The Washington times., 1912-02-21
THE TIMES DAILY SERIAL STORY
The Second Deluge
By GARRETT p SERvISS IN. ySsS2 SrIsf a%y 1%a CO,

ana Wnlle ne muHeu tnefe Oht1e
knock at the door. The little man
started up on his seat, alert as squir-
rel, and turned his eyes over his Shout
der, listening intently. The knock was
repeated-three quick SHARP. raps. Evil
IDENTITY he at once recognized them.
"All right he called out, and, let
ting himself down. ran swiftly to the
door and opened il.
A tall, thin man, with bushy black
hair, heavy eyebrows, high, narrow
forehead, and a wide, ciean-shaven
mouth, wearing a solemn kind of smile,
entered and grasped the little man by
''Cosn,o," he said, without wasting
any time on preliminarles. have you
worked II out?"
II have Just finished.
"And you find the worst7''
Yes. worse than l ever dreamed 1t
deep"
''Phewv' exclaimed the other. his
smile fading. THAT is indeed serious.
And when does IL begin?'
100000 miles Of the water nebula now.
and you know that the earth travels
more than that distance in twelve
months"
"Have you seen it?"
How could see it--haven't told
you 1t is invisible? II it could be seen
all these stupid astronomers would have
spotted 1t long ago. But I'll tell you
Cosmo Versal's voice sank into a.
whisper, and he shuddered slightly as
he went on:
"Only last night / was sweeping the
sky with the telescope when / noticed,
in Hercules and Lyra, and all that part
of the heavens, dimming OF some Of
the fainter stars. 1t was like the shadow
would have noticed It, and ! wouldn't "
! had not been looking for II. IT'S
knowledge that clarifies the eyes and
breeds knowledge, Joseph Smith 1t was
not truly visible. and yet ! could see
that It was there. tried to make out
the shape of the thing--but II was too
indefinite. But know very well what
II Is. See here"-he suddenly broke
on-"Look at that photograph" Gle
was pointing at the Lord Rosse Nebula
on the walD. ITS like that. only it's
coming edgewise toward us. We may
miss some of our outer spirals, but
were going to smash into the center"
With fallen jaw, and black brows con-
trracted. t3rn Joseph Smith stared at the
., 1T Il doesn't shine like that" he said,
The little man snorted contemptuous-
What have / told you about Its in
visibility" he demanded
Is OF Watery nature?"
cosmos Nersal threw up his hands and
waved them in an agony of inpatience.
ne cIlmbed upon his stool to get nearer
the level OF the others eyes, and fixing
MN IN, win his gaze, exclaimed:
you know very well how | know Il.
Know II because ! have demonstrated
with my new spectroscope, which an
aIyzes extra visual rays, that all those
dark nebulae that were photograp phed in
the MILKY way years ago are composed
OF watery vapor. They are far of. on
the limits OF the universe. This one is
right at hand. It's little one COM
pared with them-but it's enough, YES.
II 5 enough! You know that more than
Two years ago / began to correspond
win astronomers all over the world
So0nI a"mi5 THIS thing. and not one of them
when IT'S too late. perhaps.
They'll listen when the flood-Cates
are opened and the inundation begins.
u not the first time that this thing
the Hood Of Noah. that everybody pre-
tends to laugh ut now, was caused by
lne eartn passing through a watery neb-
uIa But this will be worse than that.
there weren't 2.0O00O0,0O0 people to be
drowned then rs there are now"
For five minutes neither spoke. Cos.
mo Nersal swung on the stool, and
hlaiEed with an ellipsigraph; Joseph
smith dropped his chin on his breast
md nervously fingered the pockets of
DIS long vest. Al last he raised his head
anc asked. in low voice:
What arc Won going to do. Cosmo?"
~ going 20 get ready" was the
short reply.
How"
Build an ark"
But Will you give no warning to
"'ll do. NV best. I'll telephone TO all
the officials, scientific and otherwise, in
! America, Europe. Africa. Asia, and
Australia. I'll write in every language
to all the newspapers and magazines
! I'll send out circulars. I'll counsel
everybody to drop every other ocCupa-
ton and begin to build arKs-hut nobody
will heed me. Toull see. My ark will
be the only one but I'll save as many
in 1t as | can Ana depend upon you,
Joseph, 20 help me. From all appear
anc?s, it's the only chance that the
human race has of survival
III hadn't made this discovery they
would all have been wined out like
SIade a few to he saved-but what an
awful thing 1t is that when the truth
| Is thrust into their very faces people
won't believe. won't listen. won't see,
won't be helped. but will die like dogs
intheir obstinate ignorance and blind
ness"
But thcv will, they must. listen to
yon," said Joseph Smith. eagerly
They won't. hut must make them"
| replied Cosmo Versal. Anyhow, l must
make n few of the best OF them hear
me. The fate of 4 whole race is at
best blood and brain Of mankind, the
world will have q new chance, and per-
| haps & hcttcr and higher race will be
the result. Since 7 can't save them all,
III pick and choose. I'll have the flower
Of humanity in nv ark. I'll at least
snatch that much from the Jaws of de-
struction."
A Confirmation of This Story VIII
BE Found In TOmOrrOw's