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


wherein now no sail giinted in the sunlight.
no tug puffed vehemontiy with plumy Jets
Of steam no liner idled At anchor or nosn6
It's slow course out TO sea
The Jersey shore, the Palisades. the
Bronx and Long Island all lay buried in
dense forests Of conifers and oak. with
only hero and there some skeleton mocitnrF
of steel structure juttinR through.
The Islands In the harbor, too, wera
thickly overgrown on Ellis no sign Of
the immigrant station remained. Castle
William was quite gone. And with = gasp
OF dismay and pain, Beatrice pointed out
the fact that no longer Liberty held her
bronze torch Rloft
Save for black. mlsshapen mass pro-
truding through the trec-topa, the huGe
gift OF France was no more
Fringtng the waterfront ali the way
around. the mournfui remains of the dooirs
and piers lay In a mere Hodden tumble Of
decay, with an occasional hulk sunk along
side
Even over thess wrecks Of liners. versta-
tion was growing, rank and green. All the
wooden ships. bargcs and schooners had
utterly vanished.
Tho telescope showed only a stray loilInK
mast OF steel, here or yonder, thruBtinR
up from the desolation. like a muto appeal
Ing hand raised to a heaven that responded
not
"see." remarked storm. uptown almost
All tho buildings seem to have crumbled
In upon themselves or to havs fallen OUT
ward into the streets What an inconoeiv-
able tansle OF detritus those streets must
bol
And. do you notice the park hardly
shows at all7 EverythinE'a so overgrown
with trees you can't tell whore Il begins
or ends. Nature has her revenge at last.
Tho universal claim. made reai.- saia
Beatrice. Those rather clearer lines Of
green, suppose, must be the larger streeta
SOC now the avenues stretch away and
away. like ribbons OF green velvet
Everywhere that roots can hold at
all, Mother Nature has set up her dara
again. Harkl what's thRt7"
moment they listened intentfy. Up to
them, from very far. rose a wailinE cry,
tremulous. long-drawn, formidable
oh Then there arc people, after air.
faitered the girl. EraspinE stern's arm.
He laughed.
mo hardlyi" answered he. aT see YOU
don't know the woIf-cry. didn't til
heard IT in tho Hudson Bay country last
winter-that is last winter, plus x Not
very pleasant, is it7r'
wolves Then-there arc
Why not7 Probably all sorts of game
be7 All in Mother Natures stoclS-in-trads,
you know.
But come. come, don't let that worry
you. Wero safe, for the present Time
enough to consider hunting later. Let's
creep around here to the other side of the
tower and see what we can see."
Silently she acqulesced. Together they
reached the southern part OF the platform
making their way as far as the jumbled
rocks Of the fallen railing would permit.
Very carefully they progressed, fearfun
every moment lest tho support break be-
meath them and hurl them down along the
slopinB side of tho pinnacle to death
"Lookw bade Stern. pointing. s-rhat
very long green limo there used to be Broad
way. Quite respectable Forest OF Arden
W. Isn't it2 Ia ant IL haa
ward.
See those steel cages, those tiny, far-ofr
ones with daylight shining throuEhf You
know them-the Park Row, the Singer the
Woolworth and all tho rest And the
bridges. look Mt thosew -
She shivered at the desolats sight. or
the Brooklyn Bridge only the towers were
visible.
The watchers. two isolated castAwayn on
their island in the sea OF uttermost desola-
tion. beheld dragging mass OF wreclkaga
that drooped from these towers on either
shore, down TO tho sparkling Hood
The other bridges, newer and stronger
far still remained standing. But even from
that distance Stern could quite plainly see
without the telescope, that tho Williams
burg Bridge had 'buckled" downward and
that the farther span of the Blackweli's
Island Bridge was In ruinous dlsrepair.
How horrible, how chastity Is all this
waste and ruin" thought the engineer.
leI, cNcn III AnotF overthrow, now wonder
ful are the works OF man I"
vast wonder seized him as he stood
there gazing: fierce desire to rehabiiitafa
all this wreckage. TO set II right TO start
tho wheels Of tho world-machinery running
once more
a bitter smile curled his lips.
Beatrice seemed to share something Of HIS
wonder.
Can It be possible" whispered aha, ..Ehat
you and-and I-Rre really like Macaulny'z
lone watcher of tho world-wreok on London
Bridge?
THAT we arc actually seeing the thing
so often dreamed OF by prophets and pootaf
That All this mighty heart Is lying stiIl.'
at ast-forever2 The heart OF the world.
never TO beat again7"
He made no answer. save to shake his
head; but fast his thoughts were running.
SO then. could he and Beatrice, Just they
two. be in stern reality the sole survivors
Of the entire human race? That race for
whose material welfare he had. once on =
time, done such tremendous work.
Could they be destined, he and she 70
witness the closing chapter in the long.
painful glorious Book OF EvolutionS
Slightly he shlvered and glanced around.
Till he could adjust his reason TO the
facts, could learn the truth and weigh Il
he felt he must try not TO think. For that
way lay madness
Far out she gazed.
The sun. declining. shot broad glory
all across the sky. Purple and gold and
crimson lay the light bands over the breast
Df the Hudson.
Dark blue the shadows streamed across
the ruined city with It's orowding forests.
lis blank staring windows and saggina
walls It's thousands OF gaping vacancies
where wood and stone and brick had erum-
oled down--the city where once the tides
n human life had ebbed and lowed, roar
ing reslstlessly.
High overhead drifted few rosy clouds.
part OF that changeleHs nature which alone
did not Fepel or mystify these two be-
leaguered waits, these chance survivors,
this man. this woman. left alone tozetheF
by the hand OF fate
They were dazed. fascinated b. the
yplendoF OF that sunset over A world
devoid OF human life. for the moment giving
up all efforts 10 Judge or understand
Stern and hfs mate peered closer, doua
at the interviewer tunEles OF Union square.
the leafy frond-masses that marked the
one-time course OF TWenty-third street, the
forest In Madison Square, ana the trun=
90 a.rIsa