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} - - div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage - { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } - - .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } -} - -@media print { - div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } - div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } - - .vfill { margin-top: 20% } - h2.title { margin-top: 20% } -} - -/* DIV */ -pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } - -</style> -<title>ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN</title> -<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> -<meta name="PG.Title" content="Adrift in the Unknown" /> -<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> -<meta name="DC.Creator" content="William Wallace Cook" /> -<meta name="DC.Created" content="1905" /> -<meta name="PG.Id" content="44404" /> -<meta name="PG.Released" content="2013-12-10" /> -<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> -<meta name="DC.Title" content="Adrift in the Unknown or, Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm" /> - -<link href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rel="schema.DCTERMS" /> -<link href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators" rel="schema.MARCREL" /> -<meta content="Adrift in the Unknown or, Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm" name="DCTERMS.title" /> -<meta content="adrift.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> -<meta content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" name="DCTERMS.language" /> -<meta content="2013-12-10T23:05:32.296260+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.modified" /> -<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> -<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> -<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44404" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" /> -<meta content="William Wallace Cook" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> -<meta content="2013-12-10" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.created" /> -<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> -<meta content="EpubMaker 0.3.20a7 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> -</head> -<body> -<div class="document" id="adrift-in-the-unknown"> -<h1 class="center document-title level-1 pfirst title"><span class="x-large">ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN</span></h1> - -<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet --> -<!-- figure and image styles for non-image formats --> -<!-- default transition --> -<!-- default attribution --> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="clearpage"> -</div> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="align-None container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span> -included with this eBook or online at -</span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>.</span></p> -<p class="noindent pnext"></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<div class="align-None container" id="pg-machine-header"> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: Adrift in the Unknown -<br /> or, Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm -<br /> -<br />Author: William Wallace Cook -<br /> -<br />Release Date: December 10, 2013 [EBook #44404] -<br /> -<br />Language: English -<br /> -<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> -</div> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN</span><span> ***</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> -</div> -<div class="align-None container titlepage"> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="x-large">Adrift in the Unknown</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="medium">OR,</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="large">Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">By WILLIAM WALLACE COOK</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="medium">Author of "The Paymaster's Special," "A Deep-sea Game," -<br />"In the Web," "His Friend the Enemy," etc.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">STREET & SMITH CORPORATION -<br />PUBLISHERS -<br />79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -</div> -<div class="align-None container verso"> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold medium">A CARNIVAL OF ACTION</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">ADVENTURE LIBRARY</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">Splendid, Interesting, Big Stories</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>For the present the Adventure Library will be devoted to the -publication of stories by William Wallace Cook.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The fact that one man wrote all of these stories -in no way detracts -from their interest, as they are all very different -in plot and locality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For example, the action in one story takes place in "The Land of -Little Rain;" another deals with adventure on the high seas; another -is a good railroad story; others are splendid Western stories; and -some are mystery stories. All of them, however, are stories of -vigorous adventure drawn true to life, -which gives them the thrill that -all really good fiction should have.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">Copyright 1904-1906 -<br />By Frank A. Munsey Co.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="small">Adrift in the Unknown</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">(Printed In the United States of America)</span></p> -</div> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">CONTENTS</span></p> -<ol class="upperroman simple"> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#lost-strayed-or-stolen">Lost, Strayed, or Stolen?</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#an-uninvited-guest">An Uninvited Guest</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#professor-quinn-s-feat">Professor Quinn's Feat</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-plutocrats-reconciled">The Plutocrats Reconciled</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#traveling-sunward">Traveling Sunward</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-landing-effected">A Landing Effected</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#facing-a-mercurial-storm">Facing a Mercurial Storm</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-mercurials">The Mercurials</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#learning-the-word-box">Learning the Word-Box</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#how-we-were-catalogued">How We were Catalogued</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-dilemma-of-mr-meigs">The Dilemma of Mr. Meigs</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#condemned-to-death">Condemned to Death</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-threatening-calamity">A Threatening Calamity</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#plan-to-steal-a-building">Plan to Steal a Building</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#surveying-our-own-planet">Surveying our own Planet</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#how-ill-luck-overtook-me">How Ill-Luck Overtook Me</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-change-of-heart">A Change of Heart</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#how-we-outwitted-the-king">How We Outwitted the King</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#back-to-earth">Back to Earth</a></p> -</li> -</ol> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="lost-strayed-or-stolen"><span class="bold x-large">ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold medium">CHAPTER I.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">LOST, STRAYED, OR STOLEN?</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>There could be no more fitting introduction to -this most amazing narrative from the pen of -James Peter Munn than that article in the -</span><em class="italics">Morning Mercury</em><span>.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Munn, it is no breach of confidence to inform -the reader, was a reformed burglar; although -the author of two books which achieved large -sales and were most favorably received by the -reviewers—"Forty Ways of Cracking Safes" -and "The Sandbagger's Manual"—Mr. Munn -developed small skill with the pen, so that the -breathless interest aroused by his revelations -hangs more upon the matter than the style. The -</span><em class="italics">Mercury</em><span> article should do its mite toward -preparing the reader for what is to come.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the first place, the story was what -newspaper men call a "scoop."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The article in the first edition ran as follows:</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>QUINN'S CASTLE VANISHES.</span></p> -<!-- --> -<blockquote> -<div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>AND SO DOES QUINN! WITH HOUSE AND BELONGINGS. THE -HARLEM SAGE DISAPPEARS IN A SINGLE HOUR. LEAVING NOT -A TRACE BEHIND.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>What happened to Professor Quinn last night? And -what happened to the strange steel structure known -locally among Harlem residents as Quinn's Castle?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For Quinn and his castle were snuffed out like a -candle-gleam some time between the hours of eleven -o'clock and midnight. Patrolman Casey, who travels a -beat in that part of Harlem, avers that he passed the -castle at eleven o'clock, and that it was there; he passed -its site again at twelve, and it was not there.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Considerably exercised, Patrolman Casey made search -for the castle, and although he beat up the country for a -dozen blocks in all directions, he failed to find it. And -what is more, Patrolman Casey declares that he took the -pledge when he went on the force and has been a total -abstainer ever since.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Corroboration of the officer's report is not lacking. -Certain residents of the vicinity state that they saw the -professor's weird dwelling yesterday evening; its -windows were aglow and it appeared evident that the -professor was entertaining friends. The first gray dawn this -morning showed a bare lot with the steel house missing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Is it another case of Aladdin's palace dissolving into -thin air at the "presto!" of some wonder worker? Or -is it a plain case of larceny undertaken on a gigantic -scale? A golden opportunity offers itself to a sleuth of -the Sherlock Holmes school; and for such a person the -</span><em class="italics">Mercury</em><span> presents the following facts:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>First, the so-called castle was projectile-shaped, of -boiler-plate construction, and measured some twenty feet -in diameter, tapering to a point thirty feet above ground. -It was covered with a sort of paint that gave it the -appearance of frosted silver.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Second, there is much low shrubbery surrounding the -site of the castle, and if the castle had been blown down -and rolled from the ridge it stood on into the river there -would have been left evidences in plenty of such -disaster.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>(Note: The castle certainly weighed five tons, possibly -five times that. Nothing short of a cyclone could -have budged it, and there was hardly a breath of air -stirring the whole night long.)</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Third, Professor Quinn, ever since he erected his steel -house and moved into it, has been regarded as mildly -insane. Like Abou-ben-Adhem, he desired to be entered -on the angelic scroll as one who loved his fellow-men.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Last summer he read before the Astronomical Society -a paper entitled "The Mutability of Newtonian Law," -and was laughed out of that honorable body for his -inconsistencies. Although adverted to as "The Harlem -Sage," Professor Quinn is no Merlin, nor does he possess -the ring of Gyges that rendered its wearer invisible.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Yet where is he? And where is his castle? Until some -Vidocq appears and solves the mystery, echo can only -answer "Where?"</span></p> -</div> -</blockquote> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>So much for the article in the first printing of -the paper. The bright young man who stood -sponsor for the "scoop" had meanwhile been very -busy with fresh details, and the second edition -contained the following addenda:</span></p> -<blockquote> -<div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>It has just been learned that Mr. Emmet Gilhooly, the -multimillionaire and president of the railroad combine, -was a guest of Professor Quinn last night, and must have -been in the castle at the very moment it faded into -oblivion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Gilhooly did not return to his home and has not -since been heard from. His relatives are distracted and -leading railroad men of the country are in a panic.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His absence from affairs at the present moment jeopardizes -the traction interests of the entire country, and may -prove a deathblow to the success of the gigantic pool he -was forming.</span></p> -</div> -</blockquote> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>This was startling news indeed, and sped -hither and yon throughout the city, the country, -and the civilized world. Appalling as the -information was, nevertheless it proved merely a -fractional part of the truth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The bright reporter on the </span><em class="italics">Mercury</em><span> made -further discoveries, which were printed in the -third edition rushed from the presses of his -paper.</span></p> -<blockquote> -<div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Not only was Mr. Emmet Gilhooly a guest of Professor -Quinn in the steel castle last night, but so also were -Hon. Augustus Popham, the coal baron; J. Archibald -Meigs, of Wall Street, late manipulator of the corner -in wheat and now engineering a corner in cotton, and -Hannibal Markham, well known as the instigator of a plot -to control the food supply of the United States.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>What has become of these four millionaires and -Napoleons of finance? They have gone with Quinn and his -castle, disappearing as utterly as though the earth had -opened and swallowed them.</span></p> -</div> -</blockquote> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Fabulous rewards were offered by the -relatives of the missing millionaires for any -information relative to the fate that had overtaken -them. Foul play was suspected, and the financial -world stood aghast and dumbly wondered what -was to happen to the business of the country if -it really developed, beyond all peradventure, that -Gilhooly, Popham, Meigs, and Markham had -been eliminated from commercial affairs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The influence of these four was vast and -far-reaching, and they were scheming to make their -grip on the republic's resources even more -secure and relentless. If their plans carried, no man -could eat, or clothe himself, or warm his body -and drive his manufacturing engines, or travel -from place to place and ship the product of his -mills without paying tribute to Gilhooly, Popham, -Meigs, and Markham. Should those schemes, -titanic in conception, be worked out to their -manifest conclusion, four men would hold the -destiny of industrial America in the hollow of -their hands. Prosperity would wait upon their -pleasure, or at a mere nod would be paralyzed -and leave the country stranded on the reefs of -disaster.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It seemed an odd fatality that, at the very time -these commanders-in-chief of industry were -plotting to make their power complete, they should -have vanished as utterly as though they had been -engulfed by a tidal wave and swept into the broad -regions of the Atlantic. A few facts were -brought to light through the probing of skilled -detective minds, but these facts were in nowise -clues to the fate that had overtaken the millionaires.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham's confidential aide reluctantly -admitted that his chief had accepted an invitation -from Quinn, and had gone to his "castle" for an -interview. Quinn professed to have made some -discovery or other which, he declared, would -make coal a useless commodity so far as human -needs were concerned. Popham, while laughing -at Quinn's pretensions, was nevertheless secretly -worried. Anything that threatened the success -of the coup which was being engineered by -himself and his three confreres was to be dealt with -decisively and without loss of time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the case of Meigs, Markham, and Gilhooly -there was no confidential aide to offer testimony, -for these bright, particular stars of high finance -had placed a limit on the confidence reposed in -their secretaries. Nevertheless, the probing -minds at work on the case developed the extraordinary -fact that these men, no less than Popham, -had visited Quinn at the latter's request. A spirit -of scoffing investigation animated them, but they -were prepared to see with their own eyes and -hear with their own ears whatever Quinn had to -show and to say. If anything that militated -against their projected </span><em class="italics">coup</em><span> was brought before -them, they would proceed to lay the spectre forthwith.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Strangely enough, the shrewdest of the -detectives failed to connect the disappearance of -the millionaires with the comprehensive plans -they were forming, and which could not be -carried out except by the plotters in person.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Other rich men of the country, who were wont -to trim their sails in accordance with whatever -wind blew from the offices of The Four, in Wall -Street, were already shifting affairs to lay a -course that would give them the best headway -against the projected new order. This sudden -disappearance of the powers to which the lesser -rich looked for guidance left them becalmed in -an uncharted sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The middle class, long accustomed to being -mulcted right and left, accepted the astonishing -situation with equanimity. So far as they were -concerned, Gilhooly, Popham, Meigs, and -Markham were abstract generalities—merely names to -conjure with. For years the middle class had -paid for the conjuring, and had been taught to -look calmly into the eyes of what they had come -to believe was the inevitable. If their annual -outing to the seashore or the mountains cost too -much, they could stay at home; if the butcher, -the baker, and the grocer ran prices too high, -some of the luxuries could be cut out; if -anthracite went to $20 a ton, they would heat fewer -rooms; and if clothing became too expensive, -there would be fewer suits and gowns to wear. -By a little self-denial, the middle class also could -trim their sails to any gale that blew. They were -used to it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With the poor it was different. They were -already down to bed-rock in the way of -self-denial. No sooner had it drifted through their -brains that the influence of Gilhooly, Popham, -Meigs, and Markham had been blotted out than -they lifted their voices in praise of the blessed -event. Their situation had been bad enough, and -any change among the vaguely understood -causes presiding over their affairs could hardly -be for the worse.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The detectives, feeling that they were at work -on a particularly complex case, hampered -themselves by looking for complex causes. At first, -they believed it was a matter of sequestration -and that presently a ransom in seven or eight -figures would be called for. However, a delving -into Quinn's past failed to reveal any lawless -actions that would point to a ransom in his present -line of endeavor. The detectives, growing more -complex as the ambiguities closed them in, -overlooked entirely the simplicity of Quinn's character.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Anyhow, one analytical mind would demand -of another, what had Quinn's intentions to do -with the disappearance? That was a positive -reality. And, although it was surmised, it was -not definitely known that Quinn himself had had -anything to do with it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Such was the situation confronting the -country and with which the police department of New -York City was called upon to deal. But the -keenest reasoning, inductive or deductive, was -powerless to find even a clue.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The tremendous mystery might have remained -a mystery until this day, had it not been for the -narrative of James Peter Munn, now for the -first time given to the world.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="an-uninvited-guest"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER II.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">AN UNINVITED GUEST.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>I used to be one of those who claimed that -the world owed him a living, and I went out -with a drill and a "jimmy" to collect it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Where was the difference, I argued, between -the man who cracks your strong box and removes -a few paltry bills or coins, and the nabob who -skulks behind a "trust" and takes his tax on -the necessities of life?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was pure sophistry, of course, but I -became wedded to it in early life, and that I escaped -a suit of stripes and measurement on the Bertillon -system, is due entirely to my experiences with -Professor Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>'Twas a blessed night that sent me to his castle -with the view of mulcting it of treasures I felt -to be there. Quinn was a queer one. I do not -mean to say that he was unhinged, as some -thought, but he was queer in his outlook upon -life, and in resources which fall under the head -of "ways and means."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His castle claimed my professional attention. -For why should a man build a big steel vault and -live in it unless he had portable property worth a -burglar's while? I reconnoitered the place for -a week before I considered myself possessed of -sufficient knowledge for my undertaking. In -view of what transpired at the time of my visit, -a brief description of the castle, taken from my -memorandum book, will prove of interest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The structure was cigar-shaped, twenty-nine -feet from base to apex and twenty feet in diameter -through its largest part. It was divided into -two stories by means of a steel floor, leaving -head-room of ten feet in the lower story.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Four windows pierced the circular walls of -the nether room, and two gave light to the room -above; these six openings being guarded on the -outer sides with latticework of steel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The door was an oblong piece of boiler plate—the -entire building was a shell composed of -plates riveted together—hinged heavily and -provided with a strong lock. As I had yet to find -a lock which I could not pick, if given time -enough, my designs naturally centred about the -door.