September 25, 2025 • 25 mins
In this captivating sequel to Palos of the Dog Star Pack, Jason Croft embarks on a thrilling new chapter of his adventures on Palos. Having shed his earthly form, his astral projection now inhabits the body of a Palosian man. With his exceptional knowledge and skills, the high priest hails Jason as the voice of God. However, this divine status threatens to derail his ultimate goal marrying Naia, the very reason for his journey. Will he be able to navigate the complexities of his new role while pursuing love? - Summary by Krista Zaleski
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section thirteen of The Mouthpiece of Z two. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
To learn more or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Read by Tom Frea, Brielle, New Jersey. The Mouthpiece of
(00:28):
Z two by John Ulrich Geezy, Chapter thirteen New marvels
that Zitran II ran past. During it, word came from
Zitra that Jack Gor had approved and recommended for acceptance
(00:49):
by the National Assembly, that scheme for a chain of
schools among the masses Mutlass of Cathor had introduced. Thereupon,
often Jackgar selected several expert metal molders and set them
to work at making type, and Jason, choosing some of
the skilled workmen whom he had trained to exact methods
(01:13):
in making the motors months before, directed them now in
the building of a rather simple set of presses in
which the type should be used. Also looking to the future,
he commanded others of the motor mechanics to begin the
construction of half a dozen engines of somewhat different design.
(01:35):
Questioned by Robert as to his purpose, he explained that
these were destined to finish the lifting power for the
first Tamarisian airplanes Z two Z two, exclaimed the Governor
of Affir, flashing his perfect teeth. I doubt you not, Jason,
but my wonder does not cease. Recall you the morning
(01:58):
when you drove the first mode through the streets of
himaira and well nigh frightened the civic guards to death.
He smiled, and Jason laughed, and then he sobered. Yes,
he replied, And I recall also how the same morning
chithon lea Kan's driver lost control of the noupaus and
(02:19):
they bolted. And I spoke with Naya, thy fair cousin. First,
Robert nodded. He laid a hand on his companion's arm.
Fear not, he admonished, in sympathetic understanding. Though the maid
repel you because of a lack of understanding, Yet shall
she come to you at length? Aye? Krafft looked the
(02:42):
other man, full in the eyes, with meaning. Once more,
shall I place a zeal sign upon Nya of Affir's girdle.
Yet to all outward seeming he appeared immersed in his work,
and even as the dynamo and the turbines took shape,
he he sent men into the vast plain that stretched
(03:03):
between Himira and the mountains of AfOR to a spot
of his selection, and bade them build there a huge
shed to house his airplane fleet. Still others, he set
on the fashioning of ribs for the wings of the
planes themselves, to building the fuselage bodies out of sheets
of copper, and after a consultation with the local caste
(03:27):
of weavers, he picked on a fabric for the wings.
And with all his ceaseless activities, he still found time,
in a whimsical mood, to inaugurate among his workmen a
series of recreation and games, lest under the driving of
Robur and himself, the sweating laborers grow stale. Indeed, he
(03:51):
introduced a sort of competitive spirit in the various shops,
organizing from the members of each a separate club and
matching them one against the other in their sports. And
of all the games on which he might have picked,
Jason Croft, mouthpiece of Z TWU and virtual commander of
(04:11):
the remaking of a Nation, chose baseball. In this he
gave his at times bizarre, fancy full reign. The balls
were fashioned from well turned nope hyde about a rubber
corps with a covering of string. The bats were of tough,
resilient wood, which new devotees of the pastime swung with
(04:34):
might and maine. Then, for the first time on pelos
were heard the crack of the batsmen lining out a
clean drive, and the cry of the umpire Croft himself
at first ball four, take a free pass, strike one.
And because even the most serious mind must find relaxation
(04:57):
at times, Kraft found he enjoyed the matches between teams immensely,
while Robert entered with almost animal spirits into the rivalry
of the games and nearly pestered the life out of Jason,
trying to master the intricacies and comprehend the casual principles
involved in curves, in and outshoots, drops and brakes after
(05:22):
he had seen them first. Indeed, Jason had more than
one laugh after he discovered Robert in the bathing court
of the palace one morning, hurling a ball against a
backstop he had arranged and trying to learn to throw
it around a corner, as he somewhat naively explained. But
if Robert did not accomplish his purpose, several of the
(05:44):
pitchers eventually did to some extent, and Robert got a
laugh of his own when one of them, whom he
had secretly had Jason coach in the copper foundry team,
was produced. The batter, who happened to be up, swung
sharply at what looked like a slow and easy delivery,
and Affir's governor chuckled for days because the fellow very
(06:08):
nearly broke his neck when his bat failed to find
the ball where he thought it was. Croft's main satisfaction, however,
in the success of the innovation lay in the fact
that from rivalry in the game, it was but a
step to rivalry between the various corps of laborers in
the shops. He took that step and introduced a system
(06:32):
of bonuses and holidays for increased production or extra efficient work.
