THE SECOND DELUGE

By

Garrett P. Serviss

1912

[Illustration: "THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH" [Page 106] ]

FOREWORD

What is here set down is the fruit of long and careful research amongdisjointed records left by survivors of the terrible events described. The writer wishes frankly to say that, in some instances, he hasfollowed the course which all historians are compelled to take by usinghis imagination to round out the picture. But he is able conscientiouslyto declare that in the substance of his narrative, as well as in everydetail which is specifically described, he has followed faithfully theaccounts of eyewitnesses, or of those who were in a position to know thetruth of what they related. 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

 I. COSMO VERSÁL

 II. MOCKING AT FATE

 III. THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE

 IV. THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR

 V. THE THIRD SIGN

 VI. SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND

 VII. THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE

 VIII. STORMING THE ARK

 IX. THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED

 X. THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK

 XI. "A BILLION FOR A SHARE"

 XII. THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD

 XIII. STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA

 XIV. THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT

 XV. PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE

 XVI. MUTINY IN THE ARK

 XVII. THE _JULES VERNE_

XVIII. NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE

 XIX. TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA

 XX. THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO

 XXI. "THE FATHER OF HORROR"

 XXII. THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES

XXIII. ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD

 XXIV. THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME

 XXV. NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB

 XXVI. NEW AMERICA

ILLUSTRATIONS

"THEY MEANT TO CARRY THE ARK WITH A RUSH"

"THE GREAT BATTLESHIP ... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL-RIBBED WALLS"

"IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE"

"AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OF GENERAL GRANT"

THE SECOND DELUGE

CHAPTER I

COSMO VERSÁL

An undersized, lean, wizen-faced man, with an immense bald head, asround and smooth and shining as a giant soap-bubble, and a pair of beadyblack eyes, set close together, so that he resembled a gnome of amazingbrain capacity and prodigious power of concentration, sat bent over awriting desk with a huge sheet of cardboard before him, on which he wasswiftly drawing geometrical and trigonometrical figures. Compasses, T-squares, rulers, protractors, and ellipsographs obeyed the touch ofhis fingers as if inspired with life. 

The room around him was a jungle of terrestrial and celestial globes, chemists' retorts, tubes, pipes, and all the indescribable apparatusthat modern science has invented, and which, to the uninitiated, seemsas incomprehensible as the ancient paraphernalia of alchemists andastrologers. The walls were lined with book shelves, and adorned alongthe upper portions with the most extraordinary photographs and drawings. Even the ceiling was covered with charts, some representing the sky, while many others were geological and topographical pictures of the faceof the earth. 

Beside the drawing-board lay a pad of paper, and occasionally the littleman nervously turned to this, and, grasping a long pencil, madeelaborate calculations, covering the paper with a sprinkling ofmathematical symbols that looked like magnified animalcula. While heworked, under a high light from a single window placed well up near theceiling, his forehead contracted into a hundred wrinkles, his cheeksbecame feverous, his piercing eyes glowed with inner fire, and drops ofperspiration ran down in front of his ears. One would have thought thathe was laboring to save his very soul and had but a few seconds ofrespite left. 

Presently he threw down the pencil, and with astonishing agility lethimself rapidly, but carefully, off the stool on which he had beensitting, keeping the palms of his hands on the seat beside his hipsuntil he felt his feet touch the floor. Then he darted at a book-shelf, pulled down a ponderous tome, flapped it open in a clear space on thefloor, and dropped on his knees to consult it. 

After turning a leaf or two he found what he was after, read down thepage, keeping a finger on the lines, and, having finished his reading, jumped to his feet and hurried back to the stool, on which he mounted soquickly that it was impossible to see how he managed it--without anupset. Instantly he made a new diagram, and then fell to figuringfuriously on the pad, making his pencil gyrate so fast that its upperend vibrated like the wing of a dragon-fly. 

At last he threw down the pencil, and, encircling his knees with hisclasped arms, sank in a heap on the stool. The lids dropped over hisshining eyes, and he became buried in thought. 

When he reopened his eyes and unbent his brows, his gaze happened to bedirected toward a row of curious big photographs which ran like apictured frieze round the upper side of the wall of the room. A casualobserver might have thought that the little man had been amusing himselfby photographing the explosions of fireworks on a Fourth of July night;but it was evident by his expression that these singular pictures had noconnection with civic pyrotechnics, but must represent something ofincomparably greater importance, and, in fact, of stupendous import. 

The little man's face took on a rapt look, in which wonder and fearseemed to be blended. With a sweep of his hand he included the wholeseries of photographs in a comprehensive glance, and then, settling hisgaze upon a particularly bizarre object in the center, he began to speakaloud, although there was nobody to listen to him. 

"My God!" he said. "That's it! That Lick photograph of the Lord RosseNebula is its very image, except that there's no electric fire in it. The same great whirl of outer spirals, and then comes the awful centralmass--and we're going to plunge straight into it. Then quintillions oftons of water will condense on the earth and cover it like a universalcloudburst. And then good-by to the human race--unless--unless--I, CosmoVersál, inspired by science, can save a remnant to repeople the planetafter the catastrophe. "

Again, for a moment, he closed his eyes, and puckered his hemisphericalbrow, while, with drawn-up knees, he seemed perilously balanced on thehigh stool. Several times he slowly shook his head, like a dreaming owl, and when his eyes reopened their fire was gone, and a reflective filmcovered them. He began to speak, more deliberately than before, and in amusing tone:

"What can I do? I don't believe there is a mountain on the face of theglobe lofty enough to lift its head above that flood. Hum, hum! It's nouse thinking about mountains! The flood will be six miles deep--sixmiles from the present sea-level; my last calculation proves it beyondall question. And that's only a minimum--it may be miles deeper, for nomortal man can tell exactly what'll happen when the earth plunges into anebula. 

"We'll have to float; that's the thing. I'll have to build an ark. I'llbe a second Noah. But I'll advise the whole world to build arks. 

"Millions might save themselves that way, for the flood is not going tolast forever. We'll get through the nebula in a few months, and then thewaters will gradually recede, and the high lands will emerge again. It'll be an awful long time, though; I doubt if the earth will ever bejust as it was before. There won't be much room, except for fish--butthere won't be many inhabitants for what dry land there is. "

Once more he fell into silent meditation, and while he mused there camea knock at the door. The little man started up on his seat, alert as asquirrel, and turned his eyes over his shoulder, listening intently. Theknock was repeated--three quick sharp raps. Evidently he at oncerecognized them. 

"All right, " he called out, and, letting himself down, ran swiftly tothe door and opened it. 

A tall, thin man, with bushy black hair, heavy eyebrows, a high, narrowforehead, and a wide, clean shaven mouth, wearing a solemn kind ofsmile, entered and grasped the little man by both hands. 

"Cosmo, " he said, without wasting any time on preliminaries, "have youworked it out?"

"I have just finished. "

"And you find the worst?"

"Yes, worse than I ever dreamed it would be. The waters will be sixmiles deep. "

"Phew!" exclaimed the other, his smile fading. "That is indeed serious. And when does it begin?"

"Inside of a year. We're within three hundred million miles of thewatery nebula now, and you know that the earth travels more than thatdistance in twelve months. "

"Have you seen it?"

"How could I see it--haven't I told you it is invisible? If it could beseen all these stupid astronomers would have spotted it long ago. ButI'll tell you what I have seen. "

Cosmo Versál's voice sank into a whisper, and he shuddered slightly ashe went on:

"Only last night I was sweeping the sky with the telescope when Inoticed, in Hercules and Lyra, and all that part of the heavens, adimming of some of the fainter stars. It was like the shadow of theshroud of a ghost. Nobody else would have noticed it, and I wouldn't ifI had not been looking for it. It's knowledge that clarifies the eyesand breeds knowledge, Joseph Smith. It was not truly visible, and yet Icould see that it was there. I tried to make out the shape of thething--but it was too indefinite. But I know very well what it is. Seehere"--he suddenly broke off--"Look at that photograph. " (He waspointing at the Lord Rosse Nebula on the wall). "It's like that, onlyit's coming edgewise toward us. We may miss some of the outer spirals, but we're going smash into the center. "

With fallen jaw, and black brows contracted, Joseph Smith stared at thephotograph. 

"It doesn't shine like that, " he said at last. 

The little man snorted contemptuously. 

"What have I told you about its invisibility?" he demanded. 

"But how, then, do you know that it is of a watery nature?"

Cosmo Versál threw up his hands and waved them in an agony ofimpatience. He climbed upon his stool to get nearer the level of theother's eyes, and fixing him with his gaze, exclaimed:

"You know very well how I know it. I know it because I have demonstratedwith my new spectroscope, which analyzes extra-visual rays, that allthose dark nebulae that were photographed in the Milky Way years ago arecomposed of watery vapor. They are far off, on the limits of theuniverse. This one is one right at hand. It's a little one compared withthem--but it's enough, yes, it's enough! You know that more than twoyears ago I began to correspond with astronomers all over the worldabout this thing, and not one of them would listen to me. Well, they'lllisten when it's too late perhaps. 

"They'll listen when the flood-gates are opened and the inundationbegins. It's not the first time that this thing has happened. I haven'ta doubt that the flood of Noah, that everybody pretends to laugh at now, was caused by the earth passing through a watery nebula. But this willbe worse than that; there weren't two thousand million people to bedrowned then. "

For five minutes neither spoke. Cosmo Versál swung on the stool, andplayed with an ellipsograph; Joseph Smith dropped his chin on his breastand nervously fingered the pockets of his long vest. At last he raisedhis head and asked, in a low voice:

"What are you going to do, Cosmo?"

"I'm going to get ready, " was the short reply. 

"How?"

"Build an ark. "

"But will you give no warning to others?"

"I'll do my best. I'll telephone to all the officials, scientific andotherwise, in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. I'll writein every language to all the newspapers and magazines. I'll send outcirculars. I'll counsel everybody to drop every other occupation andbegin to build arks--but nobody will heed me. You'll see. My ark will bethe only one, but I'll save as many in it as I can. And I depend uponyou, Joseph, to help me. From all appearances, it's the only chance thatthe human race has of survival. 

"If I hadn't made this discovery they would all have been wiped out likeminers in a flooded pit. We may persuade a few to be saved--but what anawful thing it is that when the truth is thrust into their very facespeople won't believe, won't listen, won't see, won't be helped, but willdie like dogs in their obstinate ignorance and blindness. "

"But they will, they must, listen to you, " said Joseph Smith eagerly. 

"They _won't_, but I must _make_ them, " replied Cosmo Versál. "Anyhow, I must make a few of the best of them hear me. The fate of awhole race is at stake. If we can save a handful of the best blood andbrain of mankind, the world will have a new chance, and perhaps a betterand higher race will be the result. Since I can't save them all, I'llpick and choose. I'll have the flower of humanity in my ark. I'll atleast snatch that much from the jaws of destruction. "

The little man was growing very earnest and his eyes were aglow with thefire of enthusiastic purpose. As he dropped his head on one side, itlooked too heavy for the stemlike neck, but it conveyed an impression ofimmense intellectual power. Its imposing contour lent force to hiswords. 

"The flower of humanity, " he continued after a slight pause. "Whocomposes it? I must decide that question. Is it the billionaires? Is itthe kings and rulers? Is it the men of science? Is it the societyleaders? Bah! I'll have to think on that. I can't take them all, butI'll give them all a chance to save themselves--though I know they won'tact on the advice. "

Here he paused. 

"Won't the existing ships do--especially if more are built?" JosephSmith suddenly asked, interrupting Cosmo's train of thought. 

"Not at all, " was the reply. "They're not suited to the kind ofnavigation that will be demanded. They're not buoyant enough, normanageable enough, and they haven't enough carrying capacity for powerand provisions. They'll be swamped at the wharves, or if they should getaway they'd be sent to the bottom inside a few hours. Nothing butspecially constructed arks will serve. And _there's_ more troublefor me--I must devise a new form of vessel. Heavens, how short the timeis! Why couldn't I have found this out ten years ago? It's only to-daythat I have myself learned the full truth, though I have worked on it solong. "

"How many will you be able to carry in your ark?" asked Smith. 

"I can't tell yet. That's another question to be carefully considered. Ishall build the vessel of this new metal, levium, half as heavy asaluminum and twice as strong as steel. I ought to find room without theslightest difficulty for a round thousand in it. "

"Surely many more than that!" exclaimed Joseph Smith. "Why, there areocean-liners that carry several times as many. "

"You forget, " replied Cosmo Versál, "that we must have provisions enoughto last for a long time, because we cannot count on the immediatere-emergence of any land, even the most mountainous, and the mostcompressed food takes space when a great quantity is needed. It won't doto overcrowd the vessel, and invite sickness. Then, too, I must takemany animals along. "

"Animals, " returned Smith. "I hadn't thought of that. But is itnecessary?"

"Absolutely. Would you have less foresight than Noah? I shall notimitate him by taking male and female of every species, but I must atleast provide for restocking such land as eventually appears above thewaters with the animals most useful to man. Then, too, animals areessential to the life of the earth. Any agricultural chemist would tellyou that. They play an indispensable part in the vital cycle of thesoil. I must also take certain species of insects and birds. I'lltelephone Professor Hergeschmitberger at Berlin to learn precisely whatare the capitally important species of the animal kingdom. "

"And when will you begin the construction of the ark?"

"Instantly. There's not a moment to lose. And it's equally important tosend out warnings broadcast immediately. There you can help me. You knowwhat I want to say. Write it out at once; put it as strong as you can;send it everywhere; put it in the shape of posters; hurry it to thenewspaper offices. Telephone, in my name, to the Carnegie Institution, to the Smithsonian Institution, to the Royal Society, to the French, Russian, Italian, German, and all the other Academies and Associationsof Science to be found anywhere on earth. 

"Don't neglect the slightest means of publicity. Thank Heaven, the moneyto pay for all this is not lacking. If my good father, when he piled uphis fortune from the profits of the Transcontinental Aerian Company, could have foreseen the use to which his son would put it for thebenefit--what do I say, for the benefit? nay, for the _salvation_--ofmankind, he would have rejoiced in his work. "

"Ah, that reminds me, " exclaimed Joseph Smith. "I was about to ask, afew minutes ago, why airships would not do for this business. Couldn'tpeople save themselves from the flood by taking refuge in theatmosphere?"

Cosmo Versál looked at his questioner with an ironical smile. 

"Do you know, " he asked, "how long a dirigible can be kept afloat? Doyou know for how long a voyage the best aeroplane types can beprovisioned with power? There's not an air-ship of any kind that can gomore than two weeks at the very uttermost without touching solid earth, and then it must be mighty sparing of its power. If we can save mankindnow, and give it another chance, perhaps the time will come when powercan be drawn out of the ether of space, and men can float in the air aslong as they choose. 

"But as things are now, we must go back to Noah's plan, and trust to thebuoyant power of water. I fully expect that when the deluge beginspeople will flock to the high-lands and the mountains in air-ships--butalas! that won't save them. Remember what I have told you--this flood isgoing to be six miles deep!"

The second morning after the conversation between Cosmo Versál andJoseph Smith, New York was startled by seeing, in huge red letters, onevery blank wall, on the bare flanks of towering sky-scrapers, on thelofty stations of aeroplane lines, on bill-boards, fences, advertising-boards along suburban roads, in the Subway stations, andfluttering from strings of kites over the city, the followingannouncement:

 THE WORLD IS TO BE DROWNED!

 Save Yourselves While It Is Yet Time! Drop Your Business: It Is of No Consequence! Build Arks: It Is Your Only Salvation! The Earth Is Going To Plunge into a Watery Nebula: There Is No Escape! Hundreds of Millions Will Be Drowned: You Have Only a Few Months To Get Ready! For Particulars Address: Cosmo Versál, 3000 Fifth Avenue. 

CHAPTER II

MOCKING AT FATE

When New York recovered from its first astonishment over theextraordinary posters, it indulged in a loud laugh. Everybody knew whoCosmo Versál was. His eccentricities had filled many readable columns inthe newspapers. Yet there was a certain respect for him, too. This wasdue to his extraordinary intellectual ability and unquestionablescientific knowledge. But his imagination was as free as the winds, andit often led him upon excursions in which nobody could follow him, andwhich caused the more steady-going scientific brethren to shake theirheads. They called him able but flighty. The public considered himbrilliant and amusing. 

His father, who had sprung from some unknown source in southeasternEurope, and, beginning as a newsboy in New York, had made his way to thefront in the financial world, had left his entire fortune to Cosmo. Thelatter had no taste for finance or business, but a devouring appetitefor science, to which, in his own way, he devoted all his powers, allhis time, and all his money. He never married, was never seen insociety, and had very few intimates--but he was known by sight, orreputation, to everybody. There was not a scientific body or associationof any consequence in the world of which he was not a member. Thosewhich looked askance at his bizarre ideas were glad to accept pecuniaryaid from him. 

The notion that the world was to be drowned had taken possession of himabout three years before the opening scene of this narrative. To workout the idea, he built an observatory, set up a laboratory, inventedinstruments, including his strange spectroscope, which was scoffed at bythe scientific world. 

Finally, submitting the results of his observations to mathematicaltreatment, he proved, to his own satisfaction, the absolute correctnessof his thesis that the well-known "proper motion of the solar system"was about to result in an encounter between the earth and an invisiblewatery nebula, which would have the effect of inundating the globe. Asthis startling idea gradually took shape, he communicated it toscientific men in all lands, but failed to find a single disciple, except his friend Joseph Smith, who, without being able to follow allhis reasonings, accepted on trust the conclusions of Cosmo's morepowerful mind. Accordingly, at the end of his investigation, he enlistedSmith as secretary, propagandist, and publicity agent. 

New York laughed a whole day and night at the warning red letters. Theywere the talk of the town. People joked about them in cafés, clubs, athome, in the streets, in the offices, in the exchanges, in thestreet-cars, on the Elevated, in the Subways. Crowds gathered on cornersto watch the flapping posters aloft on the kite lines. The afternoonnewspapers issued specials which were all about the coming flood, andeverywhere one heard the cry of the newsboys: _"Extra-a-a! Drowning ofa Thousand Million people! Cosmo Versál predicts the End of theWorld!"_ On their editorial pages the papers were careful to discountthe scare lines, and terrific pictures, that covered the front sheets, with humorous jibes at the author of the formidable prediction. 

_The Owl, _ which was the only paper that put the news in half acolumn of ordinary type, took a judicial attitude, called upon the cityauthorities to tear down the posters, and hinted that "this absurdperson, Cosmo Versál, who disgraces a once honored name with hischildish attempt to create a sensation that may cause untold harm amongthe ignorant masses, " had laid himself open to criminal prosecution. 

In their latest editions, several of the papers printed an interviewwith Cosmo Versál, in which he gave figures and calculations that, ontheir face, seemed to offer mathematical proof of the correctness of hisforecast. In impassioned language, he implored the public to believethat he would not mislead them, spoke of the instant necessity ofconstructing arks of safety, and averred that the presence of theterrible nebula that was so soon to drown the world was already manifestin the heavens. 

Some readers of these confident statements began to waver, especiallywhen confronted with mathematics which they could not understand. Butstill, in general, the laugh went on. It broke into boisterousness inone of the largest theaters where a bright-witted "artist, " who alwaysmade a point of hitting off the very latest sensation, got himself up ina lifelike imitation of the well-known figure of Cosmo Versál, toppedwith a bald head as big as a bushel, and sailed away into the flies witha pretty member of the ballet, whom he had gallantly snatched from atumbling ocean of green baize, singing at the top of his voice untilthey disappeared behind the proscenium arch:

 "Oh, th' Nebula is coming To drown the wicked earth, With all his spirals humming 'S he waltzes in his mirth. 

 _Chorus_ "Don't hesitate a second, Get ready to embark, And skip away to safety With Cosmo and his ark. 

 "Th' Nebula is a direful bird 'S he skims the ether blue! He's angry over what he's heard, 'N's got his eye on you. 

 _Chorus_ "Don't hesitate a second, etc. 

 "When Nebulas begin to pipe The bloomin' O. H. [subscript]2 Y'bet yer life the time is ripe To think what you will do. 

 _Chorus_ "Don't hesitate a second, etc. 

 "He'll tip th' Atlantic o'er its brim, And swamp the mountains tall; He'll let the broad Pacific in, And leave no land at all. 

 _Chorus_ "Don't hesitate a second, etc. 

 "He's got an option on the spheres; He's leased the Milky Way; He's caught the planets in arrears, 'N's bound to make 'em pay. 

 _Chorus_ "Don't hesitate a second, etc. "

The roars of laughter and applause with which this effusion ofvaudeville genius was greeted, showed the cheerful spirit in which thepublic took the affair. No harm seemed to have come to the "ignorantmasses" yet. 

But the next morning there was a suspicious change in the popular mind. People were surprised to see new posters in place of the old ones, morelurid in letters and language than the original. The morning papers hadcolumns of description and comment, and some of them seemed disposed totreat the prophet and his prediction with a certain degree ofseriousness. 

The savants who had been interviewed overnight, did not talk veryconvincingly, and made the mistake of flinging contempt on both Cosmoand "the gullible public. "

Naturally, the public wouldn't stand for that, and the pendulum ofopinion began to swing the other way. Cosmo helped his cause by sendingto every newspaper a carefully prepared statement of his observationsand calculations, in which he spoke with such force of conviction thatfew could read his words without feeling a thrill of apprehensiveuncertainty. This was strengthened by published dispatches which showedthat he had forwarded his warnings to all the well-known scientificbodies of the world, which, while decrying them, made no effectiveresponse. 

And then came a note of positive alarm in a double-leaded bulletin fromthe new observatory at Mount McKinley, which affirmed that during thepreceding night _a singular obscurity_ had been suspected in thenorthern sky, seeming to veil many stars below the twelfth magnitude. Itwas added that the phenomenon was unprecedented, but that theobservation was both difficult and uncertain. 

Nowhere was the atmosphere of doubt and mystery, which now began to hangover the public, so remarkable as in Wall Street. The sensitive currentsthere responded like electric waves to the new influence, and, to thedismay of hard-headed observers, the market dropped as if it had beenhit with a sledge-hammer. Stocks went down five, ten, in some casestwenty points in as many minutes. 

The speculative issues slid down like wheat into a bin when the chutesare opened. Nobody could trace the exact origin of the movement, butselling-orders came tumbling in until there was a veritable panic. 

From London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, flashed dispatchesannouncing that the same unreasonable slump had manifested itself there, and all united in holding Cosmo Versál solely responsible for thefoolish break in prices. Leaders of finance rushed to the exchangestrying by arguments and expostulations to arrest the downfall, but invain. 

In the afternoon, however, reason partially resumed its sway; then aquick recovery was felt, and many who had rushed to sell all they had, found cause to regret their precipitancy. The next day all was on themend, as far as the stock market was concerned, but among the people atlarge the poison of awakened credulity continued to spread, nourished byfresh announcements from the fountain head. 

Cosmo issued another statement to the effect that he had perfected plansfor an ark of safety, which he would begin at once to construct in theneighborhood of New York, and he not only offered freely to give hisplans to any who wished to commence construction on their own account, but he urged them, in the name of Heaven, to lose no time. This produceda prodigious effect, and multitudes began to be infected with a namelessfear. 

Meanwhile an extraordinary scene occurred, behind closed doors, at theheadquarters of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Joseph Smith, acting under Cosmo Versál's direction, had forwarded an elaborate_précis_ of the latter's argument, accompanied with fullmathematical details, to the head of the institution. The character ofthis document was such that it could not be ignored. Moreover, thesavants composing the council of the most important scientificassociation in the world were aware of the state of the public mind, andfelt that it was incumbent upon them to do something to allay the alarm. Of late years a sort of supervisory control over scientific news of allkinds had been accorded to them, and they appreciated the fact that aduty now rested upon their shoulders. 

Accordingly, a special meeting was called to consider the communicationfrom Cosmo Versál. It was the general belief that a little criticalexamination would result in complete proof of the fallacy of all hiswork, proof which could be put in a form that the most uninstructedwould understand. 

But the papers, diagrams, and mathematical formulae had no sooner beenspread upon the table under the knowing eyes of the learned members ofthe council, than a chill of conscious impuissance ran through them. They saw that Cosmo's mathematics were unimpeachable. His formulae wereaccurately deduced, and his operations absolutely correct. 

They could do nothing but attack his fundamental data, based on thealleged revelations of his new form of spectroscope, and on telescopicobservations which were described in so much detail that the only way tocombat them was by the general assertion that they were illusory. Thiswas felt to be a very unsatisfactory method of procedure, as far as thepublic was concerned, because it amounted to no more than attacking thecredibility of a witness who pretended to describe only what he himselfhad seen--and there is nothing so hard as to prove a negative. 

Then, Cosmo had on his side the whole force of that curious tendency ofthe human mind which habitually gravitates toward whatever isextraordinary, revolutionary, and mysterious. 

But a yet greater difficulty arose. Mention has been made of the strangebulletin from the Mount McKinley observatory. That had been incautiouslysent out to the public by a thoughtless observer, who was more intentupon describing a singular phenomenon than upon considering its possibleeffect on the popular imagination. He had immediately received anexpostulatory dispatch from headquarters which henceforth shut hismouth--but he had told the simple truth, and how embarrassing that wasbecame evident when, on the very table around which the savants were nowassembled, three dispatches were laid in quick succession from the greatobservatories of Mount Hekla, Iceland, the North Cape, and Kamchatka, all corroborating the statement of the Mount McKinley observer, that aninexplicable veiling of faint stars had manifested itself in the borealquarter of the sky. 

When the president read these dispatches--which the senders had takenthe precaution to mark "confidential"--the members of the council lookedat one another with no little dismay. Here was the most unprejudicedcorroboration of Cosmo Versál's assertion that the great nebula wasalready within the range of observation. How could they dispute suchtestimony, and what were they to make of it?

Two or three of the members began to be shaken in their convictions. 

"Upon my word, " exclaimed Professor Alexander Jones, "but this is verycurious! And suppose the fellow should be right, after all?"

"Right!" cried the president, Professor Pludder, disdainfully. "Who everheard of a watery nebula? The thing's absurd!"

"I don't see that it's absurd, " replied Professor Jones. "There's plentyof proof of the existence of hydrogen in some of the nebulae. "

"So there is, " chimed in Professor Abel Able, "and if there's hydrogenthere may be oxygen, and there you have all that's necessary. It's notthe idea that a nebula may consist of watery vapor that's absurd, but itis that a watery nebula, large enough to drown the earth by condensationupon it could have approached so near as this one must now be withoutsooner betraying its presence. "

"How so?" demanded a voice. 

"By its attraction. Cosmo Versál says it is already less than threehundred million miles away. If it is massive enough to drown the earth, it ought long ago to have been discovered by its disturbance of theplanetary orbits. "

"Not at all, " exclaimed Professor Jeremiah Moses. "If you stick to thatargument you'll be drowned sure. Just look at these facts. The earthweighs six and a half sextillions of tons, and the ocean one and a halfquintillions. The average depth of the oceans is two and one-fifthmiles. Now--if the level of the oceans were raised only about 1, 600feet, practically all the inhabited parts of the world would be flooded. To cause that increase in the level of the oceans only about one-eighthpart would have to be added to their total mass, or, say, one-seventhpart, allowing for the greater surface to be covered. That would be onethirty-thousandth of the weight of the globe, and if you suppose thatonly one-hundredth of the entire nebula were condensed on the earth, thewhole mass of the nebula would not need to exceed one three-hundredth ofthe weight of the earth, or a quarter that of the moon--and nobody herewill be bold enough to say that the approach of a mass no greater thanthat would be likely to be discovered through its attraction when it wasthree hundred million miles away. "

Several of the astronomers present shook their heads at this, andProfessor Pludder irritably declared that it was absurd. 

"The attraction would be noticeable when it was a thousand millions ofmiles away, " he continued. 

"Yes, 'noticeable' I admit, " replied Professor Moses, "but all the sameyou wouldn't notice it, because you wouldn't be looking for it unlessthe nebula were visible first, and even then it would require months ofobservation to detect the effects. And how are you going to get aroundthose bulletins? The thing is beginning to be visible now, and I'll betthat if, from this time on, you study carefully the planetary motions, you will find evidence of the disturbance becoming stronger andstronger. Versál has pointed out that very thing, and calculated theperturbations. This thing has come like a thief in the night. "

"You'd better hurry up and secure a place in the ark, " said ProfessorPludder sarcastically. 

"I don't know but I shall, if I can get one, " returned Professor Moses. "You may not think this is such a laughing matter a few months hence. "

"I'm surprised, " pursued the president, "that a man of your scientificstanding should stultify himself by taking seriously such balderdash asthis. I tell you the thing is absurd. "

"And I tell you, _you_ are absurd to say so!" retorted ProfessorMoses, losing his temper. "You've got four of the biggest telescopes inthe world under your control; why don't you order your observers to lookfor this thing?"

Professor Pludder, who was a very big man, reared up his rotund form, and, bringing his fist down upon the table with a resounding whack, exclaimed:

"I'll do nothing so ridiculous! These bulletins have undoubtedly beeninfluenced by the popular excitement. There has possibly been a littleobscurity in the atmosphere--cirrus clouds, or something--and theobservers have imagined the rest. I'm not going to insult science byencouraging the proceedings of a mountebank like Cosmo Versál. Whatwe've got to do is to prepare a dispatch for the press reassuring thepopulace and throwing the weight of this institution on the side ofcommon sense and public tranquillity. Let the secretary indite such adispatch, and then we'll edit it and send it out. "

Professor Pludder, naturally dictatorial, was sometimes a littleoverbearing, but being a man of great ability, and universally respectedfor his high rank in the scientific world, his colleagues usually bowedto his decisions. On this occasion his force of character sufficed tosilence the doubters, and when the statement intended for the press hadreceived its final touches it contained no hint of the seeds of discordthat Cosmo Versál had sown among America's foremost savants. The nextmorning it appeared in all the newspapers as follows:

 _Official Statement from the Carnegie Institution_

 In consequence of the popular excitement caused by the sensational utterance of a notorious pretender to scientific knowledge in New York, the council of this institution authorizes the statement that it has examined the alleged grounds on which the prediction of a great flood, to be caused by a nebula encountering the earth, is based, and finds, as all real men of science knew beforehand, that the entire matter is simply a canard. 

 The nebulae are not composed of water; if they were composed of water they could not cause a flood on the earth; the report that some strange, misty object is visible in the starry heavens is based on a misapprehension; and finally, the so-called calculations of the author of this inexcusable hoax are baseless and totally devoid of validity. 

 The public is earnestly advised to pay no further attention to the matter. If there were any danger to the earth--and such a thing is not to be seriously considered--astronomers would know it long in advance, and would give due and official warning. 

Unfortunately for the popular effect of this pronouncement, on the verymorning when it appeared in print, thirty thousand people were crowdedaround the old aviation field at Mineola, excitedly watching CosmoVersál, with five hundred workmen, laying the foundations of a hugeplatform, while about the field were stretched sheets of canvasdisplaying the words:

 THE ARK OF SAFETY Earnest Inspection Invited by All Attendants will Furnish Gratis Plans for Similar Constructions Small Arks Can Be Built for Families Act While There Is Yet Time

The multitude saw at a glance that here was a work that would costmillions, and the spectacle of this immense expenditure, the evidencethat Cosmo was backing his words with his money, furnished a silentargument which was irresistible. In the midst of all, flying about amonghis men, was Cosmo, impressing every beholder with the feeling thatintellect was in charge. 

Like the gray coat of Napoleon on a battlefield, the sight of thatmighty brow bred confidence. 

CHAPTER III

THE FIRST DROPS OF THE DELUGE

The utterance of the Carnegie Institution indeed fell flat, and CosmoVersál'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 Versál'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 Versál 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 Versál 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 Versál 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 Versál 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 Versál 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 Versál, 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 Versál 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?"

CHAPTER IV

THE WORLD SWEPT WITH TERROR

The tempest of hail, snow, lightning, and rain, which burst sounexpectedly over Washington, was not a local phenomenon. It leveled theantennae of the wireless telegraph systems all over the world, cuttingoff communication everywhere. Only the submarine telephone cablesremained unaffected, and by them was transmitted the most astonishingnews of the ravages of the storm. Rivers had careered over their banks, low-lying towns were flooded, the swollen sewers of cities exploded andinundated the streets, and gradually news came in from country districtsshowing that vast areas of land had been submerged, and hundredsdrowned. 

The downfall of rain far exceeded everything that the meteorologicalbureaus had ever recorded. 

The vagaries of the lightning, and the frightful power that itexhibited, were especially terrifying. 

In London the Victoria Tower was partly dismantled by a bolt. 

In Moscow the ancient and beautiful Church of St. Basil was nearlydestroyed. 

The celebrated Leaning Tower of Pisa, the wonder of centuries, was flungto the ground. 

The vast dome of St. Peter's at Rome was said to have been encasedduring three whole minutes with a blinding armor of electric fire, though the only harm done was the throwing down of a statue in one ofthe chapels. 

But, strangest freak of all, in New York a tremendous bolt, which seemsto have entered the Pennsylvania tunnel on the Jersey side, followed therails under the river, throwing two trains from the track, and, emergingin the great station in the heart of the city, expanded into arose-colored sphere, which exploded with an awful report, and blew thegreat roof to pieces. And yet, although the fragments were scattered adozen blocks away, hundreds of persons who were in the stations sufferedno other injury than such as resulted from being flung violently to thefloor, or against the walls. 

Cosmo Versál's great ark seemed charmed. Not a single discharge oflightning occurred in its vicinity, a fact which he attributed to thedielectric properties of levium. Nevertheless, the wind carried away allhis screens and electric fans. 

If this storm had continued the predicted deluge would unquestionablyhave occurred at once, and even its prophet would have perished throughhaving begun his preparations too late. But the disturbed elements sankinto repose as suddenly as they had broken out with fury. The rain didnot last, in most places, more than twenty-four hours, although theatmosphere continued to be filled with troubled clouds for a week. Atthe end of that time the sun reappeared, as hot as before, and aspotless dome once more over-arched the earth; but from this time thesky never resumed its former brilliant azure--there was always a strangecoppery tinge, the sight of which was appalling, although it graduallylost its first effect through familiarity. 

The indifference and derision with which Cosmo's predictions andelaborate preparations had hitherto been regarded now vanished, and theworld, in spite of itself, shivered with vague apprehension. Noreassurances from those savants who still refused to admit the validityof Cosmo Versál's calculations and deductions had any permanent effectupon the public mind. 

With amusing inconsequence people sold stocks again, until all theexchanges were once more swept with panic--and then put the money intheir strong boxes, as if they thought that the mere possession of thelucre could protect them. They hugged the money and remained deaf toCosmo's reiterated advice to build arks with it. 

After all, they were only terrified, not convinced, and they felt that, somehow, everything would come out right, now that they had theirpossessions well in hand. 

For, in spite of the scare, nobody really believed that an actual delugewas coming. There might be great floods, and great suffering and loss, but the world was not going to be drowned! Such things only occurred inearly and dark ages. 

Some nervous persons found comfort in the fact that when the skiescleared after the sudden downpour brilliant rainbows were seen. Theirhearts bounded with joy. 

"The 'Bow of Promise!'" they cried. "Behold the unvarying assurance thatthe world shall never again be drowned. "

Then a great revival movement was set on foot, starting in theMississippi valley under the leadership of an eloquent exhorter, whodeclared that, although a false prophet had arisen, whose delusiveprediction was contrary to Scripture, yet it was true that the world wasabout to be punished in unexpected ways for its many iniquities. 

This movement rapidly spread all over the country, and was taken up inEngland and throughout Protestant Europe, and soon prayers were offeredin thousands of churches to avert the wrath of Heaven. Multitudes thusfound their fears turned into a new direction, and by a strangereaction, Cosmo Versál came to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist whowas seeking to mislead mankind. 

Just at this juncture, to add to the dismay and uncertainty, a grand andfearful comet suddenly appeared. It came up unexpectedly from the south, blazed brightly close beside the sun, even at noonday, and a few nightslater was visible after sunset with an immense fiery head and a broadcurved tail that seemed to pulsate from end to end. It was so brightthat it cast shadows at night, as distinct as those made by the moon. Nosuch cometary monster had ever before been seen. People shuddered whenthey looked at it. It moved with amazing speed, sweeping across thefirmament like a besom of destruction. Calculation showed that it wasnot more than 3, 000, 000 miles from the earth. 

But one night the wonder and dread awakened by the comet were magnifieda hundredfold by an occurrence so unexpected and extraordinary that thespectators gasped in amazement. 

The writer happens to have before him an entry in a diary, which is, probably, the sole contemporary record of this event. It was written inthe city of Washington by no less a person than Professor JeremiahMoses, of the Council of the Carnegie Institution. Let it tell its ownstory:

"A marvelous thing happened this night. I walked out into the park nearmy house with the intention of viewing the great comet. The park on myside (the west), is bordered with a dense screen of tall trees, and Iadvanced toward the open place in the center in order to have anunobstructed sight of the flaming stranger. As I passed across the edgeof the shadow of the trees--the ground ahead being brilliantlyilluminated by the light of the comet--I suddenly noticed, with aninvoluntary start, that I was being preceded by a _double shadow_, with a black center, which forked away from my feet. 

"I cast my eyes behind me to find the cause of the phenomenon, and saw, to my inexpressible amazement, that _the comet had divided intotwo_. There were two distinct heads, already widely separated, buteach, it seemed to me, as brilliant as the original one had been, andeach supplied with a vast plume of fire a hundred degrees in length, andconsequently stretching far past the zenith. The cause of the doubleshadow was evident at once--but what can have produced this suddendisruption of the comet? It must have occurred since last evening, andalready, if the calculated distance of the comet is correct, the partsof the severed head are 300, 000 miles asunder!"

Underneath this entry was scribbled:

"Can this have anything to do with Cosmo Versál's flood?"

Whether it had anything to do with the flood or not, at any rate thepublic believed that it had. People went about with fear written ontheir faces. 

The double shadows had a surprising effect. The phantasm was pointedout, and stared at with superstitious terror by thousands every night. The fact that there was nothing really mysterious about it made nodifference. Even those who knew well that it was an inevitable opticalresult of the division of the bright comet were thrilled withinstinctive dread when they saw that forked umbra, mimicking their everymovement. There is nothing that so upsets the mind as a sudden change inthe aspect of familiar things. 

The astronomers now took their turn. Those who were absolutelyincredulous about Cosmo's prediction, and genuinely desirous of allayingthe popular alarm, issued statements in which, with a disingenuousnessthat may have been unintentional, they tried to sidetrack his arguments. 

Professor Pludder led the way with a pronunciamento declaring that "theabsurd vaporings of the modern Nostradamus of New York" had nowdemonstrated their own emptiness. 

"A comet, " said Professor Pludder, with reassuring seriousness, "cannotdrown the earth. It is composed of rare gases, which, as the experienceof Halley's comet many years ago showed, are unable to penetrate theatmosphere even when an actual encounter occurs. In this case therecannot even be an encounter; the comet is now moving away. Its divisionis not an unprecedented occurrence, for many previous comets have metwith similar accidents. This comet happened to be of unusual size, andthe partition of the head occurred when it was relatively nearby--whencethe startling phenomena observed. There is nothing to be feared. "

It will be remarked that Professor Pludder entirely avoided the realissue. Cosmo Versál had never said that the comet would drown the earth. In fact, he had been as much surprised by its appearance as everybodyelse. But when he read Professor Pludder's statement, followed by othersof similar import, he took up the cudgels with a vengeance. All over theworld, translated into a dozen languages, he scattered his reply, andthe effect was startling. 

"My fellow-citizens of the world in all lands, and of every race, " hebegan, "you are face to face with destruction! And yet, while itsheralds are plainly signaling from the sky, and shaking the earth withlightning to awaken it, blind leaders of blind try to deceive you!

"They are defying science itself!

"They say that the comet cannot touch the earth. That is true. It ispassing away. I myself did not foresee its coming. It arrived byaccident, _but every step that it has made through the silent depthsof space has been a proclamation of the presence of the nebula_, which is the real agent of the perdition of the world!

"Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens? You have allnoticed it. Why that blinding brightness which the comet has displayed, exceeding all that has ever been beheld in such visitors. Theexplanation is plain: the comet has been feeding on the substance of thenebula, which is rare yet because we have only encountered some of itsoutlying spirals. 

"But it is coming on with terrible speed. In a few short months we shallbe plunged into its awful center, and then the oceans will swell to themountaintops, and the continents will become the bottoms of angry seas. 

"When the flood begins it will be too late to save yourselves. You havealready lost too much precious time. I tell you solemnly that not one ina million can now be saved. Throw away every other consideration, andtry, try desperately, to be of the little company of those who escape!

"Remember that your only chance is in building arks--arks of levium, themetal that floats. I have sent broadcast plans for such arks. They canbe made of any size, but the larger the better. In my own ark I can takeonly a selected number, and when the complement is made up not anothersoul will be admitted. 

"I have established all my facts by mathematical proofs. The most expertmathematicians of the world have been unable to detect any error in mycalculations. They try to dispute the data, but the data are alreadybefore you for your own judgment. The heavens are so obscured that onlythe brightest stars can now be seen. " (This was a fact which had causedbewilderment in the observatories. ) "The recent outburst of storms andfloods was the second sign of the approaching end, and the third signwill not be long delayed--and after that the deluge!"

It is futile to try to describe the haunting fear and horror whichseized upon the majority of the millions who read these words. Businesswas paralyzed, for men found it impossible to concentrate their mindsupon ordinary affairs. Every night the twin comets, still very bright, although they were fast retreating, brandished their fiery scimitars inthe sky--more fearful to the imagination now, since Cosmo Versál haddeclared that it was the nebula that stimulated their energies. And byday the sky was watched with anxious eyes striving to detect signs of adeepening of the menacing hue, which, to an excited fancy, suggested atinge of blood. 

Now, at last, Cosmo's warnings and entreaties bore practical fruit. Menbegan to inquire about places in his ark, and to make preparations forbuilding arks of their own. 

He had not been interfered with after his memorable interview with thePresident of the United States, and had pushed his work at Mineola withredoubled energy, employing night gangs of workmen so that progress wascontinuous throughout the twenty-four hours. 

Standing on its platform, the ark, whose hull was approachingcompletion, rose a hundred feet into the air. It was 800 feet long and250 broad--proportions which practical ship-builders ridiculed, butCosmo, as original in this as in everything else, declared that, takinginto account the buoyancy of levium, no other form would answer as well. He estimated that when its great engines were in place, its immensestores of material for producing power, its ballast, and its supplies offood stowed away, and its cargo of men and animals taken aboard, itwould not draw more than twenty feet of water. 

Hardly a day passed now without somebody coming to Cosmo to inquireabout the best method of constructing arks. He gave the requiredinformation, in all possible detail, with the utmost willingness. Hedrew plans and sketches, made all kinds of practical suggestions, andnever failed to urge the utmost haste. He inspired every visitor at thesame time with alarm and a resolution to go to work at once. 

Some did go to work. But their progress was slow, and as days passed, and the comets gradually faded out of sight, and then the dome of thesky showed a tendency to resume its natural blueness, the enthusiasm ofCosmo's imitators weakened, together with their confidence in hisprophetic powers. 

They concluded to postpone their operations until the need of arksshould become more evident. 

As to those who had sent inquiries about places in Cosmo's ark, now thatthe danger seemed to be blowing away, they did not even take the troubleto answer the very kind responses that he had made. 

It is a singular circumstance that not one of these anxious inquirersseemed to have paid particular attention to a very significant sentencein his reply. If they had given it a little thought, it would probablyhave set them pondering, although they might have been more puzzled thanedified. The sentence ran as follows:

"While assuring you that my ark has been built for the benefit of myfellow men, I am bound to tell you that I reserve absolutely the rightto determine who are truly representative of _homo sapiens_. "

The fact was that Cosmo had been turning over in his mind the greatfundamental question which he had asked himself when the idea of tryingto save the human race from annihilation had first occurred to him, andapparently he had fixed upon certain principles that were to guide him. 

Since, when the mind is under great strain through fear, the slightestrelaxation, caused by an apparently favorable change, produces a reboundof hope, as unreasoning as the preceding terror, so, on this occasion, the vanishing of the comets, and the fading of the disquieting color ofthe sky, had a wonderful effect in restoring public confidence in theorderly procession of nature. 

Cosmo Versál's vogue as a prophet of disaster was soon gone, and oncemore everybody began to laugh at him. People turned again to theirneglected affairs with the general remark that they "guessed the worldwould manage to wade through. "

Those who had begun preparations to build arks looked very sheepish whentheir friends guyed them about their childish credulity. 

Then a feeling of angry resentment arose, and one day Cosmo Versál wasmobbed in the street, and the gamins threw stones at him. 

People forgot the extraordinary storm of lightning and rain, the splitcomet, and all the other circumstances which, a little time before, hadfilled them with terror. 

But they were making a fearful mistake!

With eyes blindfolded they were walking straight into the jaws ofdestruction. 

Without warning, and as suddenly almost as an explosion, the _thirdsign_ appeared, and on its heels came a veritable Reign of Terror!

CHAPTER V

THE THIRD SIGN

In the middle of the night, at New York, hundreds of thousandssimultaneously awoke with a feeling of suffocation. 

They struggled for breath as if they had suddenly been plunged into asteam bath. 

The air was hot, heavy, and terribly oppressive. 

The throwing open of windows brought no relief. The outer air was asstifling as that within. 

It was so dark that, on looking out, one could not see his owndoorsteps. The arc-lamps in the street flickered with an ineffectiveblue gleam which shed no illumination round about. 

House lights, when turned on, looked like tiny candles inclosed in thickblue globes. 

Frightened men and women stumbled around in the gloom of their chamberstrying to dress themselves. 

Cries and exclamations rang from room to room; children wailed;hysterical mothers ran wildly hither and thither, seeking their littleones. Many fainted, partly through terror and partly from the difficultyof breathing. Sick persons, seized with a terrible oppression of thechest, gasped, and never rose from their beds. 

At every window, and in every doorway, throughout the vast city, invisible heads and forms were crowded, making their presence known bytheir voices--distracted householders striving to peer through thestrange darkness, and to find out the cause of these terrifyingphenomena. 

Some managed to get a faint glimpse of their watches by holding themclose against lamps, and thus noted the time. It was two o'clock in themorning. 

Neighbors, unseen, called to one another, but got little comfort fromthe replies. 

"What is it? In God's name, what has happened?"

"I don't know. I can hardly breathe. "

"It is awful! We shall all be suffocated. "

"Is it a fire?"

"No! No! It cannot be a fire. "

"The air is full of steam. The stones and the window-panes are streamingwith moisture. "

"Great Heavens, how stifling it is!"

Then, into thousands of minds at once leaped the thought of _theflood!_

The memory of Cosmo Versál's reiterated warnings came back withoverwhelming force. It must be the _third sign_ that he hadforetold. _It had really come!_

Those fateful words--"the flood" and "Cosmo Versál"--ran from lip tolip, and the hearts of those who spoke, and those who heard, sank likelead in their bosoms. 

He would be a bold man, more confident in his powers of description thanthe present writer, who should attempt to picture the scenes in New Yorkon that fearful night. 

The gasping and terror-stricken millions waited and longed for the hourof sunrise, hoping that then the stygian darkness would be dissipated, so that people might, at least, see where to go and what to do. Many, oppressed by the almost unbreathable air, gave up in despair, and nolonger even hoped for morning to come. 

In the midst of it all a collision occurred directly over Central Parkbetween two aero-expresses, one coming from Boston and the other fromAlbany. (The use of small aeroplanes within the city limits had, forsome time, been prohibited on account of the constant danger ofcollisions, but the long-distance lines were permitted to enter themetropolitan district, making their landings and departures on speciallyconstructed towers. ) These two, crowded with passengers, had, as itafterward appeared, completely lost their bearings--the strongestelectric lights being invisible a few hundred feet away, while thewireless signals were confusing--and, before the danger was apprehended, they crashed together. 

The collision occurred at a height of a thousand feet, on the FifthAvenue side of the park. Both of the airships had their aeroplanessmashed and their decks crumpled up, and the unfortunate crews andpassengers were hurled through the impenetrable darkness to the ground. 

Only four or five, who were lucky enough to be entangled with thelighter parts of the wreckage, escaped with their lives. But they weretoo much injured to get upon their feet, and there they lay, theirsufferings made tenfold worse by the stifling air, and the horror oftheir inexplicable situation, until they were found and humanelyrelieved, more than ten hours after their fall. 

The noise of the collision had been heard in Fifth Avenue, and itsmeaning was understood; but amid the universal terror no one thought oftrying to aid the victims. Everybody was absorbed in wondering whatwould become of himself. 

When the long attended hour of sunrise approached, the watchers wereappalled by the absence of even the slightest indication of thereappearance of the orb of day. There was no lightening of the densecloak of darkness, and the great city seemed dead. 

For the first time in its history it failed to awake after its regularperiod of repose, and to send forth its myriad voices. It could not beseen; it could not be heard; it made no sign. As far as any outwardindication of its existence was concerned the mighty capital had ceasedto be. 

It was this frightful silence of the streets, and of all the outerworld, that terrified the people, cooped up in their houses, and theirrooms, by the walls of darkness, more than almost any othercircumstance; it gave such an overwhelming sense of the universality ofthe disaster, whatever that disaster might be. Except where the voicesof neighbors could be heard, one could not be sure that the wholepopulation, outside his own family, had not perished. 

As the hours passed, and yet no light appeared, another intimidatingcircumstance manifested itself. From the start everybody had noticed theexcessive humidity of the dense air. Every solid object that the handscame in contact with in the darkness was wet, as if a thick fog hadcondensed upon it. This supersaturation of the air (a principal cause ofthe difficulty experienced in breathing) led to a result which wouldquickly have been foreseen if people could have had the use of theireyes, but which, coming on invisibly, produced a panic fear when at lastits presence was strikingly forced upon the attention. 

The moisture collected on all exposed surfaces--on the roofs, the walls, the pavements--until its quantity became sufficient to form littlerills, which sought the gutters, and there gathered force and volume. Presently the streams became large enough to create a noise of flowingwater that attracted the attention of the anxious watchers at the openwindows. Then cries of dismay arose. If the water had been visible itwould not have been terrible. 

