The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  lutely to an end with the last bed but one . But the last bed, which

  was the narrowest, with the walks on either side of it which were

  the widest, occupied more than a third of the whole extent of the

  cultivated ground . The true extent of the foul growths and vapours

  was about this: they covered rather more than a third of the ground,

  and the space which they covered was rather nearer the southern end

  than the northern end . I had reason to believe before the close of the

  day that these vapours were deadly; but I had reason also to believe

  that there was something in the bed to the north beyond them which

  was deadlier still .

  There were many men employed at all the beds, much the greater

  number at the first bed, but the work at the sixth bed seemed to be

  far the more important; certainly it proceeded, as far as I was able to

  judge, with far more care and deliberation . Not, however, that there

  was anything slovenly about any of the work or of the workers .

  I first turned my attention to the first bed, and there I saw a num-

  ber of men at about equal distances on each of the walks, each pro-

  vided with an instrument like an elaborate sort of hoe, and having a

  box slung round his shoulders, and hanging directly under his face .

  Looking along these rows of men to the far edge of the beds, I saw

  that the valley ended at the west end with a platform, and on this

  platform several men were standing who were evidently working in

  concert with the workers at the beds . This platform was not so high

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  as that at the east end, but, unlike that, it extended the whole width

  of the valley . It consisted of two terraces connected by steps, and on

  the lower terrace were the men whom I have mentioned who were

  working in concert with the workers at the beds . One man stood at

  the end of each walk, and handed to the nearest man on the walk

  a parcel, and then another and another . He took these parcels out

  of a little box on wheels that stood beside him . These parcels were

  marked and numbered . At least so I concluded from the manner in

  which the man on the walk received each parcel, glanced at it, and

  passed it on . This distribution of the marked parcels had commenced

  before I began to observe .

  Looking to the boxes on wheels, I saw that they were standing on

  rafts, and were constructed so as to run on the same principle as the

  little wagons at the eastern end . Following with my glass the course

  of the rails on which they ran, I saw on the upper platform whither

  the rails led several machines in general appearance not unlike some

  of those at the other end . The glass which I was using was very pow-

  erful, much more powerful than any field-glass I had ever seen. Still,

  I could not observe with any such exactness as if I were standing by

  the machines . The car that I sat in, although there was not a breath

  of wind, was not absolutely still . I should not perhaps have noticed

  this if I had sat still and talked, or even read, but the moment I began

  to observe closely some object not on the car, I became conscious of

  a motion such as would be felt at sea on a calm day if there were a

  long but very gentle swell .

  I saw with enough exactness, however, to conclude that the

  processes which were being carried on here were not mechanical,

  but most likely chemical . I could see many jars and retorts and in-

  struments of similar aspect, and I thought I could make sure that

  electricity was being largely applied, and that some strange use was

  being made of light . It seemed as if there were some substances in

  certain small vessels on which now and then light greatly magnified

  was being thrown . These vessels were arranged in order within the

  machines in such way that they could be subjected at the will of the

  worker to the various light, magnifying, and chemical and electric

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  processes which it seemed to be the function of the machine to keep

  in action .

  I did not feel sure at first whether the substances in the vessels

  were being simply examined, or whether they were being treated

  with a view to effect some change in them . But I soon saw that the

  latter was the more likely purpose . For I perceived on further obser-

  vation that they were subjected to a very severe and exact scrutiny

  before they were placed in the vessels . At one end of the row of

  machines was a very long table along which, near the middle, a

  trough ran from end to end . A man stood at the table who seemed

  to be examining something in the trough with a microscope, or at

  least with some sort of magnifying apparatus . Then he laid aside the

  magnifying apparatus, and poured from a little bottle either some

  fluid or powder, I could not tell which, on the objects which he was

  examining; then he would apply the magnifier again, and so on. Last

  of all, from this trough he would take up something or other with a

  little shovel or trowel, and place it in certain tiny wagons or boxes on

  wheels which communicated, apparently by automatic means such

  as I have before described, with the different machines, emptying

  their contents into the small vessels of which I have told you . All the

  machines appeared to be of the same sort, and engaged in the same

  work . I concluded that the man at the table with the trough in it was

  examining certain substances, and that these were being treated by

  the men at the machines with a view to some modification of their

  nature . And I had no doubt that this work, whatever it was, stood in

  some direct relation to the work at the seed beds .

