of the people were eating, or, rather, sipping liquids of various sorts
from small tumblers. Probably every person in the house, before the
affair was over, had imbibed two or three ounces of fluid; but not once
was the matter apologized for, nor the four invited to partake.
"So this may be the outcome of our outrageous habit of eating sweetmeats
at theaters," muttered the doctor. And again noting the hairless faces:
"Just what I said when men first began using those depilatories instead
of shaving--no more beards!"
But it was Billie who explained the invariable crop of hair. "No use to
look for baldness; they don't wear hats! Why should they, since there's
neither sun nor rain to protect their heads from?"
Mainly, however, the architect was interested in the building itself. To
her, the most striking feature was not the tremendously arched dome, nor
yet the remarkable system of bracing which dispensed with any columns in
all that vast space. It was something simpler--there were no aisles.
"Now, what do you make of that?" the girl asked Van Emmon. "How do they
ever get to their places?" But he could not suggest anything more than
to recall an individual elevator scheme once proposed.
To Smith, one object of interest was the telephone system. Remarkably
like those used on the Earth, one was located in each of the tiny glass
cages. He was likewise puzzled to account for the ventilation system;
each cage was apparently air-tight, yet no Venusian showed any
discomfort.
But the geologist, for want of anything strictly within his professional
range, interested himself in trying to fathom the moral attitude of
these people. He was still suspicious of them, notwithstanding a growing
tendency to like every one of their pleasant, really agreeable faces.
There was neither solemnity, sourness, nor bitterness to be seen
anywhere; at the same time, there was no sign of levity. In every
countenance was the same inexplicable mixture of wisdom and benevolence
that distinguished Estra. Nowhere was there hostility, and nowhere was
there crudity. Somehow, the big geologist would have felt more at home
had he seen something antagonistic. Essentially, Van Emmon was a
fighter.
At last the four felt their attention lagging. Novelties always pall
quickly, no matter how striking. Estra sensed the feeling and inquired:
"Which of you will do the honors?"
Instinctively the three younger folk turned to the doctor. He made no
protest, but stepped at once to one of the microphones, put on his most
impressive professional face, and began:
"My friends"--and Van Emmon noted a pleased look come into every face
about them--"my friends, I do not need to state how significant this
meeting is to us all. From what Estra has said, I gather that you have
informed yourselves regarding us, in some manner which he has promised
to make clear. At all events, I am exceedingly anxious to see your
astronomical apparatus."
At this a broad smile came to many of the faces before him; but he went
on, unnoticing: "Certainly there is not much I could tell you which you
do not already know; Estra's use of our language proves this. I only
need to assure you that we will be glad to answer any questions that may
occur to you. It goes without saying that we, of course, are filled with
delight to find your planet so wondrously and happily populated,
especially after our experience on Mercury, of which, I presume, you are
informed."
Apparently they were. The doctor went on: "You may be sure that we are
fairly bursting with questions. However, we are content to become
informed as Estra sees fit to guide us.
"There is just one thing, more than any other, which I would like to
know at this time. Why is it that, although you all show a great lack of
exercise, and are continually eating, you never appear to be healthy?"
Instantly a Venusian in the fifth row, to the doctor's right, touched
his phone and replied: "It is a matter of diet. We have nothing but
'absolute' foods; if you understand what that means."
And from that time on, despite the fact that the explorers asked
questions which, at home, would have found hundreds ready and able to
answer, on Venus only one person answered any given question, and always
without any apparent prearrangement. For a long time they could not
account for this.
The doctor motioned for Smith to take his place. The engineer looked a
little embarrassed, but cleared his throat noisily and said:
"I am especially struck with the fact that each of you sits in a
separate glass pew, or case. Why is this?"
The reply came from one of the few people present who showed any signs
of age. He was, perhaps, sixty, and his hair was fast whitening. He
said:
"For reasons of sanitation. It is not wise to breathe the breath of
another."
"Also," supplemented someone from the other side of that vast
pit--"also, each is thereby enabled to surround himself with the
electrical influences which suit him best."
Smith stepped back, pondering. The doctor looked to the geologist to
take his place, but Van Emmon made way for Billie. At any other time she
would have resented his "woman-first" attitude; now she quickly found
voice.
"How are you able to get along without aisles? It may seem a foolish
question, to you; but on earth we would consider a hall without aisles
about as convenient as a room without a door."
Immediately a Venusian directly in front of her, and on a level with her
eyes, called out: "Watch me, madam." And quite without an effort beyond
touching a button or two, the fellow rose straight into the air, glass
and all, and then floated gently over toward the middle of the hall.
"It probably appears complicated to you," explained the Venusian whose
side he had just left. "We make use of elements not found on your
earth."
Billie's _sang froid_ was not shaken. Instantly she came back
energetically: "Apparently your method overcomes gravitation. Why
haven't you tried to travel away from your planet?"
And she looked around with the air of one who has uttered a poser, only
to have another of the satin-clad people reply, from a point which she
was not able to locate:
"Because enough such power cannot be safely concentrated."
As Billie retired, Van Emmon noted with growing irritation that the
continuously affable aspect of the Venusians had not altered in any way,
unless it was to become even more genial and sure. The big man strode
energetically to the microphone, and the other three noted a general
movement of interest and admiration as the people inspected him.
"Why," demanded he, "do we see no signs of contention? If you are
familiar with conditions on the earth, you surely know that rivalry, in
one form or another, is the accepted basis of life. But all of you,
here, appear to be perfectly happy, and at the same time entirely sure
of yourselves.
"We have just come from a planet where we have seen the principle of
combat, of competition, carried so far that it seems to have wrecked the
race; so you will pardon my curiosity, I am sure. From your faces, one
would conclude that you had abolished self-interest altogether. Just why
are you so--well, extraordinarily self-complacent?" And he thrust out
his aggressive jaw as though to make up for the lack of chins about him.
"Because there is nothing for us to combat, save within ourselves." This
from a wide-faced chap in a bluish-white suit.
"But surely you have rivalry of some sort?"
"No." Another voice added: "Rivalry is the outgrowth of getting a
livelihood; on earth it is inevitable, because men do the work. Here,
everything is done by machines." Still another put in: "Discontent is
the mother of ambition, but we are all content, because each possesses
all he desires."
But the geologist was far from satisfied. "Then," said he vigorously,
"if you have eliminated all contention, you have nullified the great law
of contrasts. You say you are all rich. How do you know, if you have no
poverty to contrast it with?
"On earth, we appreciate warmth because we have experienced cold;
pleasure, because we know pain; happiness, because we have always had
misery with us. If we have not had the one, we cannot value the other.
"If you have never been discontented, how do you know that you are
content?"
