The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  the custom of the Egyptians of embalming their dead . That is but a

  foolish ceremony, the reason of which has long been lost,—it is the

  husk of the kernel of Thoth’s reason . He discovered a perfect method

  of suspending life for an indefinite period, and in the prime of his

  life his son and vice-regent, in accordance therewith, laid him down

  to sleep . He and his brethren also, at the appointed age, were clothed

  with the appearance of death, and a new vice-regent appointed . For

  one day in every generation our great father is roused from his sleep,

  to invest his vice-regent with authority . I myself was so invested; I

  myself have spoken face to face with this most ancient one . Never

  on this earth was any solemnity practised by man so calculated to

  ensure reverence and obedience . From the middle of the throng of

  death-like sleepers this man rises up, and in a short time feels again

  the full tide of life in his veins . He listens to the progress made in the

  achievement of his plans, and the growth of the power of his race .

  He commands his latest descendants to obey the new vice-regent,

  and having for one day put in force his reason and will, he again

  surrenders himself to sleep .”

  Daphne was awe-struck by this narrative, but with an effort she

  said, “And do not the other sleepers also awake?”

  “They,” replied Thoth, “are destined to wake only when the task

  of our race is on the eve of completion, to take part in our final

  triumph, and that is no less than the conquest of the whole earth .”

  “Tell me,” she said, fascinated by a weird foreboding of horror,

  “how this can be?”

  “The task imposed upon us by the supreme will,” he replied,

  “has been twofold. In the first place, we have had to make perfect

  mechanical contrivances, by which we can journey with incredible

  speed through the air . That this has been accomplished thou thyself

  hast been a witness; and for each of the sleepers a car has been

  prepared which surpasses in speed the flight of birds and the rush of

  the storm .”

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  Daphne recalled in all its sublimity her own aërial journey, and

  she could not doubt the truth of Thoth’s words .

  Then he continued—“But a harder task was ours, and that also has

  been at length completed . We have now at our disposal the means

  of destroying every living being on the face of the earth . The day is

  near at hand when these sleepers are to become the messengers of

  death . The earth shall be made desolate, and in time repeopled from

  this city . In a few hundred years all the world shall be inhabited

  by many races and classes of men, all perfect in their kind, and all

  governed by the highest reason .”

  Then Daphne cried out in horror—“Do ye intend to destroy all

  people living except those in this place?”

  “That,” said he, “was the design of the first Thoth, and had the

  means been ready fifty years ago, such would have been the case

  undoubtedly . But, as I have explained to thee, I have formed the

  opinion that in his endeavour to exterminate love in the ruling class,

  the first Thoth made an error. Accordingly, we must save some of the

  best women of thy race, and if thou wilt thou shalt have the selec-

  tion . Now thou canst judge of the truth of my promises, and I will

  make one promise more . Know that I have penetrated deeper than

  my ancestor into the mysteries of life and death, and thou and I can

  live in all the fulness of life for hundreds of years . Thus thou shalt be

  as a goddess ruling over the earth . Tell me, Daphne, if the prospect

  does not surpass thy dreams?”

  He spoke with all the enthusiasm of a man who is on the eve of

  accomplishing a most honourable deed .

  But Daphne answered him, glowing with indignation and anger—

  “Thy projects seem to me abominable, and unutterably loath-

  some .”

  “How so?” he asked, with unfeigned wonder .

  “Thou speakest as if all mankind were noxious serpents and rag-

  ing beasts . To me, a Grecian maiden, thou talkest calmly of destroy-

  ing the whole Grecian race . Thou wouldst found a universal tyranny

  on universal slaughter, and so degraded is thy nature that thou dost

  not see anything horrible in such monstrous crime . I despise myself

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  for ever having listened to thy love . Kill me, torture me, abuse me,

  I am in thy power, but never will I share in thy unholy schemes .”

  Then Thoth said to her—“Take heed; even my passion will not

  bear such a strain .”

  “I would thy passion were turned to hatred,” she cried, “for thou

  canst not hate me as I hate thee!”

  For a time it seemed as if anger and scorn would altogether de-

  stroy his love; but Daphne quailed not, and in her wrath became

  even more beautiful and majestic .

  The struggle in Thoth’s mind did not endure long .

  “True it is,” he said, “that I cannot hate thee; my love is overpow-

  ering. But I cannot shatter to its foundations the edifice which my

  ancestors have raised . Rather would I make the whole world lifeless .

  I will give thee a day to reflect.”

  CHAPTER XVI

  THE REVOLT OF NATURE

  At Daphne’s request Thoth departed, but as he left her he said

  with great emphasis—

  “Remember that I have spoken the truth, and if thou wilt thou

  mayest become queen of the earth!”