  If I had had any such doubt it would have been removed by what I

  observed at the other end of the row of machines . There I saw a table

  just like an enormous billiard table, only there were no pockets, and

  at this table stood four or five men busily at work. This table was

  connected with the seed beds by the rails, along which ran the boxes

  on wheels. Indeed, it was to it that my look had first been directed

  when I followed, with my glass, the course of these boxes . But the

  more curious aspect of the machines had attracted my attention, and

  I had observed the whole row of them to the other end and the table

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  with the trough in it which stood there, before observing this end

  more particularly . I now saw that the substances which had been ex-

  amined in the trough and treated in the machines were carried, still

  by automatic machinery, to this enormous table and emptied upon

  it . There they were very rapidly sorted and distributed into parcels

  by the five or six men at work there. These men must have had great

  accuracy of eye and touch, and their way of working reminded me

  of the man in the who rings the coin . The parcels which were so

  made up were distributed among the workers in the seed beds in the

  way already described .

  It was clear to me now that some substances, probably germs

  of one kind or another, w
ere being examined and treated by scien-

  tific methods, and were being subjected afterwards to some sort of

  discriminating culture . I began to guess at the purpose of all this,

  and quite suddenly a suspicion broke upon me which almost made

  me drop my glass with horror . And I may as well say here at once

  that knowledge which I obtained later on confirmed this horrible

  suspicion .

  Recovering myself, I turned my attention to workers at the seed

  beds. The men engaged at the first bed went slowly along the walks

  taking every now and then something out of the boxes which were

  slung one over the shoulder of each, and planting it in the ground and

  covering it over . I saw that they examined also something already

  planted, and sometimes took it up and put it into the box . I could

  not tell, owing to the distance and the motion, whether or not what

  they took up exhibited any visible growth . The substances, whatever

  they were, which were thus taken up, were placed in a little wagon

  which ran at the eastern end of the bed at right angles to the walks,

  and conveyed its contents to the walks which separated the first bed

  from the second, and were dealt with by the workers there . If you

  ask me how I knew that it was the substances exhumed and not the

  substances in the parcels that were thus passed, I can only say that

  such was my conclusion from the whole aspect of the movement,

  for I could not accurately distinguish small objects at the distance .

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  The way of working at the next four beds was not so different

  from what I have described, as to make it worth while attempting

  a detailed account. It will suffice to say that the mode of procedure

  was to sow something in each bed, and to take up something which

  had been down in order to transfer it to the next bed, and this lat-

  ter process evidently involved much careful examination and dis-

  crimination . I should also mention that at the third bed and onward

  the workers wore masks, apparently wire masks of some elaborate

  construction . They wore them, not continuously, but whenever they

  stooped to the ground or examined very closely the substances with

  which they were dealing . At other times the masks hung at the gir-

  dles . At the fourth bed the workers wore the masks more frequently,

  and at the fifth they only removed them occasionally. The way of

  working at the sixth bed was different and will need a fuller descrip-

  tion .But before attempting to describe it I should say that just as I

  was beginning to observe the sixth bed, a slight change came in the

  weather which made two considerable changes, each in a different

  direction, in my opportunities of observation . It had been quite calm

  and at the same time cloudy . Now a light breeze began to blow and

  the sun shone out. The effect of the breeze was, at first, so to increase

  the motion of the car as to make very close observation impossible .

  But Signor Davelli presently applied a sort of ballasting machinery,

  which had the effect of greatly steadying the car . I was so much

  interested in what was going on below that I did not very accurately

  observe how this was done . But I think that it was somehow in this

  way . He moved, by mechanical contrivance, certain weights in the

  car, so as to change the centre of gravity in such manner as to render

  the part of it which we occupied subject to less motion than the rest .

  I have not much skill in such matters and I hardly know if this is

  possible, but so it seemed to me . But even after this was done the car

  was not by any means as steady as before .

