A BLACK pall of threatening clouds gathered in clusters, having to and fro till they completely shut out the light of the summer day, while an inky blackness enveloped the Earth.

The sun at a hundred different points, threw gleaming shafts of light which seemed to pierce the dark mass, and resembled a huge pin-cushion studded with bright scintillating needles.

Wireless reports from various parts of the globe recorded the same strange phenomena to be taking place. People stood aghast at the new but mysterious change; scientists flashed and reflashed the news from one point of the compass to the other. In the streets of the cities throughout the world the people forsook their daily routine of business and were gazing awe-stricken at the abnormal change, and while they looked in wonderment fear took the place of astonishment as the shafts of light were suddenly withdrawn and night took the place of day.

A hissing snapping noise, like the cracking of whips, filled the air; this lasted for some few minutes, when the magnetic forces of the Universe seemed to let loose with one accord. Lightning flashed and set the heavens ablaze, and counter flashes darted from the tall spires of the buildings, forming a net work of fire like a monstrous sieve over the city.

The wireless stations refused to record as man had ordained them to do, and were spitting forth an unintelligible relay of sounds. The mysterious forces of the ether above were at war with nature, and man looked on unable to grasp the meaning of it all.

The destinies of life hung in the balance, and humanity began to surge to and fro, like lost sheep seeking the shelter of their wonted folds. Cries intermingled with tears from the weaker ones filled the air and made the stronger ones with blanched faces rush to their sides, only to fall upon their knees and pray in their efforts to comfort. A gentle but inevitable rocking of the Earth then took place; tall buildings seemed to lean and sway as corn in a field fanned by the wind.

All was chaos and disorder, business and homes were now forgotten as the people rushed about lost in their own city, as none seemed to recognize the other. Brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers seemed strangers now, the weak were forgotten and the stronger ones were made weak; listless they wandered about unable to control themselves, going they knew not where and they cared not.

A ponderous heave of the Earth sent the taller buildings toppling to the ground, hundreds of God’s children a sacrifice to that awful moment. Crouching humanity huddled together like droves of ants struggling, grasping, the weak falling beneath the stronger ones. Self preservation was now fully demonstrated. Like the beasts of the field they resorted to all means to their own end, each heedless of the other’s safety.

But all in an instant the clouds gave way, and a clear sky came to view. Like magic, man responded to his normal self, and impulses of recovery from past experience returned. A gentle heaving of the Earth was still noticeable. Wireless operators again took up the recordings they heard, and the news that was being flashed told of the same order of things from all parts of the globe. Nature was at war with the whole world! Word came that the many volcanoes that had been silent for years were belching forth their fury as they had never done before. The mighty seas had taken up the Earth’s momentum and had leaped inland for miles at the lowest points, carrying back the returning waves all loose objects; while towns and cities with their people were as straws upon the waters. The church-bells ringing from the rocking motion of the Earth, seemed to be tolling the funeral knell for the thousands whose lives went out in those few brief moments. The subtle messages came thick and fast “to the mountains,” “to the mountains,” and the cry resounded throughout the land.

The crowds surged toward the railroad centres; horses, flying machines, every available means of travel were pressed into service for the journey to higher ground to the mountains. Man cared naught for his brother, his ambition was to save himself. The mind can picture it, and I need not tell of the slaughter that took place; for it ill befits the pen to describe what followed in that mad rush!

The slow but steady rock and sway of the Earth still continued, and the ocean leaped into the yawning paths before it. Men were like the grass of the field, and as the grim reaper’s scythe fell their way, like the grass they were laid low. As the bird-men winged their way overhead, cries rent the air, piteous cries appealing to them for help.

As I write this strange page of history, I glance back from my seat in the clouds and thank the genius who made it possible for me to look upon this awful visitation of God’s Law governing nature and man, and my pen can give but a faint picture of it.

My machine carried me safely along as I was intent on taking to the highest point I could reach. As I left New York I flew directly over the Hudson River which was rolling and heaving, and from my high altitude looked like a huge snake twisting and coiling itself about mother Earth, caused by the never ceasing vibrations that were taking place every few moments.

Like magic the word was passed along “to the mountains.” It was ringing in my ears from below as the masses were struggling along to these points, only to be swallowed up by the hungry waters. Now to this side it would roll, burying towns and cities, then to the other side it would heave, carrying everything that would float before it. Railroad trains toppled over, bridges floated away like loose timber, boats were dashed inland and rolled and tumbled like logs in a swift running stream. Scenes, if the Lord is willing I should live, that would leave their impression upon me for all time.

