The Second Deluge Part 8

"All the same, I am going to save Pludder," said Cosmo Versal.

Joseph Smith fairly jumped with astonishment.

"You--are--going--to--save--Pludder," he faltered. "But he is the worst of all."

"Not from my present view-point. Pludder has a good brain; he can handle the tools; he is intellectually honest; he has done great things for science in the past. And, besides, I do not conceal from you the fact that I should like to see him convicted out of his own mouth."

"But," persisted Smith, "I have heard you say that he was--"

"No matter what you have heard me say," interrupted Cosmo impatiently.

"I say now that he shall go with us. Put down his name at the head of the list."

Dumfounded and muttering under his breath, Smith obeyed.

"I can take exactly one thousand individuals, exclusive of the crew,"

continued Versal, paying no attention to his confidant's repeated shaking of his head. "Good Heavens, think of that! One thousand out of two thousand millions! But so be it. n.o.body would listen to me, and now it is too late. I must fix the number for each cla.s.s."

"There is one thing--one curious question--that occurs to me," put in Smith hesitatingly. "What about families?"

"There you've hit it," cried Cosmo. "That's exactly what bothers me.

There must be as many women as men--that goes without saying. Then, too, the strongest moral element is in the women, although they don't weigh heavily for science. But the aged people and the children--there's the difficulty. If I invite a man who possesses unquestionable qualifications, but has a large family, what am I to do? I can't crowd out others as desirable as he for the sake of carrying all of his stirpes. The principles of eugenics demand a wide field of selection."

Cosmo Versal covered his eyes, rested his big head on his hands, and his elbows on the table. Presently he looked up with an air of decision.

"I see what I must do," he said. "I can take only four persons belonging to any one family. Two of them may be children--a man, his wife, and two children--no more."

"But that will be very hard lines for them--" began Joseph Smith.

"Hard lines!" Cos...o...b..oke in. "Do you think it is easy lines for me?

Good Heavens, man! I am forced to this decision. It rends my heart to think of it, but I can't avoid the responsibility."

Smith dropped his eyes, and Cosmo resumed his reflections. In a little while he spoke again:

"Another thing that I must fix is an age limit. But that will have to be subject to certain exceptions. Very aged persons in general will not do--they could not survive the long voyage, and only in the rare instances where their experience of life might be valuable would they serve any good purpose in reestablishing the race. Children are indispensable--but they must not be too young--infants in arms would not do at all. Oh, this is sorry work! But I must harden my heart."

Joseph Smith looked at his chief, and felt a twinge of sympathy, tempered by admiration, for he saw clearly the terrible contest in his friend's mind and appreciated the heroic nature of the decision to which the inexorable logic of facts had driven it.

Cosmo Versal was again silent for a long time. Finally he appeared to throw off the incubus, and, with a return of his ordinary decisiveness, exclaimed:

"Enough. I have settled the general principle. Now to the choice."

Then, closing his eyes, as if to a.s.sist his memory, he ran over a list of names well known in the world of science, and Smith set them down in a long row under the name of "Abiel Pludder," with which he had begun.

At last Cosmo Versal ceased his dictation.

"There," he said, "that is the end of that category. I may add to or subtract from it later. According to probability, making allowance for bachelors, each name will represent three persons; there are seventy-five names, which means two hundred and twenty-five places reserved for science. I will now make a series of other categories and a.s.sign the number of places for each."

He seized a sheet of paper and fell to work, while Smith looked on, drumming with his fingers and contorting his huge black eyebrows. For half an hour complete silence reigned, broken only by the gliding sound of Cosmo Versal's pencil, occasionally emphasized by a soft thump. At the end of that time he threw down the pencil and held out the paper to his companion.

"Of course," he said, "this is not a complete list of human occupations.

I have set down the princ.i.p.al ones as they occurred to me. There will be time to correct any oversight. Read it."

Smith, by force of habit, read it aloud:

No. of Probable No.

Occupation Names of Places

Science (already a.s.signed) 75 225 Rulers 15 45 Statesmen 10 30 Business magnates 10 30 Philanthropists 5 15 Artists 15 45 Religious teachers 20 60 School-teachers 20 60 Doctors 30 90 Lawyers 1 3 Writers 6 18 Editors 2 6 Players 14 42 Philosophers 1 3 Musicians 12 36 Speculative geniuses 3 9 "Society" 0 0 Agriculture and mechanics 90 270 ____ ____ Totals 329 987 Special reservations 13 ____ Grand total, places 1000

Several times while Joseph Smith was reading he raised his eyebrows, as if in surprise or mental protest, but made no remark.

"Now," resumed Cosmo when the secretary had finished, "let us begin with the rulers. I do not know them as intimately as I know the men of science, but I am sure I have given them places enough. Suppose you take this book and call them over to me."

Smith opened the "year-book," and began:

"George Washington Samson, President of the United States."

"He goes. He is not intellectually brilliant, but he has strong sense and good moral fiber. I'll save him if for no other reason than his veto of the Antarctic Continent grab bill."

"Shen Su, Son of Heaven, President-Emperor of China."

"Put him down. I like him. He is a true Confucian."

Joseph Smith read off several other names at which Cosmo shook his head.

Then he came to:

"Richard Edward, by the grace of G.o.d, King of Great--"

"Enough," broke in Cosmo; "we all know him--the man who has done more for peace by putting half the British navy out of commission than any other ruler in history. I can't leave him out."

"Achille Dumont, President of the French republic."

"I'll take him."

"William IV, German Emperor."

"Admitted, for he has at last got the war microbe out of the family blood."

Then followed a number of rulers who were not lucky enough to meet with Cosmo Versal's approval, and when Smith read:

"Alexander V, Emperor of all the Russias," the big head was violently shaken, and its owner exclaimed:

"There will be many Russians in the ark, for tyranny has been like a l.u.s.tration to that people; but I will carry none of its Romanoff seeds to my new world."

The selection was continued until fifteen names had been obtained, including that of the new, dark-skinned President of Liberia, and Cosmo declared that he would not add another one.

Then came the ten statesmen who were chosen with utter disregard to racial and national lines.

In selecting his ten business magnates, Cosmo stated his rule: