PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 20

The character of our conversation, judged from these scraps, shows thatwe had no excuse for remaining awake any longer

Next morning we arose early, but found the family already up. Harodseemed disposed to lose no time in showing and telling us everythinginteresting, and so invited us at once to the top of the house, to takea view of the country. The sun was just rising, and its pleasant rayslighted up a scene of surpassing beauty. We seemed to be set in themiddle of a vast park, whose boundaries extended in all directions asfar as we could see. The landscape presented the most varied character,wood and water, hill and plain, and every feature needed to make amost delightful picture. Not the least of its charms, and perhapsthe greatest, was the profusion of color, which filled the vision andsatisfied the sense of beauty with its contrasts and its harmonies. Someof the hills might justly be called mountains, and yet on the ruggedsides as well as on the summit of each were grand mansions surrounded bycultivated fields.

The ship healer made some remark about this latter fact, and Harod said:

"These situations, which would be almost inaccessible without the aidof electricity, are now the favorite sites for building. This wonderfulpower levels all hills in the ease with which it does its work. No taskis too hard for it and it asks no sympathy, so we may as well ride andcarry our freight up hill, if we prefer it, and build our houses on themountain tops. One characteristic of our nature has not changed, andthere is still a great variety of taste, so that plenty of people choosethe lower land to build upon. I see by your faces that you both admirethis panorama and think we were wise to place our house on such highground. We like to have our friends take this view in the morning, whenthe world has been freshened by the night's rain."

"Is it not just as beautiful at sunset after a shower?" I asked.

"Oh," answered Harod, "I haven't told you that it never rains in theday-time, have I?"

"No, indeed, that's another surprise for us. But how is it managed?"

"You will remember I told you," said Harod in reply, "that it wasfound that rain enough fell for all parts of the world if it could onlybe rightly distributed. Then when we had discovered by a long series ofexperiments how to make the clouds shed their water at our pleasure, weset about devising a means whereby we could give each section the rightquantity of rain at just the right time.

"We established a central bureau in each country and let the people inevery city or district vote and send in their request for a shower ora long rain ten days in advance. At first it required only a majorityvote, but this occasioned no end of trouble, as half the community wouldoften believe they were suffering for want of rain when the otherhalf wanted fair weather. Then the rule was changed so as to make athree-quarters vote necessary, which did not help matters much, for veryoften the crops would be seriously damaged before so large a proportionof the people could be brought to see the desirability of a rainy day.

"At length the happy thought was conceived of letting it rain over eachpart of the country every night, and giving the right to vote only onthe quantity desired. This keeps everything fresh and has been found ofimmense benefit to vegetation. Besides, it inconveniences no one, in thepresent state of our society, however it might have been when the planwas first adopted."

"What of those people," I asked, "whose occupation or pleasure callsthem out in the night?"

"We have no such class," replied Harod. "We have found by longexperience that it is best to follow the indication of nature, andtake the day for labor and the night for rest. This practice and theattention devoted to our diet have been chief factors in lengthening thespan of our lives. If this line of action is best for one it is best forall, and, as everybody is doing the best he can, it follows that thereare literally no people out at night."

"I suppose you would call me stupid again," said I, "if I should ask ifyou have any such old-time personages as guardians of the peace."

"Indeed I should," answered our friend, "for you ought to know usbetter. If you will excuse a poor witticism, the peace is old enough onour planet to go without a guardian."

As we smiled at this the ship healer was encouraged to try his hand, but, notfeeling equal to addressing a pleasantry to the usually august Martian,he turned to me and remarked:

"This would be a pretty poor place for an umbrella trust, wouldn't it?"

As we left our place of outlook and made our way down stairs, Harodresumed:

"As I have said before, we have reached our present happy conditionthrough many bitter experiences. We read that at one time people had somuch work to do and were so thoughtless as to what was good for theirphysical welfare that they began to rob themselves of their proper rest.Others found it convenient to follow occupations which obliged them towork all night and get what sleep they could in the day-time. Night wasconsidered about the only time that could be utilized, also, for theactivities of social life.

