CHAPTER XX.
THE LAST WORDS FROM YONDER.
Days and weeks have come and gone since the events recorded in theprevious chapter. For seven days after the wedding, Edos was entirelygiven up to feasting, to rejoicing, and to revelry. Of Graham--PrinceTihernah now--and his beautiful wife, we saw little during thisinterval; for the day following their marriage they left Edos, tospend their honeymoon at the stately dwelling which had been given tothem by the King for their own private use. Both Temple and the Doctorhave come in for their share of honours, each having received a titleconferring many privileges.
As soon as the actual wedding festivities were over, the Doctor washard at work again, busy with his investigations, and planning out inmicroscopic detail project after project, for the ultimate benefitof humanity. He was a very Titan in his labours. He had calledtogether--under the direct patronage of the King--in congress all theleading scientists of Gathma, all the wise men of Helmath, deeplyskilled in the arts and sciences, with whom he discussed his plans andprojects. The greatest and the most important of these was one forestablishing regular communication between Earth and Mars. His viewswere accepted by his scientific compeers with the wildest enthusiasm,and a society was formed forthwith, pledged to carry out the daringscheme.
The loss of the _Sirius_ did not prove so disastrous, after all. Thereare cunning artificers and skilful engineers in many parts of Gathma,able to work out the Doctor's designs with even greater exactnessthan the men of Earth. Another point, vastly favouring the Doctor'splans, was the wonderful development of electrical science, a branchof knowledge only in its infancy on Earth. How this marvellous forcehas become utterly subservient to human will, in Gathma, has been dimlyhinted at in many parts of our narrative; but Doctor Hermann, whetherwisely or not, has deemed it best to say little until we return to ournative Earth again.
Already a new carriage is being constructed on the same plan as the_Sirius_, but embodying many improvements, some of them the resultof our experience on the way hither, others the suggestions ofcleverer engineers than we. Several years must of necessity elapsebefore the grand experiment will be tried, as the Doctor is anxiousto acquire as much information as possible before returning. Alreadyhis five-and-sixty years of life begin to press heavily upon him, andhe feels that if he once gets back to Earth, he will not be equal tothe hardships and the risks of another journey here. Younger men, wedoubt not, will be eager and willing to make this awful plunge acrossthe sky, as soon as the tidings of our glorious success reach Earth,and they are put in possession of the secrets that will bear themtriumphantly here.
And now, as these manuscripts already exceed in bulk and weightthe measure that has been allowed them by Doctor Hermann in hiscalculations when making the machine that is to attempt to bear them toEarth, but few words are we permitted to say.
The result of our enterprise has been one unqualified triumph. Manyperils, many hardships, many dangers have been encountered and havebeen overcome, as the reader of this stirring story, which is but afragment of what we have to tell, already knows. We have piles uponpiles of manuscripts dealing with scientific, social, and religioussubjects; folios upon folios of sketches portraying objects upon whichthe eyes of earthly man have never rested, and of which he has not thefaintest conception. A few of these we send with this.
Not only are we enriched with the knowledge we have gained forourselves, but we are heavy-laden with the results of unnumberedcenturies of scientific research, conducted by accomplishedphilosophers here.
Their discoveries in the science of astronomy are marvellous, and makeus look upon our own attainments in this direction with supreme pity.The conditions of life upon this planet are exceptionally favourableto the advancement of this science, the grand age of the astronomerspermitting them to perfect experiments and calculations, and observephenomena which on our own world have to be left to posterity.
Many wondrous things have they told us of the movements of ourown Earth, not the least remarkable being a sudden change in theinclination of her axis, four thousand two hundred and twenty-fiveyears ago--that awful catastrophe, as we read in our own Holy Records,that flooded parts of the world even to the summit of her mountains,and so changed the conditions of life upon her surface that allcreatures that dwell thereon have not recovered, and never willrecover, from its direful results. Never can we forget the feelings ofawe that crept over us as we read the record of our own tribulationand woe of our own fall from physical mightiness to nothingness, asobserved--actually observed--by those men of Gathma, who scrutinisedthe heavens with such wondrous skill in days when the science ofthe firmament, with us, still lay unquickened in the womb of Time'sfuturity!
There in those stirring records, too, we read of the changing aspect ofour own polar regions, as viewed from Gathma, more than thirty millionsof miles away--of how the polar crescents of snow spread themselveslower and lower, higher and higher, devastating and depopulatingcontinents!
The attainments of zoologists are none the less grand. Evolution,a theory that only dawned on earthly minds with the teaching ofPythagoras, about two thousand four hundred years ago, and wasonly elaborated towards the close of the nineteenth century of theChristian era, has here passed from speculation into fact, through theuninterrupted researches of ten thousand times ten thousand years!Here has the human animal confessed his glorious unbroken descent fromlower types, for the proofs of his ancestry are complete, and hiswondrous descent doth only magnify his Creator's glory in his sight.He has no bigoted past to wrestle with, and to shake his reason; noGenesis to warp his judgment, or to stay the march of his intellect bysaying:
"Things are so since Time began; Man's wisdom and his knowledge arefalse!"
