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.
[Illustration]
THE journey by airship from Orbitello to Lake Byblis was as usual
most interesting. I never tired of these aerial flights. My first was
from the deck of the Ice King in the middle of the Oscan ocean to the
continent, and now I was returning to the Ice King from the middle of
the continent. Our course was an airline, several points south of
east, over the fertile valley of the Cocytas. For a distance of twelve
hundred miles, we were first on one side of the river and then on the
other, with a bird's eye view of this highly improved valley.
We traveled at a speed of about three hundred miles an hour which
brought us to the vicinity of Lake Byblis about 10 o'clock, A.M. From
our elevated position of several thousand feet we had a full view of
the surroundings. The lake is an expansion of the river, from five to
ten miles in width and thirty in length surrounded by a magnificent
boulevard, on which we could see numerous vehicles moving. The surface
of the lake was dotted over with water craft of various sizes and
descriptions.
On the north side, Oqua pointed out the hospital to which our sailors
had been sent, the Matron's Home where Bona Dea presided, the home
for the aged, and the crematory. On the south side, and situated back
on the bluff, was the airship factory where Battell was employed
superintending the completion of his improvements on the airship,
and the Transportation Headquarters, in the Auditorium of which
it had been announced that the World's parliament was to meet the
following December, and give us a welcome to the inner world, as
citizens-at-large. Anchored in front of the Transportation building I
recognized the Ice King with the stars and stripes floating from the
masthead.
The valley of the Cocytas had the appearance of having originally been
a vast inland sea extending about twelve hundred miles from the coast
range on the east to the great continental divide on the west, and from
five to six hundred in width, bounded by high lands north and south. At
the east end of the lake the Cocytas flows through a deep gorge on its
way to the ocean, carrying the surplus waters of a vast valley of rich
alluvial lands.
Such is the geographical location of this favorite gathering place for
pleasure seekers. As we approached the famous lake we reduced our speed
and took a little time to contemplate the magnificent scene presented
to our view. But we have neither time nor space for an adequate
description.
As we reached a point directly above the Ice King we began the usual
spiral descent and in a few minutes were once more upon the familiar
decks of the old ship, and exchanging cordial greetings with our old
shipmates and many of our new found friends and associates. It was a
happy reunion.
Pat and Mike gave us a most warm hearted Irish welcome. They informed
us that they had been installed as custodians of the Ice King and were
faring sumptuously. I asked Mike how he liked the people and he replied
laconically:
"Better than I did but I don't know how much."
I pressed him for an explanation of his doubtful compliment, and he
replied that he could not understand their queer ways. At first he
thought that they had bewitched Pat, as he got right up from his sick
bed and declared that there was nothing the matter with him any more.
As Pat had stayed well, it was perhaps all right, but it was queer.
Then ever since they had been at Lake Byblis they had got everything
they wanted but when they offered to pay for it, the shopmen would look
at the money, turn it over as if they did not know what it was and hand
it back.
"In fact," continued Mike, "I don't understand them at all. They never
work to amount to anything, and yet they have an abundance, and that
of the very best. They never pay for anything and they never charge
for anything. Ever since we have been here, it has been one continual
coming and going and merry-making. But this free spread cannot last all
the time or I miss my guess."
"Well Mike," I replied, "you seem to be doing well enough, for the
present at least, and ought to be satisfied. And I can safely assure
you that you need have no fears for the future. These people have
learned that it only takes about two hour's labor per day to produce an
abundance of everything they need. In taking care of this ship, so that
they can come and see what kind of vessels we have in the outer world,
you are doing all that will ever be required of you, and when you want
to take a furlough, you can travel wherever you please and it will
not cost you anything but the evidence that you have been serving the
people by taking care of this ship."
"May be so," said Mike, "but I don't see how they can afford it."
I had no time to explain the situation to Mike, as it had been arranged
that Captain Ganoe should again take his old position on the Ice King
and give its visitors an excursion on this, to them, strange craft. The
steam age with these people had long since given place to electricity
and compressed air, as motor powers, and so a steamship in actual use
was something they had never seen. Captain Ganoe entered into the
spirit of the occasion and summoned all the surviving members of the
Ice King crew to take their accustomed places.
When this understanding was agreed upon, Polaris and Dione came
forward and invited us below for an early dinner. We found that on
the same table where they had taken breakfast with us, on our first
acquaintance, they had spread such a repast for us as had never before
been attempted on the Ice King. A goodly number joined us in doing
ample justice to the delicious viands.
After dinner, Captain Ganoe invited the company present to go with him
and have a look over the Ice King while she was being made ready for
the excursion. The first place to which he conducted us was the engine
room, but it was so neat and clean that he did not recognise it, and
turning to Huston, he said:
"What does this mean? I thought that you told me every thing was ready
to get up steam on short notice. There is not an ounce of coal in sight
and the bunkers are as neat as a lady's bandbox. How do you expect to
get up steam without fuel?"
"We shall burn water," said Huston.
"Burn water!" exclaimed the Captain. "Have your new surroundings led
you to believe that we can set aside the laws of nature?"
"Nothing of the kind," said Huston, "but I am learning much concerning
the laws of nature that I never before suspected. You see this little
metallic cube. I drop it into this jar of water. See it effervesce. I
apply this match. See how it burns! This little cube dissolving in the
water, converts it into its original gases. You see now how we can burn
water. This tank, connected by these pipes with the furnace under the
boiler, contains water that has been charged with these metallic cubes,
the constituent elements of which have been found in coal and lime. I
now turn on this prepared water and apply an electric spark. See the
fierce flame! We shall soon have steam without having vitiated the
atmosphere with smoke, which in this country is regarded as a nuisance
not to be tolerated. Dione superintended this part of the arrangements."