But, to the overstrained imagination, the bubbling and splashing soundthat came out of the darkness was magnified into the rush of a torrent. It seemed to grow louder every moment. What was but a murmur on theear-drum became a roar in the excited brain-cells. 

Once more were heard the ominous words, "The flood!"

They spread from room to room, and from house to house. The wild scenesthat had attended the first awakening were tame in comparison with whatnow occurred. Self-control, reason--everything--gave way to panic. 

If they could only have _seen_ what they were about!

But then they would not have been about it. Then their reason would nothave been dethroned. 

Darkness is the microscope of the imagination, and it magnifies amillion times!

Some timorously descended their doorsteps, and feeling a current ofwater in the gutter, recoiled with cries of horror, as if they hadslipped down the bank of a flooded river. As they retreated theybelieved that the water was rising at their heels!

Others made their way to the roofs, persuaded that the flood was alreadyinundating the basements and the lower stories of their dwellings. 

Women wrung their hands and wept, and children cried, and men pushed andstumbled about, and shouted, and would have done something if only theycould have seen what to do. That was the pity of it! It was as if theworld had been stricken blind, and then the trump of an archangel hadsounded, crying:

"Fly! Fly! for the Avenger is on your heels!"

How could they fly?

This awful strain could not have lasted. It would have needed no delugeto finish New York if that maddening pall of darkness had remainedunbroken a few hours longer. But, just when thousands had given up indespair, there came a rapid change. 

At the hour of noon light suddenly broke overhead. Beginning in a roundpatch inclosed in an iridescent halo, it spread swiftly, seeming to meltits way down through the thick, dark mass that choked the air, and inless than fifteen minutes New York and all its surroundings emerged intothe golden light of noonday. 

People who had expected at any moment to feel the water pitilesslyrising about them looked out of their windows, and were astonished tosee only tiny rivulets which were already shriveling out of sight in thegutters. In a few minutes there was no running water left, although thedampness on the walls and walks showed how great the humidity of the airhad been. 

At the same time the oppression was lifted from the respiratoryapparatus, and everybody breathed freely once more, and felt couragereturning with each respiration. 

The whole great city seemed to utter a vast sigh of relief. 

And then its voice was heard, as it had never been heard before, risinghigher and louder every moment. It was the first time that morning hadever broken at midday. 

The streets became filled, with magical quickness, by hundreds ofthousands, who chattered, and shouted, and laughed, and shook hands, andasked questions, and told their experiences, and demanded if anybody hadever heard of such a thing before, and wondered what it could have been, and what it meant, and whether it would come back again. 

Telephones of all kinds were kept constantly busy. Women called up theirfriends, and talked hysterically; men called up their associates andpartners, and tried to talk business. 

There was a rush for the Elevated, for the Subways, for the streetauto-cars. The great arteries of traffic became jammed, and the noiserose louder and louder. 

Belated aero-expresses arrived at the towers from East and West, andtheir passengers hurried down to join the excited multitudes below. 

In an incredibly brief time the newsboys were out with extras. Theneverybody read with the utmost avidity what everybody knew already. 

But before many hours passed there was real news, come by wireless, andby submarine telephone and telegraph, telling how the whole world hadbeen swept by the marvelous cloak of darkness. 

In Europe it had arrived during the morning hours; in Asia during theafternoon. 

The phenomena had varied in different places. In some the darkness hadnot been complete, but everywhere it was accompanied by extraordinaryhumidity, and occasionally by brief but torrential rains. The terror hadbeen universal, and all believed that it was the _third sign_predicted by Cosmo Versál. 

Of course, the latter was interviewed, and he gave out a characteristicmanifesto. 

"One of the outlying spirals of the nebula has struck the earth, " hesaid. "But do not be deceived. It is nothing in comparison with what iscoming. _And it is the LAST WARNING that will be given!_ You haveobstinately shut your eyes to the truth, _and you have thrown awayyour lives!_"

This, together with the recent awful experience, produced a greateffect. Those who had begun to lay foundations for arks thought ofresuming the work. Those who had before sought places with Cosmo calledhim up by telephone. But only the voice of Joseph Smith answered, andhis words were not reassuring. 

"Mr. Versál, " he said, "directs me to say that at present he will allotno places. He is considering whom he will take. "

The recipients of this reply looked very blank. But at least one ofthem, a well-known broker in Wall Street, was more angered thanfrightened:

"Let him go to the deuce!" he growled; "him and his flood together!"

Then he resolutely set out to bull the market. 

It seems incredible--but such is human nature--that a few days of brightsunshine should once more have driven off the clouds of fear that hadsettled so densely over the popular mind. Of course, not everybodyforgot the terrors of the _third sign_--they had struck too deep, but gradually the strain was relaxed, and people in general accepted therenewed assurances of the savants of the Pludder type that nothing thathad occurred was inexplicable by the ordinary laws of nature. The greatdarkness, they averred, differed from previous occurrences of the kindonly in degree, and it was to be ascribed to nothing more serious thanatmospheric vagaries, such as that which produced the historic Dark Dayin New England in the year 1780. 

But more nervous persons noticed, with certain misgivings, that CosmoVersál pushed on his operations, if possible more energetically thanbefore. And there was a stir of renewed interest when the announcementcame out one day that the ark was finished. Then thousands hurried toMineola to look upon the completed work. 

The extraordinary massiveness of the ark was imposing. Toweringominously on its platform, which was so arranged that when the waterscame they should lift the structure from its cradle and set it afloatwithout any other launching, it seemed in itself a prophecy of impendingdisaster. 

Overhead it was roofed with an oblong dome of levium, through which rosefour great metallic chimneys, placed above the mighty engines. The roofsloped down to the vertical sides, to afford protection from in-burstingwaves. Rows of portholes, covered with thick, stout glass, indicated thelocation of the superposed decks. On each side four gangways gave accessto the interior, and long, sloping approaches offered means of entryfrom the ground. 

Cosmo had a force of trained guards on hand, but everybody who wishedwas permitted to enter and inspect the ark. Curious multitudesconstantly mounted and descended the long approaches, being kept movingby the guards. 

Inside they wandered about astonished by what they saw. 

The three lower decks were devoted to the storage of food and of fuelfor the electric generators which Cosmo Versál had been accumulating formonths. 

Above these were two decks, which the visitors were informed would beoccupied by animals, and by boxes of seeds and prepared roots of plants, with which it was intended to restore the vegetable life of the planetafter the water should have sufficiently receded. 

The five remaining decks were for human beings. There were roomyquarters for the commander and his officers, others for the crew, several large saloons, and five hundred sets of apartments of varioussizes to be occupied by the passengers whom Cosmo should choose toaccompany him. They had all the convenience of the most luxuriousstaterooms of the trans-oceanic liners. Many joking remarks wereexchanged by the visitors as they inspected these rooms. 

Cosmo ran about among his guests, explaining everything, showing greatpride in his work, pointing out a thousand particulars in which hisforesight had been displayed--but, to everybody's astonishment, heuttered no more warnings, and made no appeals. On the contrary, as someobservant persons noticed, he seemed to avoid any reference to the fateof those who should not be included in his ship's company. 

Some sensitive souls were disturbed by detecting in his eyes a look thatseemed to express deep pity and regret. Occasionally he would drawapart, and gaze at the passing crowds with a compassionate expression, and then, slowly turning his back, while his fingers worked nervously, would disappear, with downcast head, in his private room. 

The comparatively few who particularly noticed this conduct of Cosmo'swere deeply moved--more than they had been by all the enigmatic eventsof the past months. One man, Amos Blank, a rich manufacturer, who wasnotorious for the merciless methods that he had pursued in eliminatinghis weaker competitors, was so much disturbed by Cosmo Versál's changeof manner that he sought an opportunity to speak to him privately. Cosmoreceived him with a reluctance that he could not but notice, and which, somehow, increased his anxiety. 

"I--I--thought, " said the billionaire hesitatingly, "that I ought--thatis to say, that I might, perhaps, inquire--might inform myself--underwhat conditions one could, supposing the necessity to arise, obtain apassage in your--in your ark. Of course the question of cost does notenter in the matter--not with me. "

Cosmo gazed at the man coldly, and all the compassion that had recentlysoftened his steely eyes disappeared. For a moment he did not speak. Then he said, measuring his words and speaking with an emphasis thatchilled the heart of his listener:

"Mr. Blank, the necessity has arisen. "

"So you say--so you say--" began Mr. Blank. 

"So I say, " interrupted Cosmo sternly, "and I say further that this arkhas been constructed to save those who are worthy of salvation, in orderthat all that is good and admirable in humanity may not perish from theearth. "

"Exactly, exactly, " responded the other, smiling, and rubbing his hands. "You are quite right to make a proper choice. If your flood is going tocause a general destruction of mankind, of course you are bound toselect the best, the most advanced, those who have pushed to the front, those who have means, those with the strongest resources. The masses, who possess none of these qualifications and claims--"

Again Cosmo Versál interrupted him, more coldly than before:

"It costs nothing to be a passenger in this ark. Ten million dollars, ahundred millions, would not purchase a place in it! Did you ever hearthe parable of the camel and the needle's eye? The price of a tickethere is an irreproachable record!"

With these astonishing words Cosmo turned his back upon his visitor andshut the door in his face. 

The billionaire staggered back, rubbed his head, and then went offmuttering:

"An idiot! A plain idiot! There will be no flood. "

CHAPTER VI

SELECTING THE FLOWER OF MANKIND

After a day or two, during which the ark was left open for inspection, and was visited by many thousands, Cosmo Versál announced that no morevisitors would be admitted. He placed sentinels at all entrances, andbegan the construction of a shallow ditch, entirely inclosing thegrounds. Public curiosity was intensely excited by this singularproceeding, especially when it became known that the workmen werestringing copper wires the whole length of the ditch. 

"What the deuce is he up to now?" was the question on everybody's lips. 

But Cosmo and his employees gave evasive replies to all inquiries. Agreat change had come about in Cosmo's treatment of the public. No onewas any longer encouraged to watch the operations. 

When the wires were all placed and the ditch was finished, it wascovered up so that it made a broad flat-topped wall, encircling thefield. 

Speculation was rife for several days concerning the purpose of themysterious ditch and its wires, but no universally satisfactoryexplanation was found. 

One enterprising reporter worked out an elaborate scheme, which heascribed to Cosmo Versál, according to which the wired ditch was toserve as a cumulator of electricity, which would, at the proper moment, launch the ark upon the waters, thus avoiding all danger of a fataldetention in case the flood should rise too rapidly. 

This seemed so absurd on its face that it went far to quiet apprehensionby reawakening doubts of Cosmo's sanity--the more especially since hemade no attempt to contradict the assertion that the scheme was his. 

Nobody guessed what his real intention was; if people had guessed, itmight have been bad for their peace of mind. 

The next move of Cosmo Versál was taken without any knowledge orsuspicion on the part of the public. He had now established himself inhis apartments in the ark, and was never seen in the city. 

One evening, when all was quiet about the ark, night work being nowunnecessary, Cosmo and Joseph Smith sat facing one another at a squaretable lighted by a shaded lamp. Smith had a pile of writing paper beforehim, and was evidently prepared to take copious notes. 

Cosmo's great brow was contracted with thought, and he leaned his cheekupon his hand. It was clear that his meditations were troublesome. Forat least ten minutes he did not open his lips, and Smith watched himanxiously. At last he said, speaking slowly:

"Joseph, this is the most trying problem that I have had to solve. Thesuccess of all my work depends upon my not making a mistake now. 

"The burden of responsibility that rests on my shoulders is such as nomortal has ever borne. It is too great for human capacity--and yet howcan I cast it off?

"I am to decide who shall be saved! _I_, _I_ alone, _I_, Cosmo Versál, hold in my hands the fate of a race numbering two thousandmillion souls!--the fate of a planet which, without my intervention, would become simply a vast tomb. It is for _me_ to say whether the_genus homo_ shall be perpetuated, and in what form it shall beperpetuated. Joseph, this is terrible! These are the functions of deity, not of man. "

Joseph Smith seemed no longer to breathe, so intense was his attention. His eyes glowed under the dark brows, and his pencil trembled in hisfingers. After a slight pause Cosmo Versál went on:

"If I felt any doubt that Providence had foreordained me to do thiswork, and given me extraordinary faculties, and extraordinary knowledge, to enable me to perform it, I would, this instant, blow out my brains. "

Again he was silent, the secretary, after fidgeting about, bending andunbending his brows, and tapping nervously upon the table, at last saidsolemnly:

"Cosmo, you _are_ ordained; you must _do the work. _"

"I must, " returned Cosmo Versál, "I know that; and yet the sense of myresponsibility sometimes covers me with a cloud of despair. The otherday, when the ark was crowded with curiosity seekers, the thought thatnot one of all those tens of thousands could escape, and that hundredsof millions of others must also be lost, overwhelmed me. Then I began toreproach myself for not having been a more effective agent in warning myfellows of their peril. Joseph, I have miserably failed. I ought to haveproduced universal conviction that I was right, and I have not done it. "

"It is not your fault, Cosmo, " said Joseph Smith, reaching out his longarm to touch his leader's hand. "It is an unbelieving generation. Theyhave rejected even the signs in the heavens. The voice of an archangelwould not have convinced them. "

"It is true, " replied Cosmo. "And the truth is the more bitter to mebecause I spoke in the name of science, and the very men who representscience have been my most determined opponents, blinding the people'seyes--after willfully shutting their own. "

"You say you have been weak, " interposed Smith, "which you have notbeen; but you would be weak if you now shrank from your plain duty. "

"True!" cried Cosmo, in a changed voice. "Let us then proceed. I had alesson the other day. Amos Blank came to me, puffed with his pillagedmillions. I saw then what I had to do. I told him plainly that he wasnot among the chosen. Hand me that book over there. "

The secretary pushed a large volume within Cosmo's reach. He opened it. It was a "Year-Book of Science, Politics, Sociology, History, andGovernment. "

Cosmo ran over its pages, stopping to read a few lines here and there, seeming to make mental notes. After a while he pushed the book aside, looked at his companion thoughtfully, and began:

"The trouble with the world is that morally and physically it has forthousands of years grown more and more corrupt. The flower ofcivilization, about which people boast so much, nods over the stagnantwaters of a moral swamp and draws its perilous beauty from the poisonsof the miasma. 

"The nebula, in drowning the earth, brings opportunity for a new birthof mankind. You will remember, Joseph, that the same conditions are saidto have prevailed in the time of Noah. There was no science then, and wedo not know exactly on what principles the choice was made of those whoshould escape; but the simple history of Noah shows that he and hisfriends represented the best manhood of that early age. 

"But the seeds of corruption were not eliminated, and the same problemrecurs to-day. 

"I have to determine whom I will save. I attack the question byinquiring who represent the best elements of humanity? Let us firstconsider men by classes. "

"And why not by races?" asked Smith. 

"I shall not look to see whether a man is black, white, or yellow;whether his skull is brachycephalic or dolichocephalic, " replied Cosmo. "I shall look inside. No race has ever shown itself permanently thebest. "

"Then by classes you mean occupations?"

"Well, yes, for the occupation shows the tendency, the quintessence ofcharacter. Some men are born rulers and leaders; others are bornfollowers. Both are necessary, and I must have both kinds. "

"You will begin perhaps with the kings, the presidents?"

"Not at all. I shall begin with the men of science. They are the trueleaders. "

"But they have betrayed you--they have shut their eyes and blindfoldedothers, " objected Joseph Smith, as if in extenuation. 

"You do not understand me, " said Cosmo, with a commiserating smile. "Ifmy scientific brethren have not seen as clearly as I have done, thefault lies not in science, but in lack of comprehension. Nevertheless, they are on the right track; they have the gist of the matter in them;they are trained in the right method. If I should leave them out, theregenerated world would start a thousand years behind time. Besides, many of them are not so blind; some of them have got a glimpse of thetruth. "

"Not such men as Pludder, " said Smith. 

"All the same, I am going to save Pludder, " said Cosmo Versál. 

Joseph Smith fairly jumped with astonishment. 

"You--are--going--to--save--Pludder, " he faltered. "But he is the worstof all. "

"Not from my present view-point. Pludder has a good brain; he can handlethe tools; he is intellectually honest; he has done great things forscience in the past. And, besides, I do not conceal from you the factthat I should like to see him convicted out of his own mouth. "

"But, " persisted Smith, "I have heard you say that he was--"

"No matter what you have heard me say, " interrupted Cosmo impatiently. "I say now that he shall go with us. Put down his name at the head ofthe list. "

Dumfounded and muttering under his breath, Smith obeyed. 

"I can take exactly one thousand individuals, exclusive of the crew, "continued Versál, paying no attention to his confidant's repeatedshaking of his head. "Good Heavens, think of that! One thousand out oftwo thousand millions! But so be it. Nobody would listen to me, and nowit is too late. I must fix the number for each class. "

"There is one thing--one curious question--that occurs to me, " put inSmith hesitatingly. "What about families?"

"There you've hit it, " cried Cosmo. "That's exactly what bothers me. There must be as many women as men--that goes without saying. Then, too, the strongest moral element is in the women, although they don't weighheavily for science. But the aged people and the children--there's thedifficulty. If I invite a man who possesses unquestionablequalifications, but has a large family, what am I to do? I can't crowdout others as desirable as he for the sake of carrying all of hisstirpes. The principles of eugenics demand a wide field of selection. "

Cosmo Versál covered his eyes, rested his big head on his hands, and hiselbows on the table. Presently he looked up with an air of decision. 

"I see what I must do, " he said. "I can take only four persons belongingto any one family. Two of them may be children--a man, his wife, and twochildren--no more. "

"But that will be very hard lines for them--" began Joseph Smith. 

"Hard lines!" Cosmo broke in. "Do you think it is easy lines for me?Good Heavens, man! I am forced to this decision. It rends my heart tothink of it, but I can't avoid the responsibility. "

Smith dropped his eyes, and Cosmo resumed his reflections. In a littlewhile he spoke again:

"Another thing that I must fix is an age limit. But that will have to besubject to certain exceptions. Very aged persons in general will notdo--they could not survive the long voyage, and only in the rareinstances where their experience of life might be valuable would theyserve any good purpose in reëstablishing the race. Children areindispensable--but they must not be too young--infants in arms would notdo at all. Oh, this is sorry work! But I must harden my heart. "

Joseph Smith looked at his chief, and felt a twinge of sympathy, tempered by admiration, for he saw clearly the terrible contest in hisfriend's mind and appreciated the heroic nature of the decision to whichthe inexorable logic of facts had driven it. 

Cosmo Versál was again silent for a long time. Finally he appeared tothrow off the incubus, and, with a return of his ordinary decisiveness, exclaimed:

"Enough. I have settled the general principle. Now to the choice. "

Then, closing his eyes, as if to assist his memory, he ran over a listof names well known in the world of science, and Smith set them down ina long row under the name of "Abiel Pludder, " with which he had begun. 

At last Cosmo Versál ceased his dictation. 

"There, " he said, "that is the end of that category. I may add to orsubtract from it later. According to probability, making allowance forbachelors, each name will represent three persons; there areseventy-five names, which means two hundred and twenty-five placesreserved for science. I will now make a series of other categories andassign the number of places for each. "

He seized a sheet of paper and fell to work, while Smith looked on, drumming with his fingers and contorting his huge black eyebrows. Forhalf an hour complete silence reigned, broken only by the gliding soundof Cosmo Versál's pencil, occasionally emphasized by a soft thump. Atthe end of that time he threw down the pencil and held out the paper tohis companion. 

"Of course, " he said, "this is not a complete list of human occupations. I have set down the principal ones as they occurred to me. There will betime to correct any oversight. Read it. "

Smith, by force of habit, read it aloud:

 No. Of Probable No. Occupation Names of Places

Science (already assigned) 75 225Rulers 15 45Statesmen 10 30Business magnates 10 30Philanthropists 5 15Artists 15 45Religious teachers 20 60School-teachers 20 60Doctors 30 90Lawyers 1 3Writers 6 18Editors 2 6Players 14 42Philosophers 1 3Musicians 12 36Speculative geniuses 3 9"Society" 0 0Agriculture and mechanics 90 270 ____ ____ Totals 329 987Special reservations 13 ____ Grand total, places 1000

Several times while Joseph Smith was reading he raised his eyebrows, asif in surprise or mental protest, but made no remark. 

"Now, " resumed Cosmo when the secretary had finished, "let us begin withthe rulers. I do not know them as intimately as I know the men ofscience, but I am sure I have given them places enough. Suppose you takethis book and call them over to me. "

Smith opened the "year-book, " and began:

"George Washington Samson, President of the United States. "

"He goes. He is not intellectually brilliant, but he has strong senseand good moral fiber. I'll save him if for no other reason than his vetoof the Antarctic Continent grab bill. "

"Shen Su, Son of Heaven, President-Emperor of China. "

"Put him down. I like him. He is a true Confucian. "

Joseph Smith read off several other names at which Cosmo shook his head. Then he came to:

"Richard Edward, by the grace of God, King of Great--"

"Enough, " broke in Cosmo; "we all know him--the man who has done morefor peace by putting half the British navy out of commission than anyother ruler in history. I can't leave him out. "

"Achille Dumont, President of the French republic. "

"I'll take him. "

"William IV, German Emperor. "

"Admitted, for he has at last got the war microbe out of the familyblood. "

Then followed a number of rulers who were not lucky enough to meet withCosmo Versál's approval, and when Smith read:

"Alexander V, Emperor of all the Russias, " the big head was violentlyshaken, and its owner exclaimed:

"There will be many Russians in the ark, for tyranny has been like alustration to that people; but I will carry none of its Romanoff seedsto my new world. "

The selection was continued until fifteen names had been obtained, including that of the new, dark-skinned President of Liberia, and Cosmodeclared that he would not add another one. 

Then came the ten statesmen who were chosen with utter disregard toracial and national lines. 

In selecting his ten business magnates, Cosmo stated his rule:

"I exclude no man simply because he is a billionaire. I consider the wayhe made his money. The world must always have rich men. How could I havebuilt the ark if I had been poor?"

"Philanthropists, " read Smith. 

"I should have taken a hundred if I could have found them, " said Cosmo. "There are plenty of candidates, but these five [naming them] are theonly genuine ones, and I am doubtful about several of them. But I mustrun some chances, philanthropy being indispensable. "

For the fifteen representatives of art Cosmo confined his selectionlargely to architecture. 

"The building instinct must be preserved, " he explained. "One of thefirst things we shall need after the flood recedes is a variety of allkinds of structures. But it's a pretty bad lot at the best. I shall tryto reform their ideas during the voyage. As to the other artists, they, too, will need some hints that I can give them, and that they cantransmit to their children. "

Under the head of religious teachers, Cosmo remarked that he had triedto be fair to all forms of genuine faith that had a large following. Theschool-teachers represented the principal languages, and Cosmo selectedthe names from a volume on "The Educational Systems of the World, "remarking that he ran some risk here, but it could not easily beavoided. 

"Doctors--they get a rather liberal allowance, don't they?" asked Smith. 

"Not half as large as I'd like to have it, " was the response. "Thedoctors are the salt of the earth. It breaks my heart to have to leaveout so many whose worth I know. "

"And only one lawyer!" pursued Joseph. "That's curious. "

"Not in the least curious. Do you think I want to scatter broadcast theseeds of litigation in a regenerated world? Put down the name of ChiefJustice Good of the United States Supreme Court. He'll see that equityprevails. "

"And only six writers, " continued Smith. 

"And that's probably too many, " said Cosmo. "Set down under that headPeter Inkson, whom I will engage to record the last scenes on thedrowning earth; James Henry Blackwitt, who will tell the story of thevoyage; Jules Bourgeois, who can describe the personnel of thepassengers; Sergius Narishkoff, who will make a study of theirpsychology; and Nicolao Ludolfo, whose description of the ark will be aninvaluable historic document a thousand years hence. "

"But you have included no poets, " remarked Smith. 

"Not necessary, " responded Cosmo. "Every human being is a poet atbottom. "

"And no novelists, " persisted the secretary. 

"They will spring up thicker than weeds before the waters are halfgone--at least, they would if I let one aboard the ark. "

"Editors--two?"

"That's right. And two too many, perhaps. I'll take Jinks of the_Thunderer_, and Bullock of the _Owl. _"

"But both of them have persistently called you an idiot. "

"For that reason I want them. No world could get along without some realidiots. "

"I am rather surprised at the next entry, if you will permit me to speakof it, " said Joseph Smith. "Here you have forty-two places reserved forplayers. "

"That means twenty-eight adults, and probably some youngsters who willbe able to take parts, " returned Cosmo, rubbing his hands with asatisfied smile. "I have taken as many players as I conscientiouslycould, not only because of their future value, but because they will domore than anything else to keep up the spirits of everybody in the ark. I shall have a stage set in the largest saloon. "

Joseph Smith scowled, but held his peace. Then, glancing again at thepaper, he remarked that there was but one philosopher to be providedfor. 

"It is easy to name him, " said Cosmo. "Kant Jacobi Leergeschwätz. "

"Why he?"

"Because he will harmlessly represent the metaphysical _genus_, fornobody will ever understand him. "

"Musicians twelve?"

"Chosen for the same reason as the players, " said Cosmo, rapidly writingdown twelve names because they were not easy to pronounce, and handingthem to Smith, who duly copied them off. 

When this was done Cosmo himself called out the nextcategory--"'speculative geniuses. '"

"I mean by that, " he continued, "not Wall Street speculators, butforeseeing men who possess the gift of looking into the 'seeds of time, 'but who never get a hearing in their own day, and are hardly everremembered by the future ages which enjoy the fruits whose buds theyrecognized. "

Cosmo mentioned two names which Joseph Smith had never heard, and toldhim they ought to be written in golden ink. 

"They are _sui generis_, and alone in the world. They are the mostprecious cargo I shall have aboard, " he added. 

Smith shrugged his shoulders and stared blankly at the paper, whileCosmo sank into a reverie. Finally the secretary said, smiling withevident approval this time:

"'Society' zero. "

"Precisely, for what does 'society' represent except its own vanity?"

"And then comes agriculture and mechanics. "

For this category Cosmo seemed to be quite as well prepared as for thatof science. He took from his pocket a list already made out and handedit to Joseph Smith. It contained forty names marked "cultivators, farmers, gardeners, " and fifty "mechanics. "

"At the beginning of the twentieth century, " he said, "I should have hadto reverse that proportion--in fact, my entire list would then have beentop-heavy, and I should have been forced to give half of all the placesto agriculture. But thanks to our scientific farming, the personnelemployed in cultivation is now reduced to a minimum while showingmaximum results. I have already stored the ark with seeds of the latestscientifically developed plants, and with all the needed agriculturalimplements and machinery. "

"There yet remain thirteen places 'specially reserved, '" said Smith, referring to the paper. 

"I shall fill those later, " responded Cosmo, and then added with athoughtful look, "I have some humble friends. "

"The next thing, " he continued, after a pause, "is to prepare theletters of invitation. But we have done enough for to-night. I will giveyou the form to-morrow. "

And all this while half the world had been peacefully sleeping, and theother half going about its business, more and more forgetful of recentevents, and if it had known what those two men were about it wouldprobably have exploded in a gust of laughter. 

CHAPTER VII

THE WATERS BEGIN TO RISE

Cosmo Versál had begun the construction of his ark in the latter part ofJune. It was now the end of November. The terrors of the _thirdsign_ had occurred in September. Since then the sky had nearlyresumed its normal color, there had been no storms, but the heat ofsummer had not relaxed. People were puzzled by the absence of the usualindications of autumn, although vegetation had shriveled on account ofthe persistent high temperature and constant sunshine. 

"An extraordinary year, " admitted the meteorologists, "but there havebeen warm falls before, and it is simply a question of degree. Naturewill restore the balance and in good time, and probably we shall have asevere winter. "

On the 31st of November, the brassy sky at New York showed no signs ofchange, when the following dispatch, which most of the newspaperstriple-leaded and capped with stunning headlines, quivered down fromChurchill, Keewatin:

 During last night the level of the water in Hudson Bay rose fully nine feet. Consternation reigned this morning when ship-owners found their wharves inundated, and vessels straining at short cables. The ice-breaker "Victoria" was lifted on the back of a sandy bar, having apparently been driven by a heavy wave, which must have come from the East. There are other indications that the mysterious rise began with a "bore" from the eastward. It is thought that the vast mass of icebergs set afloat on Davis's Strait by the long continued hot weather melting the shore glaciers, has caused a jam off the mouth of Hudson Strait, and turned the Polar current suddenly into the bay. But this is only a theory. A further rise is anticipated. 

Startling as was this news, it might not, by itself, have greatlydisturbed the public mind if it had not been followed, in a few hours, by intelligence of immense floods in Alaska and in the basin of theMackenzie River. 

And the next day an etherogram from Obdorsk bordered on the grotesque, and filled many sensitive readers with horror. 

It is said that in the vast tundra regions of Northern Siberia thefrozen soil had dissolved into a bottomless slough, from whose depthsuprose prehistoric mammoths, their long hair matted with mud, and theircurved tusks of ivory gleaming like trumpets over the field of theirresurrection. The dispatch concluded with a heart-rending account of theloss of a large party of ivory hunters, who, having ventured too farfrom the more solid land, suddenly found the ground turning to blackooze beneath their feet, and, despite their struggles, were all engulfedwithin sight of their friends, who dared not try to approach them. 

Cosmo Versál, when interviewed, calmly remarked that the flood wasbeginning in the north, because it was the northern part of the globethat was nearest the heart of the nebula. The motion of the earth beingnorthward, that end of its axis resembled the prow of a ship. 

"But this, " he added, "is not the true deluge. The Arctic ice-cap ismelting, and the frozen soil is turning into a sponge in consequence ofthe heat of friction developed in the air by the inrush of nebulousmatter. The aqueous vapor, however, has not yet touched the earth. Itwill begin to manifest its presence within a few days, and then theglobe will drink water at every pore. The vapor will finally condenseinto falling oceans. "

"What would you advise people to do?" asked one of the reporters. 

The reply was given in a perfectly even voice, without change ofcountenance:

"_Commit suicide_! They have practically done that already. "

It was nearly two weeks later when the first signs of a change ofweather were manifested in middle latitudes. It came on with a rapidveiling of the sky, followed by a thin, misty, persistent rain. The heatgrew more oppressive, but the rain did not become heavier, and after afew days there would be, for several consecutive hours, a clear spell, during which the sun would shine, though with a sickly, pallid light. 

There was a great deal of mystification abroad, and nobody felt at ease. Still, the ebullitions of terror that had accompanied the earliercaprices of the elements were not renewed. People were getting used tothese freaks. 

In the middle of one of the clear spells a remarkable scene occurred atMineola. 

It was like a panorama of the seventh chapter of Genesis. 

It was the procession of the beasts. 

Cosmo Versál had concluded that the time was come for housing hisanimals in the ark. He wished to accustom them to their quarters beforethe voyage began. The resulting spectacle filled the juvenile world withirrepressible joy, and immensely interested their elders. 

No march of a menagerie had ever come within sight of equaling thisdisplay. Many of the beasts were such as no one there had ever seenbefore. Cosmo had consulted experts, but, in the end, he had been guidedin his choice by his own judgment. Nobody knew as well as he exactlywhat was wanted. He had developed in his mind a scheme for making thenew world that was to emerge from the waters better in every respectthan the old one. 

Mingled with such familiar creatures as sheep, cows, dogs, and barn-yardfowls, were animals of the past, which the majority of the onlookers hadonly read about or seen pictures of, or perhaps, in a few cases, hearddescribed in childhood, by grandfathers long since sleeping in theirgraves. 

Cosmo had rapidly collected them from all parts of the world, but asthey arrived in small consignments, and were carried in closed vans, very few persons had any idea of what he was doing. 

The greatest sensation was produced by four beautiful horses, which hadbeen purchased at an enormous price from an English duke, who neverwould have parted with them--for they were almost the last livingrepresentatives of the equine race left on the earth--if financialstress had not compelled the sacrifice. 

These splendid animals were dapple gray, with long white tails, andflowing manes borne proudly on their arching necks, and as they were ledat the head of the procession, snorting at the unwonted scene aboutthem, their eyes bright with excitement, prancing and curvetting, criesof admiration and rounds of applause broke from the constantly growingthrongs of spectators. 

Those who had only known the horse from pictures and sculptures werefilled with astonishment by its living beauty. People could not helpsaying to themselves:

"What a pity that the honking auto, in its hundred forms of mechanicalugliness, should have driven these beautiful and powerful creatures outof the world! What could our forefathers have been thinking of?"

A few elephants, collected from African zoölogical gardens, and somegiraffes, also attracted a great deal of attention, but the horses werethe favorites with the crowd. 

Cosmo might have had lions and tigers, and similar beasts, which hadbeen preserved, in larger numbers than the useful horse, but when JosephSmith suggested their inclusion he shook his head, declaring that it wasbetter that they should perish. As far as possible, he averred, he wouldeliminate all carnivores. 

In some respects, even more interesting to the onlookers than theanimals of the past, were the animals of the future that marched in theprocession. Few of them had ever been seen outside the experimentalstations where they had been undergoing the process of artificialevolution. 

There were the stately white Californian cattle, without horns, but ofgigantic stature, the cows, it was said, being capable of producingtwenty times more milk than their ancestral species, and of a vastlysuperior quality. 

There were the Australian rabbits, as large as Newfoundland dogs, thoughshort-legged, and furnishing food of the most exquisite flavor; and theArgentine sheep, great balls of snowy wool, moving smartly along on legsthree feet in length. 

The greatest astonishment was excited by the "grand astoria terrapin, " adeveloped species of diamond-back tortoise, whose exquisitely sculpturedconvex back, lurching awkwardly as it crawled, rose almost three feetabove the ground; and the "new century turkey, " which carried its beaconhead and staring eyes as high as a tall man's hat. 

The end of the procession was formed of animals familiar to everybody, and among them were cages of monkeys (concerning whose educationaldevelopment Cosmo Versál had theories of his own) and a large variety ofbirds, together with boxes of insect eggs and chrysalids. 

The delight of the boys who had chased after the procession culminatedwhen the animals began to ascend the sloping ways into the ark. 

The horses shied and danced, making the metallic flooring resound like arattle of thunder; the elephants trumpeted; the sheep baaed and crowdedthemselves into inextricable masses against the guard-rails; the hugenew cattle moved lumberingly up the slope, turning their big white headsinquiringly about; the tall turkeys stretched their red coral necks andgobbled with Brobdingnagian voices; and the great terrapins wereignominiously attached to cables and drawn up the side of the ark, helplessly waving their immense flappers in the air. 

And when the sensational entry was finished, the satisfied crowd turnedaway, laughing, joking, chattering, with never a thought that it wasanything more than the most amusing exhibition they had ever seen!

But when they got back in the city streets they met a flying squadron ofyelling newsboys, and seizing the papers from their hands read, in bigblack letters:

 "AWFUL FLOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI!

 "Thousands of People Drowned!

 "THE STORM COMING THIS WAY!"

It was a startling commentary on the recent scene at the ark, and manyturned pale as they read. 

But the storm did not come in the way expected. The deluging rainsappeared to be confined to the Middle West and the Northwest, while atNew York the sky simply grew thicker and seemed to squeeze out moisturein the form of watery dust. This condition lasted for some time, andthen came what everybody, even the most skeptical, had been secretlydreading. 

The ocean began to rise!

The first perception of this startling fact, according to a newspaperaccount, came in a very strange, roundabout way to a man living on theoutskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city hadspread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay. 

About three o'clock in the morning, this man, who it appears was apoliceman off duty, was awakened by scurrying sounds in the house. Hestruck a light, and seeing dark forms issuing from the cellar, went downto investigate. The ominous gleam of water, reflecting the light of hislamp, told him that the cellar was inundated almost to the top of thewalls. 

"Come down here, Annie!" he shouted to his wife. "Sure 'tis Cosmo Versális invadin' the cellar with his flood. The rats are lavin' us. "

Seeing that the slight foundation walls were crumbling, he hurried hisfamily into the street, and not too soon, for within ten minutes thehouse was in ruins. 

Neighbors, living in equally frail structures, were awakened, and soonother undermined houses fell. Terror spread through the quarter, andgradually half the city was aroused. 

When day broke, residents along the water-front in Manhattan found theircellars flooded, and South and West Streets swimming with water, whichwas continually rising. It was noted that the hour was that offlood-tide, but nobody had ever heard of a tide so high as this. 

Alarm deepened into terror when the time for the tide to ebb arrived andthere was no ebbing. On the contrary, the water continued to rise. Thegovernment observer at the Highlands telephoned that Sandy Hook wassubmerged. Soon it was known that Coney Island, Rockaway, and all theseaside places along the south shore of Long Island were under water. The mighty current poured in through the Narrows with the velocity of amill-race. The Hudson, set backward on its course, rushed northward witha raging bore at its head that swelled higher until it licked the feetof the rock chimneys of the Palisades. 

But when the terror inspired by this sudden invasion from the sea was atits height there came unexpected relief. The water began to fall morerapidly than it had risen. It rushed out through the Narrows faster thanit had rushed in, and ships, dragged from their anchorage in the upperharbor, were carried out seaward, some being stranded on the sandbanksand shoals in the lower bay. 

Now again houses standing on made ground, whose foundations had beenundermined, fell with a crash, and many were buried in the ruins. 

Notwithstanding the immense damage and loss of life, the recession ofthe waters immediately had a reassuring effect, and the public, ingeneral, was disposed to be comforted by the explanation of the weatherofficials, who declared that what had occurred was nothing more than anunprecedentedly high tide, probably resulting from some unforeseendisturbance out at sea. 

The phenomenon had been noted all along the Atlantic coast. The chiefforecaster ventured the assertion that a volcanic eruption had occurredsomewhere on the line from Halifax to Bermuda. He thought that theprobable location of the upheaval had been at Munn's Reef, about halfwaybetween those points, and the more he discussed his theory the readierhe became to stake his reputation on its correctness, for, he said, itwas impossible that any combination of the effects of high and lowpressures could have created such a surge of the ocean, while a volcanicwave, combining with the regular oscillation of the tide, could havedone it easily. 

But Cosmo Versál smiled at this explanation, and said in reply:

"The whole Arctic ice-cap is dissolved, and the condensation of thenebula is at hand. But there is worse behind. When the wave comes backit will rise higher. "

As the time for the next flood-tide grew near, anxious eyes were on thewatch to see how high the water would go. There was something in themere manner of its approach that made the nerves tingle. 

It speeded toward the beaches, combing into rollers at an unwonteddistance from shore; plunged with savage violence upon the sands of theshallows, as if it would annihilate them; and then, spreading swiftly, ran with terrific speed up the strand, seeming to devour everything ittouched. After each recoil it sprang higher and roared louder and grewblacker with the mud that it had ground up from the bottom. Miles inlandthe ground trembled with the fast-repeated shocks. 

Again the Hudson was hurled backward until a huge bore of water burstover the wharves at Albany. Every foot of ground in New York less thantwenty feet above the mean high tide level was inundated. Thedestruction was enormous, incalculable. Ocean liners moored along thewharves were, in some cases, lifted above the level of the neighboringstreets, and sent crashing into the buildings along the water-front. 

Etherograms told, in broken sentences, of similar experiences on thewestern coasts of Europe, and from the Pacific came the news of theflooding of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and, in fact, every coast-lying town. On the western coast of South Americathe incoming waves broke among the foothills of the Andes. 

It was as if the mighty basins of the world's two greatest oceans werebeing rocked to and fro, sending the waters spinning from side to side. 

And to add to the horror of the situation, every volcano on the globeseemed to burst simultaneously into activity, probably through theeffects of the invasion of sea water into the subterranean fire, whilethe strain of the unwonted weight thrown upon the coasts broke open thetectonic lines of weakness in the earth's crust, causing the mostterrible earthquakes, which destroyed much that the water could notreach. 

From Alaska to Patagonia, from Kamchatka through Japan to the EastIndies, from Mount Hecla to Vesuvius, Etna, and Teneriffe, the ragingoceans were bordered with pouring clouds of volcanic smoke, hurledupward in swift succeeding puffs, as if every crater had become thestack of a stupendous steam-engine driven at its maddest speed; whileimmense rivers of lava flamed down the mountain flanks and plunged intothe invading waters with reverberated roarings, hissings, and explosionsthat seemed to shake the framework of the globe. 

During the second awful shoreward heave of the Atlantic a scene occurredoff New York Bay that made the stoutest nerves quiver. A great crowd hadcollected on the Highlands of the Navesink to watch the ingress of thetidal wave. 

Suddenly, afar off, the smoke of an approaching ocean liner was seen. Itneeded but a glance to show that she was struggling with tremendoussurges. Sometimes she sank completely out of sight; then she reappeared, riding high on the waves. Those who had glasses recognized her. Word ranfrom mouth to mouth that it was the great _Atlantis_, the mightiestof the ocean monarchs, of a hundred thousand tons register, coming fromEurope, and bearing, without question, many thousands of souls. 

She was flying signals of distress, and filling the ether with herinarticulate calls for help, which quavered into every radiographstation within a radius of hundreds of miles. 

But, at the same time, she was battling nobly for herself and for thelives of her passengers and crew. From her main peak the Stars andStripes streamed in the tearing wind. There were many in the watchingthrongs who personally knew her commander, Captain Basil Brown, and whofelt that if any human being could bring the laboring ship throughsafely, he could. Aid from land was not to be thought of for a moment. 

As she swiftly drew nearer, hurled onward by the resistless surges withthe speed of an express train, the captain was recognized on his bridge, balancing himself amid the lurches of the vessel; and even at thatdistance, and in those terrible circumstances, there was something inhis bearing perceptible to those who breathlessly watched him, throughpowerful glasses, which spoke of perfect self-command, entire absence offear, and iron determination to save his ship or die with her under hisfeet. 

It could be seen that he was issuing orders and watching theirexecution, but precisely what their nature was, of course, could only beguessed. His sole hope must be to keep the vessel from being castashore. There was no danger from the shoals, for they were by this timedeeply covered by the swelling of the sea. 

Slowly, slowly, with a terrific straining of mechanic energies, whichpressed the jaws of the watchers together with spasmodic sympathy, as iftheir own nervous power were cooperating in the struggle, the gallantship bore her head round to face the driving waves. From the ten huge, red stacks columns of inky black smoke poured out as the stokers crammedthe furnaces beneath. It was man against nature, human nerve andmechanical science against blind force. 

It began to look as if the _Atlantis_ would win the battle. She wasnow fearfully close to the shore, but her bow had been turned into thevery eye of the sea, and one could almost feel the tension of her steelmuscles as she seemed to spring to the encounter. The billows that splitthemselves in quick succession on her sharp stem burst into shootinggeysers three hundred feet high. 

The hearts of the spectators almost ceased to beat. Their souls werewrapped up with the fate of the brave ship. They forgot the terrors oftheir own situation, the peril of the coming flood, and saw nothing butthe agonized struggle before their eyes. With all their inward strengththey prayed against the ocean. 

Such a contest could not last long. Suddenly, as the _Atlantis_swerved a little aside, a surge that towered above her loftiest deckrushed upon her. She was lifted like a cockleshell upon its crest, herhuge hull spun around, and the next minute, with a crash that resoundedabove the roar of the maddened sea, she was dashed in pieces. 

At the very last moment before the vessel disappeared in the whirlingbreakers, to be strewed in broken and twisted bits of battered metalupon the pounding sands, Captain Basil Brown was seen on the commander'sbridge. 

No sooner had this tragedy passed than the pent-up terror broke forth, and men ran for their lives, ran for their homes, ran to _dosomething_--something, but what?--to save themselves and their dearones. 

For now, at last, they _believed!_

CHAPTER VIII

STORMING THE ARK

There was to be no more respite now. The time of warnings was past. The"signs" had all been shown to a skeptical and vacillating world, and atlast the fulfillment was at hand. 

There was no crying of "extras" in the streets, for men had somethingmore pressing to think of than sending and reading news about theirdistresses and those of their fellow-men. Many of the newspapers ceasedpublication; every business place was abandoned; there was no thoughtbut of the means of escape. 

But how should they escape? And whither should they fly?

The lower lying streets were under water. The Atlantic still surged backand forth as if the ocean itself were in agony. And every time the wavespoured in they rose higher. The new shores of the bay, and the newcoasts of Long Island and New Jersey, receding inward hour by hour, werestrewn with the wrecks of hundreds of vessel of all kinds which had beencaught by the surges and pitilessly hurled to destruction. 

Even if men did not yet fully believe in Cosmo Versál's theory of awhelming nebula, they were terrified to the bottom of their souls by theconviction, which nobody could resist, that the vast ice-fields of thenorth, the glaciers of Greenland, the icy mountains of Alaska, hadmelted away under the terrible downpour of heat, and were swelling theoceans over their brims. And then a greater fear dropped like a blanketupon them. Some one thought of the _antarctic ice. _

The latest dispatches that had come, before the cessation of allcommunication to the newspapers, had told of the prevalence of stiflingheat throughout the southern hemisphere, and of the vast fleets ofantarctic icebergs that filled the south seas. The mighty deposits ofice, towering to mountain heights, that stretched a thousand miles inevery direction around the south pole were melting as the arctic ice hadmelted, and, when the water thus formed was added to the alreadyoverflowing seas, to what elevation might not the flood attain!

The antarctic ice was known to be the principal mass of frozen water onthe globe. The frigid cap of the north was nothing in comparison withit. It had long been believed that that tremendous accumulationunbalanced the globe and was the principal cause of the unsteadiness ofthe earth's axis of rotation. 

Every fresh exploration had only served to magnify the conception of theincredible vastness of that deposit. The skirts of the AntarcticContinent had proved to be rich in minerals wherever the rocks couldfind a place to penetrate through the gigantic burden of ice, and theprincipal nations had quarreled over the possession or control of theseprotruding bits of wealth-crammed strata. But behind the borderingcliffs of ice, rising in places a thousand feet above the level of thesea, and towering farther inland so high that this region was, in meanelevation, the loftiest on the planet, nothing but ice could be seen. 

And now that ice was dissolving and flowing into the swollen oceans, adding billions of tons of water every minute!

Men did not stop to calculate, as Cosmo Versál had done, just how muchthe dissolution of all the ice and permanent snow of the globe would addto the volume of the seas. He knew that it would be but a drop in thebucket--although sufficient to start the flood--and that the great thingto be feared was the condensation of the aqueous nebula, alreadybeginning to enwrap the planet in its stifling folds. 

The public could understand the melting ice, although it could not fullyunderstand the nebula; it could understand the swelling sea, and theraging rivers, and the lakes breaking over their banks--and the terrorand despair became universal. 

But what should they _do?_

Those who had thought of building arks hurried to see if the work mightnot yet be completed, but most of them had begun their foundations onlow land, which was already submerged. 

Then a cry arose, terrible in its significance and in itsconsequences--one of those cries that the vanished but unconquerable godPan occasionally sets ringing, nobody can tell how:

"Cosmo's ark! Get aboard! Storm it!"

And thereupon there was a mighty rush for Mineola. Nobody who caught theinfection stopped to reason. Some of them had to wade through water, which in places was knee-deep. They came from various directions, andunited in a yelling mob. They meant to carry the ark with a rush. Theywould not be denied. As the excited throngs neared the great vessel theysaw its huge form rising like a mount of safety, with an American flagflapping over it, and they broke into a mighty cheer. On they sped, seized with the unreason of a crowd, shouting, falling over one another, struggling, fighting for places, men dragging their wives and childrenthrough the awful crush, many trampled helpless under the myriads ofstruggling feet--driving the last traces of sanity from one another'sminds. 

The foremost ranks presently spied Cosmo Versál, watching them from anopen gangway sixty feet above their heads. They were dismayed at findingthe approaches gone. How should they get into the ark? How could theyclimb up its vertical sides?

But they would find means. They would re-erect the approaches. Theywould _get in somehow_. 

Cosmo waved them off with frantic gesticulations; then, through atrumpet, he shouted in a voice audible above the din:

"Keep back, for your lives!"

But they paid no attention to him; they rushed upon the raised wall, surrounding the field where Cosmo had buried his mysterious lines ofwire. Then the meaning of that enigmatical work was flashed upon them. 

As the first to arrive laid their hands upon the top of the low wallthey fell as if shot through the brain, tumbling backward on thosebehind. Others pushed wildly on, but the instant they touched the wallthey too collapsed. Wicked blue-green sparks occasionally flashed abovethe struggling mass. 

The explanation was clear. Cosmo, foreseeing the probability of adespairing attack, had surrounded the ark with an impassable electricbarrier. The sound of a whirring dynamo could be heard. A tremendouscurrent was flowing through the hidden wires and transmitting itsparalyzing energy to the metallic crest of the wall. 

Still those behind pushed on, until rank after rank had sunk helpless atthe impregnable line of defense. They were not killed--at least, notmany--but the shock was so paralyzing that those who had experienced itseffects made no further attempts to cross the barrier. Many lay for atime helpless upon the sodden ground. 

Cosmo and Joseph Smith, who had now appeared at his side, continued toshout warnings, which began to be heeded when the nature of the obstaclebecame known. The rush was stopped, and the multitude stood at bay, dazed, and uncertain what to do. Then a murmur arose, growing louder andmore angry and threatening, until suddenly a shot was heard in the midstof the crowd, and Cosmo was seen to start backward, while Joseph Smithinstantly dodged out of sight. 

A cry arose:

"Shoot him! That's right! Shoot the devil! He's a witch! He's drowningthe world!"

They meant it--at least, half of them did. It was the logic of terror. 

Hundreds of shots were now fired from all quarters, and heads that hadbeen seen flitting behind the various portholes instantly disappeared. The bullets rattled on the huge sides of the ark, but they came fromsmall pistols and had not force enough to penetrate. 

Cosmo Versál alone remained in sight. Occasionally a quick motion showedthat even his nerves were not steady enough to defy the whistling of thebullets passing close; but he held his ground, and stretched out hishand to implore attention. 

