De L'Ester—Be not disturbed; fulfill the Mission for whose accomplishment you returned into mortal existence, and leave to coming years and enlightened minds a justification of what you and we know to be a simple statement of facts. Yes, the material composing the wall of the lake is somewhat peculiar. During some early age of the Planet one of its satellites, unable to resist the attractive force of its parent, with tremendous impetus and in a state of high incandescence, rushed on to its surface, striking it at a low angle and plowing deeply into its bosom. In its furious progress it distributed its molten matter in the form of a deep oval basin, until its energy, and largely its volume being spent, its career ended in the deposition of the mountainous mass you have observed. Yes, the constituents of all Celestial bodies are the same, and when suddenly reduced from a state of high incandescence to a condition of solidity a sort of vitrefaction results, and that is what occurred to Ento's satellite when in such hot haste it returned to the bosom of its parent.
Your conjecture is correct, for soon the passageway through both walls will be completed, and ere long vessels will be crossing to the further side of the lake beyond which the system steadily is progressing.
Gentola—I should like to witness the opening of the Waterway. I imagine that it will be a fine spectacle to see great vessels rushing through the wide gateway into the lake.
De L'Ester—Without doubt it will be a stirring occasion, but it will not occur previous to the culmination of our Mission. However we promise you that, conditions being propitious, in a body we will come to escort you hither to witness the entrance of the first great vessel into the placid water of Etzoina̤ Loisa̤ (placid water). We now will proceed to view the vitreous mass at its southern extremity, which will remain a perpetual evidence of a not unusual disaster. Planets in their earlier formative processes throw off into space masses of matter of greater or lesser magnitude. When the projective energy is not forceful enough to hurl them sufficiently beyond the attractive energy of the planet, quickly they are drawn back, and within its body, otherwise they become small globes, and through specific conditions and activities for an indefinite length of time they serve as satellites. In this instance the indications are that the disaster occurred while yet the crust of Ento was comparatively thin, and certainly previous to the appearance of organized life forms, consequently no serious results could have ensued. What the dimensions of the satellite were we cannot certainly say, but from a careful estimate we conclude that its bulk was about equal to that of Ementola̤. We do not consider it desirable to at this time enter into details, but I may say that the basin of the lake is little less than seventeen miles long and a little over eleven miles wide.
Gentola—You say that the disaster which resulted in the formation of the basin and this great vitreous mass is not an unusual one; if then it might be possible for Entola̤ and Ementola̤ to some time suffer a like disaster, would they in their flight through space and at the moment of impact with the Planet be in a molten condition?
De L'Ester—Your question is very apropos, and Bruno shall have the pleasure of replying to it.
Bruno—Thanks for your consideration. Gentola̤, you may remember that once on our way to Ento we, in compliance with your desire, alighted on Entola̤. You then learned that ages ago the swiftly revolving moon became a cold body and that neither it or its sister satellite had ever sustained organic life forms. Your supposition as to a possible contingency is, I regret to say, a fact so inevitable that it is not an agreeable one to contemplate. As planets age they grow more magnetic and a time will arrive when Ento's attractive force will draw to its bosom one after the other its two satellites in a molten state. At what period these catastrophes may occur no one can certainly determine, but they will occur.
Activities of the universe may be likened to "the mills of the Gods." Slowly but surely, with absolute accuracy, they each to all others adjust themselves, thus no displacement of substance ever creates a vacuum. Thus it occurs that the activities concerned in the certain displacement and destruction of Entola̤ and Ementola̤ are so precise, so minute, so incalculably tardy that the period of culmination of the energy which will force them from their orbits is not cognizable save by the Infinite Mind, but when the momentous period shall arrive the inner satellite will plunge onto Ento's surface with necessarily disastrous consequences, much depending upon the locality of its impact. No, it will not destroy the Planet, but it will jar it to its very centre. Ementola̤, the outer satellite, being the smaller one, possibly, nay probably, may first suffer extinction, but of course that is a matter of conjecture. Have I made my reply intelligible?
Gentola—Quite so, but I rather regret having asked the question to which you so satisfactorily have replied. Why? Well, I like to regard God as all knowing, all powerful, and wholly beneficent. Possessing such attributes, naturally one asks, why does He permit such disasters to occur? Spirits freed from the environments of the physical plane, with senses quickened to a degree that mortals cannot comprehend, may adjust themselves to occurrences and conditions which to me are deplorable and terrifying, for I confess that I shrink aghast from a contemplation of some of the effects of what science terms natural law, back of which it would seem there must be a Lawmaker who arbitrarily adjusts all things, both good and evil. Tell me, friends, have you become so reconciled to the apparently unequal relation between the creator and the created, that unreservedly you can say, "Whatever is is right?" For instance, should Entola̤ and Ementola̤, through the activity of natural Law, be forced from their orbits and onto the planet, with such attendant horrors as appalls one to think of, would you then say, "Whatever is is right?" Cognizant as you are of the cataclysms, earthquakes, destructive storms, wars and other frightful events occurring on Ento, on Earth and on other planets, can you candidly say, "Whatever is is right?"