VIII
THE KEY-NOTE
For a minute or two it looked as though Van Emmon had raised an
unanswerable question. There was no immediate reply. Even Estra looked
around, as though in wonder at the silence, and seemed on the point of
answering of his own accord when a voice came from a man far up on the
left. He said:
"A little explanation may be wise. To begin with, you will agree that
black is black because white is white; but it doesn't follow that blue
is blue because green is green, or red is red. Blue is blue because it
is neither green nor red nor any other color. It is blue, not because it
contrasts with these other colors, but because it merely differs from
them.
"Now, we on Venus do not need poverty, in order to appreciate wealth.
Instead, each of us is blessed with his own particular choice of wealth.
Each is blessed in a different way; some with children, some with
intellect, some with other matters; and the question of mere quantity
never enters."
"We do not need pain or misery," spoke up someone else, "any more than
you people on the earth require an additional color, in order to
appreciate the variety you already have." And then, from a Venusian with
an especially strong voice:
"That we are really content, we know absolutely. For each of us, in his
own distinctive way, is wholly and peculiarly satisfied."
And it only added to the geologist's irritation to have these striking
statements made in a good-humored, impersonal fashion which totally
disarmed all opposition. That the Venusians were perfectly sure of their
ground, was undeniable; but they had such a cheerful way of looking at
it, as though they didn't care a rap whether Van Emmon agreed or not,
that--If they'd only have shown some spirit! Van Emmon would have liked
it infinitely better if one of them had only become hot about it.
At this point Estra rose in his chair. "I think you had best approach us
from a fresh viewpoint," said he in his unfailingly agreeable manner.
The doctor nodded vigorously, and again Estra closed his eyes in that
odd, hesitating way. Immediately every one in the place, with the
exception of a single person in the lowest row, took flight in his or
her little glass pew. In a moment the great vault overhead was fairly
swarming with people; and in less than a minute the last of them had
floated out through one of the arches in the walls.
Estra opened a panel in the central cage, and admitted the Venusian who
had stayed behind. She--for it appeared to be a young woman--walked with
about the same facility as Estra; but as soon as she had entered the
space, took the seat Estra had vacated, and waited.
The action rather disappointed the doctor. He removed the interpreting
telephone from his head, and asked:
"I rather thought we were going to meet one of your officials, Estra.
We'd hate to go back home without having met your president, or whatever
you call your chief executive."
The two Venusians exchanged smiles, and to the surprise of the explorers
the woman gave the reply, in language as good as Estra's, but an even
sweeter expression: "There is no such thing as a chief executive on
Venus, friends."
"I meant," explained the doctor, rattled, "the chairman of your cabinet,
or council, or whatever it is that regulates your affairs. Perhaps,"
with an inspiration, "I should have said, the speaker of your congress."
The Venusian shook her head, still smiling. She hesitated while
selecting the best words; and the four noted that, while her features
were quite as delicate as Estra's, her face was proportionately larger,
and her whole figure better filled out. No one would have said that she
was pretty, much less beautiful; but none would deny that she was very
good-looking, in a wholesome, intelligent, capable sort of a way. Her
name, Estra told them later, was Myrin; and he explained that he and she
were associated solely because of their mutual interest in the same
planet--the Earth.
Said Myrin: "You are accustomed to the idea of government. We, however,
have outgrown it.
"If you stop to think, you will agree that the purpose of government is
to maintain peace, on the one hand, and to wage war, on the other. Now,
as to war--we haven't even separate nations, any more. So we have no
wars. And as for internal conflict--why should we ever quarrel, when
each of us is assured all that he can possibly want?"
"So you have abolished government?"
"A very long time ago. You on the earth will do the same, as soon as
your people have been educated up to the point of trusting each other."
"You haven't even a congress, then?"
Myrin shook her head. "All questions such as a congress would deal with,
were settled ages ago. You must remember that the material features of
our civilization have not changed for thousands of generations. The only
questions that come up now are purely personal ones, which each must
settle for himself."
Van Emmon, as before, was not at all satisfied. "You say that machinery
does your work for you. I presume you do not mean that literally; there
must be some duties which cannot be performed without human direction,
at least. How do you get these duties accomplished, if you have no
government to compel your people to do them?"
Myrin looked at a loss, either for the answer itself or for the most
suitable words. Estra gave the reply: "Every device we possess is
absolutely automatic. There is not one item in the materials we use but
that was constructed, exactly as you see it now, many thousands of years
ago."
Smith was incredulous. "Do you mean to say that those little glass pews
have been in use all that time?"
Estra nodded, smiling gently at the engineer's amazement. "Like
everything else, they were built to last. You must remember that we do
not have anything like an 'investment,' here; we do not have to consider
the question of 'getting our capital back.' So, if any further
improvements were to be made, they also would be done in a permanent
fashion."
Billie gave an exclamation of bewilderment. "I don't understand! You say
that nothing new has been built, or even replaced, for centuries. How do
you take care of your increase in population?" thinking of the great
crowd that had just left.
Myrin was the one who answered this. As she did so, she got slowly to
her feet; and speaking with the utmost care, watched to be sure that the
four understood her:
"Ever since the roof was put on, our increase of population has been
exactly balanced by our death rate!"
The four followed their guides in silence as they led the way into the
plaza. Now, the space was alive with Venusians. The little cages were
everywhere floating about in the air; some of the people were
laboriously shifting themselves into their aircraft; others were guiding
their "pews" direct to nearby houses. The visitors got plenty of curious
stares from these quiet miracle-workers, who seemed vastly more at home
in the air than on the ground. "As thick as flies," Van Emmon commented.
Estra and Myrin, walking very slowly, took them to a side street, where
two of the cigar-shaped cars were standing. Billie and Smith got in with
Estra, while Van Emmon and the doctor were given seats beside the
Venusian woman. The two cars were connected by telephone, so that in
effect the two parties were one.
By this time, the visitors had become so accustomed to the transparent
material that they felt no uneasiness as the ground receded below them.
Smith, especially, was tremendously impressed with Estra's declaration
that the glass was, except for appearance, nothing more nor less than an
extremely strong, steel alloy.
Propelled by the unexplained forces which the two drivers controlled by
means of buttons in black cases, the two cars began to thread their way
through the great roof-columns; and as they proceeded, the four grew
more and more amazed at the great extent of the city. For miles upon
miles that heterogeneous collection of buildings stretched, unbroken and
without system, until the eye tired of trying to make out the limits of
it.
"What is the name of this city?" asked Billie, secretly hoping that it
might bear some resemblance to "New York." It struck her fancy to assume
that this supermetropolis represented what Gotham, in time, might
become.
Estra did not take his attention from what he was doing, but answered as
readily as ever. "I do not blame you for mistaking this for a city. The
fact is, however, that we have no such thing."
Billie stared at him helplessly. "You've abolished cities, too?"
"Not exactly. In the same sense that we have abolished nations, yes.
Likewise we have abolished states, also counties. Neither have we such a
thing as 'the country,' now.
"My friends, Venus is simply one immense city."