And because the Tamarisians were a pleasure loving people, the
plan was a success. From the first, working three shifts,
as he had before the Solarian War, Kroft found his
plans progress five weeks the length of a zitron. After
(06:57):
his return from the mountains, found his his turbines, finished,
his dynamo ready to be transported and assembled in its
appointed place. That place was ready to receive it. As
Croft knew from several trips he had taken to it
in one of his swiftest motors. A stone powerhouse had
(07:18):
been erected, the pen stocks were in place, diverting gates
were prepared to turn the stream into them at the
proper moment and send it roaring through the turbines in
the pits. Telling Robur to send men into the mountains
to cut poles, and giving him a model of insulators
to be made of glass, Jason loaded the sections of
(07:40):
his dynamo upon his fleet of transports and set forth
again on his journey to the hills. Thereafter, for two
weeks he toiled and sweated, thankful at least for the
fact that in Tamarisia, labor was plentiful and regulated by
government control in regard to wais ages carefully estimated on
(08:02):
a living scale, so that the dissatisfaction and continual strikes
of earth were unknown. The condition enabled him to command
what workmen needed, and rest assured of a steady advance
in the projects he undertook. More than once in that
long hot fourteen suns, Robert drove out to inspect the
(08:25):
progress made and marvel and report the insulators being turned
out in satisfactory shape, and the poles coming down from
the hills on creaking motor trucks. Kroft gave him drawings
to guide him in setting up a line of power
poles across the desert from Himayra toward the mountains, and
(08:46):
at night, when his weary workmen were sleeping, plunged into
the task of devising Tamarizia's first electric lights. At first,
he confined his plans to small sized arcs, intending to
get public demonstration before he went on with the attempt
to devise incandescence for inside use. Coal was coming down
(09:09):
from the vein he had discovered by now in quantity
sufficient to use in the copper smelters, and he decided
to gain his carbons from this converted into coke. After
several nights of intensive working, he pushed aside his finished
plans and drew a long breath of relief. The thing
(09:31):
was done. Kraft's eyes flashed. This enlightenment of a people
and a nation was becoming wellnigh and obsessing delight in
his brain. It partook almost of the nature of creation,
despite the fact that he knew those things he was
producing were but crude copies of familiar things he had
(09:52):
formerly known as concomitants of life. For as he had
said to Robert and Ti Zud and to Naya herself,
he was a man, was human in all his impulses
and feelings, regardless of the marvelous control of the spirit.
He had learned, and he thrilled with a personal satisfaction
(10:14):
in the success of each new endeavor, the wonder each
new product of his scheming excited in other brains. From
Robert he learned that Gaya had returned to the palace,
bringing Nya with her for an indefinite stay. That indeed
was in accordance with his plans for so soon as
(10:36):
he had realized that Guya meant to throw the girl
and himself into a closer association, as he did after
the conversation he had heard between the two women, he
had purposely meant to be absent from Jemaira himself when
the woman he loved arrived. Croft could not have been
(10:56):
either ware or what he was had he been devoid
of a vast psychological knowledge and deep as were his
own emotions strong, as was his own impulse to indulge
a desire for Nia's closer presence. Yet in all he
did at that time, he followed a deliberately mapped out
(11:16):
course for the accomplishment of his purpose. During those days,
as her words to Gaia had shown him very clearly,
Naya Vaffer's mental condition was one of vague unrest, and
the principal cause of that unrest was, as Craft knew himself,
(11:37):
the new estrangement between them, her act in returning his
betrothal jewel in so dramatic a manner. Those subsequent excursions
into the unknown world of the astral plane, which he
had brought about, and which she was as yet unable
to consider other than as vagaries of a sleeping brain,
had induced within her a state of inn introspection which,
(12:01):
even more than his immediate presence, he felt sure must
serve his purpose best. She had cried out, in a
sympathy seeking confusion to the wife of his friend that
she had sought him that day in the mountains as
a sort of test, a means of convincing herself if
her visioning were false or real. She had admitted that,
(12:25):
even despite her former reluctance to consider a possible mundane
love between Croft in his present body and herself, he
had appealed to her that day in his physical form
and strength, and she had complained that he had not
kept the promise given by his astral form to hers
to return to her. So again had confessed that she
(12:47):
had sought for a renewal of those two former meetings,
had tried to repeat her dreams. Jason Croft, erecting his
dynamo harnessing it to his turbines with heavy beltings of
nupe hide, felt that the very desire he had awakened
de Nia's soul would do its work better while it
(13:10):
remained unsatisfied, would gain in strength as the days passed
into weeks, would receive an added poignancy when she arrived
at him Myra and found him gone again to the hills,
engaged without any seeming distraction attributable to herself on his work.
