NEQUA
OR
The Problem of the Ages
By JACK ADAMS
VOL. I.
EQUITY PUBLISHING COMPANY
Topeka, Kansas
1900
DEDICATION.
TO ALL LOVERS OF HUMANITY, WHEREVER FOUND WHO BELIEVE THAT THE
APPLICATION OF THE GOLDEN RULE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS WOULD REMOVE ALL THE
BURDENS THAT IGNORANCE AND GREED HAVE IMPOSED UPON THE MASSES OF
MANKIND, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY
THE AUTHOR.
Copyrighted 1900, by
A.O. Grigsby and Mary P. Lowe.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Beneath the Midnight Sun--A strange visitor comes down from
above--An old acquaintance recognized--Strange story by
an old physician 1
CHAPTER II.
In San Francisco--"Where shall I go next?"--A startling item of
news answers the question and ends the search--In male attire--Enlists
as Scientist on the Ice King--Off to the North Pole--An
unexpected blow--The danger signal--The race for life--The
earthquake--"The channel is closing!"--"The ship is
lost!" 16
CHAPTER III.
In the dark--All is still--Imprisoned in the ice--Distressing
situation--How to preserve the health and efficiency of the crew--A
new danger--The ice is moving--The common sailor to the
rescue--Lief and Eric save the ship--The tunnel to the
surface--Exploring the ice-field 40
CHAPTER IV.
A singular discovery--Battell crossing a sand ridge on the
ice-field--Captain Ganoe leads a party to his assistance--Lief
and Eric--Battell's theory--A second expedition--Battell's
long absence--Is discovered returning alone, scarcely able to
walk--Relief party finds him unconscious--Captain Ganoe as
physician--Battell relates how he was abandoned by his men--Preparing
for the break 65
CHAPTER V.
The break--A race for life--The island--Strange tower--A safe
harbor--Crossing the open Polar sea--Strange phenomena--Sailing
south--Horizon obscures familiar constellations--Return
to the tower--No explanation--Off for the Pole again--A
wonderful discovery 94
CHAPTER VI.
Sailing south--The wind ceases--Our coal exhausted--Drifting on
an unknown ocean--In the grasp of southbound
currents--Desponding--Visited by an airship--Then a whole
fleet--Among friends--A most highly cultivated people--We
embark for Altruria--An air voyage 111
CHAPTER VII.
Caring for the sick--New methods of treatment--Not physicians
but nurses--A voyage through the air--Wonderful optical
instruments which reveal a panorama of the world--Arrival in
Altruria--Marvelous improvements--Drudgery and poverty
both abolished 136
CHAPTER VIII.
A colossal communal Home--District 1, Range 1--Under the Pacific
Ocean--Battell at the telephone--Startling apparition in a
mirror--Enrolled in school--Study of the language--Phonographic
enunciator--A communal agricultural district--The first revolt
against landlordism--Freedom the rule--A new world--Strikingly
similar to America 151
CHAPTER IX.
A happy scene--Two civilizations compared--Arrival of Oqua--Disguise
penetrated--Human rights--"Glittering generalities"
reduced to practice--A strange custom--Numbered, labeled
and registered as citizens--Exit Jack Adams--A new name--Nequa--Bitter
memories--Oqua's sympathy 178
CHAPTER X.
Oqua's visit--The revelation--A story of perfidy and wrong--Cassie
VanNess--Raphael Ganoe--Richard Sage--A designing guardian--False
charges against Ganoe--A fraudulent marriage--Home
abandoned--On the high seas--Jack Adams--Ganoe
found--Effects of a false education--Legal Wrongs vs. Natural
Justice--Oqua hopeful 191
CHAPTER XI.
An air voyage--Change of scenery--Homes for mothers--Evolution
from competitive individualism--The mountains--Battell joins
us--Orbitello--A perpetual World's Fair--Department of Exchange--The
business of a continent--Norrena--Public Printing--The
council--All matters submitted to the People--Library
of Universal Knowledge 216
CHAPTER XII.
The institute of school superintendents--Norrena's address on the
Transition Period--From Competition to Co-operation--The
closing decades of Money supremacy--The power of gold--Its
conquest of the world--Political governments its tools--The
people helpless--A hint at the way out 244
CHAPTER XIII.