IX
THE SURVIVAL OF ALL
Somehow all four were unwilling to press this question. It did not seem
possible that Estra was right, or, if he was, that they could possibly
understand his explanation, should he give it. The cars flew side by
side for perhaps a hundred miles, while the visitors put in the time in
examining the landscape with the never-ending interest of all aeronauts.
Here and there, in that closely-packed surface, a particularly large
building was to be noted every half mile or so. "Factories?" asked
Billie of Estra, but he shook his head.
"I'll show you factories later on," said he. "What you see are schools."
But most observers would have considered the structures severely plain
for their purpose.
After a long silence: "I'm still looking for streams," said Van Emmon to
Myrin. "Are your rivers as large as ours?"
"We have no rivers," was the calm reply. "Rivers are entirely too
wasteful of water. All our drainage is carried off through underground
canals."
"You haven't done away with your oceans, too, have you?" the geologist
asked, rather sarcastically. But he was scarcely prepared for the reply
he got.
"No; we couldn't get along without them, I am afraid. However, we did
the best we could in their case." And without signaling to Estra she
dove the machine towards the ground. Smith looked for the telephone
wires to snap, but Estra seemed to know, and instantly followed Myrin's
lead. The doctor noticed, and wondered all the more.
And then came another surprise. As the machines neared the surface, a
familiar odor floated in through the open windows of the air-craft; and
the four found themselves looking at each other for signs of
irrationality. A moment, and they saw that they were not mistaken.
For, although that kaleidoscopic expanse of buildings showed not the
slightest break, yet they were now located on the sea. The houses were
packed as closely together as anywhere; apparently all were floating,
yet not ten square yards of open sea could be seen in any one spot.
Van Emmon almost forgot his resentment in his growing wonder. "That gets
me, Myrin! Those houses seem to be merely floating, yet I see no motion
whatever! Why are there no waves?"
The doctor snorted. "Shame on you, Van! Don't let our friends think that
you're an absolute ignoramus." He added: "Venus has no moon, and no
wind, at least under the roof. Therefore, no waves."
Smith put in: "That being the case, there is no chance to start a
wave-motor industry here. Neither," as he thought further, "neither for
water-power. Having no rain in your mountains, Estra, where do you get
your power?"
But it was Myrin who answered. "I suppose you are all familiar with
radium? It is nothing more or less than condensed sunlight, which in
turn is simply electromagnetic waves; although it may take your
scientists a good many centuries to reach that conclusion.
"Well, every particle of the material which composes this planet,
contains radioactivity of some sort; and we long ago discovered a way to
release it and use it. One pound of solid granite yields enough energy
to--well, a great deal of power."
They had now been flying for two hours, and still no end to that
thickly-housed, ever different appearance of the ground. Also, although
they saw a great many birds, they noted no animals. Finally, Billie
could hold in no longer.
"Are we to understand," she demanded of Estra, "that the whole of this
planet is as densely populated as we see it?"
"Just that," replied the Venusian. "Why not? The roof makes our climate
uniform from pole to pole, while our buildings are such that, whether on
land or on sea, they are equally livable."
"But--Estra!" expostulated the girl. "Venus is nearly as big as the
earth. And it looks to be as thickly populated as--as Rhode Island! Why,
you must have a colossal population; let me see." And she scribbled away
in her memorandum book.
But both Smith and the doctor had already worked it out. They looked up,
blinking dazedly.
"Over three hundred billion," murmured the doctor, as though dizzy.
The Venusian checked Smith's correction with, "You dropped one cipher,
doctor. There are three and a half trillion of us!"
"Good lord!" whispered Van Emmon, all his antagonism gone for the
moment. And again the explorers were silent for a long time.
By and by, however--"We have just seen what it meant, there on Mercury,"
said the doctor, in a low voice, "for the principle of 'the survival of
the fit' to be carried to its logical end; for who is to decide what is
fitness, save the fittest? One man, apparently, outlived every one else
on the planet, and then he also died.
"But here you have gone the limit in the other direction. Of course, we
might have known that you long ago abolished poverty, unearned wealth,
pestilence, drunkenness and the other causes of premature death; but as
for three and a half trillion!"
"Nevertheless," remarked Myrin, "every last one of us, once born, lives
to die of old age; and in most cases this means several hundred of your
years."
Smith involuntarily rubbed his eyes; and they all laughed, a nervous
sort of a laugh which left the visitors still in doubt as to their
senses, and their guides' sanity. Van Emmon's suspicions came back with
a rush, and he burst out:
"Say--you'll excuse me, but I can't swallow this! Here you've shown us
houses as thick as leaves; not a sign of a farm, much less an orchard!
No vegetation at all, except for a few flowers!
"Three and a half trillion! All right; let it go at that!" Out came his
chin, and he brought one fist down upon the other as though he were
cracking rocks with a hammer, and with every blow he uttered a word:
"How--do--you--feed--them--all?"
X
LOAVES AND FISHES
Without a word Myrin drove her machine toward the ground, and, as
before, Estra followed despite the lack of any visible signal. Within a
minute the two machines had come to rest, softly and without
disturbance, on the roof of a handsome building, much like an apartment
house. There was the usual transparent elevator, and a minute later the
four were being introduced to the occupants of a typical Venusian house.
These two people, apparently man and wife, did not need to be told why
the explorers had been brought there. They led the way from the dimly
lighted hallway in which the elevator had stopped, into a group of
brightly decorated rooms. Here the four were given seats in the usual
saddellike chairs, and then Myrin answered Van Emmon's question:
"I knew that this point would arise soon, and you will pardon me if I
handle it in a prearranged fashion. I will admit that it is not an easy
question Mr. Van Emmon has put; not because the answer is at all
complicated but, on the contrary, extremely simple."
The four were listening unanimously. Despite himself, Van Emmon was
highly impressed by the Venusian woman's serious manner. Perhaps it was
because, in her earnestness, she was not quite so affable as before. She
went on:
"From where you are sitting, you can see all the rooms in this house.
You will look in vain for anything even remotely resembling a kitchen.
There is not even a dining-room.
"And yet you must not jump to the conclusion that we all use
restaurants. We have no such thing as a public eating place. Or rather,"
and here she spoke very carefully, "rather, every place is an eating
place."
The doctor looked Myrin over as though she were a patient with a new
kind of disease. "You do not mean that literally, of course," said he
kindly.
But she nodded gravely. "You must not misunderstand. Remember, even on
your own planet, the distribution of food is becoming more and more
extensive, until you can now buy something to eat at every crossroads.
We have merely carried the idea to its logical end, so that all
Venusians can obtain food at any time, and at any spot."
She turned in her chair--all the chairs on Venus were pivoted, Estra
said--and touched a button in the wall at her hand. A panel slid
noiselessly aside, and revealed a tiny buffet. At least, Billie labeled
it a buffet, for want of a more accurate term.
For it consisted of a silver bibb, something like the nozzle of a
soda-water fountain above which was a board containing a large number
of tiny, numbered push buttons. Below the bibb was a space in which a
cup might be set, and projecting from a tube at one side was a solid
block of telescoping, transparent cups.