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" was all that Captain Ganoe had to say, and he
passed out leaving Huston at his post as engineer. I remained behind as
I wanted to have a talk with Huston, concerning what Oqua had told us,
that he and Dione intended to be registered as man and wife and that he
expected Captain Ganoe would object. I asked him why he expected any
opposition from the Captain.
"Because," said he, "Captain Ganoe, with all his good qualities, is a
living personification of every popular error which forms a part of the
outer world education, law and custom."
"But," I asked, "on what grounds do you expect him to object?"
"He will," said Huston, "unless I have misjudged the man, raise the
question that I have a living wife, from whom I have no legal grounds
for divorce. This is true so far as the law goes, but false in every
feature that constitutes a true marriage. Captain Ganoe is familiar
with all the particulars, and still he entirely disapproves of the
course I took, in taking the law into my own hands and severing the
bonds, just as soon as I discovered the fraud that had been perpetrated
on me."
"Won't you give me the particulars?" I asked. "I am especially
interested in learning all about it."
"I have no objections," said Huston. "It is no secret. But steam will
soon be up and our time is limited."
"But please give me a brief outline," I persisted. "I am indeed vitally
interested in learning the principal facts in this case."
Huston regarded me for a moment with a puzzled expression of
countenance and then said:
"I will for your sake, Jack, try to make a long story short. My father
was a planter and supposed to be wealthy. Our family was proud and
aristocratic. My father had a ward in a distant state who lived with
his sister. She was heir to an immense estate. Though I had never seen
her I had been encouraged to correspond with her, and we had exchanged
photographs. Her letters indicated remarkable talent and the highest
culture, while her photograph proclaimed to my imagination, that she
was a beauty. I was but a boy and I confess that I was fascinated by
her letters, and the affectionate interest by which she led me to the
most ardent declaration of my admiration.
"Such was the relation that had been established between us when my
father took me into his confidence and declared that he was a ruined
man and our family irretrievably disgraced, unless I could prevent it
by a marriage with his ward, Zeta Wild. The time was at hand when he
must account for her estate, which had been lost through unfortunate
speculations, and that the settlement would reveal a state of affairs
that would send him to prison for a long term of years.
"I objected to the idea of marriage with a girl I had never met, no
matter how favorably I had been impressed by her photograph and her
letters. But my father's special pleading and the pressing nature of
the danger to the family name, overcame my objections, and the day was
set for the marriage.
"Everything was artfully arranged. We arrived in the evening and met
the bridal party at the church. I was charmed with the appearance of my
bride. We were married at once, and took carriages for the home of my
aunt where a splendid wedding supper awaited us.
"Within an hour, I found that I had married a beautiful idiot. I was
shocked, and stole away from the guests into an upper room. I wanted
to think. A lamp was burning on the table. My eyes fell upon a letter
written to my father by my aunt. I recognized the handwriting. It was
my aunt who had written the letters that had charmed me so much. In
this one, she deplored the deception that was being practiced upon me,
but justified it on the ground that it was necessary in order to save
the honor of the family.
"My mind was made up. I passed out into the darkness of the night,
started for the nearest seaport and found employment as a sailor.
I have never returned home since. I learned that my father got his
ward's fortune in my name. Captain Ganoe is personally acquainted
with my father and has seen his ward at his house, who was introduced
as his son's wife. I explained the situation to the Captain, but he
disapproved my conduct in very emphatic terms, and I should have left
the ship but for the fact that I had engaged to go with Battell on the
expedition.
"I have also explained the situation to Dione and my part in this
transaction meets her approval. We shall register as man and wife, and
if the Captain objects, so much the better, as it will place my conduct
in the correct light. The marriage was a fraud and no one ought to be
bound by a fraud."
"I can most cordially sympathize with you," I said. "It is certainly
a terrible wrong to compel people to associate in such an intimate
relation when their entire natures are in rebellion against it. It
cannot be wrong to sever such bonds regardless of the claims of church
or state. A relation that is wrong, in and of itself, cannot be made
right by lawmaker or priest."
"Thank you," said Huston. "I am glad that I am not alone among the crew
of the Ice King. Indeed I believe that ultimately even the Captain will
see this question just as I do. Our intention was to register while we
were in Orbitello, but Oqua requested that we should wait until this
excursion, and to please her we consented. I do not know her reasons
for advising delay but I suppose it is all right."
"I think I understand it," I said, "and you may rest assured that her
reasons are good, and good will come out of it."
"I hope so," said Huston. "But the steam gauge points to one hundred
and here goes to all whom it may concern," and suiting the action to
the word he pulled the rope and the steam whistle resounded far and
wide, something entirely new to these people, in a country which had
abandoned steam as a motor power so long ago.
I hurried upon deck and joined Captain Ganoe. Captain Battell was at
the wheel, and all was ready. The decks were crowded with excursionists
who had never been on board a steamship, and knew nothing of steam as a
motor power, except as a matter of history. All were anxious to see the
vessel move and Captain Ganoe did not keep them waiting. He signalled
the engineer and immediately the ponderous engines began to move and
the Ice King was backing out into the water and swinging around with
her bow toward the head of the lake. She obeyed her helm beautifully
and started off with a speed of which we were proud.
