Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century

matter ofhumanity to help him out of it by the pleasantest means possible.These views at length prevailed, and now in all the public squares orparks they have erected hand some houses, beautifully furnished, withbaths and bedrooms. If a man has decided to die, he goes there. He isfirst photographed; then his name, if he sees fit to give it, isrecorded, with his residence; and his directions are taken as to thedisposition of his body. There are tables at which he can write hisfarewell letters to his friends. A doctor explains to him the natureand effect of the different poisons, and he selects the kind heprefers. He is expected to bring with him the clothes in which heintends to be cremated. He swallows a little pill, lies down upon abed, or, if he prefers it, in his coffin; pleasant music is playedfor him; he goes to sleep, and wakes up on the other side of thegreat line. Every day hundreds of people, men and women, perish inthis way; and they are borne off to the great furnaces for the dead,and consumed. The authorities assert that it is a marked improvementover the old-fashioned methods; but to my mind it is a shockingcombination of impiety and mock-philanthropy. The truth is, that, inthis vast, over-crowded city, man is a drug,--a superfluity,--and Ithink many men and women end their lives out of an overwhelming senseof their own insignificance;--in other words, from a mere wearinessof feeling that they are nothing, they become nothing.

  I must bring this letter to an end, but before retiring I shall makea visit to the grand parlors of the hotel. You suppose I will walkthere. Not at all, my dear brother. I shall sit down in a chair;there is an electric magazine in the seat of it. I touch a spring,and away it goes. I guide it with my feet. I drive into one of thegreat elevators. I descend to the drawing-room floor. I touch thespring again, and in a few moments I am moving around the grandsalon, steering myself clear of hundreds of similar chairs, occupiedby fine-looking men or the beautiful, keen-eyed, unsympathetic womenI have described. The race has grown in power and loveliness--I fearit has lost in lovableness.

  Good-by. With love to all, I remain your affectionate brotherly

  Gabriel Weltstein.

  CHAPTER II.

  MY ADVENTURE

  My Dear Heinrich:

  I little supposed when I wrote you yesterday that twenty four hourscould so completely change my circumstances. Then I was a dweller inthe palatial Darwin Hotel, luxuriating in all its magnificence. Now Iam hiding in a strange house and trembling for my liberty;--but Iwill tell you all.

  Yesterday morning, after I had disposed by sample of our wool, andhad called upon the assayer of ores, but without finding him, to showhim the specimens of our mineral discoveries, I returned to thehotel, and there, after obtaining directions from one of the clerksat the "Bureau of Information," I took the elevated train to thegreat Central Park.

  I shall not pause to describe at length the splendors of thiswonderful place; the wild beasts roaming about among the trees,apparently at dangerous liberty, but really inclosed by fine steelwire fences, almost invisible to the eye; the great lakes full of thedifferent water fowl of the world; the air thick with birdsdistinguished for the sweetness of their song or the brightness oftheir plumage; the century-old trees, of great size and artisticallygrouped; beautiful children playing upon the greensward, accompaniedby nurses and male servants; the whole scene constituting a holidaypicture. Between the trees everywhere I saw the white and gleamingstatues of the many hundreds of great men and women who have adornedthe history of this country during the last two hundred years--poets,painters, musicians, soldiers, philanthropists, statesmen.