When the fusillade ceased for a moment he put his trumpet again to hislips and shouted:

"I have done my best to save you, but you would not listen. Although Iknow that you must perish, I would not myself harm a hair of your heads. Go back, I implore you. You may prolong your lives if you will fly tothe highlands and the mountains--but here you cannot enter. _The arkis full. _"

Another volley of shots was the only answer. One broad-shouldered manforced his way to the front, took his stand close to the wall, andyelled in stentorian tones:

"Cosmo Versál, listen to me! You are the curse of the world! You havebrought this flood upon us with your damnable incantations. Yourinfernal nebula is the seal of Satan! Here, beast and devil, here at myfeet, lies my only son, slain by your hellish device. By the Eternal Iswear you shall go back to the pit!"

Instantly a pistol flashed in the speaker's hand, and five shots rang inquick succession. One after another they whistled by Cosmo's head andflattened themselves upon the metal-work behind. Cosmo Versál, untouched, folded his arms and looked straight at his foe. The man, staring a moment confusedly, as if he could not comprehend his failure, threw up his arms with a despairing gesture, and fell prone upon theground. 

Then yells and shots once more broke out. Cosmo stepped back, and agreat metallic door swung to, closing the gangway. 

But three minutes later the door opened, and the mob saw twomachine-guns trained upon them. 

Once more Cosmo appeared, with the trumpet. 

"If you fire again, " he cried, "I shall sweep you with grapeshot. I havetold you how you can prolong your lives. Now go!"

Not another shot was fired. In the face of the guns, whose terriblepower all comprehended, no one dared to make a hostile movement. 

But, perhaps, if Cosmo Versál had not set new thoughts running in theminds of the assailants by telling them there was temporary safety to befound by seeking high ground, even the terror of the guns would not havedaunted them. Now their hopefulness was reawakened, and many began toponder upon his words. 

"He says we must perish, and yet that we can find safety in the hillsand mountains, " said one man. "I believe half of that is a lie. We arenot going to be drowned. The water won't rise much higher. The floodfrom the south pole that they talk about must be here by this time, andthen what's left to come?"

"The nebula, " suggested one. 

"Aw, the nebula be hanged! There's no such thing! I live on high ground;I'm going to keep a sharp outlook, and if the water begins to shut offManhattan I'll take my family up the Hudson to the Highlands. I guessold Storm King'll keep his head above. That's where I come from--up thatway. I used to hear people say when I was a boy that New York was boundto sink some day. I used to laugh at that then, but it looks mighty likeit now, don't it?"

"Say, " put in another, "what did the fellow mean by saying the ark was_full_? That's funny, ain't it? Who's he got inside, anyway?"

"Oh, he ain't got nobody, " said another. 

"Yes, he has. I seen a goodish lot through the portholes. He's gotsomebody, sure. "

"A lot of fools like himself, most likely. "

"Well, if he's a fool, and they's fools, what are _we_, I'd like toknow? What did you come here for, hey?"

It was a puzzling question, and brought forth only a sheepish laugh, followed by the remark:

"I guess we fooled ourselves considerable. We got scared too easy. "

"Maybe you'll feel scared again when you see the water climbing up thestreets in New York. I don't half like this thing. I'm going to followhis advice and light out for higher ground. "

Soon conversation of this sort was heard on all sides, and the crowdbegan to disperse, only those lingering behind who had friends orrelatives that had been struck down at the fatal wall. It turned outthat not more than one or two had been mortally shocked. The rest wereable to limp away, and many had fully recovered within five minutesafter suffering the shock. In half an hour not a dozen persons were insight from the ark. 

But when the retreating throngs drew near the shores of the Sound, andthe East River, which had expanded into a true arm of the sea, and foundthat there had been a perceptible rise since they set out to capture theark, they began to shake their heads and fear once more entered theirhearts. 

Thousands then and there resolved that they would not lose anotherinstant in setting out for high land, up the Hudson, in Connecticut, among the hills of New Jersey. In fact, many had already fled thither, some escaping on aeros; and hosts would now have followed but for amarvelous change that came just before nightfall and prevented them. 

For some days the heavens had alternately darkened and lightened, asgushes of mist came and went, but there had been no actual rain. Now, without warning, a steady downpour began. Even at the beginning it wouldhave been called, in ordinary times, a veritable cloudburst; but itrapidly grew worse and worse, until there was no word in the vernacularor in the terminology of science to describe it. 

It seemed, in truth, that "all the fountains of the great deep werebroken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. " The water thunderedupon the roofs, and poured off them in torrents. In five minutes everysloping street had become an angry river, and every level place aswelling lake. People caught out of doors were almost beaten to theground by the force of the water falling upon them as if they had beenstanding under a cataract. 

In a short time every cellar and every basement was filled tooverflowing, and in the avenues the flood, lapping every instant higherupon the doorsteps and the walls, rushed by with frightful roarings, bearing in its awful embrace pieces of furniture, clothing, bedding, washed out of ground-floor rooms--and, alas! human beings; somemotionless, already mercifully deprived of life, but others strugglingand shouting for aid which could not be given. 

So terrible a spectacle no one had ever looked upon, no one had everimagined. Those who beheld it were too stunned to cry out, toooverwhelmed with terror and horror to utter a word. They stood, or fellinto chairs or upon the floor, trembling in every limb, with staringeyes and drooping jaws, passively awaiting their fate. 

As night came on there was no light. The awful darkness of the _thirdsign_ once more settled upon the great city, but now it was not theterror of indefinite expectation that crushed down the souls of men andwomen--it was the weight of doom accomplished!

There was no longer any room for self-deception; every quaking heartfelt now that the nebula had come. _Cosmo Versál had been right!_

After the water had attained a certain height in the streets and yards, depending upon the ratio between the amount descending from the sky andthat which could find its way to the rivers, the flood for the timebeing rose no higher. The actual drowning of New York could not happenuntil the Hudson and the East River should become so swollen that thewater would stand above the level of the highest buildings, and turn thewhole region round about, as far as the Orange hills, the RamapoMountains, the Highlands, and the Housatonic hills, into an inland sea. 

But before we tell that story we must return to see what was going on atMineola. Cosmo Versál, on that awful night when New York first knewbeyond the shadow of a doubt, or the gleam of a hope, that it wasdoomed, presided over a remarkable assembly in the grand saloon of hisark. 

CHAPTER IX

THE COMPANY OF THE REPRIEVED

How did it happen that Cosmo Versál was able to inform the mob when itassailed the ark that he had no room left?

Who composed his ship's company, whence had they come, and how had theymanaged to embark without the knowledge of the public?

The explanation is quite simple. It was all due to the tremendousexcitement that had prevailed ever since the seas began to overflow. Inthe universal confusion people had to think of other things nearer theirdoors than the operations of Cosmo Versál. Since the embarkation of theanimals the crowds had ceased to visit the field at Mineola, and it wasonly occasionally that even a reporter was sent there. Accordingly, there were many hours every day when no curiosity-seekers were in sightof the ark, and at night the neighborhood was deserted; and this stateof affairs continued until the sudden panic which led to the attack thathas been described. 

Cosmo Versál, of course, had every reason to conceal the fact that hewas carefully selecting his company. It was a dangerous game to play, and he knew it. The consequence was that he enjoined secrecy upon hisinvited guests, and conducted them, a few at a time, into the ark, assuring them that their lives might be in peril if they wererecognized. And once under the domain of the fear which led them toaccept his invitation, they were no less anxious than he to avoidpublicity. Some of them probably desired to avoid recognition throughdread of ridicule; for, after all, the flood might not turn out to be sobad as Cosmo had predicted. 

So it happened that the ark was filled, little by little, and the publicknew nothing about it. 

And who composed the throng which, while the awful downpour roared onthe ellipsoidal cover of the ark, and shook it to its center and whileNew York, a few miles away, saw story after story buried under thewaters, crowded Cosmo's brilliantly lighted saloon, and raised theirvoices to a high pitch in order to be heard?

Had all the invitations which he dictated to Joseph Smith after theirmemorable discussion, and which were sent forth in the utmost haste, flying to every point of the compass, been accepted, and was it thefamous leaders of science, the rulers and crowned heads who had passedhis critical inspection that were now knocking elbows under the greatdome of levium? Had kings and queens stolen incognito under the shelterof the ark, and magnates of the financial world hidden themselves there?

It would have been well for them all if they had been there. But, infact, many of those to whom the invitations had gone did not even takethe trouble to thank their would-be savior. A few, however, who did notcome in person, sent responses. Among these was the President of theUnited States. Mr. Samson's letter was brief but characteristic. Itread:

To COSMO VERSÁL, ESQ. 

Sir:

The President directs me to say that he is grateful for your invitation, and regrets that he cannot accept it. He is informed by those to whoseofficial advice he feels bound to listen, that the recent extraordinaryevents possess no such significance as you attach to them. 

Respectfully, FOR THE PRESIDENT, JAMES JENKS, Secretary. 

It must be remembered that this letter was written before the oceanicoverflow began. After that, possibly, the President and his adviserschanged their opinion. But then communication by rail was cut off, andas soon as the downpour from the sky commenced the aero express lineswere abandoned. The airships would have been deluged, and blown todestruction by the tremendous gusts which, at intervals, packed therain-choked air itself into solid billows of water. 

None of the rulers of the old world responded, but about half the men ofscience, and representatives of the other classes that Cosmo had setdown on his list, were wise enough to accept, and they hurried to NewYork before the means of transit by land and sea were destroyed. 

Among these were Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Austrians, Poles, people from the Balkan states, Swedes, Danes, Russians, and a few from India, China, and Japan. The clatter of theirvarious tongues made a very Babel inside the ark, when they talked toone another in groups, but nearly all of them were able to speakEnglish, which, after many years of experiment, had been adopted as thecommon language for transacting the world's affairs. 

There was another letter, which Cosmo read with real regret, althoughhardly with surprise. It was from Professor Pludder. Instead ofexpressing gratitude for the invitation, as the President, trained inpolitical blandiloquence, had done, Professor Pludder indulged indenunciation. 

"You are insane, " he said. "You do not know what you are talking about. Your letter is an insult to science. These inundations" (this, too, waswritten before the sky had opened its flood-gates) "are perfectlyexplicable by the ordinary laws of nature. Your talk of a nebula is soridiculous that it deserves no reply. If any lunatic accepts your absurdinvitation, and goes into your 'ark, ' he will find himself in Bedlam, where he ought to be. "

"I guess you were right, " Cosmo remarked to Joseph Smith, after readingthis outburst. "Pludder would not contribute to the regeneration ofmankind. We are better off without him. "

But Cosmo Versál was mistaken in thinking he had heard the last of AbielPludder. The latter was destined to show that he was hardly a lessremarkable specimen of _homo sapiens_ than the big-headed prophetof the second deluge himself. 

As soon as it became evident that there would be room to spare in theark, Cosmo set at work to fill up the list. He went over his categoriesonce more, but now, owing to the pressure of time, he was obliged toconfine his selections to persons within easy reach. They came, nearlyall, from New York, or its vicinity; and since these last invitationswent out just on the eve of the events described in the last twochapters, there was no delay in the acceptances, and the inviteespromptly presented themselves in person. 

Cosmo's warning to them of the necessity of secrecy was superfluous, forthe selfishness of human nature never had a better illustration thanthey afforded. The lucky recipients of the invitations stole awaywithout a word of farewell, circumspectly disappearing, generally atnight, and often in disguise; and when the attack occurred on the ark, there were, behind the portholes, many anxious eyes cautiously staringout and recognizing familiar faces in the mob, while the owners of thoseeyes trembled in their shoes lest their friends might succeed in forcingan entrance. After all, it was to be doubted if Cosmo Versál, with allhis vigilance, had succeeded in collecting a company representinganything above the average quality of the race. 

But there was one thing that did great credit to his heart. When hefound that he had room unoccupied, before adding to his lists heconsented to take more than two children in a family. It was an immenserelief, for--it must be recorded--there were some who, in order toqualify themselves, had actually abandoned members of their ownfamilies! Let it also be said, however, that many, when they found thatthe conditions imposed were inexorable, and that they could only savethemselves by leaving behind others as dear to them as their own lives, indignantly refused, and most of these did not even reply to theinvitations. 

It was another indication of Cosmo's real humanity, as well as of hisshrewdness, that, as far as they were known, and could be reached, thepersons who had thus remained true to the best instincts of nature werethe first to receive a second invitation, with an injunction to bringtheir entire families. So it happened that, after all, there were agedmen and women, as well as children in arms, mingled in that remarkableassemblage. 

It will be recalled that thirteen places had been specially reserved, tobe filled by Cosmo Versál's personal friends. His choice of theserevealed another pleasing side of his mind. He took thirteen men andwomen who had been, in one capacity or another, employed for many yearsin his service. Some of them were old family servants that had been inhis father's house. 

"Every one of these persons, " he said to Joseph Smith, "is worth hisweight in gold. Their disinterested fidelity to duty is a type ofcharacter that almost became extinct generations ago, and no morevaluable leaven could be introduced into the society of the future. Rather than leave them, I would stay behind myself. "

Finally there was the crew. This comprised one hundred and fiftymembers, all of them chosen from the body of engineers, mechanics, andworkmen who had been employed in the construction of the ark. Cosmohimself was, of course, the commander, but he had for his lieutenantsskilled mariners, electrical and mechanical engineers, and men whom hehimself had instructed in the peculiar duties that would fall to them inthe navigation and management of the ark, every detail of which he hadlaboriously worked out with a foresight that seemed all but superhuman. 

All of the passengers and crew were aboard when the baffled mobretreated from Mineola, and some, when that danger was past, wished todescend to the ground, and go and look at the rising waters, which hadnot yet invaded the neighborhood. But Cosmo absolutely forbade anydepartures from the ark. The condensation of the nebula, he declared, was likely to begin any minute, and the downpour would be so fierce thata person might be drowned in the open field. 

It came even sooner than he had anticipated, with the results that wehave already noted in New York. At first many thought that the arkitself would be destroyed, so dreadful was the impact of the fallingwater. The women and children, and some of the men, were seized withpanic, and Cosmo had great difficulty in reassuring them. 

"The flood will not reach us for several hours yet, " he said. "The levelof the water must rise at least a hundred feet more before we shall beafloat. Inside here we are perfectly safe. The ark is exceedingly strongand absolutely tight. You have nothing to fear. "

Then he ordered an ingenious sound-absorbing screen, which he hadprepared, to be drawn over the great ceiling of the saloon, the effectof which was to shut out the awful noise of the water roaring upon theroof of the ark. A silence that was at first startling by contrast tothe preceding din prevailed as soon as the screen was in place. 

Amid a hush of expectancy, Cosmo now mounted a dais at one end of theroom. Never before had the intellectual superiority of the man seemed soevident. His huge "dome of thought, " surmounting his slight body, dominated the assembly like the front of Jove. Chairs near him wereoccupied by Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, ProfessorAlexander Jones, and the two "speculative geniuses" whom he had named toJoseph Smith. These were Costaké Theriade, of Rumania, a tall, dark, high-browed thinker, who was engaged in devising ways to extract andrecover interatomic energy; and Sir Wilfred Athelstone, whose specialtywas bio-chemistry, and who was said to have produced amazing results inartificial parthenogenesis and the production of new species. 

As soon as attention was concentrated upon him, Cosmo Versál began tospeak. 

"My friends, " he said, "the world around us is now sinking beneath aflood that will not be arrested until America, Europe, Africa, Asia, andAustralia have disappeared. We stand at the opening of a new age. Youalone who are here assembled, and your descendants, will constitute thepopulation of the new world that is to be. 

"In this ark, which owes its existence to the foreseeing eye of science, you will be borne in safety upon the bosom of the battling waters, andwe will disembark upon the first promising land that reappears, andbegin the plantation and development of a new society of men and women, which, I trust, will afford a practical demonstration of the principlesof eugenics. 

"I have, as far as possible, and as far as the pitiful blindness ofmankind permitted me to go, selected and assembled here representativesof the best tendencies of humanity. You are a chosen remnant, and thefuture of this planet depends upon you. 

"I have been fortunate in securing the companionship of men of sciencewho will be able to lead and direct. The ark is fully provisioned for aperiod which must exceed the probable duration of the flood. I havetaken pains not to overcrowd it, and every preparation has been made forany contingencies which may arise. 

"It is inexpressibly sad to part thus with the millions of ourfellow-beings who would not heed the warnings that were lavished uponthem; but, while our hearts may be rent with the thought, it is our dutyto cast off the burden of vain regrets and concentrate all our energiesupon the great work before us. 

"I salute, " he continued, raising his voice and lifting a glass of winefrom the little table before him, "the world of the past--may its faultsbe forgotten--and the world of the future--may it rise on the wings ofscience to nobler prospects!"

He poured out the wine like a libation; and as his voice ceased to echo, and he sank into his seat, an uncontrollable wave of emotion ran overthe assembly. Many of the women wept, and the men conversed in whispers. After a considerable interval, during which no one spoke above hisbreath, Professor Able Abel arose and said:

"The gratitude which we owe to this man"--indicating Cosmo Versál--"canbest be expressed, not in words, but by acts. He has led us thus far; hemust continue to lead us to the end. We were blind, while he was full oflight. It will become us hereafter to heed well whatever he may say. Inow wish to ask if he can foresee where upon the re-emerging planet afoothold is first likely to be obtained. Where lies our land ofpromise?"

"I can answer that question, " Cosmo replied, "only in general terms. Youare all aware that the vast table-land of Tibet is the loftiest regionupon the globe. In its western part it lies from fourteen to seventeenor eighteen thousand feet above the ordinary level of the sea. Above itrise the greatest mountain peaks in existence. Here the firstconsiderable area is likely to be uncovered. It is upon the Pamirs, the'Roof of the World, ' that we shall probably make our landing. "

"May I ask, " said Professor Abel Able, "in what manner you expect thewaters of the flood to be withdrawn, after the earth is completelydrowned?"

"That, " was the reply, "was one of the fundamental questions that Iexamined, but I do not care to enter into a discussion of it now. I maysimply say that it is not only upon the disappearance of the waters thatour hopes depend, but upon circumstances that I shall endeavor to makeclear hereafter. The new cradle of mankind will be located near the oldone, and the roses of the Vale of Cashmere will canopy it. "

Cosmo Versál's words made a profound impression upon his hearers, andawoke thoughts that carried their minds off into strange reveries. Nomore questions were asked, and gradually the assemblage broke up intogroups of interested talkers. 

It was now near midnight. Cosmo, beckoning Professor Abel Able, Professor Alexander Jones, and Professor Jeremiah Moses to accompanyhim, made his way out of the saloon, and, secretly opening one of thegangway doors, they presently stood, sheltering themselves from thepouring rain, in a position which enabled them to look toward New York. 

Nothing, of course, was visible through the downpour; but they werestartled at hearing fearful cries issuing out of the darkness. The ruralparts of the city, filled with gardens and villas, lay round within aquarter of a mile of the ark, and the sound, accelerated by thewater-charged atmosphere, struck upon their ears with terribledistinctness. Sometimes, when a gust of wind blew the rain into theirfaces, the sound deepened into a long, despairing wail, which seemed tobe borne from afar off, mingled with the roar of the descendingtorrent--the death-cry of the vast metropolis!

"Merciful Heaven, I cannot endure this!" cried Professor Moses. 

"Go to my cabin, " Cosmo yelled in his ear, "and take the others withyou. I will join you there in a little while. I wish to measure the rateof rise of the water. "

They gladly left him, and fled into the interior of the ark. Cosmoprocured an electric lamp; and the moment its light streamed out heperceived that the water had already submerged the great cradle in whichthe ark rested, and was beginning to creep up the metallic sides. Helowered a graduated tape into it, provided with an automatic register. In a few minutes he had completed his task, and then he went to rejoinhis late companions in his cabin. 

"In about an hour, " he said to them, "we shall be afloat. The water isrising at the rate of one-thirtieth of an inch per second. "

"No more than that?" asked Professor Jones with an accent of surprise. 

"That is quite enough, " Cosmo replied. "One-thirtieth of an inch persecond means two inches in a minute, and ten feet in an hour. Intwenty-four hours from now the water will stand two hundred and fortyfeet above its present level, and then only the tallest structures inNew York will lift their tops above it, if, indeed, they are not longbefore overturned by undermining or the force of the waves. "

"But it will be a long time before the hills and highlands aresubmerged, " suggested Professor Jones. "Are you perfectly sure that theflood will cover them?"

Cosmo Versál looked at his interlocutor, and slowly shook his head. 

"It is truly a disappointment to me, " he said at length, "to find that, even now, remnants of doubt cling to your minds. I tell you that thenebula is condensing at its maximum rate. It is likely to continue to doso for at least four months. In four months, at the rate of two inchesper minute, the level of the water will rise 28, 800 feet. There is onlyone peak in the world which is surely known to attain a slightly greaterheight than that--Mount Everest, in the Himalayas. Even in a singlemonth the rise will amount to 7, 200 feet. That is 511 feet higher thanthe loftiest mountain in the Appalachians. In one month, then, therewill be nothing visible of North America east of the Rockies. And inanother month they will have gone under. "

Not another word was said. The three professors sat, wide-eyed andopen-mouthed, staring at Cosmo Versál, whose bald head was crowned withan aureole by the electric light that beamed from the ceiling, while, with a gold pocket pencil, he fell to figuring upon a sheet of paper. 

CHAPTER X

THE LAST DAY OF NEW YORK

While Cosmo Versál was calculating, from the measured rise of the water, the rate of condensation of the nebula, and finding that it addedtwenty-nine trillion two hundred and ninety billion tons to the weightof the earth every minute--a computation that seemed to give him greatmental satisfaction--the metropolis of the world, whose nucleus was theisland of Manhattan, and every other town and city on the globe thatlay near the ordinary level of the sea, was swiftly sinking beneath theswelling flood. 

Everywhere, over all the broad surface of the planet, a wail of despairarose from the perishing millions, beaten down by the water that pouredfrom the unpitying sky. Even on the highlands the situation was littlebetter than in the valleys. The hills seemed to have been turned into thecrests of cataracts from which torrents of water rushed down on all sides, stripping the soil from the rocks, and sending the stones and bowldersroaring and leaping into the lowlands and the gorges. Farmhouses, barns, villas, trees, animals, human beings--all were swept away together. 

Only on broad elevated plateaus, where higher points rose above the generallevel, were a few of the inhabitants able to find a kind of refuge. Byseeking these high places, and sheltering themselves as best they couldamong immovable rocks, they succeeded, at least, in delaying their fate. Notwithstanding the fact that the atmosphere was filled with falling water, they could yet breathe, if they kept the rain from striking directly intheir faces. It was owing to this circumstance, and to some extraordinaryoccurrences which we shall have to relate, that the fate of the human racewas not precisely that which Cosmo Versál had predicted. 

We quitted the scene in New York when the shadow of night had just fallen, and turned the gloom of the watery atmosphere into impenetrable darkness. The events of that dreadful night we shall not attempt to depict. When thehours of daylight returned, and the sun should have brightened over thedoomed city, only a faint, phosphorescent luminosity filled the sky. Itwas just sufficient to render objects dimly visible. If the enclosingnebula had remained in a cloud-like state it would have cut off all light, but having condensed into raindrops, which streamed down in parallel lines, except when sudden blasts of wind swept them into a confused mass, thesunlight was able to penetrate through the interstices, aided by thetransparency of the water, and so a slight but variable illumination wasproduced. 

In this unearthly light many tall structures of the metropolis, which hadas yet escaped the effects of undermining by the rushing torrents in thestreets, towered dimly toward the sky, shedding streams of water from everycornice. Most of the buildings of only six or eight stories had alreadybeen submerged, with the exception of those that stood on the high groundsin the upper part of the island, and about Spuyten Duyvil. 

In the towers and upper stories of the lofty buildings still standing inthe heart of the city, crowds of unfortunates assembled, gazing withhorror at the spectacles around them, and wringing their hands in helplessdespair. When the light brightened they could see below them the angrywater, creeping every instant closer to their places of refuge, beateninto foam by the terrible downpour, and sometimes, moved by a mysteriousimpulse, rising in sweeping waves which threatened to carry everythingbefore them. 

Every few minutes one of the great structures would sway, crack, crumble, and go down into the seething flood, the cries of the lost souls beingswallowed up in the thunder of the fall. And when this occurred withinsight of neighboring towers yet intact, men and women could be seen, somewith children in their arms, madly throwing themselves from windows andledges, seeking quick death now that hope was no more!

Strange and terrible scenes were enacted in the neighborhood of what hadbeen the water-fronts. Most of the vessels moored there had been virtuallywrecked by the earlier invasion of the sea. Some had been driven upon theshore, others had careened and been swamped at their wharves. But a few hadsucceeded in cutting loose in time to get fairly afloat. Some tried to goout to sea, but were wrecked by running against obstacles, or by beingswept over the Jersey flats. Some met their end by crashing into thesubmerged pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Others steered up the courseof the Hudson River, but that had become a narrow sea, filled with floatingand tossing debris of every sort, and all landmarks being invisible, theluckless navigators lost their way, and perished, either through collisionswith other vessels, or by driving upon a rocky shore. 

The fate of the gigantic building containing the offices of the municipalgovernment, which stood near the ancient City Hall, and which had been theculminating achievement of the famous epoch of "sky-scrapers, " was a thingso singular, and at the same time dramatic, that in a narrative dealingwith less extraordinary events than we are obliged to record it wouldappear altogether incredible. 

With its twoscore lofty stories, and its massive base, this wonderfulstructure rose above the lower quarter of the city, and dominated it, likea veritable Tower of Babel, made to defy the flood. Many thousands ofpeople evidently regarded it in that very light, and they had fled from allquarters, as soon as the great downpour began, to find refuge within itsmountainous flanks. There were men--clerks, merchants, brokers from thedowntown offices--and women and children from neighboring tenements. 

By good chance, but a few weeks before, this building had been fitted witha newly invented system of lighting, by which each story was supplied withelectricity from a small dynamo of its own, and so it happened that now thelamps within were all aglow, lightening the people's hearts a little withtheir cheering radiance. 

Up and up they climbed, the water ever following at their heels, from floorto floor, until ten of the great stages were submerged. But there were morethan twice as many stages yet above, and they counted them with unexpiringhope, telling one another, with the assurance of desperation, that longbefore the flood could attain so stupendous an altitude the rain wouldsurely cease, and the danger, as far as they were concerned, would passaway. 

"See! See!" cries one. "It is stopping! It is coming no higher! I've beenwatching that step, and the water has stopped! It hasn't risen for tenminutes!"

"Hurrah! Hurrah!" yells the crowd behind and above. And the glad cry istaken up and reverberated from story to story until it bursts wildly outinto the rain-choked air at the very summit. 

"Hurrah! Hurrah! We are saved! The flood has stopped!"

Men madly embrace each other. Women burst into tears and hug their childrento their breasts, filled with a joy and thankfulness that can find noexpression in words. 

"You are wrong, " says another man, crouching beside him who first spoke. "It has not stopped--it is still rising. "

"_What_! I tell you it _has_ stopped, " snaps the other. "Look at that step!It stopped right below it. "

"_You've been watching the wrong step_. It's rising!"

"You fool! Shut your mouth! I say it has _stopped_. "

"No, it has not. "

"It has! It has!"

"Look at _that_ step, then! See the water just now coming over it. "

The obstinate optimist stares a moment, turns pale, and then, with an oath, strikes his more clear-headed neighbor in the face! And the excited crowdbehind, with the blind instinctive feeling that, somehow, he has robbedthem of the hope which was but now as the breath of life to them, strikehim and curse him, too. 

But he had seen only too clearly. 

With the steady march of fate--two inches a minute, as Cosmo Versál hadaccurately measured it--the water still advances and climbs upward. 

In a little while they were driven to another story, and then to another. But hope would not down. They could not believe that the glad news, whichhad so recently filled them with joy, was altogether false. The water_must_ have stopped rising _once_; it had been _seen_. Then, it wouldsurely stop _again_, stop to rise no more. 

Poor deluded creatures! With the love of life so strong within them, theycould not picture, in their affrighted minds, the terrible consummation towhich they were being slowly driven, when, jammed into the narrow chambersat the very top of the mighty structure, their remorseless enemy wouldseize them at last. 

But they were nearer the end than they could have imagined even if they hadaccepted and coolly reasoned upon the facts that were so plain before them. And, after all, it was not to come upon them only after they had foughttheir way to the highest loft and into the last corner. 

A link of this strange chain of fatal events now carries us to the spotwhere the United States Navy Yard in Brooklyn once existed. That place wassunk deep beneath the waters. All of the cruisers, battleships, and othervessels that had been at anchor or at moorings there had gone under. Oneonly, the boast of the American navy, the unconquerable _Uncle Sam_, which, in the last great war that the world had known, had borne the starry flagto victories whose names broke men's voices and filled their eyes withtears of pride, had escaped, through the incomparable seamanship of CaptainRobert Decatur, who had been her commander for thirty years. 

But though the _Uncle Sam_ managed to float upon the rising flood, shewas unable to get away because of the obstructions lodged about the greatbridges that spanned the East River. A curious eddy that the ragingcurrents formed over what was once the widest part of that stream kepther revolving round and round, never departing far in any direction, and, with majestic strength, riding down or brushing aside the floatingtimbers, wooden houses, and other wreckage that pounded furiously againsther mighty steel sides. 

Just at the time when the waters had mounted to the eighteenth story of thebeleaguered Municipal Building, a sudden change occurred in these currents. They swept westward with resistless force, and the _Uncle Sam_ wascarried directly over the drowned city. First she encountered the cables ofthe Manhattan Bridge, striking them near the western tower, and, swinginground, wrenched the tower itself from its foundations and hurled it beneaththe waters. 

Then she rushed on, riding with the turbid flood high above the buriedroofs, finding no other obstruction in her way until she approached theMunicipal Building, which was stoutly resisting the push of the waves. 

[Illustration: "THE GREAT BATTLESHIP... CRASHED, PROW ON, INTO THE STEEL-RIBBED WALLS"]

Those who were near the windows and on the balconies, on the eastern sideof the building, saw the great battleship coming out of the gray gloomlike some diluvian monster, and before they could comprehend what it was, it crashed, prow on, into the steel-ribbed walls, driving them in as ifthey had been the armored sides of an enemy. 

So tremendous was the momentum of the striking mass that the huge vesselpassed, like a projectile, through walls and floors and partitions. But asshe emerged in the central court the whole vast structure came thunderingdown upon her, and ship and building together sank beneath the boilingwaves. 

But out of the awful tangle of steel girders, that whipped the air and thewater as if some terrible spidery life yet clung to them, by one of thosemiracles of chance which defy all the laws of probability and reason, asmall boat of levium, that had belonged to the _Uncle Sam_, was cast forth, and floated away, half submerged but unsinkable; and clinging to itsthwarts, struggling for breath, insane with terror, were two men, the solesurvivors of all those thousands. 

One of them was a seaman who had taken refuge, with a crowd of comrades, in the boat before the battleship rushed down upon the building. All ofhis comrades had been hurled out and lost when the blow came, while hispresent companion was swept in and lodged against the thwarts. And sothose two waifs drove off in the raging waves. Both of them were bleedingfrom many wounds, but they had no fatal hurts. 

The boat, though filled with water, was so light that it could not sink. Moreover, it was ballasted, and amid all its wild gyrations it kept rightside up. Even the ceaseless downpour from the sky could not drive itbeneath the waves. 

After a while the currents that had been setting westward changed theirdirection, and the boat was driven toward the north. It swept on pasttoppling skyscrapers until it was over the place where Madison Square oncespread its lawns, looked down upon by gigantic structures, most of whichhad now either crumbled and disappeared or were swaying to their fall. Herethere was an eddy, and the boat turned round and round amid floating debrisuntil two other draggled creatures, who had been clinging to floatingobjects, succeeded by desperate efforts in pulling themselves into it. Others tried but failed, and no one lent a helping hand. Those who werealready in the boat neither opposed nor aided the efforts of those whobattled to enter it. No words were heard in the fearful uproar--onlyinarticulate cries. 

Suddenly the current changed again, and the boat, with its dazed occupants, was hurried off in the direction of the Hudson. Night was now beginningonce more to drop an obscuring curtain over the scene, and under thatcurtain the last throes of drowning New York were hidden. When the sunagain faintly illuminated the western hemisphere the whole Atlanticseaboard was buried under the sea. 

As the water rose higher, Cosmo Versál's Ark at last left its cradle, andcumbrously floated off, moving first eastward, then turning in thedirection of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Cosmo had his engines in operation, but their full power was not developed as soon as he had expected, andthe great vessel drifted at the will of the currents and the wind, thelatter coming now from one side and now from another, rising at times tohurricane strength and then dying away until only a spanking breeze sweptthe ever-falling rain into swishing sheets. Occasionally the wind failedentirely, and for many minutes at a time the water fell in verticalstreams. 

At length the motive power of the Ark was developed, and it began to obeyits helm. From the shelter of a "captain's bridge, " constructed at theforward end of the huge levium dome that covered the vessel, Cosmo Versál, with Captain Arms, a liberally bewhiskered, veteran navigator in whoseskill he confided, peered over the interminable waste of waters. There wasnothing in sight except floating objects that had welled up from thedrowned city and the surrounding villages. Here and there the body of ananimal or a human being was seen in the tossing waves, and Cosmo Versálsadly shook his head as he pointed them out, but the stout mariner at hisside chewed his tobacco, and paid attention only to his duties, shoutingorders from time to time through a speaking-tube, or touching an electricbutton. 

Cosmo Versál brought a rain-gage and again and again allowed it to fillitself. The story was always the same--two inches per minute, ten feet perhour, the water mounted. 

The nebula had settled down to regular work, and, if Cosmo's calculationswere sound, there would be no intermission for four months. 

After the power of the propellers had been developed the Ark was steeredsoutheastward. Its progress was very slow. In the course of eight hoursit had not gone more than fifty miles. The night came on, and the speedwas reduced until there was only sufficient way to insure the command ofthe vessel's movements. Powerful searchlights were employed as long asthe stygian darkness continued. 

With the return of the pallid light, at what should have been daybreak, Cosmo and his navigator were again at their post. In fact, the formerhad not slept at all, keeping watch through the long hours, withCaptain Arms within easy call. 

As the light became stronger, Cosmo said to the captain:

"Steer toward New York. I wish to see if the last of the tall buildings onthe upper heights have gone under. "

"It will be very dangerous to go that way, " objected Captain Arms. "Thereare no landmarks, and we may strike a snag. "

"Not if we are careful, " replied Cosmo. "All but the highest ground is nowburied very deep. "

"It is taking a fool's risk, " growled Captain Arms, through his brush, butnevertheless he obeyed. 

It was true that they had nothing to go by. The air was too thick withwater, and the light too feeble for them to be able to lay their courseby sighting the distant hills of New Jersey which yet remained above thelevel of the flood. Still, by a kind of seaman's instinct, Captain Armsmade his way, until he felt that he ought to venture no farther. He hadjust turned to Cosmo Versál with the intention of voicing his protestwhen the Ark careened slightly, shivered from stem to stern, and thenbegan a bumping movement that nearly threw the two men from their feet. 

"We are aground!" cried the captain, and instantly turned a knob that setin motion automatic machinery which cut off the engines from thepropellers, and at the same time slowed down the engines themselves. 

CHAPTER XI

"A BILLION FOR A SHARE"

The Ark had lodged on the loftiest part of the Palisades. It was only afterlong and careful study of their position, rendered possible by occasionalglimpses of the Orange Hills and high points further up the course of theHudson, that Cosmo Versál and Captain Arms were able to reach thatconclusion. Where New York had stood nothing was visible but an expanse ofturbid and rushing water. 

But suppose the hard trap rocks had penetrated the bottom of the Ark! Itwas a contingency too terrible to be thought of. Yet the facts must beascertained at once. 

Cosmo, calling Joseph Smith, and commanding him to go among the frightenedpassengers and assure them, in his name, that there was no danger, hurried, with the captain and a few trusty men, into the bowels of the vessel. Theythoroughly sounded the bottom plates. No aperture and no indentation wasto be found. 

But, then, the bottom was double, and the outer plates might have beenperforated. If this had happened the fact would reveal itself through theleakage of water into the intervening space. To ascertain if that hadoccurred it was necessary to unscrew the covers of some of the manholes inthe inner skin of levium. 

It was an anxious moment when they cautiously removed one of these covers. At the last turns of the screw the workman who handled it instinctivelyturned his head aside, and made ready for a spring, more than halfexpecting that the cover would be driven from his hands, and a stream ofwater would burst in. 

But the cover remained in place after it was completely loosened, and untilit had been lifted off. A sigh of relief broke from every breast. No waterwas visible. 

"Climb in there, and explore the bottom, " Cosmo commanded. 

There was a space of eighteen inches between the two bottoms, which wereconnected and braced by the curved ribs of the hull. A man immediatelydisappeared in the opening and began the exploration. Cosmo ordered theremoval of other covers at various points, and the exploration was extendedover the whole bottom. He himself passed through one of the manholes andaided in the work. 

At last it was determined, beyond any doubt, that even the outer skin wasuninjured. Not so much as a dent could be found in it. 

"By the favor of Providence, " said Cosmo Versál, as his great head emergedfrom a manhole, "the Ark has touched upon a place where the rocks arecovered with soil, and no harm has come to us. In a very short time therising water will lift us off. "

"And, with my consent, you'll do no more navigating over hills andmountains, " grumbled Captain Arms. "The open sea for the sailor. "

The covers were carefully replaced, and the party, in happier spirits, returned to the upper decks, where the good news was quickly spread. 

The fact was that while the inspection was under way the Ark had floatedoff, and when Cosmo and the captain reached their bridge the man who hadbeen left in charge reported that the vessel had swung halfway round. 

"She's headed for the old Atlantic, " sung out Captain Arms. "The soonerwe're off the better. "

But before the captain could signal the order to go ahead, Cosmo Versállaid his hand on his arm and said:

"Wait a moment; listen. "

Through the lashing of the rain a voice penetrated with a sound between acall and a scream. There could be no doubt that it was human. The captainand Cosmo looked at one another in speechless astonishment. The idea thatany one outside the Ark could have survived, and could now be afloat amidthis turmoil of waters, had not occurred to their minds. They experienceda creeping of the nerves. In a few minutes the voice came again, louderthan before, and the words that it pronounced being now clearly audible, the two listeners could not believe their ears. 

"Cosmo Versál!" it yelled. "Cosmo-o-o Ver-sá-al! A billion for a share! A_billion_, I say, a _bil-li-on_ for a share!"

Then they perceived a little way off to the left something which lookedlike the outline of a boat, sunk to the gunwales, washed over by everywave; and standing in it, up to their waists in water, were four men, oneof whom was gesticulating violently, while the others seemed dazed andincapable of voluntary movement. 

It was the boat of levium that had been thrown out of the wreckage when thebattleship ran down the Municipal tower, and we must now follow the threadof its adventures up to the time of its encounter with the Ark. 

As the boat was driven westward from the drowned site of Madison Square itgradually freed itself from the objects floating around, most of which soonsunk, and in an hour or two its inmates were alone--the sole survivors of adense population of many millions. 

Alone they were in impenetrable darkness, for, as we have said, night hadby this time once more fallen. 

They floated on, half drowned, chilled to the bone, not trying to speak, not really conscious of one another's presence. The rain beat down uponthem, the waves washed over them, the unsinkable boat sluggishly rose andfell with the heaving of the water, and occasionally they were nearly flungoverboard by a sudden lurch--and yet they clung with desperate tenacity tothe thwarts, as if life were still dear, as if they thought that they mightyet survive, though the world was drowned. 

Thus hours passed, and at last a glimmer appeared in the streaming air, anda faint light stole over the face of the water. If they saw one another, it was with unrecognizing eyes. They were devoured with hunger, but theydid not know it. 

Suddenly one of them--it was he who had been so miraculously thrown intothe boat when it shot out of the tangle of falling beams and walls--raised his head and threw up his arms, a wild light gleaming in his eyes. 

In a hoarse, screaming voice he yelled:

"Cosmo Versál!"

No other syllables that the tongue could shape would have produced theeffect of that name. It roused the three men who heard it from theirlethargy of despair, and thrilled them to the marrow. With amazed eyes theystared at their companion. He did not look at them, but gazed off into thethick rain. Again his voice rose in a maniacal shriek:

"Cosmo Versál! Do you hear me? Let me in! A billion for a share!"

The men looked at each other, and, even in their desperate situation, felta stir of pity in their hearts. They were not too dazed to comprehend thattheir companion had gone mad. One of them moved to his side, and laid ahand upon his shoulder, as if he would try to soothe him. 

But the maniac threw him off, nearly precipitating him over the side ofthe submerged boat, crying:

"What are _you_ doing in my boat? Overboard with you! I am looking forCosmo Versál! He's got the biggest thing afloat! Securities! Securities!Gilt-edged! A _billion_, I tell you! Here I have them--look! Gilt-edged, every one!" and he snatched a thick bundle of papers from his pocket andwaved them wildly until they melted into a pulpy mass with the downpour. 

The others now shrank away from him in fear. Fear? Yes, for still theyloved their lives, and the staggering support beneath their feet had becomeas precious to them as the solid earth. They would have fought with thefury of madmen to retain their places in that half-swamped shell. They werestill capable of experiencing a keener fear than that of the flood. Theywere as terrified by the presence of this maniac as they would have beenon encountering him in their homes. 

But he did not attempt to follow them. He still looked off through thedriving rain, balancing himself to the sluggish lurching of the boat, andcontinuing to rave, and shout, and shake his soaked bundle of papers, until, exhausted by his efforts, and half-choked by the water that drove inhis face, he sank helpless upon a thwart. 

Then they fell back into their lethargy, but in a little while he was onhis feet again, gesticulating and raging--and thus hours passed on, andstill they were afloat, and still clinging to life. 

Suddenly, looming out of the strange gloom, they perceived the huge form ofthe Ark, and all struggled to their feet, but none could find voice but themaniac. 

As soon as he saw the men, Cosmo Versál had run down to the lowest deck, and ordered the opening of a gangway on that side. When the door swungback he found himself within a few yards of the swamped boat, but ten feetabove its level. Joseph Smith, Professor Moses, Professor Jones, ProfessorAble, and others of the passengers, and several of the crew, hurried to hisside, while the rest of the passengers crowded as near as they could get. 

The instant that Cosmo appeared the maniac redoubled his cries. 

"Here they are, " he yelled, shaking what remained of his papers. "Abillion--all gilt-edged! Let me in. But shut out the others. They'reonly little fellows. They've got no means. They can't float an enterpriselike this. Ah, you're a bright one! You and me, Cosmo Versál--we'llsqueeze 'em all out. I'll give you the secrets. We'll own the earth! I'm_Amos Blank!_"

Cosmo Versál recognized the man in spite of the dreadful change that hadcome over him. His face was white and drawn, his eyes staring, his headbare, his hair matted with water, his clothing in shreds--but it wasunmistakably Amos Blank, a man whose features the newspapers had renderedfamiliar to millions, a man who had for years stood before the public asthe unabashed representative of the system of remorseless repression ofcompetition, and shameless corruption of justice and legislation. After theworld, for nearly two generations, had enjoyed the blessings of the reformsin business methods and social ideals that had been inaugurated by thegreat uprising of the people in the first quarter of the twentiethcentury, Amos Blank, and lesser men of his ilk, had swung back thependulum, and re-established more firmly than ever the reign of monopolyand iniquitous privilege. 

The water-logged little craft floated nearer until it almost touched theside of the Ark directly below the gangway. The madman's eyes glowed witheagerness, and he reached up his papers, continually yelling his refrain:"A billion! Gilt-edged! Let me in! Don't give the rabble a show!"

Cosmo made no reply, but gazed down upon the man and his bedraggledcompanions with impassive features, but thoughtful eyes. Any one who knewhim intimately, as Joseph Smith alone did, could have read his mind. He wasasking himself what he ought to do. Here was the whole fundamental questionto be gone over again. To what purpose had he taken so great pains toselect the flower of mankind? Here was the head and chief of the offensethat he had striven to eliminate appealing to him to be saved undercircumstances which went straight to the heart and awoke every sentiment ofhumanity. 

Presently he said in as low a voice as could be made audible:

"Joseph, advise me. What should I do?"

"You were willing to take Professor Pludder, " replied Smith evasively, butwith a plain leaning to the side of mercy. 

"You know very well that that was different, " Cosmo returned irritably. "Pludder was not morally rotten. He was only mistaken. He had thefundamental scientific quality, and I'm sorry he threw himself away inhis obstinacy. But this man--"

"Since he is _alone_, " broke in Joseph Smith with a sudden illumination, "he could do no harm. "

Cosmo Versál's expression instantly brightened. 

"You are right!" he exclaimed. "By himself he can do nothing. I am surethere is no one aboard who would sympathize with his ideas. Alone, he isinnocuous. Besides, he's insane, and I can't leave him to drown in thatcondition. And I must take the others, too. Let down a landing stage, " hecontinued in a louder voice, addressing some members of the crew. 

In a few minutes all four of the unfortunates, seeming more dead than live, were helped into the Ark. 

Amos Blank immediately precipitated himself upon Cosmo Versál, and, seizinghim by the arm, tried to lead him apart, saying in his ear, as he glaredround upon the faces of the throng which crowded every available space. 

"Hist! Overboard with 'em! What's all this trash? Shovel 'em out!They'll want to get in with us; they'll queer the game!"

Then he turned furiously upon the persons nearest him, and began to pushthem toward the open gangway. At a signal from Cosmo Versál, two menseized him and pinioned his arms. At that his mood changed, and, wrenching himself loose, he once more ran to Cosmo, waving his bedraggledbundle, and shouting:

"A billion! Here's the certificates--gilt-edge! But, " he continued, witha cunning leer, and suddenly thrusting the sodden papers into his pocket, "you'll make out the receipts first. I'll put in _five_ billions to makeit a sure go, if you won't let in another soul. "

Cosmo shook off the man's grasp, and again calling the two members of thecrew who had before pinioned his arms, told them to lead him away, at thesame time saying to him:

"You go with these men into my room. I'll see you later. "

Blank took it in the best part, and willingly accompanied his conductors, only stopping a moment to wink over his shoulder at Cosmo, and then hewas led through the crowd, which regarded him with unconcealedastonishment, and in many cases with no small degree of fear. As soon ashe was beyond earshot, Cosmo directed Joseph Smith to hurry ahead of theparty and conduct them to a particular apartment, which he designated atthe same time, saying to Smith:

"Turn the key on him as soon as he's inside. "

Amos Blank, now an insane prisoner in Cosmo Versál's Ark, had been thegreatest financial power in the world's metropolis, a man of iron nerve andthe clearest of brains, who always kept his head and never uttered afoolish word. It was he who had stood over the flight of steps in theMunicipal Building, coolly measuring with his eye the rise of the water, exposing the terrible error that sent such a wave of unreasoning joythrough the hearts of the thousands of refugees crowded into the doomededifice, and receiving blows and curses for making the truth known. 

He had himself taken refuge there, after visiting his office and fillinghis pockets with his most precious papers. How, by a marvelous stroke offate, he became one of the four persons who alone escaped from New Yorkafter the downpour began is already known. 

The other men taken from the boat were treated like rescued marinerssnatched from a wreck at sea. Every attention was lavished upon them, andCosmo Versál did not appear to regret, as far as they were concerned, thathis ship's company had been so unexpectedly recruited. 

CHAPTER XII

THE SUBMERGENCE OF THE OLD WORLD

We now turn our attention for a time from the New World to the Old. Whatdid the thronging populations of Europe, Africa, and Asia do when the signsof coming disaster chased one on another's heels, when the oceans began toburst their bonds, and when the windows of the firmament were opened?

The picture that can be drawn must necessarily be very fragmentary, because the number who escaped was small and the records that they leftare few. 

The savants of the older nations were, in general, quite as incredulousand as set in their opposition to Cosmo Versál's extraordinary out-givings as those of America. They decried his science and denounced hispredictions as the work of a fool or a madman. The president of the RoyalAstronomical Society of Great Britain proved to the satisfaction of mostof his colleagues that a nebula could not possibly contain enough waterto drown an asteroid, let alone the earth. 

"The nebulae, " said this learned astronomer, amid the plaudits of hishearers, "are infinitely rarer in composition than the rarest gas leftin the receiver of an exhausted air-pump. I would undertake to swallowfrom a wineglass the entire substance of any nebula that could enter thespace between the earth and the sun, if it were condensed into the liquidstate. "

"It might be intoxicating, " called out a facetious member. 

"Will the chair permit me to point out, " said another with great gravity, "that such a proceeding would be eminently rash, for the nebulous fluidmight be highly poisonous. " ["Hear! Hear!" and laughter. ]

"What do you say of this strange darkness and these storms?" asked anearnest-looking man. (This meeting was held after the terrors of the_third sign_ had occurred. )

"I say, " replied the president, "that that is the affair of theMeteorological Society, and has nothing to do with astronomy. I dare saythat they can account for it. "

"And I dare say they can't, " cried a voice. 

"Hear! Hear!" "Who are you?" "Put him out!" "I dare say he's right!" "CosmoVersál!" Everybody was talking at once. 

"Will this gentleman identify himself?" asked the president. "Will heplease explain his words?"

"That I will, " said a tall man with long whiskers, rising at the rear endof the room. "I am pretty well known. I----"

"It's Jameson, the astrologer, " cried a voice. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Yes, " said the whiskered man, "it's Jameson, the astrologer, and he hascome here to let you know that Cosmo Versál was born under the sign Cancer, the first of the watery triplicity, and that Berosus, the Chaldean, declared----"

An uproar immediately ensued; half the members were on their feet at once;there was a scuffle in the back part of the room, and Jameson, theastrologer, was hustled out, shouting at the top of his voice:

"Berosus, the Chaldean, predicted that the world would be drowned whenall the planets should assemble in the sign Cancer--_and where are theynow?_ Blind and stupid dolts that you are--_where are they now?"_

It was some time before order could be restored, and a number of membersdisappeared, having followed Jameson, the astrologer, possibly throughsympathy, or possibly with a desire to learn more about the prediction ofBerosus, the father of astrology. 

When those who remained, and who constituted the great majority of themembership, had quieted down, the president remarked that the interruptionwhich they had just experienced was quite in line with all the otherproceedings of the disturbers of public tranquillity who, under the leadof a crazy American charlatan, were trying to deceive the ignorantmultitude. But they would find themselves seriously in error if theyimagined that their absurd ideas were going to be "taken over" in England. 

"I dare say, " he concluded, "that there is some _scheme_ behind it all. "

"Another American 'trust'!" cried a voice. 

