NATIVES 



still believes firmly that his way is the best way of 

 doing things, but he acknowledges the Superman. 



To the Superman, with all races, anything is pos- 

 sible. Only our superman is an idea, and ideal. 

 The native has his superman before him in the actual 

 flesh. 



We will suppose that our own superman has ap- 

 peared among us, accomplishing things that ap- 

 parantly contravene all our established tenets of 

 skill, of intellect, of possibility. It will be readily 

 acknowledged that such an individual would at 

 first create some astonishment. He wanders into 

 a crowded hotel lobby, let us say, evidently with the 

 desire of going to the bar. Instead of pushing labori- 

 ously through the crowd, he floats just above their 

 heads, gets his drink, and floats out again! That 

 is levitation, and is probably just as simple to him 

 as striking a match is to you and me. After we get 

 thoroughly accustomed to him and his life, we are no 

 longer vastly astonished, though always interested, 

 at the various manifestations of his extraordinary 

 powers. We go right along using the marvellous 

 wireless, aeroplanes, motor cars, constructive machin- 

 ery, and the like that make us confident — justly, 

 of course — that we are about the smartest lot of 

 people on earth. And if we see red, white, and blue 

 streamers of light crossing the zenith at noon, we 



217 