"This," said Myrin, "is the Venusian Nutrition System. There is a
station like this in every room on the planet." And she proceeded to
take a cup from the tube, filling each from the silver faucet while she
pressed a variety of the buttons.
The four watched in silence, and eagerly took what was given to them. It
comprised liquids entirely; liquids of every degree of fluidity, from
some as thin as water to others as thick as gruel. They varied even more
as to color, ranging from actual transparency to a deep chocolate.
"Now, I warn you not to be shocked," said Myrin, "although I fully
expect that you will be. The fact is that we have no other kind of food
than what you see; there are thousands upon thousands of different kinds
and flavors, but they are all fluids. We have nothing whatever in solid
form.
"You see," she explained, "we have no teeth."
All they could do was to stare at her as, with a return of her smile,
she made a sudden gesture across the front of her mouth. Next instant a
set of false teeth lay in her hand!
Estra spoke up. "We are both obliged to wear them in order that we might
use your language." He removed his own, to show a mouth as free of teeth
as a newborn baby's. Both Venusians replaced their sets, and smiled
afresh at the explorers' astonishment.
"Teeth will soon be a thing of the past with you on the Earth, too,"
commented Myrin. "Dr. Kinney will surely testify to that. Your use of
soft, cooked foods, instead of the coarse, hard articles provided by
nature, is bound to have this effect in time. With us, it resulted in
having teeth reduced to the standing of your appendix; and, like you, we
resort to an operation rather than take chances on trouble. I may
mention that the appendix is totally absent from all Venusians, while we
are beginning to lose all traces of either the first or second molars;
just as you are beginning to lose your wisdom teeth.
"However, suppose you try our diet while I explain."
The four once more looked at each other. The doctor was the first to
take a sip of one of the cups handed to him, and Van Emmon was the last;
the geologist waited to see the effects upon the others before gingerly
tasting of the thickest, darkest liquid of them all. Another taste, and
he discovered that it was very good, and that he was exceedingly hungry.
"Very delicately flavored," commented Billie, after emptying her fourth
glass, a golden fluid with a slightly oily appearance.
"Delicately is right," said the doctor. "This stuff is barely flavored
at all, Estra."
The Venusian was also "eating." "We much prefer them all that way," said
he. "I suppose you would consider our tastes very finicky, on Earth; but
the fact is we are able to distinguish between minute variations in
flavoring such as would escape all on earth except a humming-bird."
"I suppose," remarked the doctor, smacking his lips over a reddish
solution with a winelike flavor, "I suppose we can expect something of
that sort on the Earth, too, in time. Originally mankind was only able
to distinguish fresh from stale, and animal from vegetable flavors."
After a while Myrin went on: "You know, the processes of nutrition, as
they take place among your people, are extremely wasteful. You have
probably heard it said that 'the average human is only fifty per cent
efficient.' That simply means that digestion, assimilation and excretion
require half the energy which they secure from the food.
"Now, the articles you have just swallowed require very little work on
the part of your digestive apparatus, and none at all upon your
eliminating tract. The food is almost instantly transformed into fresh
blood; if I am not mistaken, you already feel much refreshed."
This was decidedly true. All four felt actually stimulated; Van Emmon
instantly suspected the food of being alcoholic. As he continued to
watch its effect, however, he saw that there was no harmful reaction as
in the case of the notorious drug.
"I think I can now tell you how we produce enough food for the three and
a half trillion of us, despite our lack of farms and orchards," said
Myrin rising.
Returning to the air-craft, the four were taken a short distance in a
new direction, and again descended, this time transferring to an
elevator which dropped far below the surface. They came to a stop about
ten floors down.
"Naturally," said Myrin, "we reserve all the surface for residence
purposes; although, it is possible to live down here in comparative
comfort, since we have plenty of electrical energy to spare." And she
operated a switch, flooding the place with a brilliant glow. Thrown from
concealed sources, this light was quite as strong as the subdued
daylight which they had just left. "But unless we were free to fly about
as much as we do, we should feel that life was a bore. Nobody stays
below any longer than is necessary.
"Now, this is where our food comes from." Whereupon she showed them a
series of automatic machines, all working away there in the solid rock
of the planet; and of such an extraordinary nature that Smith, the
engineer, moved about in an atmosphere of supreme bliss.
"You will understand," said Myrin, "that the usual processes of
nutrition, on the Earth, depend entirely upon plant life. We, however,
cannot spare room enough for any such system; so we had to devise
substitutes for plants.
"In effect, that is what these machines are. They convert bed-rock into
loam, take the nitrates and other chemicals[12] directly from this
artificial soil, and by a pseudo-osmotic process secure results similar
to those produced by roots.
[Footnote 12: The geology of Venus is thoroughly described in Mr. Van
Emmon's reports to the A. M. E. A.]
"Likewise we have developed artificial leaves," pointing out a huge
apparatus which none but a highly trained expert in both botany and
mechanics could half understood. "This machine first manufactures
chlorophyl--yes, it does," as the doctor snorted incredulously; "not an
imitation, but real chlorophyl--and then transforms the various elements
into starch, sugar, and proteids through the agency of the sunlight
recovered from the granite.
"In short, to answer your question, Mr. Van Emmon, as to how we are all
fed--we do not grow our food at all; we go straight to the practically
unlimited supply of raw materials under our feet, and manufacture our
food, outright!"
XI
THE SUPER-AMBITION
Billie was very quiet during their return to the surface. She said
nothing until they had reached the two cars; and then pausing as she was
about to step in, she said:
"Well, I never saw our old friend, the high cost of living, handled
quite so easily!
"If that's the way you do things here, Estra," and the girl did not
flinch at the gazes the others turned upon her, "if that's your way,
it's good enough for me! I'm going to stay!"
For the first time, Estra looked astonished. He and Myrin exchanged
lightninglike glances; then the Venusian's face warmed with the smile he
gave the architect.
"It is very good of you to say that," he said impressively. "I was
afraid some of our--peculiarities--might arouse very different
feelings."
They stared at one another for a second or two, long enough for the
doctor to notice, and to see how Van Emmon took it. The geologist,
however, was smiling upon the girl in a big-brotherly fashion, which
indicated that he thought she didn't mean what she had said. Had he been
looking up at her, however, instead of down upon her, he would have seen
that her chin was most resolute.
Just as they were about to start again, both Estra and Myrin stopped
short in their tracks, with that odd hesitation that had mystified the
four all along; and after perhaps five seconds of silence turned to one
another with grave faces. It was Estra who explained.
"It is curious how things do pile up," said he, a little conscious of
having employed an idiom. "Our planet has gone along for hundreds of
generations without anything especially remarkable happening, so that
recently many prophets have foretold a number of startling events to
take place on a single day. And this seems to have come true.
