The Coming Race

by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton

  Chapter XXV.

  "And this," said I, with my mind full of what I had witnessed--"this, Ipresume, is your usual form of burial?"

  "Our invariable form," answered Aph-Lin. "What is it amongst yourpeople?"

  "We inter the body whole within the earth."

  "What! To degrade the form you have loved and honoured, the wife onwhose breast you have slept, to the loathsomeness of corruption?" "Butif the soul lives again, can it matter whether the body waste withinthe earth or is reduced by that awful mechanism, worked, no doubt by theagency of vril, into a pinch of dust?"

  "You answer well," said my host, "and there is no arguing on a matterof feeling; but to me your custom is horrible and repulsive, and wouldserve to invest death with gloomy and hideous associations. It issomething, too, to my mind, to be able to preserve the token of what hasbeen our kinsman or friend within the abode in which we live. We thusfeel more sensibly that he still lives, though not visibly so to us. Butour sentiments in this, as in all things, are created by custom. Customis not to be changed by a wise An, any more than it is changed by awise Community, without the greatest deliberation, followed by themost earnest conviction. It is only thus that change ceases to bechangeability, and once made is made for good."

  When we regained the house, Aph-Lin summoned some of the children in hisservice and sent them round to several of his friends, requesting theirattendance that day, during the Easy Hours, to a festival in honour ofhis kinsman's recall to the All-Good. This was the largest and gayestassembly I ever witnessed during my stay among the Ana, and wasprolonged far into the Silent Hours.

  The banquet was spread in a vast chamber reserved especially for grandoccasions. This differed from our entertainments, and was not withouta certain resemblance to those we read of in the luxurious age of theRoman empire. There was not one great table set out, but numerous smalltables, each appropriated to eight guests. It is considered that beyondthat number conversation languishes and friendship cools. The Ana neverlaugh loud, as I have before observed, but the cheerful ring of theirvoices at the various tables betokened gaiety of intercourse. As theyhave no stimulant drinks, and are temperate in food, though so choiceand dainty, the banquet itself did not last long. The tables sankthrough the floor, and then came musical entertainments for those wholiked them. Many, however, wandered away:--some of the younger ascendedin their wings, for the hall was roofless, forming aerial dances; othersstrolled through the various apartments, examining the curiosities withwhich they were stored, or formed themselves into groups for variousgames, the favourite of which is a complicated kind of chess played byeight persons. I mixed with the crowd, but was prevented joining in theconversation by the constant companionship of one or the other of myhost's sons, appointed to keep me from obtrusive questionings. Theguests, however, noticed me but slightly; they had grown accustomed tomy appearance, seeing me so often in the streets, and I had ceased toexcite much curiosity.

  To my great delight Zee avoided me, and evidently sought to excite myjealousy by marked attentions to a very handsome young An, who (though,as is the modest custom of the males when addressed by females, heanswered with downcast eyes and blushing cheeks, and was demure and shyas young ladies new to the world are in most civilised countries, exceptEngland and America) was evidently much charmed by the tall Gy, andready to falter a bashful "Yes" if she had actually proposed. Ferventlyhoping that she would, and more and more averse to the idea of reductionto a cinder after I had seen the rapidity with which a human body can behurried into a pinch of dust, I amused myself by watching the manners ofthe other young people. I had the satisfaction of observing that Zee wasno singular assertor of a female's most valued rights. Wherever I turnedmy eyes, or lent my ears, it seemed to me that the Gy was the wooingparty, and the An the coy and reluctant one. The pretty innocent airswhich an An gave himself on being thus courted, the dexterity with whichhe evaded direct answers to professions of attachment, or turned intojest the flattering compliments addressed to him, would have done honourto the most accomplished coquette. Both my male chaperons were subjectedgreatly to these seductive influences, and both acquitted themselveswith wonderful honour to their tact and self-control.

  I said to the elder son, who preferred mechanical employments tothe management of a great property, and who was of an eminentlyphilosophical temperament,--"I find it difficult to conceive how at yourage, and with all the intoxicating effects on the senses, of music andlights and perfumes, you can be so cold to that impassioned young Gy whohas just left you with tears in her eyes at your cruelty."

  The young An replied with a sigh, "Gentle Tish, the greatest misfortunein life is to marry one Gy if you are in love with another."

  "Oh! You are in love with another?"

  "Alas! Yes."

