CHAPTER XII
THE DIVINE DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM THE GREAT GIVE A BENEFITFOR THE CANINE GARDENS AND PAY TRIBUTE TO THE PIGGERIES
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The strike that I had feared would be the beginning of a bloodyrevolution had ended with an actor shouting into a horn and the shadowof an Emperor waving his arms. But meanwhile Capt. Grauble, on whom Istaked my hopes of escape from Berlin, had departed to the Arctic andwould not return for many months. That he would return I firmlybelieved; statistically the chances were in his favour as this was hisfourth trip, and hope was backing the favourable odds of the law ofchance.
So I set myself to prepare for that event. My faith was strong thatGrauble could be won over to the cause of saving the Germans bybetraying Germany. I did not even consider searching for another man,for Grauble was that one rare man in thousands who is rebellious andfearless by nature, a type of which the world makes heroes when theircause wins and traitors when it fails--a type that Germany had all buteliminated from the breed of men.
But, if I were to escape to the outer world through Grauble'sconnivance, there was still the problem of getting permission to boardthe submarine, ostensibly to go to the Arctic mines. Even in my exaltedposition as head of the protium works I could not learn where thesubmarine docks or the passage to them was located. But I did learnenough to know that the way was impenetrable without authoritativepermission, and that thoughts of escape as a stowaway were not worthconsidering. I also learned that Admiral von Kufner had sole authorityto grant permission to make the Arctic trip.
The Admiral had promptly turned down my first proposal to go to theArctic ore fields, and had by his pompous manner rebuffed the attempts Imade to cultivate his friendship through official interviews. Itherefore decided to call on Marguerite and the Countess Luise to seewhat chance there was to get a closer approach to the man through socialavenues. The Countess was very obliging in the matter, but she warned mewith lifted finger that the Admiral was a gay bachelor and a worshipperof feminine charms, and that I might rue the day I suggested his beinginvited into the admiring circle that revolved about Marguerite. But Ilaughingly disclaimed any fears on that score and von Kufner was biddento the next ball given by the Countess.
Marguerite was particularly gracious to the Admiral and speedily led himinto the inner circle that gathered informally in the salon of theCountess Luise. I made it a point to absent myself on some of theseoccasions, for I did not want the Admiral to guess the purpose that laybehind this ensnaring of him into our group.
And yet I saw much of Marguerite, for I spent most of my leisure in thesociety of the Royal Level, where thought, if shallow, was comparativelyfree. I took particular pleasure in watching the growth of Marguerite'smind, as the purely intellectual conceptions she had acquired from Dr.Zimmern and his collection of books adjusted itself to the absurdrealities of the celestial society of the descendants of Williamthe Great.
It may be that charity is instinctive in the heart of a good woman, orperhaps it was because she had read the Christian Bible; but whateverthe origin of the impulse, Marguerite was charitably inclined and wishedto make personal sacrifice for the benefit of other beings less wellsituated than herself. While she was still a resident of the Free Levelshe had talked to me of this feeling and of her desire to help others.But the giving of money or valuables by one woman to another wasstrictly forbidden, and Marguerite had not at the time possessed morethan she needed for her own subsistence. But now that she was relativelywell off, this charitable feeling struggled to find expression. Hencewhen she had learned of the Royal Charity Society she had straightwaybegged the Countess to present her name for membership, without stoppingto examine into the detail of the Society's activities.
The Society was at that time preparing to hold a bazaar and sent outcalls for contributions of cast off clothing and ornaments. Margueriteas yet possessed no clothes or jewelry of Royal quality except theminimum which the demands of her position made necessary; and so shetimidly asked the Countess if her clothing which she had worn on theFree Level would suffice as gifts of charity. The Countess had assuredher that it would do nicely as the destination of all the clothingcontributed was for the women of the Free Level. Thinking that anopportunity had at last arisen for her to express her compassion for theill-favoured girls of her own former level, Marguerite hastened tobundle up such presentable gowns as she had and sent them to the bazaarby her maid.
Later she had attended the meeting of the society when the net resultsof the collections were announced. To her dismay she found that theclothing contributed had been sold for the best price it would bring tothe women of the Free Level and that the purpose of the sacrifices, ofthat which was useless to the possessors but valuable to others, was thedefraying of the expense of extending the romping grounds for the dogsof the charitably maintained canine garden.
Marguerite was vigorously debating the philosophy of charity with theyoung Count Rudolph that evening when I called. She was maintaining thathuman beings and not animals should be the recipients of charity and theyoung Count was expounding to her the doctrine of the evil effects ofcharity upon the recipient.
"Moreover," explained Count Rudolph, "there are no humans in Berlin thatneed charity, since every class of our efficiently organized Statereceives exactly what it should receive and hence is in need of nothing.Charity is permissible only when poverty exists."