"This condition lasted a long time, with the tendency continuallytoward the practice of encroaching more and more upon the hours of restappointed by nature. It was then the period of making many laws, andlarge and influential legislative bodies began to set a bad example tothe rest of the world by holding their sessions mainly in the night.Newspapers thought it necessary to appear full-fledged at the break ofday, and the railroads made but little distinction between darkness anddaylight in the matter of carrying people hither and thither. The changewas slow, but it was in the wrong direction. Darkness was driven out bymore improved methods of lighting, and houses and streets were brilliantthe whole night long; and it finally became the fashion in both societyand business circles literally to turn night into day. For a time thatremained the universal custom, strange as it seems to us now, but thepractice of sleeping in the day-time never became natural. This meansthat the whole world was living on from year to year without the amountof rest required to keep the race alive. There could be but one result.A brood of nervous troubles fell upon us; life began to shorten, andwe became aware that a serious crisis was before us. As soon as we wereconvinced that we were bringing all this evil upon ourselves by ourdisregard of the laws of nature, there was a change; and it is wellfor us that there was still virility enough left in the race to make achange possible. A gradual reform was instituted which, overcoming manydifficulties and delays but with no serious set-backs, brought us, afterlong years, to our present happy way. Of course, our improvement inevery other direction, moral as well as physical, assisted us all alongin this reform. Now, looking back on our course, and comparing ourpresent with our former state, we are perfectly sure what is best forus, and he would be a rash man who should intimate that we are not doingright in using the night for rest.

"But this is getting to be quite a long talk for so early in themorning. Let us see if breakfast is not ready."

This meal proved to be as appetizing as the first, although the disheswere entirely different; being made up, apparently, of fruit andcereals.

The ship healer and I had been exceedingly interested in the way the dinnerof the evening before had been served. We did not understand it, and nowwe were equally puzzled to see the breakfast courses come and go. No onecame in to make any change in the table, and our hostess seemed tohave as little to do with it as the rest of us. She presided with greatdignity, and, as I watched the changes going on with such perfect easeand quiet, I could not refrain from saying:

"If it is proper for me to ask, will you tell us how this is done, Mrs.----"

"We do not use those titles now," He interrupted. "Call me Ragul, thename by which I was introduced to you. I suppose Harod has told youthat electricity does nearly all our work. I arrange things in orderbefore the meal begins, and then by merely touching a button underthe table the apparatus is set in motion which brings and takes awayeverything in the manner you see."

"It is wonderful," I exclaimed. "And if we are to believe all thatHarod has told us, I suppose you have no servants for any departmentof work."

"You are not entirely right," He returned. "We have excellent servants.This obedient power, that do

es our work so willingly, is our servant,and so is the mechanism with which our houses are filled, and throughwhich this silent force is exerted. Many of our animals are domesticatedand trained to do light services, but as for servants of our own fleshand blood, no such class exists. We all share whatever work there is,and no labor is menial. Whatever I ask others to do I am glad to do forthem when occasion offers. Do not suppose we are idle. There is work forus, but with our abundant strength and continual good health it is nevera burden. Then there are the duties connected with our higher life andeducation, for we are ever seeking to fit ourselves for a still betterexistence than this."

We had now finished breakfast and were walking through the house.Ragul was a beautiful woman, although, from our point of view, of suchgenerous proportions. She possessed the perfect form and the vigor andhealth of all the Martians. She was, moreover, graceful, modest, andwinning. But Harod and the other men that we had seen possessed theselatter qualities also, and Ragul exhibited the same strength of mindand the same devotion to lofty aims as her husband. In their equipmentfor the duties of life and in the ability to do valiant service fortheir kind they seemed equal. Evidently neither had a monopoly of anyclass of advantages, either of mind, body, or estate.

We discovered at once that the Mars dwellers understand what genuinehospitality is, for we found ourselves at perfect liberty to do whatbest pleased us without restraint from our hosts. With so much to tellus of their own high civilization and with so many questions still toask about the earth, there was no haste nor undue curiosity. Much lesswas there any attempt yet by Harod to resume the argument about thehabitability of other worlds.

But at the same time we were aware that our friends were at our service,and early in the afternoon Harod asked us if we could think ofanything we should like to see.

"Yes," I answered, "I should like to see the earth."

"No doubt, my friend, but I don't see exactly how I am going to take youthere."

"I did not expect that," said I; "but, after all you have hinted aboutyour advance in astronomical science, I thought you might give us apretty good view of the earth without going any nearer to it than we arenow."

"Oh, that's what you mean, is it? Excuse me for being so dull. Is it notsingular that I should wait to be asked to show you the wonders of ourtelescopes? Ragul, let us all go with them to see their home, aboutwhich we have so often speculated.

"We have many good observatories," continued Harod, speaking to theship healer and me, "some of which are noted for one line of study and somefor another. The one that has given the most attention to observing theearth and that has the best instruments for that work is situated on theother side of our planet."

"Then, of course," said I, "we will choose one nearer home for ourvisit."