The route determined upon kept us near the larboard shore, while some
miles to the starboard we could see a magnificent craft that reflected
the light of the sun like burnished silver. I asked Oqua what it was.
"That," said she, "is the Silver King, an electric yacht, built of
aluminum. She brings a load of excursionists and expects to take us
down the river. She is remarkable for her speed and her splendid
accommodations. She will meet us at the head of the lake."
I found too much to look at to take up much time in conversation, but
cannot at this time indulge in descriptions. Suffice it to say that the
scenes presented on the boulevard surrounding the lake, on the surface
of the water and in the air were most animated, and all were moving as
if to meet us at the head of the lake.
As we approached the mouth of the upper Cocytas, we met the Silver King
and while the excursionists were exchanging greetings, a strange little
craft with a dragon's head and propelled by oars, shot out from under
the cover of the river bank. At the bow were our Norwegian sailors,
Lief and Eric plying their oars most sturdily and singing a weird song,
in which I distinguished the mythological names of Odin and Thor. The
oarsmen were dressed in a strange, fantastic style, and were armed with
spears, crossbows, swords, and long hunting knives.
This strange craft came out of the river and both the Ice King and the
Silver King, as if by common impulse stopped short in their career
while the Viking, for such it was, took its place between them. To say
that I was astonished at the appearance of a style of vessel that had
been obsolete for centuries, but feebly expresses my surprise, and I
asked Norrena where it came from.
"It came from the outer world," he said, "about 2,000 years ago,
and brought a warlike crew, the general appearance of which, the
Superintendent of Festivities, has tried to imitate. The historians of
that period could gather very little information from them concerning
the country from which they came. They said that the people had to
leave because it was so cold. This gave rise to the false impression
that the outer world had become uninhabitable and that these were the
last remnants of the people."
"These people," I said, "were known as Northmen, and their ships were
called Vikings. They were the most daring of navigators, and penetrated
every portion of the outer world, and it is not at all surprising that
some of them found their way to the inside. This will probably explain
why so many of your names are identical with those of the Scandinavian
countries.
"That is correct," he said. "Many of our people are descended from this
stock and still perpetuate the names. Our records preserve the language
they brought with them as carefully as our chemists have preserved this
little boat."
"Do you intend to say," I asked, "that this is the original boat that
found its way into the inner world a thousand years ago? I thought that
it was a reproduction. How was it possible to preserve it so long?"
"Yes," he said, "this is the original boat, and it has been preserved
by forcing a chemical solution into the wood which makes it as durable
as granite."
As we were speaking, two powerful metallic arms operated by machinery
reached down from the deck of the Silver King and lifted this little
Viking and its passengers into stocks that had been prepared for it,
with the seeming tenderness of a mother lifting her babe to her bosom.
So suggestive was the manner in which it was done that I turned to
Norrena to ask the meaning, which he anticipated by saying:
"This represents the tender care that vigorous youth ought to bestow
upon age. This little boat is highly prized, as in the process of
evolution, it may be regarded as the progenitor of the Silver King. If
there had never been such boats as the Viking, there never would have
been an Ice King or a Silver King. All things must develop from small
beginnings."
The Ice King and Silver King now headed toward the mouth of the lake,
were lashed together, and the excursionists on both vessels passed
freely from one to the other. The Ice King attracted much the largest
number, but I was more anxious to inspect the Silver King.
Norrena introduced us to Captain Thorfin, as visitors and seamen from
the outer world. He conducted us first to the motor room and explained
the workings of the machinery, and showed us a system of airtight
compartments, which would, he claimed, absolutely keep the vessel from
sinking, no matter how badly the hull might be injured. He stated that
even the decks would float like cork.
When we reached the upper deck of the Silver King we found that the
oarsmen on the Viking had exchanged their warlike equipments for
musical instruments and as we came up they opened with strains of the
most thrilling music that I had ever heard. As if in response, both
the Ice King and the Silver King seemed lifted up on the crest of some
mighty wave, and what appeared to be some monster marine animal arose
out of the water behind us and moved to the starboard side of the Ice
King. It had a resemblance to a gigantic turtle, but was fully three
times as long as it was wide. As soon as the water ceased to flow from
its sides, a hatchway opened in the center and MacNair and Iola made
their appearance, and began to wave their handkerchiefs to us. I was
too much astonished at this strange apparition to even ask what it was.
Norrena relieved my embarrassment by saying:
"This is the Sea Rover, a submarine boat, that came up the middle of
the lake near the bottom. The three boats will be lashed together
and thus proceed down the lake while the excursionists will have the
freedom of the entire flotilla, and may amuse themselves in any way
they choose. See there! The Sea Rovers have brought up their dancing
floor. It is plain that they propose to have a ball. But I have some
business that I must attend to while the crowds enjoy themselves. As
this is to be a private party of invited guests, of which you are one,
I shall expect you to join us in the cabin of the Silver King."
I intuitively knew what was coming. We found the cabin as exclusive
as could have been desired for a private party. Battell and Polaris,
Huston and Dione, Norrena and Oqua, MacNair and Iola, and Captain Ganoe
and myself constituted the party on this occasion.
