A Dream of Armageddon by H.G. Wells
Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6]
.

"But we noticed them only incidentally because of an unusual sight that evening had to show .Five war aeroplanes that had long slumbered useless in_the distant arsenals of_the Rhine-mouth were manoeuvring now in_the eastward sky .Gresham had astonished the world by producing them and others, and sending them to circle here and there .It was_the threat material in_the great game of bluff he_was playing, and it had taken even me by surprise . he_was one of_those incredibly stupid energetic people who seem sent by heaven to create disasters .His energy to_the first glance seemed so wonderfully like capacity ! But he had no imagination, no invention, only astupid, vast, driving force of will, and amad faith in_his stupid idiot 'luck' to pull him through .I remember how we stood out upon_the headland watching the squadron circling far away, and how I weighed the full meaning of_the sight, seeing clearly the way things must _go .And then even it_was not too late . I_might_have gone back, i_think, and saved the world .The people of_the north would follow me, I_knew, granted only that in one_thing I respected their moral standards .The east and south would trust me as they_would trust no other northern man .And I_knew I had only to_put it to her and she would_have let me go .. .Not because she did_not love me !

"Only I_did_not want to_go; my will was all the other way about .I had so newly thrown off the incubus of responsibility: i_was still so fresh arenegade from duty that_the daylight clearness of what I ought to_do had no power at all to touch my will .My will was to live, to gather pleasures, and make my dear lady happy .But though this sense of vast neglected duties had no power to draw me, it could make me silent and preoccupied, it robbed the days I had spent of half their brightness and roused me into dark meditations in_the silence of_the night .And as I stood and watched Gresham's aeroplanes sweep to and fro--those birds of infinite ill omen--she stood beside me, watching me, perceiving the trouble indeed, but not perceiving it clearly--her eyes questioning my face, her expression shaded with perplexity .Her face was grey because the sunset was fading out_of_the sky . it_was no fault of hers that she held me .She had asked me to_go from her, and again in_the night-time and with tears she had asked me to_go .

"At last it was_the sense of her that roused me from my mood .I turned upon her suddenly and challenged her to race down the mountain slopes .'No,' she said, as_if I jarred with her gravity, but i_was resolved to end that gravity and made her run--no one can_be very grey and sad who_is out of breath---and when she stumbled I ran with my hand beneath her arm .We ran down past acouple of men, who turned back staring in astonishment at my behaviour-- they_must_have recognised my face .And half-way down the slope came atumult in_the air--clang-clank, clang-clank--and we stopped, and presently over the hill-crest those war things came flying one behind the other ."

The man seemed hesitating on_the verge of adescription .

"What were, they like ? " I asked .

"They had never fought," he_said ."They were just like our ironclads are nowadays; they had never fought .No one knew what they_might do, with excited men inside them; few even cared to speculate .They were great driving things shaped like spear-heads without ashaft, with apropeller in_the place of_the shaft ."

"Steel ? "

"Not steel ."

"Aluminium ? "

"No, no, nothing of_that sort .An alloy that was very common--as common as brass, for example . it_was called--let me see--" He squeezed his forehead with_the fingers of one hand ." I_am forgetting everything," he_said .

" and_they carried guns ? "

"Little guns, firing high explosive shells .They fired the guns backwards, out_of_the base of_the leaf, so to_speak, and rammed with_the beak .That was_the theory, you_know, but they had never been fought .No one could tell exactly what_was going to happen .And meanwhile I suppose it_was very fine to_go whirling through_the air like aflight of young swallows, swift and easy .I guess the captains tried not to_think too clearly what the real thing would_be like .And these flying war machines, you_know, were only_one sort of_the endless war contrivances that had_been invented and had fallen into abeyance during the long peace .There were all sorts of_these things that people were routing out and furbishing up; infernal things, silly things; things that had never been tried; big engines, terrible explosives, great guns . you_know the silly way of_these ingenious sort of men who make these things; they turn 'em out as beavers build dams, and with no more sense of_the rivers they're going to divert and_the lands they're going to flood !

" as_we went down the winding stepway to our hotel again in_the twilight I foresaw it all: I_saw how clearly and inevitably things were driving for war in Gresham's silly, violent hands, and I had some inkling of what war was bound to_be under these new conditions .And even then, though I_knew it_was drawing near the limit of_my opportunity, I_could find no will to_go back ."

