"I dare not risk it," I said. "I thought just as you do when I secured a position on the Ice King, but I deemed it advisable to conceal my identity until I had ascertained in just what light he would regard the course I had taken. The opportunity came as I have already told you and as yet I have discovered no indications that he has in any way modified his views in regard to such matters. I have ascertained beyond a doubt from two years' association with him, that in him all the prejudices of the popular education of the outer world, its laws, usages and religious notions have crystallized. If he knew that I had spent years, associated with men, in the character of Jack Adams, the sailor, his sense of propriety would be shocked, and I should forfeit his respect, which would be something that I could not bear."
"I cannot see," said Oqua, "how he could cease to respect you. I know that as the scientist of the Ice King, he entertains the most exalted opinion of your ability, courage and refinement of character."
"Yes, Oqua, I doubt not that he respects me as Jack Adams, the sailor. He has given me numerous proofs of that. But as Cassie VanNess in that garb he would regard me as unwomanly and immodest, much below the standard of propriety and respectability of the women of the outer world, with whom he would be willing to associate on terms of equality. Remember that his education, like my own was as far removed as possible from the spirit of altruism. When I left my guardian's homeI was penniless, except for an allowance known as 'pin money.' By the marriage ceremony, my fortune had been transferred to Richard Sage. As a woman, I stood no show of being able to acquire a competency, besides I was liable to pursuit and arrest. I had no legal grounds for divorce, and if I had been discovered as the absconding wife of Richard Sage, the multi-millionaire, the courts would have declared me insane, and I would have been incarcerated, most likely for life, in some lunatic asylum. Hence it was from necessity, rather than choice, that I donned male attire and sought employment as a cabin boy. My education, tact and close attention to business led to more lucrative positions which required ability as well as a strict integrity and close application. By rigid economy, I succeeded in accumulating a moderate competence. As a woman I could not have even procured a comfortable subsistence; but I was in male attire, associated with men in all my relations to society, and hence in the eyes of the world my womanly character was under a cloud. For this reason I did not care to reveal my identity to Captain Ganoe until I knew that he would approve the course I had taken. As for myself I was prepared for altruistic principles. My association with the working classes gave me a knowledge of their condition, and I familiarized myself with the best thought of their leaders. But Captain Ganoe had been differently situated. He had continued to move in the narrow circle in which he was born. I had hoped that experience with the world had broadened his views. But I found that I was mistaken. I have studied his feelings and hence have resolved never to give him the opportunity to reproach me for my unwomanly disguise and associations."
"How could he reproach you, Nequa, when he realized that it was all for love of him?"
"You cannot, my dear Oqua, educated as you were in the most advanced thought of this altruistic civilization, realize the almost irresistible power of prejudices when they have been incorporated into the education of a people for thousands of years. They constitute a race belief, the correctness of which the people seldom, if ever, heard questioned. When I assumed male attire and associated myself with men in the ranks of labor, I knew that I invited not only social ostracism, but laid myself liable to arrest and imprisonment, if my disguise was discovered. And Captain Ganoe as a high spirited gentleman of the old school, could not unite his destinies with such a social out-cast."
"But surely," said Oqua, "he will not entertain such mistaken conceptions of honor when he learns that the people of this inner world without an exception, would honor you for your heroic devotion to your bridal troth and regard Captain Ganoe as the most fortunate of men in having such a companion."
"That may indeed be true, sometime," I said, "but before I reveal myself to him, I must hear from his own lips such expressions of opinion as will demonstrate that he would not regard the career of Jack Adams, under the circumstances, as unworthy, immodest and unwomanly. There is a deep seated prejudice in the outer world against 'mannish women,' and the donning of male attire is prohibited by law, and what is even worse, it is regarded as positively disgraceful. Hence I must know that he of his own option has abandoned all these prejudices, before I will consent to be known to him as Cassie VanNess."
"I believe," said Oqua, "that his association with Altrurians will certainly give him a higher regard for truth and correspondingly weaken the influence of timehonored errors. We can very easily ascertain his views and if we should find them adverse, do not be discouraged, for the atmosphere of truth which surrounds him is creative in its influence and will surely establish itself in his mind. An error is powerless to hold anyone in thrall very long where truth is cultivated and free to express itself in thought and action. Truth is eternal and cannot be destroyed, while error is transitory and disappears with the ignorance on which it is based."
"I will leave this matter to you," I said, "with this understanding, that to Captain Ganoe I must remain simply Jack Adams, or Nequa, until I know that he approves and appreciates the sacrifices made by Cassie VanNess. I love him too well to be willing to face his disapproval, but knowing the purity of my own purposes, I will never put myself in a position that will imply even in the remotest degree that I was wrong. My self respect forbids this. My heart tells me that I was right and I will never apologize to any human being for the course I have taken, and least of all to Captain Ganoe, for love of whom I have braved the danger of social ostracism as well as the dangers incident to the life of a sailor, from the blistering heat of the tropics to the intense cold of the frigid zones. I certainly could never ask him to forgive me for loving him so well."
Oqua threw her arms around my neck and kissed me most affectionately, saying:
"My dear Nequa, I knew that I was not mistaken in the estimate that I had placed on your mental and spiritual character. You have a great work to do, not only in the education of our people, but a work for your own people. Intercourse between the inner and outer worlds must be re-opened. In this work much depends upon the crew of the Ice King, as you are the onlypeople among us from the educated classes who have ever penetrated the frozen regions which surround the verges. Our people will of course assist in every way possible. But my dear Nequa, a still greater work depends upon you, more than upon any of the others, in which we can be of but little assistance."
"And what is that greater work?" I asked. "And how could I get along without assistance? No matter what I undertake I want you as a tutor. To me it seems, that in this inner world, I have everything to learn, and I must have a teacher at every step."
"And I, too," said Oqua, "have much to learn from you. All that I have learned of the outer world came from MacNair and the few books which he saved from the sinking ship. With the Ice King comes a well selected library of standard works and three scholarly, well read people, and from this, I anticipate a most valuable addition to our knowledge, especially of a scientific, geographical and historical character, which has been hidden from the people of the inner world. We have, it seems, made more progress along lines of a social, economic and ethical nature and in mechanical inventions. So while we need that knowledge which can be more readily acquired in the outer world, your people need the lessons taught by our progress along other lines. Our libraries are filled with these lessons and the work evidently marked out for you is to gather this knowledge for the benefit of your own people. In this you will have the cordial co-operation of the scholars of the inner world."
