Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Baifawcll People-Sentinel, Barnwell, S. Thursday, March 14,1985 sJ' When Worlds ^Collide By EDWIN BALMER and PHILIP WYLIE Copyright by Edwin Btimer and Philip Wylie WNU Mr rice ' CHAPTER X—Continued •—IS— “The English?” returned Duquesne. “They will get away. What then, who knows? Can you ‘muddle through’ •pace, Cole ’Endron? i ask it But the English are sound; they have a good ship. But as to them, I have made my answer. I am here.” “The Germans?” demanded Hen- dron. The Frenchman gestured. “Too ad vanced! They have tried to take svery contingency Into account—too many contingency! They will make the most beautiful voyage of all—or by far the worst As to all the other, again I observe, I have preferred to be here.” Pierre Duquesne, France’s greatest physicist went off with Hendron to the control room, talking volubly. Tony superintended the closing of the lock. He went up the spiral staircase to the first passenger deck. Fifty people lay there on the padded sur face with the broad belts already strapped around their legs and tor sos. Most of them had not yet at tached the straps Intended to hold their heads In place. Their eyes were directed toward the glass ' screen, where alternately views of the heav ens overhead and of the radiant land- _ scape outside the Space Ship were being sh£>wn. Tony looked at his number and found his place. Eve was near by him, with the two children beside her. She had sat up to welcome him, ’JFve been terribly nervous. Of course I knew you’d come, but it has been hard waiting here.” “We’re all set,” Tony said, as he adjusted himself on the floor harness. Below, in the control-room, the men took their posts. Hendron strapped himself under the glass screen. He died his . eyes to ac optical Instru ment, across which were two hair lines. Very dose to the point of In tersection was a small star. The in* •trument had been set so that when the star reached the center of the cross the discharge was to be started. About him was a battery of switches which were controlled by a master •witch, and a lever that worked not unlike a rheostat over a series of re sistances. His control-room crew were fastened in their places with their arms free to manipulate various levers. ' « CHAPTER XI Hendron turned to tho crossed hairs on the optical Instrument and began to count Every man in the room •tlffened to attention: “One, two, three, four,- five—” His band went to the switch. The rooin was flllqd with a vibratipg hum. “— Bix, seven, eight nine, ten—”"' The sound of the hum rose now to a feline shriek, “—Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen—ready I Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty —” His hand moved to the instru ment that was like a rheostat His other hand was clenched, white- knuckled, on his straps. “Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty- four, twenty-five.” Simultaneously the crew shoved levers, and the rheostat moved up an inch.. As he counted, signals flashed to the other ship. They must leave at the same moment. A roar, redoubling that which had resounded below th^-shlp on the night of the attack, deafened, all other sound. Tony thought: “We’re leav ing the earth!” ▲ quivering of the ship that jarred the soul. An up- ' thrust on the feet Hendron’s lips moving in counting that could no long er be heard. The eyes of the men of the crew watching those lips so that l, when they reached fifty a second switch was touched, and thq room was plunged into darkness relieved only by the dim rays of tiny bulbs over the Instruments themselves. A slight change in the feeling of air pressure against the eardrums. An other forward motion of the steady hand on the rheostat An increase of the thrust against the feet, so that the whole body felt ^eaden. Augmen tation of the hideous (Hp outside. Tony reached toward Eve. acj felt her hand stretching to meet his. The fiery trail of the second Ark rising skyward on, its apex of scin tillating vapor already was miles sway. -Below, on the earth, fires broke out —a blaze that denoted a forest burn ing. In the place where the ship had been, the-two gigantic- blocks of con crete must have crumbled and col away to the south and west, the President of the United States, surrounded by hi* cabinet, looked «p from .the new toll engendered by the recommencing earthquakes, and saw, separated "by' an immeasurable dis tance, two comets moving away from the earth. The President looked rev- ;at.the phenomenon; then he •My friends, the greatest liv ing American has but now left his