第25章

Intheearlymorning，whilstthemountainswerestillrathergreythanblue，thecable—linetookustotheBlueMouth，whereweembarkedintheKing’syacht，TheLady，whichtookusacrosstheAdriaticatapacewhichIhadhithertoconsideredimpossible。TheKingandQueencametothelandingtoseeusoff。Theystoodtogetherattheright—handsideofthered—carpetedgangway，andshookhandswitheachguestashewentonboard。Theinstantthelastpassengerhadsteppedondeckthegangwaywaswithdrawn。TheLordHighAdmiral，whostoodonthebridge，raisedhishand，andweswepttowardsthemouthofthegulf。Ofcourse，allhatswereoff，andwecheeredfrantically。IcantrulysaythatifKingRupertandQueenTeutashouldeverwishtofoundintheBlueMountainsacolonyofdiplomatistsandjournalists，thosewhoweretheirguestsonthisgreatoccasionwillvolunteertoaman。IthinkoldHempetch，whoisthedoyenofEnglish—speakingjournalists，voicedoursentimentswhenhesaid：

"MayGodblessthemandtheirswitheverygraceandhappiness，andsendprosperitytotheLandandtherule！"IthinktheKingandQueenhearduscheer，theyturnedtolookatourflyingshipagain。

BOOKIX：BALKA

RUPERT’SJOURNAL——Continued（LongeIntervallo）。

February10，1908。

ItissolongsinceIeventhoughtofthisjournalthatIhardlyknowwheretobegin。Ialwaysheardthatamarriedmanisaprettybusyman；butsinceIbecameone，thoughitisanewlifetome，andofahappinessundreamtof，IKNOWwhatthatlifeis。ButIhadnoideathatthisKingbusinesswasanythinglikewhatitis。Why，itneverleavesmeamomentatalltomyself——or，whatisworse，toTeuta。IfpeoplewhocondemnKingshadonlyasinglemonthofmylifeinthatcapacity，theywouldformanopiniondifferentfromthatwhichtheyhold。ItmightbeusefultohaveaProfessorofKingshipintheAnarchists’College——wheneveritisfounded！

Everythinghasgoneonwellwithus，Iamgladtosay。Teutaisinsplendidhealth，thoughshehas——butonlyverylately——practicallygivenupgoingonherownaeroplane。Itwas，Iknow，agreatsacrificetomake，justasshehadbecomeanexpertatit。TheysayherethatsheisoneofthebestdriversintheBlueMountains——andthatisintheworld，forwehavemadethatformofmovementourown。

Eversincewefoundthepitch—blendepocketsintheGreatTunnel，anddiscoveredthesimpleprocessofextractingtheradiumfromit，wehavegoneonbyleapsandbounds。WhenfirstTeutatoldmeshewould"aero"nomoreforawhile，Ithoughtshewaswise，andbackedherupinit：fordrivinganaeroplaneistryingworkandhardonthenerves。Ionlylearnedthenthereasonforhercaution——theusualoneofayoungwife。Thatwasthreemonthsago，andonlythismorningshetoldmeshewouldnotgosailingintheair，evenwithme，tillshecoulddoso"withoutrisk"——shedidnotmeanrisktoherself。AuntJanetknewwhatshemeant，andcounselledherstronglytosticktoherresolution。SoforthenextfewmonthsIamtodomyair—sailingalone。

ThepublicworkswhichwebeganimmediatelyaftertheCoronationaregoingstrong。Webeganattheverybeginningonanelaboratesystem。

ThefirstthingwastoadequatelyfortifytheBlueMouth。Whilstthefortificationswerebeingconstructedwekeptallthewarshipsinthegulf。Butwhenthepointofsafetywasreached，wemadetheshipsdosentry—goalongthecoast，whilstwetrainedmenforserviceatsea。

Itisourplantotakebydegreesalltheyoungmenandteachthemthiswise，sothatattheendthewholepopulationshallbetrainedforseaaswellasforland。Andasweareteachingthemtheairshipservice，too，theywillbeathomeinalltheelements——exceptfire，ofcourse，thoughifthatshouldbecomeanecessity，weshalltackleittoo！

WestartedtheGreatTunnelatthefarthestinlandpointoftheBlueMouth，andranitdueeastatanangleof45degrees，sothat，whencomplete，itwouldgorightthroughthefirstlineofhills，comingoutontheplateauPlazac。Theplateauisnotverywide——halfamileatmost——andthesecondtunnelbeginsontheeasternsideofit。