"This," I said, "is certainly a work in which I am most anxious to engage, just as soon as I can qualify myself for the task, and I shall certainly need all the help I can get. I do indeed want the people of America, thegreat republic of the outer world, to learn that the highest ideals of their revolutionary sires, are not mere 'glittering generalities,' but realities, and have been carried out to their logical culmination in this country with the most beneficent results to humanity. To this end, that they should not only learn this most significant fact, but that they should have laid before them a clear and concise statement of the methods that have been used so successfully to produce these results and evolve this wonderful Altrurian civilization. I most keenly realize that it is my duty to accomplish this work for humanity, but when I think of the vast libraries, written in a strange tongue, that must not only be read but studied, in order to trace the operation of the evolutionary forces which have produced these grand results, I am overwhelmed at the contemplation of the magnitude of the task set before me."
"Do not be alarmed," said Oqua, "at the multitudinous array of ponderous volumes. These records are only preserved for reference. The scholars of every age have been over them, with the special object in view of condensing and simplifying their lessons, for the benefit of students who could not afford to neglect other studies of the most pressing importance, in order to familiarize themselves with the details of so many thousands of years of history. Hence the lessons of permanent value, such for instance as relate to the social, economic and ethical progress of the people, have been carefully arranged in the form of attractive condensations, with marginal references to the authorities. With these lessons from History, designed for the use of the pupils in our schools, the students can rapidly trace every step in our progress, from the original half-civilized condition down to the presenttime, and if there is any matter which they wish to examine more closely, the marginal references will direct them to volume and page. So, my dear Nequa, you will find that the greater part of your work which looks so overwhelming, is ready made for you, in our School Concordances. Another thing will help you; these lessons of progress have all been treated in the shape of allegories and historical romances, in order to make them attractive. Perhaps you could not transmit them to your own people in a better shape, than by translating some of the works that bear directly upon what they need to understand. These works trace in a most attractive form the operation of every evolutionary force which has contributed to our Altrurian civilization as you find it to-day."
"This, indeed, my dear Oqua, relieves my mind of a load of doubt and apprehension, which amounted almost to a dread, whenever I thought of reading so many ponderous volumes in order to get a clear idea of the forces which have contributed to your present ideal conditions. It also explains to me how it is, that your entire people have such a clear understanding of every economic, social and ethical problem. These things are taught to the children in your primary schools."
"Yes," said Oqua, "the blessings of a high state of civilization can only be preserved by educating the children of a country into a comprehensive understanding of the laws of progress, by which these blessings are secured. While a very few can set the machinery in motion by which the masses may be relieved of any burdens that can be imposed upon them, yet unless the children are universally educated in regard to these matters, a few will be able to re-enslave them. These so-called 'great problems' which you inform me arepuzzling the brains of your statesmen, ought to be thoroughly understood by the children. Hence we teach these things to children while the mind is the most receptive and the most capable of acquiring knowledge rapidly."
"But," I remarked, "it sounds so strange to hear you speak of children thoroughly understanding these questions of world-wide importance, with which the great statesmen of the outer world have grappled for ages, without finding a solution."
"Nothing strange about it," said Oqua. "The mind of the child is plastic and is remarkable for the facility with which it receives and retains impressions. When it reaches the adult stage these impressions become crystallized and are hard to change. Hence the importance of starting the child rightly, with correct habits of thought on these vital matters, upon which its future weal, and that of every other human being depends. If the impressions on the mind of the child are erroneous, they are liable to crystallize and be retained through life, no matter how absurd they may be. As an apt illustration of this tendency, I have only to refer to some of the notions which were popular in this country at the time when the old economic system had run its course and was producing widespread poverty and suffering among the people. At that period all of the exchanges among the people were on a money basis, and the few had control of the money while the many were not able to utilize their labor to produce the wealth they needed because they could not get the money to effect the necessary exchanges. The reformers of that time were loud in the demand for more money, while the controlling minds among the majority insisted that the one thing needed was less money so that the money they had wouldpurchase more; and others were equally sure that more tax on products of foreign countries was just the thing to relieve the industrial depression by holding the home market for the products of our own labor. Keep foreign products out by a high tariff and protect home industry, was the doctrine. But we cannot help smiling as we read that these same people who wanted to exclude foreign products from our markets in order to protect our own labor, expected to get revenues from a tax on foreign goods to run the government. It is difficult to imagine at this time that any sane people ever entertained such absurd and self contradictory opinions, but it is nevertheless a fact, as demonstrated by the history of that time. These absurd notions could not have found lodgement in the human mind, if as children, the people had been trained to correct habits of reasoning."
"And such," I said, "are the notions which predominate at this time in my own country and the result is, that a few are very rich while the many are hard pressed and poor. The few who protest against this system are denounced as cranks, agitators and dangerous characters."
"This is just what might be expected," said Oqua. "Like causes produce like effects. The masses of mankind are always prone to deride and persecute isolated individuals who know more than the mass, which is physically so much more powerful. This is the protest of brute force against mental, moral and spiritual superiority. This was why your Jesus was crucified and this is why your reformers of the present day are denounced as cranks, agitators and dangerous characters. It is an invariable trait of human nature in a certain stage of development."
"I have long entertained these same views," I replied, "but the object lessons which can be drawn from your history will cover all these questions and they ought to reach our people with the first announcement of the discovery of this inner world where all the great problems of human development have been solved. I have found your language remarkably easy to learn and from what you say, I expect to find lessons from your history equally easy, but still I need your assistance. I want to make the very best possible use of my opportunities, and to that end, I want the benefit of your experience, observation and knowledge of Altrurian civilization as it is to-day."
"Then, to begin," said Oqua, "my work as counsellor, I would advise you to complete your account of the expedition which brought you into this inner world; a brief description of your reception; the civilization you found as it appeared to you at first sight, and the information that you gathered from intercourse with the people in regard to the progressive development of the country from the semi-barbarous conditions which existed in early times. This ought to be sent to the people of the outer world just as soon as possible. It will make an excellent introduction to a series of works consisting of your own observations in regard to the existing educational system, customs of the people and business methods, together with translations from our literature that will be of use to your people. In the preparation of the account of your expedition and your discoveries, you will need no assistance and when it comes to translations from our libraries and travel over the five grand divisions, you will have the help of ripe scholars wherever you go."
