Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 March 1911 — A Columbus of Space [ARTICLE]

A Columbus of Space

By Garrett P. Serviss.

Copyright by Frank A. Munsey Co. o CHAPTER XV—Continued. All about us the trees and bushes bent under loads of magnificent blossoms which filled the air with delicious fragrance. Birds were everywhere, and they exhibited no fear, simply keeping out of our reach. Their plumage was the most extraordinary I have ever seen, many of them having long, iridescent feathers depending from their wings and tails. I noticed that Ala frequently turned toward these birds with a look of ineffable pleasure. At I thought that she was simply admixing their colors and their graceful shapes and movements, but soon I became convinced that she was not meiely looking, but listening. This excited my astonishment, for none of us could hear a sound, except the i -casional rustle of the branches. ‘‘Edmund,” I said at last, “I believe that Ala hears something that we do not.’* “Of eourse she does,” he replied. “There is music here. These birds are singing, but our ears are not attuned to their melody.. You know the peculiarity of this atmosphere with regard to sound. All of these people have a horror of loud noises, but their ears detect sounds that lie far beyond the range of vibrations with which ours are affected. “There is another thing,” he added a moment later, “which may surprise you, but I am certain that it exists. There is a direct relation between color and sound here. The light waves in certain combinations produce sound-waves. “I can only explain what I mean byreference to the telephone. You know how, by a telephone, sounds are first transformed into electric vibrations and afterward reshaped into sonorous waves. You know also that we have used a ray of light to send telephonic messages, taking advantage of the sensitiveness of a certain metal and its power of varying its electric re sistance in accord with the intensity of the light that strikes it Thus, with a telephone at each end, we can make a beam of light reproduce the human voice. “What we have done, awkwardly and partially, by the aid of imperfect mechanical contrivances, Nature has accomplished here in a perfect way, by means of the peculiar composition of the air and some special construction of the auditory apparatus. It is oil in line with the strange power c*f mental communication which these people possess. “Light and sound, color and music, are linked for them in a manner that we cannot comprehend. Their esthetic enjoyment must be marvelously in advance of ours. “It Is plain to me now that the music of color which we saw at the palace was something far more complete and wonderful than we imagined. Together with the pleasure which they derive from the harmonic combinations of shifting hues, they experience at the same time the delight that comes from sounds which are associated w\th and awakened by those colors, but are utterly inaudible to us. “I believe that all of their senses are more completely and delicately developed than ours, and that eveq the perfume of these flowers is more delightful to Ala than to us.” “By Jove, Edmund,” cried Jack, who had been listening with amazement, “it is indeed a divine world to which you have brought us! But I wish you would flflffi a way to open up these delights to the rest of us. It’s rather disappointing to be plunged into the midst of such things without being able to enjoy them.” “Perhaps it can be done,” said Edxpund musingly. “Yes, perhaps it can be done.” His words thrilled me, for I knew that he never spoke thus without having a definite meaning behind. “But see here,” Jack continued. “I don’t quite get hold of this tiling. These people talk, you know. Then why don’t they sing, and why don’t they get their music the way we do?” “Because,” was the reply, “as I have Just explained to you, they have a far higher and more delicate means of producing and receiving the harmonies of sound. They talk, occasionally, it is true, just as you see that these birds utter low sounds from time to time, but speech with them has not been developed as with us, since they have not our need of it. “I am rather surprised to find that they talk at all. I shouldn’t wonder if their Bpokeu language were simply a reflex of their written or printed language.”

“Writing and printing!” I exclaimed. “Do you think that there are such things here?” “I haven't a doubt of it,” Edmund replied. “So intellectual a people must have a history and a literature. But the order of developement has been exactly Die reverse of that with us. They have first invented their signs for recording thought, and then a simple spoken language has originated from those signs. “As to their speaking, that is a thing inevitable. Every sentient being utters sounds. It is a necessary result of the experiencing of emotion, and I don’t believe that there is anywhere in the universe a race of beings more delicately organized, in our emotional sense, than these inhabitants of Venus.” Inasmuch as I intend to publish a book dealing with the scientific aspect of life on Venus, I shall not burden this story of our adventures with these details, only saying now that it actually turned out as Edmund had conjectured. We found later that not only were writing and printing known pnd practiced, the characters much resembling that of the Chinese, bnt, at the capital there were immense libraries, containing literary works and histories of Venus for hundreds of generations. As soon as a comprehension of what Edmund had told us dawned fully upon our minds, we began to note more carefully the conduct of Ala, and we werfe quickly convinced of the substantial correctness of his inferenced. She sat on a flowery bank under the fragrant drooping branches, and seemed entranced by aerial music we could not hear. While we thus lingered, with strange thoughts throwing us, Into a dreamy mood, I happened to fix my eyes upon an opening in the foliage, directly behind Edmund, who had placed himself by Ala’s side. A curious gleam attracted my attention, and, looking sharply, I recognized a pair of eyes intensely watching us! Before I could open my lips or make a movement, the face to which the eyes belonged appeared for tLe fraction of a second and then was withdrawn. It was the handsome, but evil, countenance of Ingra! (To be continued.)