"But there is poverty on the Free Level," maintained Marguerite; "manyof the ill-favoured girls suffer from hunger and want better clothesthan they can buy."
"That may be," said the Count, "but to permit them gifts of charitywould be destructive of their pride; moreover, there are few women onthe Royal Level who would give for such a purpose."
"But surely," said Marguerite, "there must be somewhere in the city,other women or children or even men to whom the proceeds of these giftswould mean more than it does to dogs."
"If any group needed anything the state would provide it," repeated theCount.
"Then why," protested Marguerite, "cannot the state provide also for thedogs, or if food and space be lacking why are these dogs allowed tobreed and multiply?"
"Because it would be cruel to suppress their instincts."
Marguerite was puzzled by this answer, but with my more rational mind Isaw a flaw in the logic of this statement. "But that is absurd," I said,"for if their number were not checked in some fashion, in a few decadesthe dogs would overswarm the city."
It was now the Count's turn to look puzzled. "You have inferred anembarrassing question," he stated, "one, in fact, that ought not to beanswered in the presence of a lady, but since the Princess Margueritedoes not seem to be a lover of dogs, I will risk the explanation. TheMedical Level requires dogs for purposes of scientific research. Sincethe women are rarely good mathematicians, it is easily possible in thismanner to keep down the population of the Canine Garden."
"But the dogs required for research," I suggested, "could easily be bredin kennels maintained for that purpose."
"So they could," said the Count, "but the present plan serves a doublepurpose. It provides the doctors with scalpel practise and it alsoamuses the women of the Royal House who are very much in need ofamusement since we men are all so dull."
"Woman's love," continued Rudolph, waxing eloquent, "should have fullfreedom for unfoldment. If it be forcibly confined to her husband andchildren it might burst its bounds and express too great an interest inother humans. The dogs act as a sort of safety valve for this instinctof charity."
The facetious young Count saw from Marguerite's horror-stricken facethat he was making a marked impression and he recklessly continued: "Thekeepers at the Canine Gardens understand this perfectly. When fundsbegin to run low they put the dogs in the outside pens on short rations,and the brutes do their own begging; then we have another bazaar andeverybody is happy. It is a good system and I would advise you not tocriticize it since the institution is classic. Other schemes have beentried; at one time women were
permitted to knit socks for soldiers--wealways put that in historical pictures--but the socks had to be meltedup again as felted fibre is much more durable; and then, after the womenwere forbidden to see the soldiers, they lost interest. But the dogcharity is a proven institution and we should never try to changeanything that women do not want changed since they are the conservativebulwark of society and our best protection against the danger ofthe untried."
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Blocked in her effort to relieve human poverty by the discovery that itsexistence was not recognized, Marguerite's next adventure in doing goodin the world was to take up the battle against ignorance by contributingto the School for the Education of Servants.
The Servant problem in Berlin, and particularly on the Royal Level, hadbeen solved so far as male servants were concerned, for these were awell recognized strain eugenically bred as a division of theintellectual caste. I had once taken Dr. Zimmern to task on thisclassification of the servant as an intellectual.
"The servant is not intellectual creatively," the Eugenist replied, "yetit would never do to class him as Labour since he produces nothing.Moreover, the servant's mind reveals the most specialized development ofthe most highly prized of all German intellectual characteristics--obedience.
"It might interest you to know," continued Zimmern, "that we use thisservant strain in outcrossing with other strains when they show atendency to decline in the virtue of obedience. If I had not chosen toexempt you from paternity when your rebellious instincts were reportedto me, and the matter had been turned over to our Remating Board theymight have reassigned you to mothers of the servant class. This practiceof out-crossing, though rare, is occasionally essential in allscientific breeding."
"Then do you mean," I asked in amazement, "that the highest intellectualstrains have servant blood in them?"
"Certainly. And why not, since obedience is the crowning glory of theGerman mind? Even Royal blood has a dash of the servant strain."
"You mean, I suppose, from illegitimate children?"
"Not at all; that sort of illegitimacy is not recognized. I mean fromthe admission of servants into Royal Society, just as you have beenadmitted."
"Impossible!"
"And why impossible, since obedience is our supreme racial virtue? Goconsult your social register. The present Emperor, I believe, hasadmitted none, but his father admitted several and gave them princelyincomes. They married well and their children are respected, though Iunderstand they are not very much invited out for the reason that theyare poor conversationalists. They only speak when spoken to and thenanswer, 'Ja, Mein Herr.' I hear they are very miserable; since no onecommands them they must be very bored with life, as they are unable tothink of anything to do to amuse themselves. In time the trait will bemodified, of course, since the Royal blood will soon predominate, andthe strongest inherent trait of Royalty is to seek amusement."
