Excerpts:

It is conceivable that, in Noah’s time–say, on the day before the heavens opened and the floods descended–a complacent citizenry of Antediluvia might have sat out on its front porches, enjoying the sunset over Mount Ararat and speculating upon the probable results of the next patriarchal election, all unsuspicious of chaotic cataclysms. Under similar conditions–fair skies, a good groundwork of creature comforts, and a total lack of threatening portents–there was no reason why the two men, smoking their after-dinner cigars on the terrace of the Lawrenceville Country Club, should suspect that the end of the world might be lying in wait for either of them just beyond the hour’s relaxation.
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