"Concerning the work here in this inner world," I said, "among such a people, I have no doubt that it willbe well done, but how are we to transmit the information across the ice barriers at the verge? I at first had great hopes from your airships, but I find that while they are all right in this serene climate, they would be worse than useless in the stormy atmosphere of the outer world and as at present constructed the occupants could not live an hour in the intense cold of the Frigid Zones."
"I do not," said Oqua, "apprehend any insurmountable difficulty from this source. The inventors of the airship know nothing about storms and cold and hence made no provisions for guarding against them. The case is different with arctic explorers. Our inventors have learned how to navigate the atmosphere, with ease and safety. This is the main point. Now you people of the outer world can take up the work where our inventors left off, and construct ships which can ride the storm. I have learned since my return from the Minerva congress, that Captain Battell is working on this problem with good prospects of success. I do not believe that there is anything impossible to the human mind when it acts in harmony with nature's laws. The airship factory at lake Byblis is at your service, with every facility of material, machinery and mechanical skill. All that is needed is a comprehensive understanding of outer world atmospheric conditions, and you brought that knowledge with you. This is all that our inventors needed in order to enable them to construct an airship that would be equal to every emergency."
"You give me great encouragement," I said. "Captain Battell has asked me to assist in this work by making experimental voyages to the verges, in order to test the proposed improvements and make observations."
"Then all seems to be going well," said Oqua, "but there is no time to lose. You must be gathering materials for your first volume as rapidly as possible for I feel that it will soon be needed. To this end, I want you and Captain Ganoe to go with me to-morrow to Orbitello, to see how business is carried on. What do you think of it?"
"Think of it!" I said. "I have been very anxious to take this trip and have only been awaiting your return so that we might have company, who could assist us in our observations."
"Then," said Oqua, "we will start early, and I will telephone Polaris and Dione to meet us and bring Battell and Huston. I know that Norrena will be most happy to meet you. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge and I know that you will enjoy his acquaintance. But," she added after a moment's hesitation, "you need rest and I will go. Be of good cheer. All is well, and do not forget that there is a wonderful power in truth when it is left free, to remove errors from the pathway of human progress,"—and kissing me good-night, she was gone.
CHAPTER XI.
An air voyage—Change of scenery—Homes for mothers—Evolution from competitive individualism—The mountains—Battell joins us—Orbitello—A perpetual World's Fair—Department of Exchange—The business of a continent—Norrena—Public Printing—The council—All matters submitted to the People—Library of Universal Knowledge.
An air voyage—Change of scenery—Homes for mothers—Evolution from competitive individualism—The mountains—Battell joins us—Orbitello—A perpetual World's Fair—Department of Exchange—The business of a continent—Norrena—Public Printing—The council—All matters submitted to the People—Library of Universal Knowledge.
chapter
chapterVERY preparation had been made for our proposed voyage into the interior and as the sun appeared from behind the eastern edge of the southern verge we were embarking on the airship. Our party consisted of MacNair, Iola, Oqua, Captain Ganoe and myself. I took my place at the helm with MacNair and told him that I wanted to take lessons inaerial navigation. He kindly explained the use of the electric keyboard which controlled the machinery, and I found it so simple that I felt no need of an instructor. In this placid atmosphere all I had to do was to set the ship in the direction we wanted to go and turn on the power until we reached the speed at which we desired to travel. All the motions of the vessel were under absolute control. I found that the steering apparatus could be readily adjusted to overcome a light wind, and reasoned that the same principles would enable us to ride the storm. This first practical experience in aerial navigation gave me confidence.
Our course was a little north of west, and we were soon leaving the great communal agricultural district which we now regarded as our home. According to our reckoning it was now the 1st of February and I had begun to figure whether it would be possible for us to be ready to attempt the proposed journey to the outer world during the northern summer. If we did, it would certainly require intense application. These thoughts were continually running through my mind, and they spurred me up to gather all the information possible for the book that I was preparing.
The country over which we were passing was still agricultural, but the surface was more broken and the general arrangements were changed accordingly, presenting to our vision an agreeable variety. We still saw the magnificent communal homes with correspondingly large areas of cultivated lands, but we also saw cottages gathered into groups, with large public buildings which MacNair informed us were schools, public halls, homes for the aged, hospitals, and especially homes for prospective mothers who felt that the ideal conditions whichthese homes afforded would secure the best possible development of their offspring.
I was forcibly struck by the number and grandeur of these homes for mothers. I had noticed that every communal home had its department for the care of mothers, and now I found that the grandest structures that I had ever seen were devoted exclusively to this purpose. In reply to my inquiries I was informed that this care for motherhood was a universal feature throughout the inner world. But in this, as in everything else, liberty prevails. The mother is always free to select her own conditions. Many prefer these large public homes which are exclusively under the control of women, while others, with different temperaments, prefer greater exclusiveness in their own apartments, but all alike make this period of prospective motherhood, one in which all the environments are calculated to produce the best possible pre-natal influences upon the unborn child.
For this purpose, different temperaments require different surroundings. The impressions produced by beautiful scenery and social enjoyments on one, may be more readily produced by reading, lectures, music and intellectual entertainments on another. The unperverted taste of the mother is always accepted as a sure guide to what is best in each case, and the best is always provided.
While the country over which we were passing did not have the same artificial appearance as if laid out by one uniform pattern, like that where we had been located since our arrival in Altruria, I still noticed the general tendency of the people to get together in large communities. We passed over large districts of wild lands which afforded ample opportunities for isolatedhomes but nowhere did we see anything of the kind. This induced Captain Ganoe to ask if there was any law against people getting out by themselves and cultivating these wild lands.
"Nothing but the natural law," said Oqua, "which impels people to do that which is the most conducive to their happiness. The people of this country do not like drudgery and they have learned by experience that in order to avoid drudgery, they must work together on a large scale, as one family, each for all and all for each. In the olden time, people in their ignorance scattered into single families consisting of a man and wife and their children. They wasted their energies in their isolated efforts, and were at the mercy of the few who had the intelligence to work together. When the masses became more intelligent they gathered into communities and co-operated with each other to make the most out of their labor and to avoid the payment of tribute to speculators who did not work at all. They soon found that they could not possibly consume all that they were able to produce and they began to work less and enjoy more."
"But," asked the Captain, "have you no arrangement by which a man and his wife could get out on these wild lands and make a home for themselves?"