"You have been with us scarcely ten hours," and the visitors stared at
each other in amazement that so much time had passed; "scarcely ten
hours, and here comes an announcement which, for over a hundred years,
has been looked forward to with--"
He stopped abruptly. The doctor gently took him up: "'Looked forward to
with'--what, Estra?"
Estra and Myrin considered this for perhaps three seconds. It was the
woman who replied: "The fact is, your approach to the planet has
stimulated all sorts of research immensely. Matters that had been
hanging fire indefinitely were revived; this is one of them. In that
sense, you are to blame." But she smiled as reassuringly as she could,
allowing for a certain anxiety which had now come to her face.
"Don't you think you could make it clear to us?" asked Billie
encouragingly. At the same time all four noted that the air, which
before had fairly thronged with machines, was now simply alive with
them. People were flitting here and there like swarms of insects, and
with as little apparent aim. Both Estra and Myrin were extra watchful;
also, they displayed a certain eagerness to get away, setting their
course in still another direction. In a minute or two the congestion
seemed relieved, and Myrin began to talk slowly:
"You have doubtless guessed, by this time, that we Venusians have
crossed what some call 'the animal divide.' We are predominatly
intellectual, while you on the earth are, as a race, still predominantly
animal. Excuse me for putting it so bluntly."
"It's all right," said the doctor, with an effort. "What you say is
true--of most of us." He added: "Most thinking people realize that when
our civilization reaches the point where the getting of a living becomes
secondary, instead of primary as at present, a great change is bound to
come to the race."
The Venusian nodded. "Under the conditions which now surround us, you
can see, we have vastly more time for what you would call spiritual
matters. Only, we label them psychological experiences.
"In fact, the 'supernatural' is the Venusian's daily business!"
There was another pause, during which both Venusians, driving at high
speed though they were, once more closed their eyes for a second or so.
Estra evidently thought it time to explain.
"For instance, 'telepathy.' With us it takes the place of wireless; for
we have developed the power to such a point that any Venusian can 'call
up' any other, no matter where either may be. That is why we need no
signs or addresses. There are certain restrictions; for instance, no one
can read another's thoughts without his permission. Of course, we still
have speech; speech and language are the ABC's of the Venusian; and we
still keep the telephone, for the sake of checking up now and then. Just
now, we are driving for my own house, where there is apparatus which
will enable you to both hear and understand an announcement which is
shortly to be made."
There was something decidedly satisfying, especially to Van Emmon, in
being taken into the Venusian confidence to this extent. When he put his
question, it was with his former aggressiveness much modified. He said:
"I should think that your people have pretty well exhausted the
possibilities of the supernatural, by this time. Progress having come to
an end, I don't see what you find to interest you, Myrin."
"The fact is," Billie put in, "we feel somewhat disappointed that your
people have shown so little interest in us." And she gave a sidelong
glance at Estra, who returned the look with a direct, smiling gaze which
sent a flood of color into the architect's face.
"Look out!" sharply, from Van Emmon; and with barely an inch to spare,
Estra steered his car past another which he had nearly overlooked. For
another minute or two there was silence; then Myrin said:
"You wonder what there is to interest us. And yet, every time you look
up at the stars, the answer is before your eyes.
"You see, although we cannot read your thoughts without your permission,
yet you on the earth cannot prevent us from 'overhearing' anything that
may be said. Under proper conditions, our psychic senses are delicate
enough to feel the slightest whisper on the earth.
"That is why Estra and I are able to use your language; we have learned
it together with an understanding of your lives and customs, by simply
'listening in.' I may add that we are also able to use your eyes; we
knew, directly, what you people looked like before you arrived.
"Well, it is our ambition to visit, in spirit, every planet in the
universe!
"There are hundreds of millions of stars; every one is a sun; and each
has planets. One in a hundred contains life; some very elementary,
others much more advanced than we are.
"So far, we have been able to study nearly two thousand worlds besides
those in this solar system. Do you still think, friend, we have nothing
to interest us?"
She raised a hand in a gesture of emphasis; and it was then that Billie,
her eyes on Myrin's fingers, saw another sign of the great advancement
these people had made--direct proof, in fact, of what Myrin had just
claimed.
For there must have been a tremendous gain in the intellect to have
caused such a drain upon the body as Billie saw. In no other way could
it be explained; the minds of the Venusians had grown at a fearful cost
to flesh and blood.
Not only were the fingernails entirely lacking from Myrin's hand, but
the lower joints of her four fingers, from the palm to the knuckles were
grown smoothly together.
XII
THE MENTAL LIMIT
"Make yourselves at home," said Estra, as they stepped into his
apartment. The cars just filled his balcony. "This is my 'workshop'; see
if you can guess my occupation, from what you see. As for Myrin and
myself, we must make certain preparations before the announcement is
made."
They disappeared, and the four inspected the place. As in the other
house they had entered, the room was provided with a double row of small
windows; some being down near the floor and the others level with the
eyes. These, in addition to two doors, all of which were of translucent
material.
On low benches about the room were a number of instruments, some of
which looked familiar to the doctor. He said he had seen something much
like them in psychology class, during his college days. For the most
part, their appearance defied ordinary description.[13]
[Footnote 13: Physicians, biologists, and others interested in matters
of this nature will find the above fully treated in Dr. Kinney's
reports to the A. M. A.]
But one piece of apparatus was given such prominence that it is worth
detailing. It consisted of a hollow, cube-shaped metal framework; about
a foot in either direction, upon which was mounted about forty long
thumb-screws, all pointing toward the inside of the frame. The inner
ends of the screws were provided with small silver pads; while the outer
ends were so connected, each with a tiny dial, as to register the amount
of motion of the screw. Smith turned one of them in and out, and said it
reminded him of a micrometer gage.
Then Billie noted that the entire device was so placed upon the bench as
to set directly over a hole, about ten inches in diameter. And under the
bench was one of the saddlelike chairs. The architect's antiquarian lore
came back to her with a rush, and she remembered something she had seen
in a museum--a relic of the inquisition.
"Good Heavens!" she whispered. "What is this--an instrument of torture?"
It certainly looked mightily like one of the head-crushing devices
Billie had seen. Thumb-screws and all, this appeared to be only a very
elaborate "persuader," for use upon those who must be made to talk.
But the doctor was thinking hard. A big light flashed into his eyes.
"This," he declared, positively, "is something that will become a matter
of course in our own educational system, as soon as the science of
phrenology is better understood." And next second he had ducked under
the bench, and thrust his head through the round hole, so that his skull
was brought into contact with some of those padded thumb-screws.
"Get the idea?" he finished. "It's a cranium-meter!"
It did not take Smith long to reach the next conclusion. "Then," said
he, "our friend Estra is connected with their school system. Can't say
what he would be called, but I should say his function is to measure the
capacity of students for various kinds of knowledge, in order that their
education may be adapted accordingly.
"Might call him a brain-surveyor," he concluded.
"Or a noodle-smith," added the geologist, deprecatingly.
