevitably bring back with +overwhelming force. But, at any rate, it would be better than drifting +for years over Tibet and China. + +While everybody else was discussing the prospects of the new voyage, and +wondering how long it would last, Yves de Beauxchamps was concentrating +all his attention upon a new project which had sprung up in his active +mind as soon as Cosmo's intention was announced. He took Cosmo aside and +said to him: + +"M. Versál, the dearest memory that I have treasured in my heart is that +of the last sight of my drowned home, my beautiful dead Paris. It may be +that the home-loving instincts of my race arouse in me a melancholy +pleasure over such a sight which would not be shared by you, of a +different blood; but if, perchance, you do share my feelings on this +subject I believe that I can promise you a similar visit to the great +metropolis where your life began, and where you executed those labors +whose result has been to preserve a remnant of humanity to repeople the +earth." + +Cosmo Versál's quick intelligence instantly comprehended the Frenchman's +design, but it startled him, and apparently insuperable difficulties at +once occurred to his mind. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," he responded, grasping his friend warmly by the +hand, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amiable +intention, and I assure you that nothing could afford me greater +satisfaction than to see once more that mighty city, even though it can +now be but an awful ruin, tenanted by no life except the terrible +creatures of the deep. But, while I foresee what your plan must be, I +can hardly conceive that its execution could be possible. You are +thinking, of course, of constructing a diving apparatus capable of +penetrating to a depth of nearly six miles in the sea. Setting aside the +question whether we could find in the stores of the Ark the materials +that would be needed, it appears to me most improbable that we could +make the apparatus of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure, and +could then cause it to sink to so great a depth, and afterward bring it +safely to the surface." + +The Frenchman smiled. + +"M. Versál," he replied, "I have taken the liberty to look over the +stock of materials which you have so wisely prepared for possible +repairs to the Ark and for use after the Ark lands, and I know that +among them I can find all that I shall need. You yourself know how +completely you are provided with engineering tools and machines of all +kinds. You have even an electric foundry aboard. With the aid of your +mechanical genius, and the skill of your assistants, together with that +of my own men, who are accustomed to work of this kind, I have not the +faintest doubt that I can design and construct a diving-bell, large +enough to contain a half-dozen persons, and perfectly capable of +penetrating to any depth. Of course I cannot make it of levium, but you +have a sufficient supply of herculeum steel, the strength of which is so +immense that the walls of the bell can be made to remit the pressure +even at a depth of six miles. From my previous experiments I am +confident that there will be no difficulty in sinking and afterward +raising this apparatus. It is only necessary that the mean specific +gravity of the bell shall be greater than that of the water at a given +depth, and you know that as far back as the end of the nineteenth +century your own countrymen sent down sounding apparatus more than six +miles in the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam." + +"But the air inside the bell--" Cosmo began. + +"Excuse me," interrupted De Beauxchamps, "but that air need be under no +greater pressure than at the surface. I shall know how to provide for +that. Remember the _Jules Verne_. Simply give me _carte blanche_ in this +matter, let me have the materials to work with, afford me the advantage +of your advice and assistance whenever I shall need them, and I promise +you that by the time we have arrived over the site of New York we shall +be prepared for the descent." + +Cosmo was deeply impressed by the Frenchman's enthusiastic +self-confidence. He had a great admiration for the constructor of the +_Jules Verne_, and, besides, the proposed adventure was exactly after +his own heart. After meditating a while, he said heartily: + +"Well, M. De Beauxchamps, I give my consent. Everything you wish shall +be at your disposal, and you can begin as soon as you choose. Only, let +the thing be kept a secret between us and the workmen who are employed. +If it should turn out a failure it would not do that the people in the +Ark should be aware of it. I can give you a working room on one of the +lower decks, where there will be no interference with your proceedings, +and no knowledge of what you are about can leak out." + +"That is exactly what I should wish," returned De Beauxchamps, smiling +with delight, "and I renew my promise that you shall not be +disappointed." + +So, without a suspicion of what was going on entering the minds of any +person in the great company outside the small company of men who were +actually employed in the work, the construction of De Beauxchamps's +great diving-bell was begun, and pushed with all possible speed, +consistent with the proper execution of the work. In the meantime the +Ark continued its course toward the west. + +They ran slowly, for there was no hurry, and the Ark had now become to +its inhabitants as a house and a home--their only foothold on the whole +round earth, and that but a little floating island of buoyant metal. +They crossed the Pamirs and the Hindu-Kush, the place where the Caspian +Sea had been swallowed up in the universal ocean, and ran over Ararat, +which three months before had put them into such fearful danger, but +whose loftiest summit now lay twelve thousand feet beneath their keel. + +At length, after many excursions toward the north and toward the south, +in the halcyon weather that had seldom failed since the withdrawal of +the nebula, they arrived at the place (or above it) which had stood +during centuries for a noon-mark on the globe. + +It was midday when Captain Arms, having made his observations, said to +Cosmo and the others on the bridge: + +"Noon at Greenwich, and noon on the Ark. Latitude, fifty-one degrees +thirty minutes. That brings you as nearly plumb over the place as you'd +be likely to hit it. Right down there lies the old observatory that set +the chronometers of the world, and kept the clocks and watches up to +their work." + +King Richard turned aside upon hearing the captain's words. They brought +a too vivid picture of the great capital, six miles under their feet, +and a too poignant recollection of the disastrous escape of the royal +family from overwhelmed London seven months before. + +As reckoned by the almanac, it was the 15th of September, more than +sixteen months since Cosmo had sent out his first warning to the public, +when the Ark crossed the meridian of seventy-four degrees west, in about +forty-one degrees north latitude, and the adventurers knew that New York +was once more beneath them. + +There was great emotion among both passengers and crew, for the majority +of them had either dwelt in New York or been in some way associated with +its enterprises and its people, and, vain as must be the hope of seeing +any relic of the buried metropolis, every eye was on the alert. + +They looked off across the boundless sea in every direction, +interrogating every suspicious object on the far horizon, and even +peering curiously into the blue abyss, as if something might suddenly +appear there which would speak to them like a voice from the past. + +But they saw only shafts of sunlight running into bottomless depths, and +occasionally some oceanic creature floating lazily far below. The color +of the sea was wonderful. It had attracted their attention after the +submergence of Mount Everest, but at that time it had not yet assumed +its full splendor. + +At first, no doubt, there was considerable dissolved matter in the +water, but gradually this settled, and the sea became bluer and +bluer--not the deep indigo of the old ocean, but a much lighter and more +brilliant hue--and here, over the site of New York, the waters were of a +bright, luminous sapphire, that dazzled the eye. + +Cosmo declared that the change of the sea-color was undoubtedly due to +some quality in the nebula from whose condensation the water had been +produced, but neither his own analyses, nor those of the chemists aboard +the Ark, were able to detect the subtle element to whose presence the +peculiar tint was due. + +But whatever it may have been, it imparted to the ocean an ethereal, +imponderous look, which was sometimes startling. There were moments when +they almost expected to see it expand back into the nebulous form and +fly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB + + +During the long voyage from the sunken Himalayas to still deeper sunken +New York, De Beauxchamps, with his fellow-countrymen and the skilled +mechanics assigned by Cosmo Versál to aid them, had finished the +construction of the huge diving-bell. No one not in the secret had the +slightest idea of what had been done, owing to the remote situation of +the deck on which the construction was carried out. + +Now, while a thousand pairs of eyes were interrogating the smooth +surface of the sea, and striving to penetrate its cerulean depths, a +great surprise was sprung upon the passengers. The rear gangway of the +lowest deck was cleared, a heavy crane-like beam was set projecting over +the water, and men began to rig a flexible cable, which had been +specially prepared for the purpose of lowering the bell into the depths, +and of raising it again when the adventurers should wish to return to +the surface. Everybody's attention was immediately attracted to these +strange preparations, and the utmost curiosity was aroused. A chorus of +wondering exclamations broke out when a metallic globe, twenty feet in +diameter, and polished until it shone like a giant thermometer bulb, was +rolled out and carefully attached to the cable by means of a strong ring +set in one side of the bell. The excitement of the passengers would soon +have become uncontrollable if Cosmo had not at this point summoned the +entire ship's company into the great saloon. As soon as all were +assembled he mounted his dais and began to speak. + +"My fellow-citizens of the old world, which has perished, and of the +new, which is to take its place," he said, "we owe to the genius of M. +De Beauxchamps an apparatus which is about to enable us to inspect, by +an actual visit, the remains of the vast metropolis, which we saw in all +its majesty and beauty but so few months ago, and which now lies forever +silent at the bottom of this universal ocean. + +"If it were practicable I should wish to afford to every one of you a +farewell glimpse of that mighty city, to which the hearts of so many +here are bound, but you can readily understand that that would be +impossible. Only six persons can go in this exploring bell, and they +have been chosen; but a faithful account will be brought back to you of +all that they see and learn. The adventuring company will consist of M. +De Beauxchamps, M. Pujol, his first assistant, Mr. Amos Blank, King +Richard, Professor Abel Able, and myself. Captain Arms has ascertained +the location of the center of Manhattan Island, over which we are now +floating. The quietness of the sea, the absence of any apparent current, +and the serenity of the heavens are favoring circumstances, which may be +relied upon to enable Captain Arms to keep the Ark constantly poised +almost precisely over our point of descent. It is not possible to +predict the exact duration of our absence in the depths, but it will +not, in any case, exceed about twenty hours. + +"Once arrived at the bottom, nearly six miles down, we shall attach the +cable to some secure anchorage, by means of a radio-control, operated +from within the bell, and then, with the bell free, we shall make +explorations, as extensive as possible. The radio-control of which I +have spoken governs also the attachment of the cable to the bell. This +appliance has been prepared and tested with such care that we have no +doubt of its entire efficiency. I mention these things in order to +remove from your minds any fear as to the success of our enterprise. + +"The bell being once detached, we shall be able to move it from point to +point by means of a pair of small propellers, which you will perceive on +the outside of the bell, and which are also controlled from within. +These will be used to increase our speed of descent. From a calculation +of the density of the sea-water at the depth to which we shall descend, +we estimate that the bell with its contents will press upon the bottom +with a gravitational force of only five pounds, so that it will move +with very slight effort, and may even, when in motion, float like a +fish. + +"For the purposes of observation we have provided, on four sides of the +bell, a series of circular windows, with glass of immense thickness and +strength, but of extraordinary transparency. Through these windows we +shall be able to see in almost all directions. It was our intention to +provide wireless telephone apparatus with which we might have kept you +informed of all our doings and discoveries, but unfortunately we have +found it impracticable to utilize our control for that purpose. We +shall, however, be able to send and receive signals as long as we are +connected with the cable. + +"I should add that the construction of the bell, although suggested by +M. De Beauxchamps immediately after our departure from Mount Everest, +has been carried on in secret simply because we did not wish to subject +you to the immense disappointment which you would certainly have +experienced if this brilliant conception of our gifted friend, after +being once made known to you, had proved to be a failure. Our +preparations have all been made, and within an hour we shall begin the +descent." + +It is quite impossible to describe the excitement of the passengers +while they listened to this extraordinary communication. When Cosmo +Versál had finished speaking he stood for some minutes looking at his +audience with a triumphant smile. First a murmur of excited voices +arose, and then somebody proposed three cheers, which were given and +repeated until the levium dome rang with the reverberations. Nobody knew +exactly why he was cheering, but the infectious enthusiasm carried +everything before it. Then the crowd began to ask questions, addressed +not to Cosmo but to one another. The wildest suggestions were made. One +woman who had left some treasured heirlooms in a Fifth Avenue mansion +demanded of her husband that he should commission Cosmo Versál to +recover them. + +"I'm sure they're there," she insisted. "They were locked in the safe." + +"But, don't you see," protested the poor man, "he can't get outside of +that bell to get 'em." + +"I don't see _why_ he can't, if he should really try. I think it's too +mean! They were my grandmother's jewels." + +"But, my dear, how could he get out?" + +"Well, _how does he get in?