The Dawn of All

by Robert Hugh Benson

  (V)

  He awoke with a start, coming up, as is common after the deep sleepof exhaustion, into a state in which, although the senses areawake, the intellect is still in a kind of paralysis of slumber. Hethrew his feet off the couch and sat up, staring about him.

  The first thing which he noticed was that the cabin was full of apale morning light, cold and cheerless, although the shadedlights still burned in the roof. Then he saw that the Cardinalwas sitting at the farther end of the opposite couch, lookingintently out; that one of the glass shutters was slid back, andthat a cold, foggy air was visibly pouring in past the old man'shead. Then he saw the head of the driver through the glass panesin the door; his hand rested on the grip of some apparatusconnected with the steering, he believed.

  But beyond this there was nothing to be seen through the windowsopposite, of which the curtains had been drawn back; he sawnothing but white driving mist. He tore back the curtains behindhim, and there also was the mist. It was plain then that theywere not at rest at any stage; and yet the slight hummingvibration, of which he had been conscious before he fell asleep,and even during one or two moments of semi-wakefulness during thenight, this had ceased. The car hung here, like a floatingballoon, motionless, purposeless--far up out of sight of land,and an absolute silence hung round it.

  He moved a little as these things began to arrange themselves inhis mind, and at the movement the Cardinal turned round. Helooked old and worn in this chilly light, and his unshaven chinsparkled like frost. But he spoke in his ordinary voice, withoutany sign of discomposure.

  "So you are awake, Monsignor? I thought I would let you haveyour sleep out."

  "What has happened? Where are we?"

  "We arrived half an hour ago. They signalled to us to remainwhere we were until they came up."

  "We have arrived!"

  "Certainly. We passed the first Berlin signalling lightnearly three-quarters of an hour ago. We slowed down afterthat, of course."

  The priest turned his head suddenly and made a movement with itdownwards. The Cardinal leaned forward again and peered throughthe open shutter.

  "I think they are coming up at last," he said, drawing his headback. "Hush! Listen, Monsignor."

  The priest listened with all his might. At first he heard nothingexcept the faint whistle of the wind somewhere in the roof. Thenhe heard three or four metallic noises, as if from the depths ofa bottomless hit, faint and minute; and then, quite distinctly,three strokes of a bell.

  The Cardinal nodded.

  "They are starting," he said. "They have kept us long enough."

  He slipped along the seat to where his scarlet cincture and caplay, and began to put these on.

  Monsignor sprang across and lifted down the great Romancloak from its peg.

  "You had better get ready yourself," said the Cardinal. "Theywill be here in a moment."

  As the priest slipped on his second shoe, a sound suddenlystopped him dead for an instant. It was the sound of voicestalking somewhere beneath in the fog. Then he finished, and stoodup, just as there slid cautiously upwards, like a whale coming upto breathe, past the window by which the Cardinal was nowstanding cloaked and hatted, first a shining roof, then a row oflittle ventilators, and finally a line of windows against which adozen faces were pressed. He saw them begin to stir as thescarlet of the Cardinal met their eyes.

  "We can sit down again," said the old man, smiling. "The rest isa matter for the engineers."

  It seemed strange afterwards to the priest how little real oractive terror he felt. He was conscious of a certain sicklysensation, and of a sourish taste on his lips, as he licked themfrom time to time; but scarcely more than this, except perhaps ofa sudden shivering spasm that shook him once or twice as thefog-laden breeze poured in upon him.

  He sat there watching through the windows in a kind ofimpassivity, as much as he could see of the method by which theracing-boat was attached by long, rigid rods to the steadyfloating raft that had risen from beneath. (He was eveninterested to observe that these rigid rods were of telescopicdesign, and were elongated from their own interiors. One of thempushed forward once to within a foot of the windows; then thetapering end seemed to fall apart into two hooked ends,singularly like a lean finger and thumb with roughened surfaces.This, in its turn, rose out of sight, and he heard it slidealong the roof overhead, till it caught some projection andthere clenched.)

  So the process went on, slowly and deliberately. The driverstill remained at his post, answering once or twice questionsput to him from some invisible person outside. The Cardinalstill sat, motionless and silent, on the opposite seat. Then,after perhaps ten minutes' delay, a sensation of descendingbecame perceptible.

  His fear, such as it was, took a new form, as presently throughthe thinning fog he became aware that the earth was approaching.The first clear indication of this was the sound of a clockstriking. He counted the strokes carefully, and immediatelyforgot what it was that he had counted. Then, as he watched withstraining eyes for buildings or towers to make their appearance,the movement stopped; there was a faint jarring sensation, thenthe sound of trampling feet, then a heavy shock. He had forgottenthat stages were used.

  The Cardinal stood up.

  "Come, Monsignor," he said, and gave his hand to him.

  So the two stood a moment longer. Then the footsteps sounded onthe boat; a shadow fell across the glass of the stern-door. Thedoor opened, letting in a rush of foggy air, and two men inuniform came swiftly inside.

  "Your name and your business, gentlemen?" said the foremostshortly, in excellent English.

  "I am come on behalf of the Holy Father," said the Cardinalsteadily. "My name is Cardinal Bellairs. This is my secretary,Monsignor Masterman. He is not an envoy."

  "Exactly," said the man. "That is all in order. You were seen byour guard-boats. Will you step this way?"

  A bridge had been thrown across from the raft to the racing-boat,and the latter was now attached to an immense stage whose sidesran down into the fog. The stage-platform was crowded with men,some in official uniform, some in blouses; but a way was keptclear for the visitors, and they passed across without any actualshow of hostility or resentment. Monsignor noticed but onedetail--that no salutation of any kind was given; and as theytook their seats in the lift, with the two officials close besidethem, he heard guttural conversation break out, and, he thought,one loud laugh. The doors were latched, and the lift dropped.

  The speed was so great that it would have been impossible to seeanything of the town into which they descended, even had the fogbeen absent. As it was, Monsignor saw nothing except the suddendarkening of the air round them. Then as the speed slackened hesaw the side of some great building not twenty yards away. Thenthe lift stopped and the doors were opened.

  A group of men stood there, with something of an expectant air intheir stolid faces. All these were in uniform of somedescription; one stood a little in advance of the rest and held apaper in his hand.

  "Cardinal Bellairs?" he said, also in English. "AndMonsignor Masterman?"

  The Cardinal bowed.

  "We had information from Rome last night. I understand you have acommunication from the Powers?"

  "From the Holy Father, whom the European Powers have appointed torepresent them."

  "It is the same thing," said the man brusquely. "The Council arewaiting to receive you. Kindly follow me."

  The official who had brought them down stepped forward.

  "I understand, sir, that this gentleman" (he indicated thepriest) "is not an envoy."

  "Is that so?" asked the other.

  "It is."

  "Very good. I only have authority to introduce the envoy.Monsignor Masterman will be good enough to follow the othergentleman. Your Eminence, will you come with me?"