Angels and Women (1924)

GREATER CHANGE 137
and this was the hour of tranquillity in Balonia--the
capital city of the gods.
Nature was also in repose. Too calm and
silent seemed the morning’s dawn. No
zephyr lifted the drooping leaves; no chirp
of bird or insect disturbed the brooding
silence. A gray haze hung over the sleeping
city, an ominous hush pervaded the valley.
I paused to listen. I sat upon the earth and
leaned my head upon a projecting rock. Did
I feel a tremor coming from the bowels of
the earth, the parturient throes of an unborn
earthquake? I looked up into the deeps of
the soft sky. Could I not discern in the faroff
mist the smothered tumult of generating
elements, the struggles of a chained tempest?
I spoke--Aldeth wondered at my
strange words; I myself wondered.
I rose and hastened on until a short turn
in the pathway brought me directly in front
of the building called Tebah. Here was animation.
The smoke of early sacrifice slowly
floated heavenward, and the Prophet with