"What check have you upon the unreasoning rapacity of a thief, who
will take ten times as much as he requires?"
"The system operates directly against the development of that trait.
Here, men are only too anxious to have their goods admired and taken;
for, being certain of their own maintenance, they feel a pride in
contributing to that of others, and there is no temptation to take
that which can not be kept, since his neighbor has equal right to
take from him an idle surplus. Here the laws are the reverse of ours,
for here a man is encouraged in the taking, but never in the holding.
Wealth is measured by what a man disburses; hence all are anxious to
part with their individual property for the advancement of the
commonwealth, knowing that the one can only thrive when the many
are prosperous."
They continued their walk amid the marvelous wealth that surrounded
them. There were fabrics of untold value; jewels of indescribable
splendor; men, women, and children with strangely eager faces. They
seated themselves upon revolving chairs in the midst of a great space
to watch the glittering show.
"But tell me what it all means," inquired Paul. "I feel as if it were
a dream, and yet I am absolutely certain that it is not."
"You are right; it is not a dream. Levachan is as real as New York,
Boston, or Chicago, although invisible to men of earth. Its
inhabitants are as conscious of their existence as you and I are of
ours. They are quite as alive to their history and probable destiny
as any well educated citizen of America or Europe."
"But where is Guir House, and all it contained?" repeated Henley,
unable to understand.
"Nothing has been changed by this any more than if you were in your
bed dreaming it all. But to you it is incomprehensible, as I told you
it would be, because your mind has never been trained to think in
these realms."
"No," answered Paul, turning uneasily in his chair, dazed by the
marvelous pageant that moved constantly about them. "No, I admit that
it has not, and that the whole thing is utterly beyond me; and this,
none the less, because I am aware that one of the fundamental facts
of nature is that two things can not occupy the same space at the
same time. My previous education, instead of helping me, makes the
situation more difficult. The Guir estate and this city can not both
be here at once; of that I am sure."