For Croft knew very very well that one of the
(13:33):
great laws of all mating consists in this that until
mating itself is accomplished, one element retreats, while the other
constantly seeks. Before desire itself in the one awakens desire
in the other, and thereby bringing both elements together, strikes
out of them life's fire. Yet night after night his
(13:58):
work finished. Stretched on a rough couch, Croft yearned for
this woman of all the worlds to his soul. Night
after night he lay picturing her as he had known her,
revealing their every association together, from his first sight of
her in her father's carriage to those two weird astro
(14:18):
meetings which had occurred. He pictured her beauty of face
and form, the subtle strength of the latter, its litheness,
its wonderful grace. He saw it in his mind's eye
as he had seen it time and again in life.
And there were times when he quivered and stretched out
(14:39):
his arms, which throbbed with a strange numb aching, remembering,
as it seemed in their very substance, the soft, warm
pressure of her flesh, the glory of her former surrender,
to the caress of their embrace. There were times when
his lips writhed as he recalled their first meeting with
her mouth, that quick, spontaneous giving and taking of a kiss,
(15:04):
before she had cried out that now now he must
win her, or else by the customs of her country,
she stood a maid disgrace, had cried it, And yet
before she left him, on that same occasion, had crept
to him inviting a second kiss. And though at such things,
(15:27):
Kroft thrilled, as may any man thrill at the thought
of the one woman who can drive him to madness
as a man. Yet unlike the ordinary mortal, he thrilled
still more the beauty of her soul, For, unlike the
customary lover, Croft had seen it, and because of his
knowledge of such matters, because he knew the meanings in
(15:48):
a spiritual sense of certain vibrations, because he could interpret
the meaning involved in auric colors, he knew that only
a chastely pure spirit possessed an aura of blue and gold. Wherefore,
great as was his glory in his recollections of her
physical beauty and charm, greater still was his exultation, recalling
(16:11):
how even like her golden hair and purple eyes, that
glorious image of her being he had twice called from
it glowed. Glorious was she in body, beautiful in soul.
And Croft, lying while the knight wrapped the mountain and
the stream plunging over the rocks in its bed, sent
(16:32):
its murmur to his ears, renewed once more his purpose,
and swore by all the highest forces in his conception
that ere this thing was finished, that glory and beauty
should be his, but in his own way, the true way,
the way in which two chemical atoms might come together, gladly,
(16:54):
almost unconsciously, because of compelling force, affinity, desire. Let the
word bird used be what it might, since in the
great law of z two or God, they were the same.
And it was so Kroft meant to claim that woman,
body and soul, whom he felt was his true twin,
(17:16):
that glorious complement of his entire nature, that load star
of his being, who had drawn him to her across
the empty void between the stars. On the fourteenth day,
Robert came up from Emira at Croft's request. Jason met
him as he descended from his motor and led him
(17:37):
into the newly constructed powerhouse. There, on a masonry and
copper base, insulated by a heavy plate of glass, stood
what was as yet Tamarizia's most wonderful device. Bolted and
belted to the driving gear of the turbine. It stood
waiting but the driving force of the water through a
(18:00):
penstock to wake it into life. Croft's eyes blazed with
something of excitement as he gestured toward it. Behold, rob
he said, with this shall we harness the lightnings and
bid them do our will. With this shall we light
the streets of Himaira, and the fire eurns, along the
(18:21):
knaw and the palace, the houses of all men in Emaira.