"We certainly have no arrangement," said Oqua, "that would prevent their doing so. But if they should try such an experiment it would not last long. As soon as they found themselves toiling incessantly to procure a bare subsistence, while the great masses in the communities were spending eleven-twelfths of their time in the enjoyment of rest and pleasurable recreations, they would seek admission intoa large communal home, where all who are willing to perform their share of the labor are welcome."
"But," said the Captain, "you say that the people of this country once lived in isolated homes. The people in the outer world do so now, and they feel that to be the best possible condition for the development of the highest qualities. How were the individualists of this country persuaded to give up their individual holdings and accept in lieu thereof a community interest in the products of their own labor?"
"They outgrew their preconceived opinions," said Oqua. "Among the reformers of the olden time none were more earnest than a large and very intelligent class of individualists, who believed that the people ought to own the land, and that the individual holder ought to pay the community for its use, in proportion to its value as land, not counting the value of the improvements. These reformers agreed to the abolition of land titles, and in accordance with the doctrines which they had promulgated long and earnestly, they took their lands in severalty and paid the community a tax for its use. As individualists, they could not object to other people forming communities and having all things in common. But when they discovered how much more they had to work than their neighbors, they were true to their own interests and joined the communities where their labor became so much more effective. They found that instead of sacrificing any of their individual rights by so doing, they actually made those rights more valuable by being relieved of drudgery. The land tax to the community was abolished in the course of time, and then any individual might take a homestead and cultivate it in his own way without being taxed for the privilege of doing so, but this rightis never exercised, as it would deprive the individuals thus setting up for themselves, of free access to the common wealth of the community, and the common advantages which belong to community life. They could only enter the communal homes as guests and strangers, and while free entertainment is never refused, proud spirited individualists would never think of securing a subsistence by visiting around. They would naturally prefer doing their share of the work to create the common stock. And hence our individualists are all in our communal homes and have no desire for individual holdings of any kind. Their community interest in the common wealth is worth vastly more to them than all the wealth that they could create by individual effort."
"But," asked the Captain, "do you permit no private ownership of property at all in these communities?"
"Yes, we do," said Oqua. "All persons may accumulate property which they create by personal labor, if they wish to burden themselves with the care of it. But as there is an abundance in the common stores to supply every want, there is no motive for the private ownership of anything but personal belongings which are ordinarily of no value to anyone else. Members of the community may have anything they need out of the common stock and intelligent people would not encumber themselves with the care of more than they have a use for. The greed for the accumulation of property which I am informed is so prevalent in the outer world, if manifested here would be taken as an evidence of insanity and would be treated accordingly. It is very difficult for the average Altrurian to realize that people should ever desire to hoard up wealthwhich it is impossible for them to consume. But when we scan the pages of our early history at the time when legal money was the medium of exchange and the standard of value, the people made a mad scramble for money, in which they disregarded every interest of humanity."
We were now approaching a region where art and nature seemed to have united in one mighty and persistent effort to excel each other in the entrancing beauty and rugged grandeur that could be added to the picture. On either side was a broad expanse of cultivated lands, interspersed with parks, lawns and ornamented grounds, which revealed the work of the most artistic landscape gardeners. Beneath us the Cocytas meandered its way toward the distant ocean, between its wooded shores, like a shining pathway of silver, while before us the great continental divide with its towering mountain peaks piercing the clouds, closed our view towards the west. At one moment we were admiring the rugged grandeur of this lovely mountain chain and at another entranced by the beauty of the highly ornamented landscape, where art had improved upon nature. Take it all in all, the scenery presented to our view from the cabin of our airship, sailing at a height of several thousand feet, was sublime, beyond the power of words to describe.
As we neared the mountains, MacNair took charge of the ship and made a detour toward the south, which brought into view the mighty canon through which the Cocytas reaches the plain. On either side were mountain torrents dashing over the rocks on their way to join the waters of the deep flowing river. Here, nature in all her majesty revealed her titanic powers. But suddenly another scene opened upon our vision, inwhich art revealed itself as master of all the forces of nature. It was more like a city than anything we had seen since leaving San Francisco. And yet it was very much unlike any city I have ever seen. I was bewildered by its sudden appearance upon this wonderful panorama of nature and art which seemed to hold us spell bound.
Palatial buildings in white and silver appeared in every direction, surrounded by highly ornamented grounds. No smoke, no dust and no miserable shanties to remind us of the poverty and misery which characterized the cities of the outer world. In the distance, it presented a panorama of beauty and grandeur, more like the paintings of a gorgeous midsummer dream, than any real achievement of human skill and human taste. It was more like the fancied abode of the gods than the dwelling place of men.
This was Orbitello, and as it lay spread out before us, it presented a scene beyond my powers of description. It was located on an elevated plateau and almost enclosed within a bend of the river, which flows around it on three sides, the west, south and east, like a silver highway, over which electric yachts of almost every size and description were gliding. It was a dream of beauty that once seen, could never be erased from the memory.
"This," said MacNair, "is our continental headquarters. Here, was at one time a large city, but every remnant of the old structures was removed long ago. The location, however, is so central that it was selected as our chief center of business for all the departments of the public service. It is a favorite gathering place for large numbers of people from all parts of the world. Hence the number of buildings for the accommodation of visitors. It is in fact a perpetual World's Fair, a miniature picture of the world as it is to-day. There is no better place to study the civilization of the inner world in all its phases."
MacNair was interrupted by a familiar voice with the well remembered "Ship Ahoy!" and as we turned around to see from whence it came, another airship came alongside, and we exchanged greetings with our old shipmates, Battell and Huston, and our saviors, as we called them, Polaris and Dione, who both addressed us in English.
"Please speak Altrurian," I said. "I have abandoned English except in cases of emergency, as I am anxious to perfect myself in the use of your native tongue. Remember that I have become a citizen of Altruria, and have no desire to perpetuate the use of a foreign language."
"And we," replied Polaris, "want to perfect ourselves in the use of English, as we want to visit America and talk like natives, just as soon as a ship can be constructed that will enable us to navigate the frozen regions without being frozen ourselves."
"And one," I responded, "that can hold to its course with a side wind of a velocity from fifty to one hundred miles an hour."
"Have no fears on that score," interposed Battell. "We have the principal parts of the machinery completed, and all that remains to be done, is for you to take a trial trip to the southern verge and see how it will work in a storm, and in the meantime we will try our hands at constructing one that will be proof against the cold of a polar winter. Better go to the southern verge now, while it is comparatively temperate and test our improvements in a gale."