The proceedings were finally brought to an end, but not before a modestmember had risen in his place and timidly remarked that there was onequestion that he would like to put to the chair--one thing that did notseem to have been made quite clear--"Where _were_ the planets now?"

A volley of hoots, mingled with a few "hears!" constituted the onlyreply. 

Scenes not altogether unlike this occurred in the other great learnedsocieties--astronomical, meteorological, and geological. The officialrepresentatives of science were virtually unanimous in condemnation ofCosmo Versál, and in persistent assertion that nothing that had occurredwas inexplicable by known laws. But in no instance did they make it clearto anybody precisely what were the laws that they invoked, or how ithappened that Cosmo Versál had been able to predict so many strange thingswhich everybody knew really had come to pass, such as the sudden storms andthe great darkness. 

We are still, it must not be forgotten, dealing with a time anterior to therising of the sea. 

The Paris Academy of Sciences voted that the subject was unworthy ofserious investigation, and similar action was taken at Berlin, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and elsewhere. 

But among the people at large universal alarm prevailed, and nothing wasso eagerly read as the dispatches from New York, detailing the proceedingsof Cosmo Versál, and describing the progress of his great levium ark. InEngland many procured copies of Cosmo's circulars, in which the propermethods to be pursued in the construction of arks were carefully set forth. Some set to work to build such vessels; but, following British methods ofconstruction, they doubled the weight of everything, with the result that, if Cosmo had seen what they were about he would have told them that sucharks would go to the bottom faster than to the top. 

In Germany the balloon idea took full possession of the public mind. Germany had long before developed the greatest fleet of dirigible balloonsin existence, preferring them to every other type of flying apparatus. Itwas reported that the Kaiser was of the opinion that if worst came to worstthe best manner of meeting the emergency would be by the multiplication ofdirigibles and the increase of their capacity. 

The result was that a considerable number of wealthy Germans began theconstruction of such vessels. But when interviewed they denied that theywere preparing for a flood. They said that they simply wished to enlargeand increase the number of their pleasure craft, after the example of theKaiser. All this was in contemptuous defiance of the warning which CosmoVersál had been careful to insert in his circulars, that "balloons andaeros of all kinds will be of no use whatever; the only safety will befound in arks, and they must be provisioned for at least five years. "

The most remarkable thing of all happened in France. It might naturallyhave been expected that a Frenchman who thought it worth his while to takeany precautions against the extinction of the human race would, when itbecame a question of a flood, have turned to the aero, for from thecommencement of aerial navigation French engineers had maintained anunquestionable superiority in the construction and perfection of that kindof machine. 

Their aeros could usually fly longer and carry more dead weight than thoseof any other nation. In the transoceanic aero races which occasionally tookplace the French furnished the most daring and the most frequentlysuccessful competitors. 

But the French mind is masterly in appreciation of details, and CosmoVersál's reasons for condemning the aero and the balloon as means ofescaping the flood were promptly divined. In the first place it was seenthat no kind of airship could be successfully provisioned for a flight ofindefinite length, and in the second place the probable strength of thewinds, or the crushing weight of the descending water, in case, as Cosmopredicted, a nebula should condense upon the earth, would either sweep anaero or a balloon to swift destruction, or carry it down into the waveslike a water-soaked butterfly. 

Accordingly, when a few Frenchmen began seriously to consider thequestion of providing a way of escape from the flood--always supposing, forthe sake of argument, that there would be a flood--they got together, underthe leadership of an engineer officer named Yves de Beauxchamps, anddiscussed the matter in all its aspects. They were not long in arriving atthe conclusion that the best and most logical thing that could possibly bedone would be to construct a _submarine_. 

In fact, this was almost an inevitable conclusion for them, because beforethe abandonment of submarines in war on account of their _too_ greatpowers of destruction--a circumstance which had also led to the prohibitionof the use of explosive bombs in the aerial navies--the French had heldthe lead in the construction and management of submersible vessels, evenmore decisively than in the case of aeros. 

"A large submarine, " said De Beauxchamps, "into whose construction acertain amount of levium entered, would possess manifest advantages overVersál's Ark. It could be provisioned to any extent desired, it wouldescape the discomforts of the waves, winds, and flooding rain, and itcould easily rise to the surface whenever that might be desirable forchange of air. It would have all the amphibious advantages of a whale. "

The others were decidedly of De Beauxchamps's opinion, and it wasenthusiastically resolved that a vessel of this kind should be begun atonce. 

"If we don't need it for a flood, " said De Beauxchamps, "we can employ itfor a pleasure vessel to visit the wonders of the deep. We will then makea reality of that marvelous dream of our countryman of old, that prince ofdreamers, Jules Verne. "

"Let's name it for him!" cried one. 

"Admirable! Charming!" they all exclaimed. "_Vive le 'Jules Verne'!_"

Within two days, but without the knowledge of the public, the keel of thesubmersible _Jules Verne_ was laid. But we shall hear of that remarkablecraft again. 

While animated, and in some cases violent, discussions were taking placein the learned circles of Europe, and a few were making ready in suchmanner as they deemed most effective for possible contingencies, waves ofpanic swept over the remainder of the Old World. There were yet hundredsof millions in Africa and Asia to whom the advantages of scientificinstruction had not extended, but who, while still more or less under thedominion of ignorance and superstition, were in touch with the _news_ ofthe whole planet. 

The rumor that a wise man in America had discovered that the world wasto be drowned was not long in reaching the most remote recesses of theAfrican forests and of the boundless steppes of the greater continent, and, however it might be ridiculed or received with skeptical smiles inthe strongholds of civilization, it met with ready belief in lessenlightened minds. 

Then, the three "signs"--the first great heat, the onslaught of storm andlightning, and the _Noche Triste_, the great darkness--had been world-widein their effects, and each had heightened the terror caused by itspredecessor. Moreover, in the less enlightened parts of the world thereassurances of the astronomers and others did not penetrate at all, or, if they did, had no effect, for not only does bad news run while good newswalks, but it talks faster. 

It will be recalled that one of the most disquieting incidents in America, immediately preceding the catastrophal rising of the oceans, was themelting of the Arctic snows and ice-fields, with consequent inundationsin the north. This stage in the progress of the coming disaster wasaccentuated in Europe by the existence of the vast glaciers of the Alps. The Rocky Mountains, in their middle course, had relatively little snow andalmost no true glaciers, and consequently there were no scenes of this kindin the United States comparable with those that occurred in the heart ofEurope. 

After the alarm caused by the great darkness in September had died out, andthe long spell of continuous clear skies began, the summer resorts ofSwitzerland were crowded as they had seldom been. People were driven thereby the heat, for one thing; and then, owing to the early melting of thewinter's deposit of snow, the Alps presented themselves in a new aspect. 

Mountain-climbers found it easy to make ascents upon peaks which had alwayshitherto presented great difficulties on account of the vast snow-fields, seamed with dangerous crevasses, which hung upon their flanks. These werenow so far removed that it was practicable for amateur climbers to go wherealways before only trained Alpinists, accompanied by the most experiencedguides, dared to venture. 

But as the autumn days ran on and new snows fell, the deep-seated glaciersbegan to dissolve, and masses of ice that had lain for untold centuries inthe mighty laps of the mountains, projecting frozen noses into the valleys, came tumbling down, partly in the form of torrents of water and partly inroaring avalanches. 

The great Aletsch glacier was turned into a river that swept down into thevalley of the Rhône, carrying everything before it. The glaciers at thehead of the Rhône added their contribution. The whole of the BerneseOberland seemed to have suddenly been dissolved like a huge mass of sugarcandy, and on the north the valley of Interlaken was inundated, while thelakes of Thun and Brientz were lost in an inland sea which rapidly spreadover all the lower lands between the Alps and the Swiss Jura. 

Farther east the Rhine, swollen by the continual descent of the glacierwater, burst its banks, and broadened out until Strasburg lay under waterwith the finger of its ancient cathedral helplessly pointing skyward outof the midst of the flood. All the ancient cities of the great valley fromBasle to Mayence saw their streets inundated and the foundations of theirmost precious architectural monuments undermined by the searching water. 

The swollen river reared back at the narrow pass through the Taunus range, and formed a huge eddy that swirled over the old city of Bingen. Then ittore down between the castle-crowned heights, sweeping away the villageson the river banks from Bingen to Coblentz, lashing the projecting rocksof the Lorelei, and carrying off houses, churches, and old abbeys in arush of ruin. 

It widened out as it approached Bonn and Cologne, but the water was stilldeep enough to inundate those cities, and finally it spread over the plainof Holland, finding a score of new mouths through which to pour into theGerman Ocean, while the reclaimed area of the Zuyder Zee once more joinedthe ocean, and Amsterdam and the other cities of the Netherlands wereburied, in many cases to the tops of the house doors. 

West and south the situation was the same. The Mer de Glace at Chamonix, and all the other glaciers of the Mont Blanc range, disappeared, sendingfloods down to Geneva and over the Dauphiny and down into the plains ofPiedmont and Lombardy. The ruin was tremendous and the loss of lifeincalculable. Geneva, Turin, Milan, and a hundred other cities, wereswept by torrents. 

The rapidity of this melting of the vast snow-beds and glaciers of theAlps was inconceivable, and the effect of the sudden denudation upon themountains themselves was ghastly. Their seamed and cavernous sides stoodforth, gaunt and naked, a revelation of Nature in her most fearful aspectssuch as men had never looked upon. Mont Blanc, without its blanket of snowand ice, towered like the blackened ruin of a fallen world, a sight thatmade the beholders shudder. 

But this flood ended as suddenly as it had begun. When the age-longaccumulations of snow had all melted the torrents ceased to pour down fromthe mountains, and immediately the courageous and industrious inhabitantsof the Netherlands began to repair their broken dikes, while in NorthernItaly and the plains of Southeastern France every effort was made torepair the terrible losses. 

Of course similar scenes had been enacted, and on even a more fearfulscale, in the plains of India, flooded by the melting of the enormous icyburden that covered the Himalayas, the "Abode of Snow. " And all over theworld, wherever icy mountains reared themselves above inhabited lands, the same story of destruction and death was told. 

Then, after an interval, came the yet more awful invasion of the sea. 

But few details can be given from lack of records. The Thames roaredbackward on its course, and London and all central England were inundated. A great bore of sea-water swept along the shores of the English Channel, and bursting through the Skager Rack, covered the lower end of Sweden, andrushed up the Gulf of Finland, burying St. Petersburg, and turning allWestern Russia, and the plains of Pomerania into a sea. The Netherlandsdisappeared. The Atlantic poured through the narrow pass of the Strait ofGibraltar, leaving only the Lion Rock visible above the waves. 

At length the ocean found its way into the Desert of Sahara, largeareas of which had been reclaimed, and were inhabited by a considerablepopulation of prosperous farmers. Nowhere did the sudden coming of theflood cause greater consternation than here--strange as that statementmay seem. The people had an undefined idea that they were protected by asort of barrier from any possible inundation. 

It had taken so many years and such endless labor to introduce into theSahara sufficient water to transform its potentially rich soil into arableland that the thought of any sudden superabundance of that element was farfrom the minds of the industrious agriculturalists. They had heard of theinundations caused by the melting of the mountain snows elsewhere, butthere were no snow-clad mountains near them to be feared. 

Accordingly, when a great wave of water came rushing upon them, surmounted, where it swept over yet unredeemed areas of the desert, by immense cloudsof whirling dust, that darkened the air and recalled the old days of thesimoom, they were taken completely by surprise. But as the water rosehigher they tried valiantly to escape. They were progressive people, andmany of them had aeros. Besides, two or three lines of aero expressescrossed their country. All who could do so immediately embarked inairships, some fleeing toward Europe, and others hovering about, gazingin despair at the spreading waters beneath them. 

As the invasion of the sea grew more and more serious, this flight byairship became a common spectacle over all the lower-lying parts of Europe, and in the British Isles. But, in the midst of it, the heavens opened theirflood-gates, as they had done in the New World, and then the aeros, floodedwith rain, and hurled about by contending blasts of wind, drooped, fluttered, and fell by hundreds into the fast mounting waves. The nebulawas upon them!

In the meantime those who had provided arks of one kind or another, trieddesperately to get them safely afloat. All the vessels that succeeded inleaving their wharves were packed with fugitives. Boats of every sort werepressed into use, and the few that survived were soon floating over thesites of the drowned homes of their occupants. 

Before it was too late Yves de Beauxchamps and his friends launched theirsubmarine, and plunged into the bosom of the flood. 

CHAPTER XIII

STRANGE FREAKS OF THE NEBULA

We return to follow the fortunes of Cosmo Versál's Ark. 

After he had so providentially picked up the crazed billionaire, AmosBlank, and his three companions, Cosmo ordered Captain Arms to bear awaysoutheastward, bidding farewell to the drowned shores of America, andsailing directly over the lower part of Manhattan, and western LongIsland. The navigation was not easy, and if the Ark had not been amarvelously buoyant vessel it would not long have survived. At thebeginning the heavy and continuous rain kept down the waves, and thesurface of the sea was comparatively smooth, but after a while a curiousphenomenon began to be noticed; immense billows would suddenly appear, rushing upon the Ark now from one direction and now from another, cantingit over at a dangerous angle, and washing almost to the top of the hugeellipsoid of the dome. At such times it was difficult for anybody tomaintain a footing, and there was great terror among the passengers. ButCosmo, and stout Captain Arms, remained at their post, relieving oneanother at frequent intervals, and never entrusting the sole charge ofthe vessel to any of their lieutenants. 

Cosmo Versál himself was puzzled to account for the origin of the mightybillows, for it seemed impossible that they could be raised by the windnotwithstanding the fact that it blew at times with hurricane force. Butat last the explanation came of itself. 

Both Cosmo and the captain happened to be on the bridge together when theysaw ahead something that looked like an enormous column as black as ink, standing upright on the surface of the water. A glance showed that it wasin swift motion, and, more than that, was approaching in a direct linetoward the Ark. In less than two minutes it was upon them. 

The instant that it met the Ark a terrific roaring deafened them, and therounded front of the dome beneath their eyes disappeared under a deluge ofdescending water so dense that the vision could not penetrate it. Inanother half minute the great vessel seemed to have been driven to thebottom of the sea. But for the peculiar construction of the shelter of thebridge its occupants would have been drowned at their posts. As it was theywere soaked as if they had been plunged overboard. Impenetrable darknesssurrounded them. 

But the buoyant vessel shook itself, rolled from side to side, and rosewith a staggering motion until it seemed to be poised on the summit of awatery mountain. Immediately the complete darkness passed, the awfuldownpour ceased, although the rain still fell in torrents, and the Arkbegan to glide downward with sickening velocity, as if it were slidingdown a liquid slope. 

It was a considerable time before the two men, clinging to the supports ofthe bridge, were able to maintain their equilibrium sufficiently to renderit possible to utter a few connected words. As soon as he could speak withreasonable comfort Cosmo exclaimed:

"Now I see what it is that causes the billows, but it is a phenomenon thatI should never have anticipated. It is all due to the nebula. Evidentlythere are irregularities of some kind in its constitution which cause theformation of almost solid masses of water in the atmosphere--suspendedlakes, as it were--which then plunge down in a body as if a hundredthousand Niagaras were pouring together from the sky. 

"These sudden accessions of water raise stupendous waves which sweep offin every direction, and that explains the billows that we haveencountered. "

"Well, this nebular navigation beats all my experience, " said Captain Arms, wiping the water out of his eyes. "I was struck by a waterspout once inthe Indian Ocean, and I thought that that capped the climax, but it wasonly a catspaw to this. Give me a clear offing and I don't care how muchwind blows, but blow me if I want to get under any more lakes in the sky. "

"We'll have to take whatever comes, " returned Cosmo, "but I don't thinkthere is much danger of running directly into many of these downpours aswe did into this one. Now that we know what they are, we can, perhaps, detect them long enough in advance to steer out of their way. Anyhow, we've got a good vessel under our feet. Anything but an ark of leviumwould have gone under for good, and if I had not covered the vessel withthe dome there would have been no chance for a soul in her. "

As a matter of fact, the Ark did not encounter any more of the columns ofdescending water, but the frequent billows that were met showed that theywere careering over the face of the swollen sea in every direction. 

But there was another trouble of a different nature. The absence of sunand stars deprived them of the ordinary means of discovering their place. They could only make a rough guess as to the direction in which they weregoing. The gyrostatic compasses gave them considerable assistance, andthey had perfect chronometers, but these latter could be of no use withoutcelestial observations of some kind. 

At length Cosmo devised a means of obtaining observations that were ofsufficient value to partially serve their purpose. He found that whilethe disk of the sun was completely hidden in the watery sky, yet it waspossible to determine its location by means of the varying intensity ofthe light. 

Where the sun was a concentrated glow appeared, shading gradually off onall sides. With infinite pains Cosmo, assisted by the experience of thecaptain, succeeded in determining the center of the maximum illumination, and, assuming that to represent the true place of the sun, they gotsomething in the nature of observations for altitude and azimuth, andCaptain Arms even drew on his chart "Sumner lines" to determine theposition of the Ark, although he smiled at the thought of their absurdinaccuracy. Still, it was the best they could do, and was better thannothing at all. 

They kept a log going also, although, as the captain pointed out, it wasnot of much use to know how fast they were traveling, since they could notknow the precise direction, within a whole point of the compass, or perhapsseveral points. 

"Besides, " he remarked, "what do we know of the currents? This is not theold Atlantic. If I could feel the Gulf Stream I'd know whereabouts I was, but these currents come from all directions, and a man might as well tryto navigate in a tub of boiling water. "

"But we can, at least, keep working eastward, " said Cosmo. "My idea isfirst to make enough southing to get into the latitude of the SaharaDesert, and then run directly east, so as to cross Africa where there areno mountains, and where we shall be certain of having plenty of water underour keel. 

"Then, having got somewhere in the neighborhood of Suez, we can steerdown into the region of the Indian Ocean, and circle round south of theHimalayas. I want to keep an eye on those mountains, and stay around theplace where they disappear, because that will be the first part of theearth to emerge from the flood and it is there that we shall ultimatelymake land. "

"Well, we're averaging eight knots, " said the captain, "and at that ratewe ought to be in the longitude of the African coast in about twenty days. How high will the water stand then?"

"My gages show, " replied Cosmo, "that the regular fall amounts to exactlythe same thing as at the beginning--two inches a minute. Of course thespouts increase the amount locally, but I don't think that they addmaterially to the general rise of the flood. Two inches per minute means4, 800 feet in twenty days. That'll be sufficient to make safe navigationfor us all the way across northern Africa. We'll have to be careful ingetting out into the Indian Ocean area, for there are mountains on bothsides that might give us trouble, but the higher ones will still be insight, and they will serve to indicate the location of the lower rangesalready submerged, but not covered deeply enough to afford safe going overthem. "

"All right, " said Captain Arms, "you're the commodore, but if we don'thang our timbers on the Mountains of the Moon, or the Alps, or old Ararat, I'm a porpoise. Why can't you keep circling round at a safe distance, inthe middle of the Atlantic, until all these reefs get a good depth ofwater on 'em?"

"Because, " Cosmo replied, "even if we keep right on now it will probablytake two months, allowing for delays in getting round dangerous places, to come within sight of the Himalayas, and in two months the flood willhave risen nearly 15, 000 feet, thus hiding many of the landmarks. If weshould hold off here a couple of months before starting eastward nothingbut the one highest peak on the globe would be left in sight by the timewe arrived there, and that wouldn't be anything more than a rock, so thatwith the uncertainty of our navigation we might not be able to find it atall. I must know the spot where Tibet sinks, and then manage to keep inits neighborhood. "

That ended the argument. 

"Give me a safe port, with lights and bearings, and I'll undertake to hitit anywhere in the two hemispheres, but blow me if I fancy steering forthe top of the world by dead reckoning, or no reckoning at all, " grumbledthe captain. 

At night, of course, they had not even the slight advantage that theirobservations of the probable place of the sun gave them when it was abovethe horizon. Then they had to go solely by the indications of the compass. Still, they forged steadily ahead, and when they got into what they deemedthe proper latitude, they ran for the site of the drowned Sahara. 

After about a week the billowing motion caused by the descent of the "lakesin the sky" ceased entirely, to their great delight, but the lawless nebulawas now preparing another surprise for them. 

On the ninth night after their departure from their lodgment on thePalisades Cosmo Versál was sleeping in his bunk close by the bridge, wherehe could be called in an instant, dreaming perhaps of the glories of thenew world that was to emerge out of the deluge, when he was abruptlyawakened by the voice of Captain Arms, who appeared to be laboring underuncontrollable excitement. 

"Tumble up quicker'n you ever did in your life!" he exclaimed, his bigbrown beard wagging almost in Cosmo's face. "The flood's over!"

Cosmo sprang out of bed and pulled on his coat in a second. 

"What do you mean?" he demanded. 

"Look for yourself, " said the captain, pointing overhead. 

Cosmo Versál glanced up and saw the sky ablaze with stars! The rain hadentirely ceased. The surface of the sea was almost as smooth as glass, though rising and falling slowly, with a long, rolling motion. The Arkrode steadily, shivering, like an ocean liner, under the impulse of itsengines, and the sudden silence, succeeding the ceaseless roar of thedownpour, which had never been out of their ears from the start of thevoyage, seemed supernatural. 

"When did this happen?" he demanded. 

"It began not more than five minutes ago. I was just saying to myself thatwe ought to be somewhere near the center of the old Atlantic as it used tobe, and wondering whether we had got our course laid right to go fairlybetween the Canaries and the Cape de Verdes, for I didn't want to beharpooned by Gogo or the Peak of Teneriffe, when all of a sudden therecame a lightening in the nor'east and the stars broke out there. 

"I was so set aback that I didn't do anything for two or three minutes butstare at the stars. Then the rain stopped and a curtain seemed to roll offthe sky, and in a minute more it was clear down to the horizon all around. Then I got my wits together and ran to call you. "

Cosmo glanced around and above, seeming to be as much astonished as thecaptain had been. He rubbed his huge bald dome and looked all round againbefore speaking. At last he said:

"It's the nebula again. There must be a hole in it. "

"Its whole bottom's knocked out, I reckon, " said the captain. "Maybe it'srun out of water--sort o' squeezed itself dry. "

Cosmo shook his head. 

"We are not yet in the heart of it, " he said. "It is evident to me now thatwhat I took for the nucleus was only a close-coiled spiral, and we're runout of that, but the worst is yet to come. When we strike the center, thenwe'll catch it, and there'll be no more intermissions. "

"How long will that be?" inquired Captain Arms. 

"It may be a week, and it may be a month, though I hardly think it will beso long as that. The earth is going about twelve miles a second--that'smore than a million miles a day--directly toward the center of the nebula. It has taken ten days to go through the spiral that we have encountered, making that about ten million miles thick. It's not likely that the gapbetween this spiral and the nucleus of the nebula is more than thirtymillion miles across, at the most; so you see we'll probably be in thenucleus within a month, and possibly much less than a month. "

Captain Arms took a chew of tobacco. 

"We can get our bearings now, " he remarked. "Look, there's the moon justrising, and on my word, she is going to occult Aldebaran within an hour. I'll get an observation for longitude, and another on Polaris for latitude. No running on submerged mountains for us now. "

The captain was as good as his word, and when his observations had beenmade and the calculations completed he announced that the position of theArk was: Latitude, 16 degrees 10 minutes north; longitude, 42 degrees 28minutes west. 

"Lucky for us, " he exclaimed, "that the sky cleared. If we'd kept on aswe were going we'd have struck the Cape de Verdes, and if that hadhappened at night we'd probably have left our bones on a drowning volcano. We ought to have been ten or twelve degrees farther north to make a safepassage over the Sahara. What's the course now? Are you still for runningdown the Himalaya mountains?"

"I'll decide later what to do, " said Cosmo Versál. "Make your northing, and then we'll cruise around a little and see what's best to be done. "

When day came on, brilliant with sunshine, and the astonished passengers, hurrying out of their bunks, crowded about the now opened gangways and theportholes, which Cosmo had also ordered to be opened, and gazed withdelight upon the smooth blue sea, the utmost enthusiasm took possession ofthem. 

The flood was over!

They were sure of it, and they shook hands with one another andcongratulated themselves and hurrahed, and gave cheers for the Ark andcheers for Cosmo Versál. Then they began to think of their drowned homesand of their lost friends, and sadness followed joy. Cosmo was mobbed byeager inquiries wherever he made his appearance. 

Was it all over for good? Would the flood dry up in a few days? How longwould it be before New York would be free of water? Were they going rightback there? Did he think there was a chance that many had escaped in boatsand ships? Couldn't they pick up the survivors if they hurried back?

Cosmo tried to check the enthusiasm. 

"It's too early for rejoicing, " he assured them. "It's only a break inthe nebula. We've got a respite for a short time, but there's worsecoming. The drowning of the world will proceed. We are the onlysurvivors, except perhaps some of those who inhabited the highlands. Everything less than 2, 400 feet above the former level of the sea is nowunder water. When the flood begins again it will keep on until it issix miles deep over the old sea margins. "

"Why not go back and try to rescue those who you say may have foundsafety on the highlands?" asked one. 

"I have chosen my company, " he said, "and I had good reasons for thechoice I made. I have already added to the number, because simple humanitycompelled me, but I can take no more. The quantity of provisions aboardthe Ark is not greater than will be needed by ourselves. If the rest ofthe world is drowned it is not my fault. I did my best to warn them. Besides, we could do nothing in the way of rescue even if we should goback for that purpose. We could not approach the submerged plateaus. Wewould be aground before we got within sight of them. "

These words went far to change the current of feeling among thepassengers. When they learned that there would be danger for themselvesin the course that had been proposed their humanity proved to be lessstrong than their desire for self-preservation. Nevertheless, as we shallsee, the Ark ultimately went back to America, though not for any reasonthat had yet been suggested. 

Meanwhile the unexpected respite furnished by the sudden cessation of thedownpour from the sky had other important results, to which we now turn. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE ESCAPE OF THE PRESIDENT

When Professor Abiel Pludder indited his savage response to CosmoVersál's invitation to become one of the regenerators of mankind byembarking in the Ark, he was expressing his professional prejudice ratherthan his intellectual conviction. As Cosmo had remarked, Pludder had agood brain and great scientific acuteness, and, although he did notbelieve in the nebular theory of a flood, and was obstinately opposed toeverything that was not altogether regular and according to recognizedauthority in science, yet he could not shut his eyes to the fact thatsomething was going wrong in the machinery of the heavens. But it annoyedhim to find that his own explanations were always falsified by the event, while Cosmo Versál seemed to have a superhuman foreglimpse of whateverhappened. 

His pride would not allow him to recede from the position that he hadtaken, but he could not free himself from a certain anxiety about thefuture. After he had refused Cosmo Versál's invitation, the course ofevents strengthened this anxiety. He found that the officialmeteorologists were totally unable to account for the marvelous vagariesof the weather. 

Finally, when the news came of tremendous floods in the north, and of theoverflowing of Hudson Bay, he secretly determined to make somepreparations of his own. He still rejected the idea of a watery nebula, but he began to think it possible that all the lowlands of the earth mightbe overflowed by the sea, and by the melting of mountain snows andglaciers, together with deluging rainfall. After what had passed, he couldnot think of making any public confession of his change of heart, but hissense of humanity compelled him to give confidential warning to his friendsthat it would be well to be prepared to get on high ground at a moment'snotice. 

He was on the point of issuing, but without his signature, an officialstatement cautioning the public against unprecedented inundations, when thefirst tidal wave arrived on the Atlantic coast and rendered any utteranceof that kind unnecessary. People's eyes were opened, and now they wouldlook out for themselves. 

Pludder's private preparations amounted to no more than the securing of alarge express aero, in which, if the necessity for suddenly leavingWashington should arise, he intended to take flight, together withPresident Samson, who was his personal friend, and a number of other closefriends, with their families. He did not think that it would be necessary, in any event, to go farther than the mountains of Virginia. 

The rising of the sea, mounting higher at each return, at length convincedhim that the time had come to get away. Hundreds of air craft had alreadydeparted westward, not only from Washington, but from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and other seaboard cities, beforeProfessor Pludder assembled his friends by telephone on the Capitolgrounds, where his aero was waiting. 

The lower streets of the city were under water from the overflow of thePotomac, which was backed up by the influx of the Atlantic into ChesapeakeBay, and the most distressing scenes were enacted there, people fleeing inthe utmost disorder toward higher ground, carrying their children and someof their household goods, and uttering doleful cries. Many, thinking thatthe best way to escape, embarked in frail boats on the river, which wasrunning up-stream with frightful velocity, and rising perceptibly higherevery second. Most of these boats were immediately overturned or swamped. 

If the start had been delayed but a little longer, the aero would have beenmobbed by the excited people, who uttered yells of disappointment and ragewhen they saw it rise from its tower and sail over the city. It was thelast airship that left Washington, and it carried the last persons whoescaped from the national capital before the downpour from the atmospherebegan which put an end to all possibility of getting away. 

There were on board, in addition to a crew of three, twenty-two persons. These included President Samson, with his wife and three children, sevenother men with their families, making, together, sixteen persons, andProfessor Pludder, who had no family. 

More because they wished to escape from the painful scenes beneath themthan because they deemed that there was any occasion for particular haste, they started off at high speed, and it was probably lucky for them thatthis speed was maintained after they had left Washington out of sight. They rapidly approached the Blue Ridge in the neighborhood of Luray, andPludder was about to order a landing there as night was approaching, whenwith great suddenness the sky filled with dense clouds and a tremendousdownpour began. This was the same phenomenon which has already beendescribed as following closely the attack at New York on Cosmo Versál'sArk. 

The aero, luckily, was one of the best type, and well covered, so that theywere protected from the terrible force of the rain, but in the tumult therecould be no more thought of descending. It would have been impossible tomake a landing in the midst of the storm and the pouring water, whichrushed in torrents down the mountainside. Professor Pludder was a brave manand full of resources when driven into a corner. Being familiar with theconstruction and management of aeros, for he had been educated as anengineer, he now took charge of the airship. 

Within twenty minutes after the sky had opened its batteries--for the rainhad almost the force of plunging shot--a mighty wind arose, and the aero, pitching, tossing, and dipping like a mad thing, was driven with frightfulspeed eastward. This wild rush continued for more than an hour. By thistime it was full night, and the pouring rain around them was asimpenetrable to the sight as a black wall. 

They had their electric lamps inside, and their searchlights, but it wasimpossible to tell where they were. Pludder turned the searchlightdownward, but he could not make out the features of the ground beneaththem. It is likely that they were driven at least as far as Chesapeake Bay, and they may have passed directly over Washington. 

At last, however, the wind slewed round, and began to blow withundiminished violence from the northeast. Plunging and swerving, andsometimes threatened with a complete somersault, the aero hurried away inits crazy flight, while its unfortunate inmates clung to one another, andheld on by any object within reach, in the endeavor to keep from beingdashed against the metallic walls. 

The crew of the aero were picked men, but no experience could haveprepared them for the work which they now had to do. Without the readybrain of Professor Pludder to direct their efforts, and without hispersonal exertions, their aerial ship would have been wrecked within aquarter of an hour after the storm struck it. He seemed transformed intoanother person. Hatless and coatless, and streaming with water, he workedlike a demon. He was ready at each emergency with some device which, underhis direction, had the effect of magic. 

A hundred times the aero plunged for the ground, but was saved and turnedupward again just as it seemed on the point of striking. Up and down, right and left, it ran and pitched and whirled, like a cork in a whirlpool. Sometimes it actually skimmed the ground, plowing its way through atorrent of rushing water, and yet it rose again and was saved fromdestruction. 

This terrible contest lasted another hour after the turning of the wind, and then the latter died out. Relieved from its pressure, the aero ran onwith comparative ease. Professor Pludder, suspecting that they might nowbe getting into a mountainous district, made every effort to keep thecraft at a high elevation, and this, notwithstanding the depressing forceof the rain, they succeeded in doing. After the dying out of the wind theykept on, by the aid of their propellers, in the same direction in which ithad been driving them, because, in the circumstances, one way was as goodas another. 

The terrible discomfort of the President and his companions in the cabinof the aero was greatly relieved by the cessation of the wind, but stillthey were in a most unfortunate state. The rain, driven by the fierceblasts, had penetrated through every crevice, and they were drenched tothe skin. No one tried to speak, for it would have been almost impossibleto make oneself heard amid the uproar. They simply looked at one anotherin dismay and prayed for safety. 

Professor Pludder, not now compelled to spend every moment in themanagement of the craft, entered the cabin occasionally, pressed the handof the President, smiled encouragingly on the women and children, and didall he could, in pantomime, to restore some degree of confidence. Inside, the lights were aglow, but outside it was as dark as pitch, except wherethe broad finger of the searchlight, plunging into the mass of tumblingwater, glittered and flashed. 

The awful night seemed endless, but at last a pale illumination appearedin the air, and they knew that day had come. The spectacle of the skyeydeluge was now so terrible that it struck cold even to their alreadybenumbed hearts. The atmosphere seemed to have been turned into a mightycataract thundering down upon the whole face of the earth. Now that theycould see as well as hear, the miracle of the preservation of the aeroappeared incredible. 

As the light slowly brightened, Professor Pludder, constantly on theoutlook, caught a glimpse of a dark, misty object ahead. It loomed up sosuddenly, and was already so close, that before he could sufficientlyalter the course of the aero, it struck with such violence as to crushthe forward end of the craft and break one of the aeroplanes. Everybodywas pitched headforemost, those inside falling on the flooring, whilePludder and the three men of the crew were thrown out upon a mass ofrocks. All were more or less seriously injured, but none was killed ortotally disabled. 

Pludder sprang to his feet, and, slipping and plunging amid the downpour, managed to get back to the wreck and aid the President and the others toget upon their feet. 

"We're lodged on a mountain!" he yelled. "Stay inside, under the shelterof the roof!"

The three men who, together with the professor, had been precipitated outamong the rocks, also scrambled in, and there they stood, or sat, the mostdisconsolate and despairing group of human beings that ever the eye of anoverseeing Providence looked down upon. 

The President presented the most pitiable sight of all. Like the rest, his garments were sopping, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was ghastly, and his tall silk hat, which he had jammed down upon his brow, had beensoftened by the water and crushed by repeated blows into the form of aclosed accordion. Of the women and children it is needless to speak; nodescription could convey an idea of their condition. 

In these circumstances, the real strength of Professor Abiel Pludder'smind was splendidly displayed. He did not lose his head, and hecomprehended the situation, and what it was necessary to do, in a flash. He got out some provisions and distributed them to the company, in somecases actually forcing them to eat. With his own hands he prepared coffee, with the apparatus always carried by express aeros, and made them drinkit. 

When all had thus been refreshed he approached President Samson andshouted in his ear:

"We shall have to stay here until the downpour ceases. To guard against theeffects of a tempest, if one should arise, we must secure the aero in itsplace. For that I need the aid of every man in the party. We have, fortunately, struck in a spot on the mountain where we are out of the wayof the torrents of water that are pouring down through the ravines oneither side. We can make our lodgment secure, but we must go to workimmediately. "

Stimulated by his example, the President and the others set to work, andwith great difficulty, for they had to guard their eyes and nostrils fromthe driving rain, which, sometimes, in spite of their precautions, nearlysmothered them, they succeeded in fastening the aero to the rocks by meansof metallic cables taken from its stores. When this work was finished theyreturned under the shelter of the cabin roof and lay down exhausted. Soworn out were they that all of them quickly fell into a troubled sleep. 

It would be needless to relate in detail the sufferings, mental andphysical, that they underwent during the next ten days. While they werehanging there on the mountain the seaboard cities of the world weredrowned, and Cosmo Versál's Ark departed on the remarkable voyage that hasbeen described in a former chapter. They had plenty of provisions, for theaero had been well stored, but partly through precaution and partly becauseof lack of appetite they ate sparingly. The electric generators of the aerohad not been injured in the wreck of the craft, and they were able tosupply themselves with sufficient heat, and with light inside the cabin atnight. 

Once they had a strange visitor--a half-drowned bear, which hadstruggled up the mountain from its den somewhere below--but that was theonly living creature beside themselves that they saw. After gazingwistfully at the aero from the top of a rock the poor bear, fighting thechoking rain with its soaked paws, stumbled into one of the torrents thatpoured furiously down on each side, and was swept from their sight. 

Fortunately, the wind that they had anticipated did not come, butfrequently they saw or heard the roaring downpours of solid waterycolumns like those that had so much astonished Cosmo Versál and CaptainArms in the midst of the Atlantic, but none came very near them. 

Professor Pludder ventured out from time to time, clambering a little wayup and down the projecting ridge of the mountain on which they were lodged, and at length was able to assure his companions that they were on thenorthwestern face of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak of the Appalachianrange. With the aid of his pocket aneroid, making allowance for theeffect of the lifting of the whole atmosphere by the flood, and summoninghis knowledge of the locality--for he had explored, in former years, allthe mountains in this region--he arrived at the conclusion that theirplace of refuge was elevated about four thousand feet above the formerlevel of the sea. 

At first their range of vision did not allow them to see the condition ofthe valleys below them, but as the water crept higher it gradually cameinto view. It rose steadily up the slopes beneath, which had already beenstripped of their covering of trees and vegetation by the force of thedescending torrents, until on the tenth day it had arrived almost withinreach. Since, as has just been said, they were four thousand feet abovethe former level of the sea, it will be observed that the water musthave been rising much more rapidly than the measurements of Cosmo Versálindicated. Its average rate of rise had been three instead of two inchesper minute, and the world was buried deeper than Cosmo thought. The causeof his error will be explained later. 

The consternation of the little party when they thus beheld the rapiddrowning of the world below them, and saw no possibility of escape forthemselves if the water continued to advance, as it evidently would do, cannot be depicted. Some of them were driven insane, and were withdifficulty prevented by those who retained their senses from throwingthemselves into the flood. 

Pludder was the only one who maintained a command over his nerves, although he now at last _believed in the nebula_. He recognized that therewas no other possible explanation of the flood than that which Cosmo Versálhad offered long before it began. In his secret heart he had no expectationof ultimate escape, yet he was strong enough to continue to encourage hiscompanions with hopes which he could not himself entertain. 

When, after nightfall on the tenth day, the water began to lap the lowerparts of the aero, he was on the point of persuading the party to clamberup the rocks in search of the shelter above, but as he stepped out of thedoor of the cabin to reconnoiter the way, with the aid of the searchlightwhich he had turned up along the ridge, he was astonished to find the rainrapidly diminishing in force; and a few minutes later it ceased entirely, and the stars shone out. 

The sudden cessation of the roar upon the roof brought everybody to theirfeet, and before Professor Pludder could communicate the good news allwere out under the sky, rejoicing and offering thanks for theirdeliverance. The women were especially affected. They wept in oneanother's arms, or convulsively clasped their children to their breasts. 

At length the President found his voice. 

"What has happened?" he asked. 

Professor Pludder, with the new light that had come to him, was as readywith an explanation as Cosmo Versál himself had been under similarcircumstances. 

"We must have run out of the nebula. "

"The nebula!" returned Mr. Samson in surprise. "Has there been a nebula, then?"

"Without question, " was the professor's answer. "Nothing but an encounterwith a watery nebula could have had such a result. "

"But you always said----" began the President. 

"Yes, " Pludder broke in, "but one may be in error sometimes. "

"Then, Cosmo Versál----"

"Let us not discuss Cosmo Versál, " exclaimed Professor Pludder, with areturn of his old dictatorial manner. 

CHAPTER XV

PROFESSOR PLUDDER'S DEVICE

Morning dawned brilliantly on Mount Mitchell and revealed to theastonished eyes of the watchers an endless expanse of water, gleaming andsparkling in the morning sunlight. It was a spectacle at once beautifuland fearful, and calculated to make their hearts sink with pity no lessthan with terror. But for a time they were distracted from the awfulthoughts which such a sight must inspire by anxiety concerning themselves. They could not drive away the fear that, at any moment, the awful cloudsmight return and the terrible downpour be resumed. 

But Professor Pludder, whose comprehension of the cause of the deluge wasgrowing clearer the more he thought about it, did not share the anxietyof the President and the others. 

"The brightness of the sky, " he said, "shows that there is no considerablequantity of condensing vapor left in the atmosphere. If the earth has runout of the nebula, that is likely to be the end of the thing. If there ismore of the nebulous matter in surrounding space we may miss it entirely, or, if not, a long time would elapse before we came upon it. 

"The gaps that exist in nebulae are millions of miles across, and theearth would require days and weeks to go such distances, granting that itwere traveling in the proper direction. I think it altogether probablethat this nebula, which must be a small one as such things go, consistsof a single mass, and that, having traversed it, we are done with it. Weare out of our troubles. "

"Well, hardly, " said the President. "Here we are, prisoners on a mountain, with no way of getting down, the whole land beneath being turned into asea. We can't stay here indefinitely. For how long a time are weprovisioned?"

"We have compressed food enough to last this party a month, " repliedProfessor Pludder; "that is to say, if we are sparing of it. For water wecannot lack, since this that surrounds us is not salt, and if it were wecould manage to distil it. But, of course, when I said we were out of ourtroubles I meant only that there was no longer any danger of beingswallowed up by the flood. It is true that we cannot think of remaininghere. We must get off. "

"But how? Where can we go?"

Professor Pludder thought a long time before he answered this question. Finally he said, measuring his words:

"The water is four thousand feet above the former level of the sea. Thereis no land sufficiently lofty to rise above it this side of the Coloradoplateau. "

"And how far is that?"

"Not less than eleven hundred miles in an air line. "

The President shuddered. 

"Then, all this vast country of ours from here to the feet of the RockyMountains is now under water thousands of feet deep!"

"There can be no doubt of it. The Atlantic Coast States, the SouthernStates, the Mississippi Valley, the region of the Great Lakes, and Canadaare now a part of the Atlantic Ocean. "

"And all the great cities--gone! Merciful Father! What a thought!"

The President mused for a time, and gradually a frown came upon his brow. He glanced at Professor Pludder with a singular look. Then his cheekreddened, and an angry expression came into his eyes. Suddenly he turnedto the professor and said sternly:

"You said you did not wish to discuss Cosmo Versál. I should not thinkyou would! Who predicted this deluge? Did _you_?"

"I----" began Professor Pludder, taken aback by the President's manner. 

"Oh, yes, " interrupted the President, "I know what you would say. Youdidn't predict it because you didn't see it coming. But _why_ didn'tyou see it? What have we got observatories and scientific societiesfor if they can't _see_ or _comprehend_ anything? Didn't Cosmo Versálwarn you? Didn't he tell you where to look, and what to look for? Didn'the show you his proofs?"

"We thought they were fallacious, " stammered Professor Pludder. 

"You _thought_ they were fallacious--well, _were_ they fallacious? Doesthis spectacle of a nation drowned look 'fallacious' to you? Why didn'tyou study the matter until you understood it? Why did you issueofficially, and with my ignorant sanction--may God forgive me for myblindness!--statement after statement, assuring the people that there wasno danger--statements that were even abusive toward him who alone shouldhave been heard?

"And yet, as now appears, you knew nothing about it. Millions upon millionshave perished through your obstinate opposition to the truth. They mighthave saved themselves if they had been permitted to listen to the manytimes reiterated warnings of Cosmo Versál. 

"Oh, if _I_ had only listened to him, and issued a proclamation as he urgedme to do! But I followed _your_ advice--_you_, in whose learning andpretended science I put blind faith! _Abiel Pludder, I would not have uponmy soul the weight that now rests on yours for all the wealth that the lostworld carried down into its watery grave!_"

As the President ceased speaking he turned away and sank upon a rock, pressing his hands upon his throat to suppress the sobs that broke forthdespite his efforts. His form shook like an aspen. 

The others crowded around excitedly, some of the women in hysterics, andthe men not knowing what to do or say. Professor Pludder, completelyoverwhelmed by the suddenness and violence of the attack, went off byhimself and sat down with his head in his hands. After a while he aroseand approached the President, who had not moved from his place on therock. 

"George, " he said--they had known each other from boyhood--"I have made aterrible mistake. And yet I was not alone in it. The majority of mycolleagues were of my opinion, as were all the learned societies ofEurope. No such thing as a watery nebula has ever been known to science. It was inconceivable. "

"Some of your colleagues did not think so, " said the President, lookingup. 

"But they were not really convinced, and they were aware that they wereflying in the face of all known laws. "

"I am afraid, " said the President dryly, "that science does not know allthe laws of the universe yet. "

"I repeat, " resumed Professor Pludder, "that I made a fearful mistake. Ihave recognized the truth too late. I accept the awful burden of blamethat rests upon me, and I now wish to do everything in my power toretrieve the consequences of my terrible error. "

The President arose and grasped the professor's hand. 

"Forgive me, Abiel, " he said, with emotion, "if I have spoken too much inthe manner of a judge pronouncing sentence. I was overwhelmed by thethought of the inconceivable calamity that has come upon us. I believethat you acted conscientiously and according to your best lights, and itis not for any mortal to judge you for an error thus committed. Let usthink only of what _we_ must do now. "

"To that thought, " responded Professor Pludder, returning the pressure ofthe President's hand, "I shall devote all my energy. If I can save onlythis little party I shall have done something in the way of atonement. "

It was a deep humiliation for a man of Professor Pludder's proud anduncompromising nature to confess that he had committed an error morefearful in its consequences than had ever been laid at the door of a humanbeing, but Cosmo Versál had rightly judged him when he assured JosephSmith that Pludder was morally sound, and, in a scientific sense, hadthe root of the matter in him. When his mental vision was clear, andunclouded by prejudice, no one was more capable of high achievements. 

He quickly proved his capacity now, as he had already proved it duringthe preceding, adventures of the President's party. It was perfectly plainto him that their only chance was in getting to Colorado at the earliestpossible moment. The eastern part of the continent was hopelessly buried, and even on the high plains of the Middle West the fury of the downpourmight have spread universal disaster and destroyed nearly all thevegetation; but, in any event, it was there alone that the means ofprolonging life could be sought. 

With the problem squarely before his mind, he was not long in finding asolution. His first step was to make a thorough examination of the aero, with the hope that the damage that it had suffered might be reparable. Hehad all the tools that would be needed, as it was the custom for expressaeros to carry a complete equipment for repairs; but unfortunately one ofthe planes of the aero was wrecked beyond the possibility of repair. Heknew upon what delicate adjustments the safety of the modern airshipdepended, and he did not dare undertake a voyage with a lame craft. 

Then the idea occurred to him of trying to escape by water. The aero wasa machine of the very latest type, and made of levium, consequently itwould float better than wood. 

If the opposition of shipbuilders, incited and backed by selfish interests, had not prevented the employment of levium in marine construction, millionsof lives might now have been saved; but, as we have before said, only afew experimental boats of levium had been made. 

Moreover, like all aeros intended for long trips, this one had what wascalled a "boat-bottom, " intended to enable it to remain afloat with itsburden in case of an accidental fall into a large body of water. Pluddersaw that this fact would enable him to turn the wreck into a raft. 

It would only be necessary to reshape the craft a little, and this was theeasier because the aero was put together in such a manner with screw-boltsand nuts that it could be articulated or disarticulated as readily as awatch. He had entire confidence in his engineering skill, and in theability of the three experienced men of the crew to aid him. He decided toemploy the planes for outriders, which would serve to increase thebuoyancy and stability. 

As soon as he had completed his plan in his mind he explained hisintentions to the President. The latter and the other members of the partywere at first as much startled as surprised by the idea of embarking on avoyage of eleven hundred miles in so questionable a craft, but ProfessorPludder assured them that everything would go well. 

"But how about the propulsion?" asked Mr. Samson. "You can't depend on thewind, and we've got no sails. "

"I have thought that all out, " said Pludder. "I shall use the engine, andrearrange one of the aerial screws so that it will serve for a propeller. I do not expect to get up any great speed, but if we can make only as muchas two miles an hour we shall arrive on the borders of the Colorado upland, five thousand feet above sea, within about twenty-three days. We may beable to do better than that. "

Nobody felt much confidence in this scheme except its inventor, but itappeared to be the only thing that could be done, and so they all fell towork, each aiding as best he could, and after four days of hard work theremarkable craft was ready for its adventurous voyage. 

Professor Pludder had succeeded even better than he anticipated intransforming one of the aerial screws into a propeller. Its originalsituation was such that it naturally, as it were, fell into the properplace when the "hull" was partly submerged, and, the blades being made ofconcentric rows of small plates, there was no difficulty in reducing themto a manageable size. The position of the engine did not need to beshifted at all. 

The "outriders, " made up of the discarded planes, promised to serve theirpurpose well, and the cabin remained for a comfortable "deck-house. " Arudder had been contrived by an alteration of the one which had served forguiding the aero in its flights. 

The water was close to their feet, and there was no great difficulty inpushing the affair off the rocks and getting it afloat. The women andchildren were first put aboard, and then the men scrambled in, and Pludderset the motors going. The improvised propeller churned and spluttered, but it did its work after a fashion, and, under a blue sky, in dazzlingsunshine, with a soft southerly breeze fanning the strange sea thatspread around them, they soon saw the bared rocks and deeply scoredflanks of Mount Mitchell receding behind them. 

They were delighted to find that they were making, at the very start, noless than three miles an hour. Pludder clapped his hands and exclaimed:

"This is capital! In but little over two weeks we shall be safe on thegreat plains. I have good hope that many have survived there, and that weshall find a plenty of everything needed. With the instruments that wereaboard the aero I can make observations to determine our position, and Ishall steer for the Pike's Peak region. "

When the party had become accustomed to their situation, and had gainedconfidence in their craft by observing how buoyantly it bore them, theybecame almost cheerful in their demeanor. The children gradually lost allfear, and, with the thoughtless joy of childhood in the pleasures andwonders of the present moment, amused themselves in the cabin, and aboutthe deck, which had been surrounded with guard lines made of wire cable. 

The water was almost waveless, and, if no storm should arise, thereappeared to be no reason for anxiety concerning the outcome of theiradventure. But as they drove slowly on over the submerged range of theGreat Smokies, and across the valleys of Eastern Tennessee, and then overthe Cumberland range, and so out above the lowlands, they could not keeptheir thoughts from turning to what lay beneath that fearful ocean. Andoccasionally something floated to the surface that wrenched their heart-strings and caused them to avert their faces. 