When we were all comfortably seated, Norrena said:
"I have invited you in here because we want our esteemed guests from
the outer world to understand all of our usages. We are going to have
what in their world is called a wedding. Ordinarily these events
attract no especial attention in this country as there are but two
persons interested. But there may be circumstances under which marriage
is not permitted. In such cases we investigate. In this country, it is
the duty of the educational department to keep a record of everything
pertaining to birth, marriage and death, as all are supposed to be
either pupils in school or graduates from school. Hence the school
record is the record of the birth, educational attainments, name,
occupation, marriage and death of every person.
"We have no such marriage ceremonies as I find described in the
literature of the outer world, but we keep a most perfect system of
records. All persons who are allowed to marry at all, are free to make
their choice. No interference on the part of others is permitted. As
a notice of their intentions, they send or bring the nativity cards
which they receive on leaving school, to the proper office where they
are registered as citizens. If there is nothing in the record which
prevents, each couple so united receives an acknowledgment and a copy
of the record, enclosed in two silver lockets, which are usually worn
around the neck. This is all there is of it unless some one objects. In
that case, there is an inquiry and the commissioner decides according
to the facts.
"I have here two nativity cards. One is that of Dione of the Life
Saving Service, and the other bears the name of Paul Huston, and
the date of his registration on the books of the Sailor's Union of
Citizens-at-large of Altruria. At the request of the applicants for
registration as man and wife, I have invited you as witnesses and will
ask if any one objects to their union?"
"I object," said Captain Ganoe.
"State your grounds of objection," said Norrena.
"Because of my certain knowledge and his own admission, he has a living
wife to whom he was lawfully married."
"Is this true?" asked Norrena, addressing Huston.
"It is," responded Huston. "I was married according to the usages of
the country where I was born and I do not believe that I have any legal
grounds for divorce, but as a matter of fact, the entire transaction
was fraudulent."
"State the facts in full," said Norrena.
"I will," said Huston, and he narrated the story of his marriage,
substantially in the same language that he had related it to me.
Norrena turned to Captain Ganoe and asked:
"Have you any reason to offer why this statement just made by Paul
Huston, before these witnesses, should not be accepted as true?"
"I have not," said the Captain. "He admits that he was married to Zeta
Wild. That he left her without any offense on her part for which a
divorce could be obtained. Hence, he is to-day a married man. Married
according to law, and he has no right to marry another woman, and Dione
has no right to take him as a husband."
"That is your view of the matter," said Norrena. "But under our usages,
the girl to whom he was married was an imbecile and had no right to be
married, and on this ground the marriage was null and void. Besides,
he was deceived, and hence the marriage being fraudulent, could not be
binding."
"A legal marriage, voluntarily entered into cannot be fraudulent, and
is always binding upon the conscience of all well meaning people."
"But," said Norrena, "if she was a person he could not love and respect
as a wife, was it not better that he should refuse to consummate the
relation?"
"Certainly not," said the Captain. "When he was married to her, that
ended it. I have no doubt that he could have lived agreeably enough
with her if he had wanted to."
"I see," said Norrena, "that you are not likely to withdraw your
objection, so we will not continue the discussion. It is my duty to
decide in favor of the true and against the false, and hence I must
over-rule your objection to the registration of Paul Huston and Dione
as husband and wife."
"Do as you please," said Captain Ganoe. "It does not change the facts
in the case. It is strange to me that any woman would accept a man
as a husband under such circumstances. So far as I am concerned with
my present light on the subject, I could not as a conscientious man,
consent to marry a woman, no matter how much I loved her, who according
to law, was the wife of another man. As an honorable man I would advise
her to return to her husband."
I had been listening intently to this inquiry. Here was a case almost
identical with my own. I had married my guardian of my own free will,
and like Huston, when I discovered the fraud by which my consent was
secured, I had taken to the sea, and now the one whom I had loved more
than life itself, and for whom I had searched for years, and with whom
I had braved all the dangers of the frozen north in order to be near
his person, had for the second time deliberately declared that he would
not marry such a woman no matter how much he loved her. My entire being
was aroused in revolt against such injustice and I arose and said:
"For the second time, Captain Ganoe, I have heard you express this
atrocious sentiment, which ignores love, the only thing which can
sanctify the union of the sexes in the marriage relation, and place
above that the debasing doctrine that man made laws are superior to
the laws of God, which are implanted in the human soul. Without love,
marriage is a curse, unholy and impure. Love is an inspiration and
cannot be transferred by the state or the church. If you have never
realized what true love signifies, of course you are excusable, but
those who have felt it, will never agree with you. Huston was right,
to take the law into his own hands and separate from his imbecile
wife. To have consummated the union, would have been a crime against
her, against himself and against humanity. And now, so far as I
am concerned, I shall drop this question. No good can come of the
discussion, and other questions of far-reaching import to the toiling
millions of the outer world, demand my undivided attention. Let us
do what we can to abolish poverty by removing time honored wrongs,
and when women are economically free, they will be able to select
companions who will not trample love under the heel of antiquated
wrong."
So saying I walked out of the cabin without waiting for reply. Oqua
followed me and as she came up by my side, said:
"Do not be disturbed. Your victory is won. Captain Ganoe cannot long
withstand the force of truth. And he has now placed his position so
plainly before our people that the truth will reach him from all sides
in a way of which he never dreamed before."
"Yes," I said, "I have won a victory, but it is over myself. He may
come to me, when he has removed the clouds from his mind and the
bitterness from his heart. I will never make any overtures. I can love
humanity and work for it, and even if my work is not understood, I know
that it will exercise an elevating influence on myself. My motto for
the future will be, 'Plenty of room at the top where true love and a
sterling devotion to the right, will be understood and appreciated.'"
