Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-18
CHAPTER I
The Awakening

I
rnnscIousneBs began 10 uaWh III tne ihCe OF
M trnnced girl.
wv .,ea moro the breath Of life began to stir
. ,h.t ftIl bosom to which again n vital
".smth had on this day Of days crept
slowiy back
s,s,y aoor. her beautiful face buried and
Etsided in the hollow of her arm, sigh
rbiled from her lips
5Ire-IIfe was flowing back again The
.tgaele OF miracles was growing 10 reality.
r,sintlv now she breathed; vaguely her
heart began to throb once more She stlrred.
sha noaued still for the moment powerless
y cast on wholly the enshroudng incubus
- ,hat tremendous dreamless sleep.
rro, her hands closed. The finely tapered
e,gcrs tangled themselves In the masses
~ thIck. luxuriant hair which lay out
spread all over and about her. The eyelids
trembled
And a moment later, Beatrice KendriclS
~ss stting up. dazed and utterly uncom-
rrehending. peering about her at the
s,ranTesP vision which since the world be-
~an mad ever been the lot of any human
creature TO behold-the vision Of place
Transformed beyond all power OF the INTEL
i.ot 10 understand.
FOR Of the room which she remembered,
,rhieh had been her last sight when ESQ
ions 30 very long. ago) her eyes had closed
With that sudden and uncomfortable drows-
mess. Of that room, l say remained only
wallis ceiling, floor OF rust-red steel and
ertimblng cement
QUITE gone was all the plaster, as by
magic Here and there heap OF whitish
aust betrayed where some of Its detritus
still lay.
Gone was every picture. chart and map
vhlch-but an hour since, 1t seemed to her
had decked this office of Allan Stern, con-
sulting engineer this aerie up in the forty
aighth story Of the Metropolitan Tower.
Furniture there was none. over the still
intact glass Of the windows cobwebs were
draped SO thlckly as almost to exclude the
light Of day-a strange, fy-infested cur
tain where once neat green shade-rollers
had hung.
Even as the bewlldered girl sat there,
iIps parted. eyes wide with amaze. spider
uelzed his buzzing prey and scampered back
into hole In the wall.
A huge. leathery bat, suspended upside
down In the far corner, cheeped with dry.
erepitant sounds of irritation.
Beatrice rubbed her eyes
'what?" she said, quite slowly. Dream
3 ing7 How singular! 1 only wish l could
remember this when 1 wake up. OF all the
dreams I've ever had this ones certainly
the s:ransest. SO real so vivid Why. 1
could swear l was awake-and yet"
All at once sudden doubt flashed into
her mind. An uneasy expression dawned
across her face. Her eyes grew wild with
great fear; the fear of utter and absolute
incomprehension.
Something about this room, the weird
Awakening, bore in upon her consciousness
the dread tIdings this was not a dream
somethng drove home to her the fact
that II was real, objective. positive! And
with gasp OF fright she struggled up
amid the litter and the rubbish of that un'
canny room.
"ohw she cried in terror, as huge scor-
.t.. M ,,vEgh Nnn rnt
Z 70 sttike, scuttled away and vanished
through a gaping voil where once the cor
rldor door had swung. "Oh, oh! Where
am I? What-what has-happenedT'
Horrlfed beyond all words, pale and
staring. both hands clutched to her breast,
whsreon her very clothing now had torn
and crumbled, she faced about.
To her II seemed as though some mon
strous, evil thing were lurking in the dim
corner at her back. She tried TO scream.
but could utter no sound, save choked
gasp.
Even as she took the first few steps her
Eown-a mere tattered mockery of raiment
fell away from her.
And, confronted by a new problem, she
stopped short About her she peered In
vain for something to protect her disarray.
There was nothing!
hy-where's-where's my chhir7 My
desk" she exclaimed thiclkly. staring to-
ward the place by the window where they
should have been, and were not. Her
thapely feet fell soundlessly in that strange
and lmpalpabe dust which thichly coated
everything. d
my typewriter? Is-can that be my
typewriter? Great Heavens! What's the
matter here, with everything? Am mad?'
There before her lay somewhat larger
pile Of dust mixed with soft and punlky
splintsrs OF rotten wood. Amid all this
decay she saw some bits Of rust, cor
foded typebar or two. even a few rubber
ksycaps sIill recognizable, though with the
letters quite oblIterated.
All about her, yelling her completely in q
mantle OF wondrous gloss and beauty. her
lustrous hair fell, as she stopped TO see this
strange, incomprehensible phenomenon.
she tried to pick up one OF the rubber caps.
AZ her merest touch 1t crumbled to an Inn
palpabls white powder.
Back with shuddsrinE cry tho girl
sprang, terrified
"Merciful heavens |" she supplIcated.
VBhat-what does all this meanT'
For moment she stood there, her every
power OF thought. OF motion. numbed.
Breathing not she only started in a wild
Kind Of cringing amazsment as perhaps
soa might do II you should see dead man
Then to the door she ran. Out into the
sAn she peered, this way and that, down
- ulshAnued corrldor, up the Wfeckage
q me stairs. all numbered, like the office
i4slf' with dust ana webs and vermin.
Aloud she hAilsd: "Oh! Help, help,
espF' No answer. Even the echoes flung
eaek only dull, vaeuous sounds that deep
lAtion
HhatG No noise OF human life anywhere
Z pe heard2 Nonel No familiar hum OF
us metropolis now rose from what, when
-as had fallen asleep. had been swarmlng |
-les's and miles on miles OF hRbltations.
instead, blank. unbroken leaden ST. |
lsnee that seemed part OF the musty, chok-
- atmosphere-a silence that weighed |
soen on Beatrice like funeral pals.
Dumtounded by all this. and by the uni |
se.aA crumbling OF every peFishable |
allhs. the girl ran. shuddering, back into |
-. sas once. There in the dust her foot struck |
somethlns hard.
4 ii . -
,.,aay ny glass inxwsnl whAtr only such
A,ngs remainr'
30 dream. then. but reality7 She knew |
= lehklh that some catastrophe. incredibly |
some disaster cosmic In the tragedy |
= ~ sweep, had desolated the world.
On, my mother! cried she my mother !
esea Dead, now, how long2"
enc did not weep. but just stood cover
~ chill OF ansuished horror racSins |
80 All az once her teeth began TO chat /
-. hef body 70 shake as with an ague.