I passed from one to the other till, peering ahead of me, I saw Storm King Mountain in the distance. In my anxiety to reach it my machine seemed to stand still, and great beads of perspiration stood upon my brow. I leaned forward in my eagerness—it seemed an age, but in a few moments I was over the hotel, and circling about a few times I landed in the hotel grounds. Fully 500 people were there to greet me in my unexpected visit, and they were huddled together, holding on to trees, those who could, and others with deathlike grip holding on to each other.

As I described the scenes I left in New York and on the way up, I could also tell what was taking place as well from the time I left. With the waters rushing inland, and the snapping in twain of the higher buildings, the once beautiful city of life lay buried with its store of riches and struggling humanity; and this same state of affairs existed over the entire universe.

At that moment, with but a few of God’s children to bear witness, the whole Earth was a scene of death and desolation, obliterating humanity with its riches, fine arts, and the work of ages into a vast nothing, into oblivion. And the end—who could say? Were we yet to share in its further destruction?

Picture in your mind the tortures we underwent as each fleeting moment gave way to the next. Was the next to be our last? None could tell, but all could but expect it, and with that thought uppermost, our prayers ascended above.

A calm seemed to settle over all as the fervid words from our upturned and appealing faces journeyed toward the blue heavens above us.

The small mass of humanity seemed to revert to a more normal feeling. We looked out upon the Hudson valley beneath, but it was no more, for it was filled with the flood of waters. A sinking feeling of the ground beneath us was felt at the moment and as we gazed; but a broad expanse of waters could be seen as far as the eye could reach. We were hovering twixt life and death, the mountain but an island now in a greater sea,—the lapping of the waters on the new formed shores was the only sound save the God-inspired murmur from the voices of the handful of human beings who witnessed this great world change.

And then the sun once more shone down upon us in its full glory, and the air seemed to be again of Earth’s kind. The waters had stilled as if by magic, for the undulations of the Earth had ceased, and as I noticed the change I spread the news to my companions, and my assurances of the turning point in this great catastrophe was accepted as convincing.

The keeper rushed into the hotel as I directed, and brought forth a pair of powerful field glasses; adjusting them I scanned the waters which by this time had begun to recede. Here and there scattering before us, lay a few small islands, and I could plainly see human beings moving about on them. Thank God! others are saved as well as we. Where will be the end? The beginning was but a few hours ago, and if the whole world has suffered thus, what can be the human toll in this calamity—who could foresee its after effect?

All communication cut off, said the hotel man; when a happy thought struck me. I have a wireless outfit on my biplane, and I will try it out. I set it up, and from our high altitude results, if such there existed, would certainly be attained. It was but a little work when I had it completed, and I flashed the first message, “Hudson River valley—500 safe.” Denver responded, “300 souls in God’s keeping; water surrounds us.” Another, and more mysterious message was received, “Boat lost, no land in sight, latitude 74, longitude 42.” Quickly I answered this message; “Steer direct north.” Back came the answer, “In need, watch out.”

While we look and wonder, the waters had fallen so fast that half of the mountain side was bare. Debris of every conceivable shape was twisted among the trees; human, animal, wrecks of once happy homes lay torn asunder and interwoven among the tree-tops. While we looked with awe on the remnants of this great sacrifice to nature’s forces, a call was heard in the distance, and we sighted a submarine coming at full speed toward us.

We hallooed to them, when they started for the new made shore. They reached us and, steering sideways of the mountain’s breast, they stopped, and the waters were receding so fast, that the boat caught in the tree-tops, and being held a prisoner, began to settle down until the flood left them hanging wedged and suspended among the trees. The crew, dazed at the change of events, clambered out and, slipping down the ships sides one by one, they reached terra firma.

The joyful expression on the faces of this crew of about forty men I shall never forget. They talked in Japanese, but the captain spoke very good English, and the story he told was harassing in every detail. Their mission had been death and destruction, but the power of the elements had intervened, and swept both armies before their Maker. The art of man had equipped them with a device, which had served them in the same capacity that had been my good luck, and had saved their lives. These men, bent on a mission of death and, with nature’s forces as their foes, had been guided into such a strange, but safe port.

As we looked down the mountain side the waters had reached the valley below and were beginning to run off, as if the valley was tipped to drain it. We all retraced our steps to the top again, where we found the people in a better frame of mind, as the fear and dread had somewhat vanished.

As they talked of the future I planned to return again to New York in my machine. I was soon ready and on starting I promised to return as soon as possible to acquaint them with the horrors I knew I would find there. With a God speed for my return, I left them and soared over the valley below; and such a valley! Not a shadow of death, but death in all its reality; not a moving object could be seen, save as I flew over a hill to the West a few human beings were wending their way among the foothills like strangers in a vast wilderness. Right ahead of me I sighted two more aeroplanes, making for what was once New York city.

