Then she turned and ran back toward the city.
Michel Drawers gazed after her in perplexity, then turned with a puzzled frown to Persum.
Persum shook his head in the manner of a man who thinks, "Well, here's something else that's got to be attended to."
"It is against our custom to attempt to read the thoughts of another person," he explained. "If we did, no one would have any privacy. But I will explain to Trajores your ignorance of our laws and extend an apology by proxy. I'm sure she will forgive you. She was momentarily embarrassed. Her thoughts were of a somewhat personal nature."
But Michel Drawers hardly listened. It was incredible but true that in some manner the golden emanations that now radiated from his body enabled his mind to read thoughts!
As the days progressed, Michel Drawers became more and more impressed by the utopian way in which this society of golden people was maintained. No man was assigned any work. It was up to the individual to make himself as useful as he possibly could whenever his services were required. His leisure time was left to himself.
Drawers had seen how these golden people had volunteered for heavy physical labor even before his introduction of the labor-saving pulley wheel, wagon and beast of burden, and the manner in which they had performed, without complaining, this toilsome labor. He had seen how other men were willing to spend hours over hot forges shaping trinkets for the gratification of any women who happened to ask for them.
These people seemed to sense when their services were required and were always willing to do what was desired.
The women seemed willing to perform almost any of the regular household duties of cooking, sweeping, remodeling and washing at any time. It seemed to make little difference if they had to assume the extra burden of cooking and washing and cleaning for any of the golden men who were still unmarried or were so unfortunate as to have suffered the loss of their mates. They performed these tasks cheerfully, as their contribution to the welfare of the community.
All essentials were provided free, as were available luxuries. All worked under an eminently successful cooperative plan that did away with all of the ills of complicated economic systems.