homeland.” v In thfc passenger chamber the un endurable noise rose in a steady crescendo until all those wjjo lay there were pressed with Increasing force upon the deck. Nauseated, ter rified, overwhelmed, their senses foundered, and many of them lapsed, into unconsciousness. Tony, who was still able to think, despite the awful acceleration of the ship, realized presently that the din was diminishing. From his .rather scarfty knowledge of physics, he tried to deduce\ what was happening. Either the A^k had reached air so thin that it did noV carry sound waves, or else It was tra\eling so fast that its sound could not catch up with it The speed of that diminutfon seemed to in crease. The^ chamber became quieter and quieter. Tony reflected, in spite of the fearful torment he was under going, that eventually the only sound which would afflict It\would come from the breeches of the jbubes in the control rooms, and the rohms them selves would insulatejtaat presently he realized that ^the ringingVln* his ears was louder than the nolse\made by the passage of the ship. Eve had relaxed the grip on his hand, buKat that moment he felt a pressure. \ It was Impossible to turn his head^ He said, “Hello,” in an ordinary ^ voice, and found be had been so deaf ened that it was inaudible, He tried to lift bis hand, but the acceleration of the ship was so great that it re quired more effort than he was able yet to exert. Then he heard Eve’s voice and realized that she was talk ing very loudly: “Are you all right, Tony? Speak to me." He shouted back: *Tm all right. How are the children?” He could see them lying stupefied, with eyes wide open. “It’s horrible, Isn’t it?” Eve cried. “Yes, but the worst is over. We’il be accelerating for some time, though.” ' Energy returned to him. He strug gled with the bonds that held his head, and presently spoke again to Eve. She was deathly pale. He looked at the other passengers. Many of them were still unconscious, most of them only partly aware of wbat was. happening. He tried to lift his head from the floor, but the upward pres sure still overpowered him. Then the lights in the cabin' went out and the screen was illuminated. Across one side was a glimpse of the trail which they were leaving, a bright hurtling yellow stream, but it was not that which held his attention. In the cen ter of the screen was part of a curved disk. Tony realized that he was star ing up at half of the northern hemi sphere of the earth. Tony thought he could make out the outline of Alaska on the west coast of the United States, and he saw pinpoints of lights which identi fied with the renewal of volcanic ac tivity. ' The screen flashed. Another view appeared. Constellations of Stars, such' stars as he had never seen, blaz ing furiously in the velvet blackness of the outer sky. He realized that he was looking at the view to be had from the side of the ship. The light went out again, and a third of the four periscopes recorded its field. Again stars, but in their center and hanging away from them, as if in miraculous suspension, was a smalt round bright-red body which Tony recognized as Mars. Once again Eve pressed his hand, and Tony returned the pressure. In the control room, Hendron still satvin the sling with his hand on the rheostat His eyes traveled to a me?- ter which showed their distance from the earth. Then thej moved on to a chronometer. He had already deter mined the time necessary for accelera tion—one hundred and twelve minutes —and he could not shorten it. Tony fek that he had been lying on the floor fdr an eternity. His strength had come back, but they had been in structed to rwnain on the floor until the speed of their ascent was stabil ized. Minutes dragged. It was becom ing possible to converse In the cham ber, but few peonle cared to say any- thlng. Many or them were still vio lently 111 Hendron. operated the switch con trolling the choice of periscopes. In the midst of the glass screen, the earth now appeared as a round globe, ita diameter in both directions clearly apparent More than half of It lay In shadow, but the illuminated half was like a great relief, map. The whole of the United States, part of Europe and the north polar regions, were revealed to their gaze. In won der they regarded the world that had been their home. They could see clearly the colossal changes which had been wrought upon it The great in land sea that occupied the Mississippi valley sparkled in the morning sun. The myriad volcanoes whi9h had sprung into being along the western cordillera were for the most part hid den under a pall of smoke