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had hit upon the somewhat early hour of -ten in the evening for my call at the professor's. -Unless business kept him abroad I knew that he -was usually in bed long before that time. If he -chanced to be out, so much the better for the -success of my foray.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After the patrolman had passed, I crept -through the bushes and was soon busy with the -lock on the steel door. It yielded with much less -resistance than I had anticipated, and I was -quickly within, flashing my bull's-eye lantern -about me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A circular seat upholstered in leather ran -around the wall, and a table bearing an unlighted -oil lamp stood in the centre of the floor. I had -barely completed a hasty survey when a crunch -of footsteps on the graveled walk without smote -on my ears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Without loss of a moment I snapped the lantern -shut and darted up the iron stairway to the -room above. It is needless to say that I was very -much put out because of the interruption. I -was a hard man in those days, and such an -occurrence was apt to anger me and make me say -things.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Lying flat on the floor with my face to the -stair opening, I had a fairly good view of the -circular chamber below. The professor had been -abroad and not in bed, for he appeared now, -ushering in callers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Four gentlemen, all of distinguished mien and -important bearing, followed the owner of the -castle, and began glancing about with -ill-concealed amusement.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gad, but this is an odd place!" exclaimed one.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This gentleman wore a frock coat and silk hat, -but what caught my eye was a four-carat spark -in his scarf, a massive seal on his fob, and a -scintillating gem on the third finger of his left -hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Odd, perhaps," returned the professor, "but -most suitable to my purposes, Mr. Gilhooly, as I -hope to show you before many minutes have -passed. Be seated, sir. And the rest of you -gentlemen; you will find the divan most comfortable."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly? I went hot and cold at that name. -Nearly everybody in New York was just then -talking about the man who was scheming to make -railroad travel too expensive for ordinary -mortals. He was a millionaire several times over, -and in the breast of his frock coat I knew there -must be a bulky wallet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At once, and while I watched and listened to -those in the room below, my mind busied itself -with details of a more comprehensive operation -than I had at first contemplated.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor's four guests had seated themselves -on the circular divan. After my eyes had -finished with Gilhooly they turned on the other -three, and my first impressions were more than -confirmed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Each of the quartet was a Croesus, and dressed -and strutted the part. Fine birds, indeed, and I -hugged myself to think how opportunity had -come knocking at my door.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Six-shooter in hand, I could descend upon this -covey, compel a readjustment of values between -them and myself, then back through the steel -door, lock it behind me, and make off.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor, intent on other things no doubt, -had turned his key in the lock and had failed to -discover that the bolt was already thrown; -therefore my presence in the castle was entirely -unsuspected—manifestly an advantage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have asked us to come here, Professor -Quinn," spoke up one as the professor turned -higher the wick of the lamp he had just lighted, -"and here we are. You say you have discovered -something whose value to science and the -industrial world is beyond compute, and that you wish -to interest capital. Well"—and the speaker -surveyed his three companions with a large -smile—"here is the capital."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I shall come at my discovery in due course, -Mr. Popham," said the professor, who was a -wiry little man with a bald head and bead-like -black eyes. "I thank you for coming here. -Emmet Gilhooly, Augustus Popham, J. Archibald -Meigs, and Hannibal Markham are stars of the -first magnitude in the skies of speculation, and I -esteem myself fortunate in arousing their interest."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A faintness seized me as these names, each an -"open sesame" to the world of finance, fell glibly -from the professor's tongue. I was all but cheek -by jowl with representatives of billions.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Augustus Popham turned his head to give -Emmet Gilhooly a plebeian wink. Gilhooly smiled -behind his smooth white hand. J. Archibald -Meigs leaned over to whisper something to -Hannibal Markham, who was affixing a pair of gold -eyeglasses to his Roman nose, whereupon both -gentlemen suppressed a titter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A doubt of the sincerity of all four broke over -me. They were there to have sport with this bald -little man with the beady eyes and the bee in his -bonnet. I chuckled grimly as I thought of how -the tables would presently be turned. I do not -know whether the professor was as keen as I -to detect these evidences of insincerity. If he -was, he gave no sign.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am sixty-five," said he, "and my life work -has been the discovery which I am about to bring -to your august attention. Perhaps some of you -gentlemen have read my paper on 'The -Mutability of Newtonian Law'?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The gentlemen acknowledged that they had -not. Professor Quinn seemed disappointed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you had read that," he continued, "you -would have prepared yourselves for an -understanding of my theory and the demonstration of -it which I am about to give. Let me ask you this: -When an apple leaves its parent branch, why is it -that it falls downward instead of upward?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Napoleons of finance stared at one -another. J. Archibald Meigs went so far as to tap -a suggestive finger against his forehead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gravity," said the professor. "It is that -which draws every atom on the surface of -the earth directly toward the earth's centre; it -is that which chains our feet to this planet -and keeps us from falling through interstellar -space; it is even that which keeps our little -world from flying apart and dissipating itself -in dust throughout the great void. It is a simple -proposition simply stated, and I trust you follow me?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They did follow him, and so signified.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the paper I read before the Astronomical -Society," pursued the professor, "I made bold to -declare that it was possible to insulate a body -against the force of gravitation. In other words, -to make it so immune from Newtonian law that -it would spurn the earth and fall from it at a -speed even greater than the drawing power of -gravity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can you not comprehend what this means?" -cried Quinn, waxing eloquent. "It means a new -force in the industrial world—a power that feeds -on nothing save a law that transcends that of -gravitation. In point of fact, it falls little short -of perpetual motion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Without the expenditure of even a pound -of coal, this new force can turn the wheels of -every railroad train on the globe! With its own -inherent energy it can give life to the machinery -of flour mills, cotton mills, iron foundries; it -can——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Augustus Popham got up hurriedly and put -on his hat.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A rattle-brained idea, sir!" he exclaimed. "I -have no mind to remain here and listen to such -talk."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham's coal mines ravaged the earth's crust -in a thousand and one places. The idea that -human industry could get along without his coal -was too much for him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Before he could reach the door, Professor -Quinn was in front of him, barring his way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Remember, Mr. Popham," said the professor, -"if I were to take away your mines I should yet -give you something in their place worth -incalculably more. Hear me out, sir. I beg of you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Theories are cheap things," muttered -Popham, as he again seated himself. "An ounce of -proof is worth a pound of theory."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Exactly," cried Quinn, "and the ounce of -proof shall be forthcoming."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With that he pulled the table from the centre -of the room, revealing an iron chain some three -feet in length, attached at its lower end to a -staple in the floor by means of a clevis and pin.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The chain was not lying loosely, but was -rigidly upright, its upper end wound about a white -block—a six-inch cube, as I judged.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Climbing to the table top, the professor stepped -thence to the cube, poising himself for a moment -on one foot. Then he sprang to the floor again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This cube," he explained, laying one hand on -the block with an affectionate gesture, "is of -steel, and has been treated with my insulating -compound. To all appearance it is falling -upward with a force sufficient to draw the chain -rigidly to its full extent and to support my weight."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Poppycock!" muttered the coal baron.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A trick!" exclaimed Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The other two remained silent. They were -bewildered, perhaps impressed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us see whether it is a trick or no," went -on Quinn. "Pray come forward, gentlemen, and -lay hold of the chain. There is no danger in the -little experiment with which I am going to amuse -you, and I think it will dispel your doubts."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The gentlemen hesitated, but finally came -forward, got down with some difficulty, and grasped -the chain as directed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hold tight!" exclaimed the professor, and -drew the pin from the clevis.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thus released the cube rose to the ceiling, -lifting the four gentlemen with it. They hung in -mid-air until Quinn drew the table under them, -and they dropped to its top, each in turn, and so -reached the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Bewilderment was written large in the faces -of the quartet, their credulity struggling against -the evidence of their senses.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are a good magician, sir," averred -Popham, brushing the damp from his forehead with -a handkerchief.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You could make your fortune as an entertainer," -declared Gilhooly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>J. Archibald Meigs chewed briskly on an -unlighted cigar, while Hannibal Markham kept his -eyes on the cube and dangling chain like one fascinated.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is the fate of a man who makes startling -discoveries to be classed among disciples in black -art," observed Quinn calmly. "What is the hour, -Mr. Gilhooly?" he asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The head of the railway pool consulted his repeater.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Eleven-fourteen," he replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And high time I was going," added Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just a few moments more," said the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Turning to the wall behind him, he caught -a small lever and turned it over as far as it -would go. The castle vibrated slightly, -communicating a perceptible swaying motion to the -pendent chain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's this?" cried Markham, jumping up.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do not be alarmed, my friends," cried Quinn, -whirling around.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His face was pallid as death, and his beady -eyes gleamed like coals. Then, wonder of -wonders, the white cube settled to the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ha!" shouted Popham. "Your anti-gravity -compound is not very long lived, it seems to me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You will find differently, to your cost!" -returned the professor through his teeth. -"Augustus Popham, I, Kenward Quinn, arraign you, -and Emmet Gilhooly, and J. Archibald Meigs, -and Hannibal Markham as foes of the human -race! You are leeches who would suck the -life-blood from the veins of the poor——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With steady forefinger, Quinn had transfixed -each of the plutocrats as he called his name. -Markham was already on his feet, and the other -three were not slow in following him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's this, what's this?" gasped Gilhooly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"An insult!" muttered Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The old addle-pate is not accountable for -what he says or does," remarked J. Archibald Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We had best leave this steel trap of his while -there is yet time," counseled Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"While there is yet time!" repeated Quinn, -with a wild laugh. "A pretty set of conspirators -you are, on my soul! Markham, there, would -raise the price of food until the poor would go -hungry; you, Meigs, would so manipulate the -cost of clothing that they would not have the -wherewithal to cover their nakedness; Popham -would make fuel a luxury of the rich; and -Gilhooly would so boost passenger and freight rates -as to quadruple to the consumer the tremendous -cost of the necessities of life. Deny me if you -can, if you dare!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn looked like a Nemesis as he confronted -the four men and lashed them with his scorpion -whip of words.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Fiddlededee!" exclaimed Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We deserve it," said Meigs, "for it was the -height of folly for us to come here, in the first -place."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is this why you brought us here?" asked -Markham, "to air your own particular ideas on -sociology and to make us the victims of your abuse?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor threw back his head and -straightened his shoulders. It was the real thing -in dignity that he showed those plutocrats, and -my nerves tingled with admiration. I was sorry I -had come to the castle with designs oh Quinn's -portable property, and doubly glad that I could -force tribute from these four who were badgering him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am not unjust," averred the professor, "and -such a thing as abuse is farthest from my mind; -but I love the plain people, the bone and sinew of -this glorious republic, and it arouses my indignation -when the right to live and let live is -trampled upon by any one man, or set of men."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Platitudes!" sneered Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"To call a truth a platitude is witless -argument," answered Quinn serenely.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Be that as it may," said Meigs, "we were not -invited here for a debate but to witness a -demonstration of what you were pleased to term a -revolutionizing discovery."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have seen me overcome the force of -gravity," went on the professor, "and to astute -minds like yours further explanation seems -uncalled for. In destroying gravity I produce a -power equalled by no other force in the world. -The 'pull' of an insulated block the size of that -one"—and here he waved his hand toward the -cube—"is equal to the strength of a hundred -horses. Develop that 'pull' horizontally instead -of vertically, and we have a locomotive that runs -continuously without the consumption of a pound -of coal. That," cried the professor, his voice -ringing with triumph, "is the apotheosis of power!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly, judging from his manner, was the -victim of uncomfortable thoughts; Meigs wore a -startled look, and Markham seemed half -convinced. Popham, alone, was brusque and -uncompromising.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think we had better get out of here," again -suggested Markham. His half convictions -appeared to arouse some small amount of apprehension.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm of the same opinion," spoke up Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wait a little," suggested Popham, and I saw -a gleam in his eyes that meant a stroke of some -kind. Once more he faced Quinn. "I have no -patience with your harebrained theories," he -went on, "and I have seen charlatans work -greater wonders than what you are pleased to -call your 'demonstration.' But it is a business -principle of mine to buy up these promising -theories if they happen to run counter to any pet -scheme I am trying to put through. Sir, rather -than be annoyed further with this chimerical idea -of yours, I will pay five thousand dollars, spot -cash, just to have you give over your notions and -quit experimenting."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn laughed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Five thousand dollars!" he exclaimed; then -added, as though to himself, "He would have me -sell the welfare and happiness of the people for -five thousand dollars!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I will add another five thousand to Popham's -offer." put in Gilhooly, "not because I am afraid -your discoveries will upset the transportation -interests of the country, but simply to clear the -commercial atmosphere and keep your visionary -ideas from affecting the price of stocks."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let me add another five thousand," said -Meigs. "I don't see how your invention, even -if it is all you claim for it, could affect me or my -interests one way or the other, but I will add my -contribution simply because Popham has taken -the initiative."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Count me in for the same amount," -supplemented Markham, "on the condition that -Professor Quinn signs over to the four of us all his -right, title and interest in his non-gravity -invention, and covenants to leave that field entirely -alone in future."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn seemed to enjoy these propositions, and -it was apparent at a glance that he had no -intention of accepting twenty thousand dollars and -renouncing his discoveries.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gentlemen," said he, "you are already half -convinced that I am no dreamer, for you are -financiers, and, while twenty thousand dollars -is no more to you than twenty cents is to me, it -is not your habit to give your money away. I -repeat that you are inclined to have faith in me, -and before many minutes I shall have made your -belief in my abilities complete."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Am I to understand that you decline our -offer?" demanded Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Most decidedly!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then there is nothing more to be said. Come -on, gentlemen," and Popham started toward the door.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A moment more, if you please," requested -the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not another second!" cried Popham. "Our -offer is withdrawn; and, if your so-called -discoveries amount to anything, we shall find other -means for making them ineffective."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had been interested in proceedings to an -extent that had all but caused me to forget my -purpose. The plutocrats were about to leave the -castle in a temper, and if I wrested tribute from -them it must be now or never.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Starting up, I drew my revolver and ran -hastily down the iron stairs.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="professor-quinn-s-feat"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER III.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">PROFESSOR QUINN'S FEAT.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>My unexpected advent upon the scene proved -as startling as I had anticipated. Even the -professor was dashed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Stepping in front of the steel door, I toyed -menacingly with the revolver and surveyed the -plutocrats with a grim humor I made no attempt -to conceal.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At that period of my life, inspired by the -sophistry to which I have already adverted, I -was a cool and dangerous man.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Pardon me for entering unannounced," said -I blindly. "You have listened to Professor -Quinn's theory and witnessed its demonstration. -I am but an humble philosopher, yet I have a -theory of my own which I should also like to -expound and to demonstrate."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Who are you, sir?" demanded Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am a bird of like feather with these, your -guests," said I facetiously, "albeit my methods -are more direct if less extensive. My name is -James Peter Munn; my specialty is robbery of -the out-and-out variety, for I have the courage -of my convictions, and do not hide behind a technicality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I do not wish to intrude my presence here -longer than necessary to accomplish my designs, -and if these amiable gentlemen will aid me"—I -indicated the amiable gentlemen with my -revolver point—"I will take my departure quietly -from the castle. But"—and here I scowled -blackly—"some trust or other will be minus its -guiding power in case any resistance is attempted."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The threat was sufficient, and the usual sunny -smile returned to my face as I added:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Gilhooly will advance to the table, spread -his handkerchief upon it, and lay thereon his -watch and fob, the ring on his finger, the -kohinoor in his tie, and the wallet in the breast of his -coat. It is my theory that one thief has the right -to take from another property that does not -belong to either of them. It is Mr. Gilhooly's -privilege to give the first demonstration."