 Chapter 25 of A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James DeMille. Chapter 25 Falling Like Icarus Into the Sea. The aurora light, which had flamed brightly, was now extinct, and darkness was upon the face of the deep where we floated on the back of the monster. He swam, forcing himself onward with his hind legs, with one broad wing folded up close. Had both been folded up, the athelab could have swum rapidly, but the broken wing lay expanded over the water, tossing with the waves, so that our progress was but slight. Had it not been for this, the athelab's own instinct might have served to guide him toward some shore which we might have hoped to reach before life was extinct. But as it was, all thought of reaching any shore was out of the question. And there arose before us only the prospect of death, a death too which must be lingering and painful and cruel. Thus, amid the darkness we floated, and the waves dashed around us, and the athelab never ceased to struggle in the water, trying to force his way onward. It seemed sweet at that moment to have Leela with me, for what could have been more horrible than loneliness amid those black waters. And Leela's mind was made up to meet death with joy, so that her mood conveyed itself to me. And I thought that since death was inevitable it were better to meet it thus, and in this way end my lie, not amid the horrors of the sacrifice and the mystic cosec, but in a way which seemed natural to a seafaring man like myself, and with which I had long familiarized my thoughts. For I had fallen upon a world and among people which were all alien and unintelligible to me, and to live on would only open the way to new and worse calamities. There was peace also in the thought that my death would snatch the prospect of death from Alma. She would now be saved. It was only when we were together as lovers that death threatened her. But now, since I was removed, she could resume her former life, and she might remember me only as an episode in that lie. That she would remember me, I felt sure, and that she would weep for me and mourn after me was undeniable. But time, as it passed, would surely alleviate that grief, and Alma would live and be happy. Perhaps she might yet regain her native land and rejoin her loved kindred whom she would tell of the stranger from an unknown shore who had loved her, and through whose death she had gained her life. Such were the thoughts that filled my mind as I floated over the black water with darkness all around, as I held Laila in my arms with my coat wrapped around her and murmured in her ear tender words consolation and sympathy. A long, long time had passed, but how long I know not, when suddenly Laila gave a cry and started up on her knees, with her head bent forward, listening intently. I too listened, and I could distinctly hear the sound of breakers. It was evident that we were approaching some shore, and from what I remembered of the shore of Maganus such a shore meant death, and death alone. We stood up and tried to peer through the gloom. At length we saw a whole line of breakers, and beyond all was black. We waited anxiously in that position and drew steadily nearer. It was evident that the Athalep was desirous of reaching that shore, and we could do nothing but await the result. But the Athalep had his wits about him and swam along on a line with the breakers for some distance, until at length an opening appeared into which he directed his course. Passing through this we reached Stillwater, which seemed like a lagoon surrounded by a coral reef. The Athalep swam on farther, and at length we saw before us an island with a broad, sandy reach, beyond which was the shadowy outline of a forest. Here the monster landed, and dragged himself warily upon the sand, where he spread his vast bulk out and lay panting heavily. We dismounted. I first saw as to assist Leela, and then it seemed as if death were postponed for a time, since we had reached this place where the rich and ranked vegetation spoke of nothing but vigorous life. Fortune had indeed dealt strangely with me. I had fled with Alma and with her had reached one desolate shore, and now I found myself with Leela upon another shore. Desolate also, but not a savage wilderness. This lonely island ringed with the black ocean waters was the abode of a life of its own, and there was nothing here to crush the soul into a horror of despair, like that which was caused by the tremendous scenes on McGonness. In an instant Leela revived from her gloom. She looked around, clapped her little hands, laughed loud, and danced for joy. Oh, Atomor! she cried. See, see the trees, see the grass, the bushes! This is a land of wonder, as for food you can call it down from the sky with your sepid rum. Or we can find it on the rocks. Oh, Atomor! life is better than death, and we can live here, and we can be happy. This shall be better to us than the lands of the Oran, for we shall be alone, and we shall be all in all to one another. I could not help laughing, and I said, Leela, this is not the language of the Kosican. You should at once go to the other side of this island and sit down and wait for death. Never, said Leela, you are mine, Atomor, and I never will leave you. If you wish me to die for you, I will gladly lay down my life, but I will not leave you. I love you, Atomor, and now, whether it be life or death, it is all the same so long as I have you. Our submersion in the sea and our long exposure afterward had chilled both of us, but Leela fell at most. She was shivering in her wet clothes in spite of my coat, which I insisted on her wearing, and I determined, if possible, to kindle a fire. Fortunately my powder was dry, for I had thrown off my flask with my coat before jumping into the sea, and thus I had the means of creating fire. I rubbed wet powder over my handkerchief, and then gathered some dried sticks and moss. After this I found some dead trees, the vows of which were dry and brittle, and in the exercise I soon grew warm and had the satisfaction of seeing a great heap of faggots accumulated. I fired my pistol into the handkerchief, which, being saturated with powder, caught the fire, and this I blew into a flame among the dried moss. A bright fire now sprang up and blazed high in the air, while I, in order to have an amble supply of fuel, continued to gather it for a long time. At length, as I came back, I saw Layla lying on the sand in front of the fire, sound asleep. I was glad of this, for she was weary, and had seemed so weak and tremulous that I had felt anxious. So now I ranged my coat over her carefully, and then sat down for a time to think over this new turn which my fortune had taken. This island was certainly very unlike McGonness, yet I had no surety but that it might be equally destitute of food. This was the first question, and I could not think of sleep until I had found out more about the place. The aurora light, which constantly brightens and lessens in this strange world, was now shining gloriously, and I set forth to explore the island. The beach was a fine sand all the way. The water was smooth and shut in on every side by an outer reef against which the sea waves broke incessantly. As I walked I soon perceived what the island was, for I had often seen such places before in the South Pacific. It was, in fact, a coral islet with a reef of rocks encircling it on every side. The vegetation, however, was unlike anything in the world beyond, for it consisted of many varieties of tree firms that looked like palms and giant grasses and bamboo. The island was but small and the entire circuit was not over a mile. I saw nothing that looked like food, nor did it seem likely that in so small a place there could be enough sustenance for us. Our only hope would be from the sea, yet even here I could see no signs of any sort of shellfish. On the whole the prospect was discouraging, and I returned to the starting point with a feeling of dejection. But this feeling did not trouble me much at that time. My chief thought was a rest, and I flung myself down on the sand and fell asleep. I was awakened by a cry from Layella. Starting up I saw her standing, looking into the sky. She was intensely excited. As soon as she saw me she rushed toward me and burst into tears, while I, full of wonder, could only stare upward. Oh, cried Layella, they've turned back, they've found us. We shall have to leave our dear lovely island. Oh, Atamora, I shall lose you now. For never, never, never again will you have one thought of love for your poor Layella. With these words she clung sobbing to me. For my part I do not remember what I said, for the sight above was so amazing that it took up all my attention. The auroras shone bright, and in the sky I saw two vast objects, wheeling and circling, as if about to descend. I recognized them at once as athletics. But as their backs were hid from my view by their immense wings, I could not make out whether they were wanderers about to alight of their own accord, or guided here by riders, perhaps by the cosecant from whom we had been parted. This much at least I remember. I said to Layella that these athletics were wild ones, which had come here because they saw or scented our wounded one. But Layella shook her head with mournful meaning. Oh, no, said she, Alma has come back for you. This firelight has guided them. If you had not made the fire they never, never, never could have found us, but now all is lost. There was no time for conversation or discussion. The athletics grew swiftly nearer and nearer, descending in long circuits until at length they touched the ground not far away on the wide sandy beach. Then we saw people on their backs, and among them was Alma. We hurried toward them, and Alma rushed into my arms to the great disgust of Layella, for she was close beside me and saw it all. She gave an exclamation of grief and despair, and hurried away. For Alma I learned that our disappearance had alarmed, that two of the athletics had come back in search of us, that they had been to McGonison, had searched over the seas, and were just about giving us up as lost, when the firelight had attracted their attention and drawn them here. I said nothing at that time about the cause of our disappearance, but merely remarked that the athletics had fallen into the sea and swam here. This was sufficient. They had to remain here for some time longer to rest their athletics. At length we prepared to depart. Our wounded athletics was left behind to take care of