Evening Star Newspaper, October 27, 1935, Page 95

agazine Section gun by force. They talk of —how do ey put it? — rescuing the victims.” “But what is this? If the victims 00se to go?"’ “Still they object.” ““And if they object?"” “They will interfere with things. hey are making — what did they d to call it? — an insurrection.” “Against whom?" **Against the Council.” *‘An insurrection! I cannot imagine . In the past, insurrections were sings of downtrodden classes. Every- does a share in the work and yone has a share in the abundance. mankind rise against itself? No. ‘hat down there is just —a little citement. What can Theotocopulos o with it?"” “He gathers large crowds. That sort f thing is going on all over the city. e have no police, no troops, no eapons nowadays to keep crowds in der. We thought that was done with . ‘Rescue the victims from ., he says. ‘Rescue the victims om Cabal!” ** “Isn’t one of them my daughter? y only daughter?” “He says that merely shows your dness of heart — what a monster ience may make out of man. He mpares you with those Greek par- ts who sent their children to the inotau..” “And if I sent other people’s chil- ren and saved my own?"” “You'd be in the wrong with him nyway.” “But after all — what can he do?’ “There is the Space Gun, hardly arded at all. Nothing has been arded on this planct for the past ““Then you’ll have to organize some rt of guard. After all, you have ur way-men and your inspection anes. That ought to be enough. And there is much disturbance — isn’t ere still the Gas of Peace?” “There is none. Officially anyhow. ere has been no need of it The orld has been orderly because it s been happy, and it has been ppy because everyone has had some- ing to do. There has been no reason keep any of that gas. There has n no use for it for seventy years. ut now I want to call up the Council d get a sanction to make it at once and use it if need be.” “Call the Council, but won’t that e too long?”’ “Well, I have been anticipating a *ttle. I have been having some made.” “That is right. We can endorse " “In a few hours some tons at any te will be ready and our planes will 1eady to distribute it. But still — will take a little time. Some hours haps.” *“That old Gas of Peace. We shall te to use it again. But if the people ill not give us the freedom of outer ce — we shall have to use it ”’ *‘I have your support then in what I doing?"” “Fully. Yet all this is incredible to . Inswrrection! Against explcration! ind turning upon science and venture. Wanting to call a halt. It's mood, Mitani.” “It is a dangerous mood.” “It's a fit of nerves —at the ought of stepping off this planet d leaping into space. Well — first e must save the gun.” ““That’s what it comes to now."” The dining alcove. Far below, the ts are seen. The meal is nearly ished. Cabal, Passworthy, Cathe- and Maurice. Maurice touches a tton, and a plate with fruits ives on a glassy band. Maurice 5 the plate on the table. Catherine he begin to eat. Passworthy does o' eat. He looks at the young people. ‘sently he speaks: ‘Isn’t life good enough for you re? Here you are in a safe and lovely orld. Young lovers. Just beginning e. And you want to go into that ter horror! Let someone go who is k of life.” Catherine: “They want fit young ople, alert and quick. And we are young people. We can observe; we come back and tell.” Passworthy: ‘*‘Cabal! 1 want to you one plain question. Why do u let your daughter dream of going this mad moon journey?*’ Cabal has been sitting silently in ught. Now he looks at his daughter, wers slowly: ““Because I love her. THIS WEEK Things to Come Because I want her to live to the best effect. Dragging out life to the last possible second isn’t living to the best effect. The best of life, Passworthy, lies nearest to the edge of death.” Catherine stretches out her hand to him. Cabal takes Catherine’s hand. Passworthy: ‘I am a broken man. 1 do not know where honor lies.” Cabal to his daughter: ““My dear, I love you — and I have no doubt.” Maurice: “A century ago, no man who was worth his salt hesitated to Continued from page seven hold this crowd back — at any cost — for a time. Until the Gas of Peace can be brought up.” Passworthy at a window: “Look!”’ Cabal and the rest come to the window. Passworthy points to the streets far below. He opens the win- dow. Sees the crowd marching and singing their song of revolt. A technical assistant hurries in and goes up to Mitani. Assistant: “It is a riot. It is barbarism come ba Cabal: “Who are you?” Catherine and Maurice. They are flying to the gun. They look out of the windows. The gun is seen in the dis- tance like a great metallic beast brooding among the hills. Through the windows we see that the plane is descending vertically close to the Space Gun. First clouds, then clif and then, through great girders, cables and machinery. The plane comes to rest close to the colos- sal shock absorbers of the gun. Mitani meets Cabal, Passworthv, Drawing by Reamer Keller “It’s the emplovment agency—they want to know if we can use a couple of maids” give his life in war. When I read about those fellows in the trenches —" Cabal: “No. Only a few men gave their lives in war. Those few men were caught in some tragic and noble neces- sity. What the rest did was to risk their lives — and that is all you two have to do. You two have to do your utmost to come back safe and sound. And you are not the only ones who are taking risks to-qay Have we not men exploring the depths of the sea, train- ing and making friends with dangerous animals and with danger in every shape and form, playing with gigantic physical forces, balancing on the rims of lakes of molten metal —** Passworthy: “But all that is to make the world safe for man — safe for happiness.” Cabal: “No. The world will never be safe for man — and there is no happiness in safety. You haven't got things right, Passwotthy. Qur fathers and our fathers’ fathers cleaned up the old order of things because it killed children, because it killed people unprepared for death, because it tormented people in vain, because it outraged human pride and dignity, because it was an ugly spectacle of waste. But that was only the be- ginning. There is nothing wrong in suffering, if you suffer for a purpose. Our revolution did not abolish death or danger. It simply made death and danger worth while.” Morden Mitani enters suddenly. He is in a state of intense excitement. Cabal stands up abruptly with an anxious face. Mitani: “Cabal! The gun is in urgent danger. It is a race against time now to save it. Things have hap- pened very rapidly. Theotocopulos is out with a crowd of people. He is going to the Space Gun now. They are going to break it up. They say it is the symbol of your tyranny.” “Have they weapons?” “Bars of metal. They can emash electric cables. They can do no end of mischief.” *‘Are there no weapons on our side? Cannot your traffic control produce a police?”’ “Very few. We have nothing but the Gas of Peace. And it isn’t ready. It will take hours yet. There are some young people we can gather. We must Assistant shows the identification disc on his gauntlet: “William Jeans. Astronomical Staff — Space Gun.” Mitani: “They must go afoot. We have stopped the airways. They will take an hour or more to get there. Even those who have started already. And then they will hesitate.” Asgsistant: “That gun must not be broken up. That vast piece of work. The pity of it —if they smash it! When the trial experiments have all been made! When everything was* ready!” : Maurice: ‘“When everything was ready.” He is struck by a thought; he looks at Catherine. Catherine under- stands him. Passworthy: ““And if they smash up this infernal gun —then honor is satisfied and you need not go.” Maurice: “Oh, Father! Father!” Cabal: “They won’t smash the gun.” Maurice, eagerly to assistant: “Sup- pose the gun was fired now? Would the cylinder reach the moon?” Assistant looking at his watch: “It would miss now and fly into outer space. It is now five. If the gun is fired about seven . . .” Catherine: “And — it could be?”’ Assistant: “Yes.” Maurice and Catherine look at each other. They understand each other. Catherine: “Then..."” Maurice: *‘We go now.” Cabal: “And why not?” Assistant: “That is perfectly pos- sible.” Passworthy cries out: “I protest! . Oh! I don’t know what to say. Don't go! Don’t go!” Maurice: “If we don’t go now — we may never go. And all the rest of our lives we shall feel that we have shirked and lived in vain. . .. This supremely is what we two are for. Father, we have to go.” Mob groups from different city en- trances collecting together and march- ing to the gun. This mob has the well- groomed look which is universal in the new world. It is not a social con- flict we are witnessing. It is not the Haves attacked by the Have Nots: it is the Doers attacked by Do-Nots. In an airplane. Cabal, Passworthy, Catherine and Maurice a@s they are getting out of the airplane. The Space Gun, monumental, tre- mendous, overwhelming. On the framework-are young athletes, who discover Catherine and Maurice and hail them enthusiastically. Catherine and Maurice go towards their friends. Fraternal reception. Cabal, Pass- worthy and Mitani follow slowly. They come to'a lift. Cabal and Passworthy stand at the entrance. Mitani is beside the door. Mitani to Cabal: “Go up to the platform. We can guard this below.” Cabal and Passworthy enter the lift, arrive on a high platform a score of yards or so below the level of the cylinder which is to be shot at the moon. This hangs at present over the mouth of the gun and is held by almost invisibly delicate metal supports. Cabal comes out from the lift upon this-high platform, followed by Pass- worthy. He goes to a railing and looks down. In the distance are Theoto- copulos and his crowd advancing 13 through the supports towards the Space Gun. Cabal, Passworthy, Cathe- rine, Maurice stand on the platform. They look up. The cylinder is seen close above their heads, being low- ered slowly towards the muzzle of the gun, £ in volume as it draws nearer. Theoto- copulos and his mob appear at the edge of the cliff and come up against the sky. They stop abruptly — and stare at the cylinder being lowered until it hangs at the mouth of the gun. Theotocopulos discovers Cabal and points: “There is the man —" Cries of indignation. The subse- quent conversation is shouted by means of amplifiers across a great space. Behind Cabal are Passworthy, Catherine and Maurice. A young mechanic approaches them. “Every- thing is ready.” There is a moment of tension. Catherine takes a quite silent leave of her father. Maurice grips Passworthy’s hands in both of his in an attempt to reassure him and give hin courage and dignity. . . . Catherine and Maurice turn away, followed by the mechanic. A close up of Cabal shows his face distressfully calm. Theotocopulos: “There is the man who would offer up his daughter to the Devil of Science.” Cabal becomes aware of these words and is roused by them; he walks to the railing and addresses Theotocopulos: “What do you want here?”’ “We want to save these young people from your experiments. We want to put an end to this inhuman foolery. We want to make the world safe for men. We mean to destroy that gun.” *“And how will you do that?"’ “Oh! We have electricians with us, wo ” “We have a right to do what we like with our own lives — with our sort of lives.” Theotocopulos: “No.” “We do not grudge you your artistic life. You have safety, plenty, all you need.” “We want to live the common ancient life of man.” “No one prevents you.” “How can we do that when your science and inventions are perpetu- ally changing life for us — when you are everlastingly rebuilding and con- triving strange things about us? We don’t want this expedition. We don’t want mankind to go out to the moon and the planets. Is there never to be rest in this world?” Y Passworthy has listened to the dialogue, suffering mutely. Now he turns upon Cabal. But he shouts for everyone to hear. “Yes. I, too, ask you—is there never to be rest? Never? This is my son. And he has rebelled against me. What he does, he does against the instincts of my heart. Cabal, I implore you. Is there never to be calm and happiness for mankind?”’ A tremendous outburst greets his words from the mob. They begin to LET “BEN-GAY” STOP THAT STABBING PAIN{ Don'’t suffer those murderous stab- bing pains of neuralgia when there is such an easy, inexpensive means of relieving neuralgia pains! That easy way is Baume ‘‘Ben- Gay."” Rub it on the affected area. ... Feel the pain quiet down, evaporate. ‘‘Ben-Gay’s" medication penetrates RUB PAIN AWAY WITH the skin, is absorbed by the blood stream, and actually gets right at the pain. Keep a tube handy! Apply it generously when those first stab- bing twinges begin to get you. But besure it's “Ben-Gay,” the only true Baume Analgésique. BAUME “BEN-GAY"