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Fidelity to truth forces me to chronicle the -above speech. The </span><em class="italics">éclat</em><span> with which I made it is -far from me now as I pen it verbatim.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There are speeches in life which we could wish -unsaid, and this one of mine I would give much -to consign to the limbo of things unspoken. -Reformation has worked wonders in me since -that evil time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I will say for Mr. Gilhooly that he was alacrity -itself in carrying out my command. His hands -trembled a little as he placed his belongings on -the handkerchief and knotted the four corners -over the plunder as I requested.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor, smiling strangely, sank down -on the divan and watched proceedings with -twinkling eyes. His manner filled me with a -foreboding I tried not to manifest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Evidently this amuses you!" cried Gilhooly, -in anger, his snapping eyes on the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your inference is correct, Mr. Gilhooly," -answered Quinn. "I am profoundly amused. It -is all so unexpected, so dramatic, and so—useless."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"By gad, sir," cried Popham, "I see more in -this than a desire on your part to interest capital -in a fake discovery. There is a plot here, -gentlemen," and he turned to the other three. "Our -folly in allowing ourselves to be lured to this -place was stupendous. I make no doubt but that -there is a plot here between this man Quinn and -this thief. Quinn gets us in the thief's power, -and the thief does the rest."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A pretty scheme!" snapped Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Clever, very clever," put in Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And successful, too," growled Gilhooly with -a regretful look at the plunder on the table. "But -there will be a reckoning. When we are once -clear of this place we can set the police at work."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was surprised at the way Quinn took this -talk. He continued to smile and was in no way -ruffled.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You're wrong there," cried I, hot and -indignant. "Professor Quinn had nothing to do with -my being here. I've had my eye on this castle -for a long while, and I let myself in, just before -you came, hoping to make a haul and get clear. -You interrupted me, and I stowed myself away -upstairs. From what I saw and heard, I must -say that it is a pleasure for me to turn my back -on Professor Quinn's property and to give my -entire attention to you four."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn," said Quinn, "how long have you -been engaged in this business?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For some years now, sir," I answered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You were honest—once?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Every man is born honest, if it comes to that. -I used to work in an iron foundry, but the works -were taken over by a combination and a lot of -us were thrown out of employment. There was -nothing for me to do but beg—and I'm above -that. This came handiest, and I went into it. -I like the business. Matching one's wits against -the law keeps one constantly in the midst of -alarms, so to speak, and I like excitement. And -I have ability, for never yet have I worn the -stripes or learned the lock-step. I have written -some on the subject of my vocation, in the hope -of beguiling others into the work."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A dangerous man!" muttered Gilhooly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What are we coming to?" clamored Popham. -"Here is a thief who is actually proud of his -profession, and who actually writes books about it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Merciful heavens!" gasped Meigs, in horror. -"I feel sorry for my country when it produces -such men."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We—we are tottering on the verge of chaos!" -added Markham, in a stage whisper.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I laughed at all this, for I enjoyed it hugely.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Spare yourselves any needless worry about -me, gentlemen," said I. "Look to home, and you -will probably find enough there to fret your consciences."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn continued to take pleasure -out of the queer situation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I can honor a man like Munn," said he, -"where I am tempted to despise men like you, -Gilhooly, Meigs, Markham, and Popham. As -Munn said, he has the courage of his convictions. -He does not take from the poor, for in the very -nature of things he cannot. His loot comes from -those who are able to lose it, while you are -vampires, and sapping the very lifeblood of the -nation. You are all criminally deluded, although, -perhaps, doing what you conscientiously believe -to be exactly right. Would to Heaven," and here -the professor grew suddenly sincere and intensely -earnest, "that something would conspire to open -your eyes to the exact truth. But I have -despaired of that, and I am trying, in my own feeble -way, to meet the present emergency."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are either a fool or a madman!" cried Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A rattle-brained zealot!" chimed in Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are the one who should see things -differently," said Markham. "You preach a doctrine -which you fail to apply personally."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Enough of this talk, gentlemen," I interposed. -"My situation is precarious and I must ask you -to hurry a little."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sir," shouted Popham, leveling a forefinger -at me, "I shall see you properly jailed for this. -Why, you miserable footpad, I can——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Save your breath," I interrupted tartly, -meeting his forefinger with the muzzle of the pepper -box. "Lead is no respecter of persons. One of -you has called me a dangerous man. I am all -of that, and desperate. Mr. Popham, you saw -how Mr. Gilhooly carried out my orders. You -will proceed in the same manner, and without -further loss of time. In five minutes I must be -out of here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He started to argue the point with me, and I -allowed my forefinger to flex, ever so slightly, -upon the trigger.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That was enough. A man values his life in a -direct ratio with what he considers his -importance; therefore, the esteem in which these four -millionaires held themselves must have been -overwhelming.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Honorable Augustus Popham finally -yielded up his personal property with the same -readiness that had characterized his friend. -Hannibal Markham followed him, and after -Markham came J. Archibald Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had a pleasant word for each as I marshaled -the four bundles, strung them on the fingers of -my left hand and backed toward the door, which -was a few paces behind me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When a good general beats a retreat," said I, -preparing to pull open the door and let myself -out, "he places as many obstacles in the path of -the pursuing force as possible. When I leave, -therefore, I shall lock this door on the outside."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was watched by the plutocrats in philosophical -silence; by the professor, with a geniality -that nothing seemed able to shake.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had spared Quinn because he was a friend -of the poor, as I had discovered. And I had been -poor myself some fifteen minutes back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good-by," said I airily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"</span><em class="italics">Au revoir</em><span>," answered the professor. "Look -well where you step."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I threw open the door with a laugh. The laugh -faded into a shout of terror.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I threw out my hands, revolver and packets -of loot falling through the door, and I only barely -saving myself with one foot over the threshold.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The horror that gripped me then is such a -horror as comes to a man but once in a lifetime. -My brain sickened and chilled, my heart all but -stopped its beating, and my limbs grew rigid.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the black of the fearsome night—not the -atmospheric blue-black I had been accustomed to, -but the ebony dark of Erebus—I saw a wild -greenish star below, a huge disk whose gleaming -nimbus danced on my sight in quivering lines.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Half crazed, I flung back into the room and -fell groveling to the floor, my ears echoing with -the professor's merriment and the startled -exclamations of the four men I had robbed—all to -no purpose.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Presently I sat up, rubbing forehead and eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor stood in the open door, gloating -over the vista below.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Come!" he called, beckoning to the huddled -quartet at the other side of the room. "Come, -Gilhooly, Meigs, Popham, and Markham—come, -look down upon the scene of your feverish -activities. You were plutocrats there, more powerful -than kings! Here you are no more than -shoulder high with me, and yon muddled thief on the -floor! You have been snatched from the scene -of your pernicious labors—exiled into planetary -space where you will be powerless to work -further evil. I have not lived in vain; for this, -this is the triumph of my career."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Slowly Meigs disentangled himself from the -mute group by the opposite wall and crept on all -fours to the threshold that overlooked the void -and the greenish star.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He recoiled with a yell; then, maddened by -what he had seen, he leaped erect and tried to -hurl himself out into space.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Fool!" cried the professor, laying hold of -him and struggling to keep him back. "Would -you become a satellite of this twenty-by-thirty -planet? We are beyond the atmosphere of the -earth—look! See the four packets of loot and -the thief's revolver."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He pointed through the door and the bulging -handkerchiefs and my six-shooter were abreast -of us, hanging in space, turning slowly, weirdly—a -sight to upset the strongest mind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly jumped forward, gave vent to a -maniacal laugh, then crumpled down on the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bid up for the G.H.&D.," he mumbled, "bid -to the limit! I must have that road—I </span><em class="italics">will</em><span> have it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Brace up, Meigs!" said the professor sharply, -pulling the key from the outer side of the lock, -slamming the door, fastening it, and putting the -key in his pocket. "Take care of Gilhooly, man! -His mind falters! Heavens, are you all mad? -Are your keen minds, unshaken in the contemplation -of vast deals for the enslavement of the poor, -so quick to break? I had thought better of you -than this!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs, white as the spotless linen that covered -his breast, advanced upon the professor. He -tried to speak, but without success. At last, with -a supreme effort, the words came:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Madman, what have you done?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is better," returned the professor, -smiling as he looked at Meigs and noted how -Markham and Popham ranged themselves at his side; -"much better. You were engaged in plots back -there on the earth, and the success of those plots -would have proved a great calamity. I have -saved the world from the calamity!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your—your castle has risen from the earth?" -asked Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It has fallen off the earth. As you and I and -the others happened to be inside, we fell with it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Sudden rage convulsed Meigs. He crouched -downward, his eyes ablaze and his fingers -working convulsively.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Scoundrel!" he screamed, and launched -himself at the professor's throat like a tiger.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-plutocrats-reconciled"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER IV.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">THE PLUTOCRATS RECONCILED.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Looking back now at that dreadful hour when -the realization of our awful predicament burst -upon us, I wonder that I preserved my own -equilibrium.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The first shock came near to throwing me off -my poise, but after that I gained the whip hand -of my wits by swift and sure degrees.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I verily believe the professor would have been -strangled by Meigs, aided and abetted by -Popham and Markham, had I not rushed to his -rescue. I had muscles of iron, and after I had -caught Meigs by the nape of the neck and thrown -him backward, I planted myself between Quinn -and his foes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Leave the professor alone," said I. "You -men show mighty poor judgment, it strikes me, -in trying to lay violent hands on him."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He deserves death," babbled Meigs. "He had -no business shooting us into space in this -summary manner."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Fear and anger had made Meigs childish. He -measured our dilemma in terms so common a -smile came to my lips.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Judgment, poor judgment!" sniffed Popham. -"Look at Gilhooly, and then talk about poor -judgment, if you can."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In truth, the railway magnate presented a -sorry spectacle. His clothing was in wild -disorder, his hair was rumpled about his head, and -he was hopping back and forth with two fingers -in the air.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was under the impression that he was -dealing in railroad stocks, completing the huge -transaction that had made him the talk of two continents.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This professor ought to be flayed alive," -declared Markham. "Where are we going, and -when will we get there?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now," said I. "you are striking the keynote. -Who knows where we are going if the professor -doesn't? And who knows when we shall arrive -there if it is out of his power to tell? We need -the professor, for if we are to be saved it will -be his knowledge that does it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But what will my family think?" whimpered -Meigs. "And my business interests!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He threw up his hands and fell back in his seat -with a groan. Then abruptly he straightened up -again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is a dream! By gad, it must be! The -whole affair is too outrageously unreal for any -sane man to believe."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly gave a maudlin chuckle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I was dead sure I'd get that last block of -X.Y.&Z. stock! That road is the last span in -my network of ties and rails. Ha! </span><em class="italics">Now</em><span> we'll -see! </span><em class="italics">Now!</em><span>"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs shivered. Gilhooly's maunderings -struck sharply at his desire to coddle himself -with a myth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's awful to have Gilhooly like that," spoke -up Augustus Popham. "If he had not been -thrown out of balance, his wide knowledge of -matters relating to transportation might have -proved of inestimable service to us now."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn laughed. It was an eerie -laugh, and it shook me to hear it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, you!" cried Markham reproachfully, -whirling on Quinn. "After causing this disaster -and overthrowing as brilliant a mind as there -ever was in Wall Street, you have the heart to -indulge in levity. Look here: how far are we -from the earth at the present moment?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is a difficult matter to estimate, even -approximately," answered Quinn calmly. -"Ordinarily, gravity exerts a force that can be -measured definitely on the earth's surface. A body -falling freely from rest acquires a velocity which -is equal to the product of thirty-two and -one-fifth feet and the number of seconds during -which the motion has lasted. What is the time now?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Three gentlemen reached for their watches, -failed to find them, and turned hard looks on me. -I appreciated their dilemma and drew from my -vest an open-face timepiece that was personal -property and honestly come by.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is twelve-fifteen," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn took a pencil and notebook from his -pocket and did some figuring.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We might be a little more than two miles -from our native planet," said he, "but——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Only two miles!" cried the three exiles in chorus.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You can take us back, sir," said Popham, who -had been pacing the floor nervously. "Shut off -the power of this infernal machine and let us -drop back to where we belong. Two miles is no -great matter. Your castle is a slow freight -compared with some of Gilhooly's express trains."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I cannot take you back, sir," returned the -professor, "and I would not if I could. You did -not hear me out. The law of velocity, recited for -your benefit a moment ago, does not measure the -speed of this car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No?" murmured Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Decidedly not. The earth sweeps along in -its orbit at the rate of eighteen miles to the -second, while some aerolites and meteoroids attain -a speed of twenty and thirty miles to the second. -In building this car, I equipped it with an -anti-gravity block geared up to fifty miles to the -second. The lever on the wall"—and here Quinn -turned and pointed to it—-"is thrown so as to -give us the maximum."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In other words," said Popham feebly, "we -are sailing skyward at a rate of—of three -thousand miles per—per minute?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Presumably. As we left my city lot in New -York at about eleven-fifteen, it follows that we -have been one hour on the way."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And should be one hundred and eighty -thousand miles from home," faltered Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"About that," answered the professor calmly. -"I do not know just how much our progress was -impeded by the atmospheric envelope of the -earth, but I think we may call our distance from -the mother orb some one hundred and eighty -thousand miles, in round numbers."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These startling figures came near to unsettling -the three gentlemen again. In that flight -through space we were confronting immensities -well-nigh beyond our puny comprehension. And -the professor was not yet done.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the storeroom overhead," he continued, -"I have a supply of cubes and insulating -compound which I can combine and give tremendous -added velocity to the car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am sure we are traveling fast enough," said -Meigs, leaning back on the divan hopelessly dejected.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you are now ready to listen to reason," -proceeded Quinn. "I will tell you how Mr. Munn -here saved your lives by rescuing me from your -mad attack."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Our lives, forsooth!" exclaimed Markham -bitterly. "Of what value is life to us, situated as -we are?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is one way to look at it, of course," -rejoined Quinn caustically. "But I did not exile -you into planetary space for the purpose of -wiping you out of existence."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You might as well have done so," said -Popham severely. "That is what this harum-scarum -plot of yours amounts to in the long run."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You may not care to learn how I am preserving -you at the present moment," continued -Quinn, "nor how I shall do so in the future, yet -I will tell you so that you may understand how -much you owe to Mr. Munn's foresight and courage."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was beginning to entertain a high regard for -Quinn in spite of what he had done. He may -have been laboring under terrible delusions, but -his resource certainly commanded respect.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"To my forethought," he continued, "is due -the fact that you are breathing oxygen at this -moment; and had I not invented a liquid which -fortifies animate or inanimate bodies against heat -and cold, our rush through the atmosphere of the -earth would have incinerated this car and its -contents—nay, would have caused it to explode and -settle back on our native planet in impalpable -powder."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These were things that none of us, aside from -the professor, had so much as taken thought of. -My respect for him was growing into something -like awe, and I fancied I detected traces of the -same sentiment in the other three.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There are roving bodies in space," Quinn -went on, noting with apparent satisfaction the -interest he had aroused, "with which we might -come into collision. I have a good telescope at -the observatory window upstairs, and while I -cannot guide this car, I can at least increase or -slacken its speed so as to dodge any other derelict -that may come into dangerous proximity with us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hadn't you better be up there on the look-out?" -queried Markham in some trepidation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was manifesting an interest in his personal -safety that pleased the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There is not much danger at present," -returned Quinn. "When we have plunged farther -into the interstellar void, it will be well to stand -watch and watch about at the telescope."