_ What's his radio-control good for; won't +that help him? What is he going down there for if he can't do a little +thing like that, to oblige?" + +She pouted at her husband because he persistently refused to present her +request to Cosmo, and declared that she would do it herself, then, for +she must have those jewels, now that they were so near. + +But Cosmo was saved from this, and other equally unreasonable demands, +by a warning from De Beauxchamps that all was ready, and that no time +should be lost. Then everybody hastened out on the decks to watch the +departure of the adventurers. Many thoughtfully shook their heads, +predicting that they would never be seen again. As soon as this feeling +began to prevail the enthusiasm quickly evaporated, and efforts were +made to dissuade Cosmo and De Beauxchamps from making the attempt. But +they were deaf to all remonstrance, and pushing out of the chattering +crowd, Cosmo ordered the gangway about the bell to be cleared of all +bystanders. The opposition heated his blood a little, and he began to +bear himself with an air which recalled his aspect when he quelled and +punished the mutiny. This was enough to silence instantly every objector +to his proceedings. Henceforth they kept their thoughts to themselves, +although some muttered, under their breath such epithets as "fool" and +"harebrain." + +In about half an hour after Cosmo's speech the bell, with its hardy +explorers safely inclosed within, was lowered away, and a minute later +hundreds were craning their necks over the rails to watch the shining +globe engulf itself swiftly in the sapphire depths. It was about nine +o'clock in the morning when the descent was begun, and for a long time, +so remarkable was the transparency of the water, they could see the bell +sinking, and becoming smaller until it resembled a blue pearl. Sometimes +a metallic flash shot from its polished sides like a gleam of violet +lightning. But at length it passed from view, swallowed up in the +tremendous watery chasm. + +We turn now to trace the adventures of the bell and its inmates as they +entered the awful twilight of the ocean, and, sinking deeper, passed +gradually into a profundity which the sun's most powerful rays were +unable to penetrate. Fortunately every one of the adventurers left a +description of his experiences and sensations, so that there is no lack +of authentic information to guide us. + +The windows, as Cosmo had said, were so arranged that they afforded +views on all sides. These views were, of course, restricted by the +combined effects of the smallness of the windows and their great +thickness; the inmates were somewhat like prisoners looking out of round +ports cut through massive walls, but the range of view was much widened +when they placed themselves close to the glasses, because the latter +were in the form of truncated cones with the base outward. + +Glancing through the ports on the upper side of the bell Cosmo and his +companions could perceive the huge form of the Ark, hanging like a cloud +above them, but rapidly receding, while from the side ports they saw +great shafts of azure sunlight, thrown into wonderful undulations by the +disturbance of the water. These soon became fainter and gradually +disappeared, but before the gloom of the depths settled about them they +were thrilled by the spectacle of sharks and other huge fishes nosing +about the outer side of the transparent cones, and sometimes opening +their jaws as if trying to seize them. Most of the cone-shaped windows +had flat surfaces, but a few were of spherical outline both without and +within, and the radius of curvature had been so calculated that these +particular windows served as huge magnifying lenses for an eye placed at +a given distance. Once or twice a marine monster happened to place +himself in the field of one of these magnifying windows, startling the +observers almost out of their senses with his frightful appearance. + +There were also four windows reserved for projecting a searchlight into +the outer darkness. The inner side of the bell corresponded in curvature +with the outer, so that the adventurers had no flat flooring on any side +to stand upon, but this caused little inconvenience, since the walls +were abundantly provided with hand and foot holds, enabling the inmates +to maintain themselves in almost any position they could wish. + +After a while they passed below the range of daylight, and then they +turned on the searchlight. The storage batteries which supplied energy +for the searchlight and the propellers served also to operate an +apparatus for clearing the air of carbonic acid, and De Beauxchamps had +carefully calculated the limit of time that the air could be kept in a +breathable condition. This did not exceed forty-eight hours--but as we +have seen they had no intention of remaining under water longer than +twenty hours at the utmost. + +When the bell entered the night of the sea-depths they passed into an +apparently lifeless zone, where the searchlight, projected now on one +side and now on another, revealed no more of the living forms which they +had encountered above, but showed only a desert of solid transparent +water. Here, amid this awful isolation, they experienced for the first +time a feeling of dread and terror. An overpowering sense of loneliness +and helplessness came over them, and only the stout heart of Cosmo +Versál, and his reassuring words, kept the others from making the signal +which would have caused the bell to be hastily drawn back to the Ark. + +"M. De Beauxchamps," said Cosmo, breaking the impressive silence, "to +what depth have we now descended?" + +"A thousand fathoms," replied the Frenchman, consulting his automatic +register. + +"Good! We have been only thirty minutes in reaching this depth. We shall +sink more slowly as we get deeper, but I think we can count upon +reaching the bottom in not more than four hours from the moment of our +departure. It will require only two hours for them to draw us back again +with the powerful engines of the Ark, especially when aided by our +propellers. This will leave fourteen hours for our explorations, if we +stay out the limit that we have fixed." + +There was such an air of confidence in Cosmo's manner and words that +this simple statement did much to enhearten the others. + +"The absence of life in this part of the sea," Cosmo continued +cheerfully, "does not surprise me. It has long been known that the life +of the ocean is confined to regions near the surface and the bottom. We +shall certainly find plenty of wonderful creatures below." + +When they knew that they must be near the bottom they turned the light +downward, and every available window was occupied by an eager watcher. +Presently a cry of "Look! Look there!" broke from several voices at +once. + +The searchlight, penetrating far through the clear water beneath the +bell, fell in a circle round a most remarkable object--tall, gaunt, and +spectral, with huge black ribs. + +"Why, it's the Metropolitan tower, still standing!" cried Amos Blank. +"Who would have believed it possible?" + +"No doubt there was some lucky circumstance about its anchorage," +returned Cosmo. "Although it was built so long ago, it was made +immensely strong, and well braced, and as the water did not undermine it +at the start, it has been favored by the very density of that which now +surrounds it, and which tends to buoy it up and hold it steady. But you +observe that it has been stripped of the covering of stone." + +"Would it not be well to utilize it for anchoring the cable?" asked De +Beauxchamps. + +"We could have nothing better," said Cosmo. + +De Beauxchamps immediately called to the Ark, and directed the movements +of those in charge of the drum of the cable so nicely that the descent +ceased at the exact moment when the bell came to rest upon a group of +beams at the top of the tower. The radio-control, which is so familiar +in its thousand applications to-day, was then a new thing, having been +invented only a year or so before the deluge, and De Beauxchamps's form +of the apparatus was crude. The underlying principle, however, was the +same as that now employed--transmission through a metallic wall of +impulses capable of being turned into mechanic energy. With its aid they +had no difficulty in detaching the cable from the bell, but it required +some careful maneuvering to secure a satisfactory attachment to the +beams of the tower. At last, however, this was effected, and immediately +they set out for their exploration of drowned New York. + +They began with the skeleton tower itself, which had only once or twice +been exceeded in height by the famous structures of the era of +skyscrapers. In some places they found the granite skin yet _in situ_, +but almost everywhere it had been stripped off, probably by the +tremendous waves which swept over it as the flood attained its first +thousand feet of elevation. They saw no living forms, except a few +curiously shaped phosphorescent creatures of no great size, which +scurried away out of the beam of the search-light. They saw no trace of +the millions of their fellow-beings