Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century

by Ignatius Donnelly

unhurt, although the horse waskilled by the prodigious fall.

  "Now, let us apply this teaching of history. I propose that afterthis outbreak is over we shall order the construction of ten thousandmore of these air-vessels, and this will furnish us an excuse forsending a large force of apprentices to the present command to learnthe management of the ships. We will select from the circle of ourrelatives some young, able, reliable man to command these new troops.We will then seize upon the magazine of bombs and arrest the officersand men. We will charge them with treason. The officers we willexecute, and the men we will send to prison for life; for it wouldnot be safe, with their dangerous knowledge, to liberate them. Afterthat we will keep the magazine of bombs and the secret of the poisonin the custody of men of our own caste, so that the troops commandingthe air-ships will never again feel that sense of power which nowpossesses them."

  These plans met with general approval.

  "But what are we to do with the coming outbreak?" asked one of thecouncilors.

  "I have thought of that, too," replied the Prince. "It is ourinterest to make it the occasion of a tremendous massacre, such asthe world has never before witnessed. There are too many people onthe earth, anyhow. In this way we will strike such terror into thehearts of the _canaille_ that they will remain submissive to ourwill, and the domination of our children, for centuries to come."

  "But how will you accomplish that?" asked one.

  "Easily enough," replied the Prince. "You know that the first stepsuch insurgents usually take is to tear up the streets of the cityand erect barricades of stones and earth and everything else they canlay their hands on. Heretofore we have tried to stop them. My adviceis that we let them alone--let them build their barricades as highand as strong as they please, and if they leave any outletsunobstructed, let our soldiers close them up in the same way. We havethen got them in a rat-trap, surrounded by barricades, and everystreet and alley outside occupied by our troops. If there are amillion in the trap, so much the better. Then let our flock of Demonssail up over them and begin to drop their fatal bombs. The wholestreets within the barricades will soon be a sea of invisible poison.If the insurgents try to fly they will find in their own barricadesthe walls of their prison-house; and if they attempt to scale themthey will be met, face to face, with our massed troops, who will beinstructed to take no prisoners. If they break into the adjacenthouses to escape, our men will follow from the back streets andgardens and bayonet them at their leisure, or fling them back intothe poison. If ten millions are slain all over the world, so much thebetter. There will be more room for what are left, and the world willsleep in peace for centuries.

  "These plans will be sent out, with your approval, to all cities, andto Europe. When the rebellion is crushed in the cities, it will nottake long to subdue it among the wretched peasants of the country,and our children will rule this world for ages to come."

  CHAPTER XVI.

  GABRIEL'S FOLLY

  While the applause that followed this diabolical scheme rang loud andlong around the council-chamber, I stood there paralyzed. My eyesdilated and my heartbeat furiously. I was overwhelmed with thedreadful, the awful prospect, so coolly presented by that impassive,terrible man. My imagination was always vivid, and I saw the wholehorrid reality unrolled before me like a panorama. The swarmingstreets filled with the oppressed people; the dark shadows of theDemons floating over them; the first bomb; the terror; the confusion;the gasping of the dying; the shrieks, the groans--another andanother bomb falling here, there, everywhere; the surging massesrushing from death to death; the wild flight; the barricades a lineof fire and bayonets; the awful and continuous rattle of the guns,sounding like the grinding of some dreadful machinery that crunchesthe bones of the living; the recoil from the bullets to the poison;the wounded stumbling over the dead, now covering the streets instrata several feet thick; and still the bombs crash and the poisonspreads. Death! death! nothing but death! _Ten million dead!_ Oh, myGod!

  I clasped my head--it felt as if it would burst. I must save theworld from such a calamity. These men are human. They cannot beinsensible to an appeal for mercy--for justice!

  Carried away by these thoughts, I stooped down and unclasped thehooks; I pushed aside the box; I crawled out; the next moment I stoodbefore them in the full glare of the electric lamps.

