“Oh, no, of course not. The computations were all verified by actual experiment. With the aid of two accomplished engineers, Agripides made a small model of the continent and the surrounding ocean, accurately reproducing every detail; and, having stimulated an explosion under the proper conditions, he found that the miniature island sank precisely as he expected the real island to do.” “Even so,” I argued, “would not the explosion have shattered the entire crust of the earth? And would not the great glass dome have been split and ruined even if the ground beneath it remained firm?” “All that was duly provided for,” explained Aelios. “The submergence was to be so gradual as to require several hours; and since the explosion was to occur under the sea rather than under the island itself, it would shatter the crust of the earth only in remote localities, and the shock would not be severe enough to affect the glass wall. In other words--to make another comparison--the island was to be like a ship that sinks in its entirety after striking the reefs, although only the prow is damaged and the rest remains uninjured.” “Yes, I understand perfectly,” said I, recalling my recent experiences in the X-111. “But even assuming that the experiment was perfectly safe, how did Agripides ever persuade the people to sink their homes beneath the sea?” “It was precisely there that he proved his greatness,” said Aelios, casting an admiring glance in the direction of Agripides’ statue. “Well knowing that imagination is the most powerful force in human life, he began to work upon the imagination of the masses to show the dangers of civilization. Simultaneously with the publication of his plans for the Submergence, he opened to the public an enormous exhibition palace in which he presented the most ghastly display in history. With the vision of the social philosopher and the intuition of the prophet, he had constructed in miniature the Atlantis of the future as he conceived it would be--and no man could gaze upon that Atlantis without heartily praying for the Submergence. The landscape had been blasted, muddied and made black, and scarcely a green leaf could be seen; steel towers and smokestacks dotted the island until it looked like a range of artificial hills; great wheels and chains whirled and rattled in the dark interiors of the buildings, and to each wheel and chain a man was tied; and the huge engines and motors were fed with the blood of men, and watered with their tears. Innumerable multitudes--not only of men but of women, and of sickly, pinch-faced children--were bound as slaves to the machines, and responded to automatic orders that the machines flashed forth; and after they had served long and their limbs were growing frail, they were crushed and mangled by the very masters they had served, or else were cast out to perish like frost-bitten flies. But the great wheels never ceased to turn or the levers to clatter, and