"You talk like a philosopher," said Oqua, "and I have no doubt that
your heroism of character will come out triumphant, but do not permit
your resentment of a wrong to engender a feeling of bitterness toward
Captain Ganoe."
"I shall not stoop to that," I said. "I cannot afford it. My love in
the future shall go out to every human being and I still regard Captain
Ganoe, with all of his prejudices, as one of the best. I have forgiven
his weakness and want to forget. What I need now is something better to
think about."
"Well," said Oqua, "the excursion beneath the waters of the lake in
the Sea Rover this afternoon and the one on the Silver King down
the Cocytas to-morrow will give you a great many things that will
doubtless, very thoroughly engage your attention."
"That," I said, "is just what I need. Something to arouse my interest
and exclude disquieting reflections. But what of this excursion beneath
the waters of the lake? I had not heard of that."
"Oh yes," said Oqua, "the Superintendent of Festivities would not think
of slighting the Sea Rovers who make the navigation of our shallow
lakes, bays and rivers safe for such vessels as the Silver King and
their numerous passengers. They wanted to entertain our visitors from
the outer world on their own vessel and of course the excursion beneath
the water was made a part of the program."
"Well, the arrangement," I said, "is better than I anticipated and it
surely will be, to me, a novel experience to be able to see the world
of marine life as the fishes see it."
"And as the Sea Rovers see and improve it," said Oqua. "But see! They
are signaling for us to come on board."
In a few minutes we had passed out upon the dancing floor of the
Rovers and descended into an elegantly furnished cabin. I was the only
one present who had not become acquainted with the crew, and Oqua
introduced me as the Scientist of the Ice King, to Captain Doris of the
Sea Rover who gave me a cordial greeting and introduced me to a number
of his comrades. In answer to my inquiries, he gave me an entertaining
and instructive description of the duties of the submarine service.
"Our work," he said, "is to keep a careful lookout for obstructions
that might impede navigation and endanger life. This is especially
necessary in rivers like the Cocytas, where huge stones are sometimes
loosened from the rocky shores and fall into the channel, and sand-bars
form rapidly. These are discovered and removed by the submarine
patrols."
"But how," I asked, "can you get at them?"
"Nothing easier," said Doris, "as I will show you."
At once I heard the water pouring into the hold and the Sea Rover sank
to the bottom. The Captain and two of the crew passed into a little
room at the rear of the cabin and immediately I noticed that the
sides of the vessel were transparent and brilliantly lighted from the
outside. Looking out I saw the men in diving suits leisurely walking
around on the bottom, which looked like a smooth floor.
Oqua explained that by means of powerful arc lights and reflectors,
these submarine navigators were able to see for long distances even at
great depths, and that the work of removing obstructions was carried on
by means of machinery, and that the stones which fell into the channel
were reduced to powder by powerful explosives, and the surface smoothed
down like a well cultivated field. The air was continually renewed from
stores of condensed air, while the poisonous exhalations from the lungs
were absorbed by sponges having a peculiar affinity for carbon.
In a few minutes Captain Doris returned and the vessel began to move
rapidly through the water. I was much interested in the view of marine
life which was revealed through the transparent sides, and especially
in the level bottom of the lake, which, as Oqua had remarked, really
looked something like a broad, smooth, cultivated field. But soon we
turned toward the south and began to move slowly along the side of
a brilliantly lighted boulevard on which all kinds of vehicles were
passing and repassing.
I was so much astonished at this unexpected scene, so realistic and
seemingly uncanny, that I was utterly at a loss for words to express my
feelings. Oqua seeing my embarrassment came to my relief by saying:
"This is the tunnel across the lower portion of the lake and
constitutes a part of the boulevard you noticed along the shores."
"How is this?" I asked. "It is certainly not a tunnel excavated under
the lake. If anything, we are a little below the roadway and well above
the bottom of the lake with the water all around us."
"We do not," said Oqua, "excavate tunnels as we did in ancient times.
They are constructed in our machine shops. This is a metallic tube
with supports which rest on the bottom, and has many advantages over
the old fashioned, dark and dismal excavations. The material used is
a compound somewhat like common glass but as strong as steel. With
our submarine fleets it is not difficult to put the sections in place
and when completed the water is pumped out of the cavity and the
roadway is ready for use. Even across small streams, where the banks
are not too high, they are frequently preferred to bridges as more
safe and durable, but for long distances and in very deep water they
are indispensable, and in the case of deep water tunnels, they are
frequently made to span submarine gorges."
"How fortunate," I exclaimed, "that this submarine excursion was on the
program! I now see a most wonderful exhibition of the power of mind to
overcome material difficulties, that it would have been hard for me to
realize if I had received the information in some other manner."
"All things," responded Oqua, "are possible to the human mind in its
ultimate state of development--But we are now heading for the landing
at the Transportation Headquarters and we will spend the night on the
Silver King which takes us down to the ruins of Kroy in the morning."
"And," I asked, "what is to hinder you from telling me something about
these ruins now, and what they have to do with Norrena's economic
lessons?"
"They are," said Oqua, "only the relics of the great money center which
held the people in bondage during the Transition Period. When Kroy
was deserted by the money kings, the people determined to preserve
it, subject only to the ravages of time, as a warning and a lesson to
future generations."