"All right," I said. "I am willing. But who will go with me? I ought to have the assistance of someone who could not only stand the exposure, but be able to make observations. It will keep one person busy to manage the ship during a storm, no matter how perfect your machinery may be."
"I suggest," said Battell, "that you take Lief and Eric, who are first-class mechanics as well as scientists. This is their request, and it ought to be granted. We need both Huston and Captain Ganoe, to assist in the construction of a cold proof vessel. This is the plan of work that I suggest. How will it suit you?"
"Anything suits me that looks toward success," I said. "Since you have already completed the inventions that I had contemplated, it is but fair that you dictate how they should be used until we can improve on your improvements, which, by the way I hope may not be necessary."
"Oh yes, it will," said Battell. "Just as soon as there is no room for improvement, everything will be perfect, and with nothing to do, nothing to live for and no improvements to make, constituted as we are now, we would very likely be just as unhappy, as we are now anxious to improve the airship or to accomplish any other object that is dear to us. This is a working world and we are workers, and when there is no work to do, there will be no use for us on our present plane of development."
"You talk like a philosopher," I said. "One would think you had graduated from an Altrurian university."
"So I have," said Battell. "Were you not talking Altrurian philosophy all the time we were together on the Ice King? So I was to some extent preparedfor what we have found in this highly developed country."
"But what's the matter?" I asked, as Battell's airship came to a full halt, and seemingly began to fall. Before I recovered from my surprise, it had settled lightly on the top of a stupendous structure, and MacNair was evidently aiming for the same place, as he set our ship to circling around in the way I have often described. I had seen the practical workings of one of Battell's improvements, and could not help seeing that it was an undoubted success. The mechanism that would control the vessel while dropping toward the earth, seemed to me, more difficult of construction than that which would hold it on its course against contrary side winds.
A minute later and we had reached the surface. Polaris, and her crew, so to speak, had disembarked and we had a cordial handshaking, and then took a stroll around the roof of this immense building. Everything about it seemed to indicate that it was especially designed for the accommodation of business on a gigantic scale. It was built of the semi-transparent material which we had found so common in the district where we had made our homes. The cornice, windows and doors were trimmed with aluminum, which gave it a peculiar grandeur of appearance.
MacNair, who was ever ready to make explanations, informed us that this was the Continental Department of Exchange through which all the commercial transactions between the various districts throughout the continent were carried on. This was the chief center of distribution, and bore the same relation to the continent, that the District Exchange bore to the several communities of which it wascomposed. The community stores made the actual distribution of products to the people. These larger exchanges, District and Continental, did not really handle the products at all, but collected the orders from the consumers and sent them direct to the communities where the goods were wanted, in this way saving very much unnecessary labor in handling and transportation. The actual exchange of commodities was always direct between the producers and the consumers.
I did not quite comprehend all this, but it prepared me for the object lesson which was to come. I was keenly alert to everything that was to be seen and heard, as it was valuable material for the book which I now felt sure I would be able to lay before the people of the outer world.
It was now noon, and MacNair suggested that it was about time for dinner. "No doubt," he said, "your fifteen hundred miles of travel has given you an appetite." And suiting the action to the suggestion, we all stepped upon an elevator, and descended to the largest dining hall I had ever seen. It seemed that thousands of people were seated at the tables, quietly conversing and enjoying their midday meal. We seated ourselves at a vacant table and Oqua said:
"I shall order for all, as our American visitors are not yet perfectly familiar with our customs." And manipulating a button at her side, I was surprised to see the center of the table disappear, but it reappeared before I had sufficiently recovered my equilibrium to ask questions, and it was loaded with the most tempting viands. Oqua explained that these central tables which carried the food stood on the top of an elevator that connected with the kitchen below. That whenan order was received, a table was already prepared to take the place of the one which the elevator brought down. Everything moved with quiet celerity; no bustling waiters, and no waiting for orders to be filled.
After dinner we passed into a large sitting room, elegantly furnished with chairs, divans, sofas, etc., splendidly upholstered. I noticed chairs and divans on wheels and asked MacNair for an explanation, and he replied:
"These chairs are moved by electricity, supplied by storage batteries just under the seats. You apply the power by pressing a button on the arm by your side, and guide them with your feet. You will often find them in use, particularly in large places like Orbitello, where travelers coming in fatigued, and people on business with the various departments, having many places to go, need some easy means of locomotion. In the olden time, waiters used to push these chairs around by hand, but with the advent of electricity, electric motors were substituted, and now the people who use these chairs need no such assistance, and all the chair-men have to do is to see that the chairs are returned to their proper place."
After a little instruction we found no difficulty in going where we pleased in our chairs, and regulating their direction and speed with perfect ease. This novel experience was so agreeable that we decided to visit the leading points of interest in these electric chairs.
The first place to visit was the business offices of this great Continental Exchange. We took our places in a large elevator room and passed down to the office of the Commissioner of Exchange. On either side of the great hall were shelves containing large booksin which we were informed, were statistics of production that are sent in from every district twice a year, at the close of each crop season. These records show just how much surplus each district has for exchange, and of what it consists. This information is for the Order and Supply Department which is on the same floor, toward which we were directing our chairs.
Here we entered a long hall, on either side of which were arranged desks and electrical instruments. The clerks in attendance, each represented a district, and were selected by the districts to fill these positions because of their intimate knowledge of the wants of their several localities and of the surplus they had for exchange.
The District Commissioners sent their orders to their own clerk which was written out by telautograph on his own desk. The order was at once transmitted by the same method, to the district having the surplus, through its own clerk, and a duplicate of these orders to the Record Department. These orders when received from the District Commissioners were transmitted to the communities having the surplus. The Community Department of Exchange then shipped it directly to the place where it was needed.
Under this system of distribution, products passed directly from the producer to the consumer and were never handled but once. The producers held their surplus in their own possession until they had orders from consumers by whom it was needed. The Commissioner of Exchange at Orbitello had a tabulated report of the surplus held by each district, and each district had its clerks in the Order and Supply Department of the Continental Exchange. When an agricultural district wanted machinery, musical instruments,furniture, clothing, etc., the order for the same was transmitted to its own clerk in the Department of Exchange and it was at once sent to the district, or districts, having a surplus of the products needed. And when a Manufacturing District needed food supplies the orders were sent to the clerk in the Continental Exchange and the order was transmitted to the nearest agricultural district that had a surplus for exchange.