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Will it not be possible to land on some other -planet, Mars, for instance?" queried Popham -with sudden hope.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I should prefer Mars," added Meigs, reflecting -the hope shown in his friend's face. "They -have been signaling from Mars, and perhaps we -can find out what they want over there."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn shook his head.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are in the hands of fate, gentlemen," -said he. "We may drop into some port, but what -that port will be is beyond my power even to surmise."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The moon isn't so far off," suggested Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Only two hundred and forty thousand miles," -said Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We should be there in less than two hours -from the time of starting," remarked Meigs, -after a mental bout with the figures.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If I wished," said Quinn, "I could increase -our speed; traveling at the rate we are, however, -something will have to be deducted for the -resistance of the earth's atmosphere. If we drop -on a planet it must be a planet with an -atmosphere. The moon has none, and consequently is -a dead world. Besides, fate might not throw -us into its vicinity, or——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just a minute, sir," interposed Markham, "for -I am a man who likes to understand thoroughly -every situation with which he is called upon to -deal. You invited us to your castle, not, I am -constrained to believe, to have us victimized by -Munn, here, nor to have us invest in any of your -discoveries, but to snatch us away from the scene -of our labors. Is that correct, Professor Quinn?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Entirely so, Mr. Markham," replied Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Evidently," proceeded Markham, "your plot -has cost you some time and labor. You had first -to find your gravity-resisting compound——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The plot followed as a result of my discovery," -smiled the professor. "I did not first evolve -the plot and then go searching for means to get -you off the earth. When I had made the discovery, -it remained for me to give it to the world—or -to better the world by taking you four -gentlemen away from it. Had I given the public -the benefit, you shrewd men of affairs might -have devised means for setting it aside, or for -controlling it. Not being a business man -myself, I feared to take chances. For that reason -the present enterprise appealed to me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have planned so well in the smaller -details that I wonder you overlooked the main point."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And that is——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What you are going to do with us, now that -your plan has succeeded."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor tossed his hands deprecatingly -as though that was really the most insignificant -part of his startling scheme.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We can't go bobbing around through interstellar -space," grumbled Popham. "I don't -relish the idea of being cribbed, cabined and -confined in a steel room indefinitely. I should go -mad from the very thought."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's awful to contemplate," said Meigs, -casting a melancholy glance through the iron -latticework at one of the windows.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The bags of loot were in that vicinity, at the -moment, and his glance swerved reproachfully -to me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We shall make a landing, I have no doubt," -said the professor soothingly, "somehow and -somewhere."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"By gad, sir," cried Popham, bringing his fist -emphatically down on the table, "I don't like such -a hit-and-miss way of doing things. Whenever -I set out to accomplish anything, the goal is -always clear in my mind; yet, here I am, through -no desire of my own, afloat in the great void, -without a single aim or a remote prospect. If -we are going to land anywhere—and you remain -firm in your decision not to take us back to our -native planet—I demand that you make landfall -on some orb that is worth while."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very good, Popham," approved Meigs. -"Unless I am greatly mistaken, that was the -very idea Markham had in mind when he began -questioning the professor. Eh, Markham?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was," replied Markham. "A full knowledge -of where we are going is necessary to a -thorough understanding of our—er—most -remarkable situation. Now, there are worlds -larger than the one we have recently left. -Personally, I am predisposed in favor of a large -planet—one on which there are traction -interests, fuel supplies, and products of the soil -similar to those we have been accustomed to."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Under the spell of Markham's words, Popham -began to glow and expand. Meigs, all attention, -pressed a little closer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The bigger the planet the bigger our field of -operations!" cried Popham. "What's the -matter with Jupiter?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Or Saturn?" echoed Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Or Neptune?" put in Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's the matter with the whole solar -system?" inquired Quinn, with gentle irony. He -turned to me. "Observe, Mr. Munn, how -extravagant are the ideas inspired by monopoly! -These gentlemen are hardly started on their -journey into space before they forget the business -interests, the friends and the environment they -are leaving behind and begin planning the -commercial conquest of the stars!" He shook his -head forebodingly. "Your regeneration," he -added to the millionaires, "calls for a landing -on some barren world, some outcast of the solar -system, where you will have nothing to do but -think over the evil of your past and learn -something of the duty you owe your fellow-men."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham, Markham, and Meigs were visibly -annoyed by the professor's remarks. Withdrawing -as far as the limits of the steel structure -would allow, they put their heads together and -held a brief but animated conversation in tones -so low that the professor and I could not overhear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Think of that, professor!" I muttered. "And -yet there are people who find fault with a -respectable burglar."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Softly, Mr. Munn," returned Quinn. "Before -we are done with this journey I am fain to -believe that all of you will have a different -outlook upon life, and a higher regard for your -duties of citizenship."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Just then, Popham turned from his friends -and stepped toward the professor. His manner -was truculent—probably just such a manner as -he was accustomed to use in facing a board of -obstinate directors.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you will not return us to our native planet, -Professor Quinn," said he sharply, "then we -shall stand upon our rights. We are unalterably -opposed to landing upon any orb whose -diameter measures less than——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At that instant a most astounding thing -happened. The car ducked sideways, throwing the -whole structure out of plumb.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Loose articles began to drop from shelves and -other places and to slide across the floor to the -lowest point. By a quick movement I saved the -lamp and braced myself in an upright position.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cries of terror went up from Markham, -Meigs, and Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where's Gilhooly?" shouted the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was answered by a wild yell from overhead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's in the storeroom!" cried Quinn. "Follow -me with that lamp, Munn—quick!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor rushed for the stairway and I -made after him with what speed I could.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="traveling-sunward"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER V.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">TRAVELING SUNWARD.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>There never lived a man, I suppose, who did -not, at some time or other in his career, submit -his veracity to question. A reformed burglar, -therefore, although animated by the most -disinterested motives, can scarcely hope to escape the -shafts of the incredulous.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Although well-grounded in the science of -cracksmanship, and with some store of legal -learning as to alibis and so forth, my mind was -as empty of astronomical lore as a drained -bottle. The professor's sayings were jotted down -in a sort of commonplace book at a later day -when leisure offered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Memory may have played me false in some -few minor points, but in all of major importance -this narrative is to be taken with the same -sincerity in which it is written. I ask no more of -the reader than that; and if he is not averse to -strolling through unfrequented ways touching -elbows with a man who has a past, we shall get -along famously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>To return, then, to the steel car, and the -obliquity it suddenly presented to the direction of -its course. Startling disclosures had somewhat -obscured Gilhooly, and he had vanished from the -lower room without being missed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For a man of sixty-five, the professor was -very agile, and he took the winding iron stairway -two steps at a time. I gained the storeroom close -behind him, and there we found Gilhooly, crooning -to himself and working like mad.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was not working in the dark, but had -possessed himself of my bull's-eye lantern, which I -had left on descending from the loft some time -before. Mounted on a pile of packing cases, he -was engaged in painting a large steel cube, -taking his pigment from an open cask with a -whitewash brush.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My anti-gravity compound!" exclaimed the -professor in an irritated tone. "There are -several blocks on the floor, as you can see: Gilhooly -began painting that one, and it rose as insulation -proceeded, lodging to the left of the dome -and tilted the car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is the shabbiest lot of coaches I ever -saw in my life," said Gilhooly, dabbing away -with the brush. "I won't own a road with such -rolling stock."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The three men downstairs had followed Quinn -and me. After some coaxing, Meigs got Gilhooly -to descend from his perch and give up the -whitewash brush.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thereupon the cube was pried over until it -rested directly under another block in the point -of the dome, and the professor finished the -insulation begun by the railway magnate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gilhooly will have to be watched," said -Quinn, "or he will play havoc with the materials -I have stored up here. He has wasted at least a -quart of that anti-gravity mixture, and it is worth -its weight in gold. Nay, it is worth more than -that, for after this supply is exhausted there will -be none to be had for love or money.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Our rate of speed has been multiplied by -two, and we are rushing through space with -frightful rapidity. There is my telescope"—and -the professor pointed to the instrument which -stood beneath a window in the sloping roof of -the car. "Suppose Gilhooly had demolished that! -Or what if he had wrecked the oxygen vat, or -the anti-temperature reservoir! Gentlemen, I -shudder to think of what might have happened."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor sank down on a copper tank and -brushed his perspiring brow with a bandanna -handkerchief. I placed the lamp on a box beside -the bull's-eye lantern and reclined on a bale of -something or other that lay conveniently near.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs and Popham dropped down on a packing -case with Gilhooly moored between them, and -Markham took up his station on an overturned cask.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The loft of the car, stored as it was with odds -and ends of science, together with a supply of -provisions made ready for us by the farsighted -and wonderful man who was conducting this -select party into the unknown, was an object of -deep solicitude and interest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Out of a desire to tag the various materials -understandingly, I lifted the lid of my curiosity -and let out a few questions.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If I mistake not," said I, "you mentioned this -anti-temperature material once before. What -is it, professor?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A liquid," he answered amiably. "As a -discovery, it is outranked only by my anti-gravity -compound. An ounce of the fluid in a bath -renders the bather impervious to heat or cold, -keeping in the animal caloric and keeping out all other -extremes of temperature. Some of the mixture -was incorporated into the paint with which this -car is coated.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yonder is the water receptacle," and the -professor nodded toward a large tank opposite him. -"With economy, the supply in that reservoir will -last us several months. The food I have -provided is of the ready-prepared kind, mostly in -tins, with an alcohol lamp for the brewing of tea, -coffee, and chocolate. During this hegira into -infinity I have omitted nothing, gentlemen, which -will minister to your comfort."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are a very able man, professor," -acknowledged Popham. "How long have you been -planning this little excursion?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ever since I began erecting what the -Harlemites were pleased to call my castle," smiled -Quinn. "The plan was conceived at the time the -success of the manipulations of yourself and your -friends seemed assured."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was your purpose to foil the speculative -gentlemen," I struck in, "and so come to the aid -of a long-suffering public?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You hit off the matter finely, Mr. Munn," -replied the professor. "That was my purpose."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Could not your anti-temperature mixture -have been donated to the poor with beneficial results?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is altogether too expensive for general use. -I will not conceal from you gentlemen the fact -that we are falling sunward. If we make -landfall on a planet where the heat is several -hundred degrees beyond our earthly powers of -endurance, the mixture in question will preserve us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Falling sunward!" exclaimed Markham. "It -was hard upon midnight when we left the earth. -If my school-day learning is not at fault, the sun, -at the hour of our departure, was on the opposite -side of our planet. How, then, does it happen -that we are falling toward the great luminary?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bravo!" cried the professor, vastly pleased. -"I am glad to see, Mr. Markham, that your -intellect has not suffered a total eclipse by the -demands of commercial supremacy. Night is the -result of one of the Earth's hemispheres being -turned from the sun, and, other things being -equal, we should now be falling toward the outer -limits of our solar system; but, if I may use the -term, the castle was not aimed for a direct fall -from the earth's crust. We dropped at a very -sharp angle, and the influence of the sun has -attracted us still farther out of a straight course. -I trust you follow me?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The three millionaires understood the situation, -but, judging from the expression of their -faces, the knowledge brought keen disappointment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There are only two planets between the earth -and the sun," observed Markham, "Mercury and -Venus, if I remember rightly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Both insignificant," grumbled Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Venus is about the size of our own planet, -gentlemen," said the professor. "However, it -has long been supposed that there is another -group of planets between Mercury and the sun, -among them a little world called Vulcan, -which——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That does not interest us," cut in Meigs. -"Sunward the planets are smaller, but they get -larger as you go the other way."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Larger," expounded the professor, "but less dense."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"As I was about to tell you, a moment ago," -pursued Popham, "Meigs, Markham, and I have -decided that either Saturn or Mars would about -fill the bill so far as we are concerned. There -are lights on Mars, which, as we figure it, -presupposes electricity; and electricity means -civilization to a degree that affords us a promising -prospect. Then, again, there are canals on Mars, -and, if canals, certainly water transportation. -Transportation problems of any sort will -interest Gilhooly; indeed, we are prone to think they -would bring him back to his normal poise. -Saturn, on the other hand, has rings, and such a -condition might afford opportunities to -wide-awake men such as are unknown anywhere else -in the solar system. Take us either to Mars or -to Saturn, Professor Quinn, as you may find it -most convenient. We demand it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is impossible to do anything of that kind, -Mr. Popham," returned the professor decidedly. -"The influence of the sun upon our course is too -powerful."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Are we to understand, then," cried Markham, -"that we are compelled to put up with either -Mercury or Venus?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Even there, gentlemen, we have no choice. -We are in the grip of circumstances and must -perforce accept whatever fate throws our way. -Possibly we shall become a satellite of the sun, -revolving around and around it—Quinn's Planet, -the smallest of any in the great system."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Although I felt drowsy, I aroused myself with -an effort and kept sharp eyes on the professor's -face. I do not think he was in earnest, but merely -talking to see what effect his remarks would have -on the three millionaires.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Corner, corner, corner," babbled Gilhooly; -"make a corner, corner everything."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham dropped his face in his hands, Meigs -bowed his head, and I saw a shiver run through -Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Egad," muttered Popham, "this castle of -yours, Quinn, is little short of a steel tomb. -Inasmuch as we are safely interred, what's the use -of living? Gilhooly is the only fortunate one -among us, for his reason is shattered and he -cannot realize what he is facing."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are talking less like a man, now, -Popham," reproved Quinn, "than like a driveling -idiot. While there's life there's hope. How -many brilliant minds have been overthrown as a -result of your manipulations of stock in Wall -Street? How many bright futures have been -wrecked by an adverse trend of the speculative -market? Were those unfortunates any better off -because thrust into madhouses and unable to -realize the fate that had overtaken them? For -shame, sir!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are perfectly sure, are you, professor," -I struck in, attempting to give a more pleasant -twist to the conversation, "that we shall come -out all right in the end?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have my plans, Mr. Munn," he answered, -not unkindly, "and the success or failure of them -will depend largely upon the mental attitude of -these gentlemen."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was too deep for me, and I cast about -for some equally important question which would -bring a less indefinite response.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Anyhow," said I, "we have plenty of food -for a long journey? It would be a fearful thing -to have a famine so—so many miles from a base -of supplies."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The food supply, Mr. Munn," answered the -professor, "is adequate. There will be no famine."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And the water, the oxygen, the——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have looked after everything necessary to -our safety and comfort."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had confidence in Quinn. He had shown -that he was an able man, and that his promises -were to be taken at face value. With a sigh of -relief, I settled back in tolerable comfort.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs took the role of questioner out of my -hands at this point, and, although I was eager to -hear all that was said, "tired nature's sweet -restorer" got the better of my curiosity and I fell -asleep on the bale.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-landing-effected"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VI.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A LANDING EFFECTED.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>It is not my purpose to cumber this narrative -with the smaller details of our journey, novel and -thrilling though some of them proved to be. It -is with our experiences on the planet which finally -claimed us that this account has mostly to do, so -I shall glide over intermediate incidents in a -somewhat cursory manner.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our faculties, keyed to an understanding of -earthly conditions only, found themselves -continually at bay; and at nothing did they stand -more aghast than at the lightning-like speed with -which we shot through space.