This specialized class of men servants needed little education, for, asI took more interest in observing after this talk with Zimmern, theywere the most perfectly fitted to their function of any class in Berlin.But there was also a much more numerous class of women servants on theRoyal Level. These, as a matter of economy, were not specially bred tothe office, but were selected from the mothers who had been rejected forfurther maternity after the birth of one or two children. Be it said tothe credit of the Germans that no women who had once borne a child wasever permitted to take up the profession of Delilah--a statement whichunfortunately cannot be made of the rest of the world. These motherstogether with those who had passed the child bearing age more thansupplied the need for nurses on the maternity levels and teachers ingirls' schools.
As a result they swarmed the Royal Level in all capacities of servicefor which women are fitted. Originally educated for maternity they hadto be re-educated for service. Not satisfied with the official educationprovided by the masculine-ordered state, the women of the Royal Levelmaintained a continuation school in the fine art of obedience and thekindred virtues of the perfect servant.
So again it was that Marguerite became involved in a movement that in nowise expressed the needs of her spirit, and from which shespeedily withdrew.
The next time she came to me for advice. "I want to do something," shecried. "I want to be of some use in the world. You saved me from thatawful life--for you know what it would have been for me if Dr. Zimmernhad died or his disloyalty had been discovered--and you have brought mehere where I have riches and position but am useless. I tried to becharitable, to relieve poverty, but they say there is no poverty to berelieved. I tried to relieve ignorance, but they will not allow thateither. What else is there that needs to be relieved? Is there no goodI can do?"
"Your problem is not a new one," I replied, thinking of the world-oldexperience of the good women yoked to idleness by wealth and position."You have tried to relieve poverty and ignorance and find your effortsfutile. There is one thing more I believe that is considered a classicremedy for your trouble. You can devote yourself to the elimination ofugliness, to the increase of beauty. Is there no organization devoted tothat work?"
"There is," returned Marguerite, "and I was about to join it, but Ithought this time I had better ask advice. There is the League toBeautify Berlin."
"Then by all means join," I advised. "It is the safest of all suchefforts, for though poverty may not exist and ignorance may not berelieved, yet surely Berlin can be more beautiful. But of course yourefforts must be confined to the Royal Level as you do not see the restof the city."
So Marguerite joined the League to Beautify Berlin and I became anauxiliary member much appreciated because of my liberal contributions.It proved an excellent source of amusement. The League met weekly anddiscussed the impersonal aspects of the beauty of the level in openmeetings, while a secret complaint box was maintained into which allwere invited to deposit criticisms of more personal matters. It wasforbidden even in this manner to criticize irremedial ugliness such asthe matter of one's personal form or features, but dress and mannerscame within the permitted range and the complaints were regularly mailedto the offenders. This surprised me a little as I would have thoughtthat such a practice would have made the League unpopular, but on thecontrary, it was considered the mainstay of the organization, for therecipient of the complaint, if a non-member, very often joined theLeague immediately, hoping thereby to gain sweet revenge.
But aside from this safety valve for the desire to make personalcriticism, the League was a very creditable institution and it was therethat we met the great critics to whose untiring efforts the raredevelopment of German art was due.
Cut off from the opportunity to appropriate by purchase or capture theworks of other peoples, German art had suffered a severe decline in thefirst few generations of the isolation, but in time they had developedan art of their own. A great abundance of cast statues of white crystaladorned the plazas and gardens and, being unexposed to dust or rain,they preserved their pristine freshness so that it appeared they had allbeen made the day before. Mural paintings also flourished abundantly andin some sections the endless facade of the apartments was acontinuous pageant.
But it was in landscape gardening that German art had made its mostwonderful advancement. Having small opportunity for true architecturebecause of the narrow engineering limitations of the city'sconstruction, talent for architecture had been turned to landscapegardening. I use the term advisedly for the very absence of naturallandscape within a roofed-in city had resulted in greater development ofthe artificial product.
The earlier efforts, few of which remained unaltered, were more inclinedtoward imitation of Nature as it exists in the world of sun and rocksand rain. But, as the original models were forgotten and new generationsof gardeners arose, new sorts of nature were created. Artificial rocks,artificial soil, artificially bred and cultured plants, were combined innew designs, unrealistic it is true, but still a very wonderfuldevelopment of what might be called synthetic or romantic nature. Thewater alone was real and even in some
cases that was altered as in thebeautifully dyed rivulets and in the truly remarkable "Fountain ofBlood," dedicated to one of the sons of William the Great--I haveforgotten his name--in honour of his attack upon Verdun in the FirstWorld War.
In these wondrous gardens, with the Princess Marguerite strolling by myside, I spent the happiest hours of my sojourn in Berlin. But my joy wastangled with a thread of sadness for the more I gazed upon thissynthetic nature of German creation the more I hungered to tell her of,and to take her to see, the real Nature of the outside world--uponwhich, in my opinion, with all due respect to their achievements, theGermans had not been able to improve.
