CHAPTER XXVIII

The Waters Retreat

The eight days that followed the discovery of the crack were among the most harrying I had ever spent. Indeed, they were among the most harrying that any resident of Atlantis had ever spent. That the peril was acute became more and more apparent as the days went by and the damage was not repaired--the submarine disaster which I had witnessed was but the precursor to other and not less frightful disasters. Vessel after vessel battled with the swirling waters in the effort to force itself against the wall and cement the crack; and vessel after vessel was shaken away like a twig by the fury of the maelstrom. Sometimes, fortunately, the portholes were shut in time and the crew managed to save their lives; but on other occasions the maddened waters snatched their prey; and before a week had gone by Atlantis was mourning for seven lost parties of rescuers.

All the country was now in a tumult, I might almost say in a delirium. The regular currents of life had stopped short; men no longer went about their daily duties; the libraries and art galleries were deserted; the young were without tutors, the governmental departments without clerks; and the cities would have been without bread, had it not been for the drastic orders of the High Chief Adviser. But citizens who once had been amply occupied would loiter aimlessly about the streets, or would flock to the Hall of Public Enlightenment to hear the latest report over the Autophone; or else they would pace nervously along the colonnades, or stand discussing in small groups, nerve-racked and bewildered as men under sentence of death. Though I never heard them mention the fear that must have been uppermost in their minds, yet their pale faces and shuddery manner gave proof of the dread that was preying upon them; and my former shipmates and I had reason to know how overmastering was their terror, for that aversion I had already noted was deepening, and the people would glance at us with hostility and even accusation in their eyes, looking mute reproach at us, as though our coming had been responsible (as indeed it had been) for the threatened end of their world.

Every morning five or six of the little intra-atomic submarines would leave Atlantis through the valve in the eastern wall, where the waters of the Salty River were forced back into the sea. And in the evening (if they survived till evening) they would return through the valve in the western wall, where the waters of the Salty River found entrance. In the interval, their occupants would work as courageously as I had ever known men to work, warring against odds that were apparently insurmountable; while all Atlantis would stand watching, or waiting at the Autophone for news of their progress. It seemed wrongful to my comrades and me that these men, brave and willing as they were, should risk their lives to repair an injury which we had caused; and so at Captain Gavison’s suggestion several of us volunteered to join the rescuing forces. But the High Chief Adviser, although expressing his gratitude, refused our offer in terms that could admit of no reply; for the repairing crews, as he explained, consisted of skilled mechanics especially trained for their duties and therefore irreplaceable.

Fortunately, our assistance was not necessary. On the eighth day, the officials in charge of the repairs decided upon a change of tactics; and then it was that the “Acrola,” a specially equipped submarine provided with five anchors and an extra battery in intra-atomic engines, made its way out of the Salty River and around the glass dome to the scene of the damage. Truly, it was time that something desperate was done, for, according to official measurements, the crack had expanded between nine and ten inches since its detection. Thanks to its unusual powers of resistance, however, the “Acrola” withstood the buffeting of the waters and remained pressed against the wall while Captain Thermandos and his crew pumped the cement into the innumerable fissures. Except for the extraordinary courage of the men, it is probable that they too would have failed, for the task occupied them for more than six hours, any moment of which might have been their last; and they not only had to fill the cracks, but had to hold to their post till the cement had begun to harden and was no longer in danger of being washed away.

But the notable fact is that they succeeded. Though they were worn and haggard from their exertions, yet they had succeeded magnificently. They had saved Atlantis! After all, the flood-gates would not burst!--the devouring waters would never race along the streets and colonnades! The people might return calmly to their work, certain that tomorrow would bring no new menace.

* * * * *

Such, at least, was the general impression. And so great was the public relief that the pendulum swung violently from a crisis of despair to an extreme joy. Like men newly awakened from a nightmare, the Atlanteans refused to believe that the peril had not been utterly wiped away; and so great was the force of the reaction, so sudden the snapping of the tension, that for a while their emotions controlled their heads, and their desire to feel safe became converted into a conviction that they were safe. Later, many of them were to awaken from their self-hypnosis; but during the celebration that followed the repairs, the people almost without exception, acted as if convinced of their rescue; and all the speakers at the great public gatherings referred in positive terms to the deliverance of Atlantis; and the songs that were sung were songs of thanksgiving, as of triumphant escape from a foe; and the games and dances and festive processions were those of a people wild with joy of new-won salvation.

Yet even at the time there was at least one dissenting voice. Like most dissenting voices at a moment of popular emotion, it was but little heard, and then was heard contemptuously; yet it was often to be remembered in later days, when the occasion called for little beyond regret.

Among the seven governmental experts sent to investigate the repairs and report on their soundness, there was one who strenuously challenged the views of his colleagues. While the other six agreed that the damage had been remedied beyond possibility of a further disturbance, the seventh (Peliades by name) brought in a vigorous minority report in which he contended that the relief was only temporary.

His plea, as I remember it, ran somewhat as follows:

“For four or five years--possibly for ten--the repairs will prove adequate; but after that period the damage will re-appear in a much more aggravated form than before. For the cement constitutes a foreign element in the glass, and produces an abnormal bulge, so placing an exceptional strain upon those portions which are still sound. For a while the wall may be able to endure the strain, but in the course of time the additional tension will become too great for the brittle material of the wall to resist; and first small cracks will appear, and then larger, growing by inches and by fractions of inches, until the break spreads towards the surface, and the tremendous pressure of the ocean shatters the remaining barrier. This effect, of course, will take years before it begins to be noticeable; but when finally it becomes apparent, the crack will have spread so far that only heroic measures will be able to save Atlantis.

“The remedy, therefore, is to undertake the immediate erection of a new glass bulwark against the affected portion of the wall. Prodigious though this effort will necessarily be, we will probably be able to complete the work in time. But unless we do complete it, we will find ourselves within a hair’s breadth of catastrophe.”

Unfortunately--most unfortunately, in view of what ensued--Peliades’ warning was scarcely heeded. In some quarters he was denounced as a crank, a mad alarmist; in other quarters he was openly laughed at, or derided as the victim of hysteria; while the majority paid no attention to him at all. Least sympathetic of his hearers were his fellow specialists; for these, in response to an inquiry by the High Chief Adviser, testified at length as to the scientific unsoundness of Peliades’ theories, and disproved his views to their own satisfaction and that of the people.

And so the dissenter’s motions were quietly tabled, and Atlantis returned to its normal duties with confidence in the future.

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