Bona Dea--Matrons' home--Pre-natal influences--Improving the
airships--Battell explains--Plans for the future--Museum of
Universal History--Relics of the Past--Building toward our
ideals--Law of human progress--Presaging the future--Profit
causes Poverty--Equitable Exchange the remedy 283
CHAPTER XIV.
Through the air to Lake Byblis--On the Ice King once more--Captain
Ganoe in command--Met by the Viking, Silver King and
Sea Rover--A wedding--Huston and Dione the principals--Ganoe
objects--Norrena investigates--Objection over-ruled--Excursion
beneath the waters of the lake--Down the Cocytas--The
ruins of Kroy--Abandoned gold--The last relic of barbarism 320
CHAPTER XV.
Home again--Letter from Bona Dea--Electric garments--Reporter's
phonograph--Testing the new airship--A World's Council--Wallaroo
on Evolution--The ideals planted by Missionaries--The
Eolus--Preparing for return to America--Excursion to
the far North--The Watch Tower--Symbolic representations--The
Farewell--The revelation to Ganoe--"Cassie! Cassie!
Come back! Come back!" 354
EXPLANATORY.
The undersigned claims no credit for the concept of an "Inner World"
in which the great economic problems which now confront the people
had been solved in the interest of humanity and ideal conditions
established for all. This was the leading thought in a work by Dr.
T.A.H. Lowe, deceased, which was placed in the hands of the writer by
his widow, Mrs. Mary P. Lowe. It contains a glowing description of the
ideal conditions which would prevail under the practical application of
the principles of Freedom, Equality and Fraternity in human affairs but
the author died before he had an opportunity to work out a practical
system by which the masses of the people, situated as they now are,
without even a clear understanding as to just what is the matter, could
commence with existing conditions, and peacefully, effectually and
speedily establish the much to be desired system of absolute justice
in distribution which he described. Hence it was determined to prepare
a series of volumes, illustrating the operation of practical working
methods by which this result could be secured, and then, publish Dr.
Lowe's original volume, just as it was written as a fitting conclusion;
and we now take pleasure in presenting to the reader the first volume
of the series and respectfully ask a candid consideration of the
principles which it is designed to elucidate.
JACK ADAMS.
NEQUA.
CHAPTER I.
BENEATH THE MIDNIGHT SUN--A STRANGE VISITOR COMES DOWN FROM ABOVE--AN
OLD ACQUAINTANCE RECOGNIZED--STRANGE STORY BY AN OLD PHYSICIAN.
[Illustration]
MY private office was on the second floor of the sanitarium which I
had fitted up in Kansas City to meet the demands of my large practice
in the treatment of chronic diseases. The furniture consisted of a
large book case, containing my library of standard works, and other
publications useful in my practice; a writing desk, a few chairs, sofa
and other conveniences usually found in such places. One door opened
into the hall, and another connected with my bed chamber, bath room and
laboratory in the rear. In the front was a large bay window where I
often sat, in a meditative mood, concealed by the heavy lace curtains,
looking out upon the throngs of people and numerous vehicles passing to
and fro on the street below. On the opposite side of the main hall, and
separated from it by the wide stairway, was the parlor where I received
visitors. In the rear of this were the consultation and operating
rooms. I usually lunched in my private office, my meals being sent up
to me on an elevator, from a restaurant connecting directly with the
sanitarium.
As a rule, no one but the office boy, who occupied a small room over
the stairway, was ever admitted to my private office. The boy attended
the door, conducted visitors to the parlor, and then reported who was
in waiting. If I cared to see them, I went around the head of the
stairs to the parlor; otherwise I was "Not in."
Many of my patients came from a distance and had lodgings and board
in the sanitarium. Others called at my reception rooms during my
regular office hours, which were from 9 to 11 A.M. At other hours I
was ordinarily occupied in my private office, reading, thinking and
writing, or in my laboratory compounding medicines, etc. But it was
generally understood that I frequently drove out, and hence people
calling to see me, except during office hours, were not surprised to
learn that I could not be seen.
This arrangement was an absolute necessity in order that I might have
time to attend to my large correspondence and make my usual study of
the diseases of patients who had placed themselves under my treatment
as their last hope of regaining health. My success in treating these
cases which had been given up as incurable, was such, that the
sanitarium was always full, and it was a rare thing indeed, that I
called upon patients at their homes.
