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The awful darkness of the third sign once more settled upon the great city, but now it was not the terror of indefinite expectation that crushed down the souls of men and women it was the weight of doom accomplished! There was no longer any room for self-deception; every quaking heart felt now that the nebula had come. Cosmo Versal had been right!
If they had been furnished with deep-sea sounding apparatus they might have made a direct measurement of the depth in Egypt, but that was one of the few things which Cosmo Versal had overlooked in furnishing the Ark, and such an operation could not be undertaken.
They're only little fellows. They've got no means. They can't float an enterprise like this. Ah, you're a bright one! You and me, Cosmo Versal we'll squeeze 'em all out. I'll give you the secrets. We'll own the earth! I'm Amos Blank!" Cosmo Versal recognized the man in spite of the dreadful change that had come over him.
Those who had begun to lay foundations for arks thought of resuming the work. Those who had before sought places with Cosmo called him up by telephone. But only the voice of Joseph Smith answered, and his words were not reassuring. "Mr. Versal," he said, "directs me to say that at present he will allot no places. He is considering whom he will take."
"I say," replied the president, "that that is the affair of the Meteorological Society, and has nothing to do with astronomy. I dare say that they can account for it." "And I dare say they can't," cried a voice. "Hear! Hear!" "Who are you?" "Put him out!" "I dare say he's right!" "Cosmo Versal!" Everybody was talking at once. "Will this gentleman identify himself?" asked the president.
"I'll tell you what you're going to do," yelled Captain Arms. "You're going to make a smash on old Ararat, where your predecessor, Noah, made his landfall." "Tres bien!" shouted De Beauxchamps, who was frequently on the bridge, and whose Gallic spirits nothing could daunt. "That's a good omen! M. Versal should send out one of his turkeys to spy a landing place."
On this occasion his force of character sufficed to silence the doubters, and when the statement intended for the press had received its final touches it contained no hint of the seeds of discord that Cosmo Versal had sown among America's foremost savants. The next morning it appeared in all the newspapers as follows: Official Statement from the Carnegie Institution
There will be no flood." After a day or two, during which the ark was left open for inspection, and was visited by many thousands, Cosmo Versal announced that no more visitors would be admitted. He placed sentinels at all entrances, and began the construction of a shallow ditch, entirely inclosing the grounds.
After the sensation caused by the arrival of the English monarch aboard the Ark had somewhat quieted down, and after his majesty had had an opportunity to recover himself, Cosmo Versal invited his new guest to tell the story of his escape.
Versal," said the captain, "you remember that you promised me that I should drop my anchor on the head of Mount Everest if I worked a traverse across Beluchistan." "Certainly I remember it; and also that you were not much disposed to undertake the task. However, you did it well, and I suppose that now you want me to fulfill the bargain?" "Exactly," replied the captain.
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