Professor Pludder kept them informed of their location. Now they were overcentral Tennessee; now Nashville lay more than three thousand feet beneaththeir keel; now they were crossing the valley of the Tennessee River; nowthe great Mississippi was under them, hidden deep beneath the universalflood; now they were over the highlands of southern Missouri; and now overthose of Kansas. 

"George, " said Professor Pludder one day, addressing the President, withmore emotion than was often to be detected in his voice, "would you liketo know what is beneath us now?"

"What is it, Abiel?"

"Our boyhood home--Wichita. "

The President bowed his head upon his hands and groaned. 

"Yes, " continued Professor Pludder musingly, "there it lies, three thousandfeet deep. There is the Arkansas, along whose banks we used to play, withits golden waters now mingling feebly with the mighty flood that coversthem. There is the schoolhouse and the sandy road where we ran racesbarefoot in the hot summer dust. There is your father's house, and mine, and the homes of all our early friends--and where are _they?_ Would to Godthat I had not been so blind!"

"But there was another not so blind, " said the President, with somethingof the condemnatory manner of his former speech. 

"I know it--I know it too well now, " returned the professor. "But do notcondemn me, George, for what I did not foresee and could not help. "

"I am sorry, " said the President sadly, "that you have awakened these oldmemories. But I do not condemn you, though I condemn your science--or yourlack of science. But we can do nothing. Let us speak of it no more. "

The weather was wonderful, considering what had so recently occurred. Noclouds formed in the sky, there was only a gentle breeze stirring, atnight the heavens glittered with starry gems, and by day the sun shone sohotly that awnings were spread over those whose duties required them to beemployed outside the shelter of the cabin. The improvised propeller andrudder worked to admiration, and some days they made as much as eightymiles in the twenty-four hours. 

At length, on the fourteenth day of their strange voyage, they caughtsight of a curiously shaped "pike" that projected above the horizon far tothe west. At the same time they saw, not far away toward the north andtoward the south, a low line, like a sea-beach. 

"We are getting into shallow water now, " said Professor Pludder. "I havebeen following the course of the Arkansas in order to be sure of asufficient depth, but now we must be very careful. We are close to thesite of Las Animas, which is surrounded with land rising four thousandfeet above sea-level. If we should get aground there would be no hope forus. That pike in the distance is Pike's Peak. "

"And what is that long line of beach that stretches on the north andsouth?" asked the President. 

"It is the topographic line of four thousand feet, " replied theprofessor. 

"And we shall encounter it ahead?"

"Yes, it makes a curve about Las Animas, and then the land lies at anaverage elevation of four thousand feet, until it takes another risebeyond Pueblo. "

"But we cannot sail across this half-submerged area, " said the President. 

"There are depressions, " Professor Pludder responded, "and I hope to beable to follow their traces until we reach land that still lies wellabove the water. "

Near nightfall they got so close to the "beach" that they could hear thesurf, not a thundering sound, but a soft, rippling wash of the slightwaves. The water about them was ruddy with thick sediment. ProfessorPludder did not dare to venture farther in the coming darkness, and hedropped overboard two of the aero's grapples, which he had heavilyweighted and attached to wire cables. They took the ground at a depth ofonly ten feet. There was no wind and no perceptible current, and so theyrode all night at anchor off this strangest of coasts. 

At daybreak they lifted their anchors, and went in search of thedepressions of which the professor had spoken. So accurate was histopographic knowledge and so great his skill, that late in the afternoonthey saw a tall chimney projecting above the water a little ahead. 

"There's all that remains of Pueblo, " said Professor Pludder. 

They anchored again that night, and the next day, cautiously approachinga bluff that arose precipitously from the water, their hearts weregladdened by the sight of three men, standing on a bluff, excitedlybeckoning to them, and shouting at the top of their voices. 

CHAPTER XVI

MUTINY IN THE ARK

We left Cosmo Versál and his arkful of the flower of mankind in the midstof what was formerly the Atlantic Ocean, but which had now expanded overso many millions of square miles that had once been the seats of vastempires that to an eye looking at it with a telescope from Mars it wouldhave been unrecognizable. 

All of eastern North America, all of South America to the feet of theAndes, all but the highest mountains of Europe, nearly all of Africa, except some of the highlands of the south, all of northern andsouthwestern Asia, as well as the peninsula of India, all of China andthe adjacent lands and islands except the lofty peaks, the whole ofAustralia, and the archipelagoes of the Pacific, had become parts of thefloor of a mighty ocean which rolled unbroken from pole to pole. 

The Great Deep had resumed its ancient reign, and what was left of thehabitable globe presented to view only far separated islands and theserrated tops of such ranges as the Alps, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, and the Andes. The astonished inhabitants of the ocean depths now swamover the ruins of great cities, and brushed with their fins the chiseledcapitals of columns that had supported the proudest structures of humanhands. 

We have seen how the unexpected arrest of the flood had left Cosmouncertain as to the course that he ought to pursue. But he did not longremain in doubt. He was sure that the downpour would be resumed after aninterval which at the most could not exceed a few weeks, and he resolvedto continue his way toward the future land of promise in Asia. 

But he thought that he would have time to turn his prow in the directionof Europe, for he felt a great desire to know by actual inspection to whatheight the water had attained. He was certain that it could not be lessthan he had estimated--the indications of his rain-gage had been toounvarying to admit of doubt on that point--but he had no means of directmeasurement since he could not sound the tremendous depths beneath theArk. 

After long meditation on the probable effects of the descending columns ofwater which he had seen, he concluded that they might have added morerapidly than he first supposed to the increase of the general level. Besides, he reflected that there was no proof that the general downpourmight not have been greater over some parts of the earth than others. Allthese doubts could be dissipated if he could get a good look at some loftymountain range, such as the Sierra Nevada of Spain, or the Pyrenees, or, if he could venture within sight of them, the Alps. 

So he said to Captain Arms:

"Steer for the coast of Europe. "

The fine weather had produced a good effect upon the spirits of thecompany. Not only were the ports and the gangways all open, but Cosmoordered the temporary removal of rows of adjustable plates on the sides ofthe vessel, which transformed the broad outer gangways, running its wholelength, into delightful promenade decks. There, in cozy chairs, andprotected with rugs, the passengers sat, fanned by a refreshing breeze, and dazzled by the splendor of the ocean. 

They recalled, by their appearance, a shipload of summer tourists boundfor the wonders and pleasures of foreign parts. This likeness to apleasure cruise was heightened by the constant attentions of the crew, under Cosmo's orders, who carried about refreshing drinks and lunches, and conducted themselves like regular ocean "stewards. "

It seemed impossible to believe that the world had been drowned, and somealmost persuaded themselves that the whole thing was a dream. 

It must not be supposed that the thousand-odd persons who composed thisremarkable ship's company were so hard-hearted, so selfish, so forgetful, so morally obtuse, that they never thought of the real horror of theirsituation, and of the awful calamity that had overwhelmed so many millionsof their fellow-creatures. They thought of all that only too seriouslyand in spite of themselves. The women especially were overwhelmed by it. But they did not wish to dwell upon it, and Cosmo Versál did not wish thatthey should. 

At night he had musicians play in the grand saloon; he distributed booksamong the passengers from a large library which he had selected; and atlast he had the stage set, and invited his friends, the players, toentertain the company. 

But he would have no plays but those of Shakespeare. 

There were, probably, not half a dozen persons in the Ark who had everseen representations of these great dramas, and very few who had read them, so that they had the advantage of complete novelty. 

The play selected for the first representation was the tragedy of "KingLear, " a strange choice, it would, at first sight, seem, but Cosmo Versálhad a deep knowledge of human nature. He knew that only tragedy would beendured there, and that it must be tragedy so profound and overmasteringthat it would dominate the feelings of those who heard and beheld it. Itwas the principle of immunizing therapeutics, where poison paralyzespoison. 

It came out as he anticipated. The audience, unused to such depth ofdramatic passion, for the plays to which they had been accustomed had beenfar from the Shakespearian standard, was wholly absorbed in thedevelopment of the tragedy. It was a complete revelation to them, and theywere carried out of themselves, and found in the sympathy awakened by thisheart-crushing spectacle of the acme of human woe an unconscious solace for their own moral anguish. 

Afterward Cosmo put upon the stage "Hamlet, " and "Othello, " and "Macbeth, "and "Coriolanus, " and "Julius Caesar, " but he avoided, for the present, theless tragic dramas. And all of them, being new to the hearers, produced anenormous effect. 

On alternate nights he substituted music for the drama, and, as this wasconfined to the most majestic productions of the great masters of the past, many of whose works, like those of Shakespeare, had long been neglected ifnot forgotten, their power over the spirits of the company was, perhaps, even more pronounced. 

Cosmo Versál was already beginning the education of his chosen band ofrace regenerators, while he mused upon the wonders that the science ofeugenics would achieve after the world should have reemerged from thewaters. 

One of the most singular effects of the music was that produced upon theinsane billionaire, Amos Blank. He had been confined in the room thatCosmo had assigned to him, and was soothed, whenever Cosmo could find timeto visit him, with pretended acquiescence in his crazed notion that thetrip of the Ark was part of a scheme to "corner" the resources of theworld. 

Cosmo persuaded him that the secret was unknown except to themselves, andthat it was essential to success that he (Blank) should remain inretirement, and accordingly the latter expressed no desire to leave hisplace of imprisonment, which he regarded as the headquarters of thecombination, passing hours in covering sheets of paper with columns offigures, which he fancied represented the future profits of theenterprise. 

One night when a symphony of Beethoven was to be played, Cosmo led AmosBlank through the crowded saloon and placed him near the musicians. Heresisted at first, and when he saw the crowd he drew back, exclaiming:

"What? Not overboard yet?"

But Cosmo soothed him with some whispered promise, and he took his seat, glancing covertly around him. Then the instruments struck up, andimmediately fixed his attention. As the musical theme developed his eyesgradually lost their wild look, and a softened expression took its place. He sank lower in his seat, and rested his head upon his hand. His wholesoul seemed, at last, to be absorbed in the music. When it was finishedBlank was a changed man. 

Then Cosmo clearly explained to him all that had happened. 

After the first overwhelming effect of his reawakening to the realitiesof his situation had passed, the billionaire was fully restored to allhis faculties. Henceforth he mingled with the other passengers and, as ifthe change that had come over his spirit had had greater results than thesimple restoration of sanity, he became one of the most popular and usefulmembers of Cosmo Versál's family of pilgrims. 

Among the other intellectual diversions which Cosmo provided was somethingquite unique, due to his own mental bias. This consisted of "conferences, "held in the grand saloon, afternoons, in the presence of the entirecompany, at which the principal speakers were his two "speculativegeniuses, " Costaké Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone. They did not carevery much for one another and each thought that the time allotted to theother was wasted. 

Theriade wished to talk continuously of the infinite energy stored up inthe atoms of matter, and of the illimitable power which the release ofthat energy, by the system that he had all but completed, would place atthe disposition of man; and at the same time Sir Athelstone could withdifficulty be held in leash while he impatiently awaited an opportunity toexplain how excessively near he had arrived to the direct production ofprotoplasm from inanimate matter, and the chemical control of living cells, so that henceforth man could people or unpeople the earth as he liked. 

One evening, when everybody not on duty was in bed, Captain Arms, with hiswhiskers fairly bristling, entered Cosmo's cabin, where the latter wasdictating to Joseph Smith, and softly approaching his chief, with a furtiveglance round the room, stooped and whispered something in his ear. Astartled, though incredulous, expression appeared on Cosmo's face, and hesprang to his feet, but before speaking he obeyed a sign from the captainand told Smith to leave the room. Then he locked the door and returned tohis table, where he dropped into a chair, exclaiming in a guarded voice:

"Great Heaven, can this be possible! Have you not made a mistake?"

"No, " returned the captain in a stridulous whisper, "I have made nomistake. I'm absolutely sure. If something is not done instantly we arelost!"

"This is terrible!" returned Cosmo, taking his head in his hands. "Yousay it is that fellow Campo? I never liked his looks. "

"He is the ringleader, " replied the captain. "The first suspicion of whathe was up to came to me through an old sailor who has been with me on manya voyage. He overheard Campo talking with another man and he listened. Trust an old sea dog to use his ears and keep himself out of notice. "

"And what did they say?"

"Enough to freeze the marrow in your bones! Campo proposed to begin bythrowing 'old Versál' and me into the sea, and then he said, with us gone, and nobody but a lot of muddle-headed scientists to deal with, it would beeasy to take the ship; seize all the treasure in her; make everybody whowould not join the mutiny walk the plank, except the women, and steer forsome place where they could land and lead a jolly life. 

"'You see, ' says Campo, 'this flood is a fake. There ain't going to be nomore flood; it's only a shore wash. But there's been enough of it to fixthings all right for us. We've got the world in our fist! There's millionsof money aboard this ship, and there's plenty of female beauty, and we'veonly got to reach out and take it. '"

Cosmo Versál's brow darkened as he listened, and a look that would havecowed the mutineers if they could have seen it came into his eyes. Hishand nervously clutched a paper-knife which broke in his grasp, as he saidin a voice trembling with passion:

"They don't _know_ me--_you_ don't know me. Show me the proofs of thisconspiracy. Who are the others? Campo and his friend can't be alone. "

"Alone!" exclaimed the captain, unconsciously raising his voice. "There'sa dozen as black-handed rascals in it as ever went unswung. "

"Do you know them?"

"Jim Waters does. "

"Why haven't you told me sooner? How long has it been going on?"

"Almost ever since the deluge stopped, I think; but it was only last nightthat Waters got on the track of it, and only now that he told me. Thisfellow that Waters heard Campo talking to is plainly a new recruit. I saythere are a dozen, because Waters has found out that number; but I don'tknow but that there may be a hundred. "

"How did these wretches get aboard?" demanded Cosmo, fiercely opening andshutting his fists. 

"Excuse me, " said the captain, "but that is up to you to say. "

"So it is, " replied Cosmo, with a grim look; "and it's 'up to me' to saywhat'll become of them. I see how it is, they must have got in with thelast lot that I took--under assumed names, very likely. I've been morethan once on the point of calling that man Campo up and questioning him. Iwas surprised by his hangdog look the first time I saw him. But I havebeen so busy. "

"You'll have to get busy in another sense if you mean to save this shipand your life, " said the captain earnestly. 

"So I shall. Are you armed? No? Then take these--and use 'em when I givethe word. "

He handed the captain two heavy automatic pistols, and put a pair in hisown side pockets. 

"Now, " he continued, "the first thing is to make sure that we've got theright men--and _all of them_. Call in Joseph Smith. "

The captain went to the door, and as he approached it there was a knock. He turned the key and cautiously opened a crack to look out. The door wasinstantly slammed in his face, and six men rushed in, with Campo, a burly, black-browed fellow, at their head. Three of the men threw the captain onhis back, and pinioned his hands before he could draw a weapon, whileCampo and the others sprang toward Cosmo Versál, Campo pointing a pistolat his head. 

"It's all up, Mr. Versál!" cried Campo with a sneer. "I'll take command ofthis ship, and you'll go fish for nebulas. "

Cosmo had one advantage; he was behind his desk, and it was a broad andlong one, and placed almost against the wall. They could not get at himwithout getting round the desk. Campo did not fire, though he might haveshot Cosmo in his tracks; but evidently he was nourishing the idea ofmaking him walk the plank. With a sign he commanded his co-conspiratorsto flank the desk at each end, while he kept Cosmo covered with hispistol. 

But with a lightning movement, Cosmo dropped under the desk, and, favoredby his slight form and his extreme agility, darted like a cat past Campo'slegs, and, almost before the latter could turn round, was out of the opendoor. Campo fired at the retreating form, but the bullet went wide of themark. The pistol was practically noiseless, and the sound reached no earsin the staterooms. 

It happened that a switch controlling the lights in the gangway was on thewall by Cosmo's door, and in passing he swiftly reached up and turned itoff. Thus he was in complete darkness, and when Campo darted out of thedoor he could not see the fugitive. He could hear his footsteps, however, and with two of his companions he rushed blindly after him, firing two orthree shots at random. But Cosmo had turned at the first cross passage, and then at the next, this part of the Ark being a labyrinth of corridors, and the pursuers quickly lost all trace of him. 

Campo and his companions made their way back to Cosmo's cabin, where theirfellows were guarding Captain Arms. They found the switch in the passageand turned on the light. They were almost immediately joined by severalother conspirators conducting Joseph Smith, bound and gagged. They held ashort consultation, and Campo, with many curses, declared that CosmoVersál must be caught at all hazards. 

"The big-headed fiend!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "Let me get mygrippers on him and I'll squelch him like a bug!"

They threw Joseph Smith into the room beside the helpless captain, aftertaking the latter's pistols, locked the door from the outside, andhurried off on their search. In the passages they encountered severalmore of their friends. They now numbered fifteen, all armed. This mayseem a small number to undertake to capture the Ark; but it must beremembered that among the thousand-odd inmates, exclusive of the crew, only about one in three was a man, and the majority of these werepeaceable scientists who, it was to be presumed, had no fight in them. 

At any rate, Campo, with the reckless courage of his kind, felt confidentthat if he could get Cosmo Versál, with the captain and Joseph Smith, outof the way, he could easily overmaster the others. He had not much fearof the crew, for he knew that they were not armed, and he had succeededin winning over three of their number, the only ones he had thoughtat all dangerous, because he had read their character. More than halfthe crew were employed about the engines or on the animal deck, and mostof the others were simply stewards who would not stand before the pistols. 

But, while the mutineers were hurriedly searching the corridors, Cosmohad run straight to the bridge, where he found two of his men in charge, and whence he sent an electric call to all the men employed in thenavigation of the vessel. They came running from various directions, buta dozen of them were caught in the passages by the mutineers and boundbefore they could comprehend what had happened. Seven, however, succeededin reaching the bridge, and among these was Jim Waters. 

"There's a mutiny, " said Cosmo. "We've got to fight for our lives. Haveyou got arms?"

Not one had a weapon except Waters, who displayed a pistol half as longas his arm. 

"Here, Peterson, take this, " said Cosmo, handing a pistol to one of thetwo mariners who had been on the bridge. "They will be here in a minute. If Campo had been a sailor, he'd have had possession here the first thing. I'll turn off all lights. "

With that he pressed a button which put out every lamp in the ark. Butthere was a full moon, and they concealed themselves in the shadows. 

Presently they heard the mutineers approaching, stumbling and cursing inthe darkness. Cosmo directed Peterson and Waters to place themselves athis side, and told them to fire when he gave the word. 

The next instant four men appeared crossing a moonlit place at the foot ofthe steps on the outside of the dome. 

"Wait, " whispered Cosmo. "The pistols go at a pull. We can sweep down adozen in ten seconds. Let them all get in sight first. "

Half a minute later there were twelve men climbing the steps and cautiouslylooking up. 

"Fire!" cried Cosmo, setting the example, and three streams of blue flamepulsated from the bridge. The sound of the bullets striking made morenoise than the explosions. 

Five or six of the men below fell, knocking down their comrades, and aloud curse burst from the lips of Campo, who had a bullet through his arm. 

The mutineers tumbled in a heap at the bottom, and instantly Cosmo, switching on all lights, led the way down upon them. His men, who had noarms, seized anything they could get their hands on that would serve tostrike a blow, and followed him. 

The conspirators were overwhelmed by the suddenness and fury of the attack. 

Four of them were killed outright and five were wounded, one so severelythat he survived only a few hours. 

Cosmo's quick and overwhelming victory was due to the fact that themutineers, in mounting the steps, could not see him and his men in theshadows, and when the automatic weapons, which fired three shots persecond by repeated pressure of the trigger, from a chamber containingtwenty-one cartridges, once opened on them they could do nothing in thehail of missiles, especially when crowded together on the steps. 

Campo was the only one who had any fight left in him. He struck Cosmo ablow on the head that felled him, and then darted out upon the forepartof the dome, running on the cleats, and made his way to the top. 

Cosmo was on his feet in a second and rushing in pursuit, closely followedby Jim Waters. The fugitive ran for the ratlines leading to the lookout onthe central mast. He climbed them like a squirrel, and the man in thecro'nest, amazed at the sight below him, stared at the approachingmutineer, unable to utter a cry. Campo, who, as the moonbeams showed, nowhad a knife in his teeth, rapidly approached, and the lookout shrank interror. But before Campo could reach the cro'nest, a blinding lightdazzled his eyes. Cosmo had shouted an order to Peterson to run back tothe bridge and turn a searchlight upon the mast. Then Campo heard athundering voice below him:

"Take another step and I'll blow you into the sea!"

He glanced below, and saw Cosmo and Waters covering him with theirpistols. 

"Not another step!" roared Cosmo again. "Come down, and I'll give you atrial for your life. "

Campo hesitated; but, seeing that he could be shot down, and finding agleam of hope in Cosmo's words, he turned and came slowly down. Themoment he touched the bottom he was seized by Waters and another man, and, under Cosmo's directions, his hands were bound behind his back. 

Ten minutes later the members of the crew who had been caught by themutineers in the gangways were all unbound, and then Cosmo broke open thedoor of his cabin, the key having been lost or thrown away by Campo, andthe captain and Joseph Smith were released. 

"Well, we've got 'em, " said Cosmo grimly to the captain. "The mutiny isat an end, and there'll never be another. "

In the meantime many of the passengers had been aroused by the unaccustomednoises, although the pistols had not made enough sound to be heard fromthe place where they were fired. Nightcapped heads appeared on all sides, and some, in scanty clothing, were wandering in the passageways, demandingwhat the trouble was. Cosmo, the captain, and Joseph Smith reassured them, saying that there was no danger, and that something had happened whichwould be explained in the morning. 

The prisoners--and the whole fifteen were finally captured--were locked upin a strong room, and a surgeon was sent to dress their wounds. CosmoVersál and the captain resumed their accustomed places on the bridge, where they talked over the affair, and Cosmo explained his plans for themorrow. 

"I'll give him his trial, as I promised, " Cosmo said in conclusion, "andyou'll see what it will be. _Mutiny aboard this Ark!_" And he struck therail a violent blow with his fist. 

The next morning directly after breakfast Cosmo called all passengers andcrew into the grand saloon, where many wondering looks were exchanged andmany puzzling questions asked. When the mutineers, with hands tied behindtheir backs and their many bandages on arms and legs, were led in, exclamations of astonishment were heard, and some of the timid ones shrankaway in fear. 

Cosmo lost no time with preliminaries. 

"These men, " he said, taking his stand upon the platform, "have mutiniedand tried to capture the Ark. This fellow"--pointing to Campo--"was theconcocter and leader of the plot. He intended to throw me and CaptainArms, and all of you whom he did not wish to retain for his fiendishpurposes, into the sea. But Heaven has delivered them into our hands. Ihave promised them a trial, and they shall have it. But it will be atrial in which justice shall not be cheated. I find that a moral poisonhas stolen into this selected company, and I will eliminate it for onceand all. "

The expressions of amazement and alarm redoubled in intensity. 

"Professor Abel Able, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, Costaké Theriade, " Cosmo continued, "you will please come forward to actas members of the jury, of which I name myself also a member. I shall beboth judge and juror here, but I will hear what the rest of you may haveto say. "

The men named stepped forward with some evidences of embarrassment, andCosmo gravely gave them seats beside him. Then he commanded that theprisoners should confront the jury, and, heavily guarded, they were led tothe front. 

The brutishness of Campo's face had never struck the passengers who hadseen him before as it did now. He looked a veritable jailbird. At the sametime he was evidently in terror for his life. He muttered something whichnobody understood. 

Cosmo, who had informed himself of all the circumstances from Waters, andby privately questioning the others, had satisfied himself that the entirescheme of the mutiny was of Campo's contrivance, and that they had been ledinto it solely by his persuasion and threats, ordered Waters to speak. Theseaman told a straight story of what he had heard and seen. Cosmo himselfthen related the events of the night. When he had finished he turned toCampo and demanded what he had to say. 

Campo again muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to defendhimself, simply saying:

"You promised me a trial. "

"And haven't I given you a trial?" demanded Cosmo with flashing eyes. "Youthought you held the world in your grasp. It is _I_ that hold it in _my_grasp, and _you_, too! You were going to make us 'walk the plank. ' It is_you_ who are going to walk it! Is that the verdict?" (turning to the fourjurymen). 

Some of them nodded, some simply stared at Cosmo, surprised by thevehemence of his manner. 

"Enough, " he said. "As to you, " addressing the other prisoners, "you havehad your lesson; see that you don't forget it! Release them, and lead Campoto the promenade deck. "

Nobody thought that Cosmo would literally execute his threat to make themutineer walk the plank, but, as he had told Captain Arms, they didn't knowhim. They were about to see that in Cosmo Versál they had not only aprophet, a leader, and a judge, but an inexorable master also. 

A plank was prepared and placed sloping from the rail. 

"Walk!" said Cosmo firmly. 

To everybody's surprise Campo, with blinded eyes, started immediately upthe plank, followed its full length with quick, unfaltering step, andplunging from the end, disappeared in the sea. 

Many had turned away, unable to look, but many also saw the tragedy to theend. Then a profound sigh was heard from the whole company of thespectators. As they turned away, talking in awed voices, they felt, asnever before, that the world had shrunk to the dimensions of the Ark, andthat Cosmo Versál was its dictator. 

That same afternoon Cosmo arranged one of his "conferences, " and nobodydared to be absent, although all minds were yet too much excited to followthe discussions which few could understand. But at length Costaké Theriadeconcentrated their attention by a wild burst of eloquence about the wondersof the inter-atomic forces. Sir Athelstone, unable to endure the applausethat greeted his rival, abruptly sprang to his feet, his round face redwith anger, and shouted:

"I say, you know, this is twaddle!"

"Will the Englishman interrupt not?" cried Theriade, with his eyes ablaze. "Shall I project not the Sir Englishman to the feeshes?"

He looked as if he were about to try to execute his threat, and SirAthelstone assumed a boxing attitude; but before hostilities could begin aloud shout from the deck, followed by cries and exclamations, causedeverybody to rush out of the saloon. 

Those who succeeded in getting a glimpse over the shoulders of the membersof the crew, who were already lined up along the only portion of thebulwarks available for seeing the part of the ocean on which attentionseemed to be fixed, stared open-mouthed at a round-backed mass of shiningmetal, with a circular aperture on the top, the cover of which was cantedto one side, and there stood a man, waving a gold-laced red kepi, andbowing and smiling with great civility. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE _JULES VERNE_

The swell of the sea caused the strange-looking craft to rise and sink alittle, and sometimes the water ran bubbling all around the low rim of theaperture, in the center of which the red-capped man stood, resting on someinvisible support, repeating his salutations and amicable smiles, andbalancing his body to the rocking of the waves with the unconsciousskill of a sailor. 

The Ark was running slowly, but it would very soon have left the strangerin its wake if he had not also been in motion. It was evident that theobject under his feet must be a submersible vessel of some kind, althoughit was of a type which Captain Arms, standing beside Cosmo on the bridge, declared that he had never set eyes on before. It lay so low in the waterthat nothing could be seen of its motive machinery, but it kept its placealongside the Ark with the ease of a dolphin, and gradually edged in closerand closer. 

When it was so near that he could be heard speaking in a voice hardlyraised above the ordinary pitch, the man, first again lifting his cap withan easy gesture, addressed Cosmo Versál by name, using the English languagewith a scarcely perceptible accent:

"M. Versál, I offer you my felicitations upon the magnificent appearance ofyour Ark, and I present my compliments to the ladies and gentlemen of yourcompany. "

And then he bowed once more to the passengers, who were almost crowdingeach other over the side in their eagerness to both see and hear. 

"Thank you, " responded Cosmo, "but who are you?"

"Capitaine Yves de Beauxchamps, of the French army. "

"Where's the navy, then?" blurted out Captain Arms. 

De Beauxchamps glanced at the speaker a little disdainfully, and thenreplied gravely:

"Alas! At the bottom of the sea--with all the other navies. "

"And how have you escaped?" demanded Cosmo Versál. 

"As you see, in a submersible. "

"Can it be possible!" exclaimed Cosmo. "And you have been in the sea eversince the beginning of the flood?"

"Since the first rise of the ocean on the coast at Brest. "

"Have you no companions?"

"Six--in truth, seven. "

"Astonishing!" said Cosmo Versál. "But I heard nothing of the preparationof a submersible. In fact, the idea of such a thing never occurred to me. You must have made your preparations secretly. "

"We did. We did not share your certainty, M. Versál, concerning the arrivalof a deluge. Even when we embarked we were not sure that it would be morethan an affair of the coasts. "

"But you must be on the point of starvation by this time. The flood hasonly begun. This cessation is but for a time, while we are passing a gap inthe nebula. You will come aboard the Ark. I had chosen my company, but yourgallant escape, and the ability that you have shown, prove that you areworthy to aid in the re-establishment of the race, and I have no doubt thatyour companions are equally worthy. "

The Frenchman bowed politely, and with a slight smile replied:

"I believe, M. Versál, that the _Jules Verne_ is as safe and comfortable, and proportionately as well provisioned, as your Ark. "

"So you call it the _Jules Verne?_" returned Cosmo, smiling in his turn. 

"We were proud to give it that name, and its conduct has proved that it isworthy of it. "

"But you will surely come aboard and shake hands, and let us offer you alittle hospitality, " said Cosmo. 

"I should be extremely happy to pay my compliments to the ladies, "responded De Beauxchamps, "but I must postpone that pleasure for thepresent. In the meantime, however, I should be glad if you would lower alanding stage, and permit me to send aboard the seventh member of ourparty, who, I venture to think, may find the Ark a more comfortable abodethan our submersible. "

"And who may that person be?"

"_The King of England. _"

Exclamations of surprise and wonder were heard on all sides. 

"Yes, " resumed the Frenchman, "we picked up his majesty the first day afterthe deluge began to descend from the sky. "

"I will lower a ladder at once, " Cosmo called out, and immediately ran downto the lowest deck, commanding his men to make haste. 

The _Jules Verne_ was skillfully brought close up to the side of the Ark, so that the visible part of her rounded back was nearly in contact with thebottom of the companion-ladder when it had been lowered. The sea was socalm that there was little difficulty in executing this maneuver. DeBeauxchamps disappeared in the depths of the submersible, and after a fewminutes re-emerged into sight, supporting on his arm a stout, rather shortman, whose face, it was evident, had once been full and ruddy, but now itwas pale and worn. 

"It is he!" exclaimed an English member of Cosmo's company to some of hisfellow-countrymen who had forced their way to the front. 

_"It is the king!"_

And then occurred a singular thing, inspired by the marvelous circumstancesof this meeting of the sovereign of a drowned kingdom, upon the bosom ofthe waters that had destroyed it, with the mere handful which remainedalive out of all the millions of his subjects. 

These loyal Englishmen bared their heads (and there were three women amongthem) and sang, with a pathos that surely the old hymn had never expressedbefore, their national anthem: "God Save the King. "

The effect was immense. Every head aboard the Ark was immediatelyuncovered. De Beauxchamps removed his cap, and one or two bared heads couldbe seen peering out of the interior of the submersible below him. As theking was steadied across to the bottom of the companion-ladder, the voicesof the singers rose louder, and many of the other passengers, moved bysympathy, or carried away by epidemic feeling, joined in the singing. Neverhad any monarch a greeting like that! Its recipient was moved to the depthsof his soul, and but for the aid given him would have been unable to ascendthe swaying steps. 

As he was assisted upon the deck, the song ceased and a great cheer brokeforth. There were tears in his eyes, and he trembled in every limb, when hereturned the welcoming pressure of Cosmo Versál's hand. 

The moment he saw that the king was safely aboard the Ark, De Beauxchamps, with a farewell salutation, disappeared into the interior of the _JulesVerne_, and the submersible sank out of sight as gently as if it had been ahuge fish that had come to the top of the sea to take a look about. 

After the sensation caused by the arrival of the English monarch aboard theArk had somewhat quieted down, and after his majesty had had an opportunityto recover himself, Cosmo Versál invited his new guest to tell the story ofhis escape. They were seated in Cosmo's cabin, and there were presentJoseph Smith, Professor Jeremiah Moses, Professor Abel Able, and AmosBlank, beside several other members of the ship's company, including two ofthe loyal Englishmen who quite naturally had been the first to strike upthe national anthem on seeing their rescued king. 

Richard Edward, or Richard IV as he was officially entitled, was one of thebest kings England ever had. He was popular not only because of his almostdemocratic manners and the simplicity of his life, but more because he wasa great lover of peace. We have already seen how he was chosen, solely onthat account, to be of the number of the rulers invited to go in the Ark. He had not even replied to Cosmo's invitation, but that was simply because, like everybody about him in whom he placed confidence, he regarded CosmoVersál as a mere mountebank, and thought that there was no more danger of aflood that would cover the earth than of the fall of the moon out of thesky. 

Before responding to Cosmo's request he made a gracious reference to theindifference with which he had formerly treated his present host. 

"I am sorry, Mr. Versál, " he said, with a deprecatory smile, "that I didnot sooner recognize the fact that your knowledge surpassed that of myscientific advisers. "

"Your majesty was not alone, " replied Cosmo gravely, turning with hisfinger a small globe that stood on his desk. "From all these deep-sunkencontinents" (waving his hand toward the globe), "if the voices once heardthere could now speak, there would arise a mighty sound of lament for thatgreat error. "

The king looked at him with an expression of surprise. He glanced fromCosmo's diminutive figure to his great overhanging brow, marked with thelines of thought, and a look of instinctive deference came into his eyes. 

"But, " continued Cosmo Versál, "it is bootless to speak of these thingsnow. I beg that your majesty will condescend to enlighten us concerning thefate of that great kingdom, of ancient renown, over which you so worthilyreigned. "

An expression of deepest pain passed across the face of Richard Edward. Forsome moments he remained buried in a mournful silence, and many sighs camefrom his breast. All looked at him with profound commiseration. At last heraised his head, and said, sorrowfully and brokenly:

"My kingdom is drowned--my subjects have perished, almost to the last soul--my family, my gracious consort, my children--all, all--gone!"

Here he broke down, and could speak no more. Not a word was heard, for atime in the room, and the two Englishmen present wept with theirunfortunate king. 

Cosmo Versál was no less deeply moved than the others. He sat, for a while, in complete silence. Then he arose and, going to the king, put his handupon his shoulder, and talked to him long, in a low, consoling voice. Atlast the broken-spirited monarch was able to suppress his emotionssufficiently to recite, but with many interruptions while he remasteredhis feelings, the story of his woes and of his marvelous escape. 

"Sir Francis Brook, " he said, "prepared a barge, when the water invadedLondon, and in that barge we escaped--her royal majesty, our children, anda number of members of the royal household. The barge was the only vesselof levium that existed in England. Sir Francis had furnished andprovisioned it well, and we did not think that it would be necessary to gofarther than to some high point in the interior. Sir Francis was of theopinion that Wales would afford a secure refuge. 

"It was a terrible thing to see the drowning of London, the sweeping of theawful bore that came up the Thames from the sea, the shipping wrecked bythe tearing waves, the swirl of the fast-rising water round the immensebasin in which the city lay, the downfall of the great buildings--Westminster Abbey was one of the first that succumbed--the overturnedboats, and even great vessels floating on their sides, or bottom up, theawful spectacle of the bodies of the drowned tossing in the waves--allthese sights were before our horrified eyes while the vast eddy swept usround and round until the water rose so high that we were driven offtoward the southwest. 

"That we should have escaped at all was a miracle of miracles. It was thewonderful buoyancy of the levium barge that saved us. But the terrors ofthat scene can never fade from my memory. And the fearful sufferings ofthe queen! And our children--but I _cannot_ go on with this!"

"Calm yourself, your majesty, " said Cosmo sympathetically. "The wholeworld has suffered with you. If we are spared and are yet alive, it isthrough the hand of Providence--to which all of us must bow. "

"We must have passed over Surrey and Hampshire, " the king resumed, "theinvasion of the sea having buried the hills. "

"I am surprised at that, " said Cosmo. "I did not think that the sea hadanywhere attained so great an elevation before the nebula condensed. AtNew York the complete drowning of the city did not occur until thedownpour from the sky began. "

"Oh! that deluge from the heavens!" cried the king. "What we had sufferedbefore seemed but little in comparison. It came upon us after night;and the absolute darkness, the awful roaring, the terrific force of thefalling water, the sense of suffocation, the rapid filling of the bargeuntil the water was about our necks--these things drove us wild withdespair. 

"I tried to sustain my poor queen in my arms, but she struggled to seizethe children and hold them above the water, and in her efforts she escapedfrom my hands, and henceforth I could find her no more. I stumbled about, but it was impossible to see; it was impossible to hear. At last I fellunconscious face downward, as it afterward appeared, upon a kind of benchat the rear end of the barge, which was covered with a narrow metallicroofing, and raised above the level of the bulwarks. It was there that Ihad tried to shelter the queen and the children. 

"In some way I must have become lodged there, under the awning, in such aposition that the pitching of the barge failed to throw me off. I neverregained consciousness until I heard a voice shouting in my ear, and feltsome one pulling me, and when I had recovered my senses, I found myself in the submersible. "

"And all your companions were gone?" asked Cosmo, in a voice shaking withpity. 

"Yes, oh, Lord! All! They had been swept overboard by the waves--and wouldthat I had gone with them!"

The poor king broke down again and sobbed. After a long pause Cosmo askedgently:

"Did the Frenchman tell you how he came upon the barge?"

"He said that in rising to the surface to find out the state of thingsthere the submersible came up directly under the barge, canting it in sucha way that I was rolled out and he caught me as I was swept close to theopening. "

"But how was it that the downpour, entering the submersible, when the coverwas removed, did not fill it with water?"

"He had the cover so arranged that it served as an almost completeprotection from the rain. Some water did enter, but not much. "

"A wonderful man, that Frenchman, " said Cosmo. "He would be an acquisitionfor me. What did he say his name was? Oh, yes, De Beauxchamps--I'll make anote of that. I shouldn't wonder if we heard of him again. "

Cosmo Versál was destined to encounter Yves de Beauxchamps and hiswonderful submersible _Jules Verne_ sooner, and under more dramaticcircumstances than he probably anticipated. 

CHAPTER XVIII

NAVIGATING OVER DROWNED EUROPE

After the English king had so strangely become a member of its company theArk resumed its course in the direction of what had once been Europe. Thespot where the meeting with the _Jules Verne_ had occurred was west of CapeFinisterre and, according to the calculations of Captain Arms, in longitudefifteen degrees four minutes west; latitude forty-four degrees nine minutesnorth. 

Cosmo decided to run into the Bay of Biscay, skirting its southern coast inorder to get a view of the Cantabrian Mountains, many of whose peaks, hethought, ought still to lie well above the level of the water. 

"There are the Peaks of Europa, " said Captain Arms, "which lie less thantwenty miles directly back from the coast. The highest point is eightthousand six hundred and seventy feet above sea level, or what used to besea level. We could get near enough to it, without any danger, to see howhigh the water goes. "

"Do you know the locality?" demanded Cosmo. 

"As well as I know a compass-card!" exclaimed the captain. "I've seen theEuropa peaks a hundred times. I was wrecked once on that coast, and beingof an inquiring disposition, I took the opportunity to go up into the rangeand see the old mines--and a curious sight it was, too. But the mostcurious sight of all was the shepherdesses of Tresvido, dressed just likethe men, in homespun breeches that never wore out. You'd meet 'em anywhereon the slopes of the Pico del Ferro, cruising about with their flocks. Andthe cheese that they made! There never was any such cheese!"

"Well, if you know the place so well, " said Cosmo, "steer for it as fast asyou can. I'm curious to find out just how high this flood has gone, up tothe present moment. "

"Maybe we can rescue a shepherdess, " returned the captain, chuckling. "She'd be an ornament to your new Garden of Eden. "

They kept on until, as they approached longitude five degrees west, theybegan to get glimpses of the mountains of northern Spain. The coast was allunder deep water, and also the foothills and lower ranges, but some of thepeaks could be made out far inland. At length, by cautious navigation, Captain Arms got the vessel quite close to the old shore line of theAsturias, and then he recognized the Europa peaks. 

"There they are, " he cried. "I'd know 'em if they'd emigrated to the middleof Africa. There's the old Torre de Cerredo and the Peńa Santa. "

"How high did you say the main peak is?" asked Cosmo. 

"She's eight thousand six hundred and seventy feet. "

"From your knowledge of the coast, do you think it safe to run in closer?"

"Yes, if you're sure the water is not less than two thousand four hundredfeet above the old level we can get near enough to see the water-line onthe peaks, from the cro'nest, which is two hundred feet high. "

"Go ahead, then. "

They got closer than they had imagined possible, so close that, from thehighest lookout on the Ark, they were able with their telescopes to seevery clearly where the water washed the barren mountainsides at what seemedto be a stupendous elevation. 

"I'm sorry about your shepherdesses, " said Cosmo, smiling. "I don't thinkyou'd find any there to rescue if you could get to them. They must allhave been lost in the torrents that poured down those mountains. "

"More's the pity, " said Captain Arms. "That was a fine lot of women. There'll be no more cheese like what they made at Tresvido. "

Cosmo inquired if the captain's acquaintance with the topography of therange enabled him to say how high that water was. The captain, after longinspection, declared that he felt sure that it was not less than fourthousand feet above the old coast line. 

"Then, " said Cosmo, "if you're right about the elevation of what you callthe Torre de Cerredo there must be four thousand six hundred and seventyfeet of its upper part still out of water. We'll see if that is so. "

Cosmo made the measurements with instruments, and announced that the resultshowed the substantial accuracy of Captain Arms's guess. 

"I suspected as much, " he muttered. "Those tremendous downpours, which mayhave been worse elsewhere than where we encountered them, have increasedthe rise nearly seventy per cent, above what my gages indicated. Now that Iknow this, " he continued, addressing the captain: "I'll change the courseof the Ark. I'm anxious to get into the Indian Ocean as soon as possible. It would be a great waste of time to go back in order to cross the Sahara, and with this increase of level it isn't necessary. We'll just set outacross southern France, keeping along north of the Pyrenees, and so downinto the region of the Mediterranean. "

Captain Arms was astonished by the boldness of this suggestion, and atfirst he strongly objected to their taking such a course. 

"There's some pretty high ground in southern France, " he said. "There's theCevennes Mountains, which approach a good long way toward the Pyrenees. Areyou sure the depth of water is the same everywhere?"

"What a question for an old mariner to ask!" returned Cosmo. "Don't youknow that the level of the sea is the same everywhere? The flood doesn'tmake any difference. It seeks its level like any other water. "

"But it may be risky steering between those mountains, " persisted thecaptain. 

"Nonsense! As long as the sky is clear you can get good observations, andyou ought to be navigator enough not to run on a mountain. "

Cosmo Versál, as usual, was unalterable in his resolution--he only changedwhen he had reasons of his own--and the course of the Ark was laid, accordingly, for the old French coast of the Landes, so low that it was nowcovered with nearly four thousand feet of water. The feelings of thepassengers were deeply stirred when they learned that they were actuallysailing over buried Europe, and they gazed in astonishment at the waterbeneath them, peering down into it as if they sought to discover thedreadful secrets that it hid, and talking excitedly in a dozen languages. 

The Ark progressed slowly, making not more than five or six knots, and onthe second day after they dropped the Peńas de Europa they were passingalong the northern flank of the Pyrenees and over the basin in which hadlain the beautiful city of Pau. The view of the Pyrenees from this pointhad always been celebrated before the deluge as one of the most remarkablein the world. 

Now it had lost its beauty, but gained in spectacular grandeur. All ofFrance, as far as the eye extended, was a sea, with long oceanic swellsslowly undulating its surface. This sea abruptly came to an end where itmet the mountains, which formed for it a coast unlike any that the hundredsof eyes which wonderingly surveyed it from the Ark had ever beheld. 

Beyond the drowned vales and submerged ranges, which they knew lay beneaththe watery floor, before them, rose the heads of the Pic du Midi, the Picde Ger, the Pic de Bigorre, the Massif du Gabizos, the Pic Monné, anddozens of other famous eminences, towering in broken ranks like thebearskins of a "forlorn hope, " resisting to the last, in pictures ofold-time battles. 

Here, owing to the configuration of the drowned land it was possible forthe Ark to approach quite close to some of the wading mountains, and Cosmoseized the opportunity to make a new measure of the height of the flood, which he found to be surely not less than his former estimates had shown. 

Surveying with telescopes the immense shoulders of the Monné, the Viscos, the d'Ardiden, and the nearer heights, when they were floating above thevalley of Lourdes, Cosmo and the captain saw the terrible effects that hadbeen produced by the torrents of rain, which had stripped off thevegetation whose green robe had been the glory of the high Pyrenees on theFrench side. 

Presently their attention was arrested by some moving objects, and at asecond glance they perceived that these were human beings. 

"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Cosmo Versál. "There are survivors here. They haveclimbed the mountains, and found shelter among the rocks. I should not havethought it possible. "

"And there are women among them, " said Captain Arms, lowering histelescope. "You will not leave them there!"

"But what can I do?"

"Lower away the boats, " replied the captain. "We've got plenty of them. "

"There may be thousands there, " returned Cosmo, musing. "I can't take themall. "

"Then take as many as you can. By gad, sir, _I'll_ not leave 'em!"

By this time some of the passengers who had powerful glasses had discoveredthe refugees on the distant heights, and great excitement spread throughoutthe Ark. Cries arose from all parts of the vessel:

"Rescue them!" "Go to their aid!" "Don't let them perish!"

Cosmo Versál was in a terrible quandary. He was by no means withouthumanity, and was capable of deep and sympathetic feeling, as we have seen, but he already had as many persons in the Ark as he thought ought to betaken, considering the provision that had been made, and, besides, he couldnot throw off, at once, his original conviction of the necessity ofcarefully choosing his companions. He remained for a long time buried inthought, while the captain fumed with impatience and at last declared thatif Cosmo did not give the order to lower away the boats he would do ithimself. 

At length Cosmo, yielding rather to his own humane feelings than to theurging of others, consented to make the experiment. Half a dozen leviumlaunches were quickly lowered and sent off, while the Ark, with slowedengines, remained describing a circle as near the mountains as it was safeto go. Cosmo himself embarked in the leading boat. 

The powerful motors of the launches carried them rapidly to the high slopeswhere the unfortunates had sought refuge, and as they approached, and thepoor fugitives saw that deliverance was at hand, they began to shout, andcheer, and cry, and many of them fell on their knees upon the rocks andstretched their hands toward the heavens. 

The launches were compelled to move with great caution when they got nearthe ragged sides of the submerged mountains (it was the Peyre Dufau onwhich the people had taken refuge), but the men aboard them were determinedto effect the rescue, and they regarded no peril too closely. At lastCosmo's launch found a safe landing, and the others quickly followed it. 

When Cosmo sprang out on a flat rock a crowd of men, women, and children, weeping, crying, sobbing, and uttering prayers and blessings, instantlysurrounded him. Some wrung his hands in an ecstasy of joy, some embracedhim, some dropped on their knees before him and sought to kiss his hands. Cosmo could not restrain his tears, and the crews of the launches wereequally affected. 

Many of these people could only speak the patois of the mountains, but somewere refugees from the resorts in the valleys below, and among these weretwo English tourists who had been caught among the mountains by the suddenrising of the flood. They exhibited comparative _sang froid_, and served asspokesmen for the others. 

"Bah Jove!" exclaimed one of them, "but you're welcome, you know! This hasbeen a demnition close call! But what kind of a craft have you got outthere?"

"I'm Cosmo Versál. "

"Then that's the Ark we've heard about! 'Pon honor, I should haverecognized you, for I've seen your picture often enough. You've come totake us off, I suppose?"

"Certainly, " replied Cosmo. "How many are there?"

"All that you see here; about a hundred, I should say. No doubt there areothers on the mountains round. There must have been a thousand of us whenwe started, but most of them perished, overcome by the downpour, or sweptaway by the torrents. Lord Swansdown (indicating his companion, who bowedgravely and stiffly) and myself--I'm Edward Whistlington--set out to walkover the Pyrenees from end to end, after the excitement about the greatdarkness died out, and we got as far as the Marboré, and then running downto Gavarnie we heard news of the sea rising, but we didn't give too muchcredit to that, and afterward, keeping up in the heights, we didn't heareven a rumor from the world below. 

"The sky opened on us like a broadside from an aerial squadron, and how weever managed to get here I'm sure I can hardly tell. We were actually_carried_ down the mountainsides by the water, and how it failed to drownus will be an everlasting mystery. Somehow, we found ourselves among thesepeople, who were trying to go _up_, assuring us that there was nothingbut water below. And at last we discovered some sort of shelter here--andhere we've been ever since. "

"You cannot have had much to eat, " said Cosmo. 

"Not _too_ much, I assure you, " replied the Englishman, with a melancholysmile. "But these people shared with us what little they had, or couldfind--anything and everything that was eatable. They're a devilish finelot, I tell you!

"When the terrible rain suddenly ceased and the sky cleared, " he resumed, "we managed to get dry, after a day or two, and since then we've beenchewing leather until there isn't a shoe or a belt left. We thought atfirst of trying to build rafts--but then where could we go? It wasn't anyuse to sail out over a drowned country, with nothing in sight but themountains around us, which looked no better than the one we were barelyexisting on. "

"Then I must get you aboard the Ark before you starve, " said Cosmo. 

"Many have died of starvation already, " returned Whistlington. "You can'tget us off a moment too quick. "

Cosmo Versál had by this time freed himself of every trace of thereluctance which he had at first felt to increasing the size of his ship'scompany by adding recruits picked up at random. His sympathies werethoroughly aroused, and while he hastened the loading and departure of thelaunches, he asked the Englishmen who, with the impassive endurance oftheir race, stayed behind to the last, whether they thought that there wereother refugees on the mountains whom they could reach. 

"I dare say there are thousands of the poor devils on these peaks aroundus, wandering among the rocks, " replied Edward Whistlington, "but I fancyyou couldn't reach 'em. "

"If I see any I'll try, " returned Cosmo, sweeping with his powerfultelescope all the mountain flanks within view. 

At last, on the slopes of the lofty Mont Aigu across the submerged valleytoward the south, he caught sight of several human figures, one of whichwas plainly trying to make signals, probably to attract attention from theArk. Immediately, with the Englishmen and the remainder of those who hadbeen found on the Peyre Dufau, he hastened in his launch to the rescue. 