First in all affort. At the last, with this shall
we er we are done drive the wheels in many shops,
which now returned by men and beasts in treadmills, were
upon the windless bars. So shall it come at last,
(18:42):
that by the mere pressure of a hand upon a lever,
those wheels shall move these things, I promise you rob Behold,
he waved a hand to a captain standing by the
door of the house, and he in turn signaled to
a workman not far off, And he, who had been waiting,
lifted a trumpet to his lips and blew a blast.
(19:05):
It was the sign on which Croft had agreed for
the men high up on the mountain to open the
penstock gate. Yet for a moment there was nothing to
mark the effect, until, with a whisper rising to a roar,
the huge pipe filled and discharged its plunging contents against
(19:25):
the waiting wheel. Then, as the wheel turned and the
belt of nupa hyde revolved there crept through the new
rock house a strange and droning hum, louder and louder.
It rose as faster and faster as shining armature. Witchcroft
and Robert watched spun round faster and faster, louder and louder.
(19:49):
Blue sparks began to shine and quiver under the copper brushes,
and suddenly, with a blinding scintillation, a hissing crash, a
giant spark leap the gap between the terminals of the
two wires Croft had arranged to test the ascending charge
Z two above the crackling discharged. The captain in the
(20:11):
door cried out, fly, we are undone man of Z two. Fly.
He staggered back and paused, and stood staring vaguely, reassured
at the smile of triumph on Croft's face. Fear not,
Jason told him quickly, as he struck up a lever,
(20:31):
released the tension of the belt and caused the first
dynamo on Pelo's to sink from a dizzy whirling toward rest.
This moment speaks success for all our toil of weeks.
Go tell the men on the pipes to close the gates.
Robert's face too was pale, well nigh as that of
(20:52):
the captain's, though he had held his place. His lips
were close prests, however, and his nostril slightly pinched. Then,
as Kroft so easily chained the fiery breathing of the
monster he had produced, his eyes began to flash. By zitu,
and by zitu he swore the Tamarisian oath of wonder. Jason,
(21:19):
you have indeed harnessed his own lightning, as you have said.
For a moment I feared that his wrath were excited
by your daring, and he had sent a bolt of
his fire to destroy us with the house. He broke
off with an almost shame faced laugh. Yet now it
gentles like a wild nupa under its master's hand. He
(21:42):
went on again, as the dynamo stopped, and not remained
save the dwindling rush of the waters through the waste
pipes from the turbine beneath their feet. Zito, my friend,
but all men shall marvel yet as I do now,
at this, what plan you next? Light? Said Kroft. Light first,
(22:06):
and after that, to make use in all the ways
I mentioned of this force to turn the wheels and shops,
to run the presses I have made, to print from type,
and so supply the schools Jack Gore has favored, with
the means of broadening men's minds, to print for them
and their children, and so to spread the truth. Thou
(22:29):
wilt build a city here to do these things, Roburr questioned,
as yet unable to fully sense quite all Croft's words,
embraced no. Jason told him, this power shall flow from
here to Jmaira, rob across the line of poles your
men are building along the wires, z too, the governor
(22:52):
of Affir stared. Kroft smiled. Tomorrow he went on, I
return to Emyra to arrange for the making of lights
and a demonstration of their working, when the time is ripe.
And suddenly his whole face lighted at an inward thought,
Nia Rob tell me of her. For suddenly, at the
(23:15):
mention of his return, her picture had leaped before him.
The certainty had come upon him that in Emira he
should meet her, speak to her dwell beneath the roof
of the same house. And the accomplishment at which Robert
of Jemaira was staring in awe struck wonder the great
dynamo successful in its primary test, and all it stood
(23:39):
for sank into nothingness. Before the thought nya of Affir's face,
the hinted perfume of her presence blotted it out. Thou
wilt see her, said Robert. Of course it was as
though he read Crop's thought. And could you see her
now as each sun I said her, perchance you would
(24:02):
feel as do I, that she will be glad of
your coming now at last, like one without purpose, she moves. Jason,
my strange friend, whom I love, is no other man.
Yet do not understand there is the look of one
who waits for one who comes not in her eyes.
In their purple depths they hold a question, ever, that
(24:25):
makes them doubly dark. Yet if at times I say
I am driving forth to meet you, I have seen
her lay a white hand over God's snowy fountain beneath
her robe. I have seen her lips part as though
to speak or question concerning thee, And having returned, I
have known that her ears were like thirsty lips to
(24:47):
drink in what reports I made regarding the progress of
your work. Yet in such mood is she sweeter more? Desirable,
as it seems to me, than ever in her life.