"Rather, a career-appraiser!" indignantly, from Billie. "People look to
him to suggest what they should take up, and what they should leave
alone. Why, he's one of the most important men on this whole planet!"
And again the doctor was a witness to a clash of eyes between the girl
and the geologist. Van Emmon said nothing further, however, but turned
to examine an immense book-case on the other side of the room.
This case had shelves scarcely two inches apart, and about half as deep,
and held perhaps half a million extremely small books. Each comprised
many hundreds of pages, made of a perfectly opaque, bluish-white
material of such incredible thinness that ordinary India-paper resembled
cardboard by comparison.
They were printed much the same as any other book, except that the
characters were of microscopic size, and the lines extremely close
together. Also, in some of the books these lines were black and red,
alternating.
Billie eagerly examined one of the diminutive volumes under a strong
glass, and pronounced the black-printed characters not unlike ancient
Gothic type. She guessed that the language was synthetic, like Roman or
Esperanto, and that the alphabet numbered sixty or seventy.
"The red lines," she added, not so confidently, "are in a different
language. Looks wonderfully like Persian." By this time the others were
doing the same as she, and marveling to note that, wherever the red and
black lines were employed, invariably the black were in the same
language; while the red characters were totally different in each book.
Suddenly Smith gave a start, so vigorously that the other turned in
alarm. He was holding one of the books as though it were white hot.
"Look!" he stuttered excitedly. "Just look at it!"
And no wonder. In the book he had chanced to pick up, the red lines were
printed in _English_.
"Talk about your finds!" exclaimed Billie, in an awe-struck tone. "Why,
this library is a literal translation of the languages of--" she fairly
gasped as she recalled Myrin's words--"thousands of planets!"
After that she fell silent. Plainly the discovery had profoundly
affected and strengthened her notion of remaining on the planet. Van
Emmon, watching her narrowly, saw her give the room an appraising glance
which meant, plain as day, "I'd like to keep this place in spick and
span condition!" And another, not so easy to interpret: "I'd like to
show these people a thing or two about designing houses!" And the
geologist's heart sank for an instant.
He turned resolutely to the bookcase, and shortly found something which
he showed to the doctor. It was a book printed all in "Venusian." They
carefully translated the title-page, using one of the interlinear
English books as a guide; and saw that it was a complete text-book on
astral development.
"With these instructions," the doctor declared, "any one could do as the
Venusians do--visit other worlds in spirit!"
Just then Estra and Myrin returned. They were moving at what was, for
them, a rapid pace; and to all appearances they were rather excited.
"We were not able to make these records as perfect as we would like,"
said Estra, holding up four disks similar to the ones which still lay in
the explorers' translating machines. He proceeded to open the little
black cases and make the exchange. "There will be words used which I did
not see fit to incorporate in the original vocabulary, but which you
will have to understand perfectly if this announcement is to mean
anything to you."
"Thank you," said the doctor quietly. "And now, don't you think we had
best know in advance, just what is to be the subject of--"
"Hush!" whispered Estra; and next second they were listening to the
telephone in amazement.
XIII
THE WAR OF THE SEXES
"In accordance with my promise," stated a high-pitched effeminate voice,
"I am going to demonstrate a juvenation method upon which I have worked
for the past one hundred and twenty-two years."
There was a brief pause, during which Estra hurriedly explained that the
man who was making the speech was located far on the other side of the
planet, in a hall like the one the four had first visited; and that he
was making the demonstration before a great gathering of scientists.
"Too bad you cannot see as we do," commented the Venusian. "However,
Savarona may go into the details of--"
"If the committeemen are entirely finished with their measurements,"
stated the unseen experimenter, "I would like to have the results
compared with the recorded figures of Pario Camenol, who was born on the
two hundred and fifteenth day of the year twenty-one thousand seven
hundred and four."
Another rest, and Estra said: "They are examining a boy who appears to
be about twelve years of age."
Then came other voices: "As we all know, the craniums of us all are
absolutely distinct; as much so as our finger-prints." "The measurements
correspond identically with those of Pario Camenol, beyond a doubt."
"This boy can be none other than Pario."
"Then," the high-pitched voice went on, "then notice the formula I have
written on this blackboard. Using this solution, I have supplied
nourishment to this lad from the hour of his birth. Until a few days
ago, I was not satisfied with the results; the patient showed a tiny
variation from the allowable subconscious maximum, together with only
nine-tenths the required motor reaction.
"But I have corrected this. Briefly, I have incorporated in Pario
Camenol's standard diet certain elements which have hitherto been unsafe
to combine. These elements are derivatives of the potash group, for the
most part, together with phosphates which need a new classification.
Their effect," impressively, "has been to postpone age indefinitely!"
There must have been a tremendous sensation in that hall. The speaker's
voice shook with excitement as he went on:
"We have sought in vain, friends, for a way to cheat death of his due.
We have succeeded in postponing his advent until our average longevity
is several times greater than on our neighboring planet. But so far, it
has been a mere reprieve.
"What I have done is to prevent age itself. This lad is a hundred and
twenty-two years old, mentally, and still only twelve years old, as to
body!
"In short, I offer you the fountain of youth itself!"
The speaker paused. There was no comment. Evidently all had been as
greatly impressed as the explorers. Then the voice of the man Savarona
finished, very deliberately:
"I regret to say that my treatment, despite all that I have been able to
do, cannot be adapted to the female constitution. It would be fatal to
any but males. I repeat--I can offer eternal youth, absolutely, but only
to new-born males!"
This time there was a definite response. From the telephone came a
confused murmuring, at which Van Emmon's face lighted up with delight.
The murmuring had an angry sound!
"This is outrageous!" a loud contralto voice was raised above the rest.
"You are unethical, Savarona, to announce such a thing before adapting
it to both sexes!"
The high-pitched voice replied shortly, and with more than a hint of
malice: "If a woman had discovered this, instead of me, I dare say you
would have no objections!"
The murmuring grew louder, angrier, more confused. The four from the
earth looked at each other in some slight uneasiness. At the same time
they noted that Estra, his eyes tightly closed and his fists clenched in
the intensity of his concentration, suddenly gave a sigh of relief. Next
second he began to speak into the telephone, in a voice so loud as to
silence all the clamor.
"Savarona, and the people of Venus! Listen!
"The prophets were right when they said today would witness many great
things! I have just learned of another experiment which transcends even
that of Savarona!"
An instant's pause; then: "First let me remind you that we have been
doing all we could to elevate our spiritual selves. We are daily trying
to eliminate all that is animal, all that is gross and bemeaning in us,
even to the extent of reducing the flavors of our foods to the lowest
tolerable point. And despite all this, we have not been able to get rid
of sex jealousy!
"We still have the beast within us! No matter how pure our love may be,
it is always tainted with rivalry! Always the husband and wife are held
down by this mutual envy, forever dragging at their heels, constantly
holding them back from the lofty heights of spiritual power to which
they aspire!"