and^clouds. Hendron signaled a command to bis crew, who had been standing un buckled from their slings, at attention. They now seated themselves. When Hendron reached the first deck of passengers’ quarters, he found them standing together comparing notes on the sensations of space-fly ing. Many of them were rubbing stiff arms and legrf. Two or three, includ ing Eliot James, were still lying on the padded deck in obvious discom fort They jiad turned on the lights, apparently more Interested In their own condition than In the astounding vista of the Earth below. Tony had just opened the doors of the larder and was on the oolnt of distributing the sandwiches. “I assure you," Hendron told Tony and Eve, and their fellow passengers, “that except for Its monotony, the trip will offer you so further grist ■1- discomfort ontll we reach Bronson [ Beta, when we shall be under the ne cessity of repeating approximately the same maneuver. In something less than an hour we are going to ttirn the \ periscope op France in an effort to observe the departure of the French equivalent of our ships. We are at the moment trying to locate oar sec ond Ark, which took its course at a distance from us to avoid any chance of collision, and being between us and the sun, Is now temporarily lost In the glare of the sun.” Hendron disappeared through the opening In the ceiling which contained the spiral staircase. ^ Tony saw to the distribution of food and water.. The ship rushed through the void so steadily that cups of milk, which Eve held to the lips of the chil dren, scarcely spilled over. The pas sengers found that they could move frojn floor to floor without great trou ble. Fans distributed the air inside the ship. Outside, there was vacuum against which the airlocks were sealed. The air of the ship, breathed and “re stored,” was not actually fresh, al though chemically it was perfectly breathable. The soft roar of the rock et propulsion, tubes fuddled the senses. The sun glared in a black sky studded with brilliant stars. To the right of the son, the great flowing crescents of Bronson Alpha Bronson Beta loomed larger and ;er. Eve sat with Tony as a peri scope^ turned on them and displayed them on the screen. They could plain ly see that Bronson Alpha was below and apprtmchlng the earth; Bronson Beta, slowly turning, was higher and much nearer the ship. “Do you see their relation?" she asked. \ “Between the Bronson Bodies?” said Tony. “Aren’t they nearer together than they have ever been before?” “Much nearer; and as Father—and Professor Bronson—calculate^ Bron son Beta, being much the\smalter and lighter, was revolving aboht Bronson Alpha. The orbit was not a circle; it was a very long ellipse. Sometimes, therefore, this brought Bronson Beta much closer to Alpha than at other times. When they went around the sun, the enormous force of the sun’s aftractioir further -distorted the prblt, _ and Bronson Betaj probably is nearer Alpha now than it evef^was before. Also, notice it is at the point in Its orbit which is more favorable for us.” “You mean for our landing on It?” asked Tony. . “For that; and especially is it fav&r 1 able to-us, after we land—if we do,” amended Eve; and she gathered the children to her. She sat between them, an arm about each, gazing at the screen. “You see, the sun had not surely •captured’ Bronson Beta and Bronson Alpha. They had arrived from some incalculable distance and they have rounded the sun, but, without further interference than the sun’s attraction, they would retreat again and perhaps never reappear. “But on the course toward the sun, Alpha destroyed the moon, as we know, and this had an effect upon both Alpha and Bronson Beta, con trolled by Alpha. And now something even more profound is going to hap pen. Alpha will have contact with the world. That will destroy the earth and will send Bronson Alpha off in another path. One almost certain ef fect of the catastrophe Is that it will break Bronson Beta away from the dominating control of Bronson Alpha and leave Beta subject to the sun. That will provide a much more satis factory orbit for us about our sun." “Us?” echoed Tony* “Us—if we get there,” said Eve; and she benf 'a’nd kissed the children. At the end of an hour all the lights in the passenger quarters were turned out, and the earth was again flashed on the screen. Its diminution in size was already startling; and the re mains of Europe, stranded in a new ocean, looked like a child’s model flour- and^water map. A point of light showed suddenly, very bright, and as a second passed, it appeared to extend so that it