Thisnewtunnelisatasmallerangle，asithastopiercethesecondhill——amountainthistime。Whenitcomesoutontheeastsideofthat，itwilltaptherealproductivebelt。Hereitisthatourhardwood—treesarefinest，andwherethegreatestmineraldepositsarefound。Thisplateauisofenormouslength，andrunsnortharidsouthroundthegreatbulkofthecentralmountain，sothatintime，whenweputupacircularrailway，wecanbring，atamerelynominalcost，allsortsofmaterialupordown。Itisonthislevelthatwehavebuiltthegreatfactoriesforwarmaterial。Wearetunnellingintothemountains，wherearethegreatdepositsofcoal。Werunthetrucksinandoutonthelevel，andcangetperfectventilationwithlittlecostorlabour。Alreadyweareminingallthecoalwhichweconsumewithinourownconfines，andwecan，ifwewish，withinayearexportlargely。Thegreatslopesofthesetunnelsgiveusthenecessaryaidofspecificgravity，andaswecarryanendlesswater—

supplyingreattubesthatwayalso，wecandowhateverwewishbyhydraulicpower。AsonebyonetheEuropeanandAsiaticnationsbegantoreducetheirwarpreparations，wetookovertheirdisbandedworkmenthoughouragents，sothatalreadywehaveaproductivestaffofskilledworkmenlargerthananywhereelseintheworld。Ithinkmyselfthatwewerefortunateinbeingabletogetaheadsofastwithourpreparationsforwarmanufacture，forifsomeofthe"GreatPowers，"astheycallthemselves，knewthemeasureofourpresentproduction，theywouldimmediatelytrytotakeactivemeasuresagainstus。Insuchcaseweshouldhavetofightthem，whichwoulddelayus。Butifwecanhaveanotheryearuntroubled，weshall，sofaraswarmaterialisconcerned，beabletodefyanynationintheworld。Andifthetimemayonlycomepeacefullytillwehaveourbuildingsandmachinerycomplete，wecanpreparewar—storesandimplementsforthewholeBalkannations。Andthen——Butthatisadream。Weshallknowingoodtime。

Inthemeantimeallgoeswell。Thecannonfoundriesarebuiltandactive。Wearealreadybeginningtoturnoutfinishedwork。Ofcourse，ourfirstgunsarenotverylarge，buttheyaregood。Thebigguns，andespeciallysiege—guns，willcomelater。Andwhenthegreatextensionsarecomplete，andtheboringandwire—windingmachinesareinworkingorder，wecangomerrilyon。Isupposethatbythattimethewholeoftheupperplateauwillbelikeamanufacturingtown——atanyrate，wehaveplentyofrawmaterialtohand。Thehaematiteminesseemtobeinexhaustible，andastheraisingoftheoreischeapandeasybymeansofourextraordinarywater—power，andascoalcomesdowntotheplateaubyitsowngravityonthecable—line，wehavenaturaladvantageswhichexisthardlyanywhereelseintheworld——certainlynotalltogether，ashere。

Thatbird’seyeviewoftheBlueMouthwhichwehadfromtheaeroplanewhenTeutasawthatvisionofthefuturehasnotbeeninvain。Theaeroplaneworksarehavingasplendidoutput。Theaeroplaneisalargeandvisibleproduct；thereisnomistakingwhenitisthere！Wehavealreadyalargeandrespectableaerialfleet。

Thefactoriesforexplosivesare，ofcourse，farawayinbarevalleys，whereaccidentaleffectsareminimized。So，too，aretheradiumworks，whereinunknowndangersmaylurk。Theturbinesinthetunnelgiveusallthepowerwewantatpresent，and，lateron，whenthenewtunnel，whichwecallthe"watertunnel，"whichisalreadybegun，iscomplete，theavailablepowerwillbeimmense。Alltheseworksarebringingupourshipping，andweareingreathopesforthefuture。

Somuchforourmaterialprosperity。Butwithitcomesalargerlifeandgreaterhopes。Thestressoforganizingandfoundingthesegreatworksispracticallyover。Astheyarenotonlyself—supporting，butlargelyproductive，allanxietyinthewayofnationalexpenditureisminimized。And，morethanall，Iamabletogivemyunhamperedattentiontothosemattersofevenmorethannationalimportanceonwhichtheultimatedevelopment，ifnottheimmediatestrength，ofourcountrymustdepend。

IamwellintothesubjectofagreatBalkanFederation。This，itturnsout，hasforlongbeenthedreamofTeuta’slife，asalsothatofthepresentArchimandriteofPlazac，herfather，who，sinceIlasttouchedthisjournal，havingtakenonhimselfaHolyLife，was，bywilloftheChurch，theMonks，andthePeople，appointedtothatgreatofficeontheretirementofPetrofVlastimir。

SuchaFederationhadlongbeenintheair。Formyself，Ihadseenitsinevitablenessfromthefirst。ThemodernaggressionsoftheDualNation，interpretedbyherpasthistorywith

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