Life in a Thousand Worlds Part 17

The number of persons getting immensely wealthy gradually decreased, and the average wealth of the laborers increased. The government has the power at any time to form a trust or combination of any line of business by paying liberally to those already engaged in it. This a.s.sists the government in carrying its heavy financial burdens, and every family is a.s.sured of support if the soil produces enough to feed the people.

And now if I knew how to describe elements that have no resemblance to anything in our world, I would proceed to tell a story of interest to chemists. These Zikites have formed gases and solids unknown to us, and naturally they are capable of performing experiments more wonderful than anything ever known in our world. When I saw their wizard-like performances I thought that the marvelous feats of the Orient were being performed on a scale more mysterious and magnificent.

To see a man play with red hot irons and dance in a seething furnace, makes one believe that his eyes are deceiving him.

I saw a man draw the birds from heaven and dormant reptiles from the soil, but ask me not to tell how. A few of these Zikites have discovered some wonderful secrets of nature and will not disclose them except to certain ones of their own lineage. One of these secrets is the art of embalming the dead so perfectly that human features are retained forever unless destroyed by fire or human effort. The embalming fluid contains some of the elements not found in our world, but this is not the total secret. The body must lie in an air-tight receptacle into which a secret gas is pumped. The dead body, lying in this receptacle for two hours, absorbs certain parts of the gas which enters the pores and touches those parts of the dead body not reached by the injected fluid.

By this process no part of the body is subject to putrefaction and the muscles all retain their rigidity, so that one hundred years after burial the features are full, although discolored.

Not many of the common people are thus embalmed. But the bodies of prominent men and women are thus treated at government expense and unborn generations can look upon the full contour of their faces.

Another secret held by these experts is the art of maintaining youthful vigor in old age. This is a very expensive method and the government prohibits any one securing this treatment who has not won special honor in one or another particular channel. One of the highest distinctions bestowed upon any citizen of Zik is to grant him the "Angel's Honor,"

which ent.i.tles him to receive the Vigor Treatment during the balance of his natural life. This one thing, more than any other, is the secret of Zik having so long a list of ill.u.s.trious characters. It is the ambition of each boy or girl to make progress and some day win the "Angel's Honor."

The religious life of these Zikites is unusually intense. Their language is much more c.u.mbersome than ours. They have a small book which contains a list of great truths whose authors claim to have been influenced by the All-Powerful, or the same as our G.o.d. This book has had a remarkable history, and has moulded the life and character of millions. Every person is left to his own notions in religion, and we see here the same picture that confronts us on our own planet, the very good and the very bad in the same house and neighborhood. They build but few churches, but here and there a home of a believer is the center of a wors.h.i.+ping company. On special occasions the wors.h.i.+pers rent or secure large public buildings and have an enthusiastic time.

At many places their Bible speaks of a place where the departed go after death, beyond the Zik life. These wors.h.i.+pers are linked to their G.o.d by the same kind of love-chords that bind Christians to their Master in our world.

You cannot imagine my interest and my joy as I learned that the Zikites are looking forward to a period of time corresponding to our Millennium.

Their religious literature is full of references to this coming golden age, and many poetical compositions point to it with rapturous melody of language.

CHAPTER XVII.

The Diamond World.

When one reads of the size and population of our world he is thrilled with the idea of its greatness. But when he travels over land and sea, visiting the many points of interest, he is impressed four-fold with the magnitude of the Earth and the vast numbers that populate it.

It is infinitely more so in regard to the many suns and planets that compose the universe. I had read of the distances of s.p.a.ce and of the number of celestial bodies that are scattered throughout these measureless expanses, and I was profoundly impressed with the vastness of created things and the eternal revolutions of the countless spheres.

But when I took my continued flight away from the solar system of Sirius and was privileged to get a pa.s.sing glimpse of many other solar systems, I was overawed a thousand-fold at the myriad motions of the myriad worlds, each serving its little part through the pa.s.sing cycles to carry out the plan of the Infinite Mind.

My next pause was at the glorious constellation of Orion on the star Rigel. This brilliant orb is not inhabited, but more than one-half of the worlds revolving around it sustain human life.

After I had taken a pa.s.sing glimpse of a few worlds belonging to this system, I proceeded to visit another world that revolves around Rigel at a distance of sixteen hundred million miles. It is a trifle larger than our world and is inhabited by only about one-tenth as many people.

This is the brightest planet I had ever seen, for it dazzled and sparkled like pearls of ice in the sun, and yet it gave forth no light of its own.

I soon learned the secret of all this scintillation. I had come to a world that seemed to be covered with diamonds and precious stones. The mountains were barren of all vegetation and glistened with all the glory of a hundred rainbows.

I presumed that I had come to immense beds of quartz, but the rare brilliancy of the whole scene set me to work to ascertain the value of these stones. To my astonishment, I found that the s.h.i.+ning mountains and valleys were filled with genuine diamonds and precious stones, some of which are very rare according to our cla.s.sification. I was dazed at the sight, first because of its brilliancy and beauty, and next because of the fabulous fortunes that were lying at my feet.

Then I transported myself to another part of the planet that I might get a view of its living fields of vegetation. Alas, I again met the s.h.i.+ning of countless gems, set by nature in ledges of rock and ma.s.sed in confused heaps all around me.

"What a rich world!" I inwardly murmured. "How can people live on diamonds?"

As I was thus musing I sped onward to one of the soil centers of this world. Here I found a small city built of diamonds and choice stones of which the people thought no more than we do of the stones brought down from our quarries.