One bright and unusually pleasant day in June 189--, after I had
attended to my patients, I retired to my private office, feeling that a
call, even from my most intimate friends, would be very undesirable. I
wanted to be alone. I had many letters to write, and other work that I
could not well neglect, but I seemed in spite of myself to have lost my
usual active interest in my business. I felt oppressed and dissatisfied
with its restraints, and after worrying through with my most important
correspondence, I got up and paced the floor to and fro.
What could it mean? Why was it I felt this restless longing for
something that seemed just beyond my reach? My business was
flourishing, my health was never better, my friends were numerous
and all my surroundings pleasant. Then why was it that I could not
compose myself to read or write? Whenever I tried to do anything, my
mind involuntarily reverted to the past, and especially to a voyage I
had taken some years before in the capacity of ship surgeon. At last
I despaired of being able to complete my work to my satisfaction, and
determined to indulge this irresistible tendency to retrospection.
All the afternoon, whatever I did or attempted to do, my mind turned
to Jack Adams, a beardless young man who shipped on the same vessel
with me as super-cargo. Turn which way I would, his image loomed up
before my memory with a vividness that was startling. Why should I be
continually thinking of him? True, we had been the closest of friends,
and often spent hours together in the most enjoyable conversations.
However, notwithstanding our intimacy, there had ever hung around Jack
an air of fathomless mystery. His character was faultless, his modesty,
refinement and culture unexcelled. His perceptions were keen, his
reasoning powers deep and comprehensive, and his innate truthfulness
inspired every one with unlimited confidence who came in contact with
him. In times of peril he was courageous as a lion and yet he was
gentle as a woman.
He was of medium size and perfectly rounded form, too refined in his
appearance to be masculine, but none the less active and efficient; and
I must say that his face was the most handsome, and the most expressive
of the finer emotions of the soul, I had ever met with in man. We
were the most congenial of associates, and I was more attached to his
personality than I had ever before been to one of my own sex. Though
young and beardless, his intellect was mature beyond his years, and by
common consent the old and experienced soon came to honor his unusually
remarkable judgment.
To me, he was a phenomenon that I was utterly unable to fathom. While
he was not shy, he was always reserved and retiring. He never intruded
where he had no business except in my cabin, where he often came to
while away an hour discussing themes of lofty and far reaching import.
He seemed not to live on the common plane of ordinary life, but soared
far above it. Still he attended to all his duties in a prompt and
energetic manner, often lending a helping hand to others when there was
no necessity for him to move a muscle. He seemed to take real pleasure
in lightening the burdens of others even at a sacrifice of his own
comfort.
Such was Jack Adams, who had worked himself up from the most menial
employments on shipboard to a position of responsibility. Such was
my most valued friend, always reserved and reticent with others,
but genial, sociable and confidential with me, notwithstanding the
disparity in our ages. But why should he now be intruding upon my
memory, and holding my thoughts to himself by a mystic chord which I
had no power to break, much as I had striven to do so?
I had left the sea at the close of this voyage, the memory of which had
haunted me all day. I had scarcely thought of Jack Adams for years, and
now I found it impossible to keep from thinking of him all the time. I
became almost superstitious, and began to speculate that perhaps he had
just passed from earth, and that his spirit was now with me trying to
force a recognition. As I was thus ruminating, my office boy announced
that a gentleman wanted to see me.
I was just about to send back the word "Not in," when behind the boy,
through the half open door, I beheld a tall, handsome and elegantly
dressed man, of commanding personal appearance.
My rule had been never to permit anyone to enter my private apartments
except on my personal invitation, and as the boy seemed entirely
unconscious of his presence, I knew that some mistake had been made,
and instinctively felt that the man was not an intruder; so all that
remained for me was to recognize the requirements of common politeness
and invite him in.
As he entered the room I mentally took his photograph. He was tall,
symmetrical, powerful, with a high intellectual forehead, dark,
deep-set eyes, dark hair and whiskers, and dark complexion. His
countenance was very impressive, inspiring the beholder with a feeling
of respect and confidence. As the door closed behind him he fixed
his large, penetrating eyes upon me as if he were reading my inmost
thoughts, and after a moment's scrutiny said: "Have I the honor of
addressing Dr. Thomas H. Day, who was a surgeon some years ago on a
vessel engaged in the East India Trade?"
"Yes," I replied, "that is my name, and I was surgeon on an East
Indiaman."