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While the women of the Royal House were not permitted of their ownvolition to stray from the Royal Level, excursions were occasionallyarranged, with proper permits and guards. These were social events ofconsequence and the invitations were highly prized. Noteworthy amongthem was an excursion to the highest levels of the city and to theroof itself.
The affair was planned by Admiral von Kufner in Marguerite's honour;for, having spent her childhood elsewhere, she had never experienced thewonder of this roof excursion so highly prized by Royalty, and for everforbidden to all other women and to all but a few men of the teemingmillions who swarmed like larvae in this vast concrete cheese.
The formal invitations set no hour for the excursion as it wasunderstood that the exact time depended upon weather conditions of whichwe would later be notified. When this notice came the hour set was inthe conventional evening of the Royal Level, but corresponding to aboutthree A.M. by solar time. The party gathered at the suite of theCountess Luise and numbered some forty people, for whom a half dozenguides were provided in the form of officers of the Roof Guard. Thejourney to our romantic destination took us up some hundred metres in anelevator, a trip which required but two minutes, but would lead to aworld as different as Mount Olympus from Erebus.
But we did not go directly to the roof, for the hour preferred for thatvisit had not yet arrived and our first stop was at the swine levels,which had so aroused my curiosity and strained belief when I had firstdiscovered their existence from the chart of my atlas.
As the door of the elevator shaft slid open, a vast squealing andgrunting assaulted our ears. The hours of the swine, like those of theirmasters, were not reckoned by either solar or sidereal time, but hadbeen altered, as experiment had demonstrated, to a more efficient cycle.The time of our trip was chosen so that we might have this earthly musicof the feeding time as a fitting prelude to the visioning of thesilent heavens.
On the visitors' gangway we walked just above the reach of the jostlingbristly backs, and our own heads all but grazed the low ceiling of thelevel. To economize power the lights were dim. Despite the masterfulachievement of German cleanliness and sanitation there was a permeatingodour, a mingling of natural and synthetic smells, which added to thegloom of semi-darkness and the pandemonium of swinish sound produced atotality of infernal effect that thwarts description.
But relief was on the way for the automatic feed conveyors were rapidlymoving across our section. First we heard a diminution of sound from onedirection, then a hasty scuffling and a happy grunting beneath us and,as the conveyors moved swiftly on, the squealing receded into thedistance like the dying roar of a retreating storm.
The Chief Swineherd, immaculately dressed and wearing his full quota ofdecorations and medals, honoured us with his personal presence. With theexcusable pride that every worthy man takes in his work, he expoundedthe scientific achievements and economic efficiency of the swinish worldover which he reigned. The men of the party listened with respect to hisexplanations of the accomplishments of sanitation and of the economy ofthe cycle of chemical transformation by which these swine weremaintained without decreasing the capacity of the city for humansupport. Lastly the Swineherd spoke of the protection that the swinelevels provided against the effects of an occasional penetrating bombthat chanced to fall in the crater of its predecessor before the damagecould be repaired.
Pursuant to this fact the uppermost swine level housed those unfortunateanimals that were nearest the sausage stage. On the next lower level, towhich we now descended by a spiral stair through a ventilating opening,were brutes of less advanced ages. On the lowest of the three levelswhere special lights were available for our benefit even the womenceased to shudder and gave expression to ecstatic cries of rapture, asall the world has ever done when seeing baby beasts pawing contentedlyat maternal founts.
"Is it not all wonderful?" effused Admiral von Kufner, with a sweepinggesture; "so efficient, so sanitary, so automatic, such a fine exampleof obedience to system and order. This is what I call real science andbeauty; one might almost say Germanic beauty."
"But I do not like it," replied Marguerite with her usual candour. "Iwish they would abolish these horrid levels."
"But surely," said the Countess, "you would not wish to condemn us to adiet of total mineralism?"
"But the Herr Chemist here could surely invent for us a syntheticsausage," remarked Count Rudolph. "I have eaten vegetarian kraut made ofreal cabbage from the Botanical Garden, but it was inferior to thesynthetic article."
"Do not make light, young people," spoke up the most venerable member ofour party, the eminent Herr Dr. von Brausmorganwetter, the historianlaureate of the House of Hohenzollern. "It is not as a producer ofsausages alone that we Germans are indebted to this worthy animal. I amnow engaged in writing a book upon the influence of the swine uponGerman Kultur. In the first part I shall treat of the Semitic question.The Jews were very troublesome among us in the days before theisolation. They were a conceited race. As capitalists, they amassedfortunes; as socialists they stirred up rebellion; they objected to war;they would never have submitted to eugenics; they even insisted that weGermans had stolen their God!
"We tried many schemes to be rid of these troublesome people, and allfailed. Therefore I say that Germany owes a great debt to the nobleanimal who rid us of the disturbing presence of the Jews, for when porkwas made compulsory in the diet they fled the country of theirown accord.