Kroft nodded. Not more desirable to me, he said, than
the first sun whereon I saw her. To day I
(25:08):
place a guard and send the workmen back to Emira.
Tomorrow I shall come. End of Section thirteen.
Section thirteen of The Mouthpiece of Z two. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
To learn more or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Read by Tom Frea, Brielle, New Jersey. The Mouthpiece of
(00:28):
Z two by John Ulrich Geezy, Chapter thirteen New marvels
that Zitran II ran past. During it, word came from
Zitra that Jack Gor had approved and recommended for acceptance
(00:49):
by the National Assembly, that scheme for a chain of
schools among the masses Mutlass of Cathor had introduced. Thereupon,
often Jackgar selected several expert metal molders and set them
to work at making type, and Jason, choosing some of
the skilled workmen whom he had trained to exact methods
(01:13):
in making the motors months before, directed them now in
the building of a rather simple set of presses in
which the type should be used. Also looking to the future,
he commanded others of the motor mechanics to begin the
construction of half a dozen engines of somewhat different design.
(01:35):
Questioned by Robert as to his purpose, he explained that
these were destined to finish the lifting power for the
first Tamarisian airplanes Z two Z two, exclaimed the Governor
of Affir, flashing his perfect teeth. I doubt you not, Jason,
but my wonder does not cease. Recall you the morning
(01:58):
when you drove the first mode through the streets of
himaira and well nigh frightened the civic guards to death.
He smiled, and Jason laughed, and then he sobered. Yes,
he replied, And I recall also how the same morning
chithon lea Kan's driver lost control of the noupaus and
(02:19):
they bolted. And I spoke with Naya, thy fair cousin. First,
Robert nodded. He laid a hand on his companion's arm.
Fear not, he admonished, in sympathetic understanding. Though the maid
repel you because of a lack of understanding, Yet shall
she come to you at length? Aye? Krafft looked the
(02:42):
other man, full in the eyes, with meaning. Once more,
shall I place a zeal sign upon Nya of Affir's girdle.
Yet to all outward seeming he appeared immersed in his work,
and even as the dynamo and the turbines took shape,
he he sent men into the vast plain that stretched
(03:03):
between Himira and the mountains of AfOR to a spot
of his selection, and bade them build there a huge
shed to house his airplane fleet. Still others, he set
on the fashioning of ribs for the wings of the
planes themselves, to building the fuselage bodies out of sheets
of copper, and after a consultation with the local caste
(03:27):
of weavers, he picked on a fabric for the wings.
And with all his ceaseless activities, he still found time,
in a whimsical mood, to inaugurate among his workmen a
series of recreation and games, lest under the driving of
Robur and himself, the sweating laborers grow stale. Indeed, he
(03:51):
introduced a sort of competitive spirit in the various shops,
organizing from the members of each a separate club and
matching them one against the other in their sports. And
of all the games on which he might have picked,
Jason Croft, mouthpiece of Z TWU and virtual commander of
(04:11):
the remaking of a Nation, chose baseball. In this he
gave his at times bizarre, fancy full reign. The balls
were fashioned from well turned nope hyde about a rubber
corps with a covering of string. The bats were of tough,
resilient wood, which new devotees of the pastime swung with
(04:34):
might and maine. Then, for the first time on pelos
were heard the crack of the batsmen lining out a
clean drive, and the cry of the umpire Croft himself
at first ball four, take a free pass, strike one.
And because even the most serious mind must find relaxation
(04:57):
at times, Kraft found he enjoyed the matches between teams immensely,
while Robert entered with almost animal spirits into the rivalry
of the games and nearly pestered the life out of Jason,
trying to master the intricacies and comprehend the casual principles
involved in curves, in and outshoots, drops and brakes after
(05:22):
he had seen them first. Indeed, Jason had more than
one laugh after he discovered Robert in the bathing court
of the palace one morning, hurling a ball against a
backstop he had arranged and trying to learn to throw
it around a corner, as he somewhat naively explained. But
if Robert did not accomplish his purpose, several of the
(05:44):
pitchers eventually did to some extent, and Robert got a
laugh of his own when one of them, whom he
had secretly had Jason coach in the copper foundry team,
was produced. The batter, who happened to be up, swung
sharply at what looked like a slow and easy delivery,
and Affir's governor chuckled for days because the fellow very
(06:08):
nearly broke his neck when his bat failed to find
the ball where he thought it was. Croft's main satisfaction, however,
in the success of the innovation lay in the fact
that from rivalry in the game, it was but a
step to rivalry between the various corps of laborers in
the shops. He took that step and introduced a system
(06:32):
of bonuses and holidays for increased production or extra efficient work.