They found four men and three women, who had escaped from the narrow valleycontaining the _bains de Gazost_, and who were in the last stages ofstarvation. These were taken aboard, and then, no more being in sight, Cosmo returned to the Ark, where the other launches had already arrived. 

And these were the last that were rescued from the mighty range of thePyrenees, in whose deep valleys had lain the famous resorts of Cauterets, the Eaux Bonnes, the Eaux Chaudes, the Bagničres de Luchon, the Bagničresde Bigorre, and a score of others. No doubt, as the Englishmen had said, thousands had managed to climb the mountains, but none could now be seen, and those who may have been there were left to perish. 

There was great excitement in the Ark on the arrival of the refugees. Thepassengers overwhelmed them with kind attentions, and when they hadsufficiently recovered, listened with wonder and the deepest sympathy totheir exciting tales of suffering and terror. 

Lord Swansdown and Edward Whistlington were amazed to find their kingaboard the Ark, and the English members of the company soon formed a sortof family party, presided over by the unfortunate monarch. The rescuedpersons numbered, in all, one hundred and six. 

The voyage of the Ark was now resumed, skirting the Pyrenees, but at anincreasing distance. Finally Captain Arms announced that, according to hisobservations, they were passing over the site of the ancient and populouscity of Toulouse. This recalled to Cosmo Versál's memory the beautifulscenes of the fair and rich land that lay so deep under the Ark, and hebegan to talk with the captain about the glories of its history. 

He spoke of the last great conqueror that the world had known, Napoleon, and was discussing his marvelous career, and referring to the fact that hehad died on a rock in the midst of that very ocean which had now swallowedup all the scenes of his conquests, when the lookout telephoned down thatthere was something visible on the water ahead. 

In a little while they saw it--a small moving object, which rapidlyapproached the Ark. As it drew nearer both exclaimed at once:

"The _Jules Verne!_"

There could be no mistaking it. It was riding with its back just above thelevel of the sea; the French flag was fluttering from a small mast, andalready they could perceive the form of De Beauxchamps, standing in his oldattitude, with his feet below the rim of the circular opening at the top. Cosmo ordered the Stars and Stripes to be displayed in salute, and, greatlypleased over the encounter, hurried below and had the companion-ladder madeready. 

"He's got to come aboard this time, anyhow!" he exclaimed. "I'll take norefusal. I want to know that fellow better. "

But this time De Beauxchamps had no thought of refusing the hospitalitiesof the Ark. As soon as he was within hearing he called out:

"My salutations to M. Versál and his charming fellow-voyagers. May I bepermitted to come aboard and present myself in person? I have somethingdeeply interesting to tell. "

Everybody in the Ark who could find a standing-place was watching the_Jules Verne_ and trying to catch a glimpse of its gallant captain, and tohear what he said; and the moment his request was preferred a babel ofvoices arose, amid which could be distinguished such exclamations as:

"Let him come!" "A fine fellow!" "Welcome, De Beauxchamps!" "Hurrah for the_Jules Verne!_"

King Richard was in the fore rank of the spectators, waving his hand to hispreserver. 

"Certainly you can come aboard, " cried Cosmo heartily, at the same timehastening the preparations for lowering the ladder. "We are all glad to seeyou. And bring your companions along with you. "

CHAPTER XIX

TO PARIS UNDER THE SEA

De Beauxchamps accepted Cosmo Versál's invitation to bring hiscompanions with him into the Ark. The submersible was safely mooredalongside, where she rode easily in company with the larger vessel, andall mounted the companion-ladder. The Frenchman's six companions weredressed, like himself, in the uniform of the army. 

"Curious, " muttered Captain Arms in Cosmo's ear, "that these _soldiers_should be the only ones to get off--and in a vessel, too. What were theseamen about?"

"What were _our_ seamen about?" returned Cosmo. "How many of _them_ gotoff? I warned them that ships would not do. But it was a bright idea ofthis De Beauxchamps and his friends to build a submersible. It didn'toccur to me, or I would have advised their construction everywhere forsmall parties. But it would never have done for us. A submersible wouldnot have been capacious enough for the party I wanted to take. "

By this time the visitors were aboard, and Cosmo and the others whocould get near enough to grasp them by the hand greeted them effusively. King Richard received De Beauxchamps with emotion, and thanked him againand again for having saved his life; but, in the end, he covered hisface and said in a broken voice:

"M. De Beauxchamps, my gratitude to you is very deep--but, oh, thequeen--the queen--and the children! I should have done better to perishwith them. "

Cosmo and De Beauxchamps soothed him as well as they could, and theformer led the way into the grand saloon, in order that as many aspossible might see and greet their visitors, who had come somysteriously up out of the sea. 

All of the Frenchmen were as affable as their leader, and he presentedthem in turn. De Beauxchamps conversed almost gaily with such of theladies as had sufficient command of their feelings to join the throngthat pressed about him and his companions. He was deeply touched by thestory of the recent rescue of his countrymen from the Pyrenees, and hewent among them, trying to cheer them up, with the _élan_ that nomisfortune can eradicate from the Gallic nature. 

At length Cosmo reminded him that he had said that he had someinteresting news to communicate. 

"Yes, " said De Beauxchamps, "I have just come from a visit to Paris. "

Exclamations of amazement and incredulity were heard on all sides. 

"It is true, " resumed the Frenchman, though now his voice lost all itsgayety. "I had conceived the project of such a visit before I met theArk and transferred His Majesty, the King of England, to your care. Assoon as that was done I set out to make the attempt. "

"But tell me first, " interrupted Cosmo, "how you succeeded in findingthe Ark again. "

"That was not very difficult, " replied De Beauxchamps, smiling. "Ofcourse, it was to some extent accidental, for I didn't _know_ that youwould be here, navigating over France; but I had an idea that you_might_ come this way if you had an intention of seeing what hadhappened to Europe. It is my regular custom to rise frequently to thesurface to take a look around and make sure of my bearings, and you knowthat the Ark makes a pretty large point on the waters. I saw it longbefore you caught sight of me. "

"Very well, " said Cosmo. "Please go on with your story. It must, indeed, be an extraordinary one. "

"I was particularly desirous of seeing Paris again, deep as I knew herto lie under the waves, " resumed De Beauxchamps, "because it was myhome, and I had a house in the Champs Elysées. You cannot divorce theheart of a Frenchman from his home, though you should bury it undertwenty oceans. "

"Your family were lost?"

"Thank God, I had no family. If I had had they would be with me. Mycompanions are all like myself in that respect. We have lost manyfriends, but no near relatives. As I was saying, I started for France, poor drowned France, as soon as I left you. With the powerfulsearchlight of the _Jules Verne_ I could feel confident of avoidingobstructions; and, besides, I knew very closely the height to which theflood had risen, and having the topography of my country at my fingers'ends, as does every officer of the army, I was able to calculate thedepth at which we should run in order to avoid the hilltops. "

"But surely, " said Cosmo, "it is impossible--at least, it seems so tome--that you can descend to any great depth--the pressure must betremendous a few hundred feet down, to say nothing of possiblethousands. "

"All that, " replied the Frenchman, "has been provided for. You probablydo not know to what extent we had carried experiments in France on thedeep submersion of submarines before their general abandonment when theywere prohibited by international agreement in war. I was myself perhapsthe leader in those investigations, and in the construction of the_Jules Verne_ I took pains to improve on all that had hitherto beendone. 

"Without going into any description of my devices, I may simply remindyou nature has pointed out ways of avoiding the consequences of theinconceivable pressures which calculation indicates at depths of akilometer, or more, in her construction of the deep-sea fishes. It wasby a study of them that I arrived at the secret of both penetrating todepths that would theoretically have seemed entirely impossible and ofremaining at such depths. "

"Marvelous!" exclaimed Cosmo; "marvelous beyond belief!"

"I may add, " continued De Beauxchamps, smiling at the effect that hiswords had had upon the mind of the renowned Cosmo Versál, "that thepeculiar properties of levium, which you so wisely chose for your Ark, aided _me_ in quite a different way. But I must return to my story. 

"We passed over the coast of France near the point where I knew lay themouth of the Loire. I could have found my way by means of the compasssufficiently well; but since the sky was clear I frequently came to thesurface in order, for greater certainty, to obtain sights of the sun andstars. 

"I dropped down at Tours and at Blois, and we plainly saw the walls ofthe old châteaux in the gleam of the searchlight below us. There weremonsters of the deep, such as the eye of man never beheld, swimmingslowly about them, many of them throwing a strange luminosity into thewater from their phosphorescent organs, as if they were inspecting thesenovelties of the sea-bottom. 

"Arrived over Orleans, we turned in the direction of Paris. As weapproached the site of the city I sank the submersible until we almosttouched the higher hills. My searchlight is so arranged that it can bedirected almost every way--up, down, to this side, and to that--and weswept it round us in every direction. 

"The light readily penetrated the water and revealed sights which I haveno power to describe, and some--reminders of the immense population ofhuman beings which had there met its end--which I would not describe ifI could. To see a drowned face suddenly appear outside the window, almost within touch--ah, that was too horrible!

"We passed over Versailles, with the old palace still almost intact;over Sčvres, with its porcelain manufactory yet in part standing--thetidal waves that had come up the river from the sea evidently causedmuch destruction just before the downpour began--and finally we'entered' Paris. 

"We could see the embankments of the Seine beneath us as we passed upits course from the Point du Jour. From the site of the Champ de Mars Iturned northward in search of the older part of the Champs Élysées, where my house was, and we came upon the great Arc de Triomphe, which, you remember, dates from the time of Napoleon. 

"It was apparently uninjured, even the huge bronze groups remaining intheir places, and the searchlight, traversing its face, fell upon theheroic group on the east façade of the Marseillaise. You must have seenthat, M. Versál?"

"Yes, many a time, " Cosmo replied. "The fury in the face of the femalefigure representing the spirit of war, chanting the 'Marseillaise, ' and, sword in hand, sweeping over the heads of the soldiers, is the mostterrible thing of human making that I ever looked upon. "

"It was not so terrible as another thing that our startled eyes beheldthere, " said De Beauxchamps. "Coiled round the upper part of the arch, with its head resting directly upon that of the figure of which youspeak, was a monstrous, ribbon-shaped creature, whose flat, reddishbody, at least a meter in width and apparently thirty meters long, andbordered with a sort of floating frill of a pinkish color, undulatedwith a motion that turned us sick at heart. 

"But the head was the most awful object that the fancy of a madman couldconceive. There were two great round, projecting eyes, encircled withwhat I suppose must have been phosphorescent organs, which spread aroundin the water a green light that was absolutely horrifying. 

"I turned away the searchlight, and the eyes of that creature staredstraight at us with a dreadful, stony look; and then the effect of thephosphorescence, heightened by the absence of the greater light, becamemore terrible than before. We were unmanned, and I hardly had nerveenough to turn the submersible away and hurry from the neighborhood. "

"I had not supposed, " said Cosmo, "that creatures of such a size couldlive in the deeper parts of the sea. "

"I know, " returned De Beauxchamps, "that many have thought that theabysmal creatures were generally of small size, but they knew nothingabout it. What could one have expected to learn of the secrets of lifein the ocean depths from the small creatures which alone the trawlsbrought to the surface? The great monsters could not be captured in thatway. But we have _seen_ them--seen them taking possession of beautiful, drowned Paris--and we know what they are. "

The fascinated hearers who had crowded about to listen to the narrativeof De Beauxchamps shuddered at this part of it, and some of the womenturned away with exclamations of horror. 

"I see that I am drawing my picture in too fearful colors, " he said, "and I shall refrain from telling of the other inhabitants of the abyssthat we found in possession of what I, as a Frenchman, must call themost splendid capital that the world contained. 

"Oh, to think that all that beauty, all those great palaces filled withthe master-works of art, all those proud architectural piles, all thatscene of the most joyous life that the earth contained, is now becomethe dwelling-place of the terrible _fauna_ of the deep, creatures thatnever saw the sun; that never felt the transforming force of theevolution which had made the face of the globe so glorious; that neverquitted their abysmal homes until this awful flood spread their empireover the whole earth!"

There was a period of profound silence while De Beauxchamps's faceworked spasmodically under the influence of emotions, the sight of whichwould alone have sufficed to convince his hearers of the truth of whathe had been telling. Finally Cosmo Versál, breaking the silence, asked:

"Did you find your home?"

"Yes. It was there. I found it out. I illuminated it with thesearchlight. I gazed into the broken windows, trying to peer through thewatery medium that filled and darkened the interior. The roof wasbroken, but the walls were intact. I thought of the happy, happy yearsthat I had passed there when I _had_ a family, and when Paris was anEden, the sunshine of the world. And then I wished to see no more, andwe rose out of the midst of that sunken city and sought the daylight farabove. 

"I had thought to tell you, " he continued, after a pause, "of thecondition in which we found the great monuments of the city--of thePantheon, yet standing on its hill with its roof crushed in; of NôtreDame--a wreck, but the towers still standing proudly; of the old palaceof the Louvre, through whose broken roofs and walls we caught glimpsesof the treasures washed by the water within--but I find that I have notcourage to go on. I had imagined that it would be a relief to speak ofthese things, but I do not find it so. "

"After leaving Paris, then you made no other explorations?" said Cosmo. 

"None. I should have had no heart for more. I had seen enough. And yet Ido not regret that I went there. I should never have been content not tohave seen my beautiful city once more, even lying in her watery shroud. I loved her living; I have seen her dead. It is finished. What more isthere, M. Versál?" With a sudden change of manner: "You have predictedall this, and perhaps you know more. Where do _we_ go to die?"

"We shall _not_ die, " replied Cosmo Versál forcefully. "The Ark and your_Jules Verne_ will save us. "

"To what purpose?" demanded the Frenchman, his animation all gone. "Canthere be any pleasure in floating upon or beneath the waves that cover alost world? Is a brief prolongation of such a life worth the effort ofgrasping for?"

"Yes, " said Cosmo with still greater energy. "We may still _save therace_. I have chosen most of my companions in the Ark for that purpose. Not only may we save the race of man, but we may lead it up upon ahigher plane; we may apply the principles of eugenics as they have neveryet been applied. You, M. De Beauxchamps, have shown that you are of thestock that is required for the regeneration of the world. "

"But where can the world be regenerated?" asked De Beauxchamps with abitter laugh. "There is nothing left but mountain-tops. "

"Even they will be covered, " said Cosmo. 

"Do you mean that the deluge has not yet reached its height?"

"Certainly it has not. We are in an open space in the enveloping nebula. After a little we shall enter the nucleus, and then will come theworst. "

"And yet you talk of saving the race!" exclaimed the Frenchman withanother bitter laugh. 

"I do, " replied Cosmo, "and it will be done. "

"But how?"

"Through the re-emergence of land. "

"That recalls our former conversation, " put in Professor Abel Able. "Itappears to me impossible that, when the earth is once covered with auniversal ocean, it can ever disappear or materially lower its level. Geological ages would be required for the level of the water to belowered even a few feet by the escape of vapor into space. "

"No, " returned Cosmo Versál, "I have demonstrated that that idea iswrong. Under the immense pressure of an ocean rising six miles above theancient sea level the water will rapidly be forced into the intersticesof the crust, and thus a material reduction of level will be producedwithin a few years--five at the most. That will give us a foothold. Ihave no doubt that even now the water around us is slightly loweringthrough that cause. 

"But in itself that will not be sufficient. I have gone all over thisground in my original calculations. The intrusion of the immense mass ofocean water into the interior of the crust of the earth will result in agrand geological upheaval. The lands will re-emerge above the new sealevel as they emerged above the former one through the internal stressesof the globe. "

The scientific men present listened with breathless interest, but someof them with many incredulous shakings of the head. 

"You must be aware, " continued Cosmo, addressing them particularly, "that it has been demonstrated that the continents and the greatmountain ranges are buoyed up, and, as it were, are floating somewhatlike slags on the internal magma. The mean density of the crust is lessunder the land and the mountains than under the old sea-beds. This isespecially true of the Himalayan region. 

"That uplift is probably the most recent of all, and it is there, whereat present the highest land of the globe exists, that I expect that thenew upheaval will be most strongly manifested. It is for that reason, and not merely because it is now the highest part of the earth, that Iam going with the Ark to Asia. "

"But, " said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "the upheaval of which you speakmay produce a complete revolution in the surface of the earth, and ifnew lands are upthrust they may appear at unexpected points. "

"Not at all, " returned Cosmo. "The tectonic features of the globe werefixed at the beginning. As Asia has hitherto been the highest and thegreatest mass of land, it will continue to be so in the future. It isthere, believe me, that we shall replant the seed of humanity. "

"Do you not think, " asked Professor Alexander Jones, "that there will bea tremendous outburst of volcanic energy, if such upheavals occur, andmay not that render the re-emerging lands uninhabitable?"

"No doubt, " Cosmo replied, "every form of plutonic energy will beimmensely re-enforced. You remember the recent outburst of all thevolcanoes when the sea burst over the borders of the continents. Butthese forces will be mainly expended in an effort of uplifting. Unquestionably there will be great volcanic spasms, but they will notprevent the occupation of the broadening areas of land which will not bethus affected. "

"Upon these lands, " exclaimed Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, in a loud voice, "I will develop life from the barren minerals of the crust. The age ofchemical parthenogenesis will then have dawned upon the earth, and manwill have become a creator. "

"Will the Sir Englishman give me room for a word!" cried CostakéTheriade, raising his tall form on his toes and agitating his arms inthe air. "He will create not anything! It is _I_ that will unloose theenergies of the atoms of matter and make of the new man a new god. "

Cosmo Versál quieted the incipient outbreak of his jealous "speculativegeniuses, " and the discussion of his theory was continued for some time. At length De Beauxchamps, shrugging his shoulders, exclaimed, with areturn of his habitual gayety:

"_Trčs bien! Vive_ the world of Cosmo Versál! I salute the new Eve thatis to come!"

CHAPTER XX

THE ADVENTURES IN COLORADO

When Professor Pludder, the President, and their companions on theaero-raft, saw the three men on the bluff motioning and shouting tothem, they immediately sought the means of bringing their craft to land. This did not prove to be exceedingly difficult, for there was aconvenient rock with deep water around it on which they could disembark. 

The men ran down to meet them, and to help them ashore, exhibiting theutmost astonishment at seeing them there. 

"Whar in creation did _you_ come from?" exclaimed one, giving theprofessor a pull up the bank. "Mebbe you're Cosmo Versál, and that's yerArk. "

"I'm Professor Pludder, and this is the President of the United States. "

"The President of the Un----See here, stranger, I'll take considerablefrom you, considering the fix yer in, but you don't want to go too far. "

"It's true, " asseverated the professor. "This gentleman is thePresident, and we've escaped from Washington. Please help the ladies. "

"I'll help the ladies all right, but I'm blamed if I believe yer yarn. How'd you git here? You couldn't hev floated across the continent onthat thing. "

"We came on the raft that you see, " interrupted Mr. Samson. "We left theAppalachian Mountains two weeks ago. "

"Well, by--it must be true!" muttered the man. "They couldn't hev comefrom anywhar else in that direction. I reckon the hull blamed continentis under water. "

"So it is, " said Professor Pludder, "and we made for Colorado, knowingthat it was the only land left above the flood. "

All finally got upon the bluff, rejoiced to feel solid ground once morebeneath their feet. But it was a desolate prospect that they saw beforethem. The face of the land had been scoured and gullied by the pouringwaters, the vegetation had been stripped off, except where in hollows ithad been covered with new-formed lakes, some of which had drained offafter the downpour ceased, the water finding its way into the envelopingsea. 

They asked the three men what had become of the other inhabitants, andwhether there was any shelter at hand. 

"We've be'n wiped out, " said the original spokesman. "Cosmo Versál hasdone a pretty clean job with his flood. There's a kind of a cover thatwe three hev built, a ways back yonder, out o' timber o' one kind andanother that was lodged about. But it wouldn't amount to much if therewas another cloudburst. It wouldn't stand a minute. It's good to sleepin. "

"Are you the only survivors in this region?" asked the President. 

"I reckon you see all thet's left of us. The' ain't one out o' a hundredthat's left alive in these parts. "

"What became of them?"

"Swept off!" replied the man, with an expressive gesture--"and drowndedright out under the sky. "

"And how did you and your companions escape?"

"By gitting up amongst some rocks that was higher'n the average. "

"How did you manage to live--what did you have to eat?"

"We didn't eat much--we didn't hev much time to think o' eatin'. We hadone hoss with us, and he served, when his time come. After the skycleared we skirmished about and dug up something that we could manage toeat, lodged in gullies where the water had washed together what had beenin houses and cellars. We've got a gun and a little ammunition, and oncein a while we could kill an animal that had contrived to escapesomehow. "

"And you think that there are no other human beings left alive anywherearound here?"

"I _know_ th' ain't. The's probably some up in the foothills, and aroundthe Pike. They had a better chance to git among rocks. We hed jest madeup our minds to go hunting for 'em when we ketched sight o' you, andthen we concluded to stay and see who you was. "

"I'm surprised that you didn't go sooner. "

"We couldn't. There was a roarin' torrent coming down from the mountainsthat cut us off. It's only last night that it stopped. "

"Well, it's evident that we cannot stay here, " said Professor Pludder. "We must go with these men toward the mountains. Let us take what's leftof the compressed provisions out of the raft, and then we'll eat a goodmeal and be off. "

The three men were invited to share the repast, and they ate with anappetite that would have amused their hosts if they had not been soanxious to reserve as much as possible of their provisions for futurenecessities. 

The meal finished, they started off, their new friends aiding to carryprovisions, and what little extra clothing there was. The aspect of thecountry they traversed affrighted them. Here and there were partiallydemolished houses or farm structures, or cellars, choked with débris ofwhat had once been houses. 

Farm implements and machinery were scattered about and half buried inthe torrent-furrowed land. In the wreck of one considerable villagethrough which they passed they found a stone church, and several stonehouses of considerable pretensions, standing almost intact as to walls, but with roofs, doors, and windows smashed and torn off. 

It was evident that this place, which lay in a depression of the land, had been buried by the rushing water as high as high as the top storiesof the buildings. From some of the sights that they saw they shrankaway, and afterward tried to forget them. 

Owing to the presence of the women and children their progress wasslower than it might overwise have been. They had great difficulty incrossing the course of the torrent which their companions had describedas cutting them off from the foothills of the Pike's Peak range. 

The water had washed out a veritable cańon, a hundred or more feet deepin places, and with ragged, precipitous walls and banks, which they hadto descend on one side and ascend on the other. Here the skill and localknowledge of their three new-found friends stood them in good stead. There was yet enough water in the bottom of the great gully to compelthem to wade, carrying the women and children. 

But, just before nightfall, they succeeded in reaching a range of rockyheights, where they determined to pass the night. They managed to make afire with brush that had been swept down the mountain flanks and hadremained wedged in the rocks, and thus they dried their soaked garments, and were able to do some cooking, and to have a blaze to give them alittle heat during the night, for the air turned cold after thedisappearance of the sun. 

When the others had sunk into an uneasy slumber, the President andProfessor Pludder sat long, replenishing the fire, and talking of whatwould be their future course. 

"I think, " said the professor, "that we shall find a considerablepopulation alive among the mountains. There is nothing in Colorado belowfour thousand feet elevation, and not much below five thousand. Thegreat inner 'parks' were probably turned into lakes, but they will drainoff, as the land around us here has done already. 

"Those who managed to find places of comparative shelter will nowdescend into the level lands and try to hunt up the sites of theirhomes. If only some plants and grain have been preserved they can, aftera fashion, begin to cultivate the soil. "

"But there _is_ no soil, " said the President, shuddering at therecollection of the devastation he had witnessed. "It has all beenwashed off. "

"No, " replied the professor, "there's yet a good deal in the low places, where the water rested. "

"But it is now the middle of winter. "

"Reckoned by the almanac it is, but you see that the temperature is thatof summer, and has been such for months. I think that this is due insome way to the influence of the nebula, although I cannot account forit. At any rate it will be possible to plant and sow. 

"The whole body of the atmosphere having been raised four thousand feet, the atmospheric conditions here now are virtually the same as at theformer sea-level. If we can find the people and reassure them, we musttake the lead in restoring the land to fertility, and also in thereconstruction of homes. "

"Suppose the flood should recommence?"

"There is no likelihood of it. "

"Then, " said the President, putting his face between his hands andgazing sadly into the fire, "here is all that remains of the mightiestnation of the world, the richest, the most populous--and we are to buildup out of this remnant a new fatherland. "

"This is not the only remnant, " said Professor Pludder. "One-quarter, atleast, of the area of the United States is still above sea-level. Thinkof Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, the larger part of California, Wyoming, a part of Montana, two-thirds of Idaho, a half of Oregon andWashington--all above the critical level of four thousand feet, and allexcept the steepest moutainsides can be reclaimed. 

"There is hope for our country yet. Remember that the climate of thisentire region will now be changed, since the barometric isobars havebeen lifted up, and the line of thirty inches pressure now meets theedge of the Colorado plateau. There may be a corresponding change in therainfall and in all the conditions of culture and fertility. "

"Yes, " sighed the President, "but I cannot, I cannot withdraw my mindfrom the thought of the _millions, millions, millions_ who haveperished!"

"I do not say that we should forget them, " replied Professor Pludder;"Heaven forbid! But I do say that we must give our attention to thosethat remain, and turn our faces steadily toward the future. "

"Abiel, " returned the President, pressing the professor's hand, "you areright. My confidence in you was shaken, but now I follow you again. "

Thus they talked until midnight, and then got a little rest with theothers. They were up and off at break of day, and as they mounted higherthey began to encounter immense rocks that had come tumbling down fromabove. 

"How can you talk of people escaping toward the mountains if they had toencounter these?" demanded the President. 

"Some of these rocks have undoubtedly been brought down by thetorrents, " Professor Pludder replied, "but I believe that the greaternumber fell earlier, during the earthquakes that accompanied the firstinvasions of the sea. "

"But those earthquakes may have continued all through. "

"I do not think so. We have felt no trembling of the earth. I believethat the convulsions lasted only for a brief period, while the rockswere yielding to the pressure along the old sea-coast. After a littlethe crust below adjusted itself to the new conditions. And even if therocks fell while people were trying to escape from the flood below, theymust, like the water, have followed the gorges and hollow places, whilethe fugitives would, of course, keep upon the ridges. "

Whatever perils they may have encountered, people had certainly escapedas the professor had averred. When the party, in the middle of the day, were seated at their lunch, on an elevated point from which they couldsee far over the strange ocean that they had left behind them, while thesouthern buttresses of Pike's Peak rose steeply toward the north, theydiscovered the first evidence of the existence of refugees in themountains. This was a smoke rising over an intervening ridge, whichtheir new companions declared could be due to nothing less than a largecamp-fire. 

They hastened to finish their meal, and then climbed the ridge. As soonas they were upon it they found themselves looking down into a broad, shallow cańon, where there were nearly twenty rudely constructed cabins, with a huge fire blazing in the midst of the place, and half a dozenred-shirted men busy about it, evidently occupied in the preparation ofthe dinner of a large party. 

Their friends recognized an acquaintance in one of the men below andhailed him with delight. Instantly men, women, and children came runningout of the huts to look at them, and as they descended into thisimprovised village they were received with a hospitality that was almosthilarious. 

The refugees consisted of persons who had escaped from the lower landsin the immediate vicinity, and they were struck dumb when told that theywere entertaining the President of the United States and his family. 

The entire history of their adventures was related on both sides. Therefugees told how, at the commencement of the great rain, when it becameevident that the water would inundate their farms and buildings, theyloaded themselves with as many provisions as they could carry, and, inspite of the suffocating downpour that filled the air, managed to fighttheir way to the ridge overhanging the deep cut in which they were nowencamped. 

Hardly a quarter of those who started arrived in safety. They shelteredthemselves to the number of about thirty, in a huge cavern, which faceddown the mountain, and had a slightly upward sloping floor, so that thewater did not enter. Here, by careful economy, they were able to eke outtheir provisions until the sky cleared, after which the men, being usedto outdoor labor and hunting, contrived to supply the wants of theforlorn little community. 

They managed to kill a few animals, and found the bodies of othersrecently killed, or drowned. Later they descended into the lowlands, asthe water ran off, and searching among the ruins of their houses foundsome remnants of supplies in the cellars and about the foundations ofthe barns. They were preparing to go down in a body and seek tore-establish themselves on the sites of their old homes, when thePresident's party came upon them. 

The meeting with these refugees was but the first of a series of similarencounters on the way along the eastern face of the Pike's Peak range. In the aggregate they met several hundred survivors who had establishedthemselves on the site of Colorado Springs, where a large number ofhouses, standing on the higher ground, had escaped. 

They had been soaked with water, descending through the shattered roofsand broken windows, and pouring into the basements and cellars. Thefugitives came from all directions, some from the caverns on themountains, and some from the rocks toward the north and east. Aconsiderable number asserted that they had found refuge in the Garden ofthe Gods. 

As near as could be estimated, about a quarter of the populationremained alive. 

The strong points of Professor Pludder now, once more, came outconspicuously. He proved himself an admirable organizer. He explored allthe country round, and enheartened everybody, setting them to work torepair the damage as much as possible. 

Some horses and cattle were found which, following their instincts, hadmanaged to escape the flood. In the houses and other buildings yetstanding a great deal of food and other supplies were discovered, sothat there was no danger of a famine. As he had anticipated, the soilhad not all been washed away from the flat land, and he advised theinhabitants to plant quick-growing seeds at once. 

He utilized the horses to send couriers in all directions, some goingeven as far as Denver. Everywhere virtually the same conditions werefound--many had escaped and were alive, only needing the guidance of aquicker intelligence, and this was supplied by the advice which theprofessor instructed his envoys to spread among the people. He sought tocheer them still more by the information that the President was amongthem, and looking out for their welfare. 

One thing which his couriers at last began to report to him was a causeof surprise. They said that the level of the water was rapidly falling. Some who had gone far toward the east declared that it had gone downhundreds of feet. But the professor reflected that this was impossible, because evaporation could not account for it, and he could not persuadehimself that so much water could have found its way into the interior ofthe crust. 

He concluded that his informants had allowed their hopes to affect theireyesight, and, strong as usual in his professional dogmas, he made nopersonal examination. Besides, Professor Pludder was beginning to beshaken in his first belief that all trouble from the nebula was at anend. Once having been forced to accept the hypothesis that a waterynebula had met the earth, he began to reflect that they might not bethrough with it. 

In any event, he deemed it wise to prepare for it if it _should_ comeback. Accordingly he advised that the population that remained shouldconcentrate in the stronger houses, built of stone, and that everyeffort should be made to strengthen them further and to make the roofsas solid as possible. He also directed that no houses should be occupiedthat were not situated on high ground, surrounded with slopes that wouldgive ready flow to the water in case the deluging rain shouldrecommence. 

He had no fixed conviction that it would recommence, but he was uneasy, owing to his reflections, and wished to be on the safe side. He sentsimilar instructions as far as his horsemen could reach. 

The wisdom of his doubts became manifest about two weeks after thearrival of the President's party. Without warning the sky, which hadbeen perfectly blue and cloudless for a month, turned a sickly yellow. Then mists hid the head, and in a little while the entire outline ofPike's Peak, and after that a heavy rain began. 

Terror instantly seized the people, and at first nobody ventured out ofdoors. But as time went on and the rain did not assume the proportionsof the former _débâcle_, although it was very heavy and continuous, hoperevived. Everybody was on the watch for a sudden clearing up. 

Instead of clearing, however, the rain became very irregular, gushing attimes in torrents which were even worse than the original downpour, butthese tremendous gushes were of brief duration, so that the water had anopportunity to run off the higher ground before the next downpouroccurred. 

This went on for a week, and then the people were terrified at findingthat water was pouring up through all the depressions of the land, cutting off the highlands from Pike's Peak with an arm of the sea. Itwas evident that the flood had been rapidly rising, and if it shouldrise but little higher they would be caught in a trap. The inland sea, it was clear, had now invaded the whole of Colorado to the feet of themountains, and was creeping up on them. 

Just at this time a series of earthquakes began. They were not severe, but were continuous. The ground cracked open in places, and some houseswere overturned, but there were no wall-shattering shocks--only acontinual and dreadful trembling, accompanied by awful subterraneansounds. 

This terrible state of affairs had lasted for a day before a remarkablediscovery was made, which filled many hearts with joy, although itseemed to puzzle Professor Pludder as much as it rejoiced him. 

The new advance of the sea was arrested! There could be no question ofthat, for too many had anxiously noted the points to which the water hadattained. 

We have said that Professor Pludder was puzzled. He was seeking, in hismind, a connection between the seismic tremors and the cessation of theadvance of the sea. Inasmuch as the downpour continued, the flood oughtstill to rise. 

He rejected as soon as it occurred to him the idea that the earth couldbe drinking up the waters as fast as they fell, and that the tremblingwas an accompaniment of this gigantic deglutition. 

Sitting in a room with the President and other members of the party fromWashington, he remained buried in his thoughts, answering inquiries onlyin monosyllables. Presently he opened his eyes very wide and along-drawn "A-ah!" came from his mouth. Then he sprang to his feet andcried out, but only as if uttering a thought aloud to himself, thestrange word:

_"Batholite!"_

CHAPTER XXI

"THE FATHER OF HORROR"

At the time when the President of the United States and his companionswere beginning to discover the refugees around Pike's Peak, CosmoVersál's Ark accompanied by the _Jules Verne_, whose commander haddecided to remain in touch with his friends, was crossing the submergedhills and valleys of Languedoc under a sun as brilliant as that whichhad once made them a land of gold. 

De Beauxchamps remained aboard the Ark much of the time. Cosmo liked tohave him, with himself and Captain Arms, on the bridge, because therethey could talk freely about their plans and prospects, and theFrenchman was a most entertaining companion. 

Meanwhile, the passengers in the saloons and on the promenade decksformed little knots and coteries for conversation, for reading, and formutual diversion, or strolled about from side to side, watching theendless expanse of waters for the occasional appearance of someinhabitant of the deep that had wandered over the new ocean's bottom. 

These animals seemed to be coming to the surface to get bearings. Everysuch incident reminded the spectators of what lay beneath the waves, andled them to think and talk of the awful fate that had overwhelmed theirfellow men, until the spirits of the most careless were subdued by thepervading melancholy. 

King Richard, strangely enough, had taken a liking for Amos Blank, whowas frequently asked to join the small and somewhat exclusive circle ofcompatriots that continually surrounded the fallen monarch. Thebillionaire and the king often leaned elbow to elbow over the rail, andput their heads companionably together while pointing out some object onthe sea. Lord Swansdown felt painfully cut by this, but, of course, hecould offer no objection. 

Finally Cosmo invited the king to come upon the bridge, from whichpassengers were generally excluded, and the king insisted that Blankshould go, too. Cosmo consented, for Blank seemed to him to have becomequite a changed man, and he found him sometimes full of practicalsuggestions. 

So it happened that when Captain Arms announced that the Ark was passingover the ancient city of Carcassonne, Cosmo, the king, De Beauxchamps, Amos Blank, and the captain were all together on the bridge. WhenCaptain Arms mentioned their location, King Richard became verythoughtful. After a time he said musingly:

"Ah! how all these names, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Languedoc, bring backto me the memory of my namesake of olden times, Richard I. Of England. This, over which we are floating, was the land of the Troubadours, andRichard was the very Prince of Troubadours. With all his faults Englandnever had a king like him!"

"Knowing your devotion to peace, which was the reason why I wished youto be of the original company in the Ark, I am surprised to hear you saythat, " said Cosmo. 

"Ah!" returned the King, "But Coeur de Lion was a true Englishman, evenin his love of fighting. What would he say if he knew where England liesto-day? What would he say if he knew the awful fate that has come uponthis fair and pleasant land, from whose poets and singers he learned theart of minstrelsy?"

"He would say, 'Do not despair, '" replied Cosmo. "' Show the courage ofan Englishman, and fight for your race if you cannot for your country. '"

"But may not England, may not all these lands, emerge again from thefloods?" asked the king. 

"Not in our time, not in our children's time, " said Cosmo Versál, thoughtfully shaking his head. 

"In the remote future, yes--but I cannot tell how remote. Tibet was oncean appanage of your crown, before China taught the West what war meant, and in Tibet you may help to found a new empire, but I must tell youthat it will not resemble the empires of the past. Democracy will be itscorner stone, and science its law. "

"Then I devote myself to democracy and science, " responded King Richard. 

"Good! Admirable!" exclaimed Amos Blank and De Beauxchampssimultaneously, while Captain Arms would probably have patted the kingon the back had not his attention, together with that of the others, been distracted by a huge whale blowing almost directly in the course ofthe Ark. 

"Blessed if I ever expected to see a sight like that in these parts!"exclaimed the captain. "This lifting the ocean up into the sky isupsetting the order of nature. I'd as soon expect to sight a cachalot ontop of the Rocky Mountains. "

"They'll be there, too, before long, " said Cosmo. 

"I wonder what he's looking for, " continued Captain Arms. "He must havecome down from the north. He couldn't have got in through the Pyreneesor the Sierra Nevadas. He's just navigated right over the whole countrystraight down from the English Channel. "

The whale sounded at the approach of the Ark, but in a little while hewas blowing again off toward the south, and then the passengers caughtsight of him, and there was great excitement. 

He seemed to be of enormous size, and he sent his fountain to anextraordinary height in the air. On he went, appearing and disappearing, steering direct for Africa, until, with glasses, they could see hiswhite plume blowing on the very edge of the horizon. 

Not even the reflection that they themselves were sailing over Europeimpressed some of the passengers with so vivid a sense of theirsituation as the sight of this monstrous inhabitant of the ocean takinga view of his new domain. 

At night Cosmo continued the concerts and the presentation of theShakespearian dramas, and for an hour each afternoon he had a"conference" in the saloon, at which Theriade and Sir Athelstone werealmost the sole performers. 

Their disputes, and Cosmo's efforts to keep the peace, amused for awhile, but at length the audiences diminished until Cosmo, with hisconstant companions, the Frenchman, the king, Amos Blank, the threeprofessors from Washington, and a few other savants were the onlylisteners. 

But the music and the plays always drew immensely. 

Joseph Smith was kept busy most of the time in Cosmo's cabin, copyingplans for the regeneration of mankind. 

When they knew that they had finally left the borders of France and weresailing above the Mediterranean Sea, it became necessary to lay theircourse with considerable care. Cosmo decided that the only safe planwould be to run south of Sardinia, and then keep along between Sicilyand Tunis, and so on toward lower Egypt. 

There he intended to seek a way over the mountains north of the Sinaipeninsula into the Syrian desert, from which he could reach the ancientvalley of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. He would then pass downthe Arabian Sea, swing round India and Ceylon, and, by way of the Bay ofBengal and the plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, approach theHimalayas. 

Captain Arms was rather inclined to follow the Gulf of Suez and thedepression of the Red Sea, but Cosmo was afraid that they would havedifficulty in getting the Ark safely through between the Mt. Sinai peaksand the Jebel Gharib range. 

"Well, you're the commodore, " said the captain at the end of thediscussion, "but hang me if I'd not rather follow a sea, where I knowthe courses, than go navigating over mountains and deserts in the landof Shinar. We'll land on top of Jerusalem yet, you'll see!"

Feeling sure of plenty of water under keel, they now made better speedand De Beauxchamps retired into the _Jules Verne_, and detached it fromthe Ark, finding that he could distance the latter easily with thesubmersible running just beneath the surface of the water. 

"Come up to blow, and take a look around from the bridge, once in awhile, " the captain called out to him as he disappeared and the coverclosed over him. The _Jules Verne_ immediately sank out of sight. 

They passed round Sardinia, and between the old African coast andSicily, and were approaching the Malta Channel when their attention wasdrawn to a vast smoke far off toward the north. 

"It's Etna in eruption, " said Cosmo to the captain. 

"A magnificent sight!" exclaimed King Richard, who happened to be on thebridge. 

"Yes, and I'd like to see it nearer, " remarked Cosmo, as a wonderfulcolumn of smoke, as black as ink, seemed to shoot up to the very zenith. 

"You'd better keep away, " Captain Arms said warningly. "There's no goodcomes of fooling round volcanoes in a ship. "

"Oh, it's safe enough, " returned Cosmo. "We can run right over thesoutheastern corner of Sicily and get as near as we like. There isnothing higher than about three thousand feet in that part of theisland, so we'll have a thousand feet to spare. "

"But maybe the water has lowered. "

"Not more than a foot or two, " said Cosmo. "Go ahead. "

The captain plainly didn't fancy the adventure, but he obeyed orders, and the Ark's nose was turned northward, to the delight of many of thepassengers who had become greatly interested when they learned that thetremendous smoke that they saw came from Mount Etna. 

Some of them were nervous, but the more adventurous spirits heartilyapplauded Cosmo Versál's design to give them a closer view of soextraordinary a spectacle. Even from their present distance the sightwas one that might have filled them with terror if they had not alreadybeen through adventures which had hardened their nerves. The smoke wastruly terrific in appearance. 

It did not spread low over the sea, but rose in an almost verticalcolumn, widening out at a height of several miles, until it seemed tocanopy the whole sky toward the north. 

It could be seen spinning in immense rolling masses, the outer parts ofwhich were turned by the sunshine to a dingy brown color, while the mainstem of the column, rising directly from the great crater, was of pitchyblackness. 

An awful roaring was audible, sending a shiver through the Ark. At thebottom of the mass of smoke, through which gleams of fire were seen toshoot as they drew nearer, appeared the huge conical form of themountain, whose dark bulk still rose nearly seven thousand feet abovethe sea that covered the great, beautiful, and historic island beneathit. 

They had got within about twenty miles of the base of the mountain, whena shout was heard by those on the bridge, and Cosmo and the captain, looking for its source, saw the _Jules Verne_, risen to the surface alittle to starboard, and De Beauxchamps excitedly signaling to them. They just made out the words, "Sheer off!" when the Ark, with a groaningsound, took ground, and they were almost precipitated over the rail ofthe bridge. 

"Aground again, by ----!" exclaimed Captain Arms, instantly signalingall astern. "I told you not to go fooling round a volcano. "

"This beats me!" cried Cosmo Versál. "I wonder if the island has begunto rise. "

"More likely the sea has begun to fall, " growled Captain Arms. 

"Do you know where we are?" asked Cosmo. 

"We can't be anywhere but on the top of Monte Lauro, " replied thecaptain. 

"But that's only three thousand feet high. "

"It's exactly three thousand two hundred and thirty feet, " said thecaptain. "I haven't navigated the old Mediterranean a hundred times fornothing. "

"But even then we should have near seven hundred and fifty feet tospare, allowing for the draft of the Ark, and a slight subsidence of thewater. "

"Well, you haven't allowed enough, that's plain, " said the captain. 

"But it's impossible that the flood can have subsided more than sevenhundred feet already. "

"I don't care how impossible it is--here we are! We're stuck on amountain-top, and if we don't leave our bones on it I'm a porpoise. "

By this time the _Jules Verne_ was alongside, and De Beauxchamps shoutedup:

"I was running twenty feet under water, keeping along with the Ark, whenmy light suddenly revealed the mountain ahead. I hurried up and tried towarn you, but it was too late. "

"Can't you go down and see where we're fast?" asked Cosmo. 

"Certainly; that's just what I was about to propose, " replied theFrenchman, and immediately the submersible disappeared. 

After a long time, during which Cosmo succeeded in allaying the fears ofhis passengers, the submersible reappeared, and De Beauxchamps made hisreport. He said that the Ark was fast near the bow on a bed of shellylimestone. 

He thought that by using the utmost force of the _Jules Verne_, whoseengines were very powerful, in pushing the Ark, combined with thebacking of her own engines, she might be got off. 

"Hurry up, then, and get to work, " cried Captain Arms. "This flood is onthe ebb, and a few hours more will find us stuck here like a ray withhis saw in a whale's back. "

De Beauxchamps's plan was immediately adopted. The _Jules Verne_descended, and pushed with all her force, while the engines of the Arkwere reversed, and within fifteen minutes they were once more afloat. 

Without waiting for a suggestion from Cosmo Versál, the Frenchmancarefully inspected with his searchlight the bottom of the Ark where shehad struck, and when he came to the surface he was able to report thatno serious damage had resulted. 

"There's no hole, " he said, "only a slight denting of one of the plates, which will not amount to anything. "

Cosmo, however, was not content until he had made a careful inspectionby opening some of the manholes in the inner skin of the vessel. Hefound no cause for anxiety, and in an hour the Ark resumed its voyageeastward, passing over the site of ancient Syracuse. 

By this time a change of the wind had sent the smoke from Etna in theirdirection, and now it lay thick upon the water, and rendered it, for awhile, impossible to see twenty fathoms from the bridge. 

"It's old Etna's dying salute, " said Cosmo. "He won't have his headabove water much longer. "

"But the flood is going down, " exclaimed Captain Arms. 

"Yes, and that puzzles me. There must have been an enormous absorptionof water into the interior, far greater than I ever imagined possible. But wait until the nucleus of the nebula strikes us! In the meantime, this lowering of the water renders it necessary for us to make haste, orwe may not get over the mountains round Suez before the downpourrecommences. "

As soon as they escaped from the smoke of Etna they ran full speed aheadagain, and, keeping well south of Crete, at length, one morning theyfound themselves in the latitude and longitude of Alexandria. 

The weather was still superb, and Cosmo was very desirous of getting aline on the present height of the water. He thought that he could make afair estimate of this from the known elevation of the mountains aboutSinai. Accordingly they steered in that direction, and on the way passeddirectly over the site of Cairo. 

Then the thought of the pyramids came to them all, and De Beauxchamps, who had come aboard the Ark, and who was always moved by sentimentalconsiderations, proposed that they should spend a few hours here, whilehe descended to inspect the condition in which the flood had left thosemighty monuments. 

Cosmo not only consented to this, but he even offered to be a member ofthe party. The Frenchman was only too glad to have his company. CosmoVersál descended into the submersible after instructing Captain Arms tohover in the neighborhood. 

The passengers and crew of the Ark, with expressions of anxiety thatwould have pleased their subject if he had heard them, watched the_Jules Verne_ disappear into the depths beneath. 

The submersible was gone so long that the anxiety of those aboard theArk deepened into alarm, and finally became almost panic. They had neverbefore known how much they depended upon Cosmo Versál. 

He was their only reliance, their only hope. He alone had known how tokeep up their spirits, and when he had assured them, as he so often did, that the flooding would surely recommence, they had hardly beenterrified because of their unexpressed confidence that, let come whatwould, his great brain would find a way out for them. 

Now he was gone, down into the depths of this awful sea, where theirimaginations pictured a thousand unheard-of perils, and perhaps theywould never see him again! Without him they knew themselves to behelpless. Even Captain Arms almost lost his nerve. 

The strong good sense of Amos Blank alone saved them from the utterdespair that began to seize upon them as hour after hour passed withoutthe reappearance of the _Jules Verne_. 

His experience had taught him how to keep a level head in an emergency, and how to control panics. With King Richard always at his side, he wentabout among the passengers and fairly laughed them out of their fears. 

Without discussing the matter at all, he convinced them, by the simpleforce of his own apparent confidence, that they were worrying themselvesabout nothing. 

He was, in fact, as much alarmed as any of the others, but he nevershowed it. He started a rumor, after six hours had elapsed, that Cosmohimself had said that they would probably require ten or twelve hoursfor their exploration. 

Cosmo had said nothing of the kind, but Blank's prevarication had itsintended effect, and fortunately, before the lapse of another six hours, there was news from under the sea. 

And what was happening in the mysterious depths below the Ark? What hadso long detained the submersible?

The point where the descent was made had been so well chosen that the_Jules Verne_ almost struck the apex of the Great Pyramid as itapproached the bottom. The water was somewhat muddy from the sands ofthe desert, and the searchlight streamed through a yellowish medium, recalling the "golden atmosphere" for which Egypt had been celebrated. But, nevertheless, the light was so powerful that they could seedistinctly at a distance of several rods. 

The pyramid appeared to have been but little injured, although thetremendous tidal wave that had swept up the Nile during the invasion ofthe sea before the downpour began had scooped out the sand down to thebed-rock on all sides. 

Finding nothing of particular interest in a circuit of the pyramid, theyturned in the direction of the Great Sphinx. 

This, too, had been excavated to its base, and it now stood up to itsfull height, and a terrible expression seemed to have come into itsenigmatic features. 

Cosmo wished to get a close look at it, and they ran the submersibleinto actual contact with the forepart of the gigantic statue, just underthe mighty chin. 

While they paused there, gazing out of the front window of the vessel, abursting sound was heard, followed by a loud crash, and the _JulesVerne_ was shaken from stem to stern. Every man of them threw himselfagainst the sides of the vessel, for the sound came from overhead, andthey had an instinctive notion that the roof was being crushed down uponthem. 

A second resounding crash was heard, shaking them like an earthquake, and the little vessel rolled partly over upon its side. 

"We are lost!" cried De Beauxchamps. "The Sphinx is falling upon us! Weshall be buried alive here!"

A third crash came over their heads, and the submersible seemed to sinkbeneath them as if seeking to avoid the fearful blows that were rainedupon its roof. 

Still, the stout curved ceiling, strongly braced within, did not yield, although they saw, with affright, that it was bulged inward, and some ofthe braces were torn from their places. But no water came in. 

Stunned by the suddenness of the accident, for a few moments they didnothing but cling to such supports as were within their reach, expectingthat another blow would either force the vessel completely over or breakthe roof in. 

But complete silence now reigned, and the missiles from above ceased tostrike the submersible. The searchlight continued to beam out of thefore end of the vessel, and following its broad ray with their eyes, they uttered one cry of mingled amazement and fear, and then staredwithout a word at such a spectacle as the wildest imagination could nothave pictured. 

The front of the Sphinx had disappeared, and the light, penetratingbeyond the place where it had stood, streamed upon the face and breastof an enormous black figure, seated on a kind of throne, and staringinto their faces with flaming eyes which at once fascinated andterrified them. 

To their startled imaginations the eyes seemed to roll in their sockets, and flashes of fire to dart from them. Their expression was menacing andterrifying beyond belief. At the same time the aspect of the face was somajestic that they cowered before it. 