stood away from the earth like a white-hot needle. The upshootlng light curved, became horizontal*' and shot parallel tvith earth, moving apparently with such speed tbkt it seemed to have trav ersed a measurable fraction of the Alps while they watched. Abruptly, then, the trail zigzagged; it curved back toward the earth,'and i the doomed ship commenced to de scend, Impelled by its own motors. In Another second there was a faint glow and then—only a luminous trail, which disappeared rapidly* like the pathway of fire left by a meteor. Flashes rose and traveled on. Indi cations were that ships of other ns- tions had got safely away from the ruins of tjhe earth and were follow ing the American Space Ships. The implications of these sights transcended talk. Conversation soon ceased. Exhaustion, spiritual and physical, assailed the travelers. Gravity diminished steadily, and their habit of relying upon the attract tive force of the earth resulted In an Increasing number of mishaps, some of them amusing and, some of them palnfnL After what seeded like eons of time some one asked Tony for more food, llpny himself could not remember whether he was going to serve the fifth meal or the sixth, but he sprang to his feet with earnest willingness—promptly shot clear to t^e celling, against fshicb he bumped his head. He fell back to the floor with a jar and rose laughing. Hie celling was also padde^, so that he had not hurt himself. jrhe< sandwiches were wrapped In wax paper, and when, some one on the edge of the crowd asked that his sandwich he tossed. Tour flipped It ' ' . - . A * - "jjMdjgj- ■' toward him, only As ms II pees high over the man’s head and entirely ont of reach, and strike against the op posite wallA The man himself stretched to ca\ch the wrapped sand wich, and sat down again rubbing his arm, saying that nh had almost thrown his shoulder opt of Joint* People walked InXpn absurd man ner, stepping high into the air as If they were dancers. Gestures were un controllable, and it was itqsafe to talk excitedly for fear one would hit obe’s self in the face. For an hour the Space Sltln’i pas sengers watched silently as Bronson Alpha swept upon the Icene, x a gi gantic body, weird, luminous and un- guessable, many times larger than the earths It moved toward the earth wl the relentless perceptibility of the hands of a large clock, and those wtfo looked upon Its awe-inspiring approach held their breaths. Inch by inch, as it seemed, the two bodies came closer together. Down there on the little earth were mil lions of scattered, demoralized human beings They were watching this aw ful phenomenon in the skies Around them the ground was rocking, the tides were rising, lavs was bursting forth, winds were blowing, oceans were boil ing, fires were catching, and human courage was facing complete frustra tion. Above them the sky was Ailed with this awful onnishing mass. Tony shuddered as he watched. Earth and Bronson Alpha were but a few momenta apart, it seemed as If the continents t>elow them were swim ming across the seas, as if the seas were hurling themselves* upon the land; and presently they saw great cracks, in the abysses of which were fire, spread along the remote dry land. Into the air were lifted mighty whirls of steam. The nebnlons at mosphere of Bronson Alpha touched j the air of earth, and then the very earth bulged. Ita shape altered be fore their eyes. It became plastic. It was drawn out egg-shaped. The cracks girdled the globe. A great section of the earth itself lifted np and peeled away, leaping toward Bronson Alpha with an iflconcelvable force. The two planets struck. Decillions of tons of m^ss colliding in cosmic catastrophe. Steam, fire, smoke. Tongues of flame from the center' Of the^eartb. The planets ground together and then moved across each other. It was like watching an eclipse. The magnitude of the disaster was veiled by hot gases and stupendous flames, and was di minished in awfulness by the inter vening distances and by the seeming slowness with which It took place. Bronson' Alpha rode between them and the earth. Then—on its opposite side—fragments of the shattered world reappeared. Distance showed between them—widening, scattering distance. Bronson Alpha moved away on Its terrible course, fiery, spread enormously in ghastly light During a lull of humble voices Kyto could be heard praying to strange gods in Japanese. Eliot James drummed on the padded floor with monotonous finger tips. Tony clenched Eve’s, hand. Time passed—It seemed hours. A man hurried down the spiral staircase. He went directly-to Hendron. - — — Hendron’s voice was tense: “Tell us.” . n - U NIFORM^INTEJRNAU ON AlT'^JS’* Sg g >, T"f l !