himself. I was taken with Alma, and Layella went on the other. We were thus separated, and so we set forth upon our return, and at length arrived at the Amir. End of Chapter 25. Recording by Ralph Snelson, Springville, Utah. Chapter 26 of a strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder. This is a LibriBox recording. All LibriBox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriBox.org. Recording by Ralph Snelson. A strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder by James DeMille. Chapter 26. Grimm's Law Again. Dinner was now announced, and oxidin laid the manuscript aside. Whereupon they adjourned to the cabin where they proceeded to discuss both the repast and the manuscript. Well, said Featherstone, Moore's story seems to be approaching a crisis. What do you think of it now, Melick? Do you still think it's a sensational novel? Partly so, said Melick, but it would be nearer the mark to call it a satirical romance. Why not a scientific romance? Because there's precious little science in it but a good deal of quiet satire. Satire on what, asked Featherstone? I'll be hanged if I can see it. Oh well, said Melick, on things in general. The satire is directed against the restlessness of humanity, its impulses, feelings, hopes, and fears, all that men do and feel and suffer. It mocks us by exhibiting a new race of men animated by passions and impulses which are directly the opposite of ours and yet no nearer happiness than we are. It shows us a world where our evil is made a good and our good an evil. There all that we consider a blessing is had in abundance, prolonged and perpetual sunlight, riches, power, fame, and yet these things are despised and the people turning away from them imagine that they can find happiness in poverty, darkness, death, and unrequited love. The writer thus mocks at all our dearest passions and strongest desires, and his general aim is to show that the mere search for happiness per se is a vulgar thing and must always result in utter nothingness. The writer also teaches the great lesson that the happiness of man consists not in external surroundings but in the internal feelings and that heaven itself is not a place but a state. It is the old lesson which Melton extorted from Satan. What matter where if I be still the same? Or again, the mind is its own place and of itself can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven. That's good too, Cried Oxidon. That reminds me of the German commentators who found in the Agamemnon of Escalus or the Oedipus of Sophocles or the Hamlet of Shakespeare motives and purposes of which the authors could never have dreamed, and give us a metaphysical beer and tobacco High Dutch Clitamnestra or Antigone or Lady Macbeth. No, my boy, more was a simple sailor, and had no idea of satirizing anything. How then do you account for the perpetual end or current of meaning and innuendo that may be found in every line? I deny that there is anything of the sort, said Oxidon. It is a plain narrative of facts, but the facts are themselves such that they give a new coloring to the facts of our own life. They are in such profound antithesis to European ways that we consider them as being written merely to indicate that difference. It is like the Germania of Tacitus, which many critics still hold to be a satire on Roman ways, while as a matter of fact it is simply a narrative of German manners and customs. I hope, cried Melik, that you do not mean to compare this awful rot and rubbish to the Germania of Tacitus. By no means, said Oxidon, I merely asserted that in one respect they were analogous. You forced on the illusion to the Germania by calling this rot and rubbish a satirical romance. O well, said Melik, I only referred to the intention of the writer. His plan is one thing and his execution quite another. His plan is not bad, but he fails utterly in his execution. The style is detestable. If he had written in the style of a plain seamen and told a simple unvarnished tale, it would have been all right. In order to carry out properly such a plan as this, the writer should take full as his model, or still better, Dean Swift. Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe show what can be done in this way, and form a standard by which all other attempts might be judged. But this writer is Todry. He has the worst vices of the sensational school. He shows everywhere marks of haste, gross carelessness and universal feebleness. When he gets hold of a good fancy, he lacks the patience that is necessary in order to work it up in an effective way. He is a gross plagiarist, and over and over again violates, in the most glaring manner, all the ordinary proprieties of style. What can be more absurd, for instance, than the language which he puts into the mouth of Layela? Not content with making her talk like a sentimental boarding school, bread and butter English mess. He actually forgets himself so far as to put in her mouth a threadbare joke which everyone has heard since childhood. What is that? Oh, that silly speech about the Athelab swallowing its vitals whole. What's the matter with that, as Dr. Dunn? Is merely a chance resemblance. In translating her words into English they fell by accident into that shape. No one but you would find fault with them. Would it have been better if he had translated her words into the scientific phraseology which the doctor made use of with regard to the ichthyosaurus? He might have made it this way. Does it bite? No, it swallows its food without mastication. Would that have been better? Besides, it's all very well to talk of imitating default and swift, but suppose he couldn't do it? Then he shouldn't have written the book. In that case, how could his father have heard about his adventures? His father, exclaimed Melick, do you mean to say that you still accept all this as bona fide? Do you mean to say, retorted Occident, that you still have any doubt about the authenticity of this remarkable manuscript? At this each looked at the other. Melick elevated his eyebrows, and Occident shrugged his shoulders. But each seemed unable to find words to express his amazement at the other's stupidity, and so they took refuge in silence. What do you understand by this athelab, doctor? asked Featherstone. The athelab? said the doctor. Why, it is clearly the pteridactyl. By the by, interrupted Occident, do please take notice of that name. It affords another exemplification of Grim's law. The Hebrew word is athelaf, and means bat. The Cossican word is athelab. Here you see the thin letter of Hebrew represented by the aspirated letter of the Cossican language, while the aspirated Hebrew is represented by the Cossican medial. To true, exclaimed Melick, in a tone of deep conviction, and now Occident, won't you sing us a song? Nonsense, said Featherstone, let the doctor tell us about the athelab. Well, resumed the doctor, as I was saying, it must be undoubtedly the pteridactyl. It is a most extraordinary animal, and is a species of flying lizard, although differing from the lizard in many respects. It has the head and neck of a bird, the trunk and tail of an ordinary mammal, the jaws and teeth of a reptile, and the wings of a bat. Owen describes one whose sweep of wings exceeded twenty feet, and many have been found of every gradation of size down to that of a bat. There is no reason why they should not be as large as Moore says, and I, for my part, do not suspect him of exaggeration. Some have supposed that a late lingering individual may have suggested the idea of the fabulous dragon, an idea which seems to be in the minds of nearly all the human race, for in the early records of many nations we find the destruction of dragons assigned to their gods and heroes. The figure of the pteridactyl represents pretty closely that which is given to the dragons. It is not impossible that they may have existed into the period which we call prehistoric, and that monsters far larger than any which we have yet discovered may have lingered until the time when man began to increase upon the earth, to spread over its surface, and to carve upon wood and stone representations of the most striking objects around him. When the living pterodactyls had disappeared, the memory of them was preserved. Some few features were added, and the imagination went so far as to endow them with the power of belching forth smoke and flames. Thus the dragon idea pervaded the minds of men, and instead of a natural animal it became a fabulous one. The fingers of the forelegs were of the ordinary dimensions and terminated with crooked nails, and these were probably used to suspend themselves from trees. When in repose it rested on its hind legs like a bird, and held its neck curving behind so that its enormous head should not disturb its equilibrium. The size and form of the feet of the leg and of the thigh proved that they could hold themselves erect with firmness, their wings folded, and move about in this way like birds just as more describes them as doing. Like birds they could also perch on trees and could crawl like bats and lizards along the rocks and cliffs. Something that they were covered with scales, but I am of the opinion that they had a horny hide with a ridge of hair running down their backs, in which opinion I am sustained by Moore's account. The smaller kinds were undoubtedly insectivorous, but the larger ones must have been carnivorous and probably fed largely on fish. Well, at any rate, said Melick gravely, this athelab solves the difficult question as to how the troglodytes immigrated to the South Pole. How, asked the doctor, why they must have gone there on athelabs? Your friends, the pterodactyls, probably lingered longest among the troglodytes, who seeing that they were rapidly dying out, concluded to depart to another and a better world. One beauty of this theory is that it cannot possibly be disproved. Another is that it satisfies all the requirements of the case. A third is that it accounts for the disappearance of the pterodactyls in our world and their appearance at the South Pole. And there are forty or fifty other facts all included in this theory, which I have not time just now to enumerate. But we'll try to do so after we have finished reading the manuscript. I will only add that the pterodactyls must be regarded as another link which binds the Cossican to the Semitic race. Another link, said oxygen, that I already have, and it is one that carries the conviction with it. All your arguments invariably do, my dear fellow. What