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The energy developed by the two insulated -cubes gave to our steel car the stupendous velocity -of one hundred miles per second, six thousand -miles per minute, three hundred and sixty -thousand miles per hour! Human reason might well -falter at the threshold of such immensity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Yet while I slept peacefully on that bale in -the storeroom, these figures were verified by the -professor and J. Archibald Meigs, who happened -to be the only two who were wide awake. It -has been my lasting regret that they did not -rouse me so that I might also have had a view -of the noble spectacle for the first time unrolled -to earthly eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We passed the moon, a dreary, burned-out -world, and the professor was able to check off -two hundred and forty thousand miles of our -sunward plunge. We had traveled a little more -than half an hour at our ultimate velocity; -taking this into consideration, and noting the exact -minute when we crossed the centre of the -satellite's orbit, the professor was able to do some -figuring and so test his theories as to speed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The car skimmed through ether less than five -hundred miles above the lunar crust. Quinn was -doubly pleased, for he not only proved that our -velocity was substantially as he had supposed, -but also discovered that the moon's attraction, so -powerful on the tides of our mother sphere, could -not swerve the car by a hair's breadth from its -direct course, or overcome the influence of the sun.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs told me later that the marvelous beauty -of the satellite, gleaming against the black void -with ghostly radiance, was probably worth the -trip and its attendant inconveniences. He and -Quinn had looked their fill on the hemisphere -which is never seen from the earth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After this the hours literally flew past, the -novelty of our journey precluding any such thing -as monotony. In fact, we hardly allowed -ourselves a sufficient amount of time for rest and -refreshment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A lookout was kept continually at the eye-piece -of the telescope to signal the approach of any -asteroid with which we might possibly come into -collision. Only once did this danger threaten us, -and then, as may be supposed, it was the -professor who proved our salvation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The lever in the wall of the lower or living -room of the car communicated with screens, -ingeniously arranged for shutting off the power of -the anti-gravity cubes. By lessening our speed, -the professor suffered the asteroid to cross our -course, our car ducking through the luminous -trail that swept out behind it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Night reigned around us constantly. Our car -caught the rays of the sun, it is true, but the -lack of an atmosphere caused the light to be -thrown back into space and lost.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The castle was nothing less than a small -planet, attended by five satellites which, held to -our vicinity by the car's attraction, circled around -us continually. These satellites were the four -knotted handkerchiefs containing the tribute I -had levied upon the plutocrats, and also the -revolver which had assisted me in the work.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These objects went through varied phases -exactly as more pretentious satellites would have -done. It would be difficult to describe my -feelings as I watched them from the car windows.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I am prone to think, at the present writing, -that this lost booty, waxing and waning under -my eyes, planted in my nature those first seeds of -regret which finally grew into a reformation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I recall a conversation that I had with -Markham while I sat with my eye at the lower end -of the telescope, watching for stray asteroids.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The millionaires had given me to understand -that I was not in their set. Circumstances over -which they had no control had brought us -together within the narrow confines of the car, but -no social barriers had been leveled. Occasionally -the novelty of our situation, and the consequent -excitement, would cause one or other of the -wealthy gentleman to forget the gulf that -yawned between us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This attitude of the magnate afforded me a -good deal of innocent enjoyment. They had left -social prestige, no less than their bank accounts, -behind them, and what little collateral they had -had upon their persons was now "satelliting" -about the car. The line they drew between -themselves and me, in their thoughtful moments, was -a distinction without much of a difference.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham, I remember, was munching a sandwich, -contrived out of two crackers and a slice -of tinned beef.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you never reflect, Mr. Munn," said he, -"upon the evil of your past?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When a man writes books which are mainly -drawn from his own experience, Mr. Markham," -said I, "he has to go into his past pretty exhaustively."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, yes, I was forgetting about the books. -Were you not horrified with the results of your -retrospection?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Horrified? Well, yes, here and there. I lost -a big haul once through the breaking of a jimmy, -and I was horrified to think how any dealer in -burglar's kits could have foisted such an -unreliable instrument upon a well-meaning cracksman."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham stared at me dazedly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have set down the experience in Chapter -One of 'Forty Ways for Cracking Safes,'" I -proceeded, "and one of the first of my ten rules -for success in any safe-cracking job was this: -Be sure that your kit is reliable, and without -flaws."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn, Mr. Munn!" whispered Markham -hoarsely. "Think of the people from whom you -have taken property dishonestly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I never think of them but to wish that I had -been able to relieve them of more."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is awful!" muttered Markham. "You -really exult over what you have done."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He would have started down the iron stairs -had I not restrained him with a word.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let me ask you something, Mr. Markham," -said I. "Last fall, bread went to ten cents a loaf -because the wheat market was cornered—and a -man by the name of Markham did the cornering. -The people who had to put up that extra five -cents missed it more than did those from whom -I took five hundred dollars."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham coughed. "Any asteroids in sight?" -he inquired absently.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wonder if </span><em class="italics">you</em><span> ever did any reflecting?" I -asked tartly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What do you think of Quinn?" and Markham -looked away as I took my eye from the telescope -and gave him an expressive wink.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't think," I continued, "that you ever -wrote a book called 'Forty Ways to Starve the -Poor.' You have material enough for a pretty -effective volume on the subject, but you haven't -my nerve."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," he returned slowly, "I haven't your -nerve. It requires unalloyed impudence and a -mind incapable of clear thinking to liken the -results of high finance with those of your own petty -and highly criminal proceedings. You are too -bright a man, Mr. Munn, to allow yourself to be -led afield by sophistries of that kind."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Markham, Mr. Markham!" I breathed, -in horrified protest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have bolstered up your nefarious business -with false ideals," he went on, "and you are -unregenerate and lost!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is awful!" I murmured.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When we get to where we are going," pursued -Markham, either failing to note my sarcasm -or else hoping to ride it down, "I trust you will -hold your criminal instincts in check. If there -are any people there, don't give them any false -ideals or implant the notion that your standards -belong to the rest of us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I would not so belittle my ideals," I returned -bluntly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sir," he cried sharply, "am I to understand -that you set yourself up as being any better than -Mr. Popham, Mr. Gilhooly, Mr. Meigs, or myself?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What you understand doesn't concern me in -the least," I answered airily. "What you don't -understand, it strikes me, is the matter that ought -to claim your attention."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Confound you, sir! Your overwhelming ignorance -is equalled only by your colossal egotism. -I am sorry that I allowed myself to be beguiled -into any talk with you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Our regrets are mutual," said I, "for your -conversation is demoralizing. You are a past -master in successful trickery—trickery of the -sort that ought to be stamped out. If the law -was as quick to deal with you as with me——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hold!" fumed Markham, plunging for the -stairs, "I have heard enough."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I have said that I was a hard man, in those -times. I could call a spade a spade with never a -thought that my angle of vision was distorted. I -have regretted expressing my views in this frank -fashion to Markham, yet I believe that there was -injustice in his remarks no less than in mine.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Being the only person in the car who possessed -a watch, the professor appointed me official -time-keeper. It was my duty to bulletin the hour, with -its equivalent in days such as we were -accustomed to, upon a blackboard in the lower room; -I had also to enter this information upon a book, -which the professor called the "log-book."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Every ten hours we had a class in astronomy, -with the professor as instructor and with every -man save Gilhooly and the lookout as students. -The railway magnate's aberration continued; all -we could do was to watch him solicitously and -prevent him from doing any injury to himself or -to our paraphernalia.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The class learned that the nearest planet with -an atmosphere, and supposedly habitable, was -Venus, which, at inferior conjunction, is distant -some twenty-five million miles from Terra, as -Quinn called our own planet. Counting out the -delays at starting, and in maneuvring to escape -the asteroid, our instructor asserted that we -should reach Venus in something like -seventy-five hours.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham, Meigs, and Popham, on consulting -the bulletin board and finding that seventy hours -had passed, began to brush their clothes and tidy -themselves against the hour of landing. But -they were destined to disappointment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Unable to locate Venus at the point where he -had hoped to find it, the professor decided that -it was nearing superior conjunction and was -somewhere on the other side of the sun. Meigs -made a deplorable display of temper.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn was a mighty poor astronomer, he said -sneeringly, if he could find himself so far wide -of the mark on such a simple matter. Meigs -further added—with a good deal of childishness -as I thought—that the role of a derelict was -distasteful to him: a derelict, he argued, was -nothing more than a tramp, and he objected to being -a tramp, even a celestial tramp.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was out of patience with the man. Admiration -for the professor had taken fast hold of me -and I would not have him sneered at or maligned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A war of hot words was on between myself -and the Wall Street broker when Quinn interfered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"True," said he, "we have missed Venus by a -few millions of miles, but we are aimed directly -at the orbit of another world, and I can so -manipulate the lever as to wait for it, if necessary, -and drop upon its surface when it overtakes us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What world is that?" said Popham, pricking -tip his ears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mercury," answered the professor. "It is the -smallest orb in our solar system and measures -some three thousand miles in diameter."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I thought Venus was rather contracted for -men with such large schemes as ourselves," -remarked Meigs, shaking his head, "but this other -planet seems to be smaller still."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wonder if they have coal mines there?" -murmured Popham meditatively.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And if they grow wheat and cotton?" added Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If Mercury is inhabited," spoke up Markham -eagerly, "food will certainly be as necessary -there as on the earth. I don't know, gentlemen, -but it strikes me we might fall into worse -places."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Poor Gilhooly!" sighed Meigs. "What a pity -it will be if the Mercurials prove to have traction -interests!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How long before we shall reach this planet -you speak of, professor?" inquired Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," answered Quinn thoughtfully, "Mercury -is rather slow. It travels along its orbit -at the rate of thirty miles per second, while we -are moving at one hundred miles. At a rough -estimate, I should say we can effect a juncture -with the planet in ten hours, although an extra -hour may be required for maneuvres to secure a -landing."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The ten hours that followed were hours of -great anxiety and feverish labor. Believing that -my nerves were the steadiest, the professor placed -me at the telescope to act as pilot while he served -as engineer and manipulated the lever.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The responsibilities of my position so worked -upon me that I had no time for the glories of the -planet we were endeavoring to intercept. -Through the telescope I saw huge mountains and -broad plains, but they were blurred over with a -reddish light and the lesser details of topography -were lost.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When five hours were gone, the professor left -the lever and came upstairs to have a look -through the telescope for himself.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have done very well indeed, Mr. Munn," -he was pleased to say, "but I think that I had -better take this post from now on, while you -go below and station yourself at the switch board. -The slightest mismanagement, when the critical -moment arrives, might hurl us against Mercury -with a force that would result in annihilation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The lever turns in a half circle, as you may -know. The arc is divided into spaces, numbered -from zero to ninety. I will call down to you -the number to which you must throw the lever; -you will repeat the number back to me, and -instantly obey my order."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Trust me, sir," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But the professor was loath to let me go -without still further impressing upon me the -importance of the work before us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In order to alight safely, Mr. Munn," he -continued, "we must graduate the power of the -anti-gravity cubes to the Mercurial atmosphere. By -proceeding intelligently in the matter, we shall -make the car weigh slightly more than the -atmosphere we encounter; then, when we are about -to land, we will let the car just counterbalance -the 'pull' of the planet and there will not be the -slightest jar."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I understand, professor," I answered and -went downstairs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham, Meigs, and Popham ascended to -the upper chamber, this position bringing them -a few feet nearer the goal of our desires as well -as giving them a point of vantage from which to -watch events. Gilhooly was the only one besides -myself in the lower room; he was kneeling on -the divan writing imaginary stock quotations on -the steel wall with the point of his finger.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For four hours or more the professor called -out for slight variations in the speed of the car, -but in the main the lever was held on the number, -90, which gave a maximum velocity. The tension -of the minutes ushering in the last hour of -the ten is beyond my power to describe.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Once in my evil days I manipulated the -tumblers of a combination and pulled open a vault -door. Behind the door stood two men with -revolvers. For two seconds I stared agape at the -trap which I had sprung upon myself; and when -I got away I had a bullet in my shoulder.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Intensify my feelings fourfold as I stood -looking into the leveled revolvers of those two men, -then spread out the two seconds to cover a half -hour. In this way only can I describe my state -of mind while we fought for a safe landing on -the planet Mercury.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cries of wonder and apprehension echoed to -me from overhead. Above them I heard the -shrill voice of the professor:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Zero."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Zero," I repeated, throwing the lever clear over.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There followed a jolt as the screens covered -the cubes and shut off their energy. Instantly -there came the sickening sensation of a fall, -accompanied by a rush of displaced air that roared -and bellowed all about the car.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Forty-five!" shrieked Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Forty-five!" I yelled, throwing the lever half over.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then we caught ourselves with a suddenness -that threw me to my knees. We were moving -upward again—I could feel the steel floor rising -under me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Twenty!" came down from above.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Twenty," I answered hoarsely, struggling -erect and shifting the lever.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I felt that we were still rising, but slowly. The -professor was juggling with an unknown -atmosphere, and on the success of his judgment -depended our lives.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Fifteen!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Fifteen!" and over went the lever for five degrees.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We were swinging stationary in mid-air. -From the window by the switch board I looked -outward and downward with bulging eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A dazzling glow covered peak and plain, and -I turned away that my sight might not be -blinded to the lever numbers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ten!" cried the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ten it is!" and I threw the switch to the number given.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then again we dropped, but slowly, very slowly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Five!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I repeated the order, and again the air rushed -against the blunt base of the car, yet not so -fiercely as before. Then, all of a sudden, I felt -a grip of fingers about my throat, and I was -hauled from the lever and thrown back on the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly had a knee on my breast and was -strangling me with fingers of steel. The fire of -an insane purpose gleamed in his eyes, and he -seemed possessed of the strength of a dozen demons.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I struggled, but I might as well have tried to -rise under the thousand-tons pressure of a -hydraulic press.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ten!" cried Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I did not answer—I could not, for my tongue -was lolling between my lips.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ten!" screamed Quinn. "</span><em class="italics">Ten—or we're lost!</em><span>"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A groan, hardly audible, escaped my gasping -throat. I heard a frantic clamor above and then -there was such a jar and crash as I hope I shall -never experience again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All tangible life slipped away from me, and -I collapsed into an unconsciousness that I felt -might be death itself.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="facing-a-mercurial-storm"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VII.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">FACING A MERCURIAL STORM.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>That our lives were preserved and the car -saved from destruction was due to two -circumstances, one of them most peculiar and of -far-reaching importance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The lesser of the two circumstances was this: -the car had not dropped to the plain, but had -had its downward rush intercepted by an elevation, -so that the force of our fall was just about -half what might have been expected.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As to the other and more vital circumstance, -the fall itself was not what it would have been -on our own sphere. The "pull" of gravity on -Mercury, as we afterward discovered, has only -one-third the power it has on Terra. To this -phenomenon were due many wonderful things, -as the reader will discover before we have gone -very far.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was not the first of our party to open his -eyes after the landing, for when I sat up and -stared about me I saw the professor moving -around the steel chamber and ministering to the -others.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly was creeping toward the divan on -all fours, muttering something about "a great -slump in the market" and chuckling over the way -in which he had "got out from under."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>J. Archibald Meigs was groaning and trying -to lift himself on his elbow; Augustus Popham -was on his knees, wobbling erratically and -apparently undecided whether to say his prayers or -to try and get up; Hannibal Markham was flattened -out along the floor, the professor kneeling -over him and chafing his temples.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What sort of a navigator are you, Quinn?" -asked Meigs crossly. "By gad, it is more -dangerous to make port with you than it is to sail -through space."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't blame the professor for a fault of -mine, Meigs," I spoke up warmly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The broker looked at me with something like -contempt.