  "And she does not return your love?"

  "I don't know. Sometimes a look, a tone, makes me hope so; but she hasnever plainly told me that she loves me."

  "Have you not whispered in her own ear that you love her?"

  "Fie! What are you thinking of? What world do you come from? Could I sobetray the dignity of my sex? Could I be so un-Anly--so lost to shame,as to own love to a Gy who has not first owned hers to me?"

  "Pardon: I was not quite aware that you pushed the modesty of your sexso far. But does no An ever say to a Gy, 'I love you,' till she says itfirst to him?"

  "I can't say that no An has ever done so, but if he ever does, he isdisgraced in the eyes of the Ana, and secretly despised by the Gy-ei.No Gy, well brought up, would listen to him; she would consider thathe audaciously infringed on the rights of her sex, while outraging themodesty which dignifies his own. It is very provoking," continued theAn, "for she whom I love has certainly courted no one else, and I cannotbut think she likes me. Sometimes I suspect that she does not court mebecause she fears I would ask some unreasonable settlement as to thesurrender of her rights. But if so, she cannot really love me, for wherea Gy really loves she forgoes all rights."

  "Is this young Gy present?"

  "Oh yes. She sits yonder talking to my mother."

  I looked in the direction to which my eyes were thus guided, and sawa Gy dressed in robes of bright red, which among this people is a signthat a Gy as yet prefers a single state. She wears gray, a neutral tint,to indicate that she is looking about for a spouse; dark purple if shewishes to intimate that she has made a choice; purple and orange whenshe is betrothed or married; light blue when she is divorced or a widow,and would marry again. Light blue is of course seldom seen.

  Among a people where all are of so high a type of beauty, it isdifficult to single out one as peculiarly handsome. My young friend'schoice seemed to me to possess the average of good looks; but there wasan expression in her face that pleased me more than did the faces of theyoung Gy-ei generally, because it looked less bold--less conscious offemale rights. I observed that, while she talked to Bra, she glanced,from time to time, sidelong at my young friend.

  "Courage," said I, "that young Gy loves you."

  "Ay, but if she shall not say so, how am I the better for her love?"

  "Your mother is aware of your attachment?"

  "Perhaps so. I never owned it to her. It would be un-Anly to confidesuch weakness to a mother. I have told my father; he may have told itagain to his wife."

  "Will you permit me to quit you for a moment and glide behind yourmother and your beloved? I am sure they are talking about you. Do nothesitate. I promise that I will not allow myself to be questioned till Irejoin you."

  The young An pressed his hand on his heart, touched me lightly on thehead, and allowed me to quit his side. I stole unobserved behind hismother and his beloved. I overheard their talk. Bra was speaking;said she, "There can be no doubt of this: either my son, who is ofmarriageable age, will be decoyed into marriage with one of his manysuitors, or he will join those who emigrate to a distance and we shallsee him no more. If you really care for him, my dear Lo, you shouldpropose."

  "I do care for him, Bra; but I d
oubt if I could really ever win hisaffections. He is fond of his inventions and timepieces; and I am notlike Zee, but so dull that I fear I could not enter into his favouritepursuits, and then he would get tired of me, and at the end of threeyears divorce me, and I could never marry another--never."

  "It is not necessary to know about timepieces to know how to be sonecessary to the happiness of an An, who cares for timepieces, that hewould rather give up the timepieces than divorce his Gy. You see, mydear Lo," continued Bra, "that precisely because we are the strongersex, we rule the other provided we never show our strength. If you weresuperior to my son in making timepieces and automata, you should, ashis wife, always let him suppose you thought him superior in that art toyourself. The An tacitly allows the pre-eminence of the Gy in allexcept his own special pursuit. But if she either excels him in that,or affects not to admire him for his proficiency in it, he will not loveher very long; perhaps he may even divorce her. But where a Gy reallyloves, she soon learns to love all that the An does."

  The young Gy made no answer to this address. She looked down musingly,then a smile crept over her lips, and she rose, still silent, and wentthrough the crowd till she paused by the young An who loved her. Ifollowed her steps, but discreetly stood at a little distance whileI watched them. Somewhat to my surprise, till I recollected the coytactics among the Ana, the lover seemed to receive her advances with anair of indifference. He even moved away, but she pursued his steps,and, a little time after, both spread their wings and vanished amid theluminous space above.