is it, asked the doctor? The Cossican alphabet, said oxygen. I can't see how you can make anything out of that, said the doctor. Very well, I can easily explain, replied oxygen. In the first place we must take the old Hebrew alphabet. I will write down the letters in their order first. Saying this he hastily jotted down some letters on a piece of paper and showed them to the doctor. That, said he, is substantially the order of the old Hebrew alphabet. That, said the doctor, the Cossican alphabet differs in its order altogether from that. That very difference can be shown to be all the stronger proof of a connection between them, said oxygen. I should like to know how. The fact is, said oxygen, these letters are represented differently in the two languages in exact accordance with Grimm's Law. And I jove, cried Featherstone, Grimm's Law again. According to that law, continued oxygen, the letters of the alphabet ought to change their order. Now let us leave out the vowels and linguals and deal only with the mutes. First we have in the Hebrew alphabet the medials B, G, and D. Very well. In the Cossican we have standing first the thin letters or tenues, according to Grimm's Law, namely P, K, T. Next we have in the Hebrew the aspirates F, C, H, D, H. In the Cossican alphabet we have corresponding to them the medials B, G, D. Next we have in the Hebrew the tenues or thin letters P, K, T. In the Cossican we have the corresponding aspirates F, C, H, T, H. The vowels, liquids, and sibilants need not be regarded just here, for the proof from the mutes is sufficient to satisfy any reasonable man. Well, said many, I for one am thoroughly satisfied and don't need another single word. The fact is I never knew before the all sufficient nature of Grimm's Law why it can unlock any mystery. When I get home I must buy one, attain one, if possible, and keep him with me always. It is more useful to a literary man than to any other. It is said that with the knowledge of Grimm's Law a man may wander through the world from Iceland to Ceylon and converse pleasantly in all the Indo-European languages. More must have had Grimm's Law stowed away somewhere about him, and that's the reason why he escaped the icebergs, the volcano knows the cannibals, the subterranean channel monster, and arrived at last safe and sound in the land of the Cossican. What I want is Grimm's Law, a nice, tidy one, well-trained, in good working order, and kind in harness, and the moment I get one I intend to go to the land of the Cossican myself. Magonis, said the doctor, is clearly a volcanic island, and taken in connection with the other volcanoes around shows how active must be the subterranean fires at the South Pole. It seems probable to me that the numerous caves of the Cossican were originally fishers in the mountains formed by convulsions of nature, and also that the places excavated by man must consist of soft volcanic rock such as pumice stone, or rather tufa, easily worked and remaining permanently in any shape into which it may be fashioned. As to the Magonis, it seems another Iceland, for there are the same wild and hideous desolation, the same impassable wildernesses, and the same universal scenes of ruin lighted up by the baleful and tremendous volcanic fires. But what of that little island on which they landed, asked Featherstone? That surely was not volcanic. No, said the doctor, that must have been a coral island. Why the bye, is it really true, asked Featherstone, that these coral islands are the work of little insects? Well, they may be called insects, replied the doctor. They are living zoophytes of most minute dimensions, which, however, compensate for their smallness of size by their inconceivable numbers. Small as these are, they have accomplished infinitely more than all that ever was done by the Ictheosaurus, the Pleosaurus, the pterodactyl, and the whole tribe of monsters that once filled the earth. Immense districts and whole mountains have been built up by these minute creatures. They have been at work for ages and are still at work. It is principally in the South Seas that their labors are carried on. Near the Maldive Islands they have formed a mass whose volume is equal to the Alps. Around New Caledonia they have built a barrier of reefs, four hundred miles in length, and another along the northeast coast of Australia, a thousand miles in length. In the Pacific Ocean islands, reefs, and islets innumerable have been constructed by them, which extend for an immense distance. The coral islands are called atolls. They are nearly always circular, with a depression in the center. They are originally made ring-shaped. But the action of the ocean serves to throw fragments of rock into the inner depression, which thus fills up. Firm land appears. The rock crumbles into soil. The winds and birds and currents bring seeds here, and soon the new island is covered with verger. These little creatures have played a part in the past quite as important as in the present. All Germany rests upon a bank of coral, and they seem to have been most active during the old lithic period. How do the creatures act? asked Featherstone. Nobody knows, replied the doctor. A silence now followed which was at last broken by Oxidon. After all, said he, these monsters and marbles of nature form the least interesting feature in the land of the Cosican. To me the people themselves are the chief subject of interest. Where did they get that strange all-pervading love of death which is as strong in them as love of life is in us? Why, they got it from the imagination of the writer of the manuscript, interrupted Milik. Yes, it's easy to answer it from your point of view, yet from my point of view it is more difficult. I sometimes think that it may be the strong spirituality of the Semitic race carried out under exceptionally favorable circumstances to the ultimate results. For the Semitic race more than all others thought little of this life and turned their affections to the life that lives beyond this. The Cosican may thus have had a spiritual development of their own which ended in this. Yet there may be another reason for it and I sometimes think that the Cosican may be nearer to the truth than we are. We have by nature a strong love of life. It is our dominant feeling. But yet there is in the minds of all men a deep underlying conviction of the vanity of life and the worthlessness. In all ages and among all races the best, the purest, and the wisest have taught this truth that human life is not a blessing, that the evil predominates over the good, and that our best hope is to gain a spirit of acquiescence with its inevitable ills. All philosophy and all religions teach us this one solemn truth that in this life the evil surpasses the good. It has always been so. Suffering has been the lot of all living things from the giant of the prime evil swamps down to the smallest zoophyte. It is far more so with man. Some favored classes in every age may furnish forth a few individuals who may perhaps lead lives of self-indulgence and luxury. But to the mass of mankind has ever been, and must ever be, a prolonged scene of labor intermingled with suffering. The great Indian religions, whether Brahmanic or Buddhistic, teach as their cardinal doctrine that life is an evil. Buddhism is more pronounced in this, for it teaches more emphatically than even the Cosican that the chief end of man is to get rid of the curse of life and gain the bless of nirvana or annihilation. True, it does not take so practical a form as among the Cosican. Yet it is believed by one third of the human race as the foundation of the religion in which they live and die. We need not go to the Cosican, however, for such maxims as these. The intelligent Hindus, the Chinese, the Japanese, with many other nations all cling firmly to this belief. Sakymum Guatamabhuta, the son and heir of a mighty monarch penetrated with the conviction of the misery of life, left his throne, embraced a life of voluntary poverty, want, and misery, so that he might find his way to a better state. The end before him being this, that he might ultimately escape from the curse of existence. He lived till old age, gained innumerable followers, and left to them as a solemn legacy the maxim that not to exist is better than to exist, that death is better than life. Since his day millions of his followers have upheld his principles and lived his life, even among the joyous Greeks we find this feeling at times. Bursting forth it comes when released expected, and not even a Cosican poet could express this view more forcibly than the Sophocles in the Etaposet Columbus. Quote, not to be born surpasses every lot, and the next best lot by far, when one is born, is to go back whence he came as soon as possible. For while youth is present bringing vain follies, what woes does it not have, what ills does it not bear? Murders, factions, strife, war, envy, but the extreme of misery is attained by loathsome old age. Old age, strengthless, unsociable, friendless, where all evils upon evils dwell together." I'll give you the words of a later poet, said Melick, who takes a different view of the case. I think I'll sing them with your permission. Melick swallowed a glass of wine and then sang the following. They may rail at this life from the hour I began it, I found it if I full of kindness and bliss, and until they can show me some happier planet, more social and bright, I'll content me with this, as long as the world has such lips and such eyes as before me this moment in rapture I see. They may say what they will of their orbs in the skies, but this earth is the planet for you, love, and me. What a pity it is, continued Melick, that the writer of this manuscript had not the philological, theological, and sociological, geological, paleological, ontological, ornithological, and all the other logical attainments of yourself and the doctor. He could then have given us a complete view of the nature of the Cossigan, morally and physically. He could have treated of the geology of the soil, the ethnology of the people, and could have unfolded before us a full and comprehensive view of their philosophy and religion, and could have crammed his manuscript with statistics. I wonder why he didn't do it, even as it was. It must have been a strong temptation. Moore, said Oxidon, with deep impressiveness, was a simple-minded though somewhat emotional sailor, and merely wrote in the hope that his story might one day meet the eyes of his father. I certainly should like