The soil was almost wors.h.i.+ped. Only the wealthiest could afford to have it in their homes for the growth of flowers. Fortunately, the soil is very productive and, by reason of its scarcity, it has received such careful attention that all worthless weeds have been actually choked out several thousand years ago.

Thus, the soil being so desirable and staple an article, it was eagerly sought after by all who lived on this s.h.i.+ning world. Yea, some sacrificed their all that they might obtain a goodly portion of the soil. This desire was so great that it became the ruling pa.s.sion of many people to acc.u.mulate soil all the days of their life, and many died of grief because they could not succeed in satisfying their ambitions.

Now when the speculators saw that the soil was so indispensable and much desired by the people, and that out of it were the issues of life, the wealthier and more crafty of them said among themselves:

"Come, let us buy all the soil, we and our brethren in all the soil centers, and let us call ourselves a Trust, signifying that we will trust one another to the secrets of our enterprise."

And behold this saying seemed good in the eyes of these wise men, and they labored diligently until, in the pa.s.sing of a few years, they had secured unto themselves full possession of all the soil of the Diamond World.

And it was so in the course of time that these corporations held a great meeting and they said:

"Barns we will build to store products of the soil, and behold we will sell from these storehouses to our workmen for the labor that they may render unto us."

This scheme was pleasing to all the capitalists and they rejoiced in the bright prospect of the future. So they built great barns and thus laid away the products of the soil. Then they appointed agents to sell whatsoever the people wished.

And it came to pa.s.s, as the seasons came and went, that these capitalists gave the laborers less for their toil, and charged them more for food at the supply stations. Thus the conditions became so severe that a man could work from the rising of the Sun to the setting thereof, and they earn scarcely enough to keep his family alive.

After this manner the land owners grew more and more wealthy, built unto themselves handsome little villages, and lived in happiness and refinement. They also erected for themselves select schools and reserved beautiful plots for their luxury and amus.e.m.e.nt.

Then did the members of this Trust, in order to protect themselves from all possible trouble, pa.s.s a civil law forbidding any laborer to own an inch of soil. Thus it was very easy to convict a man of theft if soil could be found upon his person or premises.

Now, behold, there were many little spots of vegetation scattered here and there over this whole world. But the agents of the Trust sent out numerous expeditions to gather up all the loose earth that could be found and carry it to the soil centers. This work was so completely done that every nook and corner yielded its acc.u.mulated dust to enlarge the gardens at the soil centers and thereby increase the riches of the Trust.

Now, as time pa.s.sed on, the children of the laborers were also employed to a.s.sist in earning bread, and in the course of a few hundred years the school houses in the district of the laborers were torn down, as it was impossible for these children to receive an education, since they must needs work for their sustenance.

After many ages the members of the Trust had become so hardened that they no longer regarded the wishes of the laboring people, but pushed everything to increase their own selfish gain, insomuch that they succeeded in securing the pa.s.sage of certain laws making the burdens of the laborers still more heavy.

And now, when the capitalists saw that the people did not rebel, they again counseled among themselves on this wise:

"Why should there be so much labor lost in continually quarrying new sepulchers in our diamond ridges, and why should there be so much dust lying idle in the old graves? Come, let us have a law that the dust in all graves over one hundred years old shall be sold at auction, unless the graves are redeemed by a certain amount of soil. Then these empty tombs can be again filled with the dead of our servants and their children. Thus let it be continued throughout coming generations forever. Each year this auction shall be held to dispose of the dust remaining in one-hundred-year-old sepulchers."

These suggestions found favor in the eyes of the Trust who proceeded at once to take the necessary steps to incorporate these regulations into the laws of the commonwealth. The laborers stoutly opposed the adoption of these partial measures, but they were powerless because the Trust bribed enough of the legislators to carry their point.

All this happened many centuries ago, so that when I was there I saw the full program of one of these spectral auctions and was chilled with horror at the proceedings.

Every year this peculiar auction is held at each soil center. The wealthy are able to redeem their sepulchers, but the poor, having no soil, cannot satisfy the law; so the dust of their ancestors must be sold. Laborers are sent out to open the one-hundred-year-old sepulchers along the diamond ridges and carry the coffins to one place. Here they are publicly opened and the bones and dust gathered into one receptacle after which the weird auction begins. No one can compete with the corporations and no one tries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Most Horrible Auction in Our Universe.]

The legal form of the auction is soon over and the half ton or ton of dust is legally bought by the corporations whose officers order it to be sprinkled over the gardens. It serves the same purpose as phosphate in our fields. This awful process is repeated each year. The sepulchers, emptied thus, are open for new burials. So you can see that with all the gruesomeness of this whole business, there is an economic side to it, and the people have come to view it all in a philosophical manner.

When this wretched custom was first inaugurated a bitter wail ascended from the ranks of the laboring cla.s.ses, for they well knew whose graves would be opened. Never was there such a stir among the working cla.s.ses of people. They held ma.s.s meetings and grew loudly indignant until the Trust became alarmed at the uprising.

Then did some of these rich sharpsters, who were best gifted in speech, go out to meet their servants, addressing them thus:

"Let your hearts be at peace, my fellow creatures. This new law that we have just pa.s.sed is a boon to every toiler, for we seek to lighten your burdens by utilizing the idle dust from the tombs. Hereafter we propose to give, free of charge, a sepulcher to every toiler in which he may take his rest for one hundred years. These graves shall be for you and your children forever. Is it not a precious thought that one hundred years after you are dead, your bodies shall again mingle with the soil and, without voluntary effort or pain, help to support your kindred yet unborn?

"If our present silly customs should prevail, the time will come when half our soil will have been carried to the sepulchers, and therefore your tasks would be more severe."