  Just then I was accosted by the chief magistrate, who mingled with thecrowd distinguished by no signs of deference or homage. It so happenedthat I had not seen this great dignitary since the day I had enteredhis dominions, and recalling Aph-Lin's words as to his terrible doubtwhether or not I should be dissected, a shudder crept over me at thesight of his tranquil countenance.

  "I hear much of you, stranger, from my son Taee," said the Tur, layinghis hand politely on my bended head. "He is very fond of your society,and I trust you are not displeased with the customs of our people."

  I muttered some unintelligible answer, which I intended to be anassurance of my gratitude for the kindness I had received from the Tur,and my admiration of his countrymen, but the dissecting-knife gleamedbefore my mind's eye and choked my utterance. A softer voice said, "Mybrother's friend must be dear to me." And looking up I saw a youngGy, who might be sixteen years old, standing beside the magistrate andgazing at me with a very benignant countenance. She had not come to herfull growth, and was scarcely taller than myself (viz., about feet 10inches), and, thanks to that comparatively diminutive stature, I thoughther the loveliest Gy I had hitherto seen. I suppose something in my eyesrevealed that impression, for her countenance grew yet more benignant."Taee tells me," she said, "that you have not yet learned to accustomyourself to wings. That grieves me, for I should have liked to fly withyou."

  "Alas!" I replied, "I can never hope to enjoy that happiness. I amassured by Zee that the safe use of wings is a hereditary gift, and itwould take generations before one of my race could poise himself in theair like a bird." "Let not that thought vex you too much," replied thisamiable Princess, "for, after all, there must come a day when Zee andmyself must resign our wings forever. Perhaps when that day comes wemight be glad if the An we chose was also without wings."

  The Tur had left us, and was lost amongst the crowd. I began to feelat ease with Taee's charming sister, and rather startled her by theboldness of my compliment in replying, "that no An she could choosewould ever use his wings to fly away from her." It is so against customfor an An to say such civil things to a Gy till she has declared herpassion for him, and been accepted as his betrothed, that the youngmaiden stood quite dumbfounded for a few moments. Nevertheless shedid not seem displeased. At last recovering herself, she invited me toaccompany her into one of the less crowded rooms and listen to the songsof the birds. I followed her steps as she glided before me, and she ledme into a chamber almost deserted. A fountain of naphtha was playing inthe centre of the room; round it were ranged soft divans, and the wallsof the room were open on one side to an aviary in which the birdswere chanting their artful chorus. The Gy seated herself on one of thedivans, and I placed myself at her side. "Taee tells me," she said,"that Aph-Lin has made it the law* of his house that you are not to bequestioned as to the country you come from or the reason why you visitus. Is it so?"

  * Literally "has said, In this house be it requested." Words synonymouswith law, as implying forcible obligation, are avoided by this singularpeople. Even had it been decreed by the Tur that his College of Sagesshould dissect me, the decree would have ran blandly thus,--"Be itrequested that, for the good of the community, the carnivorous Tish berequested to submit himself to dissection."

  "It is."

  "May I, at least, without sinning against that law, ask at least if theGy-ei in your country are of the same pale colour as yourself, and notaller?"

  "I do not think, O beautiful Gy, that I infringe the law of Aph-Lin,which is more binding on myself than any one, if I answer questions soinnocent. The Gy-ei in my country are much fairer of hue than I am, andtheir average height is at least a head shorter than mine."

  "They cannot then be so strong as the Ana amongst you? But I supposetheir superior vril force makes up for such extraordinary disadvantageof size?"

  "They do not profess the vril force as you know it. But still they arevery powerful in my country, and an An has small chance of a happy lifeif he be not more or less governed by his Gy."

  "You speak feelingly," said Taee's sister, in a tone of voice half sad,half petulant. "You are married, of course."

  "No--certainly not."

  "Nor betrothed?"

  "Nor betrothed."

  "Is it possible that no Gy has proposed to you?"

  "In my country the Gy does not propose; the An speaks first."

  "What a strange reversal of the laws of nature!" said the maiden, "andwhat want of modesty in your sex! But have you never proposed, neverloved one Gy more than another?"

  I felt embarrassed by these ingenious questionings, and said, "Pardonme, but I think we are beginning to infringe upon Aph-Lin's injunction.This much only will I answer, and then, I implore you, ask no more. Idid once feel the preference you speak of; I did propose, and theGy would willingly have accepted me, but her parents refused theirconsent."

