The Case of Summerfield | Page 7

certainly not an unprecedented proceeding on
the part of a star; but one singular circumstance in its behavior was that, after the lapse of
nearly two months, it began to blaze up again, though not with equal ardor, and after
maintaining its glow for a few weeks, and passing through sundry phases of color, it
gradually paled its fires, and returned to its former insignificance. How many years had
elapsed since this awful conflagration actually took place, it would be presumptuous to
guess; but it must be remembered that news from the heavens, though carried by the
fleetest of messengers, light, reaches us long after the event has transpired, and that the
same celestial carrier is still dropping the tidings at each station it reaches in space, until
it sinks exhausted by the length of its flight.
As the star had suddenly flamed up, was it not a natural supposition that it had become
inwrapped in burning hydrogen, which in consequence of some great convulsion had
been liberated in prodigious quantities, and then combining with other elements, had set
this hapless world on fire? In such a fierce conflagration, the combustible gas would soon
be consumed, and the glow would therefore begin to decline, subject, as in this case, to a
second eruption, which occasioned the renewed outburst of light on the 20th of August.
By such a catastrophe, it is not wholly impossible that our own globe may some time be
ravaged; for if a word from the Almighty were to unloose for a few moments the bonds
of affinity which unite the elements of water, a single spark would bring them together
with a fury that would kindle the funeral pyre of the human race, and be fatal to the
planet and all the works that are thereon.
"Your argument," he then instantly added, "is by no means a good one. What do we know
of the Supreme Architect of the Universe, or of his designs? He builds up worlds, and he
pulls them down; he kindles suns and he extinguishes them. He inflames the comet, in
one portion of its orbit, with a heat that no human imagination can conceive of; and in
another, subjects the same blazing orb to a cold intenser than that which invests forever
the antarctic pole. All that we know of Him we gather through His works. I have shown
you that He burns other worlds, why not this? The habitable parts of our globe are
surrounded by water, and water you know is fire in possibility."
"But all this," I rejoined, "is pure, baseless, profitless speculation."
"Not so fast," he answered. And then rising, he seized the small vial, and handing it to me,
requested me to open it.
I confess I did so with some trepidation.
"Now smell it."
I did so.
"What odor do you perceive?"
"Potassium," I replied.
"Of course," he added, "you are familiar with the chief characteristic of that substance. It
ignites instantly when brought in contact with water. Within that little globule of
potassium, I have imbedded a pill of my own composition and discovery. The moment it
is liberated from the potassium, it commences the work of decomposing the fluid on
which it floats. The potassium at once ignites the liberated oxygen, and the conflagration
of this mighty globe is begun."
"Yes," said I, "begun, if you please, but your little pill soon evaporates or sinks, or melts
in the surrounding seas, and your conflagration ends just where it began."

"My reply to that suggestion could be made at once by simply testing the experiment on a
small scale, or a large one, either. But I prefer at present to refute your proposition by an
argument drawn from nature herself. If you correctly remember, the first time I had the
pleasure of seeing you was on the island of Galveston, many years ago. Do you
remember relating to me at that time an incident concerning the effects of a prairie on fire,
that you had yourself witnessed but a few days previously, near the town of Matagorde?
If I recollect correctly, you stated that on your return journey from that place, you passed
on the way the charred remains of two wagon-loads of cotton, and three human beings,
that the night before had perished in the flames; that three slaves, the property of a Mr.
Horton, had started a few days before to carry to market a shipment of cotton; that a
norther overtook them on a treeless prairie, and a few minutes afterward they were
surprised by beholding a line of rushing fire, surging, roaring and advancing like the
resistless billows of an ocean swept by a gale; that there was no time for escape, and they
perished terribly in fighting the devouring element?"