to find some more accurate statements about the science, philosophy, and religion of the Cossigan, yet after all things could not be expected. Why not, said Melick? It was easy enough for him. How, asked Oxidon, why he had only to step into the British Museum, and in a couple of hours he could have crammed up on all those points in science, philosophy, ethnology, and theology about which you are so anxious to know. Well, said Featherstone, suppose we continue our reading. I believe it is my turn now. I shan't be able to hold out so long as you did, Oxidon, but I'll do what I can. Saying this, Featherstone took the manuscript and went on to read. End of Chapter 27, Recording by Ralph Snelson, Springville, Utah. Chapter 28 of a strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder. This is a LibriBox recording. All LibriBox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriBox.org. Recording by Ralph Snelson. A strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder by James DeMell, Chapter 28, In Prison. It was with hearts full of the gloomiest forebodings that we returned to the Amir, and these we soon found to be fully justified. The Athalabs descended at that point from which they had risen, namely on the terrace immediately in front of the cavern, where they had been confined. We then dismounted, and Layela, with the Cossican guards, accompanied us to our former chambers. There she left us, saying that a communication would be sent to us. We were now left to our own conjectures. I wonder what they will do to us, said I. It is impossible to tell, said Alma. I suppose, said I, they will punish us in some way, but then punishment among the Cossican is what seems honour and reward to me. Perhaps they will spare our lives. For that in their eyes ought to be the severest punishment and the deepest disgrace imaginable. Alma sighed. The Cossican do not always act in this matter, as one would suppose, said she. It is quite likely that they may dread our escaping, and may conclude to sacrifice us at once. On the next yom I had a visit from the Kohan Gadol. He informed me that the Poppers had held a Council of State in which they had made a special examination of our late flight. He and Layela had both been examined, as well as the Cossican who had gone after us, but Layela's testimony was by far the most important. The Council of State gathered from Layela's report that we had fled to McGonness for the special purpose of gaining the most blessed of deaths, that she pursued us in the interest of the State, and that we on her arrival had generously surrendered our own selfish desires and had at once returned. We learned that much gratification was felt by the Council, and also expressed that Layela's account and at our action. First, at our eager love of death, which was so natural in their eyes. Secondly, at the skill which we had shown in selecting McGonness. And finally, at our generosity in giving up so readily the blessed prospect of exile and want and death so as to come back to the Amir. Had we been Cossican, our acts would have been natural enough, but being foreigners it was considered more admirable in us, and it seemed to show that we were equal to the Cossican themselves. It was felt, however, that in our eager rush after death we had been somewhat selfish. But as this probably arose from our ignorance of the law, it might be overlooked. On the whole it was decided that we ought to be rewarded, and that too with the greatest benefits that the Cossican could be so. What these benefits were the Kohan Gadol could not say, and thus we were left as before in the greatest possible anxiety. We still dreaded the worst. The highest honors of these men might well awaken apprehension, for they thought that the chief blessings were poverty and darkness and death. Layela next came to see me. She was as amiable as ever, and showed no resentment at all. She gave me an account of what had happened at the Council of State, which was the same as what I had heard from the Kohan Gadol. I asked her why she had made such a report of us. To conciliate their goodwill, said Layela, for if they thought that you had really fled from death, from a love of life, they would have felt such contempt for you that serious harm might have happened. Yes, said I, but among the Cossican what you call harm would probably have been just what I want. I should like to be viewed with contempt, and considered unworthy of death, and the mystic Cossick and other such honors. Oh, yes, said Layela, but that doesn't follow, for you see the poppers love death so intensely that they long to bestow it on all. And if they knew that you were afraid of it, they would be tempted to bestow it upon you immediately, just to show you how delightful a thing it is. And that was the very thing that I was trying to guard against. Well, said I, and what is the result? Do you know what their decision is? Yes, said Layela. What is it? I asked eagerly. Layela hesitated. What is it? I cried again, full of impatience. I'm afraid it will not sound very pleasant to you, said Layela, but at any rate your life is spared for the present. They have decided to give you what they call the greatest possible honors and distinctions. Layela paused and looked at me earnestly. For my part these words sounded ominous and were full of the darkest meaning. Tell me all, I said. Don't keep me in suspense. Well, said Layela, I am afraid you will think it hard, but I must tell you. I will tell it, therefore, as briefly and formally as possible. First, then, they have decreed the blessing of separation. You and Alma must now be parted, since this is regarded as the highest bliss of lovers. Secondly, they have decreed the blessing of poverty. All these luxuries will be taken away, and you will be raised to an equality in this respect with the great poppers. Thirdly, you are to have the blessing of darkness. You are to be removed from this troublesome and vexatious light which here is regarded as a curse and henceforth live without it. Fourthly, the next decree is the high reward of imprisonment. You are to be delivered from the evils of liberty and shut up in a dark cavern from which it will be impossible to escape or to communicate with anyone outside. You are to associate with the greatest of the poppers, the class that is the most honored and influential. You will be present at all their highest councils and will have the privilege of perpetual intercourse with those reverend men. They will tell you of the joys of poverty, the happiness of darkness, and the bliss of death. Layela paused and looked at me earnestly. Is there anything more? I gasped. No, said she, is not that enough. Some were in favor of bestowing immediate death, but they were outvoted by the others. You surely cannot regret that. Layela's words sounded like the words of a mocking demon. Yet she did not wish to distress me. She had merely stated my sentence in formal language without any attempt to soften its tremendous import. As for me I was overwhelmed with despair. There was but one thought in my mind. It was not of myself, but of Alma. And Alma, I cried. Alma, said Layela, she will have the same. You are both included in the same sentence. At this a groan burst from me. Horror overwhelmed me. I threw myself down upon the floor and covered my face with my hands. All was lost. Our fate, Alma's fate, was darkness, imprisonment, and death. Could anything be imagined that might mitigate such woes as these? Could anything be conceived of as more horrible? Yes, there remained something more, and this was announced by Layela. Finally, said she, it has been decreed that you shall not only have the blessing of death, but that you shall have the rare honour of belonging to the chosen few who are reserved for the mystic osych. Thus far this had not been granted. It was esteem too high an honour for strangers. But now, by an exercise of unparalleled liberality, the Grand Council of Poppers have added this as the last and best to the high honours and rewards which they have decreed for you and Alma. To this I had nothing to say. I was stupefied with horror. To such words what answer could be made? At that moment I could think of nothing but this tremendous sentence, this infliction of appalling woes under the miserable name of blessings. I could not think of Layela, nor did I try to conjecture what her motives might be in this coming to me as the messenger of evil. I could not find space amid my despair for speculations as to her own part in this, or stop to consider whether she was acting the part of a mere messenger, or was influenced by resentment or revenge. All this was far away from my thoughts, for all my mind was filled with the dread sentence of the Council of Poppers and the baleful prospect of the woes that awaited us. On the next job I saw Alma. She had already learned the awful tidings. She met me with a face of despair, for there was no longer any hope, and all that remained for us was a last farewell. After this we parted, and each of us was taken to our respective prison. I was taken along dark passages until I came to a cavern with a low dark portal. Upon entering I found the darkness deeper than usual, and there was only one solitary lamp which diffused but a feeble ray through the gloom. The size of the place could not be made out. I saw here a group of human beings, and by the feeble ray of the lamp I perceived that they were warm and thin, and emaciated, with scant clothing, all in rags, squalor, misery and dirt, with coarse hair matted together, and long nails and shaggy beards. They reminded me in their personal appearance of the cannibals of the outer shore. These hideous beings all gathered round me, blinking at me with their blurry eyes and grinning with their abominable faces, and then each one embraced me. The filth, squalor and unutterable foulness of these wretches all combined to fill my soul with loathing, and the inconceivable horror of that embrace well now overwhelmed me. Yet after all it was surpassed by the horror of the thought that Alma might be at that very moment undergoing the same experience, and for her such a thing must be worse than for me. I retreated as far as possible from them, deep into the thick darkness and sat down. No convicted felon at the last hour of life, no prisoner in the dungeons of the Inquisition ever could have suffered more mental agony than I did at that moment. The blessings, the awful blessings of the Cossacken were descending upon my miserable