This is not a fairy tale.
The wonders of to-day, we are told by scientists, will be to-morrow the
common things of daily life.
Wireless telegraphy, it appears, is but the crude beginning to a deeper
knowledge of the mysteries that surround us. Waves of thought, like
waves of light, obedient to our will, may supplant the spoken word and
the written message.
And we learn that Space, the borderless abyss through which we move, is
vibrant with electric life. But still unsolved is the mystery of the
force that holds the moon, for instance, to its orbit around the earth.
And it holds it with a mightier power than bars of steel.
If it be true that the human voice goes out into space, on and forever,
as other waves, why should not a lover on a nearby planet receive the
message from an earthly maiden? If waves of thought keep pace with
waves of light, the call of a human heart would surely reach him.
This tale of Drowsy is the somewhat romantic narrative of a woman
and a reckless lover. An unusual lover, to be sure, with a singular
inheritance; but very human--and with a full equipment of human faults
and virtues. While his achievements may seem to us incredible, the
coming generation may regard them as commonplace events.
It was Pliny, the elder, who said, "Indeed, what is there that does not
appear marvelous when it comes to our knowledge for the first time?"
So, if this story of Drowsy seems a fairy tale, let us remember that
the Atlantic Cable would be a fairy tale to Columbus.