**T! F 7* 'chool Lesson (■r *wv. P. b. rrrzwATBR. d. d, m am bar of Vacuity, Moody Btbio i . Institute of Cfelease.) e. W—tarn Nswspapor Union, Lesson for March 17 PETER DELIVERED FROM PRISON LESSON TEXT—Acts i*:l-l» . GOLDEN TEXT—But prsysr was mads without ceasing of ths church unto God for him. Acts lS:5b. PRIMARY TOPIC—How Peter Was Freed From prison. JUNIOR TOPIC—How Peter Was De- Ivered From Prison. INTERMPDIATE AND SENIOR TOP- lti\-How F rayer Helps. UNO PEOPLE AND ADUiVT TOPIC —The Power of United Prayer. Bssfltfcs Is ansthsr part «f this pa Tfesywm ssafl s frfn week's si9» ply of health firing Postma fros ti anyone who writes for It—Adv. Kindliness Wins A kindly amiie Is better liked this an Ingratiating one. CONSTIPATION “They have seen the first result” Von Beitz replied. “The earth Is shat tered. Unquestionably much of its ma terial merged with Bronson Alpha; but most is scattered in fragments of various masses which will assume orbits of their own about the sun.” “And Bronson Alpha?” 'Tt sterns to have been deflected so i*J -.tit— —-—i that it will follow a hyperbola into space.”' “Hyperbola, eh? That means,” Hen dron explained loudly, “we will have seen the last of Bronson Alpha. It will not return to the sun. It will leave our solar system forever. And Bronson Beta?” Hendron turned to the German. * “As we have hoped, the Influence of Bronson Alpha over Bronson Beta is ended. The collision occurred at a moment which found Bronson Beta at a favorable point in its orbit .about Bronson Alpha. Favorable, I mean, for us. Bronson Beta will not follow Alpha into space. Ita orbit becomea Independent; Bronson Beta, almost surely, will circle the sun.” Some of the women burst out cry ing In a hysteria of relief. The world whs gone; they had seen It shattered; but another would take its place. For the first time they succeeded in feeling this. \ Tony’s heart raced. It was difficult to breathe; he felt himself growing faint, dizzy and nauseated. His brain roared. The air was becoming tilled with people. The slightest motion was suf ficient to cause one to depart from whatever anchorage one had. Tony saw Hendron going 'hand over hand on the cable through the stair, ascend ing head foremost, his feet trailing out behind him. J That was all he remembered. He fell .Mo coma. When hia senses returned he was lying on something hard and cold. Hs explored It with his fingers, and real ized dully that it was the glass screen which*projected the periscope views. It was the celling, then, on which the passengers were lying in s tangled heap, and not the deck. Their po sitions had been reversed. He thought that he was stone deaf, and then per ceived that the noise of the motors had stopped entirely. They were fill ing toward Bronson Beta, using grav ity and their own inertia to sustall that downward jUght He understood why he bad seen Hendron pulling him., self along the staircase. Hendron bad been transferring to the control room at the opposite Mid of the abtpi .TOW The jftmng church had met and over come sotpe serious difficulties. S*be first had th face religious persecution at the hands of Jews .Then came in ternal troubles as to the support of certain Widows\ The separating wall of Pharisaical legalism was broken down in the admission of Gentiles into the church, but finally sh»? had to meet the naked sword of\c1vil authority. Through all these tests^she was more than conqueror. I. Peter’s Imprisonment Vv. 1-4). 1. By whom (v. 1). Iltfrod,' the grandson of the wicked Herod who slew the Innocent children of hem. His half-sister, Herodlas, secured the death of John the Baptist 2. The reason (v. S). It was to gain the favor of the Jews. Herod was not a Jew bat an Edomite. Therefore, .he knew that his success was dependent upon his having the good will of the Jews. He seems not particularly to have hated the church, hut to have loved popularity, for the sake of which he manifested a deep sympathy for degenerate Judaism. Since the church had so developed as to be a successful rival of Judaism, he saw an opportunity to curry favor with the Jews by put ting forth his hands against it. 8. The method (v. 4). He was ar rested, put into prison and guarded by sixteen soldlerar OTre~~grdup of four for each watch of the night Humanly speaking it was impossible to escape. They had doubtless heard of Peter’s escape from Jail before, so they thought they would take no risks this time. However, they reckoned without God. II. The Church of God In .