As Oqua ceased speaking, the Sea Rover arose to the surface by the
side of the Silver King, the hatches were opened, and in a few minutes
we were welcomed on board the electric yacht by Captain Thorfin, and
invited to an elegant supper. The day had certainly been most agreeably
spent but its lessons were too suggestive and far-reaching in their
character to be adequately presented in this small volume. I was
fatigued by the incessant activity since early morning and was glad of
an opportunity to retire to my state-room and rest.
I was awake early next morning and after a hearty breakfast, we were
soon speeding down the Cocytas between two lofty walls of granite.
There was nothing to be seen but these towering cliffs for the first
few miles and Captain Thorfin gave us a specimen of the speed of
the Silver King. The cliffs seemed to dart past us as if we were on
board of a lightning express train, and yet we could scarcely feel
the motion of the vessel. I confess that I felt a little nervous at
such astonishing speed, but Captain Thorfin assured us that there was
no danger, as the submarine patrols removed every obstruction and
preserved a uniform depth of water.
I asked the Captain what was the greatest speed of his vessel and he
replied that he had never tested it. He had made one hundred miles an
hour but the excursionists generally preferred to travel slowly. On
this trip we would average fifty, and so reach Kroy in about three
hours.
During the last two hours of our journey we were passing through a
densely populated country. Great communal homes appeared on either
side and large manufacturing plants at frequent intervals. But our
interest was centered at the mouth of the river and our attention was
chiefly directed over the bow. Soon a point of land appeared where
the river seemed to part in twain. This I recognized as the island I
had seen from the airship which had brought us to the continent, and
here is where the city of Kroy had been situated. My interest had been
aroused and as the Silver King turned into the northern channel, the
island became the center of attraction. On the larboard side the same
scenes of sylvan beauty, palatial buildings and groups of happy, joyous
people continued, but it was now the uninhabited island that absorbed
my attention.
I could see, in places, through the tangled brushwood and tall trees
which lined the shore, glimpses of shattered walls and tumuli, over-run
by vines and briers, such as in many parts of the outer world are so
attractive to archeologists, as the ruins of some ancient civilization.
At one point I noticed what appeared to have been costly monuments to
the dead and I said to Norrena:
"Surely that must have been a cemetery."
"And so it was," he responded. "In those days, millions were expended
in decorating the graves of the rich, while the masses of their fellow
beings who had toiled to create what the few had absorbed, lived in
poverty, and large numbers died in alms houses or by the wayside, and
found their last resting place in a Potter's field. More was often
expended on a single tomb than could possibly have been earned in any
useful service to society, in a life-time. They sought to secure a sort
of immortality by polished granite columns and laudatory inscriptions.
This has all been changed for centuries. We cremate the dead body in
the most speedy and economical manner possible, and seek to secure
longevity and happiness for all, by creating the best possible
conditions for the living."
At another place I caught glimpses of monuments of another description,
mingled with what had evidently been palatial structures adorned with
the artistic work of the sculptor in great profusion. Obelisks of
polished stone towered above the surrounding trees, giving the forest
a peculiar appearance not easily forgotten, but difficult to describe.
Noticing my interest in the scene Norrena remarked:
"This was once a magnificent park, and was ornamented by works of art
from foreign lands representing the most ancient civilizations, as well
as the most artistic products of their own sculptors and painters. One
of those Obelisks dated back to pre-historic ages. It was transported
from its original site in the Old World, at great expense as a
monument to the wealth and munificence of the money kings. They had
conquered the world then existing and held the people in subjection. To
commemorate their success they sought to compel the Past to proclaim
their greatness and gratify their vanity. But they had no future.
They passed away. And now the descendants of the millions whom they
oppressed, visit these ruins and gather lessons of wisdom from their
contemplation."
We were now opposite a portion of the island where the ruins assumed
something of the appearance of a city. An open roadway between
buildings indicated that this had been one of the principal streets
in the olden time. The Silver King rounded to and made fast to a well
preserved dock which forcibly called to my mind the great docks of New
York, Liverpool and other seaport cities of the outer world.
We disembarked and found the first restrictions on our movements that
we had met in Altruria except the entrances to private apartments.
Those who desired to visit the ruins on the island were required to
register their names and accept an escort to see that nothing was
displaced or carried away from the chief points of interest.
These preliminaries arranged, the gates were opened and accompanied
by our escort, we proceeded up the well-worn roadway towards what
had doubtless been the chief center of wealth and power. On either
side were huge masses of debris, and falling walls of what had once
marked the site of lofty structures. Briers and brambles grew in the
accumulated dust of ages which now covered the well-paved streets and
marble sidewalks. Wild vines clambered over the shattered walls and
not unfrequently tall trees grew through the tops of buildings where
the walls still stood firm. We were in the midst of a deep tangled
wildwood, where on every side could be seen indisputable evidence that
this had once been a great center of population, wealth and luxury.
Ruined churches and marble halls where once had gathered the elite of
a city, the opulence of which had been the wonder of the world, now
afforded a nesting place for wild fowl.
My heart grew faint and my head dizzy as I pondered upon the wonderful
lesson spread out before me. Here had been a city, no less magnificent
in its prime than New York, the great metropolis of America, and I
asked myself the question, Could this ever be the fate of my native
city? Captain Battell, who was walking by my side, broke in upon my
meditations by asking:
"What do you think of it, Jack? I never saw you so absorbed."