"In the second part of my book I shall tell the story of the founding ofthe New Berlin, for our noble city was modelled on the fortifiedpiggeries of the private estates of William III. In those days of theopen war the enemy bombed the stock farms. Synthetic foods were as yetimperfectly developed. Protein was at a premium; the emperor did notlike fish, so he built a vast concrete structure with a roof heavilyarmoured with sand that he might preserve his swine from the murderousattacks of the enemy planes.
"It was during the retreat from Peking. The German armies were beingcrowded back on every side. The Ray had been invented, but William theIII knew that it could not be used to protect so vast a domain and thatGermany would be penned into narrow borders and be in danger ofextermination by aerial bombardment. In those days he went for rest andconsolation to his estates, for he took great pleasure in histhoroughbred swine. Some traitorous spy reported his move to the enemyand a bombing squadron attacked the estates. The Emperor took refuge inhis fortified piggery. And so the great vision came to him.
"I have read the exact words of this thoughts as recorded in his diarywhich is preserved in the archives of the Royal Palace: 'As are thesehappy brutes, so shall my people be. In safety from the terrors of thesky--protected from the vicissitudes of nature and the enmity of men, soshall I preserve them.'
"That was the conception of the armoured city of Berlin. But that wasnot all. For the bombardment kept up for days and the Emperor could notescape. On the fourth day came the second idea--two new ideas in lessthan a week! William III was a great thinker.
"Thus he recorded the second inspiration: 'And even as I have bred theseswine, some for bacon and some for lard, so shall the German BlondBrutes be bred the super-men, some specialized for labour and somefor brains.'
"These two ideas are the foundation of the kultur of our ImperialSocialism, the one idea to preserve us and the other to re-create us asthe supe
r-race. And both of these ideas we owe to this noble animal. Theswine should be emblazoned with the eagle upon our flag."
As the Historian finished his eulogy, I glanced surreptitiously at thefaces of his listeners, and caught a twinkle in Marguerite's eyes; butthe faces of the others were as serious as graven images.
Finally the Countess spoke: "Do I understand, then, that you considerthe swine the model of the German race?"
"Only of the lower classes," said the aged historian, "but not the Houseof Hohenzollern. We are exalted above the necessities of breeding, forwe are divine."
Eyes were now turned upon me, for I was the only one of the company notof Hohenzollern blood. Unrelieved by laughter the situation was painful.
"But," said Count Rudolph, coming to my rescue, "we also seek safety inthe fortified piggeries."
"Exactly," said the Historian; "so did our noble ancestor."
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From the piggeries, we went to the green level where, growing beneatheye-paining lights, was a matted mass of solid vegetation from whichcame those rare sprigs of green which garnished our synthetic dishes.But this was too monotonous to be interesting and we soon went above tothe Defence Level where were housed vast military and rebuildingmechanisms and stores. After our guides had shown us briefly about amongthese paraphernalia, we were conducted to one of the sloping ramps whichled through a heavily arched tunnel to the roof above.
Marguerite clung close to my arm, quivering with expectancy andexcitement, as we climbed up the sloping passage-way and felt on ourfaces the breath of the crisp air of the May night.
The sky came into vision with startling suddenness as we walked out uponthe soft sand blanket of the roof. The night was absolutely clear and myfirst impression was that every star of the heavens had miraculouslywaxed in brilliancy. The moon, in the last quarter, hung midway betweenthe zenith and the western horizon. The milky way seemed a floating bandof whitish flame. About us, in the form of a wide crescent, for we werenear the eastern edge of the city, swung the encircling band ofsearchlights, but the air was so clear that this stockade of artificiallight beams was too pale to dim the points of light in theblue-black vault.
In anticipating this visit to the roof I had supposed it would seemcommonplace to me, and had discussed it very little with Marguerite,lest I might reveal an undue lack of wonder. But now as I thrilled oncemore beneath their holy light, the miracle of unnumbered far-flungflaming suns stifled again the vanity of human conceit and I stood withsoul unbared and worshipful beneath the vista of incommensurate spacewherein the birth and death of worlds marks the unending roll of time.And at my side a silent gazing woman stood, contrite and humble and thethrill and quiver of her body filled me with a joy of wordless delight.
A blundering guide began lecturing on astronomy and pointing out withpompous gestures the constellations and planets. But Marguerite led mebeyond the sound of his voice. "It is not the time for listening totalk," she said. "I only want to see."
When the astronomer had finished his speech-making, our party movedslowly toward the East, where we could just discern the first faintlight of the coming dawn. When we reached the parapet of the easternedge of the city's roof, the stars had faded and pale pink streaked theeastern sky. The guides brought folding chairs from a nearby tunnel wayand most of the party sat down on a hillock of sand, very much as menmight seat themselves in the grandstand of a race course. But I was sointerested in what the dawn would reveal beneath the changing colours ofthe sky, that I led Marguerite to the rail of the parapet where we couldlook down into the yawning depths upon the surface of German soil.
