EUROPE
The next day we were flying over the ocean. The fluctuous and
changeable waves were beneath us, with their multitudinous hues and
colors, as light and foam and billows mingled. Far as the eye could
reach, they seemed to be climbing over each other forever, like the
endless competitions of men in the arena of life. Above us was the
panorama of the clouds--so often the harbingers of terror; for even
in their gentlest forms they foretell the tempest, which is ever
gathering the mists around it like a garment, and, however
slow-paced, is still advancing.
A whale spouted. Happy nature! How cunningly were the wet, sliding
waves accommodated to that smooth skin and those nerves which rioted
in the play of the tumbling waters. A school of dolphins leaped and
gamboled, showing their curved backs to the sun in sudden glimpses; a
vast family; merry, social, jocund, abandoned to happiness. The gulls
flew about us as if our ship was indeed a larger bird; and I thought
of the poet's lines wherein he describes--
"The gray gull, balanced on its bow-like wings,
Between two black waves, seeking where to dive."
And here were more kindly adjustments. How the birds took advantage
of the wind and made it lift them or sink them, or propel them
forward; tacking, with infinite skill, right in the eye of the gale,
like a sailing-vessel. It was not toil--it was delight, rapture--the
very glory and ecstasy of living. Everywhere the benevolence of God
was manifest: light, sound, air, sea, clouds, beast, fish and bird;
we were in the midst of all; we were a part of all; we rejoiced in
all.
And then my thoughts reverted to the great city; to that congregation
of houses; to those streets swarming with murderers; to that hungry,
moaning multitude.
Why did they not listen to me? Why did rich and poor alike mock me?
If they had not done so, this dreadful cup might have been averted
from their lips. But it would seem as if faith and civilization were
incompatible. Christ was only possible in a barefooted world; and the
few who wore shoes murdered him. What dark perversity was it in the
blood of the race that made it wrap itself in misery, like a garment,
while all nature was happy?
Max told me that we had had a narrow escape. Of the three messengers
we had sent forth to General Quincy, but one reached him; the others
had been slain on the streets. And when the solitary man fought his
way through to the armory he found the Mamelukes of the Air full of
preparations for a flight that night to the mountain regions of South
America. Had we delayed our departure for another day, or had all
three of our messengers been killed by the marauders, we must all
have perished in the midst of the flames of the burning building. We
joined Mr. Phillips, therefore, with unwonted heartiness in the
morning prayers.
The next day we came in sight of the shores of Europe. As we drew
near, we passed over multitudes of open boats, river steamers and
ships of all kinds, crowded with people. Many of these vessels were
unfitted for a sea voyage, but the horrors they fled from were
greater than those the great deep could conjure up. Their occupants
shouted to us, through speaking-trumpets, to turn back; that all
Europe was in ruins. And we, in reply, warned them of the condition
of things in America, and advised them to seek out uncivilized lands,
where no men dwelt but barbarians.
As we neared the shore we could see that the beaches, wharves and
tongues of sand were everywhere black with people, who struggled like
madmen to secure the few boats or ships that remained. With such
weapons as they had hurriedly collected they fought back the
better-armed masses of wild and desperate men who hung upon their
skirts, plying the dreadful trade of murder. Some of the agonized
multitude shrieked to us for help. Our hearts bled for them, but we
could do nothing. Their despairing hands were held up to us in
supplication as the air-ship darted over them.
But why dilate upon the dreadful picture that unrolled beneath us?
Hamlets, villages, towns, cities, blackened and smoking masses of
ruin. The conflicts were yet raging on every country road and city
street; we could hear the shrieks of the flying, the rattle of rifles
and pistols in the hands of the pursuers. Desolation was everywhere.
Some even rushed out and fired their guns viciously at us, as if
furious to see anything they could not destroy. Never before did I
think mankind was so base. I realized how much of the evil in human
nature had been for ages suppressed and kept in subjection by the
iron force of law and its terrors. Was man the joint product of an
angel and a devil? Certainly in this paroxysm of fate he seemed to be
demoniacal.
We turned southward over the trampled gardens and vineyards of
France. A great volcanic lava field of flame and ashes--burning,
smoking--many miles in extent--showed where Paris had been. Around it
ragged creatures were prowling, looking for something to eat, digging
up roots in the fields. At one place, in the open country, I
observed, ahead of us, a tall and solitary tree in a field; near it
were the smouldering ruins of a great house. I saw something white
moving in the midst of the foliage, near the top of the tree. I
turned my glass upon it. It was a woman, holding something in her
arms.
"Can we not take her up?" I asked the captain of the airship.
"We cannot stop the vessel in that distance--but we might return to
it," he replied.
"Then do so, for God's sake," I said.
We swooped downward. We passed near the tree. The woman screamed to
us to stop, and held up an infant. Christina and Estella and all the
other women wept. We passed the tree--the despairing cries of the
woman were dreadful to listen to. But she takes courage; sees us
sweep about; we come slowly back; we stop; a rope ladder falls; I
descend; I grasp the child's clothes between my teeth; I help the
woman up the ladder. She falls upon the deck of the ship, and cries
out in French: "Spare my child!" Dreadful period! when every human
being is looked upon as a murderer. The women comfort her. Her
clothes are in rags, but upon her fingers are costly jewels. Her babe
is restored to her arms; she faints with hunger and exhaustion. For
three days, she tells us, she has been hidden in that tree, without
food or drink; and has seen all dear to her perish--all but her
little François. And with what delight Estella and Christina and the
rest cuddle and feed the pretty, chubby, hungry little stranger!
Thank God for the angel that dwells in human nature. And woe unto him
who bids the devil rise to cast it out!
Max, during all this day, is buried in profound thought. He looks out
at the desolated world and sighs. Even Christina fails to attract his
attention. Why should he be happy when there is so much misery? Did
he not help to cause it?
But, after a time, we catch sight of the blue and laughing waters of
the Mediterranean, with its pleasant, bosky islands. This is gone,
and in a little while the yellow sands of the great desert stretch
beneath us, and extend ahead of us, far as the eye can reach. We pass
a toiling caravan, with its awkward, shuffling, patient camels, and
its dark attendants. They have heard nothing, in these solitudes, of
the convulsions that rend the world. They pray to Allah and Mahomet
and are happy. The hot, blue, cloudless sky rises in a great dome
above their heads; their food is scant and rude, but in their veins
there burn not those wild fevers of ambition which have driven
mankind to such frenzies and horrors. They live and die as their
ancestors did, ten thousand years ago--unchangeable as the stars
above their heads; and these are even as they shone clear and bright
when the Chaldean shepherds first studied the outlines of the
constellations, and marked the pathways of the wandering planets.
Before us, at last, rise great blue masses, towering high in air,
like clouds, and extending from east to west; and these, in a little
while, as we rush on, resolve themselves into a mighty mountain
range, snow-capped, with the yellow desert at its feet, stretching
out like a Persian rug.
I direct the pilot, and in another hour the great ship begins to
abate its pace; it sweeps in great circles. I see the sheep flying
terrified by our shadow; then the large, roomy, white-walled house,
with its broad verandas, comes into view; and before it, looking up
at us in surprise, are my dear mother and brothers, and our servants.
The ship settles down from its long voyage. We are at home. We are at
peace.