The Second Deluge Read online

  CHAPTER III

  THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE

  The utterance of the Carnegie Institution indeed fell flat, and CosmoVersal's star reigned in the ascendent. He pushed his preparations withamazing speed, and not only politics, but even the war that had justbroken out in South America was swallowed up in the newspapers byendless descriptions of the mysterious proceedings at Mineola. Cosmostill found time every day to write articles and to give out interviews;and Joseph Smith was kept constantly on the jump, running forstreet-cars or trains, or leaping, with his long coat flapping, into andout of elevators on ceaseless missions to the papers, the scientificsocieties, and the meetings of learned or unlearned bodies which hadbeen persuaded to investigate the subject of the coming flood. Betweenthe work of preparation and that of proselytism it is difficult to seehow Cosmo found time to sleep.

  Day by day the Ark of Safety rose higher upon its great platform, itshuge metallic ribs and broad, bulging sides glinting strangely in theunbroken sunshine--for, as if imitating the ominous quiet before anearthquake, the July sky had stripped itself of all clouds. Nothunder-storms broke the serenity of the long days, and never had theoverarching heavens seemed so spotless and motionless in their ceruleandepths.

  All over the world, as the news dispatches showed, the same strange calmprevailed. Cosmo did not fail to call attention to this unparalleledrepose of nature as a sure prognostic of the awful event in preparation.

  The heat became tremendous. Hundreds were stricken down in the blazingstreets. Multitudes fled to the seashore, and lay panting underumbrellas on the burning sands, or vainly sought relief by plunging intothe heated water, which, rolling lazily in with the tide, felt as if ithad come from over a boiler.

  Still, perspiring crowds constantly watched the workmen, who struggledwith the overpowering heat, although Cosmo had erected canvas screensfor them and installed a hundred immense electric fans to create abreeze.

  Beginning with five hundred men, he had, in less than a month, increasedhis force to nearer five thousand, many of whom, not engaged in theactual construction, were preparing the materials and bringing themtogether. The ark was being made of pure levium, the wonderful new metalwhich, although already employed in the construction of aeroplanes andthe framework of dirigible balloons, had not before been used forshipbuilding, except in the case of a few small boats, and these usedonly in the navy.

  For mere raw material Cosmo must have expended an enormous sum, and hisexpenses were quadrupled by the fact that he was compelled, in order tosave time, practically to lease several of the largest steel plants inthe country. Fortunately levium was easily rolled into plates, and thesupply was sufficient, owing to the discovery two years before of anexpeditious process of producing the metal from its ores.

  The wireless telegraph and telephone offices were besieged bycorrespondents eager to send inland, and all over Europe and Asia, thelatest particulars of the construction of the great ark. Nobody followedCosmo's advice or example, but everybody was intensely interested andpuzzled.

  At last the government officials found themselves forced to takecognizance of the affair. They could no longer ignore it after theydiscovered that it was seriously interfering with the conduct of publicbusiness. Cosmo Versal's pressing orders, accompanied by cash, displacedor delayed orders of the government commanding materials for the navyand the air fleet. In consequence, about the middle of July he receiveda summons to visit the President of the United States. Cosmo hurried toWashington on the given date, and presented his card at the White House.He was shown immediately into the President's reception-room, where hefound the entire Cabinet in presence. As he entered he was the focus ofa formidable battery of curious and not too friendly eyes.

  President Samson was a large, heavy man, more than six feet tall. Everymember of his Cabinet was above the average in avoirdupois, and theheavyweight president of the Carnegie Institution, Professor Pludder,who had been specially invited, added by his presence to the air ofponderosity that characterized the assemblage. All seemed magnified bythe thin white garments which they wore on account of the oppressiveheat. Many of them had come in haste from various summer resorts, andwere plainly annoyed by the necessity of attending at the President'scommand.

  Cosmo Versal was the only cool man there, and his diminutive formpresented a striking contrast to the others. But he looked as if hecarried more brains than all of them put together.

  He was not in the least overawed by the hostile glances of thestatesmen. On the contrary, his lips perceptibly curled, in ahalf-disdainful smile, as he took the big hand which the Presidentextended to him. As soon as Cosmo Versal had sunk into the embrace of alarge easy chair, the President opened the subject.

  "I have directed you to come," he said in a majestic tone, "in order thesooner to dispel the effects of your unjustifiable predictions andextraordinary proceedings on the public mind--and, I may add, on publicaffairs. Are you aware that you have interfered with the measures ofthis government for the defense of the country? You have stepped infront of the government, and delayed the beginning of four battleshipswhich Congress has authorized in urgent haste on account of thethreatening aspect of affairs in the East? I need hardly say to you thatwe shall, if necessary, find means to set aside the private agreementsunder which you are proceeding, as inimical to public interests, but youhave already struck a serious blow at the security of your country."