head, separation from Alma, squalor and dirt, imprisonment, the society of these filthy creatures, darkness, the shadow of death, and beyond all the tremendous horrors of the Mr. Cossack. I do not know how the time passed, for at first I was almost stupefied with despair, nor could I ever grow reconciled to the society of these wretches, scarce human who were with me. Some food was offered me, filthy stuff which I refused. My refusal excited warm commendation, but I was warned against starving myself as that was against the law. In my despair I thought of my pistol and rifle, which I still kept with me, abusing these against my jailers and bursting forth, but this wild impulse soon passed away, for its utter hopelessness was manifest. My only hope, if hope it was, lay in waiting, and it was not impossible that I might see Alma again if only once. Joms passed away. I know not how. The chief popper, who is the greatest man in the land of the Cossacken, made several attempts to converse with me, and was evidently very condescending and magnanimous in his own eyes. But I did not meet his advance as graciously. He was too abhorrent. He was a hideous wrench, with eyes nearly closed and blurry, thick matted hair and fiendish expression. In short, a devil incarnate in rags and squalor. But as the joms passed, I found it difficult to repel my associates. They were always inflicting their society upon me, and thrusting on me nasty little acts of kindness. The chief popper was more persistent than all, with his chatter and his disgusting sabilities. He was evidently glad to get hold of a fresh subject for his talkative genius. He was a very garrulous cannibal, and perhaps my being a foreigner made me more interesting in his eyes. The chief topic of his discourse was death. He hated lie, loved death, long for it in all its forms, whether arising from disease or from violence. He was an amateur in corpses, and had a larger experience in dead bodies than any other man in the nation. I could not help asking him once why he did not kill himself and be done with it. That, he said, is not allowed. The temptation to kill oneself is one of the strongest that human nature can experience. But it is one that we must struggle against, of course, for it is against all law. The greatest blessing must not be seized. It must be given by nature or man. Those who violate the blessed mystery of death are infamous. He assured me that he had all his life cultivated the loftiest feelings of love to others. His greatest happiness consisted in doing good to others, especially in killing them. The blessing of death being the greatest of all blessings was the one which he loved best to bestow upon others, and the more he loved his fellow creatures, the more he wished to give them this blessing. You, said he, are particularly dear to me, and I should rather give to you the blessing of death than to any other human being. I love you, Atamar, and I long to kill you at this moment. You had better not try it, said I grimly. He shook his head despondingly. Oh no, said he, it is against the law. I must not do it till the time comes. Do you kill many, I asked. It is my pleasing and glorious office, he replied, to kill more than any other. For you must know I am the Sartabhakan, chief of the executioners. The chief popper's love of death had grown to be an all-absorbing passion. He longed to give death to all. As with us there are certain philanthropists who have a mania for doing good, so here the popper class had a mania for doing what they considered good in this way. The chief popper was a sort of Cossican-howard peabody, and was regarded by all with boundless reverence. To me, however, he was an object of never-ending hate, abhorrence, and loathing, and added to this was the thought that there might be here some equally hideous female, someone like the nightmare hag of the Outer Sea, a torment, and a horror to Alma. End of chapter 28, recording by Ralph Snelson, Springwood, Chapter 29 of A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Eddie Winter A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James Miller Chapter 29, The Ceremony of Separation Separated from Alma, surrounded by fowl or fiends, in darkness and the shadow of death, with the balfour prospect of the Mr. Cossack, it was mine to endure the bitterest anguish and despair. And in me these feelings were all the worse from the thought that Alma was in a similar state and was enduring equal woes. All that I suffered in my present condition, she too was suffering, and from this there was no possibility of escape. Perhaps her surroundings were even worse and her suffering was keener, for who could tell what these people might inflict in their strange and perverted impulses. Many jobs passed, and there was only one thing that sustained me, the hope of seeing Alma yet again, though it were but for a moment. That hope however was but faint, there was no escape. The gate was barred, without and within. I was surrounded by miscreants, who formed the chief class in the state and the ruling order. The chief pauper was the highest magistrate in the land, from whose opinion there was no appeal. And the other pauper's here, formed the Kosikin Senate. Here in imprisonment and darkness they formed a secret tribunal, and controlled everything. They were objects of envy to all. All looked forward to this position as the highest object of human ambition, and the friends and relatives of those here rejoiced in their honour. Their powers were not executive, but deliberative. To the Meleks and Athens was left the exercise of authority, but their acts were always insubordination to the will of the pauper's. I have everything that heart can wish, said the chief pauper to me once. Look at me, Atamor. And see me as I stand here. I have poverty, squalor, cold, perpetual darkness, the privilege of killing others, the near prospect of death, and the certainty of the Mr. Kozak. All these I have, and yet, Atamor, after all, I am not happy. To this strange speech I had nothing to say. Yes, continued the chief pauper in a pensive tone. For twenty seasons I have reigned as chief of the Kosikin in this place. My cavern is the coldest, squalidest, and darkest in the land. My raiment is the coarsest drags. I have separated from all my friends. I have had much sickness. I have the closest captivity. Death, darkness, poverty, want. All that men most live and long for are mined to satiety. And yet, as I look back and count the joms of my life, to see in how many I have known happiness, I find that in all, they're meant to just seven. Oh, Atamor, what a comment is this on the vanity of human life. To this I had no answer ready, but by way of saying something, I offered to kill him on the spot. Nay, nay, Atamor, said he, with a melancholy smile, do not tempt me, leave me to struggle with temptations by myself, and do not seek to make me falter in my duty. Yes, Atamor, you behold in me a melancholy example of the folly of ambition. For I often think, as I look down from my lofty eminence, that after all, it is as well to remain content in the humble sphere in which we are placed at birth. For perhaps, if the truth were known, there is quite as much real happiness among the rich and splendid, among the Athens and Melecs. On this occasion, I took advantage of the chief pauper's softer mood to pour forth an earnest entreaty for him to save Alma's life or at least to mitigate her miseries, alas, he was inexorable. It was like an appeal of some mad prisoner to some gentle-hearted governor in Christendom entreating him to put some fellow prisoner to death, or at least to make his confinement more severe. The chief pauper stared at me in horror. You are a strange being at Atamor, said he gently. Sometimes I think you mad. I can only say that such a request is horrible to me beyond all words. Such degradation and cruelty to the gentle and virtuous Alma is outrageous and forever impossible. No, we will not deprive her of a single one of those blessings, which she now enjoys. I turned away in despair. At length, one jom, the chief pauper came to me with a smile and said, Atamor, let me congratulate you on this joyous occasion. What do you mean? I asked. You are to have your ceremony of separation. Separation, I repeated. Yes, said he. Alma has given notice to us. She has announced her intention of giving you up and separating from you. With us, the woman always gives the announcement in such cases. We have fixed the ceremony for the third jom from this and I hope you will not think it too soon. This strange intelligence moved me greatly. I did not like the idea of a ceremony of separation, but behind this there rose the prospect of seeing Alma and I felt convinced that she had devised this as a mode of holding communication with me, or at least of seeing me again. The thought of Layla was the only thing that interfered with this belief, for it might be her doings after all. Yet the fact remained that I was to see Alma, and in this I rejoiced with exceeding great joy. The appointed jom came. A procession was formed of the paupers. The chief did not go, as he never left the cavern except on the great sacrifices and Mr. Kozaks. The door was opened and I accompanied the procession. On our way all was dark and after traversing many passages we came at length to the door of a cavern as gloomy as the one I had left. On entering this I found all dark and drear, and a little distance before me there was a light burning, around which was gathered a group of hags hideous beyond all expression, but these I scarcely noticed, for there amid them, all pale and won, with her face now lighted up with joyous and eager expectation, I saw my darling, my Alma. I caught her in my arms and for a few moments neither of us spoke a word. She sogged upon my breast, but I knew that the tears which she shed were tears of joy. Nor was our joy checked by the thought that it was to be so short-lived. It was enough at that moment that we saw one another, enough that we were in one another's arms and so we mingled our tears and shared one common rapture. And sweet it was, sweet beyond all expression, the sweetest moment in all my life, for it had come in the midst of the drear desolation of my heart and the black despair. It was like a flash of lightning in the intense darkness, short and sudden indeed, yet still intense while it lasted, and in an instant, full in awe with its glow, I did this murmur to see you and to save you. Save me, I repeated. Yes, said