  "For God's sake," I cried, "save the world from such an awfulcalamity! Have pity on mankind; even as you hope that the Mind andHeart of the Universe will have pity on you. I have heard all. Do notplunge the earth into horrors that will shock the very stars in theircourses. The world can be saved! It can be saved! You have power. Bepitiful. Let me speak for you. Let me go to the leaders of thisinsurrection and bring you together."

  "He is mad," said one.

  "No, no," I replied, "I am not mad. It is you that are mad. It is thewretched people who are mad--mad with suffering and misery, as youwith pride and hardness of heart. You are all _men_. Hear theirdemands. Yield a little of your superfluous blessings; and touchtheir hearts--with kindness, and love will spring up like flowers inthe track of the harrow. For the sake of Christ Jesus, who died onthe cross for all men, I appeal to you. Be just, be generous, bemerciful. Are they not your brethren? Have they not souls likeyourselves? Speak, speak, and I will toil as long as I can breathe. Iwill wear the flesh from off my bones, if I can reconcile the castesof this wretched society, and save civilization."

  The Prince had recoiled with terror at my first entrance. He had nowrallied his faculties.

  "How did you come here?" he asked.

  Fortunately the repulsive coldness with which the Council had met myearnest appeals, which I had fairly shrieked at them, had restored tosome extent the balance of my reason. The thought flashed over methat I must not betray Rudolph.

  "Through yonder open window," I replied.

  "How did you reach it?" asked the Prince.

  "I climbed up the ivy vine to it."

  "What did you come here for?" he asked.

  "To appeal to you, in the name of God, to prevent the coming of thisdreadful outbreak."

  "The man is a religious fanatic," said one of the Council to another;"probably one of the street preachers."

  The Prince drew two or three of the leaders together, and theywhispered for a few minutes. Then he went to the door and spoke toRudolph. I caught a few words: "Not leave--alive--send forMacarius--midnight--garden."

  Rudolph advanced and took me by the arm. The revulsion had come. Iwas dazed--overwhelmed. There swept over me, like the rush of aflood, the dreadful thought: "What will become of Estella?" I wentwith him like a child. I was armed, but an infant might have slain me.

  When we were in the hall, Rudolph said to me, in a hoarse whisper:

  "I heard everything. You meant nobly; but you were foolish--wild. Youmight have ruined us all. But there is a chance of escape yet. Itwill be an hour before the assassin will arrive. I can secure thatmuch delay. In the meantime, be prudent and silent, and follow mydirections implicitly."

  I promised, very humbly, to do so.

  CHAPTER XVII.

  THE FLIGHT AND PURSUIT

  He opened the door of a room and pushed me into it. "Wait," hewhispered, "for my orders." I looked around me. It was Rudolph'sroom--the one I had been in before. I was not alone. There was ayoung gentleman standing at a window, looking out into the garden. Heturned around and advanced toward me, with his hand extended and asmile on his face. It was Estella! looking more charming than ever inher masculine dress. I took her hand. Then my heart smote me; and Ifell upon my knees before her.

  "O Estella," I cried, "pardon me. I would have sacrificed you formankind--you that are dearer to me than the whole human race. Like afool I broke from my hiding-place, and appealed to those hearts ofstone--those wild beasts--those incarnate fiends--to spare the worldthe most dreadful calamity it has ever known. They proposed to murder_ten million human
beings_! I forgot my task--my duty--you--my ownsafety--everything, to save the world."

  Her eyes dilated as I spoke, and then, without a trace of mockmodesty, without a blush, she laid her hand upon my head and saidsimply:

  "If you had done less, I should have loved you less. What am I in thepresence of such a catastrophe? But if you are to die we can at leastperish together. In that we have the mastery of our enemies. Ourliberty is beyond their power."

  "But you shall not die," I said, wildly, springing to my feet. "Theassassin comes! Give me the poisoned knife. When he opens the door Ishall slay him. I shall bear you with me. Who will dare to arrest ourdeparture with that dreadful weapon--that instantaneousdeath--shining in my hand. Besides, I carry a hundred lives at mygirdle. Once in the streets, we can escape."