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I blame him for placing an incompetent and -irresponsible person at such an important post -as the switch board," said Meigs. "He should -have known that a man who holds your distorted -views on the subject of personal property is not -to be trusted."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's right," added Popham, lifting himself -to the divan.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gilhooly made an attack on me," said I. "He -bore me down and came within one of strangling me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Quinn is the cause of Gilhooly's abnormal -condition," persisted Meigs, who was bound to -have Quinn at fault for every evil that overtook us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I got up, rather more wrathful than the -situation demanded. The fall had jarred my temper -no less than my body, and I was in a mood to -have the business out with Meigs at close quarters.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Softly, Mr. Munn!" cautioned the professor. -"It is well to have a deaf ear for these -gentlemen at times. Help me lift Mr. Markham to -the divan."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor's words dispelled my anger. -Without another word to Meigs I went over and -assisted in getting the food trust magnate into a -more comfortable position.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham was not long in recovering, and -when we took stock of ourselves we found that -we were not much the worse for our shaking up. -Quinn called to me to go upstairs with him and -see if any havoc had been wrought there.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We found that no particular damage had been -done to the instruments or other material. When -we descended to the lower chamber, after an -absence of fifteen or twenty minutes, Meigs had the -key in the steel door and was standing at the -entrance with Popham and Markham on either side -of him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where did you get that key?" demanded the -professor, one hand groping in his pocket.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Heretofore he had been careful to keep the -key upon his person. Small wonder that he was -now surprised to find it in the possession of -Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I found it on the floor," replied the broker -with a good deal of dignity. "Probably you lost -it out of your pocket when you fell from the -stairs a few minutes ago."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What are you intending to do?" asked the -professor quietly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Professor Quinn, sir," returned Meigs with -elaborate condescension, "we have reached the -parting of the ways. While we were traveling -through space, I and my friends could do -nothing less than bear with your company, and with -that of the rogue at your side; but now that we -are safely moored on Mercury, and can debark, -we see fit to withdraw ourselves and renounce -further intercourse with you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!" murmured Quinn, a slow smile hovering -about his thin lips.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The smile caused some acerbity to manifest -itself in the three gentlemen at the door. They -drew themselves up haughtily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Quinn," went on the broker sharply, "you -lured us into your castle and abducted us from -our native orb, with small regard for the feelings -of our relatives or friends, and no consideration -whatever for the business interests with -which we were engaged; so——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your business interests had my every -consideration," interrupted the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs took no notice of the remark.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So," he continued, "remembering these -wrongs, we feel that we can no longer associate -with you. As for Munn"—here he turned a -fastidious eye in my direction—"he is utterly -impossible to men of our social standing. This planet, -you tell us, is three thousand miles in diameter. -May we request that you and Munn take one end -of the diameter and leave the other end to us?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor laughed softly and seated himself.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sit down, Mr. Munn," said he. "We have -been ostracized by our fellow-exiles. Let us see -how well they get along without us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We bid you farewell," finished Meigs loftily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thereupon he turned the key, threw open the -door—and dropped on the threshold as though -he had been shot! Markham and Popham cried -aloud, threw their arms across their faces and -reeled back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A blast as from a furnace drove in at the -opening, filling the chamber like a draft from -Hades. I could scarcely breathe in the stifling -atmosphere.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hurry, Munn!" cried Quinn. "Drag Meigs -away from the door or he'll be burned to a -crisp!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The broker was already smoking when I -caught his ankles and jerked him inside. The -professor slammed the door.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Presently the air within the car readjusted -itself to normal conditions. Meigs, red as a beet -and breathing heavily, was little the worse for -his warm experience.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I fancy, Mr. Meigs," cooed the professor, -"that you will wish to avail yourself of one of -my anti-temperature baths before cutting loose -from myself and Mr. Munn. There is plenty -of water left for all of us, and I will go aloft, -set up the collapsible tub, and make the bath -ready. We have alighted in the tropics, -evidently, and at the period of mid-summer. The -temperature is about five hundred degrees, -fahrenheit."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With that the professor took the key from -the door to keep Gilhooly from making a dash -outside, and started for the storeroom. I -followed him, the three disgruntled gentlemen -gazing after us mutely.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor and I were the first to fortify -ourselves with the anti-temperature bath. After -dipping our bodies, we rinsed our clothing in the -liquid.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Aside from a pleasant, cooling sensation the -bath gave no evidence of its potent qualities. -There was no hardening of the skin, as I fancied -there might be, no change in its ruddy color, no -inconvenience.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When we went down again we sent the other -three gentlemen aloft, the professor instructing -them as to the necessity of making their clothing -as well as their bodies proof against the -climate. In due course, Popham, Meigs, and -Markham once more showed themselves.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly, of course, had also to be made immune; -and he struggled against it so fiercely that -we were obliged to hold him in the tub while -the professor poured three buckets of the -mixture over him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was not disrobed, and when sufficiently -drenched he leaped from the tub and fled, -raving, to the lower chamber.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now," said the professor, "we are prepared -to fare forth. You gentlemen"—he addressed -himself to Markham, Meigs, and Popham—"may -go with Mr. Munn and me, or keep by yourselves, -as you may elect. But it will be well to make this -car our headquarters. Here we have food and -drink, also a stronghold in case of attack by the -Mercurials—if there happen to be any."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How can there be any life in such an -over-heated atmosphere?" inquired Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nature is a great leveler of barriers," -replied Quinn. "She is able to adjust life to its -environment, you may be sure, just as easily as -she can bridge the social chasm that separates a -thief from a trust magnate."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His eyes twinkled.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Such a bridge," he added, "would not prove -much of a tax on her resources. For my own -part, I do not think the chasm either so wide or -so deep as you gentlemen appear to imagine."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I chuckled at that, and Meigs and his two -companions grew duly resentful.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"As for Mr. Gilhooly," continued Quinn, "we -cannot take him with us on our tour of observation. -It will be best to leave him locked in the -car. I will close the trap leading into the -store-room and I do not think it will be possible for -him to work much damage in the room below."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't know what good it will do me to go -out with your exploring expedition," said -Popham dejectedly; "in a country as hot as this there -can be no earthly use for coal."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Or wearing apparel," added Meigs listlessly. -"Cotton couldn't grow in such a temperature. -And as for wheat!" He shook his head wearily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cotton and wheat were the abc of his Wall -Street experience. Beyond those commodities he -groped in the dark.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What sort of food can be grown on such a -sun-baked planet?" grumbled Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The railway man was shouting something -about watered stock, and his babbling was wafted -up to us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gilhooly," added Markham, "is the only -fortunate man in the party. Realization will blast -the hopes and mayhap prove the death of the rest -of us, while he—he cannot realize!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You gentlemen lose courage too quickly," said -the professor. "In my lectures on Venus I told -you how that planet was inclined to the plane of -its orbit. The axis of Mercury has a still greater -inclination; in fact, the orb leans on itself as -though about to fall. Its days are of about the -same length as the days of Terra—only three -minutes longer—but its years, owing to its -contracted orbit, are much shorter. In eighty-eight -days Mercury makes its round, so that each -season is only twenty-two days in length.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"At the poles of Mercury, in what answers to -the polar regions of our own earth, there must -be a more tempered climate——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then let us get there, by all means," cut in -Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In whatever we do," answered Quinn, "we -must make haste slowly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let's get out and look around, anyhow," -cried Meigs. "It may happen, after all, that we -have a world to conquer here, and I have not the -patience to remain longer in this steel cell of -yours."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very good," returned the professor. "We -will make our preparations and go forth."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He shut off the flow of oxygen from the tank -and then followed the rest of us to the under -apartment, closing a steel door over the trap at -the head of the stairs and locking it. Gilhooly, -imagining himself a conductor, was walking -around the edge of the circular divan collecting -tickets from imaginary passengers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sing Sing!" he called out as the professor -unlocked the door at the entrance and pulled -it open.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Here's where you get off, Munn," said Meigs -maliciously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Here's where we all get off," returned the -professor, smiling.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thereupon we passed hastily into the blinding -glare of the Mercurial day. For several minutes -our eyes rebelled at the brightness; when finally -they became inured to it, we looked around us -upon a desolation that struck dismay to our -hearts.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We saw then that our car had alighted upon -an elevation which was nothing less than the rim -of an extinct volcano of vast proportions. From -ridge to ridge across the abysmal crater at least -half a mile could be measured.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was beyond the power of our eyes to -penetrate to the black depths of the great pit.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Listen!" cried the professor, his voice -resounding so thunderously as almost to deafen -us—some trick of the atmosphere.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We stood silently, our ears alert, and heard a -confused babel of sound proceeding apparently -out of the very core of the volcano.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sub-Mercurial fires may be at work down -there," whispered the professor, nodding toward -the crater.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Even the whisper sounded unpleasantly loud -to us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What a world!" came from Augustus Popham -in bellowing tones. "With fire within and -without, what chance is there for life, liberty, -and the pursuit of happiness?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Some of Meigs' peevishness had got into the -coal man, and he rent the air with it. We -remained mule after this outburst, I with my gaze -hopefully on the professor and the professor -blinking at the sun.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In a little time I allowed my own eyes to -falter zenithward, and the glory of the sun in -Mercury's mid-heaven has ever since been one of the -treasured memories of my life. Its disk was six -times its diameter as viewed from Earth, and -the grandeur of its flaming surface is beyond -the powers of my feeble pen to make known.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was oppressed and held captive by a feeling -of awe and wonder. There was a red tinge to -the atmosphere, caused by a reflection from the -red of the planet's brick-like crust; through this -warm color pulsed the golden streamers—yellow -and scarlet overhead, fading to faintest orange -on the horizon.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Think you, Mr. Popham," murmured the professor, -his voice awakening us as from a trance, -"that all yon splendor, which has been in these -skies for ages upon ages, was created for the -enjoyment of no living thing? If so, you are -wrong. There are now, as there have always -been, beings with an intelligence capable of -appreciating all this magnificent profusion of light -and color. But enough. We have looked down -into the crater and up into the heavens; suppose -we turn our eyes another way and see what there -is to offer."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He faced about as he spoke, and gazed down -the bare rocky slope of the volcano and off across -an equally bare and forbidding plain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No trees, no water, no life of any kind," -muttered Meigs querulously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There is a bright spot over there," said -Quinn, shading his eyes and pointing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our eyes followed his finger and encountered -a glittering object on a slight elevation. As we -gazed, the object, whatever it was, slowly vanished.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We might investigate that," suggested -Popham excitedly. "Perhaps it was a Mercurial -wearing a sort of armor to protect him from the -heat. It may be that there are people here, and -that they live underground."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He would have started forthwith, but the -professor stretched out a hand and detained him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just a moment," said Quinn. "Before we get -too far from the car, let me make sure that all of -you are sufficiently immune from the heat. Do -you feel that you are fully protected in that -respect, gentlemen?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So far as I was personally concerned, I had -not felt the slightest inconvenience from the sun's -rays. I declared as much, and the others likewise -so expressed themselves.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There's another one of the things!" spoke up -Meigs, pointing in another direction.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We were just able to detect a glow on another -low elevation when it also flashed into thin air. -Then we began looking for the little hills, and -counted no less than a dozen within our range -of vision.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Some of the hills were capped with the -mysterious gleam, which dazzled for a time and then -twinkled out.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor was perplexed, as I could see -plainly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll examine one of those hills," said Meigs, -"and find out what this means."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The top of the volcano, where we were -standing, was perhaps five hundred feet from the -plain. As Meigs spoke, he leaped for a rock a -yard or so below him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>To the astonishment of all of us, he rose in the -air like a human balloon, soared over the rock by -a score of feet, and alighted several rods down -the slope.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a titanic jump, but Meigs had regained -a foothold with the lightness of a piece of down. -He was a large man, was Meigs, his ponderosity -exceeding two hundred pounds, Fairbanks.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was as much surprised at his agility as we -were, and began to essay various feats. He -leaped straight upward, gaining a maximum -height of a dozen yards and returning lightly and -easily to his original position.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Next he coupled his leap with an aerial -somersault, and carried on with an abandon much -beneath the dignity of a Wall Street broker, as it -struck me. In fact, he acted like a schoolboy -out for a holiday, and so full of animal spirits -he hardly knew what to do with himself.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You'd think he belonged to a circus," -observed the disgusted Popham. "I'll go down -there and put a stop to the performance."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And I'll go along and help," added Markham, -visibly distracted because of the broker's -folly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They started down the steep with rod-long -steps; and presently one would have thought they -wore seven-league boots from the amount of -speed they developed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Instead of putting a stop to the broker's -performance they joined in. By and by they were -playing leapfrog, every bound taking them -forward half a hundred feet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gravity here is far from having the force it -has on Terra," remarked the professor. -"Exertion comes easy and gives most astonishing -results. Those men, Mr. Munn, are not used to -such activity, yet their marvelous gymnastics do -not seem to tire them in the least. Suppose that -we ourselves make a test of the Mercurial gravity?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I needed no second bidding, and Quinn and I -took the descent as buoyantly as thistle-down -before the wind. Somehow the lightness of our -heels got into our heads, and the staid -professor and myself began cavorting like a pair of -ten-year-olds.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The delightful freedom of movement, was as -novel as it was exhilarating. Liberty of muscle -bred license of mind; had we been smoking opium -we could not have acted more outrageously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nor was there any fatigue apparent. I felt -that I could have run a hundred miles in as many -minutes and never paused for breath.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Carried away by the wonderful effects of -diminished gravity, we forgot all about our -projected investigation of the little hills. In the -midst of a game of tag we were suddenly brought -to our senses with a round turn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A pall had fallen over the landscape. The sun -was blotted out by inky clouds, and a tremendous -wind began to blow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We must get back to the car!" cried Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His voice, great in volume though it was, was -all but drowned in the shriek and roar of the -blast. The lightness that had afforded us so -much enjoyment in still air now became a source -of grave danger, for we could not keep our feet -in the fury of the tempest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Merciful powers!" roared Popham, as he and -Meigs were driven against each other with a -terrific impact.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Although sorely put to it to keep myself from -being blown away, I managed to cling to a rock -and watch the weird gyrations of the two -millionaires. Their collision had caused them to -lose their footing, and, clinging desperately to -each other, they were hurled back and forth, -touching the ground now and then, only to -rebound from it like rubber balls. And all the time -this ground-and-lofty tumbling was going on -both men were whooping frantically for some -one to come to their aid.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was too hard beset to think of leaving my -place of temporary refuge, and it was only when -I saw the professor and Markham, their right -hands clasped, staggering toward the two men, -that I made up my mind to join them. Three of -us, in a chain, might be able to do something -toward rescuing Popham and Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Breathing deep, like a swimmer about to -plunge through a whirlpool, I cast myself adrift -and allowed the wind to drive me in the direction -of the professor and Markham. No matter how -strongly I braced backward against the blast, -every time I lifted a foot I was hurled onward -and almost overturned. Finally, more by good -luck than anything else, I came close enough to -catch the professor's hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Popham and Meigs will be killed if we can't -get to them!" shouted Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There were eddies in the wind, like those in the -swift current of a stream, and Popham and -Meigs had become entangled in them. Had they -been blown off on a straightaway course, they -would long since have been too far away for us -to do anything toward laying hands on them and -getting them upright.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor had taken note of the gyratory -movements of our hapless companions, and he -called upon Markham and me to plant ourselves -as firmly as possible and remain in our present -positions. This was easier said than done; yet, -by calling upon every ounce of our reserve -strength, we contrived, after a fashion, to keep -our places.