Under this system of organized exchange, if any district found that it had a surplus accumulating in its warehouses for which there was no demand, this was all the notice required that a time had come to curtail production in that particular line. From what we could see of the workings of this system, by going through this department, we could readily see how the law of supply and demand, if permitted to act freely with no artificial restrictions, would be a perfect regulator in the world of commerce. Neither would there ever be, under this Altrurian system of exchange, a glut in the market at one place while there was a scarcity at another.
"You see here," said MacNair, "a business house which handles the trade of a continent, containing over two hundred millions of people. All the products of the soil, the shop, the factory and the mine, are practically bought and sold in this establishment, and yet without any of the excitement and bustle, hard work and worry, which characterize the comparatively diminutive business houses of New York and London."
"I see evidences," I remarked, "of a most admirable business system on a stupendous scale. But the question that will be asked in the outer world will be, How are these goods paid for and how are the prices fixed and the accounts adjusted without money? Thisis what the people of the outer world will want to understand. I am asking more for them than for myself."
"Nothing difficult about it," said MacNair. "Product pays for product here just as it actually does in the outer world, but under co-operation, the elements of interest, profit and rent have been eliminated. The price of an article is fixed by the amount of labor expended in its production and distribution. This of course only applies to such commodities as are in demand. A great deal of labor might be expended in the production of something that no one wanted. Such labor would be wasted here as it would be anywhere else."
"I had thought of this contingency," I replied, "but was not seeking a difficulty. I referred only to such articles of necessity, comfort and luxury as the consumers wish to secure. How are the prices fixed, what is the standard and how are balances settled?"
"These questions," said MacNair, "are well put, to draw out a concise, as well as a comprehensive statement of our business methods. We readily ascertain by statistics, the average number of minutes, hours and days of labor invested in the production of every commodity which enters into common use. This includes the labor invested in the necessary transportation, superintendence and distribution. Hence in our accounts, the value of products of all kinds are credited and debited as given amounts of labor. This is what in the outer world would be called the price. A given number of hours of labor in one branch of useful service to society is worth just the same number of hours of labor in some other branch, and the exchange is made on that basis. The one primary object of this system of exchange is to secure equal and exact justice to all."
"But how are all these numerous employes on your railroads, in your stores and the various departments of industry paid?" asked Captain Ganoe.
"Very easily," said MacNair. "The people produce all the supplies and render all the service, and the people enjoy all the benefits. This is about all there is of it. We produce what we consume, and consume what we produce, without paying tribute to anyone else for the privilege of exercising these natural rights, as the people in the outer world are forced to do."
"But," said the Captain, "would you have me infer that all these expert clerks and accountants, and the commissioner who superintends all this business do not receive any more than the laborers on the farms and in the shops, factories and mines?"
"Why should they get more than people who are engaged in laborious occupations?" asked Iola. "They get all they can consume. If they should use a little more or less no one cares. They can have all they want without working any more hours than other people and I cannot understand how they could use any more food or clothing without ruining their health or making themselves very uncomfortable. I cannot conceive of any person wanting to eat more food or wear more clothes, because he or she is employed in some position of trust. Can you, Captain Ganoe?"
"I admit," replied the Captain, "that your question is a poser. And this is not the first time that I have been puzzled by your remarks. I do not say that you are wrong; but I never heard questions handled in this way until I drifted into this inner world. I can only say that I am bewildered and while I do not comprehend your philosophy I do admire your civilization."
"And," responded Iola, "I cannot comprehend how anyone can admire our civilization without accepting our philosophy. The civilization of a people is only reducing to practice, the mental and moral concepts of the people. Our civilization is the logical outcome of our philosophy. People always think first and act afterward. Our philosophy is what we think, and our civilization is the result of what it induces us to do."
"Well," said the Captain, "it has certainly induced your people to do many things that would look very strange in the outer world, but which seem to work rightly here."
Oqua, who had quietly dropped out of our party without being observed, now joined us, accompanied by a man of commanding appearance. He was about six feet, four inches in height, brown hair, full beard, blue eyes, fair complexion and a high intellectual forehead. Oqua introduced him as Norrena, Chief of the Continental Department of Education. His address was most gentle, pleasing and kind, but firm and decided. Turning to me he said:
"I had hoped to have an opportunity to make the acquaintance of Jack Adams, the scientist of the Ice King, but Oqua tells me that I must be content with Nequa, the teacher. She informs me that you are preparing a book to be published in your own country, and to that end you are making a close study of our civilization."
"That is true," I said, "and she has spoken to me of you as one who could render me great assistance, in gathering the lessons that would be of the most value, in our transition from competition to co-operation."
"I shall gladly render you any assistance in my power," he said, "but what you can see here of our completed system of co-operation in every department of human endeavor, will be indispensable to a clear comprehension of the lessons to be drawn from the history of our own Transition Period."
"Thank you," I said. "And I would be pleased to have you show me through the departments, and call my attention to such features as will be of the greatest advantage for me to understand just at this time."
"That is the same request that was made by Oqua, as it would take a long time for you to find just what you want without the assistance of someone who is familiar with all the departments and who also understands the nature of the work in which you are engaged. To begin, we will now visit the Department of Public Printing and News Distribution."
We now dispensed with our electric chairs, as we felt the need of exercise. As we emerged from the Exchange building, Norrena took the lead, and conducted us into another stupendous structure, devoted to the Public Printing and the Distribution of News to all parts of the world. The upper story was an immense auditorium, where public meetings of unusual proportions could meet and have ample room, and where the acoustic properties were so scientifically adjusted, that all could hear the speaker in ordinary tones of voice.
Norrena conducted us first into the press room, where printed sheets were being turned out with a rapidity I had never before witnessed. These passed on an endless belt into the binding department and from thence in completed form to the mailing rooms for distribution. Everything seemed to move with the same quiet celerity that we had noticed in the Exchange Department.
From the press rooms we ascended in an elevatorto the composing department, where we found a number of machines turning out stereotype plates, but no operators were anywhere in sight. Norrena informed me that the machines were operated on the same principle as the telautograph, or writing telegraph, and with the multiplex system of transmission, an expert could operate a number of these machines in different parts of the world at the same time. The matter for publication, was thus delivered in the composing room in the shape of plates ready for the presses.
