第23章

Thithercamebyvariousrailsofsteepgradient，bytimber—shootsandcable—rails，byaerialcablesandprecipitatingtubes，wealthfromovergroundandunderit；forasourLandisallmountains，andasthesetoweruptotheclouds，transporttotheseashallbeeasyandoflittlecostwhenoncethemachineryisestablished。Aseverythingofmuchweightgoesdownward，thecarsofthemaintunneloftheportshallreturnupwardwithoutcost。Wecanhavefromthemountainsaheadofwaterundergoodcontrol，whichwillallowofendlesshydraulicpower，sothatthewholeportandthemechanismofthetowntowhichitwillgrowcanbeworkedbyit。

"Thisworkcanbeputinhandatonce。Sosoonastheplaceshallbeperfectlysurveyedandtheengineeringplansgotready，wecanstartonthemaintunnel，workingfromthesea—levelup，sothatthecostofthetransportofmaterialwillbealmostnil。Thisworkcangoonwhilstthefortsarebuilding；notimeneedbelost。

"Moreover，mayIaddawordonNationalDefence？Weare，thougholdinhonour，ayoungnationastoourplaceamongstGreatPowers。Andsowemustshowthecourageandenergyofayoungnation。TheEmpireoftheAirisnotyetwon。Whyshouldnotwemakeabidforit？Asourmountainsarelofty，soshallwehaveinitialpowerofattackordefence。Wecanhave，inchosenspotsamongsttheclouds，depotsofwaraeroplanes，withwhichwecandescendandsmiteourenemiesquicklyonlandorsea。WeshallhopetoliveforPeace；butwoetothosewhodriveustoWar！"

ThereisnodoubtthattheVissarionsareawarlikerace。AsI

spoke，Teutatookoneofmyhandsandheldithard。TheoldVoivode，hiseyesblazing，roseandstoodbesidemeandtooktheother。Thetwooldfighting—menofthelandandtheseastoodupandsaluted。

Thiswasthebeginningofwhatultimatelybecame"TheNationalCommitteeofDefenceandDevelopment。"

Ihadother，andperhapsgreater，plansforthefutureinmymind；

butthetimehadnotcomefortheirutterance。

Tomeitseemsnotonlyadvisable，butnecessary，thattheutmostdiscretionbeobservedbyallourlittlegroup，atalleventsforthepresent。ThereseemstobesomenewuneasinessintheBlueMountains。ThereareconstantmeetingsofmembersoftheCouncil，butnoformalmeetingoftheCouncil，assuch，sincethelastoneatwhichIwaspresent。Thereisconstantcomingandgoingamongstthemountaineers，alwaysingroups，smallorlarge。TeutaandI，whohavebeenaboutverymuchontheaeroplane，havebothnoticedit。

Butsomehowwe——thatis，theVoivodeandmyself——areleftoutofeverything；butwehavenotsaidasyetawordonthesubjecttoanyoftheothers。TheVoivodenotices，buthesaysnothing；soIamsilent，andTeutadoeswhateverIask。SirColindoesnotnoticeanythingexcepttheworkheisengagedon——theplanningthedefencesoftheBlueMouth。Hisoldscientifictrainingasanengineer，andhisenormousexperienceofwarsandsieges——forhewasfornearlyfiftyyearssentasmilitaryrepresentativetoallthegreatwars——

seemtohavebecomedirectedonthatpoint。Heiscertainlyplanningitalloutinawonderfulway。HeconsultsRookealmosthourlyonthemaritimesideofthequestion。TheLordHighAdmiralhasbeenawatcherallhislife，andveryfewimportantpointshaveeverescapedhim，sothathecanaddgreatlytothewisdomofthedefensiveconstruction。Henotices，Ithink，thatsomethingisgoingonoutsideourselves；buthekeepsaresolutesilence。

WhatthemovementgoingonisIcannotguess。ItisnotliketheuneasinessthatwentbeforetheabductionofTeutaandtheVoivode，butitisevenmorepronounced。Thatwasanuneasinessfoundedonsomesuspicion。Thisisapositivething，andhasdefinitemeaning——

ofsomesort。Weshall，Isuppose，knowallaboutitingoodtime。

Inthemeantimewegoonwithourwork。HappilythewholeBlueMouthandthemountainsrounditareonmyownproperty，theportionacquiredlongagobyUncleRoger，exclusiveoftheVissarionestate。

IaskedtheVoivodetoallowmetotransferittohim，buthesternlyrefusedandforbademe，quiteperemptorily，toeveropenthesubjecttohimagain。"Youhavedoneenoughalready，"hesaid。"WereItoallowyoutogofurther，Ishouldfeelmean。AndIdonotthinkyouwouldlikeyourwife’sfathertosufferthatfeelingafteralonglife，whichhehastriedtoliveinhonour。"

