Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth CenturyDonnelly, Ignatius
Science
Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
Donnelly, Ignatius
Dystopias -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Science fiction; Social problems -- Fiction; Twentieth century -- Fiction
All hands were set at work. A line was formed from the roof to the
rooms below; and everything of value that we desired to carry with us
was passed from hand to hand along the line and placed in heaps,
ready for removal. Even the women joined eagerly in the work. We did
not look for our messengers; they were to return to us in the
air-ship.
The afternoon was comparatively quiet. The mobs on the street seemed
to be looking for food rather than treasure. They were, however,
generally resting, worn out; they were sleeping--preparing for the
evening. With nightfall the saturnalia of death would begin again
with redoubled force.
We ate our dinner at six; and then Mr. Phillips suggested that we
should all join in family prayers. We might never have another
opportunity to do so, he said. He prayed long and earnestly to God to
save the world and protect his dear ones; and we all joined fervently
in his supplications to the throne of grace.
At half past seven, equipped for the journey, we were all upon the
roof, looking out in the direction of the west for the coming of the
Demon. A little before eight we saw it rise through the twilight
above the armory. Quincy, then, was true to his pledge. It came
rapidly toward us, high in the air; it circled around, and at last
began to descend just over our heads. It paused about ten feet above
the roof, and two ladders were let down. The ladies and Mr. Phillips
were first helped up to the deck of the vessel; and the men began to
carry up the boxes, bales, trunks, money, books and instruments we
had collected together.
Just at this moment a greater burst of tumult reached my ears. I went
to the parapet and looked down. Up the street, to the north, came a
vast concourse of people. It stretched far back for many blocks. My
first notion was that they were all drunk, their outcries were so
vociferous. They shouted, yelled and screamed. Some of them bore
torches, and at their head marched a ragged fellow with a long pole,
which he carried upright before him. At the top of it was a black
mass, which I could not make out in the twilight. At this instant
they caught sight of the Demon, and the uproar redoubled; they danced
like madmen, and I could hear Max's name shouted from a hundred lips.
"What does it mean?" I asked him.
"It means that they are after me. Hurry up, men," he continued,
"hurry up."
We all sprang to work; the women stood at the top and received the
smaller articles as a line of men passed them up.
Then came a thunderous voice from below:
"Open the door, or we will break it down."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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