San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-18

I had lived through some very
rapid days, studying all the details
Of this remarkable venture, in which
everything marvellous had been
gathered by the frozen intelligence
Of its master. If / had managed to
get all over and through my i'm
mense aerial prison, ! had not yet
been able to secure the least hint
that could illuminate the person
atty Of him whom all called Ex-
cellency, Master, Your Honor.
Avery still was the mysterious, ter
rifying man who had some great
secret purpose behind all this in
gcnious device. Who was he?
What did he want to do? could
imagine, that was all. Appearing
to share our life, he still lived
apart in that building which
had discovered only to be led to
prison. That beautiful creature
seen for a second from the top OF
the wall haunted my dreams, wax
ing and sleeping but had not
dared to risk going into that dis
trict where she lived, possibly
prisoner like myself, in the very
gorgeous home, and garden which
was nevertheless a prison. had
no way in which l could find that
wonderful garden in which l had
seen the beautiful blonde fairy
with her white fur. I could not
help thinking that this young
girl was the cause of the gigantic
enterprise made real here by
Avery. 1t pleased me to associate
that little figure with that massive
structure which made night fall
upon the land where it cast its aw-
full shade. But after that all was
guess-work. In person and aims
the King Of Gems remained for
me the mysterious, impassive,
tightly closed being that he still
was at the moment when he was
listening to Hartwig tell his story
about concentrated foods. The
doctor was silent, and Avery pass
ing his hand twice over his fore
head, murmured with a preoccu-
sN-f- air: DOUBTLESS our provis-
ions are enormous, but those pills
Of Rassmuss may become indispen-
sable to u.s." "Bah, do you expect
a siege?" The doctor laughed.
Avery turned towards the dining
room. "What's the matter with
him, Glubb," he asked of little
fellow, clothed like a jockey, who
came towards US, cap in hand.
"They are not satisfied" said
Club, with grin which displayed
his bad teeth and wrinkled his
eyes almost shut. "Who? Who7"
A rapid colloquy in English told
us that the peasants of the neigh
borhood, whose hostility had been
increasing for some time had pass
ed from words to deeds in attack
| ing the army of workmen when
they were engaged in uncoupling
the leather pipes through which
they brought our daily supply of
water. Despite my apparent sub
mission I could not restrain an ex-
preston of pleaure. "Eh, En-
said I, "that had to happen"
Your work shades the meadows,
covers their soil, swallows up the
water in their wells and rivers,
hides the sun. The other day your
attempts at artificial rain sprink-
led the poor crops of the peasants
and your explosions of dynamite
/ for digging new wells killed some
children coming from the Mont
)PsrT school. There is your har-
vest; you did not foresee this. The
voice of the people, there is moth
| ing like it to fight wealth, not even
science. A blasting look from
Avery interrupted me. He SEEM
ed TRANSPORTED; from impassive
| his attitude became aggressive, his
tall, thin figure braced itself as if
for a leap. "Foolishness," cried
he in a voice of thunder" is pow
erless against the real, force of an
Intelligent determination. These
revolts of the people are as old as
the world, but they are not un-
|conquerable. Do you think that
the Pharaohs who build the pyra-
mids allowed themselves to be
stopped by the railing of an i'm
beetle mob?" We followed him ST.
lently, quite surprised by the vio-
lence of one so habitually cool and
|imperious.
In a few minutes we were in the
|center of the new city which now |