He sighed .

"That was my last chance .

" we_did_not go into_the city until the sky was full of stars, so we walked out upon_the high terrace, to and fro, and--she counselled me to_go back .

"'My dearest,' she said, and her sweet face looked up to_me, ' this_is Death .This life you lead is Death .Go back to_them, go back to your duty--'

"She began to weep, saying between her sobs, and clinging to my arm as she said it, 'Go back--go back .'

"Then suddenly she fell mute, and glancing down at her face, I_read in an instant the thing she had thought to_do . it_was one of_those moments when one sees .

"'No ! ' I_said .

"'No ? ' she asked, in surprise, and i_think alittle fearful at_the answer to her thought .

"'Nothing,' I_said, 'shall send me back .Nothing ! I_have chosen .Love, I_have chosen, and_the world must go .Whatever happens, i_will live this life-- i_will live for_you ! It--nothing shall turn me aside; nothing, my dear one .Even if_you died--even if_you died--'

"'Yes ? ' she murmured, softly .

"'Then--I also would die .'

"And before she_could speak again I began to_talk, talking eloquently--as I_could do in_that life--talking to exalt love, to make_the life we were living seem heroic and glorious; and_the thing i_was deserting something hard and enormously ignoble that_it_was afine thing to set aside .I bent all my mind to throw that glamour upon it, seeking not_only to convert her but myself to_that .We talked, and she clung to_me, torn too between all that she deemed noble and all that she knew was sweet .And at last I_did make it heroic, made all the thickening disaster of_the world only asort of glorious setting to our unparalleled love, and we two poor foolish souls strutted there at last, clad in_that splendid delusion, drunken rather with_that glorious delusion, under the still stars .

"And so my moment passed .

" it_was my last chance .Even as_we went to and fro there, the leaders of_the south and east were gathering their resolve, and_the hot answer that shattered Gresham's bluffing for ever took shape and waited .And all over Asia, and_the ocean, and_the south, the air and_the wires were throbbing with their warnings to_prepare--prepare .

"No one living, you_know, knew what war was; no one could imagine, with all these new inventions, what horror war might bring .I believe most people still believed it would_be amatter of bright uniforms and shouting charges and triumphs and flags and bands--in atime when half the world drew its food-supply from regions ten thousand miles away----"

The man with_the white face paused .I glanced at him, and_his face was intent on_the floor of_the carriage .alittle railway station, astring of loaded trucks, asignal-box, and_the back of acottage shot by_the carriage window, and abridge passed with aclap of noise, echoing the tumult of_the train .

" after_that," he_said, "I dreamt often .For three weeks of nights that dream was my life . and_the worst of it_was there were nights when I_could_not dream, when I lay tossing on abed in_this accursed life; and _there_--somewhere lost to_me--things were happening--momentous, terrible things .. .I lived at nights--my days, my waking days, this life I_am living now, became afaded, far-away dream, adrab setting, the cover of_the book ."

He thought .

" I_could tell you all, tell you every little thing in_the dream, but as_to what I_did in_the daytime--no . I_could_not tell-- I_do_not remember .My memory--my memory has gone .The business of life slips from me--"

He leant forward, and pressed his hands upon his eyes . for_a_long_time he_said nothing .

"And then ? " said I .

"The war burst like ahurricane ."

He stared before him at unspeakable things .

"And then ? " I urged again .

"One touch of unreality," he_said, in_the low tone of aman who speaks to himself, "and they_would_have been nightmares .But they were_not nightmares--they were_not nightmares .No ! "

he_was silent for so_long that_it dawned upon me that there_was adanger of losing the rest of_the story .But he went on talking again in_the same tone of questioning self-communion .

" what_was there to_do but flight ? I had_not thought the war would touch Capri--I had seemed to_see Capri as being out of it all, as_the contrast to_it all; but two nights after_the whole place was shouting and bawling, every woman almost and every_other man wore abadge--Gresham's badge--and there_was no music but ajangling war-song over and over again, and everywhere men enlisting, and in_the dancing halls they were drilling .The whole island was a-whirl with rumours; it_was said again and again, that fighting had begun .I had_not expected this .I had seen so little of_the life of pleasure that I had failed to reckon with_this violence of_the amateurs .And as for_me, i_was out of it .

Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6]