My first vision over the parapet revealed but a mottled grey. But as thelight brightened the grey land took form, and I discerned a few scragglypatches of green between the torn masses of distorted soil.
The stars had faded now and only the pale moon remained in the bluingsky, while below the land disclosed a sad monotony of ruin and waste,utterly devoid of any constructive work of man.
Marguerite, her gaze fixed on the dawn, was beginning to complain of thelight paining her eyes, when one of the guides hurried by with an opensatchel swung from his shoulders. "Here are your glasses," he said; "putthem on at once. You must be very careful now, or you will injureyour eyes."
We accepted the darkened protecting lenses, but I found I did not needmine until the sun itself had appeared above the horizon.
"Did you see it so in your vision?" questioned Marguerite, as the firstbeams glistened on the surface of the sanded roof.
"This," I replied, "is a very ordinary sunrise with a perfectlycloudless sky. Some day, perhaps, when the gates of this prison ofBerlin are opened, we will be able to see all the sunrises of myvisions, and even more wonderful ones."
"Karl," she whispered, "how do you know of all these things? Sometimes Ibelieve you are something more than human, that you of a truth possessthe blood of divinity which the House of Hohenzollern claims."
"No," I answered; "not divinity,--just a little larger humanity, andsome day very soon I am going to tell you more of the source ofmy visions."
She looked at me through her darkened glasses. "I only know," she said,"that you are wonderful, and very different from other men."
Had we been alone on the roof of Berlin, I could not have resisted thetemptation to tell her then that stars and sun were familiar friends tome and that the devastated soil that stretched beneath us was but thewasted skeleton of a fairer earth I knew and loved. But we weresurrounded by a host of babbling sightseers and so the moment passed andI remained to Marguerite a man of mystery and a seer of visions.
The sun fully risen now, we were led to a protruding observationplatform that permitted us to view the wall of the city below. It wasmerely one vast grey wall without interruption or opening in themonotonous surface.
Amid the more troubled chaos of the ground immediately below we couldsee fragments of concrete blown from the parapet of the roof. The wallbeneath us, we were told, was only of sufficient thickness to withstandfire of the aircraft guns. The havoc that might be wrought, should thedefence mines ever be forced back and permit the walls of Berlin to comewithin range of larger field pieces, was easily imagined. But so long asthe Ray defence held, the massive fort of Berlin was quite impervious toattacks of the world forces of land and air and the stalemate of warmight continue for other centuries.
With the coming of daylight we had heard the rumbling of trucks as theroof repairing force emerged to their task. Now that our party hadbecome tired of gazing through their goggles at the sun, our guides ledus in the direction where this work was in progress. On the way wepassed a single unfilled crater, a deep pit in the flinty quartz sandthat spread a protecting blanket over the solid structure of the roof.These craters in the sand proved quite harmless except for the labourinvolved in their refilling. Further on we came to another, nowhalf-filled from a spouting pipe with ground quartz blown from someremote subterranean mine, so to keep up the wastage from windand bombing.
Again we approached the edge of the city and this time found more ofinterest, for here an addition to the city was under construction. Itwas but a single prism, not a hundred metres across, which whencompleted would add but another block to the city's area. Already theouter pillars reached the full height and supported the temporary roofthat offered at least a partial protection to the work in progressbeneath. Though I watched but a few minutes I was awed with the evidentrapidity of the building. Dimly I could see the forms below being swunginto place with a clock-like regularity and from numerous spouts greatstreams of concrete poured like flowing lava.
It is at these building sections that the bombs were aimed and herealone that any effectual damage could be done, but the target was asmall one for a plane flying above the reach of the German guns. Theofficer who guided our group explained this to us: these bombing raidswere conducted only at times of particular cloud formations, when theveil of mist hung thick and low in an even stratum above which the airwas clear. When such
formation threatened, the roof of Berlin wascleared and the expected bombs fell and spent their fury blowing up thesand. It had been a futile warfare, for the means of defence were equalto the means of offence.
Our visit to the roof of Berlin was cut short as the sun rose higher,because the women, though they had donned gloves and veils, were fearfulof sunburn. So we were led back to the covered ramp into the endlessnight of the city.
"Have we seen it all?" sighed Marguerite, as she removed her veil andglasses and gazed back blinkingly into the last light of day.
"Hardly," I said; "we have not seen a cloud, nor a drop of rain nor aflake of snow, nor a flash of lightning, nor heard a peal of thunder."
Again she looked at me with worshipful adoration. "I forget," shewhispered; "and can you vision those things also?"
But I only smiled and did not answer, for I saw Admiral von Kufnerglaring at me. I had monopolized Marguerite's company for the entireoccasion, and I was well aware that his only reason for arranging this,to him a meaningless excursion, had been in the hopes of being with her.