she. I have seen Leila. She told me that there is this chance and this one only to save you. I determined to try it. I cannot bear to think of you at the sacrifice and for the love of me meeting your death and I would die to save you more. I pressed her closer in my arms. Oh, Alma said I, I will die to save you and if this ceremony will save you, I will go through with it and accept my fate, whatever it may be. We were now interrupted, the women, the hegs of horror, the shriek-like ones, as I may call them, or the fiend-like, the female fiends, the foul ones, they were all around us, and one there was who looked so exactly like the nightmare hag of the Outer Sea that I felt she must be the same, who by some strange chance had come here. Such indeed is quite likely, for there may have been a pass over the mountains to the land of the Kosikin, and those savage cannibals may all have been honoured Kosikin exiles dwelling in poverty, want, woe, and darkness, all of which may have been allotted to them as a reward for eminent virtues. And so here she was, the nightmare hag, and I saw that she recognised me. A circle was now formed around us, and the light stood in the middle. The nightmare hag also stood within the circle on the other side of the light opposite us. The beams of the lamp flickered through the darkness, faintly illuminating the faces of the horrible creatures around, who were still and repulsive as harpies, seemed like unclean beasts, ready to make us their prey. The glances seemed to menace death, their blear eyes rested upon us with a hurried eager hunger. My worst fears at that moment seemed realised, for I saw that Alma's associates were worse than mine, and her fate had been more bitter. And I wondered how it had been possible for her to live among such associates, or, even though she had lived thus far, whether it would be possible for her to endure it longer. And now there arose a melancholy chant from the old hags around, a dreadful strain that sounded like a funeral dirge, sung in shlull discoloured voices, led by the nightmare hag, who as she sang, waved in her hand a kind of club. All the time I hurled at Alma in my arms, regardless of those around us, thinking only of her, from whom I must soon again be separated, and whom I must leave in this drear abode to meet her fearful fate alone. The chant continued for some time, and as long as it continued it was sweet to me, for it prolonged the meeting with Alma, and postponed by so much our separation. At length the chant ceased. The nightmare hag looked fixedly at us, and spoke these words. You have embraced for the last time, henceforth there is no more sorrow in your love. You may be happy now, in being forever disunited, and in knowing the bliss of eternal separation. As darkness is better than light, as death is better than life, so may you find separation better than union. She now gave a blow with her club at the lamp, which broke it to atoms, and extinguished the flame. She continued, as the barrelful light is succeeded by the blessed darkness, so may you find the light of union, followed by the blessed darkness of separation. And now, in the deep darkness, we stood clasped in one another's arms, while around us, from the horrible circle of hags, there arose another chant, harsh and discordant, as the previous one, but which nevertheless, like that, served at least to keep us together a little longer. For this reason, it sounded sweeter than the sweetest music, and therefore, when at last the hideous noise ended, I felt a pain of grief, for I knew that I must never give up, forever. I was right. The ceremony was over. I went out, and we parted with tears of despair. I was led away, and as I went, I heard Alma's sobs. I broke away, and tried to return for one more embrace, but in the darkness, I could not find her, and could only hear her sobs at a greater distance, which showed that she too was being led away. I called after her. Farewell, Alma. The reply came back, broken with sobs. Farewell, forever, I was once more led away, and again traversed the dark passages, and again came back to my den, which now seemed dark, with the blackness of despair. On my return, I was formally and solemnly congratulated by all the paupers. I should not have received their congratulations had I not expected that there would be something more. I expected that something would be said about the result of this act of separation, for Alma had believed that it would be the means of saving my life, and I believed that it would be the means of saving her life, and for this reason, each of us had performed our part, although of course, the joy of meeting with one another would of itself have been sufficient and more than sufficient to make that ceremony an object of desire. I thought therefore that some statement might now be made to the effect that with this ceremony, my status among the Kosikin would be changed, and that both I and Alma, being no longer lovers, would be no longer fit for the sacrifice. To my intense disappointment, however, nothing whatever was said that had the remotest reference to this. On the following John, I determined to ask the chief pauper himself directly, and accordingly, after a brief preamble, I put the question point blank. Will our ceremony of separation make any difference as to our sacrifice? What, he asked, with a puzzled expression. I repeated the question. I don't understand, said he, still looking puzzled. Upon this, I once more repeated it. How can that be, said he at length? How can this ceremony of separation have any effect upon your sacrifice? The ceremony of separation stands by itself as the sign and symbol of blessing. This new happiness of separation is a great favour and will make you the object of new envy and admiration, for few have been so fortunate as you in all the history of the Kosikin, but you are the favourites of the Kosikin now, and there is nothing that they will not do for you. But will you are separate before, said I indignantly? That is true, said he in point of fact, but this ceremony makes your separation and gives it the solemn sanction of law and of religion. Among the Kosikin, one cannot be considered as a separate man until the ceremony of separation has been publicly performed. I understood, said I, that we were chosen to suffer the sacrifice together, because we were lovers, and now since you do not any longer regard us as lovers, why do you sacrifice us? At this question the chief pauper looked at me with one of those hungry glances of his, which showed how he thirsted for my blood, and he smiled the smile of an evil fiend. Why do we sacrifice you at all? He replied. Why, because we honour you both, and love you both so dearly, that we are eager to give you the greatest of all blessings, and to deny you nothing that it is in our power to bestow. Do you mean to sacrifice both of us, I gasped? Of course. What, Alma too? Certainly. Why should we be so cruel to the dear child as to deprive her of so great a bone? At this I groaned aloud, and turned away in despair. Many drums now passed away. I grew more and more melancholy and desperate. I thought sometimes of fighting my way out. My firearms were now my chief consolation, for I had fully made up my mind not to die quietly like a slaughtered calf, but to strike a blow for life and meet my death amid slain enemies. In this prospect I found some satisfaction, and death was robbed of some of its terrors. End of Chapter 29 Chapter 30 of a strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For further information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Eddie Winter. A strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder by James DeMille. Chapter 30 The Day of Sacrifice At last the time came. It was the end of the dark season. Then as the sun rises for its permanent course when the long day of six months begins, all in the land of the Kosikin is sorrow and the last of the loved darkness is mourned over amid the most solemn ceremonies and celebrated with the most imposing sacrifices. Then the most honoured in all the land are publicly presented with the blessing of death and allowed to depart this hated life and go to the realms of that eternal darkness that lives so well. It is the greatest of sacrifices and is followed by the greatest of feasts. Thus the busy season the loved season of darkness ends and the long hateful season of light begins when the Kosikin lurk in caverns and live in this way in the presence of what may be called artificial darkness. It was for us, for me and Alma the day of doom. Since the ceremony of separation I had not seen her but my heart had always been with her. I did not even know whether she was alive or not but believed that she must be for I thought that if she had died I should have heard of it as a Kosikin would have rejoiced greatly over such an event. For every death is to them an occasion of joy and the death of one so distinguished Alma would have given rise to nothing less than the national festival. Of time I had put a poor reckoning but from the way in which the paupers kept account of their joms I judged that about three months had elapsed since the ceremony of separation. The paupers were now all joyous with a hideous joy. The chief pauper was more abhorrent than ever. He had the bloodthirst strong upon him. He was on that jom to perform his whole beloffice of Sa Tabaqin and as he accosted me he smiled this smile of a demon and congratulated me on my coming escape from life. To this I had no word of answer to make but my hens held my rifle and pistol and these I clutched with a firmer grasp as my last hour approached. The time of departure at length arrived. Soldiers of the Qaseqin came following the paupers who went first while the guards came after me. Thus we all emerged into the open air. There the poor tourists already mentioned spread out before my eyes filled with thousands upon thousands of human beings. It seemed as though the entire population of the city was there and so densely packed was this great crowd that it was only with great difficulty that a way was laid open for our passage. Above was the sky where the stars were twinkling faintly. There was no longer the light of the Aurora Australis the constellations glimmered but dimly. The moon was shining with a feeble ray for there far away over the icy quests of the lofty mountains I saw a long line of splendid effulgence all golden and red the lights of the new dawn the dawn of that long day which was now