"Then," he continued, "may I further ask if you remember a young man
on the vessel in the capacity of super-cargo, who greatly trusted and
confided in you?"
His words penetrated my inmost being like a shock and I exclaimed
impulsively:
"You mean Jack Adams! I feel it! I know it! Is he still living?"
"He is alive and well," he said, "and your prompt recognition
demonstrates that you are the man I am looking for. I bring you word
from Jack Adams. He was also a trusted friend of mine, in whom I felt
deeply interested, when he occupied the humble position of cabin boy on
a steamer between New York and Liverpool."
His words came to me like a flash of sunlight, dispelling at once the
clouds which had seemed to paralyze all my energies. I felt that any
word from Jack Adams would be an inexpressible relief to my present
agitated state of mind. I grasped my visitor's hand with a warmth I
could not restrain, and with an enthusiasm that must have appeared to
him effusive, I said:
"Thank God! Your words thrill me with delight. I will esteem any
message from Jack Adams a blessing, and the messenger a benefactor. You
are indeed a welcome visitor, and you have placed me under bonds of
gratitude by removing a most oppressive burden from my mind."
He returned the pressure of my hand in a manner I had hardly expected,
and handed me a card on which was traced a significant inscription in
Jack's well known handwriting which, if any confirmation was necessary,
would have removed every possible doubt. Shaking his hand again I asked:
"Will we ever have a world of truth such as has been the dream of every
altruist?"
"Jack has found it," said my visitor, "and we must make it. That is the
mission he sends me on. He has made it his life work to discover just
how this may be accomplished with the greatest ease, and to convey the
information to us."
"Then you are doubly welcome," I said. "Be seated and make yourself at
home. I hail you as a brother in a common cause, even if, as yet, I
have no name by which to call you."
"Excuse me," he said, "I should have introduced myself before, but
I was so overjoyed at finding Dr. Day that I forgot he knew nothing
about me. My name is Leo Vincennes. I have been in the public service
in some capacity, ever since I came to years of maturity; as soldier,
sailor, scout, and later, as civil engineer and explorer. I come now
from Alaska, and my special business here is to see you and deliver a
message, committed to my care by our esteemed brother and co-worker,
Jack Adams."
I had moved my chair as near to him as decorum would permit, and said
in reply:
"I am indeed happy to meet you, Mr. Vincennes. I have been thinking of
Jack all day, and I want you to tell me all about him."
"I saw him last at Cape Lisburne, on the northwestern coast of Alaska,
where I was on the lookout for a vessel that was to take me and my
party to San Francisco. We were employed on the coast survey, and our
allotted portion of the work included the cape, where we went into camp
about the last of June. Our lookout was on top of the bluff, which at
this point rises to a height of about eight hundred feet above the
level of the sea. The other members of our party were out on a hunt
while I remained at the lookout. Through my glass I had a clear view of
the sea for leagues away, and I continued to sweep the horizon with my
glass, as the unusually early breaking up of the ice led me to expect
the appearance of a ship at any time. I casually turned my glass and
espied a speck on the horizon, a little to the east of north, that
at first gave me the impression of a distant sail. Not thinking of a
vessel from that direction, I observed it more closely, and soon saw
that it was not on the surface of the water, but evidently in the air
and coming directly toward me. It looked like some monstrous bird, of a
magnitude such as I had never conceived.
"In my long experience as a soldier, sailor, scout and explorer of
the polar regions, I had been accustomed to remarkable adventures,
and had come to take pride in the fact that I could face danger of
any kind without a tremor; but I do not hesitate to confess that as
this gigantic, winged phenomenon of the heavens bore down toward me, I
quivered in every vein and fiber of my being. It came with a rapidity
that was startling, and ere I could recover my equanimity sufficiently
to determine whether I should try to get out of the way or take my
chances with the monster, it came to a halt directly over my head,
and I could see that it was some kind of a mechanical contrivance for
navigating the air, and that its movements were controlled by human
intelligence. It remained stationary for a moment, as if the occupant
were taking observations, and then dropped slowly down and alighted
on the highest point of the cape, within twenty feet of where I was
standing. As this strange vessel came to a rest, a door opened and out
stepped a young man who said in the clearest of English:
"'Well, well, I declare! Here is the same Leo Vincennes who gave me my
first lessons in navigation. How glad I am to see you so far north. I
was heading due south for the mouth of the Yukon, when I discovered you
scanning the horizon with your glass. I then changed my course a little
to the west and came directly to you.' I recognized his features, but
was dazed and stood rooted to the ground. Seeing my embarrassment, he
advanced, extending his hand as he said: 'Surely you have not forgotten
Jack Adams, the cabin-boy, who sailed on the same ship with you from
New York to Liverpool, and asked you so many questions about ships and
a seafaring life.'