  "Parents! Do you mean seriously to tell me that parents can interferewith the choice of their daughters?"

  "Indeed they can, and do very often."

  "I should not like to live in that country," said the Gy simply; "but Ihope you will never go back to it."

  I bowed my head in silence. The Gy gently raised my face with her righthand, and looked into it tenderly. "Stay with us," she said; "stay withus, and be loved." What I might have answered, what dangers of becominga cinder I might have encountered, I still trouble to think, when thelight of the naphtha fountain was obscured by the shadow of wings; andZee, flying though the open roof, alighted beside us. She said not aword, but, taking my arm with her mighty hand, she drew me away, as amother draws a naughty child, and led me through the apartments to oneof the corridors, on which, by the mechanism they generally prefer tostairs, we ascended to my own room. This gained, Zee breathed on myforehead, touched my breast with her staff, and I was instantly plungedinto a profound sleep.

  When I awoke some hours later, and heard the songs of the birds in theadjoining aviary, the remembrance of Taee's sister, her gentle looks andcaressing words, vividly returned to me; and so impossible is it for oneborn and reared in our upper world's state of society to divesthimself of ideas dictated by vanity and ambition, that I found myselfinstinctively building proud castles in the air.

  "Tish though I be," thus ran my meditations--"Tish though I be, it isthen clear that Zee is not the only Gy whom my appearance can captivate.Evidently I am loved by A PRINCESS, the first maiden of this land, thedaughter of the absolute Monarch whose auto
cracy they so idly seek todisguise by the republican title of chief magistrate. But for the suddenswoop of that horrible Zee, this Royal Lady would have formally proposedto me; and though it may be very well for Aph-Lin, who is only asubordinate minister, a mere Commissioner of Light, to threaten me withdestruction if I accept his daughter's hand, yet a Sovereign, whose wordis law, could compel the community to abrogate any custom that forbidsintermarriage with one of a strange race, and which in itself is acontradiction to their boasted equality of ranks.

  "It is not to be supposed that his daughter, who spoke with suchincredulous scorn of the interference of parents, would not havesufficient influence with her Royal Father to save me from thecombustion to which Aph-Lin would condemn my form. And if I were exaltedby such an alliance, who knows but what the Monarch might elect me ashis successor? Why not? Few among this indolent race of philosopherslike the burden of such greatness. All might be pleased to see thesupreme power lodged in the hands of an accomplished stranger who hasexperience of other and livelier forms of existence; and once chosen,what reforms I would institute! What additions to the really pleasantbut too monotonous life of this realm my familiarity with the civilisednations above ground would effect! I am fond of the sports of the field.Next to war, is not the chase a king's pastime? In what varieties ofstrange game does this nether world abound? How interesting to strikedown creatures that were known above ground before the Deluge! But how?By that terrible vril, in which, from want of hereditary transmission, Icould never be a proficient? No, but by a civilised handy breech-loader,which these ingenious mechanicians could not only make, but no doubtimprove; nay, surely I saw one in the Museum. Indeed, as absolute king,I should discountenance vril altogether, except in cases of war. Aproposof war, it is perfectly absurd to stint a people so intelligent, sorich, so well armed, to a petty limit of territory sufficing for10,000 or 12,000 families. Is not this restriction a mere philosophicalcrotchet, at variance with the aspiring element in human nature, such ashas been partially, and with complete failure, tried in the upper worldby the late Mr. Robert Owen? Of course one would not go to war with theneighbouring nations as well armed as one's own subjects; but then,what of those regions inhabited by races unacquainted with vril, andapparently resembling, in their democratic institutions, my Americancountrymen? One might invade them without offence to the vril nations,our allies, appropriate their territories, extending, perhaps, to themost distant regions of the nether earth, and thus rule over an empirein which the sun never sets. (I forgot, in my enthusiasm, that overthose regions there was no sun to set). As for the fantastical notionagainst conceding fame or renown to an eminent individual, because,forsooth, bestowal of honours insures contest in the pursuit of them,stimulates angry passions, and mars the felicity of peace--it is opposedto the very elements, not only of the human, but of the brute creation,which are all, if tamable, participators in the sentiment of praise andemulation. What renown would be given to a king who thus extended hisempire! I should be deemed a demigod." Thinking of that, the otherfanatical notion of regulating this life by reference to one which,no doubt, we Christians firmly believe in, but never take intoconsideration, I resolved that enlightened philosophy compelled me toabolish a heathen religion so superstitiously at variance with modernthought and practical action. Musing over these various projects, I felthow much I should have liked at that moment to brighten my wits bya good glass of whiskey-and-water. Not that I am habitually aspirit-drinker, but certainly there are times when a little stimulantof alcoholic nature, taken with a cigar, enlivens the imagination. Yes;certainly among these herbs and fruits there would be a liquid fromwhich one could extract a pleasant vinous alcohol; and with a steak cutoff one of those elks (ah! what offence to science to reject the animalfood which our first medical men agree in recommending to the gastricjuices of mankind!) one would certainly pass a more exhilarating hourof repast. Then, too, instead of those antiquated dramas performedby childish amateurs, certainly, when I am king, I will introduce ourmodern opera and a 'corps de ballet,' for which one might find, amongthe nations I shall conquer, young females of less formidable height andthews than the Gy-ei--not armed with vril, and not insisting upon one'smarrying them.