And because the Tamarisians were a pleasure loving people, the
plan was a success. From the first, working three shifts,
as he had before the Solarian War, Kroft found his
plans progress five weeks the length of a zitron. After
(06:57):
his return from the mountains, found his his turbines, finished,
his dynamo ready to be transported and assembled in its
appointed place. That place was ready to receive it. As
Croft knew from several trips he had taken to it
in one of his swiftest motors. A stone powerhouse had
(07:18):
been erected, the pen stocks were in place, diverting gates
were prepared to turn the stream into them at the
proper moment and send it roaring through the turbines in
the pits. Telling Robur to send men into the mountains
to cut poles, and giving him a model of insulators
to be made of glass, Jason loaded the sections of
(07:40):
his dynamo upon his fleet of transports and set forth
again on his journey to the hills. Thereafter, for two
weeks he toiled and sweated, thankful at least for the
fact that in Tamarisia, labor was plentiful and regulated by
government control in regard to wais ages carefully estimated on
(08:02):
a living scale, so that the dissatisfaction and continual strikes
of earth were unknown. The condition enabled him to command
what workmen needed, and rest assured of a steady advance
in the projects he undertook. More than once in that
long hot fourteen suns, Robert drove out to inspect the
(08:25):
progress made and marvel and report the insulators being turned
out in satisfactory shape, and the poles coming down from
the hills on creaking motor trucks. Kroft gave him drawings
to guide him in setting up a line of power
poles across the desert from Himayra toward the mountains, and
(08:46):
at night, when his weary workmen were sleeping, plunged into
the task of devising Tamarizia's first electric lights. At first,
he confined his plans to small sized arcs, intending to
get public demonstration before he went on with the attempt
to devise incandescence for inside use. Coal was coming down
(09:09):
from the vein he had discovered by now in quantity
sufficient to use in the copper smelters, and he decided
to gain his carbons from this converted into coke. After
several nights of intensive working, he pushed aside his finished
plans and drew a long breath of relief. The thing
(09:31):
was done. Kraft's eyes flashed. This enlightenment of a people
and a nation was becoming wellnigh and obsessing delight in
his brain. It partook almost of the nature of creation,
despite the fact that he knew those things he was
producing were but crude copies of familiar things he had
(09:52):
formerly known as concomitants of life. For as he had
said to Robert and Ti Zud and to Naya herself,
he was a man, was human in all his impulses
and feelings, regardless of the marvelous control of the spirit.
He had learned, and he thrilled with a personal satisfaction
(10:14):
in the success of each new endeavor, the wonder each
new product of his scheming excited in other brains. From
Robert he learned that Gaya had returned to the palace,
bringing Nya with her for an indefinite stay. That indeed
was in accordance with his plans for so soon as
(10:36):
he had realized that Guya meant to throw the girl
and himself into a closer association, as he did after
the conversation he had heard between the two women, he
had purposely meant to be absent from Jemaira himself when
the woman he loved arrived. Croft could not have been
(10:56):
either ware or what he was had he been devoid
of a vast psychological knowledge and deep as were his
own emotions strong, as was his own impulse to indulge
a desire for Nia's closer presence. Yet in all he
did at that time, he followed a deliberately mapped out
(11:16):
course for the accomplishment of his purpose. During those days,
as her words to Gaia had shown him very clearly,
Naya Vaffer's mental condition was one of vague unrest, and
the principal cause of that unrest was, as Craft knew himself,
(11:37):
the new estrangement between them, her act in returning his
betrothal jewel in so dramatic a manner. Those subsequent excursions
into the unknown world of the astral plane, which he
had brought about, and which she was as yet unable
to consider other than as vagaries of a sleeping brain,
had induced within her a state of inn introspection which,
(12:01):
even more than his immediate presence, he felt sure must
serve his purpose best. She had cried out, in a
sympathy seeking confusion to the wife of his friend that
she had sought him that day in the mountains as
a sort of test, a means of convincing herself if
her visioning were false or real. She had admitted that,
(12:25):
even despite her former reluctance to consider a possible mundane
love between Croft in his present body and herself, he
had appealed to her that day in his physical form
and strength, and she had complained that he had not
kept the promise given by his astral form to hers
to return to her. So again had confessed that she
(12:47):
had sought for a renewal of those two former meetings,
had tried to repeat her dreams. Jason Croft, erecting his
dynamo harnessing it to his turbines with heavy beltings of
nupe hide, felt that the very desire he had awakened
de Nia's soul would do its work better while it
(13:10):
remained unsatisfied, would gain in strength as the days passed
into weeks, would receive an added poignancy when she arrived
at him Myra and found him gone again to the hills,
engaged without any seeming distraction attributable to herself on his work.