  The President pronounced the last sentence with oratorical unction, andCosmo was conscious of an approving movement of big official shouldersaround him. The disdain deepened on his lips.

  After a moment's pause the President continued:

  "Before proceeding to extremities I have wished to see you personally,in order, in the first place, to assure myself that you are mentallyresponsible, and then to appeal to your patriotism, which should leadyou to withdraw at once an obstruction so dangerous to the nation. Doyou know the position in which you have placed yourself?"

  Cosmo Versal got upon his feet and advanced to the center of the roomlike a little David. Every eye was fixed upon him. His voice was steady,but intense with suppressed nervousness.

  "Mr. President," he said, "you have accused me of obstructing themeasures of the government for the defense of the country. Sir, I amtrying to save the whole human race from a danger in comparison withwhich that of war is infinitesimal--a danger which is rushing down uponus with appalling speed, and which will strike every land on the globesimultaneously. Within seven months not a warship or any other existingvessel will remain afloat."

  The listeners smiled, and nodded significantly to one another, but thespeaker only grew more earnest.

  "You think I am insane," he said, "but the truth is you are hoodwinkedby official stupidity. That man," pointing at Professor Pludder, "whoknows me well, and who has had all my proofs laid before him, is eithertoo thick-headed to understand a demonstration or too pig-headed toconfess his own error."

  "Come, come," interrupted the President sternly, while Professor Pludderflushed very red, "this will not do! Indulge in no personalities here. Ihave, strained a point in offering to listen to you at all, and I haveinvited the head of the greatest of our scientific societies to bepresent, with the hope that here before us all he might convince you ofyour folly, and thus bring the whole unfortunate affair promptly to anend."

  "_He_ convince _me_ !" cried Cosmo Versal disdainfully. "He isincapable of understanding the A, B, C of my work. But let me tell youthis, Mr. President--there are men in his own council who are not soblind. I know what occurred at the recent meeting of that council, and Iknow that the ridiculous announcement put forth in its name to deceivethe public was whipped into shape by him, and does not express the realopinion of many of the members."

  Professor Pludder's face grew redder than ever.

  "Name one!" he thundered.

  "Ah," said Cosmo sneeringly, "that hits hard, doesn't it? You want me toname _one_; well, I'll name _three_. What did ProfessorAlexander Jones
and Professor Abel Able say about the existence ofwatery nebula, and what was the opinion expressed by Professor JeremiahMoses about the actual approach of one out of the northern sky, and whatit could do if it hit the earth? What was the unanimous opinion of theentire council about the correctness of my mathematical work? And what,"he continued, approaching Professor Pludder and shaking his finger up athim--"_what have you done with those three dispatches from Iceland,the North Cape, and Kamchatka, which absolutely confirmed myannouncement that the nebula was already visible?_"

  Professor Pludder began stammeringly:

  "Some spy--"

  "Ah," cried Cosmo, catching him up, "_a spy_, hey? Then, you admitit! Mr. President, I beg you to notice that he admits it. Sir, this is aconspiracy to conceal the truth. Great Heaven, the world is on the pointof being drowned, and yet the pride of officialism is so strong in thisplodder--Pludder--and others of his ilk that they'd sooner take thechance of letting the human race be destroyed than recognize the truth!"

  Cosmo Versal spoke with such tremendous concentration of mental energy,and with such evident sincerity of conviction, and he had so plainly putProfessor Pludder to rout, that the President, no less than the otherlistening statesmen, was thrown into a quandary.

  There was a creaking of heavily burdened chairs, a ponderous stir allround the circle, while a look of perplexity became visible on everyface. Professor Pludder's conduct helped to produce the change of moralatmosphere. He had been so completely surprised by Cosmo's accusation,based on facts which he had supposed were known only to himself and thecouncil, that he was unable for a minute to speak at all, and before hecould align his faculties his triumphant little opponent renewed theattack.

  "Mr. President," he said, laying his hand on the arm of Mr. Samson's bigchair, which was nearly on a level with his breast, and speaking withpersuasive earnestness, "you are the executive head of a mightynation--the nation that sets the pace for the world. It is in your powerto do a vast, an incalculable, service to humanity. One official wordfrom you would save millions upon millions of lives. I implore you,instead of interfering with my work, to give instant order for theconstruction of as many arks, based upon the plans I have perfected, asthe navy yard can possibly turn out. Issue a proclamation to the people,warning them that this is their only chance of escape."