  I was so completely rapt in these and similar reforms, political,social, and moral, calculated to bestow on the people of the netherworld the blessings of a civilisation known to the races of the upper,that I did not perceive that Zee had entered the chamber till I heard adeep sigh, and, raising my eyes, beheld her standing by my couch.

  I need not say that, according to the manners of this people, a Gy can,without indecorum, visit an An in his chamber, although an An would beconsidered forward and immodest to the last degree if he entered thechamber of a Gy without previously obtaining her permission to doso. Fortunately I was in the full habiliments I had worn when Zee haddeposited me on the couch. Nevertheless I felt much irritated, as wellas shocked, by her visit, and asked in a rude tone what she wanted.

  "Speak gently, beloved one, I entreat you," said she, "for I am veryunhappy. I have not slept since we parted."

  "A due sense of your shameful conduct to me as your father's guest mightwell suffice to banish sleep from your eyelids. Where was the affectionyou pretend to have for me, where was even that politeness on which theVril-ya pride themselves, when, taking advantage alike of that physicalstrength in which your sex, in this extraordinary region, excels ourown, and of those detestable and unhallowed powers which the agencies ofvril invest in your eyes and finger-ends, you exposed me to humiliationbefore your assembled visitors, before Her Royal Highness--I mean, thedaughter of your own chief magistrate,--carrying me off to bed like anaughty infant, and plunging me into sleep, without asking my consent?"

  "Ungrateful! Do you reproach me for the evidences of my love? Can youthink that, even if unstung by the jealousy which attends upon lovetill it fades away in blissful trust when we know that the heart wehave wooed is won, I could be indifferent to the perils to which theaudacious overtures of that silly little child might expose you?" "Hold!Since you introduce the subject of perils, it perhaps does not misbecomeme to say that my most imminent perils come from yourself, or at leastwould come if I believed in your love and accepted your addresses. Yourfather has told me plainly that in that case I should be consumed intoa cinder with as little compunction as if I were the reptile whom Taeeblasted into ashes with the flash of his wand."

  "Do not let that fear chill your heart to me," exclaimed Zee, droppingon her knees and absorbing my right hand in the space of her ample palm."It is true, indeed, that we two cannot wed as those of the same racewed; true that the love between us must be pure as that which, in ourbelief, exists between lovers who reunite in the new life beyond thatboundary at which the old life ends. But is it not happiness enough tobe together, wedded in mind and in heart? Listen: I have just leftmy father. He consents to our union on those terms. I have sufficientinfluence with the College of Sages to insure their request to the Turnot to interfere with the free choice of a Gy; provided that her weddingwith one of another race be but the wedding of souls. Oh, think you thattrue love needs ignoble union? It is not that I yearn only to be by yourside in this life, to be part and parcel of your joys and sorrows here:I ask here for a tie which will bind us for ever and for ever in theworld of immortals. Do you reject me?"

  As she spoke, she knelt, and the whole character of her face waschanged; nothing of sternness left to its grandeur; a divine light, asthat of an immortal, shining out from its human beauty. But she ratherawed me as an angel than moved me as a woman, and after an embarrassedpause, I faltered forth evasive expressions of gratitude, and sought, asdelicately as I could, to point out how humiliating would be my positionamongst her race in the light of a husband who might never be permittedthe name of father.