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham and Meigs were bounding and leaping -through the arc of a great circle. All we had -to do was to remain where we were and wait for -them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They came to us in mid-air, and we had -literally to reach up and pull them down. For a -space the five of us were tangled in an -indiscriminate heap, our united weight offering -greater resistance to the wind and giving us an -opportunity to rest and collect our scattered wits.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Join hands," cried the professor, "and we'll -get under the lee of that rock. Careful, now! -We must not get separated again."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>By desperate work we succeeded in getting to -our feet and clasping hands; then, hurled and -buffeted, we gained the rock and fell breathless -under the leeward side of it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What a place, what a place!" groaned Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wish Venus hadn't been out of our course," -wailed Meigs. "Certainly we couldn't have been -any worse off there than here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No wonder nothing can grow on this -sun-scorched world," growled Markham. "Even if -plants could stand the heat such a wind would -pull them up by the roots."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What are we to do now?" demanded Popham. -"You got us into this, Quinn, and you've -got to get us out of it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now's a good time for you three to go off -to the other side of the planet," I remarked. -"Whenever there's danger, you suddenly realize -that you can't get along without the professor. -Oh, you're a fine lot of nabobs, you are."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Peace, Mr. Munn," called the professor. "We -have enough to occupy our minds without wasting -time in useless bickering. I was at fault, for -I knew what terrible gales visit this planet, and -that they come suddenly. It was a mistake to -venture so far from the car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A mistake," breathed Meigs, with some heat, -"that came near having tragic consequences. -Popham and I were knocked about like a couple -of footballs."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's to be done, what's to be done?" cried -Popham impatiently. "The gale is increasing, -and who knows but this rock may be plucked up -bodily and rolled over us? We can't stay here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is true," said the professor. "We must -get back to the car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There's no telling what will become of us if -we try that," called Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And there's no telling what will become of -us if we remain here," answered the professor. -"If we form a chain, it is quite possible that we -may succeed in getting back to our refuge."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Even the car may not be able to stand up -against this wind," clamored Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We shall have to take our chances with it, -nevertheless," went on Quinn. "If we should -get separated, each of us must make the best -preparations he can to weather the gale, and -then, when it has blown itself out, hunt for the -car. That must be our rendezvous during the -time we are here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor got up slowly, bracing himself -against the fierce swirl that came around the side -of the rock.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Come," he called; "it is now or never."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I could see that the gale had increased -alarmingly. Its force seemed irresistible, and yet I -knew that we could not remain where we were.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We clasped hands again, but were unable to -cling together, being lifted high and thrown -helter-skelter in all directions. Lightning -flashed—such lightning as I have never seen before or -since.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It snapped and crackled overhead and ran like -trailing serpents over the rocks. We were in a -sea of flame.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And the thunder! It seemed to split the -heavens and crack open the lava-like hills. Rain -came; yet not rain, for it turned to damp vapor -in the red-hot atmosphere. The Mercurial -elements were at war—wind, steam, thunder, and -lightning all marshaling their hosts and charging -to conflict.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>To regain the steel car was impossible. We -were lost in the fearsome fury of darkness and -storm, driven helplessly and with smashing force -across the vast plain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was hurled against something which I -gripped with convulsive energy. The something -gripped me in return.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Help!" I cried, bereft of my wits and eager -only for rescue.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Munn!" shouted a voice. "Is this you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Quinn!" I exclaimed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We must hang together." said Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And then, tightly locked in each other's arms, -we were lifted high on a billow of fog and driven -relentlessly I know not how far.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When the blast released us, we fell to the -rocks and rolled over and over; then the surface -beneath us gave way and we dropped.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The distance we fell could be only a matter of -guesswork, and even guesswork was out of the -question in the disordered state of our minds at -that moment. Suffice to say the fall did not -render us unconscious, and we struck on something -that vibrated under the impact of our bodies. -We were still in blank darkness, and the turmoil -of the tempest no longer beat about us, but could -be heard crashing somewhere overhead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank Heaven!" murmured the professor, -withdrawing himself from me. "Are you alive, -Mr. Munn?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I believe so," I answered. "What has -happened to us, professor?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We have been flung into some sort of a -shelter, it seems to me," he replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But we are not on stable ground," he added. -"We are sitting on an object that is descending -with us, descending rapidly and—ah, wonder of -wonders!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Abruptly we fell into broad day, surrounded -by such sights and sounds that I thought myself -dealing with the mysteries of a disordered dream.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-mercurials"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VIII.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">THE MERCURIALS.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Professor Quinn and I were sitting on a large -box constructed of metal that was polished to -dazzling brilliancy. So far as our purposes were -concerned, this box was nothing less than an -elevator; we had fallen upon it and it had carried -us down into the wonderful interior of the planet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Now, truly, we were in another world—a -world that teemed with life—a smiling and -pleasant region underlying a most barren and -inhospitable shell. The scoriated exterior of the -planet was the husk; here was the kernel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a white world, extending league on -league in every direction and roofed with a lofty -vault that sparkled as with stars. From every -hand came a bee-like hum, proving that we were -in a hive of industry and life.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Houses spread out before us in rows, queerly -shaped structures that looked as though they -might have been built of alabaster, and so -diminutive that the tallest scarcely came more than -head high. Back of the houses were fields -thickly covered with nodding blossoms that -looked like snow; through the fields ran -waterways dividing each into small squares.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So intent were we on the background of this -strange picture that we failed to take account of -what was going on in our immediate vicinity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly a weird creature hopped to the top -of the box and stood between my companion and -myself, regarding us fixedly. This, I supposed, -was one of the Mercurials. If he considered the -professor and myself objects of curiosity and -surmise, we were no less keen in so regarding him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He stood twenty-three or twenty-four inches -high; his head was an ivory billiard ball, and his -trunk a larger spheroid; from his middle -downward hung a red kirtle. He had one eye at the -front of the head and an ear at the back; the -olfactory organ was missing, but there was a -mouth opening perpendicularly under the eye.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The upper spheroid rested directly on the -lower; and at each side of the lower one, -corresponding to the shoulders, were two tentacle-like -arms, sinuous as whips and ending in hands that -were made up of a palm and seven digits. -Queerest of all, there were two more arms set in the -breast and back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>From the creature's shoulder was suspended a -round object like a canteen. For all of five -minutes Quinn and I eyed this surprising figure and -were eyed in return.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can you talk English?" asked the professor -at last.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a foolish question, such as I was far -from expecting from the professor, but -something had to be said, and I suppose that was as -good as anything else. As the professor began -speaking the head whirled squarely around, -presenting the ear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After my companion was done, the head spun -back again, and the breast arm caught the -canteen while the fingers of a shoulder arm began -manipulating a set of keys. The result was -language, with all the variations of tone and accent. -But it was an unknown tongue, if an expression -of that kind may be allowed in such a case.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Since the word-box was as ineffective as our -own speech, we fell back with more success on -the language of signs. At this the Mercurial had -the better of us, for he could make signs with -four hands.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor signified that we were hungry, -and the Mercurial signified that we were to -descend from the box. This we did, and found -ourselves in the centre of a group of Mercurials -whose word-boxes were chattering like so many -magpies.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Mercurial with whom we were already on -gesticulating terms played off some orders on -his own canteen, and two of the others advanced -upon the box from which we had just descended. -Pulling out a slide in the side of the receptacle, -they exposed two ewers of steaming food, and -we were motioned to fall to.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We stood not upon the order, but obeyed instantly, -using a pair of small paddles which were -thrust into our hands. I had no idea what the -food might be, but it was tender and of good -flavor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A bright little people," observed the professor -as he ate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Seemingly," I responded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nature has denied them the power of speech, -yet see how they have surmounted the difficulty. -I must give that talking machine of theirs a close -inspection. We are in a most wonderful -country, Mr. Munn."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The little I have seen of it already quite dazes -me," said I. "What a pickpocket a man could -make of himself with all those hands!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn gave me a reproachful look, and I hastily -apologized for even mentioning a branch of -my profession.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you understand now," said he, turning the -subject very pleasantly, "what those bright -objects were which we saw on the tops of the low -hills?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They were ovens," he answered. "Food is -put in them and sent up to the hot surface of the -planet. When properly cooked it is lowered again."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Association with this learned man was a -liberal education in itself. I can never be -sufficiently thankful to fate for causing our paths to -cross.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You think, then," said I, "that we were blown -to the top of one of the hills and fell into a shaft -used by the traveling ovens?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nothing else could have happened."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor gave a start and looked worried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Dear, dear!" he exclaimed. "I was quite -forgetting our friends. While we are here -feasting and taking our ease, they are battling with -the storm, and are no doubt in peril of their -lives. How very, very thoughtless we are, Mr. Munn."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was not greatly exercised over the matter. -The trust magnates believed that there was a -figurative gulf between myself and them, and -I was more than willing that this gulf should -grow from the symbol to the reality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I doubt if we can return to the outside of -the planet at present, professor," said I, "and -even if we were able to do so, what could we -accomplish in the face of that tremendous storm?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"True, very true," said he.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That oven," said I, by way of taking his mind -from the plutocrats, "must have been very warm -when we landed on it and descended to these -regions."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We should have been grilled, sir," returned -the professor, "but for the fact that we are -coated, and our clothing impregnated, with my -anti-temperature fluid."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"These Mercurials appear to stand the heat -pretty well," I remarked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Covered, as we are, with the anti-temperature -compound," he returned, "it is impossible for us -to judge, even approximately, of the degree of -heat that obtains in these sub-Mercurial regions. -Naturally it must be very much less than prevails -on the surface of the planet, and yet, even at that, -if left unprotected we should probably be -shriveled to cinders."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hardly, professor," I ventured to protest. -"Those fields"—and I waved my paddle toward -the open country—"are growing rank with a -white herb, which is evidently cooked in these -ovens and served for food. Quite likely we are -eating of it now, and very good eating I find it. -However, the point I wish to make is this: If -the heat was so intense as you surmise, those -fields would be wilted and dried up."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nature, Mr. Munn," answered the professor, -"adapts itself to every condition. On our own -planet we see how life and comfort are rendered -possible in every zone from the farthest north -to the tropics; and this same adaptability of -intelligent creatures to their environment, we may -be sure, proceeds throughout the universe. These -one-eared, one-eyed, diminutive creatures are -formed in the manner best calculated to afford -them comfort and happiness amid these -surroundings. And, as with them, so with the -products of their husbandry."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You could argue a squirrel out of a tree, -professor," said I, with whole-souled admiration. -"I am sorry I did not take a course of scientific -training, for it would have helped me immensely -in my business. A burglar should be an -all-around man. If I ever return to Terra——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So long as you feel as you do regarding your -odious profession, Mr. Munn," broke in the -professor, compressing his lips, "you will never -return to Terra."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A return is possible?" I asked, hiding the -wonder his words aroused.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Anything is possible."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How about the millionaires? Are they to -return provided the means are at hand?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Provided they experience a change of heart. -In their present state of delusion, they are mere -firebrands of destruction. Before they ever -again take part in mundane affairs, they must be -taught to see things differently. I wonder what -has become of them?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor's brow clouded with anxiety.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't fret about them, professor," said I. -"They are not overeager for our society. Let -them have a taste of shifting for themselves -without your knowledge and resourcefulness to -shield them from everything that goes wrong. -It will do them a world of good."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps you are right, Mr. Munn," my -companion answered musingly. "If I could know -they had survived the storm, I should feel -tolerably easy in my mind. These little Mercurials -appear to be a friendly people, and if our -comrades escaped that frightful tempest they must -sooner or later fall into the hands of these -dwellers of the under-world."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I suppose," I ventured, seeking to draw my -companion's mind from the plutocrats, "that this -Mercurial under-world is another illustration of -the way Nature takes care of her protégés. After -baking the outside shell of the planet to a degree -that makes all life impossible, she thoughtfully -scoops out the interior so that these small -creatures will have a place to go."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have stated the case correctly, Mr. Munn," -and the professor's face lighted up as he -swept his gaze over the country immediately -adjacent. "These ovens," he proceeded, "are a -remarkable example of adapting means to an end. -The fierce heat of the surface does the cooking."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Popham will find little pleasure in that," I -laughed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Like the rest of us," answered the professor -grimly, "he will have to accustom himself to new -conditions."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Everything must be different here from the -surroundings with which we have been familiar -all our lives. I wonder what form of property -is considered most valuable to these Mercurials?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor frowned. My mind was running -in its old groove despite its novel environment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That query was inspired by an unworthy -motive, Mr. Munn," said Quinn severely.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I bowed humbly. "Every man his own way," -said I. "I cannot help trying to adjust myself -along the line of the principles I know best. -Nevertheless I am of an intensely curious disposition, -and those talk-boxes fill me with wonder."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The Mercurials are dumb, it seems," answered -the professor, "and they have to resort to -purely mechanical means for an exchange of -ideas. Language appears to flow readily enough -from the little boxes."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If any one of them ever lost his four hands," -I observed, "he would not only find it impossible -to help himself but would be unable to tell others -what to do to help him. Nature has been prodigal -with them in the matter of hands, and in this, -no doubt, showed her usual wisdom."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am glad to see your thoughts taking a -philosophical trend, Mr. Munn," said the professor. -"It argues well for your future."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>By that time we had emptied the receptacle -of food, and as we dropped our paddles and drew -back, the word-boxes of a hundred Mercurials -shrieked despairingly. The pygmies clustered -about the empty basins, glared into them, and -then turned their menacing eyes on the professor -and myself.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Goodness me, Mr. Munn," exclaimed the -professor. "We have probably eaten the food -supply of the entire district. If we do not have a -care, our voracious appetites are like to prove -our undoing. Look, there come more of the -Mercurials. They're after their supper, I'll warrant, -and they are going to be disappointed."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I looked in the direction indicated by the professor, -and saw a long line of billiard balls rolling -our way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a procession, headed by a pompous little -Mercurial whose trunk and arms were gorgeously -gilded. With two of his hands he carried -a metal plate and spoon, and with the other two -he wielded a silver baton about the size of a -match.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Plates and paddles were also carried by the -rest of the advancing Mercurials, their word-boxes -chanting a sort of quickstep. The sight of -the professor and myself, towering mountain-like -over the throng about us, brought the procession -to an abrupt halt with a squeak of dismay.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The gentleman in the red kirtle went forward -and held converse with the gentleman of the gilt -torso. Before they got through, their -word-boxes were fairly roaring, and stricken groans -went up from every talk-machine in the line.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The advent of two leviathans like my companion -and myself must have had a demoralizing -effect, but that seemed as nothing in comparison -with the harrowing results of our voracity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The leader raised his baton. Silence fell. The -leader then advanced to where we were standing -and circled around us, examining us critically -with his solitary eye.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The survey finished, he tried his word-box on -us, the professor answering in all the languages -of our home planet, living and dead, of which he -was master. But in vain; we could not come to -an understanding.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The begilded gentleman finally gave over and -whirled on the underling in the red kirtle. His -fingers flew over the keys of his canteen, and -speech of a swift and commanding kind was -poured out.