^Prayer (v. 5). The church was at a crisis. James, one of the brethren of the church, was dead, and Peter, the most prominent of all, was in prison. In this desper ate strait, they betook themselves to prayer. This was a noteworthy prayer. .1. It was unto. God. All true prayer Is unto God. 2. It was united prayer. There is peculiar power in the united prayer of God’s people. 8. It was more than unceasing pray er. It was the Intensely earnest desire of the soul stretched toward God. 4, It was definite prayer. They specif ically offered prayer To God for Peter. III. Peter Delivered by an Angel (vv. 6-11). This occurred the night before He rod’s plan to make a public display of him. 1. Peter sleeping j(v. 6). This shows that he was not disturbed over the matter. The Lord keeps in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on him (Isa. 26:3).. 2. Peter leaves the prison (vv. T-10) (Ute what Doctor* do) Why do the bowels usually movr regularly and thoroughly, long aftes a physician has given you treatment for constipation? Because the doctor gives laxative that can always be the right amount You can gradually * dotage u reduce the dose. Reduced iht secret of real and safe relief'from constipation. Ask your doctor about this. Ask your druggist how popular. Ikndd laxatives have become. The nght liquid laxative gives the right kmd of help, and the nght amount of help. When the dose is repeated, instead of more each time, you take less. Until the bowels are moving regularly and thoroughly without any help at aD. The liquid laxative generally used Is Dr. Csldwdl’s Syrup Pepsin. It contains and cascara. and those are natural laxatives that form no habit—even in children. Youa druggist has it; ask for— miGtafoeaf, SYRUP PEPSIN Aid Grouchy Some people broaden as they others merely grow fat A heavenly light shone In the prison. The angel smote Peter on the side. The chains fell off. Peter put on his clothes and passed by one guard after another, through the iron gate and Into the city. The whole transaction waa orderly and leisurely, showing that God la not In a hurry. 8. The effect upon Peter (v. 11). Although the matter waa so wonder- fnl to Peter,- who thought himself in a vision, when he came to himself he know that God had miraculously deliv ered him from Herod’s wicked hands. IV. Unconscious Unbelief (w. 12-19). 1. The behavior of Peter and the church (vv 12-17). Peter went to the house of Mary and knocked. The knock was answered by Rboda, who was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, aqd went right In and told them that Peter was at the gate. The disciples were not prepared for such good news, even accusing® her of madness,- She, undaunted. Insisted. They offered ay an explanation that perhaps It might be Peter’s guardian angel in his likeness. Peter rehearsed unto them the Lord’* dealing with him. 2. The behavior of 18, ,19). There was great x agitation among them as to what had become of Peter. This was a serious matter, since they were responsible for him. Not being able to account for Peter’s escape. Herod commanded that they be put to death. After this, Herod went down to Caesarea, where he waa adored as a god. Because he arrogat ed this honor to himself, the Lord smote him. Herod died, bnt the-word of the Lord grew and multiplied. MENTHOLATUM G>V,S CO Ml SORT FEEL TIREMUIY- “ALL WOII Olir* .Got Rid «f Papons Hud Make You IH r S a constant hachachs you mlssrabla? Do yi burning; scanty or too urination: of rheumatio pains, swollen fast anklet? Do you feal tired, nsr —all unstrung? Than give some thought to your kldnaya. Be sura they function properly, for functional kidney dis order permits poisons to stay in ths blood and upset ths whole sys tem. XJaa Daasda POm, Doan's ths kidneys only. They hu kidneys cleans# ths blood of dastraytag poisonous waste. PtOs are need and recoi the world over. Get them druggist ■OAR’S PILLS Nothing Flasr ^ Friendship Is ths highest flsgrsa of perfection In society.—Montaigne. [REOMiJISION C 0 U C H S - »»« 9 awitnl .60 cents I ■tots. HJsoox Cbanksl Works, ] YOU How to Levs God To love God Is to love his character. For Instance, Qod la purity. And to be WNU—7 pure In thought and look, to turn sway from unhallowed books and conversa Don, to abhor the moments in which we have not been pure, is to love God. Good Kuloo of Wfo ; L It la a goodly thing to die with the blessed consciousness of never having taken advantage at another’s infirmity, or poverty, or ignorance; to die able to say that ont has not extended the empire of aril an the earth. 35 ID—85 RUNDOWN, RUNG? Bcsd tfafe: tr