  "But," said Zee, "this community does not constitute the whole world.No; nor do all the populations comprised in the league of the Vril-ya.For thy sake I will renounce my country and my people. We will flytogether
to some region where thou shalt be safe. I am strong enough tobear thee on my wings across the deserts that intervene. I am skilledenough to cleave open, amidst the rocks, valleys in which to buildour home. Solitude and a hut with thee would be to me society and theuniverse. Or wouldst thou return to thine own world, above the surfaceof this, exposed to the uncertain seasons, and lit but by the changefulorbs which constitute by thy description the fickle character of thosesavage regions? I so, speak the word, and I will force the way for thyreturn, so that I am thy companion there, though, there as here, butpartner of thy soul, and fellow traveller with thee to the world inwhich there is no parting and no death."

  I could not but be deeply affected by the tenderness, at once so pureand so impassioned, with which these words were uttered, and in a voicethat would have rendered musical the roughest sounds in the rudesttongue. And for a moment it did occur to me that I might avail myself ofZee's agency to effect a safe and speedy return to the upper world. Buta very brief space for reflection sufficed to show me how dishonourableand base a return for such devotion it would be to allure thus away,from her own people and a home in which I had been so hospitablytreated, a creature to whom our world would be so abhorrent, andfor whose barren, if spiritual love, I could not reconcile myself torenounce the more human affection of mates less exalted above my erringself. With this sentiment of duty towards the Gy combined another ofduty towards the whole race I belonged to. Could I venture to introduceinto the upper world a being so formidably gifted--a being that with amovement of her staff could in less than an hour reduce New York and itsglorious Koom-Posh into a pinch of snuff? Rob her of her staff, withher science she could easily construct another; and with the deadlylightnings that armed the slender engine her whole frame was charged. Ifthus dangerous to the cities and populations of the whole upper earth,could she be a safe companion to myself in case her affection should besubjected to change or embittered by jealousy? These thoughts, whichit takes so many words to express, passed rapidly through my brain anddecided my answer.

  "Zee," I said, in the softest tones I could command and pressingrespectful lips on the hand into whose clasp mine vanished--"Zee, Ican find no words to say how deeply I am touched, and how highly I amhonoured, by a love so disinterested and self-immolating. My best returnto it is perfect frankness. Each nation has its customs. The customsof yours do not allow you to wed me; the customs of mine are equallyopposed to such a union between those of races so widely differing. Onthe other hand, though not deficient in courage among my own people, oramid dangers with which I am familiar, I cannot, without a shudder ofhorror, think of constructing a bridal home in the heart of some dismalchaos, with all the elements of nature, fire and water, and mephiticgases, at war with each other, and with the probability that at somemoment, while you were busied in cleaving rocks or conveying vril intolamps, I should be devoured by a krek which your operations disturbedfrom its hiding-place. I, a mere Tish, do not deserve the love of a Gy,so brilliant, so learned, so potent as yourself. Yes, I do not deservethat love, for I cannot return it."

  Zee released my hand, rose to her feet, and turned her face away to hideher emotions; then she glided noiselessly along the room, and paused atthe threshold. Suddenly, impelled as by a new thought, she returned tomy side and said, in a whispered tone,--

  "You told me you would speak with perfect frankness. With perfectfrankness, then, answer me this question. If you cannot love me, do youlove another?"

  "Certainly, I do not."

  "You do not love Taee's sister?"

  "I never saw her before last night." "That is no answer. Love is swifterthan vril. You hesitate to tell me. Do not think it is only jealousythat prompts me to caution you. If the Tur's daughter should declarelove to you--if in her ignorance she confides to her father anypreference that may justify his belief that she will woo you, he willhave no option but to request your immediate destruction, as he isspecially charged with the duty of consulting the good of the community,which could not allow the daughter of the Vril-ya to wed a son of theTish-a, in that sense of marriage which does not confine itself to unionof the souls. Alas! there would then be for you no escape. She hasno strength of wing to uphold you through the air; she has no sciencewherewith to make a home in the wilderness. Believe that here myfriendship speaks, and that my jealousy is silent."

  With these words Zee left me. And recalling those words, I thought nomore of succeeding to the throne of the Vril-ya, or of the political,social, and moral reforms I should institute in the capacity of AbsoluteSovereign.