The Begum's Millions

5. The City of Steel

 would build, at the same time as France-Ville, a fortified city that would seek to eliminate such an absurd and abnormal anthill.5 “I hope,” he added, “that the experiment we will conduct will serve as an example to the rest of the world!” Good Dr. Sarrasin, as full of love for mankind as he was, realized that not all of his equals deserved to be called philanthropists . He carefully noted his rival’s words, thinking, as any sensible man should, that no outside threat should be disregarded. A short time later, when he wrote to Marcel to invite him to help in this project, he told him about the incident and drew a portrait of Herr Schultze, which led the young Alsatian to believe the good doctor would have a tough adversary. And when the doctor added: “We’ll need strong and energetic men, active scientists, not only to erect, but to defend our structure,” Marcel responded: “If I cannot immediately bring you any support in founding your city, you may count on me anytime that I can be helpful. I will not lose sight of Herr Schultze, whom you describe so vividly. Being an Alsatian gives me the right to deal with his business. Whether near or far away, I shall always be at your service. If, for some reason, several months or even several years go by without your having any news from me, don’t be concerned. Whether near or far away, I will have but one thought: working for you and, as a consequence, serving France.”6 The City of Steel The place and time have now changed.1 For five years the Begum’s inheritance has been in the hands of her two heirs. The scene has now shifted to the United States, in southern Oregon , ten leagues from the Pacific shore.2 This region, which is still unmapped for the most part, forms a kind of American Switzerland .3 Its northern border divides these two neighboring powers but remains poorly defined. 5  Switzerland, indeed, if one only considers its topography: the abrupt peaks that tower to the sky, the deep valleys which separate winding chains of mountains, and the grandiose and wild aspect of the entire territory as seen from a bird’s-eye view. But this false Switzerland is not, like the European Switzerland, given over to the peaceful work of the shepherd, the guide, or the hotel-keeper. It is only an alpine decor, a crust of rocks, earth, and ancient pines, sitting on a base of iron and oil. If a tourist should stop in this wilderness and lend an ear to nature’s sounds, he would not hear, as in the paths of Oberland, the harmonious murmur of life mixed with the grand silence of the mountains. Rather, he would perceive in the distance the dull blows of the pile driver, and under his feet the muffled detonations of gunpowder. It would seem to him that the ground had been mechanically hollowed out like the floor of a theater stage, that its gigantic rocks were empty and could sink into the mysterious depths at any moment. Black macadamized roads, surfaced with cinders and coke, wind along the mountains’ flanks. Under clumps of yellowish vegetation , one can see little piles of slag, dappled with all the colors of the prism, gleaming like the eyes of a basilisk. Here and there, an abandoned mine shaft, worn by the rains, overrun by briars, opens its gaping mouth, a bottomless abyss, like some crater of an extinct volcano.4 The air is heavy with smoke; it hangs like a somber cloak upon the earth. No birds fly through this area; even the insects appear to avoid it; and, within the memory of man, not a single butterfly has ever been seen. A false Switzerland! On its northernmost side, where the mountains melt into the plain, between two ranges of bleak hills, lies what was called until  the “red desert,” because of the color of the soil, which is impregnated with iron oxides. It is now called Stahlfeldt, “the field of steel.” Just imagine a plateau five to six leagues square, with a sandy soil scattered with stones. It was arid and desolate like the bed of some ancient inland sea. Nature had done nothing to enliven this  land, nor to give it any life or movement; it was man who...