For Croft knew very very well that one of the
(13:33):
great laws of all mating consists in this that until
mating itself is accomplished, one element retreats, while the other
constantly seeks. Before desire itself in the one awakens desire
in the other, and thereby bringing both elements together, strikes
out of them life's fire. Yet night after night his
(13:58):
work finished. Stretched on a rough couch, Croft yearned for
this woman of all the worlds to his soul. Night
after night he lay picturing her as he had known her,
revealing their every association together, from his first sight of
her in her father's carriage to those two weird astro
(14:18):
meetings which had occurred. He pictured her beauty of face
and form, the subtle strength of the latter, its litheness,
its wonderful grace. He saw it in his mind's eye
as he had seen it time and again in life.
And there were times when he quivered and stretched out
(14:39):
his arms, which throbbed with a strange numb aching, remembering,
as it seemed in their very substance, the soft, warm
pressure of her flesh, the glory of her former surrender,
to the caress of their embrace. There were times when
his lips writhed as he recalled their first meeting with
her mouth, that quick, spontaneous giving and taking of a kiss,
(15:04):
before she had cried out that now now he must
win her, or else by the customs of her country,
she stood a maid disgrace, had cried it, And yet
before she left him, on that same occasion, had crept
to him inviting a second kiss. And though at such things,
(15:27):
Kroft thrilled, as may any man thrill at the thought
of the one woman who can drive him to madness
as a man. Yet unlike the ordinary mortal, he thrilled
still more the beauty of her soul, For, unlike the
customary lover, Croft had seen it, and because of his
knowledge of such matters, because he knew the meanings in
(15:48):
a spiritual sense of certain vibrations, because he could interpret
the meaning involved in auric colors, he knew that only
a chastely pure spirit possessed an aura of blue and gold. Wherefore,
great as was his glory in his recollections of her
physical beauty and charm, greater still was his exultation, recalling
(16:11):
how even like her golden hair and purple eyes, that
glorious image of her being he had twice called from
it glowed. Glorious was she in body, beautiful in soul.
And Croft, lying while the knight wrapped the mountain and
the stream plunging over the rocks in its bed, sent
(16:32):
its murmur to his ears, renewed once more his purpose,
and swore by all the highest forces in his conception
that ere this thing was finished, that glory and beauty
should be his, but in his own way, the true way,
the way in which two chemical atoms might come together, gladly,
(16:54):
almost unconsciously, because of compelling force, affinity, desire. Let the
word bird used be what it might, since in the
great law of z two or God, they were the same.
And it was so Kroft meant to claim that woman,
body and soul, whom he felt was his true twin,
(17:16):
that glorious complement of his entire nature, that load star
of his being, who had drawn him to her across
the empty void between the stars. On the fourteenth day,
Robert came up from Emira at Croft's request. Jason met
him as he descended from his motor and led him
(17:37):
into the newly constructed powerhouse. There, on a masonry and
copper base, insulated by a heavy plate of glass, stood
what was as yet Tamarizia's most wonderful device. Bolted and
belted to the driving gear of the turbine. It stood
waiting but the driving force of the water through a
(18:00):
penstock to wake it into life. Croft's eyes blazed with
something of excitement as he gestured toward it. Behold, rob
he said, with this shall we harness the lightnings and
bid them do our will. With this shall we light
the streets of Himaira, and the fire eurns, along the
(18:21):
knaw and the palace, the houses of all men in Emaira.
First in all affort. At the last, with this shall
we er we are done drive the wheels in many shops,
which now returned by men and beasts in treadmills, were
upon the windless bars. So shall it come at last,
(18:42):
that by the mere pressure of a hand upon a lever,
those wheels shall move these things, I promise you rob Behold,
he waved a hand to a captain standing by the
door of the house, and he in turn signaled to
a workman not far off, And he, who had been waiting,
lifted a trumpet to his lips and blew a blast.