The Palisades, mighty bulwark of nature, looked as natural as the first day I laid eyes on them, but at their base lay a motley pile of debris. I was soon over the once beautiful city, now but a twisted mass of buildings. I tried to pick out a place to land, but strange to say, Central Park was the only spot that recalled days gone by, and I alighted there. Soon more biplanes were in view and they also landed. There were fourteen of us in all. With bowed heads and far away looks we gazed round about us; not a word was spoken—we were in the city of the dead!

At last I found words to express myself, “God has visited us, but how sadly strange has been His visit.”

A young man spoke up, and his words plainly showed that science had strongly influenced his young mind. “Say not so, friend, for I see in this but nature’s work; her laws are inevitable—nothing can alter or master them. The reason for this, could it be traced by a master mind, would be found within the indomitable will of nature’s laws, for she it was that hurled the waters hence, and sent them back whence they came, and time and talent no doubt will clear the mystery of it all. The ready answer lies hidden within the breast of some scientist who was laid low in this great holocaust of nature, and maybe a new mind yet to come, yet to be born, will solve this mystery.”

Talking in this strain we started on a tour of the city. Hardly a body was to be found, the streets were clear save for the slight scum left by the waters. Here and there a crumpled house of brick and stone, but most of the wooden structures had been swept away, but a vestige of them now and then remained.

All went fairly well until we reached the crowded business section. The once tall buildings, from the rock and sway of the Earth and the last few hours, had been snapped off at varying lengths and lay in heaps of ruins.

We reached a large bank with massive doors and windows intact, and as we entered a hush came over all, for we stood in the presence of man’s mighty ruler. “The tomb of Money, the fickle king of humanity,” spoke up the young scientist, “Here lies buried the king of our land, with none to do him homage. Like the pauper in the potter’s field, alone, and unclaimed, as poor as the stones that guard him. His reign was long and arduous, toiling hands and furrowed brows have tenderly laid him at rest, cunningly hid him behind locked doors, until such time as he might go forth for good or evil, as was his wont. The king lies dead and buried, his power gone out with the flood of waters—nature has uncrowned him, and proclaimed to all that her majesty ruled the world!”

Trolleys, crashed together like shingles overlapping one another, filled one whole street so full that we had to pass a block out of our way to get by them; and here humanity lay mingled with the wreckage—a sight upon which to draw the curtain. Think of the mad rush of only a few hours before! A wall of water had stopped their flight and buried them where they stood.

And so we traversed the city till we were heart-sick. The small number of bodies found seemed to prove that the waters had done their work well, and had carried them out to sea on their return. We wended our way back to our machines at Central Park and mounting them, were soon in flight for the Sayville wireless station which, upon reaching it, we found almost intact, and with a little adjustment we were soon flashing messages in hopes of response from the other side.

We waited with bated breath for some few minutes, when at last, an answer greeted our ears. “Germany inundated—Black forest safe—Alps, Switzerland—a few hundred saved—the valley a sea of death—answer.” We wired back, Sayville station, U. S.—all is over here—the whole world must be wrecked. Wired Japan, “Yusti-33, with all on board safe—boat beached on mountain—last remnant of the war in a hostile port.”

“So the war has ceased,” ’twas the young scientist who spoke, “One extreme always follows another—war at any rate, for the future, has been laid low. The elements, awakened no doubt by the lost energy of the slaughtered millions of human beings, brought about a magnetic change upon the Earth’s surface, unable to further control itself; the ether above rebelled, a monstrous vacuum must have formed and the Earth sank. When the great controlling lever again swung into place, what lay before us was the fruits of this mysterious change.

“What will our future be, who can tell? Can this be the beginning of the end? But a handful of life in a desert of death! A few hours ago man was king of all the Earth, but as the chaff before the wind he was swept from his abode without a moments warning, out upon a changeless sea, into eternal oblivion. Yes, lost energy must have been the cause, and through that cause the globe had lost its balance and nature’s law had reasserted its power over man.”

“What can be done,” I asked, “Are we to confess we are powerless to act in the face of it all?” “Not so,” says the young man. “We will at once begin to repair the change by an attempt to concentrate all mankind that remains.”

Immediately we set about our task. There were fourteen of us together, but in a few weeks our number had grown into the thousands, strangers in our own country. It was the beginning of a new life, the dawn of a new era, to mould once again the future destinies of man.

In a few weeks by hard and unceasing labor, we had cleaned the streets somewhat, and gave back to the waters that which they had brought us. We settled down in the city round about Central Park, and gradually it took on form again, but it would take years to have but a few streets. Everything was ours, but of what could that avail us? Everything, and in all—nothing. But for the air we breathed, and the thought of life we all love so well, that is what made us work and fight to build up as fast as human hands could build.