  She took from the pocket of her coat the sheathed dagger and handedit to me.

  "We must, however, be guided by the counsels of Rudolph," she quietlysaid; "he is a faithful friend."

  "True," I replied.

  We sat near each other. I presumed nothing upon the great admissionshe had so gravely made. This was a woman to be worshiped rather thanwooed. I told her all the story of my life. I described my home inthat strange, wild, ancient, lofty land; my mother, my brothers; thewide, old, roomy house; the trees, the flowers, the clustering,bleating sheep.

  A half hour passed. The door opened. A burst of laughter and theclinking of glasses resounded through it. Rudolph entered.

  "The Prince and his friends," he said, "make merry over their assuredvictory. If you will tell Maximilian all you have heard to-night, theresult may be different from what they anticipate. Come with me."

  He led the way through a suite of two or three rooms whichcommunicated with his apartment.

  "We must throw the hounds off the scent of the fox," he said; and, toour astonishment, he proceeded to tear down the heavy curtains fromtwo windows, having first locked the door and closed the outershutters. He then tore the curtains into long strips, knotting themtogether; we pulled upon them to test their strength. He then openedone of the windows and dropped the end of the long rope thus formedout of it, fastening the other to a heavy piece of furniture, withinthe room.

  "That will account for your escape," he said. "I have already thrownthe rope ladder from the window of the room Estella occupied. Theseprecautions are necessary for my own safety."

  Then, locking the communicating doors, we returned to his room.

  "Put this cloak over your shoulders," he said; "it will help disguiseyou. Walk boldly down these stairs," opening another door--not theone we had entered by; "turn to the right--to the right,remember--and on your left hand you will soon find a door--the firstyou will come to. Open it. Say to the man on guard: 'Show me to thecarriage of Lord Southworth.' There is no such person; but that isthe signal agreed upon. He will lead you to the carriage. Maximilianis the footman. Farewell, and may God bless you."

  We shook hands. I followed his directions; we met no one; I openedthe door; the guard, as soon as I uttered the password, led me,through a mass of carriages, to where one stood back under someoverhanging trees. The footman hurried to open the door. I gave myhand to Estella; she sprang in; I followed her. But this littlemovement of instinctive courtesy on my part toward a woman had beennoticed by one of the many spies hanging around. He thought itstrange that one man should offer his hand to assist another into acarriage. He whispered his suspicions to a comrade. We had hardlygone two blocks from the palace when Maximilian leaned down and said:"I fear we are followed."

  Our carriage turned into another street, and then into another. Ilooked out and could see--for the streets were very bright with themagnetic light--that, some distance behind us, came two carriagesclose together, while at a greater distance, behind them, I caughtsight of a third vehicle. Maximilian leaned down again and said:

  "We are certainly pursued by two carriages. The third one I recognizeas our own--the man with the bombs. We will drive to the first of thehouses we have secured. Be ready to spring out the moment we stop,and follow me quickly into the house, for all depends on the rapidityof our movements."

  In a little while the carriage suddenly stopped. I took Estella'shand. She needed no help. Maximilian was ascending the steps of ahouse, key in hand. We followed. I looked back. One of our pursuerswas a block away; the other a little behind him. The carriage withthe bombs I could not see--it might be obscured by the trees, or itmight have lost us in the fierce speed with which we had traveled.

  "Quick," said Maximilian, pulling us in and locking the door.

  We followed him, running through a long, lighted hall, out into agarden; a gate flew open; we rushed across the street and sprang intoanother carriage; Maximilian leaped to his place; crack went thewhip, and away we flew; but on the instant the quick eyes of myfriend saw, rapidly whirling around the next corner, one of thecarriages that had been pursuing us.

  "They suspected our trick," said he. "Where, in heaven's name, is theman with the bombs?" he added, anxiously.

  Our horses were swift, but still that shadow clung to us; the streetswere still and deserted, for it was after midnight; but they were asbright as if the full moon shone in an unclouded sky.

