The Washington times., 1912-02-26

then the oceans will swell to the noun
tain tops, and the continents Will be-
come the bottoms of angry seas.
When the Hood begins II will be too
late to save yourselves. You have al
ready lost too much precious time 1
tell you solemnly that not one in a mil
lion can now be saved. Throw away
every other consideration, and try, try
desperately. to be of the little company
of those who escape.
Remember that your only chance is
In building arks-arks of levium, the
metal that floats. 1 have sent broad
cast plans for such arks. They can be
made OF any size, but the larger the
better. In my own ark ! can take only
selected number, and when the COM
PIGMENT Is made up not another soul
viii be admitted
Il have established all my facts by
mathematical proofs. The most expert
methematictans OF the world have been
unable to detect any error in my calcu-
lations They try to dispute the data,
but the data are already before you for
your own Judgment. The heavens are
so obscured that only the brightest
stars can now be seem (This was a
fact which had caused bewilderment in
the observatories.) The recent outburst
or storms and floods was the second sign
Of the approaching end and the third
sign Will not be long delayed-and after
that the delugev
1t is futile TO try to describe the
haunting fear and horror which seized
read those words. Business was par
alyZed, for men found 1t impossible to
concentrate their minds upon ordinary
anairs. Every night the twin comets,
still very bright. although they were
fast retreating, brandished their fiery
scimitars in the sky-more fearful TO the
imagination now, since Cosmo Versal
had declared that II was the nebula that
stimulated their energies: And by day
the sky was watched with anxious eyes
striving to detect signs of a deepening
of the menacing hue, which, to an eX-
cited fancy, suggested a tinge of blood.
Now, at last, Cosmos warnings and
entreaties bore practical fruit. Men be-
gan TO inquire about places in his ark,
and to make preparations for building
arks OF their own.
He had not been interferred with after
his memorab BILE interview with the Pres
ident of the United States. and had
pushed his work at Mineola with re-
doubled energy, employing night gangs
of workmen so that progress was con-
tinuous through the twenty-four hours.
| whose hull was approaching completion,
rose a hundred feet in the air. 1t was
500 feet long and 80 feet broad-pro-
| portions which practical shipbuilders
| ridiCuled, but Cosmo, as original in
this as In everything else. declared
! that, taking into account the buoyancy
| of levium, no other form would answer
| as well. He estimated that when its
*
! mense stores of material for producing
power, its ballast, and its supplies of
| food slowed away, and Its cargo OF
men and animals taken aboard, II
would not draw more than twenty teet
| of water.
Hardly a day passed now without
| somebody coming 10 Cosr;o to inquire
about the best method of constructing
ton in all possible detail with the at
most willingness He drew plans and
sketches. made all kinds of practical
suggestions. and never failed to urge
visitor. Mt the same time with alarm
and a resolution to go to work at once
Some did 20 to work. But their
progress was slow, and as days passed
and the comets gradually faded out of
sight. ana then the dome of the sky
showed 4 tendency to resume its natural
bluencss. the enthusiasm OF Cosmos
imitators weakened. together with their
confidence in hls prophetic powers
They concluded to postpone their
operations until the need of arks should
&c cone more evident.
AS to those who had sent inquiries
about places at Cosmos ark. now thai
| the danger seemed 20 be blowing away.
| they did not even take the trouble to
answer the very kind responses that he
had made.
1t is a singular circumstance that not
one of the these anxious inQuirers SEEM
| cd to have paid particular attention to
n very significant sentence in his reply.
II they had given 1t little thought
| 1t would probably have set them pom
derlng, although they might have been
more puzzled than eGifiCd. The sem
| tence ran as follows:
"While assuring Won that my ark has
been built for the benefit Of y fellow
men, I am bound TO tell you that I re-
served absolutely the iPht to determine
who are truly representative of homo
| Sa piens."
mi
| turning ever in his mind the great
fundamental question which he had
! asked himself when the idea of trying
| to save the human race from annihila-
ton had first occurred to him, and APP
parently he had fixed upon certain prin-
cipIes that were to guide him.
| Since, when the mind is under great
strain through fear. the slightest re-
Taxation. caused by an apparently fav-
orablo change, produces a rebound of
hope. as unreasoning as the preceding
| terror, so, on this occasion, the vanish
ing OF the comets. and the fading or the
disqueting color of the sky, had a Won
| derful effect in restoring public conf
dence in the orderly procession Of ma
! ture.
Cosmo Versars vogue as prophet OF
disaster was soon gone, and once more
| everybody began to laugh at him. Peo-
pie turned again to their neglected af-
| fairs with the general remark that they
guessed the world would manage "a
wade through"
Those who had begun prepare tons to
build arks looked very sheepish when
their friends guyed them about their
childish credulity.
Then feeling of angry resentment
arose, and one day Cosmo Versal was
mobbeG in the street. and the gamins
threw stones at him.
People forgot the extraordinary storm
of lightning and rain, the split comet,
and all the other circumstances which.
a little time before, had filled them
| with terror.
But they were making a fearful mis-
take!
With eyes bIindfolded. they were
walking straight into the jaws of de-
stTuCtipn,
| Without warning, and as suddenly al
most as an explosion, the third sign APP
| peared, and OH its heels came a Veri-
table reign Of terror!
| A Continuation of This Story VIII
he Found In TOmOrrOW's