Ibowed，andsaidnomore。Sotherethematterrests，andIhavetotakemyowncourse。Ihavehadasurveymade，andontheheadofittheTunneltotheharbourisbegun。

BOOKVIII：THEFLASHINGOFTHEHANDJAR

PRIVATEMEMORANDUMOFTHEMEETINGOFVARIOUSMEMBERSOFTHENATIONAL

COUNCIL，HELDATTHESTATEHOUSEOFTHEBLUEMOUNTAINSATPLAZACON

MONDAY，AUGUST26，1907。

（WrittenbyCristoferos，ScribeoftheCouncil，byinstructionofthosepresent。）

WhentheprivatemeetingofvariousMembersoftheNationalCouncilhadassembledintheCouncilHalloftheStateHouseatPlazac，itwasasapreliminarydecidedunanimouslythatnoworhereafternonamesofthosepresentweretobementioned，andthatofficialsappointedforthepurposesofthismeetingshouldbedesignatedbyofficeonly，thenamesofallbeingwithheld。

Theproceedingsassumedtheshapeofageneralconversation，quiteinformal，andthereforenottoberecorded。Thenettoutcomewastheunanimousexpressionofanopinionthatthetime，longcontemplatedbyverymanypersonsthroughoutthenation，hadnowcomewhentheConstitutionandmachineryoftheStateshouldbechanged；thatthepresentformofrulingbyanIrregularCouncilwasnotsufficient，andthatamethodmoreinaccordwiththespiritofthetimesshouldbeadopted。TothisendConstitutionalMonarchy，suchasthatholdinginGreatBritain，seemedbestadapted。Finally，itwasdecidedthateachMemberoftheCouncilshouldmakeapersonalcanvassofhisdistrict，talkoverthematterwithhiselectors，andbringbacktoanothermeeting——or，rather，asitwasamended，tothismeetingpostponedforaweek，untilSeptember2nd——theopinionsandwishesreceived。Beforeseparating，theindividualtobeappointedKing，incasethenewideashouldprovegratefultothenation，wasdiscussed。TheconsensusofopinionwasentirelytotheeffectthattheVoivodePeterVissarionshould，ifhewouldacceptthehighoffice，beappointed。Itwasurgedthat，ashisdaughter，theVoivodinTeuta，wasnowmarriedtotheEnglishman，RupertSentLeger—

—calledgenerallybythemountaineers"theGospodarRupert"——asuccessortofollowtheVoivodewhenGodshouldcallhimwouldbeathand——asuccessorworthyineverywaytosucceedtosoillustriousapost。Itwasurgedbyseveralspeakers，withgeneralacquiescence，thatalreadyMr。SentLeger’sservicestotheStateweresuchthathewouldbeinhimselfaworthypersontobeginthenewDynasty；butthat，ashewasnowalliedtotheVoivodePeterVissarion，itwasbecomingthattheelder，bornofthenation，shouldreceivethefirsthonour。

THESAME——Continued。

TheadjournedmeetingofcertainmembersoftheNationalCouncilwasresumedintheHalloftheStateHouseatPlazaconMonday，September2nd，1907。Bymotionthesamechairmanwasappointed，andtheruleregardingtherecordrenewed。

ReportsweremadebythevariousmembersoftheCouncilinturn，accordingtotheStateRoll。Everydistrictwasrepresented。ThereportswereunanimouslyinfavouroftheNewConstitution，anditwasreportedbyeachandalloftheCouncillorsthattheutmostenthusiasmmarkedineverycasethesuggestionoftheVoivodePeterVissarionasthefirstKingtobecrownedunderthenewConstitution，andthatremaindershouldbesettledontheGospodarRupert（themountaineerswouldonlyreceivehislawfulnameasanalternative；

oneandallsaidthathewouldbe"Rupert"tothemandtothenation—

—forever）。

Theabovematterhavingbeensatisfactorilysettled，itwasdecidedthataformalmeetingoftheNationalCouncilshouldbeheldattheStateHouse，Plazac，inoneweekfromto—day，andthattheVoivodePeterVissarionshouldbeaskedtobeintheStateHouseinreadinesstoattend。ItwasalsodecidedthatinstructionshouldbegiventotheHighCourtofNationalLawtoprepareandhaveready，inskeletonform，arescriptoftheNewConstitutiontobeadopted，thesametobefoundedontheConstitutionandProcedureofGreatBritain，sofarasthesamemaybeapplicabletothetraditionalideasoffreeGovernmentintheLandoftheBlueMountains。

Byunanimousvotethisprivateandirregularmeetingof"VariousNationalCouncillors"wasthendissolved。

RECORDOFTHEFIRSTMEETINGOFTHENATIONALCOUNCILOFTHELANDOF

THEBLUEMOUNTAINS，HELDATPLAZACONMONDAY，SEPTEMBER9TH，1907，TO

CONSIDERTHEADOPTIONOFANEWCONSTITUTION，ANDTOGIVEPERMANE

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