who had been swallowed up in this +vast grave, and for this all secretly gave thanks. The soil of Madison +Square had evidently been washed away, for no signs of the trees which +had once shaded it were seen, and a reddish ooze had begun to collect +upon the exposed rocks. All around were the shattered ruins of other +great buildings, some, like the Metropolitan tower, yet retaining their +steel skeletons, others tumbled down, and lying half-buried in the ooze. + +Finding nothing of great interest in this neighborhood they turned the +course of the bell northward, passing everywhere over interminable +ruins, and as soon as they began to skirt the ridge of Morningside +Heights the huge form of the cathedral of St. John fell within the +circle of projected light. It was unroofed, and some of the walls had +fallen, but some of the immense arches yet retained their upright +position. Here, for the first time, they encountered the real giants of +the submarine depths. De Beauxchamps, who had seen some of these +creatures during his visit to Paris in the _Jules Verne_, declared that +nothing which he had seen there was so terrifying as what they now +beheld. One creature, which seemed to be the unresisted master of this +kingdom of phosphorescent life, appears to have exceeded in strangeness +the utmost descriptive powers of all those who looked upon it, for their +written accounts are filled with ejaculations, and are more or less +inconsistent with one another. The reader gathers from them, however, +the general impression that it made upon their astonished minds. + +The creatures were of a livid hue, and had the form of a globe, as large +as the bell itself, with a valvular opening on one side which was +evidently a mouth, surrounded with a circle of eyelike disks, projecting +shafts of self-evolved light into the water. They moved about with +surprising ease, rising and sinking at will, sometimes rolling along the +curve of an arch, emitting flashes of green fire, and occasionally +darting across the intervening spaces in pursuit of their prey, which +consisted of smaller prosphorescent animals that fled in the utmost +consternation. When the adventurers in the bell saw one of the globular +monsters seize its victim they were filled with horror. It had driven +its prey into a corner of the wrecked choir, and suddenly it flattened +itself like a rubber bulb pressed against the wall, completely covering +the creature that was to be devoured, although the effect of its +struggles could be perceived; and then, to the amazement of the +onlookers, the living globe slowly turned itself inside out, engulfing +the victim in the process. + +"Great heavens," exclaimed Professor Abel Able, "it is a gigantic +_hydroid polyps!_ That is precisely the way in which those little +creatures swallow their prey; outside becomes inside, what was the +surface of the body is turned into the lining of the digestive cavity, +and every time they take a meal the process of introversion is repeated. +This monster is nothing but a huge self-sustaining maw!" + +"_Trčs bien_," exclaimed De Beauxchamps, with a slight laugh, "and he +finds himself in New York, quite _chez soi_." + +Nobody appeared to notice the sarcasm, and, in any case they would +quickly have forgotten it, for no sooner had the tragic spectacle which +they had witnessed been finished than they suddenly found the bell +surrounded by a crowd of the globe-shaped creatures, jostling one +another, and flattening themselves against its metallic walls. They +pushed the bell about, rolling themselves all over it, and apparently +finding nothing terrifying in the searchlight, which was hardly brighter +than the phosphorescent gleams which shot from their own luminescent +organs. One of them got one of its luminous disks exactly in the field +of a magnifying window, and King Richard, who happened to have his eye +in the focus, started back with a cry of alarm. + +"I cannot describe what I saw," the king wrote in his notebook. "It was +a glimpse of fiery cones, triangles, and circles, ranged in tier behind +tier with a piercing eye in the center, and the light that came from +them resembled nothing that I have ever seen. It seemed to be a _living +emanation_, and almost paralyzed me." + +"We must get away from them," cried De Beauxchamps, as soon as the first +overwhelming effect of the attack upon the bell had passed. And +immediately he set the propellers at their highest speed. + +The bell shook and half rolled over, there was a scurrying among the +monsters outside, and two or three of them floated away partly in +collapse, as if they had been seriously wounded by the short propeller +blades. + +The direction of flight chanced to carry them past the dome of the +Columbia University Library, which was standing almost intact, and then +they floated near the monumental tomb of General Grant, which had +crowned a noble elevation overlooking the Hudson River. A portion of the +upper part of this structure had been carried away, but the larger part +remained in position. They saw no more of the globular creatures which +had haunted the ruins of the cathedral, but, instead, there appeared +around the bell an immense multitude of small luminescent animals, many +of them most beautifully formed, and emitting from their light-producing +organs various exquisite colors which turned the surrounding water into +an all-embracing rainbow. + +[Illustration: "AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF +GENERAL GRANT"] + +But a more marvelous phenomenon quickly made its appearance, causing +them to gasp with astonishment. As they drew near the dismantled dome a +brilliant gleam suddenly streamed into the ports on the side turned +toward the monument--a gush of light so bright that the air inside the +bell seemed to have been illuminated with a golden sunrise. They glanced +toward the monument, and saw that it was surmounted by some vibrating +object which seemed instinct with blinding fire. The colors that sprang +from it changed rapidly from gold to purple, and then, through +shimmering hues of bronze, to a deep rich orange. It looked like a sun, +poised on the horizon. The spectacle was so dazzling, so unexpected, so +beautiful, and, associated with the architectural memorial of one of the +greatest characters in American history, so strangely suggestive, that +even King Richard and the two Frenchmen were strongly moved, while Cosmo +and his fellow-countrymen grasped each other by the hand, and the former +said, in solemn tones: + +"My friends, to my mind, this scene, however accidental, has something +of prophecy about it. It changes the current of my thought--America is +not dead; in some way she yet survives upon the earth." + +Long they gazed and wondered, but at last, partly recovering from their +astonishment, at the suggestion of De Beauxchamps, they drew nearer the +monument. But when they had arrived within a few yards of it, the +blinding light disappeared as if snuffed out, and they saw nothing but +the broken gray walls of the dome. The moving object, which had been +dimly visible at the beginning, and had evidently been the source of the +light, had vanished. + +"The creature that produced the illumination," said Professor Abel Able, +"has been alarmed by our approach, and has withdrawn into the interior." + +This was, no doubt, the true explanation, but they could perceive no +signs of life about the place, and they finally turned away from it with +strange sensations. + +Avoiding the neighborhood of the cathedral, they steered the bell down +the former course of the Hudson, but afterward ventured once more over +the drowned city until they arrived at the site of the great station of +the Pennsylvania Railroad, which they found completely unroofed. They +sank the bell into the vast space where the tunnels entered from +underneath the old river bed, and again they had a startling experience. +Something huge, elongated, and spotted, and provided with expanding +claw-like limbs, slowly withdrew as their light streamed upon the +reddish ooze covering the great floor. The nondescript retreated +backward