He paused, and Savarona's voice broke in, triumphantly: "You are right,
Estra! You are right, except you did not mention that this jealousy
becomes less and less as one grows older!
"Now, my discovery will put an end to your beast, Estra! My experiments
took this lad before he had become a man, and allowed his brain to
develop, while his body stopped growing! He is a man in mentality, and
an innocent boy in body!
"Estra, I have done the thing you wish! This boy will never know
jealousy, because he will never know love!"
The man in the room with the four answered in a flash: "So you have,
Savarona, but only for _men_! No female can benefit by what you have
done!"
"But I tell you that, within the past few minutes, a child has been born
under circumstances which can be repeated at any time, and for any sex!"
"In this case," the Venusian's voice changed curiously; "in this case,
however, it was a girl; for the mother controlled the sex in the
customary manner." At this, the doctor's interest became acute. At the
same time, the other three felt a tremendous, inexplicable thrill.
"Friends"--and Extra's face shone in his enthusiasm--"friends, for the
first time in creation the human male germ has been dispensed with! The
intellect has done what the laboratory could not do!
"I have the honor to announce that my sister, Amra, has just given
birth"--his voice fairly rang--"has just given birth to a girl baby,
whose only father was her mother's brain!"
XIV
ESTRA
This time there was no drowning the confusion. The telephone fairly
shook with innumerable cries, shouts, imprecations. The four gave up
trying to hear, and watched the two Venusians.
Myrin was facing Estra now. Her expression had lost a great deal of its
good humor, and there was a certain sharpness in her voice as she
exclaimed:
"Estra--if your sister has done this, and I see no reason to doubt it,
then she has made man superfluous! If women can produce children
mechanically, and govern the sex at will, the coming race need be
nothing but females!"
Estra nodded gravely. "That is what it amounts to, Myrin!"
For a moment the two stared at one another challengingly. On the earth,
their attitude would have indicated some unimportant tiff. None would
have dreamed that the most momentous question in their lives had come
up, and had found them at outs.
Next instant Myrin turned, and without another word walked from the
room. Estra followed slowly to the door, where he stood looking after
her with an expression of the keenest concern on his sensitive,
high-strung features. The three men from the earth, after a glance,
studiously avoided looking at him; but Billie walked up and laid a hand
on his arm.
"Are you really in favor of this--scheme?" she inquired, in a curiously
tender voice. At the same time she gazed intently into Estra's eyes.
He turned, and the smile came back to his face. He took Billie's hand
and laid it between both his own. His voice was even gentler than
before.
"Most certainly I do favor my sister's method, Billie. It will be the
greatest boon the race has ever known. We can look forward, now"--and
his face shone again--"can look forward to generation upon generation of
people whose spirituality will be absolute!"
The girl moved closer to him. She spoke with feverish earnestness.
"There may be some hitch in the idea, Estra. If God meant for man to
become--to become obsolete, He would not have hidden the method all this
time. Suppose some flaw should develop--later on?"
In the cube, Billie Jackson would not have stumbled over such a speech.
She would have ignored the fact that Estra was holding her hand all this
time, and gazing deep into her eyes; she would have been filled with
what she was saying and not with what she was seeing. On the other side
of the room, Van Emmon watched and glowered; he could not hear.
The Venusian lifted his head suddenly. The voices from the telephone had
subsided; only an occasional outburst came from the instrument. Estra
closed his eyes again for a second, and when he opened them again, his
manner was astonishingly alert, and his speech swift and to the point.
"So far as we know, Billie, the method has no flaws. It gives us the
chance to throw off our lower selves; and if by so doing, we reduce the
race to a single sex, only--"
He stopped short, as though at a sound; and with a word of apology
stepped from the room. He opened another door, far down the corridor;
and as he passed through, the wail of a new-born infant came faintly to
the four.
"Wonder what's up?" said Smith. Van Emmon, who had gone to the window,
whirled upon the engineer and motioned him to his side.
"Look at the people!"
Smith saw that the nearby houses were almost concealed by a throng which
had gathered, silently and without confusion, during the past few
minutes. Their numbers were increasing swiftly, fresh arrivals packing
the background. People filled the streets; the space below Estra's
balcony was already crowded as closely as it could be. Except for a
low-voiced buzzing, there was no disturbance.
Billie came up. She seemed to divine the temper of the mob. She caught
her breath sharply, and then said, very simply:
"It reminds me of--Bethlehem."
But the words had scarcely left her mouth before an uproar sounded from
one end of the street below. A crowd of excited Venusians was pushing
its way determinedly toward the house, their passage obstructed by
shouting, protesting individuals. Van Emmon's breast began to heave; he
fancied he saw blows struck.
"By George!" he exclaimed, next second. "They're fighting!"
It was true; a hand-to-hand battle was going on less than a block away.
The people below the window surged in the direction of the fight; all
were shouting, now; the clamor was deafening.
"Live and let live!" came one of the shouts. It was taken up by the
group that was doing the attacking, and made into a cheer. Then came
other cries from them. Smith made out something like "Down with sex
monopoly!"
"Don't you see?" shouted Smith, above the din. "These people below are
Estra's friends; those newcomers are backing Savarona! Get the idea?" he
repeated. "If Estra wins out, the old boy with the fountain of youth
will never get another boy baby to experiment on!"
"What!" The doctor leaped to their sides. He took it in at a glance;
then whirled to the door. "We ought to warn Estra!"
"He knows it already!" reminded Billie swiftly. A great shout came from
below; the attackers had forced their way through the crowd of Estra's
friends.
"Well!" Van Emmon stood squarely in the middle of the room. "So far as
I'm concerned, Estra and his sister can face that crowd alone! I don't
approve of the scheme!"
The doctor eyed him thoughtfully. "I'm not so sure, Van. This is a
tremendous thing; we ought to--"
"Van is--right!" exploded Billie. Her voice rose to a shriek as a crash
shook the house.
Next instant Myrin, for once in a hurry, broke into the room. She
glanced about, missed Estra, looked slightly puzzled, and then frowned
angrily as the Venusian himself stepped in: "You fooled me!" she shot at
him. But he smiled apologetically. He was carrying a large package of
leaflets, closely printed in Venusian; there seemed to be several
thousand in the lot. He said, by way of explanation:
"I had to get ready. Savarona's people will be here any moment; they
have destroyed the elevator, and--"
A wave of clamor burst from below. "They've broken the barrier,"
remarked Estra calmly; he turned to the door, then whirled at a crash
which sounded from above. "Through the roof," he added. He did not even
glance at the balcony, where the two cars barred the way against any
attack from that direction.
Next second he again quit the room. Myrin hesitated a moment,
irresolute, and then followed him thoughtfully. They never saw her
again. As for Estra, he came back in a moment carrying a small, white
bundle, which stirred in his arms. He unhesitatingly handed the child to
Billie. His mouth moved soundlessly as a muffled shriek arose from the
other end of the corridor; there was a thud, a metallic crash, and a
great roar of voices. The mob had broken in, and up, through the back of
the house. The first of the attackers thrust his head and shoulders into
sight not ten feet away.