And Yankee like I said:
"I reply by asking, what do you think, Captain? Surely you cannot be
indifferent to scenes like this when you reflect that we are natives of
New York City!"
"I am not indifferent," said Battell, "but I have had the advantage of
former visits and hence am better prepared for it. The part of the city
we are now approaching has been kept in a tolerable state of repair,
to make the lessons taught by these ruins more impressive. This visit
has been arranged for your especial benefit, as you are the recognized
historian of the Ice King. Polaris and Dione showed Huston and myself
through these ruins as soon as we reached the continent, which led me
to infer that they had learned enough of our money system from MacNair
to understand that we needed the lesson."
"Then you are not a total stranger to these scenes?" I said.
"No, I have been here several times and every time I come I get some
new light which applies to our own country. These ruins teach a
wonderful lesson. It does seem, as Norrena claims, that human progress
always leads up through similar channels of development. Here we are in
what was once a city, every feature of which indicates very clearly the
existence of the same conditions which now prevail in the great cities
of the outer world. It had its day and passed away because it had
served its purpose, and so must all great centers of pride and fashion
in which a few absorb the wealth created by the people and expend it
for their own pleasure without regard for others."
We now entered a locality where all the buildings, pavements, etc.,
had been kept in a state of repair that had in a great measure
withstood the ravages of time. Everywhere else the island had been left
without care and was a mass of ruins which were largely concealed from
view by a deep soil, composed of accumulated dust and vegetable humus
from ages of luxuriant growth. Here, however, were the Sub-treasury,
Stock Exchange and a number of great banking houses, still preserved,
to some extent, as the money kings had left them.
"These buildings," said Norrena, "were occupied by the taskmasters
of the people. Here was the headquarters of the gold power in this
country, and having a monopoly of money, it bore to the people the
relation of a Universal Creditor and absorbed the ENTIRE SURPLUS
created by their labor to meet its demand for interest, etc. Here was
practically determined the amount allowed to producers on one hand,
and the price charged to consumers on the other. This power was the
unquestioned dictator in every sphere of human activity. But we will
visit the vaults of the great money kings of that time, which were the
actual head-center of this oppressive oligarchy of wealth."
We entered a massive building. Its heavy bronze doors and polished
granite walls gave the impression, that notwithstanding its artistic
finish, the chief object in its erection had been strength and
durability. The thick plate glass windows could be at once protected
by heavily barred steel shutters. At a moment's notice this massive
structure could have been converted into a fortress that would enable a
small number to hold it against a multitude.
The front room was perfectly equipped as a bank, but with a strange,
and seemingly reckless display of gold coins, giving one the impression
that a time had come when the owners were utterly indifferent as to
what became of their accumulated hoard. Large safes were standing open
literally crammed with stacks of glittering coins. Tables and shelves
were crowded with the yellow metal, which the custodian informed us,
was kept just as it had been left, as a relic of the ages of mental
darkness, when the wealth producing millions foolishly believed that
they were dependent upon this golden hoard for the privilege of
converting their labor into the means of subsistence.
From the public office of the bank we descended a flight of marble
steps into the basement which we found brilliantly lighted by
electricity. Huge steel vaults were standing open, piles of gold bricks
rested upon the floors and packages of gold coins met our sight in
every direction.
"You see," said Norrena, "how the gold flowed in upon the creditors
when the people were making their exchanges without its use. Among the
people, it was only used to pay debts, and as the money kings owned, to
such a large extent, the indebtedness, the gold supply of the country
flowed in upon them until it was difficult to find storage for it.
Additional vaults were built and these were soon filled. At first they
sought to turn this glut of gold to profit by making improvements which
gave employment to labor. Great trunk lines of railroad were built
and the government borrowed vast sums which were expended on country
roads, waterways, harbors and so forth. But the people, now fully
established in business for themselves, continued, by their system of
paying dividends to consumption, to increase the price of labor and its
products. When these millions were paid out as wages and entered into
circulation they speedily found their way into the people's banks and
were returned to these vaults to pay debts. All this time the price of
labor and its products was increasing, and the purchasing power of gold
was decreasing, until in time all the debts were paid and the people
ceased to exchange their products for money altogether. The purchasing
power of gold was gone, and the money kings, who held on to the system
to the last, were poor indeed. They found starvation staring them in
the face. Then, they abandoned these useless hoards, went out among
the people and found plenty of employment for their really valuable
talents."
From the gold vaults we passed into others where bonds, mortgages,
stocks etc., had been kept.
"Here," continued Norrena, "at regular intervals, clerks were locked in
and kept close prisoners while they clipped coupons for their masters.
You see by the labels, the kind of securities which each compartment
contained. These vaults held a legal lien upon the great bulk of the
wealth of the country, the interest, dividends, etc., on which, if
paid in cash, would require each year a sum equal to, at least, one
and one-half times the entire circulating medium of the country, and
the principal if converted into cash would have required ten times the
entire volume of gold in the world. Here, in potency, was held a lien
sufficient to take every acre of land and personal property in the
country."
"That," I said, "calls to my mind a phase of the question which I would
like to have you explain. How did the multitudes, especially in this
city and on this coast, escape the grasp of these money-kings who also
owned the real estate? The people had no land to go upon, and hence
could not procure a subsistence by cultivating the soil without paying
tribute in the shape of rent."