Reports from various points came in after a time, that the same ambition was still alive in different parts of the country; for a change had come over what remained of our race. The cry that still swells upon the air—“to the mountains”—was again taken up, and the fear that a repetition of the past might take place took possession of all, and throughout the land that impulse was acted upon, and we sought the higher altitudes, and there built our abodes.

The fall and winter came and went, and with the advent of spring nature broke out into strains of the sweet harmonious chords of the past, and tuned her lyre to the chirping of the birds and bees, and the sunnedkissed Earth took on a new mantle of green.

Silently, and within only, mankind and womankind mourned for the past, for that which could never return. Outwardly, even the wind that blew was blest and blest again. With reverence we greeted nature, for nature was king, and to that silent beauty, might and power, we paid homage, and greeted each morn as we never had done before. Into the minds of ever human this great change had instilled a new feeling that would for the years to come dominate all the selfish impulses of the past. The future would be a sweet song, and would be forever sung, for nature had made children of us all, and we were in the school of her teaching. Strife, greed, selfishness, all had gone out with the waters, and from the arid waste and new-made desert of destruction had sprung a new life, a new world.

The Millennium, which the world as it was had refused to accept, had been born within a few hours, at a cost only the Supreme Ruler could fathom. Of the future, to some other pen will fall the honor of doing homage to our new born world, and on its pages I can predict naught will be recorded but what is good, as that now predominates all things.

For the lessons we learned can have but one answer in the many minds tortured to the limit of endurance by the inevitable turn of events of the past, they have left their imprint upon all of peace, love of our neighbor, and equality of all mankind. And in the end no need of a monument to commemorate, for all were worthy, as the living thoughts of all were received and acted upon, but not recorded; for it has made man more like the Image he was originally created.

My recordings here are but a small synopsis of the actual happening, and are only of my own observation.

The vast stage whereon this great scene took place, the actors shifting of scenes, I must leave to the reader’s imagination, for it is too vast, and too terrible for me to attempt to recall.

IN REPLY to our inquiry of the Author just how he received and recorded the above unusual experience, we got the following reply:

“Answering your letter I shall give you as best I can recall it the information you seek. It was in the Fall of 1916, at 5 A. M., that I awoke from a good night’s sleep. Shortly after as I closed my eyes a change came over me. I lapsed into a semi-conscious state, and my environment was the scenes of my story. I lived in a brief time the whole cycle of events, as realistic as if it actually happened and I was a part of it.

“At its close, it seems I was commanded by some unseen to record what I had experienced. I arose from my bed and at once sat down to my typewriter. I never faltered but wrote like mad; the dictation seemed ethereal; I dared not falter. My wife called me for breakfast. She tells me I did not recognize her call. At the finale I sat as one awakened from a much disturbed sleep, and I was not conscious of my personal duties for some time; and then—well—I was tired and somewhat bewildered as I tried to eat, wondering why this had to happen.

“And many times since, while reading it over, I have sat and pondered, ever accusing myself of having a bad dream; but then, I could but say, ‘Ah no; it was too real. I was awake, and I must wait and see.’”

We again urge everyone who has read the above experience to be careful not to allow any pictures to form in the mind regarding what was told and to give them life through fear of such things actually happening. For our purpose in relating it along with others of a similar nature is to make everyone who reads them THINK, and especially to realize that what appears as a comparatively quiet and satisfactory state of the world at this time may be just the lull that precedes the storm. For such experiences are almost always of a symbolic nature and come as a warning of something cataclysmic that may happen in the personal life and affairs of the one witnessing them.

SINCE the April issue the following letter from a student was received: “In the last issue of THE INNER LIFE you have an article entitled, ‘Whatever May Come to Pass,’ and I wish to say that I also have had a similar experience in the past, with the exception that in my vision fire was consuming the people and the earth, instead of there being a great earthquake and flood. In the midst of it I did my best to show and tell the people what to do, but no one would listen to me—they were too busy praying and tearing their hair and hovering over their material belongings. I walked in the fire to demonstrate to them that it was harmless, if they only had faith. So when I saw it was apparently useless, I stepped into an aeroplane and soared just above them.

“It seemed to feel that the vision was more universal than personal. The fire was a spiritual fire consuming the earthly qualities of self and all material and harmful influences, and all those who still clung to that old selfish consciousness naturally would be consumed. ‘For Behold, I make a new heaven and a new earth.’”

It is fitting in this connection to follow this article with one by F. L. Rawson, the great English writer and teacher on the Absolute, author of that remarkable book on True Thinking, “Life Understood,” taken from his first Special Lesson, showing just what to do to free one’s mind from such negative pictures.