"I grasped his hand, but for a moment my brain seemed benumbed, and my
tongue, to use an oft quoted phrase, 'clave to the roof of my mouth.'
I could only look at him in open eyed wonder--the same smooth-faced
lad that I had known and admired--nay loved, fifteen years ago. My
temporary paralysis gave way to a flood of feeling such as I had never
experienced before, and I convulsively shook his hand as I exclaimed:
"'Yes! yes! My dear old Jack, I remember you, but never again did
I expect to meet you--and least of all on this barren rock, in the
regions of eternal ice, beneath the midnight sun, and dropping from the
heavens to this mundane sphere. Where did you come from and whither are
you going? Have you put off this mortality with all its weakness and
put on immortality in some far off clime of perpetual youth, beyond the
utmost limit of our earthly vision?'
"'Hold on Leo,' he exclaimed, with that mischievous twinkle in his eye
that I remember so well, 'don't for Heaven's sake get superstitious.
Remember that if the Kingdom of Heaven can be established in us,
there evidently must be more in this mundane sphere than has ever
been dreamed of in our philosophy. I am no visitant from another
world, but I do come from another country, where man is master of his
environments, instead of being their servile victim, just as you and I
and all of the brothers and sisters on our plane of thought, believe
that all of this glorious old world ought to be. We must continue to
spread the light, and inspire our common humanity, in every stage of
development, wherever found, with higher aspirations and brighter ideas
of what is in store for them. We must give them hope and courage.
The good time coming, so oft foretold, is almost here, and it will
be realized just as soon as a respectable minority can be brought to
fully comprehend the way out of all their miseries, as well as they now
understand the crushing effects of their present environments. It is
for us to speak the word that will save them from all their miseries,
pains, and woes, here and now, without waiting for some far off time,
and wonderful change to be brought about in some mysterious and
incomprehensible manner. No! No! Leo, this is no time for us to stop
and simply wonder at something that is merely the birth-right of every
human being, while by a little well devised, intelligent and earnest
effort on the part of the very few reformers who are not yet entirely
submerged, we can secure to every human being every blessing he or she
is capable of appreciating. There is nothing impossible about this,
and if the world is not redeemed from its present low estate, it will
be because the few altruists in the world do not make the necessary
effort;--and they will surely make that effort when they comprehend how
easy it is to quietly and peacefully remove the burdens that ignorance
and greed have imposed, and thus rescue the toiler from the grasp of
the selfish. How much are you willing to do toward this work of saving
the world? Could you be persuaded to forget self for awhile and lend
your services to the cause of humanity, by spreading the light that
will save it, and save it too before even the older people of this
generation shall have passed off the stage?'
"I was carried away by his earnest appeal, and promptly responded:
"'I am indeed willing to make any conceivable sacrifice in such a
cause, my dear old Jack, but you must tell me what to do and how to do
it.'
"'Then can you go into the interior of the United States--to the great
Missouri Valley, and deliver a message from me to a dearly loved
friend, which will secure his assistance?'
"'I certainly will,' I said. 'Personal matters require my presence in
New York. I shall go from here to San Francisco, and thence across the
continent by rail, and can stop off at any point you desire. I have
been notified that, in the private papers of Richard Sage, who died
some years ago, a document was found, clearly proving that I am one
of the heirs to a large property, which was held in trust for minors,
whose whereabouts were unknown to the testator, my grandfather. I am
the representative of those heirs.'
"As I spoke, Jack's countenance became ashen pale and the expression
hard and stony, and as I concluded he asked in tones that struck me
with a chill like a polar wave:
"'And is Richard Sage dead?'
"'He died nearly fifteen years ago,' I said. 'Committed suicide, I
believe. Did you know him?'