into the mouth of a tunnel. They endeavored, cautiously, to +follow it, turning a magnifying window in its direction, and obtaining a +startling view of glaring eyes, but the creature hastened its retreat, +and the last glimpse they had was of a grotesque head, which threw out +piercing rays of green fire as it passed deeper into the tunnel. + +"This is too terrible," exclaimed King Richard, shuddering. "In Heaven's +name, let us go no farther." + +"We must visit Wall Street," said Amos Blank. "We must see what the +former financial center of the world now looks like." + +Accordingly they issued from the ruined station, and, resuming their +course southward, arrived at length over the great money center. The +tall buildings which had shouldered each other in that wonderful +district, turning the streets into immense gorges, had, to a certain +extent, protected one another against the effects of the waves, and the +skeletons of many were yet standing. In the midst of them the dark spire +of old Trinity still pointed stoutly upward, as if continuing its +hopeless struggle against the spirit of worldly grandeur whose aspiring +creations, though in ruins, yet dwarfed this symbol of immortality. At +the intersection of the Wall and Broad Street cańons they found an +enormous steel edifice, which had been completed a short time before the +deluge, tumbled in ruins upon the classic form of the old Stock +Exchange, the main features of whose front were yet recognizable. The +weight of the fallen building had been so great that it had crushed the +roof of the treasure vaults which had occupied its ground floor, and the +fragments of safes with their contents had been hurled over the northern +expanse of Broad Street. The red ooze had covered most of the wasted +wealth there heaped up, but in places piles of gold showed through the +covering. Amos Blank became greatly excited at this. His old +proclivities seemed to resume their sway and his former madness to +return, and he buried his finger nails in his clenched palms as he +pressed his face against a window, exclaiming: + +"_My gold!_ MY GOLD! Let me out of this! I must have it!" + +"Nobody can get out of the bell, Mr. Blank," said Cosmo soothingly. "And +the gold is now of no use to anybody." + +"I tell you," cried Blank, "that that is _my_ gold. It comes from _my_ +vaults, and I _must_ get out!" And he dashed his fists wildly against +the glass until his knuckles were covered with blood. Then he sought +about for some implement with which to break the glass. They were +compelled to seize him, and a dreadful struggle followed in the +restricted space within the bell. In the midst of it Blank's face became +set, and his eyes stared wildly out of a window. + +The others followed the direction of his gaze, and they were almost +frozen into statues. Close beside the bell, which had, during the +struggle, floated near to the principal heap of mingled treasure and +ruin, heavily squatted on the very summit of the pile, was such a +creature as no words could depict--of a ghastly color, bulky and +malformed, furnished with three burning eyes that turned now green, now +red with lambent flame, and great shapeless limbs, which it uplifted one +after the other, striking awkward, pawing blows at the bell! It seemed +to the horrified onlookers to be the very demon of greed defending its +spoil. Blank sank helpless on the bottom side of the bell, and the +others remained for a time petrified, and unable to speak. Suddenly the +dreadful creature, making a forward lunge from its perch, struck the +bell a mighty blow that sent it spinning in a partly upward direction. +The inmates were tumbled over one another, bruised and cut by the +projections that served for hand and foot holds. So great had been the +impact of the blow that the bell continued to revolve for several +minutes, and they could do nothing to help themselves, except to seize +the holds as they came within their grasp, and hang on for dear life. +The violent shaking up roused Blank from his trance, and he hung on +desperately with the others. + +After a while the bell ceased to spin, and began to sink again toward +the bottom. De Beauxchamps, who had recovered some degree of +self-command, instantly began to operate the control governing the +propellers, and in a few minutes he had the bell moving in a fixed +direction. + +"This way, this way," cried Cosmo, glancing out of the windows to orient +himself. "We have seen enough! We must get back to the cable, and return +to the Ark!" + +They were terror-stricken now, and pushing the propellers to their +utmost, they fled toward the site of the Metropolitan tower. On their +way, although for a time they passed over the course of the East River, +they saw no signs of the great bridges except the partly demolished but +yet beautiful towers of the oldest of them, which had been constructed +of heavy granite blocks. They found the cable attached as they had left +it, and, although they were yet nervous from their recent experience, +they had no great difficulty in re-attaching it to the bell. Then, with +a sigh of relief, they signaled, and shouted through the telephone to +the Ark. + +But no answer came, and there was no responsive movement of the cable! +They signaled and called again, but without result. + +"My God!" said Cosmo, in a faltering voice. "Can anything have happened +to the cable?" + +They looked at each other with blanched cheeks, and no man found a word +to reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +NEW AMERICA + + +There had been great excitement on the Ark when the first communication +from the bell was received, announcing the arrival of the adventurers at +the Metropolitan tower. The news spread everywhere in a few seconds, and +the man in charge of the signaling apparatus and telephone would have +been mobbed if Captain Arms had not rigorously shut off all +communication with him, compelling the eager inquirers to be content +with such information as he himself saw fit to give them. When the +announcement was made that the bell had been cut loose, and the +exploration begun, the excitement was intensified, and a Babel of voices +resounded all over the great ship. + +As hour after hour passed with no further communication from below the +anxiety of the multitude became almost unbearable. Some declared that +the adventurers would never be able to re-attach the bell to the cable, +and the fear rapidly spread that they would never be seen again. Captain +Arms strove in vain to reassure the excited passengers, but they grew +every moment more demoralized, and he was nearly driven out of his +senses by the insistent questioning to which he was subjected. It was +almost a relief to him when the lookout announced an impending change of +weather--although he well new the peril which such a change might bring. + +It came on more rapidly than anybody could have anticipated. The sky, in +the middle of the afternoon, became clouded, the sun was quickly hidden, +and a cold blast arose, quickly strengthening into a regular blow. The +Ark began to drift as the rising waves assailed its vast flanks. + +"Pay out the cable!" roared Captain Arms through his trumpet. + +If he had not been instantly obeyed it is probable that the cable would +have been dragged from its precarious fastening below. Then he instantly +set the engines at work, and strove to turn the Ark so as to keep it +near the point of descent. At first they succeeded very well, but the +captain knew that the wind was swiftly increasing in force, and that he +could not long continue to hold his place. It was a terrible emergency, +but he proved himself equal to it. + +"We must float the cable," he shouted to his first assistant. "Over with +the big buoy." + +This buoy of levium had been prepared for other possible emergencies. It +was flat, presenting little surface to the wind, and when, working with +feverish speed, aided by an electric launch, they had attached the cable +to it, it sank so low that its place on the sea was indicated only by +the short mast, capped with a streamer, which rose above it. + +When this work was