CHAPTER XX
DISASTER!
That evening, the evening of the same day, Allan presented theman-child to his assembled Folk.
Eager, silent, awed, the white barbarians gathered on the terrace, allup and down the slope of it, before the door of their Kromno's house,waiting to behold the son of him they all obeyed, of him who was theirlaw.
Allan took the child and bore it to the doorway; and in the presenceof all he held it up, and in the yellow moonlight dedicated it totheir service and the service of the world.
"Listen, O folk of the Merucaans!" he cried. "I show you and I giveyou, now, into your keeping and protection forever, this first-bornchild of ours!
"This is the first American, the first of the ancient race that oncewas, the same race whence you, too, have descended, to be born in theupper world! His name shall be my name--Allan. To him shall be taughtall good and useful things of body and of mind. He shall be yourmaster, but more than master; he shall be your friend, your teacher,your strength, your guide in the days yet to come! To you his life isgiven. Not for himself shall he live, not for power or oppression, butfor service in the good of all!
"To you and your children is he given, to those who shall come after,to the new and better time. When we, his parents, and when you, too,shall all be gone from here, this man-child shall carry on the workwith your descendants. His race shall be your race, his love and careall for your welfare, his every thought and labor for the common good!
"Thus do I consecrate and give him to you, O my Folk! And from thishour of his naming I give you, too, a name. No longer shall you be_Merucaans_, but now _Americans_ again. The ancient name shall liveonce more. He, an American, salutes you, Americans! You are his elderbrothers, and between you the bond shall never loosen till the end.
"I have spoken unto you. This is the Law!"
In silence they received it, in silence made obeisance; and, as Allanonce more carried the child back to its mother, silently they alldeparted to their homes and labors.
From that moment Allan believed his rule established now by strongerbonds of love than any force could be. And through all theintoxication of success and consummated power he felt a love forBeatrice, who had rendered all this possible, such as no human wordscould ever say.
Allan, Junior, grew lustily, waxed strong, andfilled the colony with joy. A new spirit pervaded Settlement Cliffs.The vital fact of new life born there, an augury of strength andincrease and world-dominance once more, cemented all the social bonds.
An esprit de corps, an admirable and powerful cooperative sensedeveloped, and the work of reconstruction, of learning, of progresswent on more rapidly than ever.
Beatrice, seated at the door of Cliff Villa with the child upon herknee, made a veritable heart and center for all thought and labor. Sheand Allan, Junior, became objects almost of worship for the simpleFolk.
It was heart-touching to see the eager interest, the love andveneration of the people, the hesitant yet fascinated way in whichthey contemplated this strange boy, blue-eyed and with yellow hairbeginning to grow already; this, the first child they had ever seen toshow them what the children of their one-time ancestors had been.
The hunters, now growing very expert in the use of firearms, fairlyoverloaded the larder of the villa with rare game-birds and venison.The fishers outdid themselves to catch choice fish for their master'sfamily. And every morning fruits and flowers were piled at the doorwayfor their rulers' pleasure.
Even then, when so much still remained to do, it seemed as though theGolden Age of Allan's dreams already was beginning to take form. Thesewere by far the happiest days Beta and he had ever lived. Love, work,hopes and plans filled their waking hours.
Put far away were all discouragements and fears. All dangers seemedforever to have vanished. Even the portent of the signal-fires, fromtime to time seen on the northern or eastern horizons, were ignored.And for a while all was peace and joy.
How little they foresaw the future; how little realized the terrible,the inevitable events now already closing down about them!
Allan made no further trips into the Abyss for about two months and ahalf. Before bringing any more of the people to the surface, hepreferred to put all things in readiness for their reception.
He now had a working force of fifty-four men and twelve women.Including his own son, there were some seven children at SettlementCliffs. The labor of civilization waxed apace.
With large plans in view, he dammed the rapids and set up a small milland power-plant, the precursor of a far larger one in the future.Various short flights to the ruins of neighboring towns put him inpossession, bit by bit, of machinery which he could adapt into needfulforms.
In a year or two he knew he would have to clear land and makepreparations for agriculture. A grist-mill would soon be essential. Hecould not always depend upon the woods and streams for food for thecolony.
There must be cultivation of fruits and grains; the taming of wildfowl, cattle, horses, sheep and goats--but no swine; and a regularevolution up through the stages again by which the society of the pasthad reached its climax.
And to his ears the whirring of his turbine as the waters of New HopeRiver swirled through the penstocks, the spinning of the wheels, theslapping of the deerskin belting, made music only second to the voicesof Beatrice and his son.
