Червона чума
Chapter 3
Thursdaynightthepanicoutrushforthecountrybegan. Imagine,mygrandsons,people,thickerthanthesalmon-runyouhaveseenontheSacramentoriver,pouringoutofthecitiesbymillions,madlyoverthecountry,invainattempttoescapetheubiquitousdeath. Yousee,theycarriedthegermswiththem. Eventheairshipsoftherich,fleeingformountainanddesertfastnesses,carriedthegerms.
“HundredsoftheseairshipsescapedtoHawaii,andnotonlydidtheybringtheplaguewiththem,buttheyfoundtheplaguealreadytherebeforethem. Thiswelearned,bythedespatches,untilallorderinSanFranciscovanished,andtherewerenooperatorsleftattheirpoststoreceiveorsend. Itwasamazing,astounding,thislossofcommunicationwiththeworld. Itwasexactlyasiftheworldhadceased,beenblottedout. Forsixtyyearsthatworldhasnolongerexistedforme. IknowtheremustbesuchplacesasNewYork,Europe,Asia,andAfrica;butnotonewordhasbeenheardofthem—notinsixtyyears. WiththecomingoftheScarletDeaththeworldfellapart,absolutely,irretrievably. Tenthousandyearsofcultureandcivilizationpassedinthetwinklingofaneye,’lapsedlikefoam.’
“Iwastellingabouttheairshipsoftherich. Theycarriedtheplaguewiththemandnomatterwheretheyfled,theydied. Ineverencounteredbutonesurvivorofanyofthem—Mungerson. HewasafterwardsaSantaRosan,andhemarriedmyeldestdaughter. Hecameintothetribeeightyearsaftertheplague.