~5~
But Admiral von Kufner, contending fairly for that share of Marguerite'stime which she deigned to grant him, seemed to bear me no malice; and,as the months slipped by, I was gratified to find him becoming morecordial toward me. We frequently met at the informal gatherings in thesalon of the Countess Luise. More rarely Dr. Zimmern came there also,for by virtue of his office he was permitted the social rights of theRoyal Level. I surmised, however, that this privilege, in his case, hadnot included the right to marry on the level, for though the head of theEugenic Staff, he had, so far as I could learn, neither wifenor children.
But Dr. Zimmern did not seem to relish royal society, for when hechanced to be caught with me among the members of the Royal House theflow of his brilliant conversations was checked like a spring in adrought, and he usually took his departure as soon as it was seemly.
On one of these occasions Admiral von Kufner came in as Zimmern satchatting over cups and incense with Marguerite and me, and the Countessand her son. The doctor dropped quietly out of the conversation, and fora time the youthful Count Ulrich entertained us with a technicalelaboration of the importance of the love passion as the dominant appealof the picture. Then the Countess broke in with a spirited exposition ofthe relation of soul harmony to ardent passion.
Admiral von Kufner listened with ill-disguised impatience. "But all thiserotic passion," he interrupted, "will soon again be swept away by therevival of the greater race passion for world rule."
"My dear Admiral," said the Countess Luise, "your ideas of race passionare quite proper for the classes who must be denied the free play of thelove element in their psychic life, but your notion of introducing theseideas into the life of the Royal Level is wholly antiquated."
"It is you who are antiquated," returned the Admiral, "for now the dayis at hand when we shall again taste of danger. His Majesty has--"
"Of course His Majesty has told us that the day is at hand," interruptedthe Countess. "Has not His Majesty always preserved this allegoricalfable? It is part of the formal kultur."
"But His Majesty now speaks the truth," replied the Admiral gravely,"and I say to you who are so absorbed with the light passions of art andlove that we shall not only taste of danger but will fight again in thesea and air and on the ground in the outer world. We shall conquer andrule the world."
"And do you think, Admiral," inquired Marguerite, "that the Germanpeople will then be free in the outer world?"
"They will be free to rule the outer world," replied the Admiral.
"But I mean," said Marguerite calmly, "to ask if they will be free againto love and marry and rear their own children."
At this naive question the others exchanged significant glances.
"My dear child," said the Countess, blushing with embarrassment, "yourdefective training makes it extremely difficult for you to understandthese things."
"Of course it is all forbidden," spoke up the young Count, "but now, ifit were not, the Princess Marguerite's unique idea would certainly makecapital picture material."
"How clever!" cried the Countess, beaming on her intellectual son."Nothing is forbidden for plot material for the Royal Level. You shallmake a picture showing those great beasts of labour again liberated forunrestricted love."
"There is one difficulty," Count Rudolph considered. "How could we getactors for the parts? Our thoroughbred actors are all too light of bone,too delicate of motion, and our actresses bred for dainty beauty wouldhardly caste well for those great hulking round-faced labour mothers."
"Then," remarked the Admiral, "if you must make picture plays why notone of the mating of German soldiers with the women of theinferior races?"
"Wonderful!" exclaimed the plot maker; "and practical also. Ouractresses are the exact counterpart of those passionate French beauties.I often study their portraits in the old galleries. They have had noEugenics, hence they would be unchanged. Is it not so, Doctor?"
"Without Eugenics, a race changes with exceeding slowness," answeredZimmern in a voice devoid of expression. "I should say that the Frenchwomen of today would much resemble their ancestral types."
"But picturing such matings of military necessity would be verydisgusting," reprimanded the Countess.
"It will be a very necessary part of the coming day of German dominion,"stated the Admiral. "How else can we expect to rule the world? It is,indeed, part of the ordained plan."
"But how," I questioned, "is such a plan to be executed? Would the menof the World State tolerate it?"
"We will oblige them to tolerate it; the children of the next generationof the inferior races must be born of German sires."
"But the Germans are outnumbered ten to one," I replied.
"Polygamy will take care of that, among the white races; the colouredraces must be eliminated. All breeding of the coloured races must cease.That, also, is part of the ordained plan."
The conversation was getting on rather dangerous ground for me as Irealized that I dare not show too great surprise at this talk, which ofall things I had heard in Germany was the most preposterous.
But Marguerite made no effort to disguise her astonishment. "I thought,"she said, "that the German rule of the world was only a plan formilitary victory and the conquering of the World Government. I supposedthe people would be left free to live their personal lives asthey desired."
"That was the old idea," replied the Admiral, "in the days of open war,before the possibilities of eugenic science were fully realized. But theordained plan revealed to His Majesty requires not only the military andpolitical rule by the Germans, but the biologic conquest of the inferiorraces by German blood."