The cheekbones were high, massive, and polished until they shone in thelight; the nose and chin were powerful in their contours; and the browwore an intimidating frown. It seemed to the awed onlookers as if theyhad sacrilegiously burst into the sanctuary of an offended god. 

But, after a minute or two of stupefaction, they thought again of thedesperateness of their situation, and turned from staring at the strangeidol to consider what they should do. 

The fact that no water was finding its way into the submersible somewhatreassured them, but the question now arose whether it could be withdrawnfrom its position. 

They had no doubt that the front of the Sphinx, saturated by the waterafter the thousands of years that it had stood there, exposed to thedesiccating influences of the sun and the desert sands, had suddenlydisintegrated, and fallen upon them, pinning their vessel fast under thefragments of the huge head. 

De Beauxchamps tried the engines and found that they had no effect inmoving the _Jules Verne_. He tried again and again by reversing todisengage the vessel, but it would not stir. Then they debated the onlyother means of escape. 

"Although I have levium life-suits, " said the Frenchman, "and althoughthe top of the _Jules Verne_ can probably be opened, for the door seemsnot to have been touched, yet the instant it is removed the water willrush in, and it will be impossible to pump out the vessel. "

"Are your life-suits so arranged that they will permit of moving thelimbs?" demanded Cosmo. 

"Certainly they are. "

"And can they be weighted so as to remain at the bottom?"

"They are arranged for that, " responded De Beauxchamps. 

"And can the weights be detached by the inmates without permitting theentrance of water?"

"It can be done, although a very little water might enter during theoperation. "

"Then, " said Cosmo, "let us put on the suits, open the door, take outthe ballast so that, if released, the submersible will rise to thesurface through its own buoyancy, and then see if we cannot loosen thevessel from outside. "

It was a suggestion whose boldness made even the owner and constructorof the _Jules Verne_ stare for a moment, but evidently it was the onlypossible way in which the vessel might be saved; and knowing that, incase of failure, they could themselves float to the surface afterremoving the weights from the bottom of the suits, they unanimouslydecided to try Cosmo Versál's plan. 

It was terribly hard work getting the ballast out of the submersible, working as they had to do under water, which rushed in as soon as thedoor was opened, and in their awkward suits, which were provided withapparatus for renewing the supply of oxygen; but at last they succeeded. 

Then they clambered outside, and labored desperately to release thevessel from the huge fragments of stone that pinned it down. Finally, exhausted by their efforts, and unable to make any impression, they gaveup. 

De Beauxchamps approached Cosmo and motioned to him that it was time toascend to the surface and leave the _Jules Verne_ to her fate. But Cosmosignaled back that he wished first to examine more closely the strangestatue that was gazing upon them in the still unextinguished beam of thesearchlight with what they might now have regarded as a look of mockery. 

The others, accordingly, waited while Cosmo Versál, greatly impeded byhis extraordinary garment, clambered up to the front of the figure. There he saw something which redoubled his amazement. 

On the broad breast he saw a representation of a world overwhelmed witha deluge and encircling it was what he instantly concluded to be thepicture of a nebula. Underneath, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, withwhich Cosmo was familiar, was an inscription in letters of gold, whichcould only be translated thus:

 I Come Again-- At the End of Time. 

"Great Heavens!" he said to himself. "It is a prophecy of the SecondDeluge!"

[Illustration: "IT IS A PROPHECY OF THE SECOND DELUGE. "]

He continued to gaze, amazed, at the figure and the inscription, untilDe Beauxchamps clambered to his side and indicated to him that it wasnecessary that they should ascend without further delay, showing him bysigns that the air-renewing apparatus would give out. 

With a last lingering look at the figure, Cosmo imitated the others bydetaching the weights from below his feet, and a minute later they wereall shooting rapidly toward the surface of the sea, De Beauxchamps, ashe afterwards declared, uttering a prayer for the repose of the _JulesVerne_. 

The imaginary time which Amos Blank had fixed as the limit set by Cosmofor the return from the depths was nearly gone, and he was beginning tocast about for some other invention to quiet the rising fears of thepassengers, when a form became visible which made the eyes of CaptainArms, the first to catch sight of it, start from their sockets. Herubbed them, and looked again--but there it was!

A huge head, human in outline, with bulging, glassy eyes, poppedsuddenly out of the depths, followed by the upper part of a giganticform which was no less suggestive of a monstrous man, and whichimmediately began to wave its arms!

Before the captain could collect his senses another shot to the surface, and then another and another, until there were seven of them floatingand awkwardly gesticulating within a radius of a hundred fathoms on thestarboard side of the vessel. 

The whole series of apparitions did not occupy more than a quarter of aminute in making their appearance. 

By the time the last had sprung into sight Captain Arms had recoveredhis wits, and he shouted an order to lower a boat, at the same timerunning down from the bridge to superintend the operation. Many of thecrew and passengers had in the meantime seen the strange objects, andthey were thrown into a state of uncontrollable excitement. 

"It's them!" shouted the captain over his shoulder, in response to ahundred inquiries all put at once, and forgetting his grammar in theexcitement. "They've come up in diving-suits. "

Amos Blank comprehended the situation at once; and while the captain wasgetting out the boat, he explained matters to the crowd. 

"The submersible must be lost, " he said quietly, "but the men haveescaped, so there is no great harm done. It does great credit to thatFrenchman that he should have been prepared for such an emergency. Thoseare levium suits, and I've no doubt that he has got hydrogen somewhereinside to increase their buoyancy. "

Within a quarter of an hour all the seven had been picked up by theboat, and it returned to the Ark. The strange forms were lifted aboardwith tackle to save time; and as the first one reached the deck, itstaggered about on its big limbs for a moment. 

Then the metallic head opened, and the features of De Beauxchamps wererevealed. 

Before anybody could assist him he had freed himself from the suit, andimmediately he began to aid the others. In ten minutes they all stoodsafe and sound before the astonished eyes of the spectators. Cosmo hadsuffered from the confinement, and he sank upon a seat, but DeBeauxchamps seemed to be the most affected. With downcast look he said, sadly shaking his head:

"The poor _Jules Verne_! I shall never see her again. "

"What has happened?" demanded Captain Arms. 

"It was the Father of Horror, " muttered Cosmo Versál. 

"The Father of Horror--what's that?"

"Why, the Great Sphinx, " returned Cosmo, gradually recovering hisbreath. "Didn't you know that that was what the Arabs always called theSphinx?

"It was that which fell upon the submersible--split right open anddropped its great chin upon us as we were sailing round it, and pinnedus fast. But the sight that we saw when the Sphinx fell apart! Tellthem, De Beauxchamps. "

The Frenchman took up the narrative, while, with breathless attention, passengers and crew crowded about to listen to his tale. 

"When we got to the bottom, " he said, "we first inspected the GreatPyramid, going all round it with our searchlight. It was in goodcondition, although the tide that had come up the Nile with the invasionof the sea had washed away the sands to a great depth all about. When wehad completed the circuit of the pyramid, we saw the Sphinx, which hadbeen excavated by the water so that it stood up to its full height. 

"We ran close around it, and when we were under the chin the wholething, saturated by the water, which no doubt caused an expansionwithin--you know how many thousand years the gigantic idol had beensun-dried--dropped apart. 

"The submersible was caught by the falling mass, and partly crushed. Welabored for hours and hours to release the vessel, but there was littlethat we could do. It almost broke my heart to think of leaving the_Jules Verne_ there, but it had to be done. 

"At last we put on the levium floating-suits, opened the cover at thetop, and came to the surface. The last thing I saw was the searchlight, still burning, and illuminating the most marvelous spectacle that humaneyes ever gazed upon. "

"Oh, what was it? What was it?" demanded a score of voices in chorus. 

"It is impossible to describe it. It was the secret of old Egyptrevealed at last--at the end of the world!"

"But what was it like?"

"Like a glimpse into the remotest corridors of time, " interposed CosmoVersál, with a curious look in his eyes. 

"Some of you may have heard that long ago holes were driven through theSphinx in the hope of discovering something hidden inside, but theymissed the secret. The old god kept it well until his form fell apart. We were pinned so close to it that we could not help seeing it, even inthe excitement of our situation. 

"It had always been supposed that the Sphinx was the symbol ofsomething--it _was_, and more than a symbol! The explorers away back inthe nineteenth century who thought that they had found somethingmysterious in the Great Pyramid went wide of the mark when theyneglected the Sphinx. "

"But what did you see?"

_"We saw the prophecy of the Second Deluge, "_ said Cosmo, rising to hisfeet, his piercing eyes aflame. "In the heart of the huge mass, approachable, no doubt, by some concealed passage in the rock beneath, known only to the priests, stood a gigantic idol, carved out of blackmarble. 

"It had enormous eyes of some gem that blazed in the electric beam fromthe searchlight, with huge golden ears and beard, and on its breast wasa representation of a drowning world, with a great nebula sweeping overit. "

"It might have been a history instead of a prophecy, " suggested one ofthe listening savants. "Perhaps it only told what had once happened. "

"No, " replied Cosmo, shaking his big head. "It was a prophecy. Under it, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which I recognized, was aninscription which could only be translated by the words, 'I comeagain--at the end of time!'"

There was a quality in Cosmo Versál's voice which made the hearersshudder with horror. 

"Yes, " he added. "It comes again! The prophecy was hidden, but sciencehad its means of revelation, too, if the world would but have listenedto its voice. Even without the prophecy I have saved the flower ofmankind. "

CHAPTER XXII

THE TERRIBLE NUCLEUS ARRIVES

When the company in the Ark had recovered from the astonishment producedby the narratives of De Beauxchamps and Cosmo Versál, and particularlythe vivid description given by the latter of the strange idol concealedin the breast of the "Father of Horror, " and the inferences which hedrew concerning its prophetic character, the question again arose as totheir future course. 

Captain Arms was still for undertaking to follow the trough of the RedSea, but Cosmo declared that this course would be doubly dangerous nowthat the water had lowered and that they no longer had the _Jules Verne_to act as a submarine scout, warning them of hidden perils. 

They must now go by their own soundings, and this would be especiallydangerous in the close neighborhood of half-submerged mountains, whosebuttresses and foothills might rise suddenly out of the depths withslopes so steep that the lead would afford no certain guidance. 

It was first necessary to learn if possible the actual height of thewater, and whether it was still subsiding. It was partly for thispurpose that they had passed over Egypt instead of keeping directly ontoward the coast of lower Palestine. 

But now Cosmo abandoned his purpose of taking his measurement by the aidof Mount Sinai or some of its neighboring peaks, on account of thedangerous character of that rugged region. If they had been furnishedwith deep-sea sounding apparatus they might have made a directmeasurement of the depth in Egypt, but that was one of the few thingswhich Cosmo Versál had overlooked in furnishing the Ark, and such anoperation could not be undertaken. 

He discovered that there was a mountain north of the Gulf of Akabahaving an elevation of 3, 450 feet, and since this was 220 feet higherthan Monte Lauro, in Sicily, on which the Ark had grounded, he countedon it as a gage which would serve his purpose. 

So they passed almost directly over Suez, and about 120 miles farthereast they found the mountain they sought, rising to the west of the Wadiel Arabia, a continuation of the depression at whose deepest point laythe famous "Dead Sea, " so often spoken of in the books of former times. 

Here Cosmo was able to make a very accurate estimate from the height ofthe peak above the water, and he was gratified to find that therecession had not continued. The level of the water appeared to beexactly the same as when they made their unfortunate excursion in thedirection of smoking Etna. 

"It's all right, " he said to Captain Arms. "We can get over into theSyrian desert without much danger, although we must go slowly andcarefully until we are well past these ranges that come down from thedirection of the Dead Sea. After that I do not see that there isanything in our way until we reach the ancient plains of Babylon. "

King Richard, who was full of the history of the Crusades, as well as ofBible narratives, wished to have the Ark turn northward, so that theymight sail over Jerusalem, and up the Valley of the Jordan within sightof Mount Hermon and the Lebanon range. 

Cosmo had had enough of that kind of adventure, while Captain Armsdeclared that he would resign on the spot if there was to be any more"fool navigating on mountain tops. " But there were many persons in theArk who would have been very glad if King Richard's suggestion had beencarried out. 

The feelings of some were deeply stirred when they learned that theywere now crossing the lower end of Palestine, and that the scenes of somany incidents in the history of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua lay buriedbeneath the blue water, whose almost motionless surface was marked witha broad trail of foaming bubbles in the wake of the immense vessel. 

Cosmo greatly regretted the absence of the submersible when they werepicking their way over this perilous region, but they encountered noreal difficulty, and at length found, by celestial observations, thatthey were beyond all dangers and safely arrived over the deeplysubmerged desert. 

They kept on for several days toward the rising sun, and then CaptainArms announced that the observations showed that they were over the siteof Babylon. 

This happened just at the time of the midday dinner, and over thedessert Cosmo seized the opportunity to make a little speech, whichcould be heard by all in the saloon. 

"We are now arrived, " he said, "over the very spot where the descendantsof Noah are said to have erected a tower, known as the Tower of Babel, and which they intended to build so high that it would afford a securerefuge in case there should be another deluge. 

"How vain were such expectations, if they were ever entertained, issufficiently shown by the fact that, at this moment, the water rollsmore than three thousand feet deep over the place where they put theirtower, and before the present deluge is over it will be thirty thousandfeet deep. 

"More than half a mile beneath our feet lie the broad plains of Chaldea, where tradition asserts that the study of astronomy began. It wasBerosus, a Chaldean, who predicted that there would come a seconddeluge. 

"It occurs to me, since seeing the astounding spectacle disclosed by thefalling apart of the Sphinx, that these people may have had aninfinitely more profound knowledge of the secrets of the heavens thantradition has assigned to them. 

"On the breast of the statue in the Sphinx was the figure of a crownedman, encircled by a huge ring, and having behind him the form of a boatcontaining two other human figures. The boat was represented as floatingin a flood of waters. 

"Now, this corresponds exactly with figures that have been found amongthe most ancient ruins in Chaldea. I regard that ring as symbolical of anebula enveloping the earth, and I think that the second deluge, whichwe have lived to see, was foretold here thousands of years ago. "

"Who foretold it first, then, the people who placed the statue in theSphinx, or these astronomers of Chaldea?" asked Professor Abel Able. 

"I believe, " Cosmo replied, "that the knowledge originated here, beneathus, and that it was afterward conveyed to the Egyptians, who embodied itin their great symbolical god. "

"Are we to understand, " demanded Professor Jeremiah Moses, "that thisfigure was all that you saw on the breast of the statue, and that yousimply inferred that the ring represented a nebula?"

"Not at all, " Cosmo replied. "The principal representation was that of aworld overwhelmed with a flood, and of a nebula descending upon it. "

"How do you know that it was intended for a nebula?"

"Because it had the aspect of one, and it was clearly shown to bedescending from the high heavens. "

"A cloud, " suggested Professor Moses. 

"No, not a cloud. Mark this, which is a marvel in itself: It had _theform of a spiral nebula_. It was unmistakable. "

At this point the discussion was interrupted by a call to Cosmo Versálfrom Captain Arms on the bridge. He hastily left the table and ascendedto the captain's side. 

He did not need to be told what to look for. Off in the north the skyhad become a solid black mass, veined with the fiercest lightning. Thepealing of the thunder came in a continuous roll, which soon grew soloud as to shake the Ark. 

"Up with the side-plates!" shouted Cosmo, setting twenty bells ringingat once. "Close tight every opening! Screw down the port shutters!"

The crew of the Ark was, in a few seconds, running to and fro, executingthe orders that came in swift succession from the commander's bridge, and the passengers were thrown into wild commotion. But nobody had timeto attend to them. 

"It is upon us!" yelled Cosmo in the captain's ear, for the uproar hadbecome deafening. "The nucleus is here!"

The open promenade decks had not yet all been turned into innercorridors when the downpour began upon the Ark. A great deal of waterfound its way aboard, but the men worked with a will, as fearful fortheir own safety as for that of others, and in a little while everythinghad been made snug and tight. 

In a short time a tremendous tempest was blowing, the wind coming fromthe north, and the Ark, notwithstanding her immense breadth of beam, wascanted over to leeward at an alarming angle. On the larboard side thewaves washed to the top of the great elliptical dome and broke over it, and their thundering blows shook the vessel to her center, causing manyto believe that she was about to founder. 

The disorder was frightful. Men and women were flung about like tops, and no one could keep his feet. Crash after crash, that could be heardamid the howling of the storm, the battering of the waves, and the awfulroar of the deluge descending on the roof, told the fate of thetableware and dishes that had been hastily left in the big diningsaloon. 

Chairs recently occupied by the passengers on what had been thepromenade decks, and from which they had so serenely, if oftensorrowfully, looked over the broad, peaceful surface of the waters, werenow darting, rolling, tumbling, and banging about, intermingled withrugs, hats, coats, and other abandoned articles of clothing. 

The pitching and rolling of the Ark were so much worse than they hadbeen during the first days of the cataclysm, that Cosmo became verysolicitous about his collection of animals. 

He hurried down to the animal deck, and found, indeed, that things werein a lamentable shape. The trained keepers were themselves so much atthe mercy of the storm that they had had all they could do to savethemselves from being trampled to death by the frightened beasts. 

The animals had been furnished with separate pens, but during the longcontinued calm the keepers, for the sake of giving their charges greaterfreedom and better air, had allowed many of them to go at large in thebroad central space around which the pens were placed, and the tempesthad come so unexpectedly that there had been no time to separate themand get them back into their lodgings. 

When Cosmo descended the scene that met his eyes caused him to cry outin dismay, but he could not have been heard if he had spoken through atrumpet. The noise and uproar were stunning, and the spectacle wasindescribable. The keepers had taken refuge on a kind of gallery runninground the central space, and were hanging on there for their lives. 

Around them, on the railings, clinging with their claws, wildly flappingtheir wings, and swinging with every roll of the vessel, were all thefowls and every winged creature in the Ark except the giant turkeys, whose power of wing was insufficient to lift them out of the męlée. 

But all the four-footed beasts were rolling, tumbling, and struggling inthe open space below. With every lurch of the Ark they were swept acrossthe floor in an indistinguishable mass. 

The elephants wisely did not attempt to get upon their feet, but allowedthemselves to slide from side to side, sometimes crushing the smalleranimals, and sometimes, in spite of all their efforts, rolling upontheir backs, with their titanic limbs swaying above them, and theirtrunks wildly grasping whatever came within their reach. 

The huge Californian cattle were in no better case, and the poor sheeppresented a pitiable spectacle as they were tumbled in woolly heaps fromside to side. 

Strangest sight of all was that of the great Astoria turtles. They hadbeen pitched upon their backs and were unable to turn themselves over, and their big carapaces served admirably for sliders. 

They glided with the speed of logs in a chute, now this way, now that, shooting like immense projectiles through the throng of strugglingbeasts, cutting down those that happened to be upon their feet, and notending their course until they had crashed against the nearest wall. 

As one of the turtles slid toward the bottom of the steps on which Cosmowas clinging it cut under the legs of one of the giant turkeys, and thelatter, making a superphasianidaean effort, half leaped, half flappedits way upon the steps to the side of Cosmo Versál, embracing him withone of its stumpy wings, while its red neck and head, with bloodshoteyes, swayed high above his bald dome. 

The keepers gradually made their way round the gallery to Cosmo's side, and he indicated to them by signs that they must quit the place withhim, and wait for a lull of the tempest before trying to do anything fortheir charges. 

A few hours later the wind died down, and then they collected all thatremained alive of the animals in their pens and secured them as bestthey could against the consequences of another period of rolling andpitching. 

The experiences of the passengers had been hardly less severe, and panicreigned throughout the Ark. After the lull came, however, some degree oforder was restored, and Cosmo had all who were in a condition to leavetheir rooms assemble in the grand saloon, where he informed them of thesituation of affairs, and tried to restore their confidence. The roar onthe roof, in spite of the sound-absorbing cover which had beenre-erected, compelled him to use a trumpet. 

"I do not conceal from you, " he said in conclusion, "that the worst hasnow arrived. I do not look for any cessation of the flood from the skyuntil we shall have passed through the nucleus of the nebula. But theArk is a stout vessel, we are fully provisioned, and we shall getthrough. 

"All your chambers have been specially padded, as you may have remarked, and I wish you to remain in them, only issuing when summoned forassembly here. 

"I shall call you out whenever the condition of the sea renders it safefor you to leave your rooms. Food will be regularly served in yourquarters, and I beg you to have perfect confidence in me and myassistants. "

But the confidence which Cosmo Versál recommended to the others washardly shared by himself and Captain Arms. The fury of the blast whichhad just left them had exceeded everything that Cosmo had anticipated, and he saw that, in the face of such hurricanes, the Ark would bepractically unmanageable. 

One of his first cares was to ascertain the rate at which the downpourwas raising the level of the water. This, too, surprised him. His gagesshowed, time after time, that the rainfall was at the rate of about fourinches per minute. Sometimes it amounted to as much as six!

"The central part of the nebula, " he said to the captain, through thespeaking-tube which they had arranged for their intercommunications onthe bridge, "is denser than I had supposed. The condensation isenormous, but it is irregular, and I think it very likely that it ismore rapid in the north, where the front of the globe is plunging mostdirectly into the nebulous mass. 

"From this we should anticipate a tremendous flow southward, which maysweep us away in that direction. This will not be a bad thing for awhile, since it is southward that we must go in order to reach theregion of the Indian Ocean. But, in order not to be carried too rapidlythat way, I think it would be the best thing to point the Ark toward thenortheast. "

"How am I to know anything about the points in this blackness?" growledthe captain. 

"You must go the best you can by the compass, " said Cosmo. 

Cosmo Versál, as subsequently appeared, was right in supposing that thenucleus of the nebula was exceedingly irregular in density. Thecondensation was not only much heavier in the north, but it was veryerratic. 

Some parts of the earth received a great deal more water from the openedflood-gates above than others, and this difference, for some reason thathas never been entirely explained, was especially marked between theeastern and western hemispheres. 

We have already seen that when the downpour recommenced in Colorado itwas much less severe than during the first days of the flood. Thisdifference continued. It seems that all the denser parts of the nucleushappened to encounter the planet on its eastern side. 

This may have been partly due to the fact that as the rotating earthmoved on in its eastward motion round the sun the comparatively densemasses of the nebula were always encountered at the times when theeastern hemisphere was in advance. The fact, which soon became apparentto Cosmo, that the downpour was always the most severe in the morninghours, bears out this hypothesis. 

It accords with what has been observed with respect to meteors, viz. , that they are more abundant in the early morning. But then it must besupposed that the condensed masses in the nebula were relatively sosmall that they became successively exhausted, so to speak, before thewestern hemisphere had come fairly into the line of fire. 

Of course the irregularity in the arrival of the water did not, in theend, affect the general level of the flood, which became the same allover the globe, but it caused immense currents, as Cosmo had foreseen. 

But there was one consequence which he had overlooked. The currents, instead of sweeping the Ark continually southward, as he hadanticipated, formed a gigantic whirl, set up unquestionably by the greatranges of the Himalayas, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Caucasus. 

This tremendous maelstrom formed directly over Persia and Arabia, and, turning in the direction of the hands of a watch, its influence extendedwestward beyond the place where the Ark now was. 

The consequence was that, in spite of all their efforts, Cosmo and thecaptain found their vessel swept resistlessly up the course of thevalley containing the Euphrates and the Tigris. 

They were unable to form an opinion of their precise location, but theyknew the general direction of the movement, and by persistent logginggot some idea of the rate of progress. 

Fortunately the wind seldom blew with its first violence, but theeffects of the whirling current could be but little counteracted by theutmost engine power of the Ark. 

Day after day passed in this manner, although, owing to the density ofthe rain, the difference between day and night was only perceptible bythe periodical changes from absolute blackness to a very faintillumination when the sun was above the horizon. 

The rise of the flood, which could not have been at a less rate than sixhundred feet every twenty-four hours, lifted the Ark above the level ofthe mountains of Kurdistan by the time that they arrived over the upperpart of the Mesopotamian plain, and the uncertain observations whichthey occasionally obtained of the location of the sun, combined withsuch dead reckoning as they were able to make, finally convinced themthat they must certainly be approaching the location of the Black Seaand the Caucasus range. 

"I'll tell you what you're going to do, " yelled Captain Arms. "You'regoing to make a smash on old Ararat, where your predecessor, Noah, madehis landfall. "

"_Trčs bien!_" shouted De Beauxchamps, who was frequently on the bridge, and whose Gallic spirits nothing could daunt. "That's a good omen! M. Versál should send out one of his turkeys to spy a landing place. "

They were really nearer Ararat than they imagined, and Captain Arms'sprediction narrowly missed fulfillment. Within a couple of hours afterhe had spoken a dark mass suddenly loomed through the dense air directlyin their track. 

Almost at the same time, and while the captain was making desperateefforts to sheer off, the sky lightened a little, and they saw animmense heap of rock within a hundred fathoms of the vessel. 

"Ararat, by all that's good!" yelled the captain. "Sta'board! Sta'board, I tell you! Full power ahead!"

The Ark yielded slowly to her helm, and the screws whirled madly, driving her rapidly past the rocks, so close that they might have tosseda biscuit upon them. The set of the current also aided them, and theygot past the danger. 

"Mountain navigation again!" yelled the captain. "Here we are in a nestof these sky-shoals! What are you going to do now?"

"It is impossible to tell, " returned Cosmo, "whether this is Great orLittle Ararat. The former is over 17, 000 feet high, and the latter atleast 13, 000. It is now twelve days since the flooding recommenced. 

"If we assume a rise of 600 feet in twenty-four hours, that makes atotal of 7, 200 feet, which, added to the 3, 300 that we had before, gives10, 500 feet for the present elevation. This estimate may be considerablyout of the way. 

"I feel sure that both the Ararats are yet well above the water line. Wemust get out of this region as quickly as possible. Luckily the swirl ofthe current is now setting us eastward. We are on its northern edge. Itwill carry the Ark down south of Mount Demavend, and the Elburz range, and over the Persian plateau, and if we can escape from it, as I hope, by getting away over Beluchistan, we can go directly over India andskirt the southern side of the Himalayas. Then we shall be near the goalwhich we have had in mind. "

"Bless me!" said the captain, staring with mingled admiration and doubtat Cosmo Versál, "if you couldn't beat old Noah round the world, andgive him half the longitude. But I'd rather _you'd_ navigate thishooker. The ghost of Captain Sumner itself couldn't work a traverse overBeluchistan. "

"You'll do it all right, " returned Cosmo, "and the next time you dropyour anchor it will probably be on the head of Mount Everest. "

CHAPTER XXIII

ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD

Now that they were going with the current instead of striving to stemit, the Ark made much more rapid way than during the time that it wasdrifting toward the Black Sea. 

They averaged at least six knots, and, with the aid of the current, could have done much better, but they thought it well to be cautious, especially as they had so little means of guessing at their exactlocation from day to day. The water was rough. 

There was, most of the time, little wind, and often a large number ofthe passengers assembled in the saloon. 

The noise of the deluge on the roof was so much greater than it had beenat the start that it was difficult to converse, but there was plenty oflight, and they could, at least, see one another, and communicate bysigns if not very easily by the voice. Cosmo's library was wellselected, and many passed hours in reading stories of the world theywere to see no more!

King Richard and Amos Blank imitated Cosmo and the captain by furnishingthemselves with a speaking-tube, which they put alternately to theirlips and their ears, and thus held long conversations, presumablyexchanging with one another the secrets of high finance and kinglygovernment. 

Both of them had enough historical knowledge and sufficient imaginationto be greatly impressed by the fact that they were drifting, amidst thisterrible storm, over the vast empire that Alexander the Great hadconquered. 

They mused over the events of the great Macedonian's long marchesthrough deserts and over mountains, and the king, who loved the story ofthese glories of the past, though he had cultivated peace in his owndominions, often sighed while they recalled them to one another. LordSwansdown and the other Englishmen aboard seldom joined their king sincehe had preferred the company of an untitled American to theirs. 

The first named could not often have made a member of the party if hehad wished, for he kept his room most of the time, declaring that he hadnever been so beastly seasick in his life. He thought that such anabominable roller as the Ark should never have been permitted to go intocommission, don't you know. 

On the morning of the twelfth day after they left the neighborhood ofMount Ararat Captain Arms averred that their position must be somewherenear longitude 69 degrees east, latitude 26 degrees north. 

"Then you have worked your traverse over Beluchistan very well, " saidCosmo, "and we are now afloat above the valley of the River Indus. Wehave the desert of northwestern India ahead, and from that locality wecan continue right down the course of the Ganges. In fact it would beperfectly safe to turn northward and skirt the Himalayas within reach ofthe high peaks. I think that's what I'll do. "

"If you go fooling round any more peaks, " shouted Captain Arms, in afog-horn voice, "you'll have to do your own steering! I've had enough ofthat kind of navigation!"

Nevertheless when Cosmo Versál gave the order the captain turned theprow of the Ark toward the presumable location of the great Himalayanrange, although the rebellion of his spirit showed in the erect set ofhis whiskers. They were now entirely beyond the influence of the whirlthat had at first got them into trouble, and then helped them out of it, in western Asia. 

Behind the barrier of the ancient "Roof of the World" the sea wasrelatively calm, although, at times, they felt the effect of currentspouring down from the north, which had made their way through the loftypasses from the Tibetan side. 

Cosmo calculated from his estimate of the probable rate of rise of theflood and from the direction and force of the currents that all but thevery highest of the Pamirs must already be submerged. 

It was probable, he thought, that the water had attained a level ofbetween seventeen and eighteen thousand feet. This, as subsequent eventsindicated, was undoubtedly an underestimate. The downpour in the northmust have been far greater than Cosmo thought, and the real height ofthe flood was considerably in excess of what he supposed. 

If they could have seen some of the gigantic peaks as they approachedthe mountains in the eastern Punjab, south of Cashmere, they would havebeen aware of the error. 

As it was, owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a shortdistance even when the light was brightest, they kept farther south thanwas really necessary, and after passing, as they believed, over Delhi, steered south by east, following substantially the course that Cosmo hadoriginally named along the line of the Ganges valley. 

They were voyaging much slower now, and after another ten days hadpassed an unexpected change came on. The downpour diminished inseverity, and at times the sun broke forth, and for an hour or two therain would cease entirely, although the sky had a coppery tinge, and atnight small stars were not clearly visible. 

Cosmo was greatly surprised at this. He could only conclude that thecentral part of the nebula had been less extensive, though more dense, than he had estimated. It was only thirty-four days since the deluge hadrecommenced, and unless present appearances were deceptive, its endmight be close at hand. 

Captain Arms seized the opportunity to make celestial and solarobservations which delighted his seaman's heart, and with great glee heinformed Cosmo that they were in longitude 88 degrees 20 minutes east, latitude 24 degrees 15 minutes north, and he would stake his reputationas a navigator upon it. 

"Almost exactly the location of Moorshedabad, in Bengal, " said Cosmo, consulting his chart. "The mighty peak of Kunchingunga is hardly morethan two hundred miles toward the north, and Mount Everest, the highestpoint in the world, is within a hundred miles of that!"

"But you're not going skimming around _them_!" cried the captain withsome alarm. 

"I shall, if the sky continues in its present condition, go as far asDarjeeling, " replied Cosmo. "Then we can turn eastward and get overupper Burmah and so on into China. From there we can turn north again. 

"I think we can manage to get into Tibet somewhere between the ranges. It all depends upon the height of the water, and that I can ascertainexactly by getting a close look at Kunchingunga. I would follow the lineof the Brahmaputra River if I dared, but the way is too beset withperils. "

"I think you've made a big mistake, " said the captain. "Why didn't youcome directly across Russia, after first running up to the Black Seafrom the Mediterranean, and so straight into Tibet?"

"I begin to think that that's what I ought to have done, " respondedCosmo, thoughtfully, "but when we started the water was not high enoughto make me sure of that route, and after we got down into Egypt I didn'twant to run back. But I guess it would have been better. "

"Better a sight than steering among these five-mile peaks, " growledCaptain Arms. "How high does Darjeeling lie? I don't want to run agroundagain. "

"Oh, that's perfectly safe, " responded Cosmo. "Darjeeling is only about7, 350 feet above the old sea-level. I think we can go almost to the footof Kunchingunga without any danger. "

"Well, the name sounds dangerous enough in itself, " said the captain, "but I suppose you'll have your way. Give me the bearings and we'll beoff. "

They took two days to get to the location of Darjeeling, for at timesthe sky darkened and the rain came down again in tremendous torrents. But these spells did not last more than two or three hours, and theweather cleared between them. 

As soon as they advanced beyond Darjeeling, keeping a sharp outlook forKunchingunga, Cosmo began to perceive the error of his calculation ofthe height of the flood. 

The mountain should still have projected more than three thousand feetabove the waves, allowing that the average rise during the thirty-sixdays since the recommencement of the flood had been six hundred feet aday. 

But, in fact, they did not see it at all, and thought at first that ithad been totally submerged. At last they found it, a little rockyisland, less than two hundred feet above the water, according to Cosmo'scareful measure, made from a distance of a quarter of a mile. 

"This is great news for us, " he exclaimed, as soon as he had completedthe work. "This will save us a long journey round. The water must nowstand at about 27, 900 feet, and although there are a considerable numberof peaks in the Himalayas approaching such an elevation, there are onlythree or four known to reach or exceed it, of which Kunchingunga is one. 

"We can, then, run right over the roof of the world, and there we'll be, in Tibet. Then we can determine from what side it is safest to approachMount Everest, for I am very desirous to get near that celebrated peak, and, if possible, see it go under. "

"But the weather isn't safe yet, " objected Captain Arms. "Suppose weshould be caught in another downpour, and everything black about us! I'mnot going to navigate this ship by searchlight among mountainstwenty-eight thousand feet tall, when the best beam that ever shot froma mirror won't show an object a hundred fathoms away. "

"Very well, " Cosmo replied, "we'll circle around south for a few daysand see what will happen. I think myself that it's not quite over yet. The fact is, I hope it isn't, for now that it has gone so far, I'd liketo see the top-knot of the earth covered. "

"Well, it certainly couldn't do any more harm if it got up as high asthe moon, " responded the captain. 

They spent four days sailing to and fro over India, and during the firstthree of those days there were intermittent downpours. But the whole ofthe last period of twenty-four hours was entirely without rain, and thecolor of the sky changed so much that Cosmo declared he would wait nolonger. 

"Everest, " he said, "is only 940 feet higher than Kunchingunga, and itmay be sunk out of sight before we can get there. "

"Do you think the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps, whileKing Richard and Amos Blank listened eagerly for the reply, for now thatthe weather had cleared, the old company was all assembled on thebridge. 

"Yes, slowly, " said Cosmo. "There is a perceptible current from thenorth which indicates that condensation is still going on there. You'llsee that it'll come extremely close to the six miles I predicted beforeit's all over. "

By the time they had returned to the neighborhood of the mountains thesky had become blue, with only occasionally a passing sunshower, andCosmo ordered the promenades to be thrown open, and the passengers, withgreat rejoicings, resumed their daily lounging and walking on deck. 

It required a little effort of thought to make them realize theirsituation, but when they did it grew upon them until they could notsufficiently express their wonder. 

Here they were, on an almost placid sea, with tepid airs blowing gentlyin their faces, and a scorching sun overhead, whose rays had to beshielded off, floating over the highest pinnacles of the roof of theworld, the traditional "Abode of Snow!"

All around them, beneath the rippled blue surface, lined here and therewith little white windrows of foam, stood submerged peaks, 24, 000, 25, 000, 26, 000, 27, 000, 28, 000 feet in elevation! They sailed over theirsummits and saw them not. 

All began now to sympathize with Cosmo's desire to find Everest beforeit should have disappeared with its giant brothers. Its location wasaccurately known from the Indian government surveys, and Captain Armshad every facility for finding the exact position of the Ark. Theyadvanced slowly toward the northwest, a hundred glasses eagerly scanningthe horizon ahead. 

Finally, at noon on the third day of their search, the welcome cry of"Land ho!" came down from the cro'nest. Captain Arms immediately set hiscourse for the landfall, and in the course of a little more than an hourhad it broad abeam. 

"It's Everest, without question, " said Cosmo. "It's the crown of theworld. "

But how strange was its appearance! A reddish-brown mass of rock, risingabruptly out of the blue water, really a kind of crown in form, but notmore than a couple of square rods in extent, and about three feet highat its loftiest point. 

There was no snow, of course, for that had long since disappeared, owingto the rise of temperature, and no snow would have fallen in thatlatitude now, even in mid-winter, because the whole base of theatmosphere had been lifted up nearly six miles. 

Sea-level pressures were prevailing where the barometric column wouldonce have dropped almost to the bottom of its tube. It was all that wasleft of the world!

North of them, under the all-concealing ocean, lay the mighty plateau ofTibet; far toward the east was China, deeply buried with its 500, 000, 000of inhabitants; toward the south lay India, over which they had so longbeen sailing; northwestward the tremendous heights of the Pamir regionand of the Hindu-Kush were sunk beneath the sea. 

"When this enormous peak was covered with snow, " said Cosmo, "its heightwas estimated at 29, 002 feet, or almost five and three-quarter miles. The removal of the snow has, of course, lowered it, but I think itprobable that this point, being evidently steep on all sides, and ofvery small area, was so swept by the wind that the snow was never verydeep upon it. 

"If we allow ten, or even twenty feet for the snow, the height of thisrock cannot be much less than 29, 000 feet above the former sea-level. But I do not dare to approach closer, because Everest had a broadsummit, and we might possibly ground upon a sharp ridge. "

"And you are sure that the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchampsagain. 

"Watch and you will see, " Cosmo responded. 

The Ark was kept circling very slowly within a furlong of the rockycrown, and everybody who had a glass fixed his eyes upon it. 

"The peak is certainly sinking, " said De Beauxchamps at last. "I believeit has gone down three inches in the last fifteen minutes. "

"Keep your eyes fixed on some definite point, " said Cosmo to the otherswho were looking, "and you will easily note the rise of the water. "

They watched it until nobody felt any doubt. Inch by inch the crown ofthe world was going under. In an hour Cosmo's instruments showed thatthe highest point had settled to a height of but two feet above the sea. 

"But when will the elevation that you have predicted begin?" asked one. 

"Its effects will not become evident immediately, " Cosmo replied. "Itmay possibly already have begun, but if so, it is masked by thecontinued rise of the water. "

"And how long shall we have to wait for the re-emergence of Tibet?"

"I cannot tell, but it will be a long time. But do not worry about that. We have plenty of provisions, and the weather will continue fine afterthe departure of the nebula. "

They circled about until only a foot or so of the rock remained abovethe reach of the gently washing waves. Suddenly struck by a happythought, De Beauxchamps exclaimed:

"I must have a souvenir from the crown of the disappearing world. M. Versál, will you permit me to land upon it with one of your boats?"

De Beauxchamps's suggestion was greeted with cheers, and twenty othersimmediately expressed a desire to go. 

"No, " said Cosmo to the eager applicants, "it is M. De Beauxchamps'sidea; let him go alone. Yes, " he continued, addressing the Frenchman, "you can have a boat, and I will send two men with you to manage it. You'd better hurry, or there will be nothing left to land upon. "

The necessary orders were quickly given, and in five minutes DeBeauxchamps, watched by envious eyes, was rapidly approaching thedisappearing rock. They saw him scramble out upon it, and they gave amighty cheer as he waved his hand at them. 

He had taken a hammer with him, and with breathless interest theywatched him pounding and prying about the rock. They could see that heselected the very highest point for his operations. 

While he worked away, evidently filling his pockets, the interest of theonlookers became more and more intense. 

"Look out!" they presently began to shout at him, "you will be caught bythe water. "

But he paid no attention, working with feverish rapidity. Suddenly thewatchers saw a little ripple break over the last speck of dry land onthe globe, and De Beauxchamps standing up to his shoe-laces in water. Cries of dismay came from the Ark. De Beauxchamps now gave over hiswork, and, with apparent reluctance, entered the boat, which was rowedclose up to the place where he was standing. 

As the returning boat approached the Ark, another volley of cheers brokeforth, and the Frenchman, standing up to his full height, waved with atriumphant air something that sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine. 

"I congratulate you, M. De Beauxchamps, " cried Cosmo, as the adventurerscrambled aboard. "You have stood where no human foot has ever beenbefore, and I see that you have secured your souvenir of the world thatwas. "

"Yes, " responded De Beauxchamps exultantly, "and see what it is--aworthy decoration for such a coronet. "

He held up his prize, amid exclamations of astonishment and admirationfrom those who were near enough to see it. 

"The most beautiful specimen of amethyst I ever beheld!" cried amineralogist enthusiastically, taking it from De Beauxchamps's hand. "What was the rock?"

"Unfortunately, I am no mineralogist, " replied the Frenchman, "and Icannot tell you, but these gems were abundant. I could have almostfilled the boat if I had had time. 

"The amethyst, " he added gayly, "is the traditional talisman againstintoxication, but, although these adorned her tiara, the poor old worldhas drunk her fill. "

"But it is only water, " said Cosmo, smiling. 

"Too much, at any rate, " returned the Frenchman. 

"I should say, " continued the mineralogist, "that the rock was somevariety of syenite, from its general appearance. "

"I know nothing of that, " replied De Beauxchamps, "but I have the jewelsof the terrestrial queen, and, " he continued gallantly, "I shall havethe pleasure of bestowing them upon the ladies. "

He emptied his pockets, and found that he had enough to give every womanaboard the Ark a specimen, with several left over for some of the men, Cosmo, of course, being one of the recipients. 

"There, " said De Beauxchamps, as he handed the stone to Cosmo, "there isa memento from the Gaurisankar. "

"I beg your pardon--Mount Everest, if you please, " interposed EdwardWhistlington. 

"No, " responded the Frenchman stoutly, "it is the Gaurisankar. Why willyou English persist in renaming everything in the world? Gaurisankar isthe native name, and, in my opinion, far more appropriate and euphoniousthan Everest. "

This discussion was not continued, for now everybody became interestedin the movements of the Ark. Cosmo had decided that it would be safe toapproach close to the point where the last peak of the mountain haddisappeared. 

Cautiously they drew nearer and nearer, until, looking through thewonderfully transparent water, they caught sight of a vast precipicedescending with frightful steepness, down and down, until all was lostin the profundity beneath. 

The point on which De Beauxchamps had landed was now covered so deepthat the water had ceased to swirl about it, but lay everywhere in anunbroken sheet, which was every moment becoming more placid andrefulgent in the sunshine. 

The world was drowned at last! As they looked abroad over the convexsurface, they thought, with a shudder, that now the earth, seen fromspace, was only a great, glassy ball, mirroring the sun and the stars. 

But they were ignorant of what had happened far in the west!

CHAPTER XXIV

THE FRENCHMAN'S NEW SCHEME

After the disappearance of Mt. Everest, Cosmo Versál made a carefulmeasurement of the depth of water on the peak, which he found to beforty feet, and then decided to cruise eastward with the Ark, sailingslowly, and returning after a month to see whether by that time therewould be any indications of the reappearance of land. 

No part of his extraordinary theory of the deluge was morerevolutionary, or scientifically incredible, than this idea that thecontinents would gradually emerge again, owing to internal stresses setup in the crust of the earth. 

This, he anticipated, would be caused by the tremendous pressure of thewater, which must be ten or twelve miles deep over the greatestdepressions of the old ocean-bottoms. He expected that geologicalmovements would attend the intrusion of the water into subterraneancavities and into the heated magma under volcanic regions. 

He often debated the question with the savants aboard the Ark, and, despite their incredulity, he persisted in his opinion. He could not beshaken, either, in his belief that the first land to emerge would be theHimalayas, the Pamirs, and the plateau of Tibet. 

"We may have to wait some years before any considerable area isexposed, " he admitted, "but it must not be forgotten that what land doesfirst appear above the water will lie at the existing sea-level, andwill have an oceanic climate, suitable for the rapid development ofplants. 

"We have aboard all things needed for quick cultivation, and in oneseason we could begin to raise crops. "

"But at first, " said Professor Jeremiah Moses, "only mountain tops willemerge, and how can you expect to cultivate them?"

"There is every probability, " replied Cosmo, "that even the rocks of amountain will be sufficiently friable after their submergence to bereadily reduced to the state of soil, especially with the aid of thechemical agents which I have brought along, and I have no fear that Icould not, in a few weeks, make even the top of Everest fertile. 

"I anticipate, in fact, that it will be on that very summit that weshall begin the re-establishment of the race. Then, as the plateausbelow come to the surface, we can gradually descend and enlarge thefield of our operations. "

"Suppose Everest should be turned into a volcano?"

"That cannot happen, " said Cosmo. "A volcano is built up by theextrusion of lava and cinders from below, and these cannot break forthat the top of a mountain already formed, especially when that mountainhas no volcanic chimney and no crater, and Everest had neither. "

"If the lowering of the flood that caused our stranding on a mountaintop in Sicily was due to the absorption of water into the interior ofthe crust, why may not that occur again, and thus bring the Himalayasinto view, without any rising on their part?" demanded Professor Moses. 

"I think, " said Cosmo, "that all the water that could enter the crusthas already done so, during the time that the depression of level whichso surprised us was going on. Now we must wait for geologic changes, resulting from the gradual yielding of the internal mass to the newforces brought to bear upon it. 

"As the whole earth has gained in _weight_ by the condensation of thenebula upon it, its plastic crust will proportionally gain in _girth_ byinternal expansion, which will finally bring all the old continents tothe surface, but Asia first of all. "

Whether Cosmo Versál's hypotheses were right or wrong, he always had areply to any objection, and the prestige which he had gained by hisdisastrously correct theory about the watery nebula gave him anadvantage so enormous that nobody felt enough confidence in himself tostand long against anything that he might advance. 

Accordingly, everybody in the Ark found himself looking forward to there-emergence of Mount Everest almost as confidently as did their leader, Cosmo Versál. 

They began their waiting voyage by sailing across the plateau of Tibetand the lofty chain of the Yung-ling Mountains out over China. 

The interest of all aboard was excited to the highest degree when theyfound themselves sailing over the mighty domains of the ChinesePresident-Emperor, who had developed an enormous power, making him theruler of the whole eastern world. 

He, with his half-billion or more of subjects, now reposed at the bottomof an ocean varying from three to five or six miles in depth. Deepbeneath the Ark lay the broad and once populous valleys of theYangtse-Kiang and the Hoang-Ho, the "Scourge of China. "

Finally they swung round northward and re-entered the region of Tibet, seeking once more the drowned crown of the world. In the meantime Cosmohad had the theatrical exhibitions and the concerts resumed in theevenings, and sometimes there was music, and even dancing on the longpromenades, open to the outer air. 

Let not that be a matter of surprise or blame, for the spirit of joy inlife is unconquerable, as it should be if life is worth while. So ithappened that, not infrequently, and not with any blameworthy intention, or in any spirit of heartless forgetfulness, this remarkable company ofworld-wanderers drifted, in the moonlight, above the universal waterygrave of the drowned millions, with the harmonies of stringedinstruments stealing out upon the rippling waves, and the soft sound ofswiftly shuffling feet tripping over the smooth decks. 

Costaké Theriade and Sir Wilfrid Athelstone resumed their stormy effortsto talk each other down, but now even Cosmo was seldom a listener, except when he had to interfere to keep the peace. 

King Richard and Amos Blank, however, usually heard them out, but it wasevident from their expressions that they enjoyed the prospectivefisticuffs rather more than the exposition of strange scientificdoctrines. 

Perhaps the happiest man aboard was Captain Arms. At last he could makeas many and as certain observations as he chose, and he studied thecharts of Asia until he declared that now he knew the latitude andlongitude of the mountains better than he did those of the seaports ofthe old oceans. 

He had not the least difficulty in finding the location of Mount Everestagain, and when he announced that they were floating over it, Cosmoimmediately prepared to make another measurement of the depth of wateron the peak. The result was hardly gratifying. He found that it haddiminished but four inches. He said to Captain Arms:

"The range is rising, but less rapidly than I hoped. Even if the presentrate should be doubled it would require five years for the emergence ofthe highest point. Instead of remaining in this part of the world weshall have an abundance of time to voyage round the earth, goingleisurely, and when we get back again perhaps there will be enough landvisible to give us a good start. "

"Mr. Versál, " said the captain, "you remember that you promised me thatI should drop my anchor on the head of Mount Everest if I worked atraverse across Beluchistan. "

"Certainly I remember it; and also that you were not much disposed toundertake the task. However, you did it well, and I suppose that now youwant me to fulfill the bargain?"

"Exactly, " replied the captain. "I'd just like to get a mud-hook in thetop-knot of the earth. I reckon that that'll lay over all the sea yarnsever spun. "

"Very well, " returned Cosmo. "Try it, if you've got cable enough. "

"Enough and to spare, " cried the captain, "and I'll have theGaurisankar, as the Frenchman calls it, hooked in a jiffy. "

This was an operation which called everybody to the rails to watchit. Hundreds of eyes tried to follow the anchor as it descendedperpendicularly upon the mountain-top, nearly forty feet beneath. Through the clear water they could dimly see the dark outline of thesummit below, and they gazed at it with wonder, and a sort of terror. 

Somehow they felt that never before had they fully appreciated the awfuldepths over which they had been floating. The anchor steadily droppeduntil it rested on the rock. 

It got a hold finally, and in a few minutes the great vessel wasswinging slowly round, held by a cable whose grasp was upon the top ofthe world! When the sensation had been sufficiently enjoyed the anchorwas tripped, and the nose of the Ark was turned northwestward. CosmoVersál announced his intention to circumnavigate the drowned globe. 

The news of what they were about to do was both welcome and saddening tothe inmates of the vessel. They wished to pass once more over the landswhere they had first seen the light, and at the same time they dreadedthe memories that such a voyage would inevitably bring back withoverwhelming force. But, at any rate, it would be better than driftingfor years over Tibet and China. 