Even to summarise our impressions of this beautiful planet-worldof Mars, or Gathma, would require the space already taken by thisnarrative. But what appealed most forcibly to us, after a longsojourn upon its fair surface, was the vastness and stability ofeverything--its freedom from crime and from strife; the crusted ageof all its institutions and customs; the superiority of its uniformreligious dogma over our own divers beliefs; the calm dignity of itscivilised inhabitants; and the arrangement of all things to harmonisewith the extraordinary longevity of its people. In fine, it is a worldat the very zenith of its long and gradually accumulated splendour--anideal world at the summit of its glorious course, which can only bedescribed as the bright and comely Heir of Time itself!
Having witnessed the splendours of this sister-world, and knowing theindescribable benefits which may accrue to the men of Earth throughintercourse with its people, we are anxious that our fellows shallpartake, and that speedily, of the riches with which this world isblessed. We have therefore written this narrative partly as a messageof hope, as tidings of humanity's great coming joy, trusting that itmay reach Earth, and be found, and published to all men.
We may soon follow our messenger across the sky. Even by the time thatit falls upon the surface of our native world, we may be on our waythereto, bringing with us new ideas, novel inventions from the planetwe have visited. We reserve the disclosure of our discoveries, and oursecrets, until we reach Earth again; for we feel it due to ourselvesthat we should proclaim them in person; and practical John Templeconsiders that we should at least receive some financial return for theinformation it has cost us so much to obtain.
One, however, of our little band elects to remain behind in Gathma.Graham, as yet, evinces no desire to visit his native world. The tenderties that bind him here are stronger than those earthly ones which maystill linger within him. Besides, we hear that already his union withthis handsome maid of Edos has been blessed! and that all in good timethe link between Earth and here will be forged yet more strongly inVolin?'s maternity!
Two days after the above lines were penned, Temple and the Doctor areengaged in an anxious consultation. The despatch of our manuscriptsto Earth forms the subject of discussion. The delicate-looking pieceof mechanism lying on the table before us has been thoroug
hly tested,and proved successful. It is a small electrical engine, carryingenough motive force to propel it beyond the limits of this planet'sattraction, attached to a cylinder of iron, in which our preciousmessage is first to be encased, and then the two halves fixed togetheras one.
"Temple, if we can only get our messenger far enough into space, itwill not be affected by attraction here, and the next body that shoulddraw it onwards will be the Earth."
"Well, I have but to add a few more lines, and then all may be sealed,and we can despatch our message on its stupendous flight across space.Are your notes complete?"
"A few more words of instruction, and I have done."
On the morrow following this discussion our message is about to bedespatched. It is a great day in Edos. From far and wide the people ofGathma have journeyed hither to see our words depart. In two hours'time we seal these manuscripts in their iron covering, and attach themto the motors.
Time is speeding on. The scene around us here is a curious and imposingone. We stand upon the summit of one of the hills on which the faircity of Edos is built. A forge and brawny smiths, who have come hitherfrom Pamax to complete our task, are in the foreground; the King,surrounded by Ministers and servants, by Princes and Priests, watchesDoctor Hermann and Temple with heightening wonderment, the latter busywriting these few last words. Volin? and her husband peer over Temple'sshoulder as his fluent pen races across the sheets of white paper,describing this closing scene. A dense multitude lines the background,equally filled with curiosity and wonder.
"What message, O King, may I send from you to my own people on thestar-world Earth?" said Temple, pausing for a moment and turningtowards the King of Gathma.
"A message of Peace and Goodwill! Tell thy brothers yonder that thehand of fellowship is reaching out towards them from our world tothine, and that great things shall come to pass for their good andours."
"And your last words, Doctor?"
"Are words of encouragement to the men of science at home. To my dearold friend Darwin I especially address them. Tell my brethren that Ilong to be amongst them, once more, to tell of my discoveries, and toincrease the scope of their labours to an extent they have hitherto notdared even to dream!"
"Have you aught to say, Graham--or, rather, Prince Tihernah?" saidTemple, smiling.
"I will answer for him," said Volin?, playfully. "Tell the dwellers onthy star-world yonder that when the carriage which this message heraldsdoth arrive thereon, a Princess of the Royal House of Gathma shallvisit them."
"Let it be as you say, darling. If it is your wish to visit my worldout there beyond the sky, then will I relinquish my desire to remainhere in Gathma always, and go with you; for, of a truth, there isnothing that I can deny you," said Graham, his eyes filled withadmiration and love for his peerless wife.
We are now about to place this last page of our manuscript with theroll of others in their iron resting-place, and in ten more minutesfrom now they will have winged their flight away! Adieu!
"Now, my comrades, your signatures, please."
_Signed_ HEINRICH HERMANN, F.R.S., JOHN TEMPLE, HARRY GRAHAM, M.INST.C.E.
Adieu! Adieu!!
* * * * *
_End of Extract from the MSS._
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