  By a curious operation of the human mind, this speech cost Cosmo nearlyall the advantage that he had previously gained. His ominous suggestionof a great nebula rushing out of the heavens to overwhelm the earth hadimmensely impressed the imagination of his hearers, and hisuncontradicted accusation that Professor Pludder was concealing thefacts had almost convinced them that he was right. But when he mentioned"arks," the strain was relieved, and a smile broke out on the broad faceof the President. He shook his head, and was about to speak, when Cosmo,perceiving that he had lost ground, changed his tactics.

  "Still you are incredulous!" he exclaimed. "But the proof is before you!Look at the blazing heavens! The annals of meteorology do not recordanother such summer as this. The vanguard of the fatal nebula is alreadyupon us. The signs of disaster are in the sky. But, note what Isay--this is only the _first_ sign. There is another following onits heels which may be here at any moment. To heat will succeed cold,and as we rush through the tenuous outer spirals the earth willalternately be whipped with tempests of snow and sleet, and scorched byfierce outbursts of solar fire. For three weeks the atmosphere has beenheated by the inrush of invisible vapor--but look out, I warn you, forthe change that is impending!"

  These extraordinary words, pronounced with the wild air of a prophet,completed the growing conviction of the listeners that they really had amadman to deal with, and Professor Pludder, having recovered hisself--command, rose to his feet.

  "Mr. President," he began, "the evidence which we have just seen of anunbalanced mind--"

  He got no further. A pall of darkness suddenly dropped upon the room. Aninky curtain seemed to have fallen from the sky. At the same time thewindows were shaken by tremendous blasts of wind, and, as the electriclights were hastily turned on, huge snowflakes, intermingled withrattling hailstones, were seen careering outside. In a few secondsseveral large panes of glass were broken, and the chilling wind,sweeping round the apartment, made the teeth of the thinly cladstatesmen chatter, while the noise of the storm became deafening. Thesky lightened, but at the same moment dreadful thunderpeals shook thebuilding. Two or three trees in the White House grounds were struck bythe bolts, and their broken branches were driven through the air andcarried high above the ground by the whirling winds, and one of them wasthrown against the building with such force that for a moment it seemedas if the wall had been shattered.

  After the first stunning effect of this outbreak of the elements hadpassed, everybody rushed to the windows to look out--everybody exceptCosmo Versal, who remained standing in the center of the room.

  "I told you!" he said; but nobody listened to him. What they saw outsideabsorbed every faculty. The noise was so stunning that they could nothave heard him.

  We have said that the air lightened after the passage of the first pallof darkness, but it was not the reappearance of the sun that caused thebrightening. It was an awful light, which seemed to be born out of theair itself. It had a menacing, coppery hue, continually changing incharacter. The whole upper atmosphere was choked with dense clouds,which swirled and tumbled, and twisted themselves into great vorticalrolls, spinning like gigantic millshafts. Once, one of these vortexesshot downward, with projectile speed, rapidly assuming the terrible formof the trombe of a tornado, and where it struck the ground it toreeverything to pieces--trees, houses, the very earth itself were groundto powder and then whirled aloft by the resistless suction.

  Occasionally the darkness returned for a few minutes, as if a cover hadbeen clapped upon the sky, and then, again, the murk would roll off, andthe reddish gleam would reappear. These swift alternations ofimpenetrable gloom and unearthly light shook the hearts of thedumfounded statesmen even more than the roar and rush of the storm.

  A cry of horror broke from the onlookers when a man and a woman suddenlyappeared trying to cross the White House grounds to reach a place ofcomparative safety, and were caught up by the wind, clinging desperatelyto each other, and hurled against a wall, at whose base they fell in aheap.

  Then came another outburst of lightning, and a vicious bolt descendedupon the Washington Monument, and, twisting round it, seemed to envelopthe great shaft in a pulsating corkscrew of blinding fire. The reportthat instantly followed made the White House dance upon its foundations,and, as if that had been a signal, the flood-gates of the skyimmediately opened, and rain so dense that it looked like a solidcataract of water poured down upon the earth. The raging water burstinto the basement of the building, and ran off in a shoreless rivertoward the Potomac.

  The streaming rain, still driven by the wind, poured through the brokenwindows, driving the President and the others to the middle of the room,where they soon stood in rills of water soaking the thick carpet.

  They were all as pale as death. Their eyes sought one another's faces indumb amazement. Cosmo Versal alone retained perfect self-command. Inspite of his slight stature he looked their master. Raising his voice tothe highest pitch, in order to be heard, he shouted:

  "These are the first drops of the Deluge! Will you believe now?"