Adventure Magazine Cover — page 82: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

~ Jat a ee = the pildendertiandiog. hunger and so maneh | that would have hurt bitterly had I allowed it to. All this had built an armor-belt around my feelings, so that the calamity of ____ Civilization’s fall and the terrible end of its _-~—-—~people had merely disturbed my intelli- gence ~without affecting my emotions. Grief for the people of the world had never even occurred to me. But Eve’s tears released all the long-pent sensibilities in a flood, and I almost wept myself. _ “The poor things,” she went on. “I saw one eating grass in a garden. I’m sure it will make him sick and I suppose the others will do the same. And then—their clothes!” She blushed furiously. “Is there nothing we can do for them? If we don’t, some are sure to die from exposure before the hypnotism wears off.” She did not know, then. I thought it well to get her mind away from the worst of it. “How did you happen to take hiding in here?” I asked. “T was the chief operator and I stayed,” she answered simply, seeing nothing, ap- parently, in her wonderful devotion to duty. “Then, of course, although I saw none, I was afraid to go out because of the Hindus.” if And——”’ I began, then stopped. “Yes,” she said, “it was bad of me, I know, but I was afraid some of the awful men I saw the other day might have been saved, too.” ‘You used Sinclair’s words, then?” “Yes.” She paused, evidently hurt by some recollection. “But I could not per- suade anybody else to use them. They all laughed at me.”’ I had not even attempted to persuade anybody else. We were silent for a while. There was so much to talk about that we did not know where to begin. ~* / “Do you think there are any others?” she finally asked. “No,”’ I replied. “Oh! Why not?” “Because history will have repeated it- self,” I-said with the certainty of un- provable intuition. She stared at me silently. ‘Just as Sinclair said,” I went on, ‘“‘this thing occurred before and was told about in the Bible. There were only two saved in the Bible story, and from them——’”’ = broke off in eso When I eae aim oo oe Sa w= a - oO : oe ™ Fs T : = €& net i SF, Pi # Se | i _ = eet \ ee age se = we oe Pe Ne PeSuS SF i, 24 =\@ ¢ = ‘ oe to ‘Took at lee he, was ae out of the : window. Asa diplomat, I realized I lacked reticence. | But this sort of thing could lead nowhere: We were acting as if nothing had happened, as if civilization were going along in the same old way, and as if the conventions, the restraint between two people meeting for the first time had to be kept up. Things had to be faced, for, while we were hardly on a desert island, there was still the mat- ter of food supply to be taken care of. Some system must be devised, for I was deter- mined that no hand-to-mouth, day-to-day sort of living should be mine. “We may as well face it,” I said suddenly. ‘We are the only two saved, I am sure, and we must arrange for our future. One thing I will say, however, and that is that although you and I are the last representa- tives of our civilization, and for that reason would be expected to seek one another’s society, if you find my society distasteful_ you have only to say so and I will leave you and never see you again until you send for me. The decision is in your hands. “Oh, by the way, should you wish me to go away from you, but are doubtful about your ability to take care of yourself, I will promise to leave a sufficient quantity of food and other necessaries at any place you may care to designate.” . And, feeling rather Patrick-Henry-like, I stood up, waiting for the girl to decide. ~— Her answer, bless her, was distinctly feminine. “Don’t you like me?” she whispered. Then, the first time for days, I laughed. It was so womanlike, this disregard of all that I had said. “Well,” I replied cautiously, “I—er—you see, I have not known you very long.” Then she laughed and the ice was broken between us—forever. . . . TEN YEARS LATER Pye easy reach of Seattle by motor-boat are many islands. One of these, in a virgin state of nature, as far as possible from the chance of pestilence, I selected for our home, and there we have been very happy. In the beginning I brought food and all | things needed from Seattle, but now we > are self-supporting, growing our own witeat. and — for our needs. rs a