But the most interesting and important feature of this great publishing house is the manner of collecting and distributing news. The News Department is connected by telegraph with news offices throughout the world and is continually receiving items of general interest, which are classified and distributed by the same means to the people in every home throughout the continent. The printed pages are of matter of a more permanent character, which is regarded as worthy of preservation. Copies of new books are sent to similar establishments in the other grand divisions and by them reproduced and placed in their local libraries where all have access to them. This free distribution of intelligence to the whole people is under the direct control of the Department of Education.
During the meetings of the Altrurian Council, this department has another important duty to perform. The council, through this department, is practically, at all times, in communication with the majority of the people. When a matter of public interest has been carefully discussed pro and con, it is formulated and transmitted to every community where the people are interested, a vote is then taken at once, and the result transmitted to the council. By this means, a majority of thepeople can be heard from in regard to any matter of importance in a few hours. The people are at all times familiar with the matters which are being considered by the council, and are prepared to respond promptly. The communities ordinarily have decided any important question in their minds before it is submitted to them and reply at once. I could readily see how, under an advanced state of civilisation, direct government by the people is not only practicable, but remarkable for its simplicity and promptness of execution.
The council acts upon all matters in which two or more districts are interested and the matter is formulated and submitted at once to the people of such districts for their approval or disapproval. But in any matter of great importance the people are not compelled to wait for the regular meeting of the council, but may by the action of the communities place the matter before the executive committee which meets every day, and it becomes their duty to submit the question to a vote of the people. In this way, under this system, the people can always secure prompt action, as it is the duty of their officials to serve, but not to govern, as they do in the outer world.
If a public improvement is agreed upon, the districts and communities interested, make an appropriation of necessary material and labor, and the work is pushed forward. In all things this great council is advisory in its character and the executive committee only takes such action as the people have agreed upon, and when any matter has been agreed upon the executive power acts at once without question. The will of the people is the law which no one ever assumes to question.
We passed rapidly through a large number of magnificent structures, filled with exhibits of all kinds. In Machinery Hall were samples of every conceivable mechanical device. Another vast building was devoted to textile fabrics of all kinds. Every industry had its exhibit. All the great Grand Divisions had similar buildings. Everywhere, accommodating attendants were ready to show us anything and give us any information we wished. And one remarkable thing was, that while every one seemed anxious to display the goods on exhibition, no one ever tried to sell us anything, as would have been the case in the outer world.
Here, as MacNair said, was indeed a miniature picture of a world. I could write a volume on each one of these great buildings without exhausting the subject. But for the present I had seen enough and requested Norrena to conduct us next to the Library of Universal Knowledge which was the most highly finished and imposing of all these palatial structures. It was built of the usual semi-transparent material which shut out the direct rays of the sun while it admitted a mellow radiance rendering artificial light as a rule unnecessary.
We took an elevator to the top where we began our survey of the contents. Elevators at frequent intervals connected every story. A description of one story would in a general way apply to all the others. Each floor is divided longitudinally into three halls or suites of rooms. The central division is ordinarily a single hall fifty feet in width by six hundred in length, and in these central halls are stored all the books, papers and relics of the past. Also specimens of ores, metals, alloys and compounds of everything that goes to make a complete museum of natural history, and scientific methods in chemistry andthe mechanic arts. Different stories are given to Archeology, Ethnology, Geology, Chemistry, Electricity, etc., and constitute a most instructive feature of this Library of Universal Knowledge.
The divisions on either side are given up to reading rooms, lecture halls and schools for culture in technical branches that can be studied to better advantage here in this vast library than elsewhere. In the reading rooms, which are always open to the public, full catalogues are always kept for visitors, and courteous attendants are ever ready to give any information and procure any book that may be needed. Books are all numbered and catalogued, so the visitor has but to press the number on an electric keyboard, and it is delivered at once by a pneumatic tube. The attendants return the books to their proper places in the same rapid and quiet manner. No noise, bluster, or confusion anywhere. Everything is reduced to system, and moves along like clock work.
Instruction is free in any of the technical schools, to all who apply and submit to the rules. These schools embrace every specific branch of study, and are usually patronised by graduates from the public schools who desire to perfect their knowledge of some specific branch in order to be better qualified for a special calling. Here, can be studied under the most favorable conditions, the progressive development of a world, illustrated at every step by the relics indicative of its status which are carefully preserved in the museums, thus tracing in the most instructive and satisfactory manner, the progress of the people from their primitive condition of barbarians to their present high state of culture.
I saw at a glance that this was the place where my contemplated work of investigation, into the practical methods which had enabled the people of this countryto develop such ideals, could be prosecuted under the most favorable conditions. I determined to make good use of these facilities for gathering the ripened sheaves of human thought in every age and condition of life, for the benefit of the people of my own native land.
In the lower story, we passed into the department where new publications are received and catalogued. The first thing that attracted my attention was the translations from the library of the Ice King, which seemed to have the right of way over everything else. Among these translations, I noticed the American Cyclopedia, Ridpath's History of the World, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, histories of the United States and the leading countries of the world, together with a selection of works on polar exploration, and a number of scientific works. I was astonished at the progress that had been made, but Norrena informed me that, under their system, a work could be translated almost as fast as it could be read, and that the work had been divided between the scholars of all the grand divisions.
I asked Norrena if there was much demand for these translations of outer world literature, and he replied:
"Yes, the orders from each grand division, amount to millions, and they can be translated in all parts of the concave as rapidly as the presses can turn them out. This is especially true of everything pertaining to America, whose history up to date is so similar to the early stages of our own."
"But," I said, "with the usual large attendance at the reading rooms, one volume will do for a number of persons, and I should think that would greatly decrease the demand."
"That is true," said Norrena, "but all have an equal right to be served, and this addition to our knowledge of the outer world is in such great demand, that all want to be supplied at the same time."
"Of course that is impossible," I said, "and so I suppose that with all your improved methods many will be compelled to wait."
"Not so very many," said Norrena. "All may not be able to get books, but all who desire to do so can hear them read."
"How," I asked, "can that be, when millions are asking to hear them read all at once?"
"Not so very difficult," he replied, "when we use the multiplex phonograph. One reader can be heard all over the concave. A vast number would rather listen to a good reader, than to read themselves, and as the voice of this reader can be connected with a large number of phonograph reading rooms at the same time, in each such room, as many can listen as can be seated."
"You astonish me," I said. "Will you please explain how this is done?"