completed a sigh of relief whistled through Captain +Arms's huge whiskers. + +"May Davy Jones hold that cable tight!" he exclaimed. "Now for +navigating the Ark. If I had my old _Maria Jane_ under my feet I'd defy +Boreas himself to blow me away from here--but this whale!" + +The wind increased fast, and in spite of every effort the Ark was driven +farther and farther toward the southwest, until the captain's telescope +no longer showed the least glimpse of the streamer on the buoy. Then +night came on, and yet the wind continued to blow. The captain compelled +all the passengers to go to their rooms. It would be useless to +undertake to describe the terror and despair of that night. When the sun +rose again the captain found that they had been driven seventy-five +miles from the site of New York, and yet, although the sky had now +partly cleared, the violence of the wind had not diminished. + +Captain Arms had the passengers' breakfast served in their rooms, simply +sending them word that all would be well in the end. But in his secret +heart he doubted if he could find the buoy again. He feared that it +would be torn loose with the cable. + +About noon the wind lulled, and at last the Ark could be effectively +driven in the direction of the buoy. But their progress was slow, and +night came on once more. During the hours of darkness the wind ceased +entirely, and the sea became calm. With the sunrise the search for the +buoy was begun in earnest. The passengers were now allowed to go upon +some of the decks, and to assemble in the grand saloon, but no +interference was permitted with the navigators of the Ark. Never had +Captain Arms so fully exhibited his qualities as a seaman. + +"We'll find that porpoise if it's still afloat," he declared. + +About half after eight o'clock a cry ran through the ship, bringing +everybody out on the decks. + +The captain had discovered the buoy through his glass! + +It lay away to the nor'ard, about a mile, and as they approached all +could see the streamer, hanging down its pole, a red streak in the +sunshine. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The Ark echoed with glad cries from stem to +stern. A thousand questions were shouted at the captain on his bridge, +but he was imperturbable. He only glanced at his watch, and then said, +in an undertone, to Joseph Smith, who stood beside him: + +"Forty-seven hours and twenty minutes. By the time we can get the cable +back on the drum it will be full forty-eight hours since they started, +and the air in the bell could be kept in condition no longer than that. +It may take as much as two hours more to draw it up." + +"Can you do it so rapidly as that?" asked Smith, his voice trembling. + +"I'll do it or bust," returned the captain. "Perhaps they may yet be +alive." + +Smith turned his eyes upward and clasped his hands. The Ark was put to +its utmost speed, and within the time estimated by the captain the cable +was once more on the great drum. Before starting it the captain attached +the telephone and shouted down. There was no reply. + +"Start gently, and then, if she draws, drive for your lubberly lives," +he said to the men in charge of the big donkey engine. + +The moment it began to turn he inspected the indicator. + +"Hurrah!" he exclaimed. "She pulls; the bell is attached." + +The crowded decks broke into a cheer. In a few minutes the Ark was +vibrating with the strokes of the engine. Within five minutes the +strong, slender cable was issuing out of the depths at the rate of 250 +feet a minute. But there were six miles of it! The engineer controlling +the drum shook his head. + +"We may break the cable," he said. + +"Go on!" shouted Captain Arms. "It's their only chance. Every second of +delay means sure death." + +Within forty minutes the cable was coming up 300 feet a minute. The +speed increased as the bell rose out of the depths. It was just one hour +and forty-five minutes after the drum began to revolve when the anxious +watchers were thrown into a furore of excitement by the appearance of a +shining blue point deep beneath. It was the bell! Again there broke +forth a tempest of cheers. + +Rapidly the rising bell grew larger under their eyes, until at last it +burst the surface of the sea. The engine had been skillfully slowed at +the last moment, and the rescued bell stopped at the level of the deck +open to receive it. With mad haste it was drawn aboard and the hermetic +door was opened. Those who were near enough glanced inside and turned +pale. Tumbled in a heap at the bottom lay the six men, with yellow faces +and blank, staring eyes. In an instant they were lifted out and two +doctors sprang to the side of each. Were they dead? Could any skill +revive them? A hush as of death spread over the great vessel. + +They were not dead. The skill of the physicians brought them, one after +another, slowly back to consciousness. But it was two full days before +they could rise from their beds, and three before they could begin to +tell their story--the story of the wonders they had seen, and of the +dreadful struggle for breath in the imprisoned bell before they had sunk +into unconsciousness. Not a word was ever spoken about the strange +outbreak of Blank at the sight of the gold, although the others all +recorded it in their notebooks. He himself never referred to it, and it +seemed to have faded from his mind. + +As soon as it was evident that the rescued men would recover, Captain +Arms, acting on his own responsibility, had started the Ark on its +westward course. It was a long and tedious journey that they had yet +before them, but the monotony was broken by the undying interest in the +marvelous story of the adventures of the bell. + +Three weeks after they left the vicinity of New York, the observations +showed that they must be nearing the eastern border of the Colorado +plateau. Then one day a bird alighted on the railing of the bridge, +close beside Cosmo and Captain Arms. + +"A bird!" cried Cosmo. "But it is incredible that a bird should be here! +How can it ever have kept itself afloat? It surely could not have +remained in the air all this time, and it could not have rested on the +waves during the downpour from the sky! Its presence here is absolutely +miraculous!" + +The poor bird, evidently exhausted by a long journey, remained upon the +rail, and permitted Cosmo to approach closely before taking flight to +another part of the Ark. Cosmo at first thought that it might have +escaped from his aviary below. + +But close inspection satisfied him that it was of a different species +from any that he had taken into the Ark, and the more he thought of the +strangeness of its appearance here the greater was his bewilderment. + +While he was puzzling over the subject the bird was seen by many of the +passengers, flitting from one part of the vessel to another, and they +were as much astonished as Cosmo had been, and all sorts of conjectures +were made to account for the little creature's escape from the flood. + +But within an hour or two Cosmo and the captain, who were now much +oftener alone upon the bridge than they had been during their passage +over the eastern continents, had another, and an incomparably greater, +surprise. + +It was the call of "Land, ho!" from the lookout. + +"Land!" exclaimed Cosmo. "Land! How can there be any land?" + +Captain Arms was no less incredulous, and he called the lookout down, +accused him of having mistaken a sleeping whale for a landfall, and sent +another man aloft in his place. But in a few minutes the same call of +"Land, ho!" was repeated. + +The captain got the bearings of the mysterious object this time, and the +Ark was sent for it at her highest speed. It rose steadily out of the +water until there could be no possibility of not recognizing it as the +top of a mountain. + +When it had risen still higher, until its form seemed gigantic against +the horizon, Captain Arms, throwing away his tobacco with an emphatic +gesture, and striking his palm on the rail, fairly shouted: + +"The Pike! By--the old Pike! There she blows!" + +"Do you mean Pike's Peak?" demanded Cosmo. + +"Do I mean Pike's