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"The oceans?"
"You don’t believe it? Well, you died in 1890, so you find it hard to credit. But some people were predicting in 1968 exactly what did happen in 2008. I believed them, I was a biochemist. But most of the population, especially those who counted, the masses and the politicians, refused to believe until it was too late. Measures were taken as the situation got worse, but they were always too weak and too late and fought against by groups that stood to lose money, if effective measures were taken. But it’s a long sad story, and if we’re to build houses, we’d best start immediately after lunch."
Alice came out of the river and ran her hands over her body. The sun and the breeze dried her off quickly. She picked up her grass clothes but did not put them back on. Wilfreda asked her about them. Alice replied that they made her itch too much, but she would keep them to wear at night if it got cold. Alice was polite to Wilfreda but obviously aloof. She had overheard much of the conversation and-so knew that Wilfreda had been a factory girl who had become a whore and then had died of syphilis. Or at least Wilfreda thought that the disease-had killed her. She did not remember dying. Undoubtedly, as she had said cheerily, she had lost her mind first.
Alice, hearing this, moved even further away. Burton gri
Should not was not, however, would not.
He could not really blame Alice Hargreaves. She was the product of her society — like all women, she was what men had made her and she had strength of character and flexibility of mind to lift herself above some of the prejudices of her time and her class. She had adapted to the nudity well enough, and she was not openly hostile or contemptuous of the girl. She had performed an act with Burton that went against a lifetime of overt and covert indoctrination. And that was on the night of the first day of her life after death, when she should have been on her knees singing hosa
As they walked across the plain, he thought about her, turning his head now and then to look back at her. That hairless head made her face look so much older but the hairlessness made her look so childlike below the navel. They all bore this contradiction, old man, or woman above the neck, young child below the bellybutton.
He dropped back until he was by her side. This put him behind Frigate and Loghu. The view of Loghu would yield some profit even if his attempt to talk to Alice resulted in nothing. Loghu had a beautifully rounded posterior; her buttocks were like two eggs. And she swayed as enchantingly as Alice.
He spoke in a low voice, "If last night distressed you so much why do you stay with me?" Her beautiful face became twisted and ugly.
"I am not staying with you! I am staying with the group! Moreover, I’ve been thinking about last night, though it pains me to do so. I must be fair. It was the narcotic in that hideous gum that made both of us behave the… way we did. At least, I know it was responsible for my behavior. And I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt."
"Then there’s no hope of repetition?"
"How can you ask that! Certainly not! How dare you?"
"I did not force you," he said. "As I have pointed out, you did what you would do if you were not restrained by your inhibitions. Those inhibitions are good things — under certain circumstances, such as being the lawful wedded wife of a man you love in the England of Earth. But Earth no longer exists, not as we knew it. Neither does England. Neither does English society. And if all of mankind has been resurrected and is scattered along this river, you still may never see your husband again. You are no longer married. Remember … till death do us part.
You have died, and, therefore, parted. Moreover, there is no giving into marriage in heaven."
"You are a blasphemer, Mr. Burton. I read about you in the newspapers, and I read some of your books about Africa and India and that one about the Mormons in the States. I also heard stories, most of which I found hard to believe, they made you out to be so wicked. Reginald was very indignant when he read your Kasidah. He said he’d have no such foul atheistic literature in his house, and he threw all your books into the furnace."
"If I’m so wicked, and you feel you’re a fallen woman, why don’t you leave?"
"Must I repeat everything? The next group might have even worse men in it. And, as you have been so kind to point out, you did not force me. Anyway, I’m sure that you have some kind of heart beneath that cynical and mocking air. I saw you weeping when you were carrying Gwenafra and she was crying."
"You have found me out," he said, gri
Her eyes widened, and she stopped. "You plan to use it again?"
"Why not? It apparently turned some people into violent beasts, but it had no such effect on me. I feel no craving for it, so I doubt it’s habit-forming. I used to smoke a pipe of opium now and then, you know, and I did not become addicted to it, so I don’t suppose I have a psychological weakness for drugs."
"I understood that you were very often deep in your cups, Mister Burton. You and that nauseating creature, Mr. Swinburne…" She stopped talking. A man had called out to her, and, though she did not understand Italian, she understood his obscene gesture. She blushed all over but walked briskly on.
Burton glared at the man, He was a well-built browns youth with a big nose, a weak chin, and close set eyes; His ski
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Burton spoke sharply, and his people closed up. Kazz did not understand his words, but he sensed at once what was happening. He dropped back to form the rearguard with Burton. His brutish appearance and the handaxe in his huge fist choked the Bolognese somewhat. They followed the group, making loud comments and threats, but they did not get much closer. Why they reached the hills, however, the leader of the gang shouted a command, and it attacked.
The youth with the close-set eyes, yelling, swinging his grail at the end of the strap ran at Burton. Burton gauged the swing of the cylinder and then launched his bamboo spear just as the grail was arcing outward. The stone tip went into the man’s solar plexus, and he fell on his side with the spear sticking in him. The subhuman struck a swinging grail with a stick, which was knocked out of his hand. He leaped inward and brought the edge of the handaxe against the top of the head of his attacker, and that man went down with a bloody skull.