"I think our German system of scientific breeding is very brutal," spokeup Marguerite with an intensity of feeling quite out of keeping with thecalloused manner in which the older members of the Royal House discussedthe subject.
The Admiral turned to her with a gracious air. "My lovely maiden," hesaid, "your youth quite excuses your idealistic sentiments. You needonly to remember that you are a daughter of the House of Hohenzollern.The women of this House are privileged always to cultivate and cherishthe beautiful sentiments of romantic love and individual maternity. Theprotected seclusion of the Royal Level exists that such love may bloomuntarnished by the grosser affairs of world necessity. It was soordained."
"It was so ordained by men," replied Marguerite defiantly, "and what arethese privileges while the German women are prostituted on the FreeLevel or forced to bear children only to lose them--and while you planto enforce other women of the world into polygamous union with aconquering race?"
"My dear child," said the Countess, "you must not speak in this wildfashion. We women of the Royal House must fully realize ourprivileges--and as for the Admiral's wonderful tale of worldconquest--that is only his latest hobby. It is talked, of course, inmilitary circles, but the defensive war is so dull, you know, especiallyfor the Royal officers, that
they must have something to occupytheir minds."
"When the day arrives," snapped the Admiral, "you will find the Royalofficers leading the Germans to victory like Atilla and William theGreat himself."
"Then why," twitted the Countess, "do you not board one of yoursubmarines and go forth to battle in the sea?"
"I am not courting unnecessary danger," retorted the Admiral; "but I amnot dead to the realities of war. My apartments are directly connectedwith the roof."
"So you can hear the bomb explosions," suggested the Countess.
"And why not?" snapped the Admiral; "we must prepare for danger."
"But you have not been bred for danger," scoffed the Countess. "Perhapsyou would do well to have your reactions to fear tested out in thepsychic laboratories; if you should pass the test you might be electedas a father of soldiers; it would surely set a good example to ourimpecunious Hohenzollern bachelors for whom there are no wives."
The young Count evidently did not comprehend his mother's spirit ofraillery. "Has that not been tried?" he asked, turning towardDr. Zimmern.
"It has," stated the Eugenist, "more than a hundred years ago. There wasonce an entire regiment of such Hohenzollern soldiers in theBavarian mines."
"And how did they turn out?" I asked, my curiosity tempting me intoindiscretion.
"They mutinied and murdered their officers and then held an election--"Zimmern paused and I caught his eye which seemed to say, "We have gonetoo far with this."
"Yes, and what happened?" queried the Countess.
"They all voted for themselves as Colonel," replied the Doctor drily.
At this I looked for an outburst of indignation from the orthodoxAdmiral, but instead he seemed greatly elated. "Of course," he enthused;"the blood breeds true. It verily has the quality of true divinity. Nowonder we super-men repudiated that spineless conception of the softChristian God and the servile Jewish Jesus."
"But Jesus was not a coward," spoke up Marguerite. "I have read thestory of his life; it is very wonderful; he was a brave man, who met hisdeath unflinchingly."
"But where did you read it?" asked the Countess. "It must be very new. Itry to keep up on the late novels but I never heard of this 'Storyof Jesus.'"
"What you say is true," said the Admiral, turning to Marguerite, "butsince you like to read so well, you should get Prof. Ohlenslagger's bookand learn the explanation of the fact that you have just stated. We havelong known that all those great men whom the inferior races claim astheir geniuses are of truth of German blood, and that the fightingquality of the outer races is due to the German blood that was scatteredby our early emigrations.
"But the distinctive contribution that Prof. Ohlenslagger makes to theselong established facts is in regard to the parentage of this man Jesus.In the Jewish accounts, which the Christians accepted, the truth wascrudely covered up with a most unscientific fable, which credited thepaternity of Jesus to miraculous interference with the laws of nature.
"But now the truth comes out by Prof. Ohlenslagger's erudite reasoning.This unknown father of Jesus was an adventurer from Central Asia, a manof Teutonic blood. On no other conception can the mixed elements in thecharacter of Jesus be explained. His was the case of a dual personalityof conflicting inheritance. One day he would say: 'Lay up for yourselftreasures'--that was the Jewish blood speaking. The next day he wouldsay: 'I come to bring a sword'--that was the noble German blood of aTeutonic ancestor. It is logical, it must be true, for it was reasonedout by one of our most rational professors."
The Countess yawned; Marguerite sat silent with troubled brows; Dr.Ludwig Zimmern gazed abstractedly toward the cold electric imitation ofa fire, above which on a mantle stood two casts, diminutivereproductions of the figures beside the door of the Emperor's palace,the one the likeness of William the Great, the other the Statue of theGerman God. But I was thinking of the news I had heard that afternoonfrom my Ore Chief--that Captain Grauble's vessel had returned to Berlin.