Peak?" cried the captain, whose excitement had become +uncontrollable. "Yes, I mean Pike's Peak, and the deuce to him! Wasn't I +born at his foot? Didn't I play ball in the Garden of the Gods? And look +at him, Mr. Versál! There he stands! No water-squirting pirate of a +nebula could down the old Pike!" + +The excitement of everybody else was almost equal to the captain's, when +the grand mass of the mountain, with its characteristic profile, came +into view from the promenade-decks. + +De Beauxchamps, King Richard, and Amos Blank hurried to the bridge, +which they were still privileged to invade, and the two former in +particular asked questions faster than they could be answered. +Meanwhile, they were swiftly approaching the mountain. + +King Richard seemed to be under the impression that they had completed +the circuit of the world ahead of time, and his first remark was to the +effect that Mount Everest appeared to be rising faster than they had +anticipated. + +"That's none of your pagodas!" exclaimed the captain disdainfully; +"that's old Pike; and if you can find a better crown for the world, I'd +like to see it." + +The king looked puzzled, and Cosmo explained that they were still near +the center of the American continent, and that the great peak before +them was the sentinel of the Rocky Mountains. + +"But," replied the king, "I understood you that the whole world was +covered, and that the Himalayas would be the first to emerge." + +"That's what I believed," said Cosmo, "but the facts are against me." + +"So you thought you were going to run over the Rockies!" exclaimed the +captain gleefully. "They're no Gaurisankars, hey, M. De Beauxchamps?" + +"_Vive les Rockies! Vive le Pike!_" cried the Frenchman, catching the +captain's enthusiasm. + +"But how do you explain it?" asked King Richard. + +"It's the batholite," responded Cosmo, using exactly the same phrase +that Professor Pludder had employed some months before. + +"And pray explain to me what is a batholite?" + +Before Cosmo Versál could reply there was a terrific crash, and the Ark, +for the third time in her brief career, had made an unexpected landing. +But this time the accident was disastrous. + +All on the bridge, including Captain Arms, who should surely have known +the lay of the land about his childhood's home, had been so interested +in their talk that before they were aware of the danger the great vessel +had run her nose upon a projecting buttress of the mountain. + +She was going at full speed, too. Not a person aboard but was thrown +from his feet, and several were severely injured. + +The prow of the Ark was driven high upon a sloping surface of rock, and +the tearing sounds showed only too clearly that this time both bottoms +had been penetrated, and that there could be no hope of saving the huge +ship or getting her off. + +Perhaps at no time in all their adventures had the passengers of the Ark +been so completely terrorized and demoralized, and many members of the +crew were in no better state. Cosmo and the captain shouted orders, and +ran down into the hold to see the extent of the damage. Water was +pouring in through the big rents in torrents. + +There was plainly nothing to be done but to get everybody out of the +vessel and upon the rocks as rapidly as possible. + +The forward parts of the promenade-deck directly overhung the rock upon +which the Ark had forced itself, and it was possible for many to be let +down that way. At the same time boats were set afloat, and dozens got +ashore in them. + +While everybody was thus occupied with things immediately concerning +their safety, nobody paid any attention to the approach of a boat, which +had set out from a kind of bight in the face of the mountain. + +Cosmo was at the head of the accommodation-ladder that was being let +down on the starboard side, when he heard a shout, and, lifting his eyes +from his work, was startled to see a boat containing, beside the rowers, +two men whom he instantly recognized--they were President Samson and +Professor Pludder. + +Their sudden appearance here astonished him as much as that of Pike's +Peak itself had done. He dropped his hands and stared at them as their +boat swiftly approached. The ladder had just been got ready, and the +moment the boat touched its foot Professor Pludder mounted to the deck +of the Ark as rapidly as his great weight would permit. + +He stretched out his hand as his foot met the deck, and smilingly said: + +"Versál, you were right about the nebula." + +"Pludder," responded Cosmo, immediately recovering his aplomb, and +taking the extended hand of the professor, "you certainly know the truth +when you see it." + +Not another word was exchanged between them for the time, and Professor +Pludder instantly set to work aiding the passengers to descend the +ladder. Cosmo waved his hand in greeting to the President, who remained +in the boat, and politely lifted his tall, but sadly battered hat in +response. + +The Ark had become so firmly lodged that, after the passengers had all +got ashore, Cosmo decided to open a way through the forward end of the +vessel by removing some of the plates, so that the animals could be +taken ashore direct from their deck by simply descending a slightly +sloping gangway. + +This was a work that required a whole day, and while it was going +forward under Cosmo's directions the passengers, and such of the crew as +were not needed, found their way, led by the professor and the +President, round a bluff into a kind of mountain lap, where they were +astonished to see many rough cottages, situated picturesquely among the +rocks, and small cultivated spaces, with grass and flowers, surrounding +them. + +Here dwelt some hundreds of people, who received the shipwrecked company +with Western hospitality, after the first effects of their astonishment +had worn off. It appears that, owing to its concealment by a projecting +part of the mountain, the Ark had not been seen until just at the moment +when it went ashore. + +Although it was now the early part of September, the air was warm and +balmy, and barn-yard fowls were clucking and scratching about the rather +meager soil around the houses and outbuildings. + +There was not room in this place for all the newcomers, but Professor +Pludder assured them that in many of the neighboring hollows, which had +formerly been mountain gorges, there were similar settlements, and that +room would be found for all. + +Parties were sent off under the lead of guides, and great was the +amazement, and, it may be added, joy, with which they were received in +the little communities that clustered about the flanks of the mountain. + +About half of Cosmo's animals had perished, most of them during the +terrible experiences attending the arrival of the nucleus, which have +already been described, but those that remained were in fairly good +condition, and with the possible exception of the elephants, they seemed +glad to feel solid ground once more under their feet. + +The elephants had considerable difficulty in making their way over the +rocks to the little village, but finally all were got to a place of +security. The great Californian cattle caused hardly less trouble than +the elephants, but the Astorian turtles appeared to feel themselves at +home at once. + +Cosmo, with King Richard, De Beauxchamps, Amos Blank, Captain Arms, and +Joseph Smith, became the guests of Professor Pludder and the President +in their modest dwellings, and as soon as a little order had been +established explanations began. Professor Pludder was the first +spokesman, the scene being the President's "parlor." + +He told of their escape from Washington and of their arrival on the +Colorado plateau. + +"When the storm recommenced," he said, "I recognized the complete truth +of your theory, Mr. Versál--I had partially recognized it before--and I +made every preparation for the emergency. + +"The downfall, upon the whole, was not as severe here as it had been +during the earlier days of the deluge, but it must have been far more +severe elsewhere. + +"The sea around us began to rise, and then suddenly the rise ceased. +After