  After feasting my eyes for some time upon this charming picture ofrural beauty, I left the Park. Soon after I had passed through theouter gate,-guarded by sentinels to exclude the ragged and wretchedmultitude, but who at the same time gave courteous admission tostreams of splendid carriages,--I was startled by loud cries of "Lookout there!" I turned and saw a sight which made my blood run cold. Agray-haired, hump-backed beggar, clothed in rags, was crossing thestreet in front of a pair of handsome horses, attached to amagnificent open carriage. The burly, ill-looking flunkey who, cladin gorgeous livery, was holding the lines, had uttered the cry ofwarning, but at the same time had made no effort to check the rapidspeed of his powerful horses. In an instant the beggar was down underthe hoofs of the steeds. The flunkey laughed! I was but a few feetdistant on the side-walk, and, quick as thought, I had the horses bytheir heads and pushed them back upon their haunches. At this momentthe beggar, who had been under the feet of the horses, crawled outclose to the front wheels of the carriage; and the driver, indignantthat anything so contemptible should arrest the progress of hismagnificent equipage, struck him a savage blow with his whip, as hewas struggling to his feet. I saw the whip wind around his neck; and,letting go the horses' heads, who were now brought to a stand-still,I sprang forward, and as the whip descended for a second blow Icaught it, dragged it from the hand of the miscreant, and with all mypower laid it over him. Each blow where it touched his flesh broughtthe blood, and two long red gashes appeared instantaneously upon hisface. He dropped his lines and shrieked in terror, holding his handsup to protect his face. Fortunately a crowd had assembled, and somepoorly dressed men had seized the horses' heads, or there would havebeen a run-away. As I raised my hand to lash the brute again, afeminine shriek reached my ears, and I became aware that there wereladies in the open barouche. My sense of politeness overcame in aninstant my rage, and I stepped back, and, taking off my hat, began toapologize and explain the cause of the difficulty. As I did so Iobserved that the occupants of the carriage were two young ladies,both strikingly handsome, but otherwise very unlike in appearance.The one nearest me, who had uttered the shrieks, was about twentyyears of age, I should think, with aquiline features, and black eyesand hair; every detail of the face was perfect, but there was a bold,commonplace look out of the bright eyes. Her companion instantlyarrested all my attention. It seemed to me I had never beheld a morebeautiful. and striking countenance. She was younger, by two or threeyears, than her companion; her complexion was fairer; her long goldenhair fell nearly to her waist, enfolding her like a magnificent,shining garment; her eyes were blue and large and set far apart; andthere was in them, and in the whole contour of the face, a look ofhonesty and dignity, and calm intelligence, rarely witnessed in thecountenance of woman. She did not appear to be at all alarmed; andwhen I told my story of the driver lashing the aged beggar, her facelighted up, and she said, with a look that thrilled me, and in a softand gentle voice: "We are much obliged to you, sir; you did perfectlyright."

  I was about to reply, when I felt some one tugging fiercely at mycoat, and turning around, I was surprised to find that the beggar wasdrawing me away from the carriage by main force. I was astonishedalso at the change in his appearance. The aspect of decrepitude haddisappeared, a green patch that I had noticed covering one of hiseyes had fallen off, and his black eyes shone with a look of commandand power that was in marked contrast with his gray hair, his crookedback, and his rags.

  "Come," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "come quickly, or you will bearrested and cast into prison."

  "What for?" I asked.

  "I will tell you hereafter--look!"

  I looked around me and saw that a great crowd had collected as if bymagic, for this city of ten millions of people so swarms withinhabitants that the slightest excitement will assemble a multitudein a few minutes. I noticed, too, in the midst of the mob, auniformed policeman. The driver saw him also, and, recovering hiscourage, cried out, "Arrest him--arrest him." The policeman seized meby the collar. I observed that at that instant the beggar whisperedsomething in his ear: the officer's hand released its hold upon mycoat. The next moment the beggar cried out, "Back! Back! Look out!Dynamite!" The crowd crushed back on each other in great confusion;and I felt the beggar dragging me off, repeating his cry ofwarning--"Dynamite! Dynamite!"--at every step, until the mobscattered in wild confusion, and I found myself breathless in a smallalley. "Come, come," cried my companion, "there is no time
to lose.Hurry, hurry!" We rushed along, for the manner of the beggar inspiredme with a terror I could not explain, until, after passing throughseveral back streets and small alleys, with which the beggar seemedperfectly familiar, we emerged on a large street and soon took acorner elevator up to one of the railroads in the air which I havedescribed. After traveling for two or three miles we exchanged toanother train, and from that to still another, threading our waybackward and forward over the top of the great city. At length, as ifthe beggar thought we had gone far enough to baffle pursuit, wedescended upon a bustling business street, and paused at a corner;and the beggar appeared to be looking out for a hack. He permitted adozen to pass us, however, carefully inspecting the driver of each.At last he hailed one, and we took our seats. He gave some whispereddirections to the driver, and we dashed off.

  "Throw that out of the