Allan brought piecemeal and fitted up a small dynamo from someextensive ruins to southeastward. He brought wiring and several stillintact incandescent lights. Before long Cliff Villa shone resplendent,to the awe and marvel of the Folk.
But Allan made no mystery of it. He explained it all to Zangamon,Bremilu and H'yemba, the smith; and when they seemed to understand,bade them tell the rest.
Thus every day some new improvement was installed, or some freshknowledge spread among the colonists.
June had drawn on again, and the hot weather had become oppressive,before Allan thought once more of still further trips into the Abyss.Beatrice tried to dissuade him. Her heart shrank from furtherseparation, risk and fear.
"Listen, dearest," she entreated as they sat by young Allan's bedside,one sultry, breathless night. "I think you've risked enough; really Ido. You've got a boy now to keep you here, even if I can't! Pleasedon't go! Follow out the plan you spoke to me about yesterday, butdon't go yourself!"
"The plan?"
"Yes, _you_ know. Your idea of training three or four of the mostintelligent men to fly, and perhaps building one or two moreplanes--that is, establishing a regular service to and from the Abyss.That would be so much wiser, Allan! Think how deadly imprudent it isfor you, you personally, to take this risk every time! Why, ifanything should happen--"
"But it won't! It can't!"
"--What would become of the colony? We haven't got anything likeenough of a start to go ahead with, lacking you! I speak now withoutsentiment or foolish, womanly fears, but just on a common-sense,practical basis. Viewed at that angle, ought you to take the riskagain?"
"There's no time now, darling, to build more planes! No time to teachflying! We've got to recruit the colony as fast as possible, in caseof emergencies. Why, I haven't made a trip since--since God knowswhen! It's time I was off now!"
"Allan!"
"Well?"
"Suppose you _never_ went again? With the population we now have, andthe natural increase, wouldn't civilization reestablish itself intime?"
"Undoubtedly. But think how long it would take! Every additionalperson imported puts us ahead tremendously. I may never be able tobring all the Folk, all the Lanskaarn, and those other mysteriousyellow-haired people they talk about from beyond the Great Vortex. ButI can do my share, anyhow. Our boy here may have to complete theprocess. It may take a lifetime to accomplish the rescue, but it mustbe done!"
"So you're determined to go again?"
"I am! I must!"
She seized his hand imploringly.
"And leave us? Leave your boy? Leave _me?_"
"Only to return soon, darling!
Very soon!"
"But after this one trip, will you promise to train somebody else togo in your place?"
"I'll see, dearest!"
"No, no! Not that! Promise!"
She had drawn his head down, and now her face close to his, wastrembling in her eagerness.
"Promise! Promise me, Allan! You must!"
Suddenly moved by her entreaty, he yielded.
"I promise, Beta!" he exclaimed. "Gad, I didn't know you were sodeadly afraid of my little expeditions! If I'd understood, I mighthave been arranging otherwise already. But I certainly will changematters when I get back. Only let me go once more, darling--that'll bethe last time, I swear it to you!"
She gave a great sigh of relief unspeakable and kept silence. But inher eyes he saw the shine of sudden tears.
Allan had been gone more than four days and ahalf before Beatrice allowed herself to realize or to acknowledge thesick terror that for some hours had been growing in her soul.
His usual time of return had hitherto been just a little over threedays. Sometimes, with favorable winds to the brink of the Abyss, andunusually strong rising currents of vapors from the sunken sea--fromthe Vortex, perhaps?--he had been able to make the round trip in sixtyhours.
But now over a hundred and eight hours had lagged by since Beatrice,carrying the boy, had accompanied him up the steep path to the hangarin the palisaded clearing.
How light-hearted, confident, strong he had been, filled with greatdreams and hopes and visions! No thought of peril, accident, orpossible failure had clouded his mind.
She recalled his farewell kiss given to the child and to herself, hiscareful inspection of the machine, his short and vigorous orders, andthe supreme skill with which he had leaped aloft upon its back andgone whirring up the sky till distance far to the northwestward hadswallowed him.
And since that hour no sign of return. No speck against the blue. Nowelcome chatter of the engine far aloft, no hum of huge blades beatingthe summer air! Nothing!
Nothing save ever-growing fear and anguish, vain hopes, fruitlesspeerings toward the dim horizon, agonizing expectations alwaysfrustrated, a vast and swiftly growing terror.
Beatrice cringed from her own thoughts. She dared not face the truth.
For that way, she felt instinctively, lay madness.