Estra touched something with his foot, and a door shot across the
corridor. There was an instant's silence; then, the thunder of the mob,
hurling itself against the door. The people were fairly snarling now.
Estra closed the inner door.
"Estra!" shrilly, from Billie. She laid the baby down, and strode to the
Venusian. "Let's get out of here! The car's on the balcony; nobody's in
the way to interfere! Why not--"
A grinding, ripping jar from above, and Estra shook his head. The smile
was gone, and his mouth was set and grim. "They'd catch us before we
went a mile," he said, glancing at the infant, who had begun to cry, in
a stifled, gasping way that tore at the nerves.
"Estra!" Billie pleaded; but he turned away. The doctor strode up to him
and gripped his shoulder.
"What's the good, Estra? What can you accomplish even if you--"
The Venusian tapped his forehead. "I can _tell_!" he exclaimed, with a
return of that exalted flush. "Just give me a chance to offer my
sister's discovery to the world, and I shall be satisfied!" He touched
the package of leaflets. "These are not written as clearly as they
should be; but if I cannot hold them back, then these"--fingering the
papers--"these go to the friends down below!" He moved closer to the
window, but his eyes were on the door.
A rending crash told that the corridor was now open to the mob. There
was a rush, and then the storm of the people battering the last door.
"Van! Doc! Billie!" Smith had the window open, and was stepping into one
of the cars. Kinney and the geologist were at his side in an instant.
The girl held back.
"Estra!" she begged. She picked up the baby, and with her free hand
tugged at the Venusian's arm. "Come on! Don't sacrifice yourself!"
The door bulged under the attack. The noise was ear-splitting.
Nevertheless Estra heard, and shook his head without looking at the
woman from the Earth. She dashed to the window, then came back. "Hurry!
There's a chance!" He stood unmoved, watchful and ready. "Estra! I want
you to come!" Her face flamed. "Can't you see? Can't you see that I--I
want you?" She gasped as the door shrieked under the strain. "Come--if
you're a man!"
The Venusian's face changed. He turned, and stared at the girl with eyes
that held nothing but blank amazement. The grimness left his mouth, his
lips partly opened. He took a step forward and threw an arm about her
shoulders.
"Billie--I'm sorry! I never thought!" A crack showed at the edge of the
door, and a roar smote their ears. Estra backed to the window. "Go!" he
shouted. "Go quickly, while you can!"
Billie stood stock still, gazing at him. "I'm going to stay!" she
screamed. "I'll take my chances with--"
He thrust her through the window. "You don't understand!" he shouted,
and took the baby away from her, despite all her strength. Then a
wonderfully tender light came into his eyes. He gripped Billie's hands,
and spoke sorrowfully:
"Billie--I'm not what you thought! I'm not a man--I'm a woman!"
XV
BACK!
By the time Smith had driven the strange craft fifty yards, he had it
under control. Billie glanced back; Estra was out on the balcony, now,
and the mob was surging against the windows she had locked against them.
She shifted the baby to the hollow of one arm while with the other she
broke the cord of the packet.
At the sight, the crowd in the street gave voice. "Let us have it!" they
were crying; they drowned out the uproar within the house. Estra did not
even look at the other car.
Then the windows gave way. Like the breaking of a dam, a flood of
Venusians poured and tumbled at Estra's feet. She raised her hand, and
shouted something Billie could not hear; then, scarcely without pause,
the crowd bore down upon her.
And even as she was crushed against the railing, with one hand she
dropped the baby to eager, upstretched arms below; and with the other
she tossed the package high in the air. There it broke apart, the air
caught it, and the thousands of leaflets fluttered down upon that street
full of sympathizers.
Leaflets, each of which described a discovery which was to give to women
the power of abolishing the opposite sex, of making Venus a world not
only one in country, one in industry and one in thought, but--one in
sex!
The thunderous meaning of Estra's last action almost made Billie forget
that it was, in truth, the woman's last act. For next moment her
lifeless form was being crushed beneath the feet of that supremely
cultured, marvelously civilized mob; for it was only a mob, despite its
astounding advancement; a mob which had retained all the brute's
fanaticism, and all the male jealousy of the female.
For they were all men.
* * * * *
The four had been on Venus almost twenty-four hours when Smith, knowing
the condition of the machinery in the cube, warned the others that they
must return. Secretly, he was tired of the Venusians' continual smiling;
for they had fairly outdone each other to show the visitors all that
could be shown. But it was Van Emmon who thought to ask for Estra's
wonderful library.
"These chemicals and metals you are giving us," he said, making a
regular speech of it, "are extremely welcome; they will enable us to
perform experiments otherwise out of our reach.
"But Estra's books will mean still more to the people of the earth. If
there is no one else with more need for them, who is going to put in a
claim, then why not let us have them?"
Apparently the Venusians did not like the idea very well. "They must
have thought it was like letting a monkey play with a rifle," the doctor
afterward put it. But, for lack of a leader with any motive for
objecting, and because Estra had no living relatives to claim the
library, somehow that incredible collection of intellectual gems got
into the possession of the four. Nothing was said about it during the
quiet leave-taking, and when the cube finally rose away from the roof,
Van Emmon's face beamed with happiness and a great sigh of satisfaction
escaped him.
"Well"--looking at the books--"they kind of make up for the fact that
the folks didn't ask us to call again!"
And he turned and went straight to the kitchenette, where he proceeded
with great speed and efficiency to set out the following:
Canned Soup.
Canned baked beans. Fried bacon and egg.
Coffee. Peaches.
"Come and get it!" he shouted. The doctor tore himself away from the
books; Smith crawled out from the beloved machines; Billie came out
shortly from her cubby-hole, and slipped into her seat in a highly
excited manner. There was a brightness in her cheeks, and a noticeable
change in her usually assured manner. This timidity, so utterly new to
the girl, seemed most pronounced whenever Van Emmon chanced to look at
her; which was quite often.
All four were ravenous. They had been away from the cube a day and a
night, and "all we had to eat was something to drink," as Smith
complained. Nothing whatever was said except "Please pass that" and
"Thanks," for fully fifteen minutes.
At last they were satisfied. The doctor went back to the books; Smith
returned to his oil-can and wrench. But Billie stood by the table, and
began helping Van Emmon to clear up. In a moment they were face to face.
"Van," she said softly, and looked up at him wistfully. "Van--do you
like me better this way?" Her eyes were almost piteous.
Into the man's face there came a look of amazement followed by one of
admiration, and another of genuine delight He gave a little laugh, and
unconsciously threw out his hands.
"Much better, Billie." Neither of them cared a particle whether Smith or
the doctor saw that Billie, very simply and naturally, walked right into
Van Emmon's arms. "Much better. Besides, you're really too graceful to
wear anything else."