"I will do more than that," he said. "I will show you how it is done. Come with me."
I followed him into a large room, where I found, I should think, from two to three hundred people, composedly sitting in chairs, or reclining on sofas and divans, with phonographic attachments in their ears.
"These," said Norrena, "are all listening to readers at Lake Byblis who are assisting in the translation of these works. They are using these attachments in the ears because they are not all listening to the same matter. This is a fair sample of what is going on in every room of this character, throughout the concave. A large number of professional readers are employed who areconnected by telephone and phonograph with every home and reading room in all parts of the country. By such means you see that we can disseminate knowledge almost simultaneously, to all who are most anxious for it. The demand for printed books is mainly from libraries and reading rooms, public and private. The masses of the people at this time are spending much of their ample leisure, in listening to the reading of this new addition to our literature. It will not be long, before the most industrious, intellectually, have absorbed, to a considerable extent this most valuable addition to our knowledge, and then a very large number will apply themselves to the study of the English language, so that they may be able to judge for themselves as to the accuracy of the translations."
"I see from your admirable system of distributing knowledge that there must be an extraordinary demand to be supplied."
"Nothing extraordinary for us," said Norrena. "The demand is steady with a tendency to increase. Our people are all workers who have enough physical exercise to keep their bodies in good condition, and this stimulates the mind to demand food, which it is our duty to provide."
"Do you not often find this difficult?" I asked.
"Not at all," he replied. "In this, as in the supply of food for the body, the quantity is always ample where the operations of natural law are not antagonized in the administration of public business. We have ample facilities for gathering news, and everyone who has a thought to express finds an opportunity to do so. There is a steady supply which we distribute alike to all. This demand for mental food is even more pressing than the demand for physical nourishment. The real man and the real woman are not their physical bodies, but the living souls which occupy these bodies, and it is the duty of this department of the public service to provide these souls with the staff of life, which is knowledge."
Before leaving the library, Norrena requested us to record our names on the visitor's book. We complied, and then continued our rambles until I, for one, was utterly exhausted, and asked to be excused from further exercise.
"Then," said Norrena, "we will retire to the Department of Public Comfort, where I have my private rooms, and while you are resting, we can talk over plans for the future, or other matters that may demand attention. I am much interested in this move to improve the airships with a view to opening up a line of communication with the outer world."
"And," I remarked, "I am, if possible, more interested in the completion of my book in time for it to go to the United States by the first airship, for publication. And I want it to contain every lesson of importance to our people that can be gleaned from the present condition and the past history of the people of this country."
As we were speaking, Norrena hailed a passing electric carriage, and in a few minutes we were landed at the grandest hotel I had ever entered in my life. I could see at a glance why it was called the Department of Public Comfort. Every facility for the comfort and enjoyment of guests was provided. But the dimensions assigned to this volume will not permit a description. I need only say that all its appointments were complete, for the accommodation of thousands of guests.
While each of the department buildings had its own arrangements for accommodating its own force of employes and its own guests, this Department of Public Comfort was designed more especially for guests from other Grand Divisions. Here, the heads of departments of all the Grand Divisions held their conferences; and here the continental heads of departments very appropriately had their headquarters.
After supper, Norrena informed me that on the morrow, he would devote an hour to oral lessons at the institute of district school superintendents and that his subject would be the History of the Transition Period.
"This," he explained, "covers that period in the history of Altruria which marks the decline and fall of the old system of competition and the introduction of co-operative methods. It may be just what you want in the way of lessons from history. If you think that you do not yet understand our language well enough to fully comprehend all the points, I will provide you with a translation into English."
I thanked him for his interest in my work and assured him that while I wanted to hear him in his own tongue, if he could provide me with the same matter in English, it would help me to a better understanding of the language of the country, and that certainly I did not want to miss any point of real value in the subject matter.
CHAPTER XII.
The institute of school superintendents—Norrena's address on the Transition Period—From Competition to Co-operation—The closing decades of Money supremacy—The power of gold—Its conquest of the world—Political governments its tools—The people helpless—A hint at the way out.
The institute of school superintendents—Norrena's address on the Transition Period—From Competition to Co-operation—The closing decades of Money supremacy—The power of gold—Its conquest of the world—Political governments its tools—The people helpless—A hint at the way out.
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chapterT an early hour we were up and had our breakfast. I felt that my journey to Orbitello and the hasty glance through the leading departments had been the most instructive day I had ever experienced. But I was not surfeited, and looked forward with interest to the meeting of the Institute of School Superintendents and especially to Norrena's oral lessons from the Transition Period of the great Industrial Commonwealth of Altruria.
We met in the Auditorium over the Department of Public Printing. Many had already arrived and were gathered into groups in various portions of the vast hall conversing with each other. I took a seat on one side by myself to contemplate the scene before me. I was by nature a student, and here I was among, as it were, a nation of competent instructors, and in a country where everything demonstrated the power to control the great potent forces which govern the external world, and the innate force of our higher moral and spiritual concepts of what should be our relations toward each other in order to convert this earth into a heaven of blissful, happy contentment. I was among a people who universally regarded "an injury to one as the concern of all," and hence health, happiness and abundance for all was their normal condition.
I could hardly realize that this country had once been the abode of poverty and all of its consequences of ignorance, vice and crime; that here where equal rights, equal opportunities and an equal share in the unlimited abundance which nature places within the easy reach of intelligent labor were the universal and unquestioned law of being, there had once been a grasping and cruel financial and commercial power that condemned the wealth-producing millions to lives of unrequited toil. But such, I was repeatedly told, had been the fact, and Norrena, at this meeting was to give an oral lesson from that period and describe the power that had oppressed and degraded the people in those early ages.
But a short time had gone by since my first meeting with these people and yet I had become thoroughly absorbed in their mental, moral and spiritual life. I felt myself to be to all intents and purposes one ofthem. What was it that had so entirely taken possession of my consciousness? In all my life I had never felt so completely at home, and at peace with myself and all the world. I was fully satisfied.
Norrena broke in upon my reverie by asking:
"What is it Nequa, that so absorbs your attention that you seem to be utterly oblivious of the presence of this large assemblage of teachers from all parts of the country to talk over the history of the olden time when 'wealth accumulated and men decayed?' Have you forgotten what I told you last evening? Oqua will report the lesson from the Transition Period in English for you and you can afford to give some attention to your old friends, Iola, MacNair, Polaris, Dione and your comrades of the Ice King."