  His words excited her heart to a burning activity, and thought

  after thought rushed swiftly through her mind. At first she tried to

  persuade herself that he must have told her incredible fictions, but

  the more she thought the less she doubted . She had seen enough of

  Thoth’s power to believe to the full in the truth of his narrative . She

  had seen him with a touch of his staff strike dead the ogress, and she

  had had abundant proofs of the absolute obedience of his people .

  For a time, however, she wondered how a few hundred men could

  possibly destroy all the nations of the earth . She thought of Thoth

  and his dread compatriots flying through the air, and discharging

  missiles on the helpless people beneath; but even with this advan-

  tage it seemed to her that numbers must prevail .

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  She said to herself, “Even Apollo’s arm would grow weary of

  such endless archery;” and then, suddenly, she remembered how the

  arrows of Apollo had smitten the Greeks before Troy .

  Plague and pestilence had been the shafts hurled from his bow .

  She recalled Thoth’s allusion to Apollo, and a dreadful presentiment

  told her that it was in this manner that the nations of the earth were to

  be destroyed . In the same moment all the circumstances of Thoth’s

  first appearance in Athens flashed through her mind: she remem-

  bered the grim indifference of the false merchants to the plague, and

  it was but a step to accuse them of bringing with them to Greece this

  unheard-of destruction . She knew it had been asc
ribed to poisoned

  wells, that the like had never been seen before, and she became con-

  vinced that Thoth was the originator of this fearful crime .

  Then she wept as she thought that perhaps already the whole of

  the races of Greece had perished . This now became the most urgent

  object of her inquiry, and she tried to bring back every word, every

  tone, every gesture of Thoth when he had spoken of returning to

  Greece .

  With all the appearance of truth he promised to restore her, but

  at the same time he had said she would not wish to remain: he had

  spoken of allowing her to choose other Grecian maidens to share her

  fate; but why had he not sent before another expedition after the first

  had been destroyed?

  Certainly the man appeared to have an overpowering passion for

  her, and under its influence he had seemed to speak the truth; but

  then she feared he might have coloured his narrative to please her in

  what seemed to him the best manner .

  Was it likely that a being so inhuman in other respects should

  hesitate at breaking his word, as indeed before he had threatened to

  do? From the past and present she looked to the future, and she saw

  at once that there was no time to lose, and that she must decide on

  a plan of action . But what could one ignorant woman do against the

  mysterious intelligence arrayed against her? Plan after plan arose,

  only to be rejected, and she soon became aware that her only hope

  of defeating these enemies of mankind lay in Thoth’s love .

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  Even here, however, there seemed to be an insuperable difficulty,

  for she knew now that nothing could ever induce her to return his

  passion, and she feared that a simulated affection would only hasten

  her destruction . How could she hope to play on a being gifted with

  such knowledge and strength of purpose? She dreaded also in her

  secret heart that by some magical fascination her mind would give

  way, and that she might be led, in the weakness of a moment, to

  sacrifice herself to him. She felt still how near she had been to a

  complete surrender of her whole will to his .

  Would she have the strength to resist?

  Before Thoth returned, she had worked out her scheme .

  CHAPTER XVII

  GRECIAN GUILE

  On Thoth’s appearance Daphne advanced to meet him with all

  the appearance of friendliness, although filled with suppressed emo-

  tion .“Thou art,” she said, “the most skilled of all physicians, and thou

  knowest well that time is the best drug for the uneasy mind . Forgive

  my weakness . The Greeks of all people are the greatest lovers of

  their native cities, and I, a Grecian maiden, cannot see why they

  should be destroyed . But I will listen to reason . Why, if I love thee,

  should we not live here, and happily rule this city, regardless of the

  rest of the world? Why not leave thy dread ancestors to their sleep?”

  She Spoke to him with a soft enticing voice, and looked up to him

  as to a superior .

  “Daphne,” replied Thoth, “I have already yielded to thee the

  utmost that my nature will permit . It is useless to ask more . For

  two thousand years my race have toiled incessantly to create a new

  world . They await their reward . If I raise them from their sleep, they

  will never consent to forego their plans . If I raise them not—but

  I tell thee that is impossible . Rise they must, now all is ready, as

  surely as rises the sun .”

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  Love yielded in his eyes to fixed determination, and Daphne’s

  heart sank within her .