approaching. The sight of that dawning light gave me new life. It was like a sight of home the blessed dawn the sunlight of a bright day the glorious daybreak lost for so long a time but now at last returning. I feasted my eyes on the spectacle I burst into tears of joy and I felt as though I could gaze at it forever. But the sun as it travelled was rapidly coming into view soon the dazzling glory of its rim would appear above the mounting crest and the season of darkness would end there was no time to wait and the guards hurried me on there in the midst of the square rose the pyramid it was fully a hundred feet in height with a broad flat top at the base I saw a great crowd of paupers through these we passed and as we did so a horrible death chant arose we now went up the steps and reached the top it was about 60 feet square and upon it there was a quadrangle of stones set about 3 feet apart about 60 in number while in the midst was the larger stone all of these were evidently intended for sacrificial purposes scarcely had I reached the top when I saw a procession ascend from the other side first came some paupers then some hags and then followed by other hags I saw Alma I was transfixed at the site a thrill passed through every nerve and a wild impulse came to me to burst through the crowd and battle with them all for her life but the crowd was too dense I could only stand and look at her and mark the perilous of her face and her mute despair she saw me waved her hand sadly and gave a mournful smile there we stood separated by the crowd with our eyes fastened on each other and all our hearts filled with one deep intense yearning to fly to one another's side and now they came up from below louder and deeper the awful death chant time was pressing the preparations were made the chief pauper took his station by the central stone and in his right hand he held a long keen knife toward this stone I was led the chief pauper then looked with his blear and blinking eyes he was glowing over the mountain crest and every moment increasing in brightness and then after a brief survey he turned and wetted his knife on the sacrificial stone after this he turned to me with his evil face with a glare of a horrid death hunger in his ravenous eyes and pointed to the stone I stood without motion he repeated the gesture and said lie down here I will not, said I but it is on this stone said he that you are to get the blessing of death I'll die first, said I fiercely and I raised my rifle the chief pauper was puzzled at this the others looked unquietly thinking it probably a debate about some punctilio suddenly he seemed struck with an idea the woman first, it is better so saying this he walked toward Alma and said something to the hags at this the chief of them namely the nightmare hag led Alma to the nearest stone and motioned to her to lie down Alma prepared to obey but paused a moment to throw at me one last glance and wave her hand as a last farewell then without a word she laid herself down upon the stone at this a swill of fury rushed through all my beam rousing me from my stupor impelling me to action filling my brain with madness the nightmare hag had already raised her long keen knife in the air another moment and the blow would have fallen but my rifle was at my shoulder my aim was deadly the report rang out like thunder piercing yell followed and when the smoke cleared away the nightmare hag laid dead at the foot of the altar I was already there having burst through the astonished crowd and Alma was in my arms and holding her thus for a moment I put myself in front of her and stood at bay with my only thought that of defending her to the last and selling my life as dearly as possible the result was amazing after the report it was for some moments a deep silence which was followed by a world abrupt outcry from half a million people the roar of indistinguishable words bursting forth from the lips of all that's wrong whose accumulated volume arose in one vast thunderclap a sound peeling forth echoing along the terraced streets and rolling on far away in endless reverberations it was like the roar of mighty cataracts like the sound of many waters and at the voice of that vast multitude I shrank back for a moment as I did so I looked down and beheld a scene as appalling as the sound that had overroared me in all that countless strong of human beings there was not one who was not in motion and all were pressing forward toward the pyramid as to a common centre on every side there was a multitude of endless sea of upturned faces extending as far as the eye could reach all were in violent agitation as though all were possessed by one common impulse which forced them toward me at such a sight I thought of nothing else than that I was the object of their wrath and that they were all with one common fury rushing toward me to wreak vengeance upon me and upon Alma for the slaughter of the nightmare hag all this was a work of but a few moments and now as I stood there holding Alma appalled despairing yet resolute and calm I became aware of a more imminent danger on the top of the pyramid at the report of the rifle all had fallen down flat on their faces and it was over them that I had rushed to Alma's side but these now began to rise and the hags took up the corpse of the dead and the porpoise swarmed around with cries of mutt mutt meaning dead dead and exclamations of wonder then they all turned their foul and bleary eyes toward me and stood as if transfixed with astonishment at length they burst forth from the crowd one who sought to get at me it was the chief pauper he still held in his hand the long knife of sacrifice he said not a word but rushed straight at me and as he came I saw murder in his look I did not wait for him but raising my rifle discharged the second bowl in his face he fell down a shattered blackened heap dead as the second report thundered out it drowned all other sounds and was again followed by an awful silence I looked around those on the pyramid, porpoise and hags had again flung themselves on their faces on the square below the whole multitude were on their knees with their heads bowed down low the silence was more oppressive than before it was appalling it was tremendous it seemed like the dread silence that precedes the more awful outbursts of the hurricane when the storm is gathering up all its strength to burst with accumulated fury upon its doomed victim but there was no time to be lost in staring and that interval was occupied by me in hastily reloading my rifle it was my last resource now and if it availed me not for defence it might at least serve to be used against ourselves with this thought I handed the pistol to Alma and hurriedly whispered to her that if I were killed she could use it against herself she took it in silence but I read in her face her invincible resolve the storm at last burst the immense multitude rose to their fate and with one common impulse came pressing on from every side toward the pyramid apparently filled with the one universal desire of reaching me a desire which was now all the more intense and vehement from these interruptions which had taken place why they had fallen on their knees why the paupers on the pyramid were still prostrate I could not tell but I saw now the swarming multitude and I felt that they were rolling in on every side merciless, bloodthirsty implacable to tear me to pieces yet time passed and they did not reach me for an obstacle was interposed the pyramid had smooth sides the stairways that led up to the summit were narrow and did not admit of more than two at a time yet had the keseakin been like other people the summit of the pyramid would soon have been swarming with them but as they were keseakin none came up to the top for at the base of the pyramid at the bottom of the steps I saw a strange and incredible struggle it was not as with us who should go up first but who should go up last each tried to make his neighbour go before him all were eager to go but the keseakin self-denial self-sacrifice and love for the good of others made each one intensely desirous to make others go up this resulted in a furious struggle in which as fast as anyone would be pushed up the steps a little away he would jump down again and turn his efforts toward putting up others and thus all the energies of the people were worn out in useless and unavailing efforts in a struggle to which from the very nature of the case there could be no end now those on the pyramid began to rise and soon all were on their feet cries burst forth from them all were looking at us but with nothing like hostility it was rather like reverence and adoration these feelings were expressed unmistakably in their cries among which I could plainly distinguish such words as these a pram merzel anen wakazek sopets mut meaning the father of thunder ruler of cloud and darkness judge of death these cries passed to those below the struggle ceased all stood and joined in the cry which was taken up by those nearest and soon passed among all those myriads to be repeated with thunder echoes far and wide at this it suddenly became plain to me that the danger of death had passed away that these people no longer regarded me as a victim but rather as some mighty being some superior perhaps supernatural power who was to be almost worshiped hence these prostrations these words, these cries these looks all these told me that the bitterness of death had passed away at this discovery there was for a moment a feeling of aversion and horror within me at filling such a position that I a weak mortal should dare to receive adoration like this and I recoiled at the thought of the feelings in past for life was at stake not my own merely but that of Alma and I was ready now to go through anything if only I might save her so instead of shrinking back from this new part I eagerly seized upon it and at once determined to take advantage of the popular superstition to the utmost far away of the crests of the mountains I saw the golden edge of the sun's disk and the light flowed therefrom in broad effulgence sowing out long rays of glory in a luminous flood over all the land I pointed to the glorious orb and cried to the paupers and to all who were nearest in a loud voice I am Atamor the man of light I come from the land of light I am the father of thunder of cloud and darkness the judge of death at this the paupers all fell prostrate and cried out to me to give them the blessing of death I made no answer but leading Alma to the