"Your question," said Norrena, "is far-reaching and I can only hint at
the reply which it naturally calls forth. The money kings over-reached
themselves by encouraging people to secure loans and pledge their
real estate for interest and principal, and then by contracting the
circulation in order to increase the purchasing power of the money
which they received as interest. As long as only a minor fraction of
the land was mortgaged the interest was promptly paid, but a time
came when nearly all of the lands were mortgaged and the people were
compelled to force their products on the markets all at once to get
money to pay interest. More and more of the debtors gave up the
struggle and abandoned their farms. These lands were useless to the
money-kings when no longer cultivated by a sturdy yeomanry. All along
this eastern seaboard, where agriculture ought to have been most
profitable, farms were abandoned because they would not pay interest on
the investment. The money value of lands for actual use to producers,
declined to zero, and the people crowded into the city and were
regarded, in their impoverished condition, as a dangerous class. Under
these circumstances the tendency of the ruling class was to encourage
the homeless poor to go upon the lands and dig a subsistence out of the
soil, for which there was no market."
"Iola explained this to me," I said, "but I have never quite understood
why it was that these colonists were not charged a rental that would
keep them in perpetual poverty."
"That," said Norrena, "would certainly have been the result, if
there had been no great Central West, with a widespread tendency to
agitate the money question and its relation to the economic condition
of the wealth-producing millions. When the people began to organize
as consumers with a view to minimizing the demand for money, and to
equalize distribution by paying dividends to labor, the money kings
were forced to change their policy in regard to labor, and many
producers got a firm hold on enough land to furnish a subsistence. The
unused lands had no value and the Equitists continued to increase the
price of products in the west. The money kings who were not able to
sell their lands could avail themselves of opportunities to exchange
them for products. The leaders of the co-operative movement here in the
east knew how to take advantage of these changing conditions, and by
their communal system of co-operation, were able to keep the movement
on peaceful lines, and thus avoid violent collisions which might have,
locally, at least, set the work of industrial emancipation back for
years."
"Then it appears," I said, "that it was not the western organization
of Equitable Exchange, singly and alone, that compelled the Gold Power
to relax its grasp; but this eastern co-operative movement was also a
factor in securing better conditions for labor."
"That is true," said Norrena. "In the west, the people had one great
advantage over the east, plenty of land. But it was the organization
of equity in the west that flooded this eastern financial center with
money, not as interest, but because the western people were using
less money and paying debts. This made times better for the eastern
workmen. Both the western and eastern co-operators were working on the
same principles. They were all accumulating funds to purchase land,
and just in proportion as the people acquired control over business
they had more influence on legislation, and the power of money was
correspondingly decreased."
"So it seems," I said, "that your business organization did at last get
into politics!"
"Yes," said Norrena, "it did get into politics as a business influence
and what may seem strange to you, its object was to prevent the
repeal of laws which had been enacted in the interest of the money
monopolists. These shrewd financiers, raised a great outcry against
combinations among producers to increase the price of products by
using interchangeable certificates of deposit instead of money, in the
transaction of business. The people were using the same methods for
the improvement of their own financial condition that had been used so
successfully by monopolists for their impoverishment, and the Patrons
demanded that all the laws that had been enacted in favor of monopoly
should remain on the statute books. They further demanded that all
debts should be payable in legal tender money at the option of the
debtor."
"I should have thought," I said, "that the people would be glad to
welcome the repeal of laws from which they had suffered so much."
"There was a time when they would," said Norrena, "but not after they
had adjusted their business relations to the operation of monopoly
laws. Their debts were legally payable in money, and as the purchasing
power of money was continually decreasing, it was to their interest to
pay in money, and when all their debts were paid and the people refused
any longer to take money for their products, the money kings who owned
these vaults and their hoards of gold had to go in search of food.
Many found homes in the co-operative communities and became valuable
citizens, while a larger number had taken the alarm and emigrated to
the Old World, only to meet a worse fate a little later on, for in the
less enlightened parts of the world, the Reign of Gold wound up in a
Reign of Terror."
The lesson taught by these ruins would fill volumes. Norrena's
accurate historical knowledge and ever ready explanations, with the
not less forcible comments of Oqua and others, covered every phase
of this wonderful, speedy and peaceful evolution from the Era of
Money Despotism to the Era of Man and Universal Freedom, Equality and
Fraternity. No wonder, I thought, that these people had preserved the
ruins of Kroy as a relic of their Dark Ages and a warning to humanity
for all time to come. Here, human selfishness reigned supreme and
the people of an entire continent had suffered in order to pour into
this greedy maw the wealth which it had no power to consume. And now,
this once great center of wealth, pride and fashion, was a solitude.
Its aristocratic "four hundred" had actually been starved out by the
refusal of the "clodhoppers," "greasy mechanics" and "mudsills," whom
they had held in such contempt, to feed and clothe them any longer.
Surely this was an object lesson well worthy of the care that had been
taken to preserve it from the refining and civilizing hand of labor.
Time was slowly obliterating these foot prints of a tyranny from which
the people had been emancipated for ages, but it was still important
that it should not be entirely forgotten, and there could be no better
reminder of the evil that had impoverished and degraded the millions,
as well as of the means by which it had been removed, than these ruins
and the abandoned heaps of useless gold.
After a day among the ruins, and full of serious reflections, we
returned to the Silver King and were soon speeding down the bay.
We landed at the tower, and from this point the electric cars soon
transported us to our great communal home. I was fatigued and retired
to my own apartment at once, to think and rest.
[Illustration]