sque but incongruous cargo of creatures mutually harmful and
seeking one and all to devour each other, of this miscellany of living
contradictions which for so long was so foolishly worshipped under the
name of Nature, he believed in good faith to have deserved well of the
future.

"But we, in our new ark, mysterious, impenetrable, indestructible, shall
carry with us neither plants nor animals. These types of existence are
annihilated; these rough drafts in creation, these fumbling experiments
of Earth in quest of the human form are for ever blotted out. Let us not
regret it. In place of so many pairs of animals which take up so much
room, of so many useless seeds, we will carry with us into our retreat
the harmonious garland of all the truths in perfect accord with one
another; of all artistic and poetic beauties, which are all members one
of another, united like sisters, which human genius has brought to light
in the course of ages and multiplied thereafter in millions of copies:
all of which will be destroyed save a single one, which it will be our
task to guarantee against all danger of destruction. We shall establish
a vast library containing all the principal works, enriched with
cinematographic albums. We shall set up a vast museum composed of single
specimens of all the schools, of all the styles of the masters in
architecture, sculpture, painting, and even music. These are our real
treasures, our real seed for future harvests, our gods for whom we will
do battle till our latest breath."

The speaker stepped down from the platform in the midst of indescribable
enthusiasm: the ladies crowded round him. They deputed Lydia to bestow
on him a kiss in the name of them all. Blushing with modesty the latter
obeyed--a further sign of moral atavism on her part--and the applause
redoubled. The thermometers of the shelter rose several degrees in a few
minutes.

It is well to recall to the younger generation these resolute words,
between the lines of which they will read the gratitude they owe to the
heroic "Scarred face," who so nearly died with the reputation of a
mono-maniac. They, too, are beginning to grow enervated and accustomed
to the delights of their underground Elysium, to the luxurious
spaciousness of these endless catacombs, the legacy of gigantic toil on
the part of their fathers, they too, are, inclined to think that all
this happened of its own accord, or at least was inevitable, that after
all there was