(19:05):
It was the sign on which Croft had agreed for
the men high up on the mountain to open the
penstock gate. Yet for a moment there was nothing to
mark the effect, until, with a whisper rising to a roar,
the huge pipe filled and discharged its plunging contents against
(19:25):
the waiting wheel. Then, as the wheel turned and the
belt of nupa hyde revolved there crept through the new
rock house a strange and droning hum, louder and louder.
It rose as faster and faster as shining armature. Witchcroft
and Robert watched spun round faster and faster, louder and louder.
(19:49):
Blue sparks began to shine and quiver under the copper brushes,
and suddenly, with a blinding scintillation, a hissing crash, a
giant spark leap the gap between the terminals of the
two wires Croft had arranged to test the ascending charge
Z two above the crackling discharged. The captain in the
(20:11):
door cried out, fly, we are undone man of Z two. Fly.
He staggered back and paused, and stood staring vaguely, reassured
at the smile of triumph on Croft's face. Fear not,
Jason told him quickly, as he struck up a lever,
(20:31):
released the tension of the belt and caused the first
dynamo on Pelo's to sink from a dizzy whirling toward rest.
This moment speaks success for all our toil of weeks.
Go tell the men on the pipes to close the gates.
Robert's face too was pale, well nigh as that of
(20:52):
the captain's, though he had held his place. His lips
were close prests, however, and his nostril slightly pinched. Then,
as Kroft so easily chained the fiery breathing of the
monster he had produced, his eyes began to flash. By zitu,
and by zitu he swore the Tamarisian oath of wonder. Jason,
(21:19):
you have indeed harnessed his own lightning, as you have said.
For a moment I feared that his wrath were excited
by your daring, and he had sent a bolt of
his fire to destroy us with the house. He broke
off with an almost shame faced laugh. Yet now it
gentles like a wild nupa under its master's hand. He
(21:42):
went on again, as the dynamo stopped, and not remained
save the dwindling rush of the waters through the waste
pipes from the turbine beneath their feet. Zito, my friend,
but all men shall marvel yet as I do now,
at this, what plan you next? Light? Said Kroft. Light first,
(22:06):
and after that, to make use in all the ways
I mentioned of this force to turn the wheels and shops,
to run the presses I have made, to print from type,
and so supply the schools Jack Gore has favored, with
the means of broadening men's minds, to print for them
and their children, and so to spread the truth. Thou
(22:29):
wilt build a city here to do these things, Roburr questioned,
as yet unable to fully sense quite all Croft's words,
embraced no. Jason told him, this power shall flow from
here to Jmaira, rob across the line of poles your
men are building along the wires, z too, the governor
(22:52):
of Affir stared. Kroft smiled. Tomorrow he went on, I
return to Emyra to arrange for the making of lights
and a demonstration of their working, when the time is ripe.
And suddenly his whole face lighted at an inward thought,
Nia Rob tell me of her. For suddenly, at the
(23:15):
mention of his return, her picture had leaped before him.
The certainty had come upon him that in Emira he
should meet her, speak to her dwell beneath the roof
of the same house. And the accomplishment at which Robert
of Jemaira was staring in awe struck wonder the great
dynamo successful in its primary test, and all it stood
(23:39):
for sank into nothingness. Before the thought nya of Affir's face,
the hinted perfume of her presence blotted it out. Thou
wilt see her, said Robert. Of course it was as
though he read Crop's thought. And could you see her
now as each sun I said her, perchance you would
(24:02):
feel as do I, that she will be glad of
your coming now at last, like one without purpose, she moves. Jason,
my strange friend, whom I love, is no other man.
Yet do not understand there is the look of one
who waits for one who comes not in her eyes.
In their purple depths they hold a question, ever, that
(24:25):
makes them doubly dark. Yet if at times I say
I am driving forth to meet you, I have seen
her lay a white hand over God's snowy fountain beneath
her robe. I have seen her lips part as though
to speak or question concerning thee, And having returned, I
have known that her ears were like thirsty lips to
(24:47):
drink in what reports I made regarding the progress of
your work. Yet in such mood is she sweeter more? Desirable,
as it seems to me, than ever in her life.
Kroft nodded. Not more desirable to me, he said, than
the first sun whereon I saw her. To day I
(25:08):
place a guard and send the workmen back to Emira.
Tomorrow I shall come. End of Section thirteen.
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