edge of the pyramid told her to fire the pistol a million eyes were fixed on us she held up the pistol and fired immediately after I fired both bowels of the rifle and as the reports ran out and the smoke cleared away I heard a mighty murmur and once more beheld all prostrate upon this I hurriedly loaded again and waited for further revelations all the time I could not help wondering at the effect produced by the rifle now in comparison with the indifference with which it had been regarded at my first arrival in the country I could not account for it I realised that the excitement of a great religious festival and the sudden death of the chief pauper and the chief hag had probably deeply impressed them in the midst of these thoughts the whole multitude arose and once more they came to my ears universal uproar of innumerable cries in the midst of which I could hear the words Mozel Anan Wachazek Sopet Mut End of Chapter 30 Chapter 31 of a strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Eddie Winter A strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder by James DeMille Chapter 31 Conclusion In the midst of this the paupers and the hags talked earnestly together Some of those who had been newest in rank to the late chief pauper and chief hag were conspicuous in the debate all looked at me and at Alma and pointed toward the sun which was wheeling along behind the distant mountain crest showing a golden disc Then they pointed to the dead bodies and the hags took the chief hag and the paupers the chief pauper and laid them side by side on the central altar After this a hag and a pauper advanced toward us each carrying the sacrificial knife which had belonged to the deceased The hags spoke first to the young Alma in accordance with the Kosikin custom which requires women to take the presidents in many things Take this she said O Alma, consult of Atamor and co-roller of clouds and darkness Henceforth you shall be judge of death to the women of the Kosikin She then handed Alma the sacrificial knife of the chief hag which Alma took in silence Then the pauper presented me the sacrificial knife of the chief pauper with the following words Take this O Atamor Father of thunder and ruler of clouds and darkness Henceforth you shall be judge of death to the men of the Kosikin and Sar Tavikin over the whole nation I received the knife in silence for I had nothing to say but now Alma spoke as was fitting for her to do O Kosikin the women must take the presidents and here it was expected that she should reply in behalf of both of us So Alma holding the sacrificial knife stood looking at them full of dignity and spoke as follows We will take this O Kosikin and we will reward you all We will begin our reign of the Kosikin with memorable acts of mercy These two great victims shall be enough for the Kosikin of this season The victims designed for this sacrifice shall have to deny themselves the blessing of death yet they shall be rewarded in other ways and nor the land from the highest to the lowest shall have reason to rejoice in our rule To all you hags and paupers we grant the splendid and unparalleled boon of exile to McGonis the suffering which heart can wish and inevitable death To all classes and ranks in the whole nation we promise to grant a diminution in their wealth by one quarter In the abundance of our mercy we are willing ourselves to bear the burden of all the offerings that may be necessary in order to accomplish this All in the land may at once give up one quarter of their whole wealth to us All the paupers gave a horrible yellow applause As rulers of light and darkness we will henceforth govern the nation in the light as well as in the dark We will sacrifice ourselves so far to the public good as to live in the light and in open palaces We will consent to undergo the pains of light and splendour to endure all the evils of luxury magnificence and boundless wealth for the good of the Kosikin nation We will consent to forgo the right of separation and agree to live together even though we love one another Above all, we will refuse death and consent to live Can any rulers do more than this for the good of their people? Another outburst of applause followed In three drums continued Alma All you hags and paupers shall be sent to exile and death on McGonis As for the rest of the Kosikin hear our words Tell them from us that the labourers shall all be elevated to the rank of paupers The artisans shall be made labourers the tradesmen artisans the soldiers tradesmen the athons soldiers the currents athons and the mellex currents There shall be no mellex in all the land We in our love for the Kosikin will henceforth be the only mellex Then all the misery of that low station will rest on us and in our low estate as mellex we shall govern this nation in love and self-denial Tell them that we will forgo the sacrifice and consent to live that we will give up darkness and cavern gloom and live in light Tell them to prepare for us the splendid palaces of the mellex and we will take the most sumptuous and magnificent of them all Tell all the people to present their offerings Tell them that we consent to have endless retinues of servants soldiers, followers and attendants Tell them that with the advent of Alma and Atomor a new era begins for the Kosikin in which every man shall be as poor as he likes and riches shall be unknown in the land These extraordinary words seem to fill the paupers with rapture Exclamations of joy burst from them They prostrated themselves in an irrepressible impulse of grateful admiration as though such promises could only come from superior beings Then most of them are hurried down to communicate to the people below the glorious intelligence Soon it spread from mouth to mouth and all the people were filled with the wildest excitement For never before had such a thing been known and never had such self-sacrifice been imagined or thought possible as that the rulers of the Kosikin could consent to be rich when they might be paupers to live together when they might be separate to dwell in the light when they might lurk in the deepest cavern glome to remain in life when they might have the blessing of death Selfishness, fear of death love of riches and love of luxury these were all unintelligible to the Kosikin as much as to us would be self-abnegation the contempt of death, voluntary poverty and asceticism but as with us self-denying rulers may make others rich and be popular for this so here among the Kosikin a selfish ruler might be popular by making others poor hence the words of Alma, as they were made known gave rise to the wildest excitement and enthusiasm and the vast multitude pulled forth their feelings in long shouts of rapturous applause amid this the bodies of the dead were carried down from the pyramid and were taken to the Mr Kosik in a long and solemn procession accompanied by the singing of wild and dismal chants and now the sun rolling along behind the icy mountain crest rose higher and higher every moment and the bright light of a long day began to illumine the world there sparkled the sea rising far away like a watery wall with a horizon high up in the sky there rose a circle of giant mountains sweeping away till they were blended with the horizon there rose the terraces of the Amir all glowing in the sunlight with all its countless houses and cavern openings under arching trees and pointing pyramids above was the canopy of heaven no longer black no longer studied with stars or glistening with a fitful shimmer but all radiant with a glorious sunlight and disclosing all the spenders of the infinite blue at that sight a thrill of joy passed through me the long long night at last was over the darkness had passed away like some hideous dream the day was here the long day that was to know no shadow and no decline when all this world should be illuminated by the ever circling sun a sun that would never set until this long course of many months should be fully run my heart swelled with rapture my eyes filled with tears oh light I cried oh gleaming golden sunlight oh light of heaven light that brings life and hope to man and I could have fallen on my knees and worshipped that rising sun but the light which was so glorious to us was painful and distressing to the Kaseekin on the top of the pyramid the paupers crouched, shading their eyes the crowd below began to disperse in all directions so as to take themselves to their covert and to the caverns where they might live in the dark soon nearly all were gone except the paupers at the foot of the pyramid who were awaiting our commands and a crowd of melecs and ethons at a distance a gesture from me the few paupers near us descended and joined those below they were alone on the top of the pyramid I caught her in my arms in a rapture of joy this revulsion from the lowest despair from darkness and from death back to hope and light and life was almost too much to endure we both wept but our tears were those of happiness you will be all my own now said I and we can fly from this hateful land we can be united, we can be married here before we start we call enough to refuse you are consent will you not to be my wife before we fly from the Kosikin at this almas face was suffused with smiles and blushes her arms were about me and she did not draw away but looked up in sweet confusion and said why as to that I cannot be more your wife than I am what do you mean I exclaimed in wonder my wife her eyes dropped again and she whispered the ceremony of separation the Kosikin the most sacred form of marriage it is the religious form the other is merely the civil form this was unintelligible nor did I try to understand it it was enough to hear this from her own sweet lips but it was a strange feeling and I think that I am the only man since Adam that was ever married without knowing it as to flight continued Arama who had quite adopted the Kosikin fashion to intake the lead as to flight we need not hurry we are all powerful now and there is no more danger we must wait until we send embassies to our people and when they are ready to receive us we will go but now let us leave this for our servants are waiting for us and the light is distressing to them let us go to the nearest of our palaces and obtain rest and food here Featherstone stopped in the manuscript that is enough for today said he I am tired and can not move any more it is time for supper End of Chapter 31 End of a strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder by James DeMille