  "Ah! there he comes, at last," said Maximilian, with a sigh ofrelief. "I feared we might meet another carriage of the police, andthis fellow behind us would call it to his help, and our case wouldbe desperate, as they would know our trick. We should have to fightfor it. Now observe what takes place."

  Estella, kneeling on the cushions, looked out through the glasswindow in the back of the carriage; I leaned far out at the side.

  "See, Estella," I cried, "how that hindmost team flies! They movelike race-horses on the course."

  Nearer and nearer they come to our pursuers; they are close behindthem; the driver of the front carriage seems to know that there isdanger; he lashes his horses furiously; it is in vain. Now they areside by side--side by side for a time; but now our friends forgeslowly ahead. The driver of the beaten team suddenly pulls his horsesback on their haunches. It is too late. A man stands up on the seatof the front carriage-it is an open barouche. I could see his armdescribe an arc through the air; the next instant the whole streetwas ablaze with a flash of brilliant red light, and the report of atremendous explosion rang in my ears. Through the smoke and dust Icould dimly see the horses of our pursuers piled in a heap upon thestreet, kicking, plunging, dying.

  "It is all right now," said Maximilian quietly; and then he spoke tothe driver: "Turn the next corner to the left."

  After having made several changes of direction--with intent to throwany other possible pursuers off the track--and it being evident thatwe were not followed, except by the carriage of our friends, we droveslowly to Maximilian's house and alighted.

  The sweet-faced old lady took the handsome, seeming boy, Estella, inher arms, and with hearty cordiality welcomed her to her new home. Weleft them together, mingling tears of joy.

  Max and I adjourned to the library, and there, at his request, I toldhim all that had happened in the council-chamber. He smoked his cigarand listened attentively. His face darkened as I repeated the spy'sstory, but he neither admitted nor denied the truth of the part whichI thought related to himself. When I told him about the commander ofthe air-ships, his interest was so great that his cigar went out; andwhen I narrated the conversation which occurred after General Quincyhad left the room his face lighted up with a glow of joy. He listenedintently to the account of the Prince's plan of battle, and smiledgrimly. But when I told how I came from my hiding-place and appealedto the oligarchy to spare mankind, he rose from his chair and walkedthe room, profoundly agitated; and when I had finished, by narratinghow Rudolph led me to his room, to the presence of Estella, he threwhis arms around my neck, and said, "You dear old fool! It was justlike you;" but I could see that his eyes were wet with emotion.

  Then he sat for some time in deep thought. At last he said:

  "Gabriel, would you be willing to do
something more to serve me?"

  "Certainly," I replied; "anything."

  "Would you go with me to-morrow night and tell this tale to thecouncil of our Brotherhood? My own life and the lives of my friends,and _the liberty of one dear to me_, may depend upon your doing so."

  "I shall go with you most willingly," I said. "To tell you thetruth," I added, "While I cannot approve of your terribleBrotherhood, nevertheless what I have seen and heard tonightsatisfies me that the Plutocrats should no longer cumber the earthwith their presence. Men who can coolly plot, amid laughter, thedeath of ten million human beings, for the purpose of preservingtheir ill-gotten wealth and their ill-used power, should beexterminated from the face of the planet as enemies of mankind--aspoisonous snakes--vermin."

  He grasped my hand and thanked me.

  It was pleasant to think, that night, that Estella loved me; that Ihad saved her; that we were under the same roof; and I wove visionsin my brain brighter than the dreams of fairyland; and Estella movedeverywhere amid them, a radiant angel.

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  THE EXECUTION

  "Now, Gabriel," said Max, "I will have to blindfold you--not that Imistrust you, but that I have to satisfy the laws of our society andthe scruples of others."

  This was said just before we opened the door. He folded a silkhandkerchief over my face, and led me down the steps and seated me ina carriage. He gave some whispered directions to the driver, and awaywe rolled. It was a long drive. At last I observed that peculiarsalty and limy