"'I think so,' he said. 'He was a friend of my father--But,' he added
after a short pause, his face regaining its usual winning and kindly
expression, 'we have no time to give to the discussion of the dead
past. Come with me and take a look at our earth from the cosy cabin of
the Eolus, while I tell you something of my adventures in the way of
polar exploration, and explain what it is that I want you to do.'
"We stepped into a small but luxuriantly furnished car, which I shall
not attempt to describe, and seated ourselves upon a soft cushioned
divan. The walls were paneled on all sides with large transparent
sections, through which we obtained a clear and seemingly magnified
view of the surrounding scenery. There we were, poised on the highest
point of this towering rock, overlooking the sea, the rolling waves of
which dashed themselves into foam on the rocks below. Jack manipulated
a delicately arranged keyboard at his side, and in a minute more we
were flitting to and fro far above the earth at an almost inconceivable
speed, and then loitering along or standing still to get a better view
of objects of especial interest.
"Jack handed me what looked like a peculiarly constructed opera
glass, and requested me to take a peep at Cape Lisburne through the
transparent section at the bow. Though we were miles away, I felt that
I could reach out and pick up a pebble anywhere along this rock-bound
shore. This explained a mystery, and I turned to Jack and said: 'I
can now understand how it was that you discovered me at such a great
distance, for when I first saw you, your ship was but a speck, and
several points to the east of north.'
"'Yes,' he said, 'I discovered you on the lookout when several leagues
away. I had not expected to find civilized people so far north. As soon
as I saw you, I put the Eolus to her greatest speed directly toward
you, lest you should leave the lookout. As I came nearer I felt sure
that I recognized your features, and I at once made up my mind that
I had found one whom I could trust to assist me in the work I had
undertaken to perform. This fortunate meeting enables me to return
immediately, and relieve the painful anxiety of many loving hearts
concerning my safety. They had a most exaggerated conception of the
perils I would be compelled to encounter in attempting to traverse
these frozen regions.'
"He told me a wonderful story of his trials, perils and adventures in
getting past the great ice barriers, and his discovery of a World of
Truth beyond.
"When we had circumnavigated the country for miles around, we slowly
descended to earth and alighted at the same spot from which we started,
and as we separated, he to return to his new home beyond the ice
barriers, I to come to you, he placed his portmanteau in my hands and
said:
"'Go to Dr. Thomas K. Day, at Kansas City, and if he will agree to
publish the manuscript contained in this portmanteau and scatter it
broadcast over the world, place it in his hands and tell him to use the
gold contained also therein, which was contributed by the crew of the
Ice King for that purpose; for nothing but gold, the fetich of this
benighted and money enslaved external world, can command labor; and
yet it is labor and not gold, that is the sole producer of everything
essential to the sustenance and comfort of humanity. If Dr. Day cannot
be found, or is so situated that he cannot attend to this matter, use
the gold yourself to find a publisher, and have eight printed volumes
for me when I return with another manuscript of even more value, from
the same fruitful field of discovery.'
"And now Dr. Day," continued my visitor, "will you undertake to
discharge the trust committed to you by Jack Adams?"
"I will gladly do so" I replied, "for anything from Jack will surely be
a blessing to humanity."
He placed the portmanteau in my hands and said:
"I must bid you adieu. Send the eight volumes for Jack to my address at
Fort Yukon, Alaska, and as many more for myself, unless I should send
you other directions. I shall be anxious to read the book as soon as it
is published. Jack must have passed through some trying ordeals, and
from what I saw, his discoveries have been wonderful. But I must go."
I tried to detain him, but with a cordial grasp of the hand he was gone.
I turned and opened the portmanteau with the key that was attached. It
contained a package, securely enclosed in a wrapper of some water-proof
material, and marked "MS," and below was a glittering array of gold
eagles.
I examined the package of manuscript more closely. On either side it
was addressed to Dr. Thomas H. Day, Kansas City, and below was written:
"In the name of civilization I ask that whoever may find this package
shall place it in the hands of those who will publish the MS. contained
therein and have it scattered broadcast over the world, so that the
discoveries recorded shall not be lost to humanity.
NEQUA."
This was repeated in French, German, Norwegian, Russian and Spanish.
And now dear reader, I shall give you the contents of this remarkable
manuscript, from the pen of my sailor comrade of years ago, Jack Adams,
but known in his new home as Nequa, the teacher. Ponder well the
lessons taught in these wonderful discoveries.
Yours truly,
THOMAS H. DAY.