studying the matter I concluded that a batholite was rising under +this region, and that there was a chance that we might escape +submergence through its influence." + +"Pardon me," interrupted King Richard, "but Mr. Versál has already +spoken of a 'batholite.' What does that mean?" + +"I imagine," replied the professor, smiling, "that neither Mr. Versál +nor I have used the term in a strictly technical sense. At least we have +vastly extended and modified its meaning in order to meet the +circumstances of our case. + +"Batholite is a word of the old geology, derived, from a language which +was once widely cultivated, Greek, and meaning, in substance, stone, or +rock, 'from the depths.' + +"The conception underlying it is that of an immense mass of plastic rock +rising under the effects of pressure from the interior of the globe, +forcing, and in part melting its way to the surface, or lifting up the +superincumbent crust. + +"Geologists had discovered the existence of many great batholites that +had risen in former ages, and there were some gigantic ones known in +this part of America." + +"That," interposed Cosmo, "was the basis of my idea that the continents +would rise again, only I supposed that the rise would first manifest +itself in the Himalayan region. + +"However, since it has resulted in the saving of so many lives here, I +cannot say that my disappointment goes beyond the natural mortification +of a man of science upon discovering that he has been in error." + +"I believe," said Professor Pludder, "that at least a million have +survived here in the heart of the continent through the uprising of the +crust. We have made explorations in many directions, and have found that +through all the Coloradan region people have succeeded in escaping to +the heights. + +"Since the water, although it began to rise again after the first arrest +of the advance of the sea, never attained a greater elevation than about +7,500 feet as measured from the old sea-level contours, there must be +millions of acres, not to say square miles, that are still habitable. + +"I even hope that the uprising has extended far through the Rocky +Mountain region." + +Professor Pludder then went on to tell how they had escaped from the +neighborhood of Colorado Springs when the readvance of the sea began, +and how at last it became evident that the influence of the underlying +"batholite" would save them from submergence. + +In some places, he said, violent phenomena had been manifested, and +severe earthquakes had been felt, but upon the whole, he thought, not +many had perished through that cause. + +As soon as some degree of confidence that they were, after all, to +escape the flood, had been established, they had begun to cultivate such +soil as they could find, and now, after months of fair weather, they had +become fairly established in their new homes. + +When Cosmo, on his side, had told of the adventures of the Ark, and of +the disappearance of the crown of the world in Asia, and when De +Beauxchamps had entertained the wondering listeners with his account of +the submarine explorations of the _Jules Verne_ and the diving bell, the +company at last broke up. + +From this point--the arrival of the Ark in Colorado, and its wreck on +Pike's Peak--the literature of our subject becomes abundant, but we +cannot pause to review it in detail. + +The re-emergence of the Colorado mountain region continued slowly, and +without any disastrous convulsions, and the level of the water receded +year by year as the land rose, and the sea lost by evaporation into +space and by chemical absorption in the crust. + +In some other parts of the Rockies, as Professor Pludder had +anticipated, an uprising had occurred, and it was finally estimated that +as many as three million persons survived the deluge. + +It was not the selected band with which Cosmo Versál had intended to +regenerate mankind, but from the Ark he spread a leaven which had its +effect on the succeeding generations. + +He taught his principles of eugenics, and implanted deep the germs of +science, in which he was greatly aided by Professor Pludder, and, as all +readers of this narrative know, we have every reason to believe that our +new world, although its population has not yet grown to ten millions, is +far superior, in every respect, to the old world that was drowned. + +As the dry land spread wider extensive farms were developed, and for a +long time there was almost no other occupation than that of cultivating +the rich soil. + +President Samson was, by unanimous vote, elected President of the +republic of New America, and King Richard became his Secretary of State, +an office, he declared, of which he was prouder than he had been of his +kingship, when the sound of the British drumbeat accompanied the sun +around the world. + +Amos Blank, returning to his old methods, soon became the leading +farmer, buying out the others until the government sternly interfered +and compelled him to relinquish everything but five hundred acres of +ground. + +But on this Blank developed a most surprising collection of domestic +animals, principally from the stocks that Cosmo had saved in the Ark. + +The elephants died, and the Astorian turtles did not reproduce their +kind, but the gigantic turkeys and the big cattle and sheep did +exceedingly well, and many other varieties previously unknown were +gradually developed with the aid of Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, who found +every opportunity to apply his theories in practice. + +Of Costaké Theriade, and the inter-atomic force, it is only necessary to +remind the reader that the marvelous mechanical powers which we possess +to-day, and which we draw directly from the hidden stores of the +electrons, trace their origin to the brain of the "speculative genius" +from Roumania, whom Cosmo Versál had the insight to save from the great +second deluge. + +All of these actors long ago passed from the scene, President Samson +being the last survivor, after winning by his able administration the +title of the second father of his country. But to the last he showed his +magnanimity by honoring Cosmo Versál, and upon the latter's death he +caused to be carved, high on the brow of the great mountain on which his +voyage ended, in gigantic letters, cut deep in the living rock, and +covered with shining, incorrodible levium, an inscription that will +transmit his fame to the remotest posterity: + + HERE RESTED THE ARK OF + COSMO VERSAL! + _He Foresaw and Prepared for the Second Deluge, + And Although Nature + Aided Him in Unexpected Ways, + Yet, but for Him, His Warnings, and His Example + The World of Man Would Have Ceased + To Exist._ + + +It would be unjust to Mr. Samson to suppose that any ironical intention +was in his mind when he composed this lofty inscription. + + +_Postscriptum_ + +While these words are being written, news comes of the return of an +aero, driven by inter-atomic energy, from a voyage of exploration round +the earth. + +It appears that the Alps are yet deeply buried, but that Mount Everest +now lifts its head more than ten thousand feet above the sea, and that +some of the loftiest plains of Tibet are beginning to re-emerge. + +Thus Cosmo Versál's prediction is fulfilled, though he has not lived to +see it. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECOND DELUGE *** + +This file should be named 82dlg10.txt or 82dlg10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 82dlg11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 82dlg10a.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. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext05 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext05 + +Or /etext04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, +91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + + PROJECT GUTENBERG LITERARY ARCHIVE FOUNDATION + 809 North 1500 West + Salt Lake City, UT 84116 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/82dlg10.zip b/old/82dlg10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef05639 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/82dlg10.zip |