While everybody else was discussing the prospects of the new voyage, andwondering how long it would last, Yves de Beauxchamps was concentratingall his attention upon a new project which had sprung up in his activemind as soon as Cosmo's intention was announced. He took Cosmo aside andsaid to him:

"M. Versál, the dearest memory that I have treasured in my heart is thatof the last sight of my drowned home, my beautiful dead Paris. It may bethat the home-loving instincts of my race arouse in me a melancholypleasure over such a sight which would not be shared by you, of adifferent blood; but if, perchance, you do share my feelings on thissubject I believe that I can promise you a similar visit to the greatmetropolis where your life began, and where you executed those laborswhose result has been to preserve a remnant of humanity to repeople theearth. "

Cosmo Versál's quick intelligence instantly comprehended the Frenchman'sdesign, but it startled him, and apparently insuperable difficulties atonce occurred to his mind. 

"M. De Beauxchamps, " he responded, grasping his friend warmly by thehand, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amiableintention, and I assure you that nothing could afford me greatersatisfaction than to see once more that mighty city, even though it cannow be but an awful ruin, tenanted by no life except the terriblecreatures of the deep. But, while I foresee what your plan must be, Ican hardly conceive that its execution could be possible. You arethinking, of course, of constructing a diving apparatus capable ofpenetrating to a depth of nearly six miles in the sea. Setting aside thequestion whether we could find in the stores of the Ark the materialsthat would be needed, it appears to me most improbable that we couldmake the apparatus of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure, andcould then cause it to sink to so great a depth, and afterward bring itsafely to the surface. "

The Frenchman smiled. 

"M. Versál, " he replied, "I have taken the liberty to look over thestock of materials which you have so wisely prepared for possiblerepairs to the Ark and for use after the Ark lands, and I know thatamong them I can find all that I shall need. You yourself know howcompletely you are provided with engineering tools and machines of allkinds. You have even an electric foundry aboard. With the aid of yourmechanical genius, and the skill of your assistants, together with thatof my own men, who are accustomed to work of this kind, I have not thefaintest doubt that I can design and construct a diving-bell, largeenough to contain a half-dozen persons, and perfectly capable ofpenetrating to any depth. Of course I cannot make it of levium, but youhave a sufficient supply of herculeum steel, the strength of which is soimmense that the walls of the bell can be made to remit the pressureeven at a depth of six miles. From my previous experiments I amconfident that there will be no difficulty in sinking and afterwardraising this apparatus. It is only necessary that the mean specificgravity of the bell shall be greater than that of the water at a givendepth, and you know that as far back as the end of the nineteenthcentury your own countrymen sent down sounding apparatus more than sixmiles in the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam. "

"But the air inside the bell--" Cosmo began. 

"Excuse me, " interrupted De Beauxchamps, "but that air need be under nogreater pressure than at the surface. I shall know how to provide forthat. Remember the _Jules Verne_. Simply give me _carte blanche_ in thismatter, let me have the materials to work with, afford me the advantageof your advice and assistance whenever I shall need them, and I promiseyou that by the time we have arrived over the site of New York we shallbe prepared for the descent. "

Cosmo was deeply impressed by the Frenchman's enthusiasticself-confidence. He had a great admiration for the constructor of the_Jules Verne_, and, besides, the proposed adventure was exactly afterhis own heart. After meditating a while, he said heartily:

"Well, M. De Beauxchamps, I give my consent. Everything you wish shallbe at your disposal, and you can begin as soon as you choose. Only, letthe thing be kept a secret between us and the workmen who are employed. If it should turn out a failure it would not do that the people in theArk should be aware of it. I can give you a working room on one of thelower decks, where there will be no interference with your proceedings, and no knowledge of what you are about can leak out. "

"That is exactly what I should wish, " returned De Beauxchamps, smilingwith delight, "and I renew my promise that you shall not bedisappointed. "

So, without a suspicion of what was going on entering the minds of anyperson in the great company outside the small company of men who wereactually employed in the work, the construction of De Beauxchamps'sgreat diving-bell was begun, and pushed with all possible speed, consistent with the proper execution of the work. In the meantime theArk continued its course toward the west. 

They ran slowly, for there was no hurry, and the Ark had now become toits inhabitants as a house and a home--their only foothold on the wholeround earth, and that but a little floating island of buoyant metal. They crossed the Pamirs and the Hindu-Kush, the place where the CaspianSea had been swallowed up in the universal ocean, and ran over Ararat, which three months before had put them into such fearful danger, butwhose loftiest summit now lay twelve thousand feet beneath their keel. 

At length, after many excursions toward the north and toward the south, in the halcyon weather that had seldom failed since the withdrawal ofthe nebula, they arrived at the place (or above it) which had stoodduring centuries for a noon-mark on the globe. 

It was midday when Captain Arms, having made his observations, said toCosmo and the others on the bridge:

"Noon at Greenwich, and noon on the Ark. Latitude, fifty-one degreesthirty minutes. That brings you as nearly plumb over the place as you'dbe likely to hit it. Right down there lies the old observatory that setthe chronometers of the world, and kept the clocks and watches up totheir work. "

King Richard turned aside upon hearing the captain's words. They broughta too vivid picture of the great capital, six miles under their feet, and a too poignant recollection of the disastrous escape of the royalfamily from overwhelmed London seven months before. 

As reckoned by the almanac, it was the 15th of September, more thansixteen months since Cosmo had sent out his first warning to the public, when the Ark crossed the meridian of seventy-four degrees west, in aboutforty-one degrees north latitude, and the adventurers knew that New Yorkwas once more beneath them. 

There was great emotion among both passengers and crew, for the majorityof them had either dwelt in New York or been in some way associated withits enterprises and its people, and, vain as must be the hope of seeingany relic of the buried metropolis, every eye was on the alert. 

They looked off across the boundless sea in every direction, interrogating every suspicious object on the far horizon, and evenpeering curiously into the blue abyss, as if something might suddenlyappear there which would speak to them like a voice from the past. 

But they saw only shafts of sunlight running into bottomless depths, andoccasionally some oceanic creature floating lazily far below. The colorof the sea was wonderful. It had attracted their attention after thesubmergence of Mount Everest, but at that time it had not yet assumedits full splendor. 

At first, no doubt, there was considerable dissolved matter in thewater, but gradually this settled, and the sea became bluer andbluer--not the deep indigo of the old ocean, but a much lighter and morebrilliant hue--and here, over the site of New York, the waters were of abright, luminous sapphire, that dazzled the eye. 

Cosmo declared that the change of the sea-color was undoubtedly due tosome quality in the nebula from whose condensation the water had beenproduced, but neither his own analyses, nor those of the chemists aboardthe Ark, were able to detect the subtle element to whose presence thepeculiar tint was due. 

But whatever it may have been, it imparted to the ocean an ethereal, imponderous look, which was sometimes startling. There were moments whenthey almost expected to see it expand back into the nebulous form andfly away. 

CHAPTER XXV

NEW YORK IN HER OCEAN TOMB

During the long voyage from the sunken Himalayas to still deeper sunkenNew York, De Beauxchamps, with his fellow-countrymen and the skilledmechanics assigned by Cosmo Versál to aid them, had finished theconstruction of the huge diving-bell. No one not in the secret had theslightest idea of what had been done, owing to the remote situation ofthe deck on which the construction was carried out. 

Now, while a thousand pairs of eyes were interrogating the smoothsurface of the sea, and striving to penetrate its cerulean depths, agreat surprise was sprung upon the passengers. The rear gangway of thelowest deck was cleared, a heavy crane-like beam was set projecting overthe water, and men began to rig a flexible cable, which had beenspecially prepared for the purpose of lowering the bell into the depths, and of raising it again when the adventurers should wish to return tothe surface. Everybody's attention was immediately attracted to thesestrange preparations, and the utmost curiosity was aroused. A chorus ofwondering exclamations broke out when a metallic globe, twenty feet indiameter, and polished until it shone like a giant thermometer bulb, wasrolled out and carefully attached to the cable by means of a strong ringset in one side of the bell. The excitement of the passengers would soonhave become uncontrollable if Cosmo had not at this point summoned theentire ship's company into the great saloon. As soon as all wereassembled he mounted his dais and began to speak. 

"My fellow-citizens of the old world, which has perished, and of thenew, which is to take its place, " he said, "we owe to the genius of M. De Beauxchamps an apparatus which is about to enable us to inspect, byan actual visit, the remains of the vast metropolis, which we saw in allits majesty and beauty but so few months ago, and which now lies foreversilent at the bottom of this universal ocean. 

"If it were practicable I should wish to afford to every one of you afarewell glimpse of that mighty city, to which the hearts of so manyhere are bound, but you can readily understand that that would beimpossible. Only six persons can go in this exploring bell, and theyhave been chosen; but a faithful account will be brought back to you ofall that they see and learn. The adventuring company will consist of M. De Beauxchamps, M. Pujol, his first assistant, Mr. Amos Blank, KingRichard, Professor Abel Able, and myself. Captain Arms has ascertainedthe location of the center of Manhattan Island, over which we are nowfloating. The quietness of the sea, the absence of any apparent current, and the serenity of the heavens are favoring circumstances, which may berelied upon to enable Captain Arms to keep the Ark constantly poisedalmost precisely over our point of descent. It is not possible topredict the exact duration of our absence in the depths, but it willnot, in any case, exceed about twenty hours. 

"Once arrived at the bottom, nearly six miles down, we shall attach thecable to some secure anchorage, by means of a radio-control, operatedfrom within the bell, and then, with the bell free, we shall makeexplorations, as extensive as possible. The radio-control of which Ihave spoken governs also the attachment of the cable to the bell. Thisappliance has been prepared and tested with such care that we have nodoubt of its entire efficiency. I mention these things in order toremove from your minds any fear as to the success of our enterprise. 

"The bell being once detached, we shall be able to move it from point topoint by means of a pair of small propellers, which you will perceive onthe outside of the bell, and which are also controlled from within. These will be used to increase our speed of descent. From a calculationof the density of the sea-water at the depth to which we shall descend, we estimate that the bell with its contents will press upon the bottomwith a gravitational force of only five pounds, so that it will movewith very slight effort, and may even, when in motion, float like afish. 

"For the purposes of observation we have provided, on four sides of thebell, a series of circular windows, with glass of immense thickness andstrength, but of extraordinary transparency. Through these windows weshall be able to see in almost all directions. It was our intention toprovide wireless telephone apparatus with which we might have kept youinformed of all our doings and discoveries, but unfortunately we havefound it impracticable to utilize our control for that purpose. Weshall, however, be able to send and receive signals as long as we areconnected with the cable. 

"I should add that the construction of the bell, although suggested byM. De Beauxchamps immediately after our departure from Mount Everest, has been carried on in secret simply because we did not wish to subjectyou to the immense disappointment which you would certainly haveexperienced if this brilliant conception of our gifted friend, afterbeing once made known to you, had proved to be a failure. Ourpreparations have all been made, and within an hour we shall begin thedescent. "

It is quite impossible to describe the excitement of the passengerswhile they listened to this extraordinary communication. When CosmoVersál had finished speaking he stood for some minutes looking at hisaudience with a triumphant smile. First a murmur of excited voicesarose, and then somebody proposed three cheers, which were given andrepeated until the levium dome rang with the reverberations. Nobody knewexactly why he was cheering, but the infectious enthusiasm carriedeverything before it. Then the crowd began to ask questions, addressednot to Cosmo but to one another. The wildest suggestions were made. Onewoman who had left some treasured heirlooms in a Fifth Avenue mansiondemanded of her husband that he should commission Cosmo Versál torecover them. 

"I'm sure they're there, " she insisted. "They were locked in the safe. "

"But, don't you see, " protested the poor man, "he can't get outside ofthat bell to get 'em. "

"I don't see _why_ he can't, if he should really try. I think it's toomean! They were my grandmother's jewels. "

"But, my dear, how could he get out?"

"Well, _how does he get in?_ What's his radio-control good for; won'tthat help him? What is he going down there for if he can't do a littlething like that, to oblige?"

She pouted at her husband because he persistently refused to present herrequest to Cosmo, and declared that she would do it herself, then, forshe must have those jewels, now that they were so near. 

But Cosmo was saved from this, and other equally unreasonable demands, by a warning from De Beauxchamps that all was ready, and that no timeshould be lost. Then everybody hastened out on the decks to watch thedeparture of the adventurers. Many thoughtfully shook their heads, predicting that they would never be seen again. As soon as this feelingbegan to prevail the enthusiasm quickly evaporated, and efforts weremade to dissuade Cosmo and De Beauxchamps from making the attempt. Butthey were deaf to all remonstrance, and pushing out of the chatteringcrowd, Cosmo ordered the gangway about the bell to be cleared of allbystanders. The opposition heated his blood a little, and he began tobear himself with an air which recalled his aspect when he quelled andpunished the mutiny. This was enough to silence instantly every objectorto his proceedings. Henceforth they kept their thoughts to themselves, although some muttered, under their breath such epithets as "fool" and"harebrain. "

In about half an hour after Cosmo's speech the bell, with its hardyexplorers safely inclosed within, was lowered away, and a minute laterhundreds were craning their necks over the rails to watch the shiningglobe engulf itself swiftly in the sapphire depths. It was about nineo'clock in the morning when the descent was begun, and for a long time, so remarkable was the transparency of the water, they could see the bellsinking, and becoming smaller until it resembled a blue pearl. Sometimesa metallic flash shot from its polished sides like a gleam of violetlightning. But at length it passed from view, swallowed up in thetremendous watery chasm. 

We turn now to trace the adventures of the bell and its inmates as theyentered the awful twilight of the ocean, and, sinking deeper, passedgradually into a profundity which the sun's most powerful rays wereunable to penetrate. Fortunately every one of the adventurers left adescription of his experiences and sensations, so that there is no lackof authentic information to guide us. 

The windows, as Cosmo had said, were so arranged that they affordedviews on all sides. These views were, of course, restricted by thecombined effects of the smallness of the windows and their greatthickness; the inmates were somewhat like prisoners looking out of roundports cut through massive walls, but the range of view was much widenedwhen they placed themselves close to the glasses, because the latterwere in the form of truncated cones with the base outward. 

Glancing through the ports on the upper side of the bell Cosmo and hiscompanions could perceive the huge form of the Ark, hanging like a cloudabove them, but rapidly receding, while from the side ports they sawgreat shafts of azure sunlight, thrown into wonderful undulations by thedisturbance of the water. These soon became fainter and graduallydisappeared, but before the gloom of the depths settled about them theywere thrilled by the spectacle of sharks and other huge fishes nosingabout the outer side of the transparent cones, and sometimes openingtheir jaws as if trying to seize them. Most of the cone-shaped windowshad flat surfaces, but a few were of spherical outline both without andwithin, and the radius of curvature had been so calculated that theseparticular windows served as huge magnifying lenses for an eye placed ata given distance. Once or twice a marine monster happened to placehimself in the field of one of these magnifying windows, startling theobservers almost out of their senses with his frightful appearance. 

There were also four windows reserved for projecting a searchlight intothe outer darkness. The inner side of the bell corresponded in curvaturewith the outer, so that the adventurers had no flat flooring on any sideto stand upon, but this caused little inconvenience, since the wallswere abundantly provided with hand and foot holds, enabling the inmatesto maintain themselves in almost any position they could wish. 

After a while they passed below the range of daylight, and then theyturned on the searchlight. The storage batteries which supplied energyfor the searchlight and the propellers served also to operate anapparatus for clearing the air of carbonic acid, and De Beauxchamps hadcarefully calculated the limit of time that the air could be kept in abreathable condition. This did not exceed forty-eight hours--but as wehave seen they had no intention of remaining under water longer thantwenty hours at the utmost. 

When the bell entered the night of the sea-depths they passed into anapparently lifeless zone, where the searchlight, projected now on oneside and now on another, revealed no more of the living forms which theyhad encountered above, but showed only a desert of solid transparentwater. Here, amid this awful isolation, they experienced for the firsttime a feeling of dread and terror. An overpowering sense of lonelinessand helplessness came over them, and only the stout heart of CosmoVersál, and his reassuring words, kept the others from making the signalwhich would have caused the bell to be hastily drawn back to the Ark. 

"M. De Beauxchamps, " said Cosmo, breaking the impressive silence, "towhat depth have we now descended?"

"A thousand fathoms, " replied the Frenchman, consulting his automaticregister. 

"Good! We have been only thirty minutes in reaching this depth. We shallsink more slowly as we get deeper, but I think we can count uponreaching the bottom in not more than four hours from the moment of ourdeparture. It will require only two hours for them to draw us back againwith the powerful engines of the Ark, especially when aided by ourpropellers. This will leave fourteen hours for our explorations, if westay out the limit that we have fixed. "

There was such an air of confidence in Cosmo's manner and words thatthis simple statement did much to enhearten the others. 

"The absence of life in this part of the sea, " Cosmo continuedcheerfully, "does not surprise me. It has long been known that the lifeof the ocean is confined to regions near the surface and the bottom. Weshall certainly find plenty of wonderful creatures below. "

When they knew that they must be near the bottom they turned the lightdownward, and every available window was occupied by an eager watcher. Presently a cry of "Look! Look there!" broke from several voices atonce. 

The searchlight, penetrating far through the clear water beneath thebell, fell in a circle round a most remarkable object--tall, gaunt, andspectral, with huge black ribs. 

"Why, it's the Metropolitan tower, still standing!" cried Amos Blank. "Who would have believed it possible?"

"No doubt there was some lucky circumstance about its anchorage, "returned Cosmo. "Although it was built so long ago, it was madeimmensely strong, and well braced, and as the water did not undermine itat the start, it has been favored by the very density of that which nowsurrounds it, and which tends to buoy it up and hold it steady. But youobserve that it has been stripped of the covering of stone. "

"Would it not be well to utilize it for anchoring the cable?" asked DeBeauxchamps. 

"We could have nothing better, " said Cosmo. 

De Beauxchamps immediately called to the Ark, and directed the movementsof those in charge of the drum of the cable so nicely that the descentceased at the exact moment when the bell came to rest upon a group ofbeams at the top of the tower. The radio-control, which is so familiarin its thousand applications to-day, was then a new thing, having beeninvented only a year or so before the deluge, and De Beauxchamps's formof the apparatus was crude. The underlying principle, however, was thesame as that now employed--transmission through a metallic wall ofimpulses capable of being turned into mechanic energy. With its aid theyhad no difficulty in detaching the cable from the bell, but it requiredsome careful maneuvering to secure a satisfactory attachment to thebeams of the tower. At last, however, this was effected, and immediatelythey set out for their exploration of drowned New York. 

They began with the skeleton tower itself, which had only once or twicebeen exceeded in height by the famous structures of the era ofskyscrapers. In some places they found the granite skin yet _in situ_, but almost everywhere it had been stripped off, probably by thetremendous waves which swept over it as the flood attained its firstthousand feet of elevation. They saw no living forms, except a fewcuriously shaped phosphorescent creatures of no great size, whichscurried away out of the beam of the search-light. They saw no trace ofthe millions of their fellow-beings who had been swallowed up in thisvast grave, and for this all secretly gave thanks. The soil of MadisonSquare had evidently been washed away, for no signs of the trees whichhad once shaded it were seen, and a reddish ooze had begun to collectupon the exposed rocks. All around were the shattered ruins of othergreat buildings, some, like the Metropolitan tower, yet retaining theirsteel skeletons, others tumbled down, and lying half-buried in the ooze. 

Finding nothing of great interest in this neighborhood they turned thecourse of the bell northward, passing everywhere over interminableruins, and as soon as they began to skirt the ridge of MorningsideHeights the huge form of the cathedral of St. John fell within thecircle of projected light. It was unroofed, and some of the walls hadfallen, but some of the immense arches yet retained their uprightposition. Here, for the first time, they encountered the real giants ofthe submarine depths. De Beauxchamps, who had seen some of thesecreatures during his visit to Paris in the _Jules Verne_, declared thatnothing which he had seen there was so terrifying as what they nowbeheld. One creature, which seemed to be the unresisted master of thiskingdom of phosphorescent life, appears to have exceeded in strangenessthe utmost descriptive powers of all those who looked upon it, for theirwritten accounts are filled with ejaculations, and are more or lessinconsistent with one another. The reader gathers from them, however, the general impression that it made upon their astonished minds. 

The creatures were of a livid hue, and had the form of a globe, as largeas the bell itself, with a valvular opening on one side which wasevidently a mouth, surrounded with a circle of eyelike disks, projectingshafts of self-evolved light into the water. They moved about withsurprising ease, rising and sinking at will, sometimes rolling along thecurve of an arch, emitting flashes of green fire, and occasionallydarting across the intervening spaces in pursuit of their prey, whichconsisted of smaller prosphorescent animals that fled in the utmostconsternation. When the adventurers in the bell saw one of the globularmonsters seize its victim they were filled with horror. It had drivenits prey into a corner of the wrecked choir, and suddenly it flatteneditself like a rubber bulb pressed against the wall, completely coveringthe creature that was to be devoured, although the effect of itsstruggles could be perceived; and then, to the amazement of theonlookers, the living globe slowly turned itself inside out, engulfingthe victim in the process. 

"Great heavens, " exclaimed Professor Abel Able, "it is a gigantic_hydroid polyps!_ That is precisely the way in which those littlecreatures swallow their prey; outside becomes inside, what was thesurface of the body is turned into the lining of the digestive cavity, and every time they take a meal the process of introversion is repeated. This monster is nothing but a huge self-sustaining maw!"

"_Trčs bien_, " exclaimed De Beauxchamps, with a slight laugh, "and hefinds himself in New York, quite _chez soi_. "

Nobody appeared to notice the sarcasm, and, in any case they wouldquickly have forgotten it, for no sooner had the tragic spectacle whichthey had witnessed been finished than they suddenly found the bellsurrounded by a crowd of the globe-shaped creatures, jostling oneanother, and flattening themselves against its metallic walls. Theypushed the bell about, rolling themselves all over it, and apparentlyfinding nothing terrifying in the searchlight, which was hardly brighterthan the phosphorescent gleams which shot from their own luminescentorgans. One of them got one of its luminous disks exactly in the fieldof a magnifying window, and King Richard, who happened to have his eyein the focus, started back with a cry of alarm. 

"I cannot describe what I saw, " the king wrote in his notebook. "It wasa glimpse of fiery cones, triangles, and circles, ranged in tier behindtier with a piercing eye in the center, and the light that came fromthem resembled nothing that I have ever seen. It seemed to be a _livingemanation_, and almost paralyzed me. "

"We must get away from them, " cried De Beauxchamps, as soon as the firstoverwhelming effect of the attack upon the bell had passed. Andimmediately he set the propellers at their highest speed. 

The bell shook and half rolled over, there was a scurrying among themonsters outside, and two or three of them floated away partly incollapse, as if they had been seriously wounded by the short propellerblades. 

The direction of flight chanced to carry them past the dome of theColumbia University Library, which was standing almost intact, and thenthey floated near the monumental tomb of General Grant, which hadcrowned a noble elevation overlooking the Hudson River. A portion of theupper part of this structure had been carried away, but the larger partremained in position. They saw no more of the globular creatures whichhad haunted the ruins of the cathedral, but, instead, there appearedaround the bell an immense multitude of small luminescent animals, manyof them most beautifully formed, and emitting from their light-producingorgans various exquisite colors which turned the surrounding water intoan all-embracing rainbow. 

[Illustration: "AND THEN THEY FLOATED NEAR THE MONUMENTAL TOMB OFGENERAL GRANT"]

But a more marvelous phenomenon quickly made its appearance, causingthem to gasp with astonishment. As they drew near the dismantled dome abrilliant gleam suddenly streamed into the ports on the side turnedtoward the monument--a gush of light so bright that the air inside thebell seemed to have been illuminated with a golden sunrise. They glancedtoward the monument, and saw that it was surmounted by some vibratingobject which seemed instinct with blinding fire. The colors that sprangfrom it changed rapidly from gold to purple, and then, throughshimmering hues of bronze, to a deep rich orange. It looked like a sun, poised on the horizon. The spectacle was so dazzling, so unexpected, sobeautiful, and, associated with the architectural memorial of one of thegreatest characters in American history, so strangely suggestive, thateven King Richard and the two Frenchmen were strongly moved, while Cosmoand his fellow-countrymen grasped each other by the hand, and the formersaid, in solemn tones:

"My friends, to my mind, this scene, however accidental, has somethingof prophecy about it. It changes the current of my thought--America isnot dead; in some way she yet survives upon the earth. "

Long they gazed and wondered, but at last, partly recovering from theirastonishment, at the suggestion of De Beauxchamps, they drew nearer themonument. But when they had arrived within a few yards of it, theblinding light disappeared as if snuffed out, and they saw nothing butthe broken gray walls of the dome. The moving object, which had beendimly visible at the beginning, and had evidently been the source of thelight, had vanished. 

"The creature that produced the illumination, " said Professor Abel Able, "has been alarmed by our approach, and has withdrawn into the interior. "

This was, no doubt, the true explanation, but they could perceive nosigns of life about the place, and they finally turned away from it withstrange sensations. 

Avoiding the neighborhood of the cathedral, they steered the bell downthe former course of the Hudson, but afterward ventured once more overthe drowned city until they arrived at the site of the great station ofthe Pennsylvania Railroad, which they found completely unroofed. Theysank the bell into the vast space where the tunnels entered fromunderneath the old river bed, and again they had a startling experience. Something huge, elongated, and spotted, and provided with expandingclaw-like limbs, slowly withdrew as their light streamed upon thereddish ooze covering the great floor. The nondescript retreatedbackward into the mouth of a tunnel. They endeavored, cautiously, tofollow it, turning a magnifying window in its direction, and obtaining astartling view of glaring eyes, but the creature hastened its retreat, and the last glimpse they had was of a grotesque head, which threw outpiercing rays of green fire as it passed deeper into the tunnel. 

"This is too terrible, " exclaimed King Richard, shuddering. "In Heaven'sname, let us go no farther. "

"We must visit Wall Street, " said Amos Blank. "We must see what theformer financial center of the world now looks like. "

Accordingly they issued from the ruined station, and, resuming theircourse southward, arrived at length over the great money center. Thetall buildings which had shouldered each other in that wonderfuldistrict, turning the streets into immense gorges, had, to a certainextent, protected one another against the effects of the waves, and theskeletons of many were yet standing. In the midst of them the dark spireof old Trinity still pointed stoutly upward, as if continuing itshopeless struggle against the spirit of worldly grandeur whose aspiringcreations, though in ruins, yet dwarfed this symbol of immortality. Atthe intersection of the Wall and Broad Street cańons they found anenormous steel edifice, which had been completed a short time before thedeluge, tumbled in ruins upon the classic form of the old StockExchange, the main features of whose front were yet recognizable. Theweight of the fallen building had been so great that it had crushed theroof of the treasure vaults which had occupied its ground floor, and thefragments of safes with their contents had been hurled over the northernexpanse of Broad Street. The red ooze had covered most of the wastedwealth there heaped up, but in places piles of gold showed through thecovering. Amos Blank became greatly excited at this. His oldproclivities seemed to resume their sway and his former madness toreturn, and he buried his finger nails in his clenched palms as hepressed his face against a window, exclaiming:

"_My gold!_ MY GOLD! Let me out of this! I must have it!"

"Nobody can get out of the bell, Mr. Blank, " said Cosmo soothingly. "Andthe gold is now of no use to anybody. "

"I tell you, " cried Blank, "that that is _my_ gold. It comes from _my_vaults, and I _must_ get out!" And he dashed his fists wildly againstthe glass until his knuckles were covered with blood. Then he soughtabout for some implement with which to break the glass. They werecompelled to seize him, and a dreadful struggle followed in therestricted space within the bell. In the midst of it Blank's face becameset, and his eyes stared wildly out of a window. 

The others followed the direction of his gaze, and they were almostfrozen into statues. Close beside the bell, which had, during thestruggle, floated near to the principal heap of mingled treasure andruin, heavily squatted on the very summit of the pile, was such acreature as no words could depict--of a ghastly color, bulky andmalformed, furnished with three burning eyes that turned now green, nowred with lambent flame, and great shapeless limbs, which it uplifted oneafter the other, striking awkward, pawing blows at the bell! It seemedto the horrified onlookers to be the very demon of greed defending itsspoil. Blank sank helpless on the bottom side of the bell, and theothers remained for a time petrified, and unable to speak. Suddenly thedreadful creature, making a forward lunge from its perch, struck thebell a mighty blow that sent it spinning in a partly upward direction. The inmates were tumbled over one another, bruised and cut by theprojections that served for hand and foot holds. So great had been theimpact of the blow that the bell continued to revolve for severalminutes, and they could do nothing to help themselves, except to seizethe holds as they came within their grasp, and hang on for dear life. The violent shaking up roused Blank from his trance, and he hung ondesperately with the others. 

After a while the bell ceased to spin, and began to sink again towardthe bottom. De Beauxchamps, who had recovered some degree ofself-command, instantly began to operate the control governing thepropellers, and in a few minutes he had the bell moving in a fixeddirection. 

"This way, this way, " cried Cosmo, glancing out of the windows to orienthimself. "We have seen enough! We must get back to the cable, and returnto the Ark!"

They were terror-stricken now, and pushing the propellers to theirutmost, they fled toward the site of the Metropolitan tower. On theirway, although for a time they passed over the course of the East River, they saw no signs of the great bridges except the partly demolished butyet beautiful towers of the oldest of them, which had been constructedof heavy granite blocks. They found the cable attached as they had leftit, and, although they were yet nervous from their recent experience, they had no great difficulty in re-attaching it to the bell. Then, witha sigh of relief, they signaled, and shouted through the telephone tothe Ark. 

But no answer came, and there was no responsive movement of the cable!They signaled and called again, but without result. 

"My God!" said Cosmo, in a faltering voice. "Can anything have happenedto the cable?"

They looked at each other with blanched cheeks, and no man found a wordto reply. 

CHAPTER XXVI

NEW AMERICA

There had been great excitement on the Ark when the first communicationfrom the bell was received, announcing the arrival of the adventurers atthe Metropolitan tower. The news spread everywhere in a few seconds, andthe man in charge of the signaling apparatus and telephone would havebeen mobbed if Captain Arms had not rigorously shut off allcommunication with him, compelling the eager inquirers to be contentwith such information as he himself saw fit to give them. When theannouncement was made that the bell had been cut loose, and theexploration begun, the excitement was intensified, and a Babel of voicesresounded all over the great ship. 

As hour after hour passed with no further communication from below theanxiety of the multitude became almost unbearable. Some declared thatthe adventurers would never be able to re-attach the bell to the cable, and the fear rapidly spread that they would never be seen again. CaptainArms strove in vain to reassure the excited passengers, but they grewevery moment more demoralized, and he was nearly driven out of hissenses by the insistent questioning to which he was subjected. It wasalmost a relief to him when the lookout announced an impending change ofweather--although he well new the peril which such a change might bring. 

It came on more rapidly than anybody could have anticipated. The sky, inthe middle of the afternoon, became clouded, the sun was quickly hidden, and a cold blast arose, quickly strengthening into a regular blow. TheArk began to drift as the rising waves assailed its vast flanks. 

"Pay out the cable!" roared Captain Arms through his trumpet. 

If he had not been instantly obeyed it is probable that the cable wouldhave been dragged from its precarious fastening below. Then he instantlyset the engines at work, and strove to turn the Ark so as to keep itnear the point of descent. At first they succeeded very well, but thecaptain knew that the wind was swiftly increasing in force, and that hecould not long continue to hold his place. It was a terrible emergency, but he proved himself equal to it. 

"We must float the cable, " he shouted to his first assistant. "Over withthe big buoy. "

This buoy of levium had been prepared for other possible emergencies. Itwas flat, presenting little surface to the wind, and when, working withfeverish speed, aided by an electric launch, they had attached the cableto it, it sank so low that its place on the sea was indicated only bythe short mast, capped with a streamer, which rose above it. 

When this work was completed a sigh of relief whistled through CaptainArms's huge whiskers. 

"May Davy Jones hold that cable tight!" he exclaimed. "Now fornavigating the Ark. If I had my old _Maria Jane_ under my feet I'd defyBoreas himself to blow me away from here--but this whale!"

The wind increased fast, and in spite of every effort the Ark was drivenfarther and farther toward the southwest, until the captain's telescopeno longer showed the least glimpse of the streamer on the buoy. Thennight came on, and yet the wind continued to blow. The captain compelledall the passengers to go to their rooms. It would be useless toundertake to describe the terror and despair of that night. When the sunrose again the captain found that they had been driven seventy-fivemiles from the site of New York, and yet, although the sky had nowpartly cleared, the violence of the wind had not diminished. 

Captain Arms had the passengers' breakfast served in their rooms, simplysending them word that all would be well in the end. But in his secretheart he doubted if he could find the buoy again. He feared that itwould be torn loose with the cable. 

About noon the wind lulled, and at last the Ark could be effectivelydriven in the direction of the buoy. But their progress was slow, andnight came on once more. During the hours of darkness the wind ceasedentirely, and the sea became calm. With the sunrise the search for thebuoy was begun in earnest. The passengers were now allowed to go uponsome of the decks, and to assemble in the grand saloon, but nointerference was permitted with the navigators of the Ark. Never hadCaptain Arms so fully exhibited his qualities as a seaman. 

"We'll find that porpoise if it's still afloat, " he declared. 

About half after eight o'clock a cry ran through the ship, bringingeverybody out on the decks. 

The captain had discovered the buoy through his glass!

It lay away to the nor'ard, about a mile, and as they approached allcould see the streamer, hanging down its pole, a red streak in thesunshine. 

"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The Ark echoed with glad cries from stem tostern. A thousand questions were shouted at the captain on his bridge, but he was imperturbable. He only glanced at his watch, and then said, in an undertone, to Joseph Smith, who stood beside him:

"Forty-seven hours and twenty minutes. By the time we can get the cableback on the drum it will be full forty-eight hours since they started, and the air in the bell could be kept in condition no longer than that. It may take as much as two hours more to draw it up. "

"Can you do it so rapidly as that?" asked Smith, his voice trembling. 

"I'll do it or bust, " returned the captain. "Perhaps they may yet bealive. "

Smith turned his eyes upward and clasped his hands. The Ark was put toits utmost speed, and within the time estimated by the captain the cablewas once more on the great drum. Before starting it the captain attachedthe telephone and shouted down. There was no reply. 

"Start gently, and then, if she draws, drive for your lubberly lives, "he said to the men in charge of the big donkey engine. 

The moment it began to turn he inspected the indicator. 

"Hurrah!" he exclaimed. "She pulls; the bell is attached. "

The crowded decks broke into a cheer. In a few minutes the Ark wasvibrating with the strokes of the engine. Within five minutes thestrong, slender cable was issuing out of the depths at the rate of 250feet a minute. But there were six miles of it! The engineer controllingthe drum shook his head. 

"We may break the cable, " he said. 

"Go on!" shouted Captain Arms. "It's their only chance. Every second ofdelay means sure death. "

Within forty minutes the cable was coming up 300 feet a minute. Thespeed increased as the bell rose out of the depths. It was just one hourand forty-five minutes after the drum began to revolve when the anxiouswatchers were thrown into a furore of excitement by the appearance of ashining blue point deep beneath. It was the bell! Again there brokeforth a tempest of cheers. 

Rapidly the rising bell grew larger under their eyes, until at last itburst the surface of the sea. The engine had been skillfully slowed atthe last moment, and the rescued bell stopped at the level of the deckopen to receive it. With mad haste it was drawn aboard and the hermeticdoor was opened. Those who were near enough glanced inside and turnedpale. Tumbled in a heap at the bottom lay the six men, with yellow facesand blank, staring eyes. In an instant they were lifted out and twodoctors sprang to the side of each. Were they dead? Could any skillrevive them? A hush as of death spread over the great vessel. 

They were not dead. The skill of the physicians brought them, one afteranother, slowly back to consciousness. But it was two full days beforethey could rise from their beds, and three before they could begin totell their story--the story of the wonders they had seen, and of thedreadful struggle for breath in the imprisoned bell before they had sunkinto unconsciousness. Not a word was ever spoken about the strangeoutbreak of Blank at the sight of the gold, although the others allrecorded it in their notebooks. He himself never referred to it, and itseemed to have faded from his mind. 

As soon as it was evident that the rescued men would recover, CaptainArms, acting on his own responsibility, had started the Ark on itswestward course. It was a long and tedious journey that they had yetbefore them, but the monotony was broken by the undying interest in themarvelous story of the adventures of the bell. 

Three weeks after they left the vicinity of New York, the observationsshowed that they must be nearing the eastern border of the Coloradoplateau. Then one day a bird alighted on the railing of the bridge, close beside Cosmo and Captain Arms. 

"A bird!" cried Cosmo. "But it is incredible that a bird should be here!How can it ever have kept itself afloat? It surely could not haveremained in the air all this time, and it could not have rested on thewaves during the downpour from the sky! Its presence here is absolutelymiraculous!"

The poor bird, evidently exhausted by a long journey, remained upon therail, and permitted Cosmo to approach closely before taking flight toanother part of the Ark. Cosmo at first thought that it might haveescaped from his aviary below. 

But close inspection satisfied him that it was of a different speciesfrom any that he had taken into the Ark, and the more he thought of thestrangeness of its appearance here the greater was his bewilderment. 

While he was puzzling over the subject the bird was seen by many of thepassengers, flitting from one part of the vessel to another, and theywere as much astonished as Cosmo had been, and all sorts of conjectureswere made to account for the little creature's escape from the flood. 

But within an hour or two Cosmo and the captain, who were now muchoftener alone upon the bridge than they had been during their passageover the eastern continents, had another, and an incomparably greater, surprise. 

It was the call of "Land, ho!" from the lookout. 

"Land!" exclaimed Cosmo. "Land! How can there be any land?"

Captain Arms was no less incredulous, and he called the lookout down, accused him of having mistaken a sleeping whale for a landfall, and sentanother man aloft in his place. But in a few minutes the same call of"Land, ho!" was repeated. 

The captain got the bearings of the mysterious object this time, and theArk was sent for it at her highest speed. It rose steadily out of thewater until there could be no possibility of not recognizing it as thetop of a mountain. 

When it had risen still higher, until its form seemed gigantic againstthe horizon, Captain Arms, throwing away his tobacco with an emphaticgesture, and striking his palm on the rail, fairly shouted:

"The Pike! By--the old Pike! There she blows!"

"Do you mean Pike's Peak?" demanded Cosmo. 

"Do I mean Pike's Peak?" cried the captain, whose excitement had becomeuncontrollable. "Yes, I mean Pike's Peak, and the deuce to him! Wasn't Iborn at his foot? Didn't I play ball in the Garden of the Gods? And lookat him, Mr. Versál! There he stands! No water-squirting pirate of anebula could down the old Pike!"

The excitement of everybody else was almost equal to the captain's, whenthe grand mass of the mountain, with its characteristic profile, cameinto view from the promenade-decks. 

De Beauxchamps, King Richard, and Amos Blank hurried to the bridge, which they were still privileged to invade, and the two former inparticular asked questions faster than they could be answered. Meanwhile, they were swiftly approaching the mountain. 

King Richard seemed to be under the impression that they had completedthe circuit of the world ahead of time, and his first remark was to theeffect that Mount Everest appeared to be rising faster than they hadanticipated. 

"That's none of your pagodas!" exclaimed the captain disdainfully;"that's old Pike; and if you can find a better crown for the world, I'dlike to see it. "

The king looked puzzled, and Cosmo explained that they were still nearthe center of the American continent, and that the great peak beforethem was the sentinel of the Rocky Mountains. 

"But, " replied the king, "I understood you that the whole world wascovered, and that the Himalayas would be the first to emerge. "

"That's what I believed, " said Cosmo, "but the facts are against me. "

"So you thought you were going to run over the Rockies!" exclaimed thecaptain gleefully. "They're no Gaurisankars, hey, M. De Beauxchamps?"

"_Vive les Rockies! Vive le Pike!_" cried the Frenchman, catching thecaptain's enthusiasm. 

"But how do you explain it?" asked King Richard. 

"It's the batholite, " responded Cosmo, using exactly the same phrasethat Professor Pludder had employed some months before. 

"And pray explain to me what is a batholite?"

Before Cosmo Versál could reply there was a terrific crash, and the Ark, for the third time in her brief career, had made an unexpected landing. But this time the accident was disastrous. 

All on the bridge, including Captain Arms, who should surely have knownthe lay of the land about his childhood's home, had been so interestedin their talk that before they were aware of the danger the great vesselhad run her nose upon a projecting buttress of the mountain. 

She was going at full speed, too. Not a person aboard but was thrownfrom his feet, and several were severely injured. 

The prow of the Ark was driven high upon a sloping surface of rock, andthe tearing sounds showed only too clearly that this time both bottomshad been penetrated, and that there could be no hope of saving the hugeship or getting her off. 

Perhaps at no time in all their adventures had the passengers of the Arkbeen so completely terrorized and demoralized, and many members of thecrew were in no better state. Cosmo and the captain shouted orders, andran down into the hold to see the extent of the damage. Water waspouring in through the big rents in torrents. 

There was plainly nothing to be done but to get everybody out of thevessel and upon the rocks as rapidly as possible. 

The forward parts of the promenade-deck directly overhung the rock uponwhich the Ark had forced itself, and it was possible for many to be letdown that way. At the same time boats were set afloat, and dozens gotashore in them. 

While everybody was thus occupied with things immediately concerningtheir safety, nobody paid any attention to the approach of a boat, whichhad set out from a kind of bight in the face of the mountain. 

Cosmo was at the head of the accommodation-ladder that was being letdown on the starboard side, when he heard a shout, and, lifting his eyesfrom his work, was startled to see a boat containing, beside the rowers, two men whom he instantly recognized--they were President Samson andProfessor Pludder. 

Their sudden appearance here astonished him as much as that of Pike'sPeak itself had done. He dropped his hands and stared at them as theirboat swiftly approached. The ladder had just been got ready, and themoment the boat touched its foot Professor Pludder mounted to the deckof the Ark as rapidly as his great weight would permit. 

He stretched out his hand as his foot met the deck, and smilingly said:

"Versál, you were right about the nebula. "

"Pludder, " responded Cosmo, immediately recovering his aplomb, andtaking the extended hand of the professor, "you certainly know the truthwhen you see it. "

Not another word was exchanged between them for the time, and ProfessorPludder instantly set to work aiding the passengers to descend theladder. Cosmo waved his hand in greeting to the President, who remainedin the boat, and politely lifted his tall, but sadly battered hat inresponse. 

The Ark had become so firmly lodged that, after the passengers had allgot ashore, Cosmo decided to open a way through the forward end of thevessel by removing some of the plates, so that the animals could betaken ashore direct from their deck by simply descending a slightlysloping gangway. 

This was a work that required a whole day, and while it was goingforward under Cosmo's directions the passengers, and such of the crew aswere not needed, found their way, led by the professor and thePresident, round a bluff into a kind of mountain lap, where they wereastonished to see many rough cottages, situated picturesquely among therocks, and small cultivated spaces, with grass and flowers, surroundingthem. 

Here dwelt some hundreds of people, who received the shipwrecked companywith Western hospitality, after the first effects of their astonishmenthad worn off. It appears that, owing to its concealment by a projectingpart of the mountain, the Ark had not been seen until just at the momentwhen it went ashore. 

Although it was now the early part of September, the air was warm andbalmy, and barn-yard fowls were clucking and scratching about the rathermeager soil around the houses and outbuildings. 

There was not room in this place for all the newcomers, but ProfessorPludder assured them that in many of the neighboring hollows, which hadformerly been mountain gorges, there were similar settlements, and thatroom would be found for all. 

Parties were sent off under the lead of guides, and great was theamazement, and, it may be added, joy, with which they were received inthe little communities that clustered about the flanks of the mountain. 

About half of Cosmo's animals had perished, most of them during theterrible experiences attending the arrival of the nucleus, which havealready been described, but those that remained were in fairly goodcondition, and with the possible exception of the elephants, they seemedglad to feel solid ground once more under their feet. 

The elephants had considerable difficulty in making their way over therocks to the little village, but finally all were got to a place ofsecurity. The great Californian cattle caused hardly less trouble thanthe elephants, but the Astorian turtles appeared to feel themselves athome at once. 

Cosmo, with King Richard, De Beauxchamps, Amos Blank, Captain Arms, andJoseph Smith, became the guests of Professor Pludder and the Presidentin their modest dwellings, and as soon as a little order had beenestablished explanations began. Professor Pludder was the firstspokesman, the scene being the President's "parlor. "

He told of their escape from Washington and of their arrival on theColorado plateau. 

"When the storm recommenced, " he said, "I recognized the complete truthof your theory, Mr. Versál--I had partially recognized it before--and Imade every preparation for the emergency. 

"The downfall, upon the whole, was not as severe here as it had beenduring the earlier days of the deluge, but it must have been far moresevere elsewhere. 

"The sea around us began to rise, and then suddenly the rise ceased. After studying the matter I concluded that a batholite was rising underthis region, and that there was a chance that we might escapesubmergence through its influence. "

"Pardon me, " interrupted King Richard, "but Mr. Versál has alreadyspoken of a 'batholite. ' What does that mean?"

"I imagine, " replied the professor, smiling, "that neither Mr. Versálnor I have used the term in a strictly technical sense. At least we havevastly extended and modified its meaning in order to meet thecircumstances of our case. 

"Batholite is a word of the old geology, derived, from a language whichwas once widely cultivated, Greek, and meaning, in substance, stone, orrock, 'from the depths. '

"The conception underlying it is that of an immense mass of plastic rockrising under the effects of pressure from the interior of the globe, forcing, and in part melting its way to the surface, or lifting up thesuperincumbent crust. 

"Geologists had discovered the existence of many great batholites thathad risen in former ages, and there were some gigantic ones known inthis part of America. "

"That, " interposed Cosmo, "was the basis of my idea that the continentswould rise again, only I supposed that the rise would first manifestitself in the Himalayan region. 

"However, since it has resulted in the saving of so many lives here, Icannot say that my disappointment goes beyond the natural mortificationof a man of science upon discovering that he has been in error. "

"I believe, " said Professor Pludder, "that at least a million havesurvived here in the heart of the continent through the uprising of thecrust. We have made explorations in many directions, and have found thatthrough all the Coloradan region people have succeeded in escaping tothe heights. 

"Since the water, although it began to rise again after the first arrestof the advance of the sea, never attained a greater elevation than about7, 500 feet as measured from the old sea-level contours, there must bemillions of acres, not to say square miles, that are still habitable. 

"I even hope that the uprising has extended far through the RockyMountain region. "

Professor Pludder then went on to tell how they had escaped from theneighborhood of Colorado Springs when the readvance of the sea began, and how at last it became evident that the influence of the underlying"batholite" would save them from submergence. 

In some places, he said, violent phenomena had been manifested, andsevere earthquakes had been felt, but upon the whole, he thought, notmany had perished through that cause. 

As soon as some degree of confidence that they were, after all, toescape the flood, had been established, they had begun to cultivate suchsoil as they could find, and now, after months of fair weather, they hadbecome fairly established in their new homes. 

When Cosmo, on his side, had told of the adventures of the Ark, and ofthe disappearance of the crown of the world in Asia, and when DeBeauxchamps had entertained the wondering listeners with his account ofthe submarine explorations of the _Jules Verne_ and the diving bell, thecompany at last broke up. 

From this point--the arrival of the Ark in Colorado, and its wreck onPike's Peak--the literature of our subject becomes abundant, but wecannot pause to review it in detail. 

The re-emergence of the Colorado mountain region continued slowly, andwithout any disastrous convulsions, and the level of the water recededyear by year as the land rose, and the sea lost by evaporation intospace and by chemical absorption in the crust. 

In some other parts of the Rockies, as Professor Pludder hadanticipated, an uprising had occurred, and it was finally estimated thatas many as three million persons survived the deluge. 

It was not the selected band with which Cosmo Versál had intended toregenerate mankind, but from the Ark he spread a leaven which had itseffect on the succeeding generations. 

He taught his principles of eugenics, and implanted deep the germs ofscience, in which he was greatly aided by Professor Pludder, and, as allreaders of this narrative know, we have every reason to believe that ournew world, although its population has not yet grown to ten millions, isfar superior, in every respect, to the old world that was drowned. 

As the dry land spread wider extensive farms were developed, and for along time there was almost no other occupation than that of cultivatingthe rich soil. 

President Samson was, by unanimous vote, elected President of therepublic of New America, and King Richard became his Secretary of State, an office, he declared, of which he was prouder than he had been of hiskingship, when the sound of the British drumbeat accompanied the sunaround the world. 

Amos Blank, returning to his old methods, soon became the leadingfarmer, buying out the others until the government sternly interferedand compelled him to relinquish everything but five hundred acres ofground. 

But on this Blank developed a most surprising collection of domesticanimals, principally from the stocks that Cosmo had saved in the Ark. 

The elephants died, and the Astorian turtles did not reproduce theirkind, but the gigantic turkeys and the big cattle and sheep didexceedingly well, and many other varieties previously unknown weregradually developed with the aid of Sir Wilfrid Athelstone, who foundevery opportunity to apply his theories in practice. 

Of Costaké Theriade, and the inter-atomic force, it is only necessary toremind the reader that the marvelous mechanical powers which we possessto-day, and which we draw directly from the hidden stores of theelectrons, trace their origin to the brain of the "speculative genius"from Roumania, whom Cosmo Versál had the insight to save from the greatsecond deluge. 

All of these actors long ago passed from the scene, President Samsonbeing the last survivor, after winning by his able administration thetitle of the second father of his country. But to the last he showed hismagnanimity by honoring Cosmo Versál, and upon the latter's death hecaused to be carved, high on the brow of the great mountain on which hisvoyage ended, in gigantic letters, cut deep in the living rock, andcovered with shining, incorrodible levium, an inscription that willtransmit his fame to the remotest posterity:

 HERE RESTED THE ARK OF COSMO VERSAL! _He Foresaw and Prepared for the Second Deluge, And Although Nature Aided Him in Unexpected Ways, Yet, but for Him, His Warnings, and His Example The World of Man Would Have Ceased To Exist. _

It would be unjust to Mr. Samson to suppose that any ironical intentionwas in his mind when he composed this lofty inscription. 

_Postscriptum_

While these words are being written, news comes of the return of anaero, driven by inter-atomic energy, from a voyage of exploration roundthe earth. 

It appears that the Alps are yet deeply buried, but that Mount Everestnow lifts its head more than ten thousand feet above the sea, and thatsome of the loftiest plains of Tibet are beginning to re-emerge. 

Thus Cosmo Versál's prediction is fulfilled, though he has not lived tosee it.