  “The task I have already agreed to,” he continued, “is wellnigh

  hopeless . They will never admit women to an honourable place, un-

  less they are assured beyond doubt that the choice lies between love

  and death . I must prove that my love for thee, in spite of generations

  of hatred towards women by my fathers, is stronger than ever love

  was, and also that their attempts to crush it have crushed at the same

  time life and reason. I will strain every fibre to have thee recognised

  as queen—but queen thou must be, first of all, of one city alone

  in a desolate world . And, mark my words, if ever this is to be ac-

  complished, thou must aid me with courage and with a love equal

  to mine own . I must set thee before these men—face to face—and

  thou must say and do as I bid thee . If we fail, there is no alternative

  but instant death .”

  Daphne, still clinging to hope, replied—“I know little of thy race,

  and my wisdom is dense ignorance compared to thy wisdom . But,

  tell me, canst thou not begin with the living—with them who have

  not yet entered on their long sleep? Why should not thy fellow-rul-

  ers, as at first was thy intention, seek for equal companions? There

  are many maidens in Greece less difficult to please than I. Persuade

  or compel thy followers to do as thou hast done, and then thou canst

  show thine ancestors how well the plan has succeeded—after thirty

  years—or twenty .”

  “I cannot,” he replied, “make such a change of policy without the

  consent of my great ancestor and his successors .”

  “Then,” she said, “even thy union with me must rest on their

  consent, and yet thou didst speak as if thou wouldst compel them to

  submit .”

  “But I said, by force of reason and will . Know, once for all, that

  unless they approve of my conduct, I will not proceed .”

  “And what is to be my fate, supposing they do not consent? Thou

  wouldst not leave me to perish?”

  “I will do my utmost to save thee, and I will perish with thee if I

  fail . But fear not—all shall be well .”

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  Daphne reflected, and every way of escape from the power of the

  sleeping tyrants seemed closed . She had hoped at least to gain delay,

  and had even tried to believe that Thoth might, through his love for

  her, disregard altogether the past .

  The future seemed more hopeless than ever, and she began to feel

  the courage of despair . If, she thought, this man were slain suddenly,

  would not the whole power of the tyrants be shattered!

  She said to him, “But if thou wert to perish with me, how would

  it fare with the sleepers?”

  “We have never,” he said, “imagined that we could avoid all the

  accidents of nature . If I were to fail, there are others to take my

  place . In my absence in Greece another was appointed vice-regrent,

  and for every conceivable emergency provision has been made . It

  is useless to discuss the matter further, or to delay longer . This very

  day thou must be prepared to face the assembly .”

  “And if we fail, whither shall we flee?” said Daphne.

  “Nowhither,” he replied .

  “And, after all thy promises, wilt thou leave me to the mercy of

  these haters of women? If thy love for me is real, and if thou art pre-

  pared to die with me, at least redeem thy promise and take me back

  to Greece, and there we can await our
doom . Thou dost not think,”

  she said, anxiously, “that the plague has destroyed all the Greeks?”

  “No,” he replied; “I have no doubt that by this time it is spent,

  and that many survive .”

  “Then,” she said, “if we fail, flee with me. In any case thou wilt

  be an outcast from thy tribe . And I am very young, and life is very

  sweet I would fain see my country and fellows again . And in some

  remote comer of the earth we might escape with a few companions

  from the general doom, by thy wisdom .”

  She looked at Thoth in a beseeching manner, and his heart be-

  came hot with love . He seemed lost in thought for a long time, and

  then said—

  “If we fail, I shall be, as thou sayest, an outcast; and the little

  delay that thou prayest for may be granted .

  “Listen to my plan .

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  “I have discovered recently a most curious and powerful sub-

  stance. I can, by breaking a small vessel, fill the council-chamber

  with a vapour which shall at once send into a heavy sleep all present,

  unless they are prepared by an antidote . The drug is the most power-

  ful of all our agents of destruction yet discovered . In a few hours the

  sleep will end in irrevocable death unless the remedy is applied, and

  then the recovery is slow . For love of thee, if we fail, I will use this

  means for a little delay. We will then prepare everything for flight,

  and only just before we depart will I administer the remedy .

  “Thus we may gain a few hours’ start, and in essence I shall not

  fail in my obedience . But I hope for a better result, and that reason

  will prevail and thou wilt become the queen of the earth, and not a

  wanderer over a desolate earth with an outcast man . Rouse thy cour-

  age, and at the fitting time be prepared to speak as I shall bid thee.

  Let them see that thou art worthy of the highest honour .”

  “What must I say?”

  “After,” he replied, “I have explained the reasons for restoring

  women to love and honour, thou must say two things .

  “First, thou must profess the most profound admiration for ev-

  erything in this city, and, with all the excess usual in a pervert, en-

  courage them to hasten the destruction of the earth .”

  “That is a hard task,” she replied .

  “Why?” he asked . “War is the greatest course of glory, and uni-