  At the same time, however, the sunshine which now appeared

  disclosed some features of the scene which I should otherwise have

  missed . For now, at the northern end of the beds, on a platform at

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  right angles with the western platform, I saw several shadows which

  indicated to my now skilled eyesight the presence of several of the

  invisible cars. They were standing all still when I first saw them, but

  presently one moved, rose quickly from the earth, and passed gradu-

  ally out of sight to the northward . I followed its course with my glass

  for several minutes, till it was nearly out of sight . I then turned again

  to the seed-beds. The men at the sixth bed were very few, only five

  in all, and each was working apparently on his own account . But

  they were all doing exactly the same kind of work . They were, as I

  thought, making a final selection of the germs which had undergone

  so careful a process of cultivation . Each of them had three boxes, in-

  stead of one, slung in front of him, and a long instrument in his hand

  with which he extracted certain substances from the ground . This in-

  strument was constructed so as to hold in a little receptacle what was

  lifted from the ground . Each of the workers, also, had slung over his

  shoulder what looked like a small frame. I selected one of the five

  at random, and watched his proceedings more particularly . Now and

  then he would unsling the frame and place it on the ground . Then

  he would give it a little twist, whereupon it would assume a form

  very like that of a lady’s work-table . I saw him do this many times,

  and each time he took something out of the closed receptacle which

  I have just mentioned, and placed it on the table, and observed it

  carefully with some kind of instrument that might have been a kind

  of microscope . After a more or less minute observation each time,

  he placed the substance observed in one of the boxes at his girdle,

  which he opened each time and carefully closed again . By-and-by

  he seemed to discover some substance which challenged his at-

  tention specially, for after a longer observation than usual, he took

  another instrument from his girdle and observed it more carefully

  and for a longer time . Then I could see that he called his neighbour,

  for he looked, and I almost thought that I could see his lips mov-

  ing, and immediately the other looked up and came towards him .

  Then the first man handed his observing instrument to the second,

  who examined very carefully the substance on the little table . Some

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  discussion seemed to follow, an animated conversation as I thought,

  with certainly a rapid pantomime accompaniment .

  Then a very strange thing happened. As the first man stooped

  towards the table his mask fell off . My glass was so good that I saw

  it quite plainly come loose at one side, and I saw the man’s hand

  lifted up to catch it . But before he could reach it, it fell off as I have

  said . Then in a moment the man’s body became a mass of rapidly

  seething fluid, and the fluid became a dark cloud of smoke, which

  spread into the air and disappeared . Just so I had seen Signor Davel-

  li’s body transformed and disappear the day before . The second man

  at once caught up the mask and stood apparently waiting . Presently

  a diffused vapour appeared . This became denser and denser, until it

 
assumed the appearance of a seething fluid, as before. This quickly

  became consolidated and assumed the form of a body, the body of

  the man who had just disappeared . Then the other man, who was

  standing ready with the mask in his hand, fitted it again upon the

  first man, and both men proceeded to examine the substance before

  them, and to converse, as if nothing had happened to interrupt them .

  All this time (which, however, was a very short time, although the

  change was by no means instantaneous, as the like change seemed to

  be yesterday) the other men worked away without, as far as I could

  see, taking any notice whatever of what was going on .

  I exclaimed slightly and started, and this attracted Signor Dav-

  elli’s attention . He had been, I think, examining and preparing some

  instruments . “What do you see?” he said . I answered without taking

  my eyes from the glass . “A man over there disappeared and appeared

  again just as you did yesterday .”

  “Careless wretches!” he said, looking towards the place that I

  was observing .

  “I suppose,” I said, “that these substances which they are exam-

  ining must be very deadly, for his mask fell off just before he disap-

  peared, and I remember you said yesterday that what would kill us

  only drove you back into space .”

  “And you infer, I suppose, that if you had been in his place you

  would have dropped down dead .”

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  “That is what I think,” said I .

  “Then you see if you become one of us you escape death .” He

  said this with a strongly persuasive manner, and as he spoke a slight

  shudder seemed to pass over me, and I expected him to say more .

  But he said no more, and he returned to the task in which he had

  been engaged .

  I then turned my attention again to my examination of the work-

  ers at the sixth bed .

  You will understand that a very broad walk lay between the bed

  and the northern platform . This walk was to all appearance formed

  of some hard stuff like flags or asphalt, and I now perceived by

  the aid of the sunlight that some of the cars had alighted upon this

  pathway and were standing there .

  I could see that there were five of them, and presently the five

  workers went over to the cars, one to each ear . There was a man in