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A skurrying about of the oven tenders -resulted. From somewhere a fresh supply of -uncooked food was brought and placed in the huge -metal box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While this was going forward, Quinn suddenly -seized my arm, a troubled look crossing his face.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is the matter, professor?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Matter enough, Mr. Munn!" he answered. -"The lever was left on Number Five!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His thoughts were up with the steel car. I -was surprised at this, for it appeared to me that -there was more than enough to claim our full -attention right in our immediate vicinity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And what of that, sir?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The anti-gravity cubes lighten the car by five -degrees," he answered excitedly. "Thus buoyed, -and in its elevated position, I doubt if the car -should hold its own against the fury of the storm!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You think it has been blown——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Aye! Blown to the uttermost parts of Mercury -and perhaps wrecked and lost—lost with all -our scientific apparatus and other paraphernalia!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And that is not all," went on the professor. -"The lever should have been thrown to zero and -then removed to prevent Gilhooly from tampering -with it. Who knows what that mad railway -magnate may take it into his head to do? -Suppose he were to grasp the lever and give the -cubes their full power. He would be launched -into the void, sir, and we should be marooned on -this sun-baked planet, compelled to live out our -lives with these one-eyed quadrumana, devastating -the country of its food supply—our presence -a curse instead of a blessing!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had already imagined a possible return to -Terra, and from this it, seemed that the professor -had not lost sight of that contingency.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is to be done?" I asked, catching some -of his excitement.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We must return to the outer shell—we must -find the car—we must go back on the oven when -they send it up!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As he finished speaking, Quinn ran frantically -to the metal box and leaped to its top. I -followed, clumsily upsetting a half dozen Mercurials -who chanced to gel in my way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The oven was loaded by that time and ready -for its return to the intense heat; nay, more, the -chef in the red kirtle already had his hand on a -wheel which presumably released the lifting power.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our movements, however, had acted as a check -on proceedings.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We've got to go back!" cried the professor, -forgetting in his stress of feeling that his words -were lost on the throng around us. "Don't -attempt to stop us, don't! We'll return——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Mercurials began leaping to the box from -all sides in a veritable swarm. Carried away by -the excitement of the moment, I sank to my knees -and swept my arms about me, throwing them back pell-mell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor also resorted to violence. In -the midst of it all, I caught a glimpse of the -gilded gentleman aiming his baton.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A moment more and there was a lurid flash, -which enveloped my companion and myself in -a billow of violet fire. Every atom of strength -was drawn from my limbs, and I fell limply to -the ground with the professor on top of me.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="learning-the-word-box"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER IX.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">LEARNING THE WORD-BOX.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>It was not the violet fire that did the work for -the professor and me. Rather it was some -chemical, known to the Mercurials, and which -manifested its presence by an overpowering odor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Long after we had regained consciousness, the -drug-like smell clung to our clothes and sapped -our strength. Shackles of iron could not have -been more effective in making us prisoners.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cords were made fast to our feet, and we were -dragged by a small army of Mercurials down -the principal street of their city and out into one -of the white, irrigated fields.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Had a dwelling been found large enough, I -presume we should have been comfortably -housed, but we were of such stupendous proportions -that there were no walls capable of containing us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When we reached the field, a ring a foot high -was reared about us. As the odor lessened and -my strength increased I tried to roll over this -low barrier, but received such a shock that I was -only too glad to roll back to the professor's side -again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is of no use, Mr. Munn," said the professor, -who had been watching my attempt. "These -Mercurials are possessed of ways and means -beyond our earthly powers to combat. We must -accept the situation with all the philosophy we -can muster."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This great man, who could remain unshaken -under any fate that befell him, was a constant -source of strength and inspiration to me. While -we lay forsaken by our captors and couched on -the strange white herbage of that underground -field, our discourse drifted along many channels.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I remember that I asked him a question -concerning a matter that had long been weighing -upon my mind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How is it, professor," said I, "that your -anti-gravity compound remains in a liquid state in -an open cask? I should think its inherent -energy would cause it to fly upward </span><em class="italics">en masse</em><span>."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I can demonstrate that by means of an algebraic -formula," said he. "Are you acquainted -with algebra?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," I answered humbly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then," he went on disappointedly, "I fear -you will have to remain in ignorance. You must -rest content with the evidence of your senses, -since an explanation in terms you can -understand is impossible."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And thus the matter rested. When we were -so far recovered as to be able to rise, we made -an attempt to step over the ring that hemmed -us in, but were shocked by the same unseen -power I had already encountered, and driven back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"See with what weapons nature has provided -these people!" murmured the professor. -"Throughout the universe everywhere you will -find, Mr. Munn, that Nature takes care of her -own. Ah, here comes Captain Goldman! Retainers -follow, and they are bringing—now, what -are they bringing? Why, as I live, they have -manufactured a couple of large word-boxes. -Evidently we are to be taught the use of them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor was right. Ever since our -disastrous attempt to regain the surface we had -been tabooed by the inhabitants of the country.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Captain Goldman," as my companion referred -to the little man who had used his mysterious -baton with such telling effect, was crossing the -fields toward us, followed by six of his countrymen -bearing the talking machines. As a precautionary -measure, the captain carried his weapon.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Arriving at the ring, Captain Goldman reversed -the baton and with the black tip of it cut -an imaginary doorway for himself in the air. -He then stepped through and joined us, without -shock or resistance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thus, by means to us inexplicable, he broke -the power of the circle at a given point. The -others followed him through the entrance he had -cleared.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wielding the baton with two of his hands, -Captain Goldman began manipulating his word-box -with the other two. He was not addressing -us, however, but those who had come with him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Three of his followers advanced to me with -one of the machines, while the remaining three -conveyed a machine to the professor. At once -our instruction in the art of mechanical speech -began.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It is not my intention to burden the readers -with the details of our lessons, although a few -remarks under this head may not be out of place. -As to the word-box itself, it had seven keys. -This made it somewhat difficult for a five-fingered -creature to operate with any great degree -of fluency, although the professor did get so he -could peg out his ideas at a remarkable rate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There are but six syllables in the Mercurial -language, each syllable being represented by a -corresponding key. The way these syllables were -fingered gave the words. As they could be -combined and repeated and combined again, the -vocabulary of the boxes was practically unlimited. -The syllable notes were of resonant quality -and of such divergent timber as to be quickly -and easily recognized. The syllable for Key 1 -was synonymous with our personal pronoun "I," -and was the most assertive and determined note -in the whole gamut of the box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The seventh key emitted a sound so utterly -unlike the other sounds as to be in a class by -itself. It was used for spacing between words, -for exclamatory purposes and for the audible -expression of laughter and grief.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was likewise the expletive or swear-key; -for these small egotists had all the passions of -other mortals, and Key 7 acted as a sort of safety -valve. The manner in which the key was used -gave it its versatility.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Day by day our lessons proceeded, the -professor learning with a rapidity that was -marvelous. He was well along in the polysyllables -while I was struggling with the basic tones and -acquiring some facility in spacing and in the -expression of the feelings.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our ears kept pace with our fingers, and in a -fortnight the professor was so eloquent with his -word-box that he could now and then play off -a metaphor, or some other frill, to the great -delight of himself and his auditors.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Next to a wonderful jimmy invented by a -cracksman named "Cricket" Doniphan, whom I -knew well, and who, at that period, was doing -time in Stillwater, I take off my hat to that -Mercurial word-box as the most marvelous -contrivance ever evolved by a thinking mind. I have -a very good memory, and when sufficiently -proficient with the keys I practiced by repeating -passages from "Forty Ways of Cracking Safes," -which, as distinguished from "The Sandbagger's -Manual," I considered my </span><em class="italics">chef d'oeuvre</em><span>. I could -not discover that my terse English, faulty enough -though it was, lost anything in force from -translation into the Mercurial tongue. (The word -"tongue" is used with reservations, for, of -course, tongue that language was not.)</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Difficulty was experienced in getting a -suitable Mercurial equivalent for the good English -word "cracksman." Finally, however, I hit upon -three quick touches of the swear-key, which made -the word intelligible in my own ears if not to any -one's else.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Soon I began to observe a little throng gathering -across my side of the prison ring, listening -intently as I practiced. From day to day the -throng increased.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Over on the other side of the ring Professor -Quinn was absorbed in cutting all manner of -scientific capers with his word-box. "The -Mutability of Newtonian Law" formed his staple -theme, and he was able to put it through the keys -with amazing variations.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But no crowd gathered to listen to the -professor. The Mercurials were all on my side of -the compound. Thus it was clear to me that -my brand of science was more attractive to the -little people than the professor's. While "The -Mutability of Newtonian Law" languished for -an audience, "The Sandbagger's Manual" was -fast acquiring one that taxed the capacity of the -word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor, for a long time, had been so -wrapped up in his attempt to master the -Mercurial language that he had paid little heed to -me and my efforts. The attention my work was -securing, however, finally caused him to sit up -and take notice. Halting his weighty remarks, -he laid aside his talk machine, came over to my -side of the circle, and stood behind me, listening. -The first I knew of his presence was the reaching -of two angry hands over my head and the snatching -away of the instrument on which I was, at -that moment, reciting the ten rules for a cracksman's success.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>My audience was as greatly put out as I was -myself. While I was leaping to my feet and -whirling around, my listeners were clamoring on -their word-boxes for me to proceed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn, white-faced and in a greater -temper than I had ever before seen him, held -my talking apparatus over his head and seemed -of a mind to clash it down on the earth at his feet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I say, professor," I called restrainingly, -"don't do anything rash."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn," he gasped, his voice thick with -suppressed emotion, "is my confidence in you to -be destroyed utterly? I singled you out as one -of the worthiest of all those brought from Terra, -and yet I find you busily inculcating false ideas -of personal property into the keen minds of these -Mercurials! For shame, sir! Would you -demoralize this planet? Would you turn these -law-abiding people into thieves?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Professor," I answered, "your ideas and mine -do not harmonize on this matter of property -rights."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"While I admit, Mr. Munn," he answered, -"that conditions on our own planet in a measure -condoned your actions, yet I maintain that you -have no right to air your ideas in Njambai. Here -the conditions are of an altogether different sort. -So far as I have been able to learn, this orb has -not fallen under the noxious spell of the -monopolists. You have no excuse for instructing the -Mercurials in the alpha and omega of your -contemptible profession."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Contemptible?" I repeated. "That is a hard -term, professor. Besides, they seem to be fond -of the instruction. Everybody listens to me, -while you haven't had so much as a corporal's -guard to enjoy that astronomical stuff you have -been playing off on your concertina."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your line, perhaps, is more attractive than -mine," and the shadow of a smile curled about -his thin lips, "for the notion of getting something -for nothing has a direct appeal to every thinking -being. On the other hand, my thesis on 'The -Mutability of Newtonian Law' requires profound -thought before it can be assimilated. Yet, be -that as it may, I shall not allow you to degrade -these people with the unworthy ideas that have -been coming from your word-box. I can destroy -this machine, sir, and I shall do so unless you -promise never again to let an ignoble thought -come out of it. What do you say?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your mere command is enough, professor," -I replied. "It is not necessary to couple it with -a threat."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His face softened, and he at once returned to -me my talk-producer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I beg your pardon, Mr. Munn," said he. "I -have confidence in your word, and know that I -can trust you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thereupon he went back to his own side of the -ring, and I applied myself assiduously to -undoing any evil my ill-considered practicing may -have wrought. I told the Mercurials that my -utterances had been in the nature of a fairy story, -and I gave the lie to my convictions by declaring -that the reasoning, as in all fairy tales, was -unsound.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>From that hour my audiences vanished. The -professor, although his talk was profound and -somewhat wearying, seemed to the Mercurials as -more worth while, and they flocked to hear him. -We began acquiring a knowledge of the country, -and of its people and institutions, with our -very first lesson. In two weeks we had gathered -most of the information that follows:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Their planet they called Njambai; their -country was Baigol. Baigol was one of four -kingdoms comprising the under-world of Njambai. -The other three kingdoms were Baijinkz, -Baigossh, and Baigadd—all derived from the root -word "bai," signifying planet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There were only two places on Njambai where -water was able to collect and defy the absorbing -power of the sun. These places were at the two -ends of the planet's axis, corresponding to the -polar regions of Earth. Here there were seas -feeding rivers that ran through the under-world -and irrigated the fields.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The kingdoms of Baijinkz and Baigossh lay -on the shores of these seas, the former at the -north and the latter at the south. They were -the only kingdoms on the outer shell of Njambai, -and levied tribute from the interior -kingdoms of Baigol and Baigadd for water rights.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The distribution of light and heat throughout -the nether kingdoms was by a system of gigantic -reflectors, located at either end of a radius drawn -through the equator. There was one stupendous -reflector on either side of the planet, measuring -no less than twenty </span><em class="italics">spatli</em><span> across—a </span><em class="italics">spatl</em><span> being -the equivalent of a geographical mile.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These reflectors, we were told, followed the -sun as it moved through the heavens, and reflected -heat and light to countless other reflectors -ingeniously placed to acquire and radiate the -solar energy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The heat thus secured was further intensified -by the planet's shell, which, forming the vault of -the nether kingdoms, constantly diffused warmth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king was Golbai, the nine hundred and -twenty-fifth of his line. The name of the -pompous gentleman whom the professor had -christened "Captain Goldman" was Ocou.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Names of people, places, and things, as here -given, are simply a rude equivalent as nearly as -can be rendered into English.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>From my wording the astute reader will probably -discover more than the six basic syllables of -the Baigol language. The flexibility of the -word-box will account for this, and the -inconsistency is only seeming and not real.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Baigol had one half the inner sphere, and -Baigadd the other half. These two kingdoms were -not on the best of terms, owing to a wretched -piece of business carried out by Gaddbai, king -of the other country, which will be adverted to -later.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The four kingdoms were connected by a railway, -if such the mode of transportation could be -called. The roadbed was a "V"-shaped groove, -and the wheels of the cars were solid spheres -with axles pierced through their diameter. On -these axles the carriages were supported.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For a people so wonderfully progressive the -Baigols were strangely backward in their -motive power, their trains being dragged by -hand—relays of the small creatures taking them in -charge.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Owing to the diminished force of gravity, -large weights were easily handled, and a fair rate -of speed was developed by the train haulers. But -it was a very primitive method of transportation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The trunk line connecting the nether -kingdoms was known as the Baigadd and Baigol -Interplanetary System. When two weeks of our -enforced stay in Baigol had passed, a startling -rumor was wafted from the word-boxes of the -other kingdom to the effect that the management -of the line had secured a wonderful new -traction power of tremendous speed and unlimited -endurance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The kingdom of Baigol was agog with excitement, -for the president, vice-president, and board -of directors of the Interplanetary were to take -a trial spin over the road in a special equipped -with their new motive power.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We had not yet been allowed to leave the -mysterious circle which imprisoned us, but we could -stand erect, and so overtop the fields and houses -that we were able to see the railway station.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Billiard balls came rolling in from every -direction, clustering about the right of way and -clambering to roof tops and other elevations that -would afford an unobstructed view of the centre -of excitement.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At last, far off, the professor and I heard a -thunderous shout:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Toot, t-o-o-t! Ting-a-ling-a-ling!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>No word-box could have been the source of -that echoing cry. The professor gave a gasp -and clutched my arm convulsively.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you recognize that voice?" he asked -hoarsely. "Merciful powers, Mr. Munn, how -could such a thing happen? Look! Look!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Over the fields beyond the city, leaping along -at fifty-foot bounds and dragging behind him a -train of queer-looking cars crowded with -officials of the system, came no less a person than -Emmet Gilhooly!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor threw himself at the barrier -that hedged us round. He could not pass, -although he struggled frantically.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Take it coolly, professor," I urged, grasping -and holding him upright.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But this is outrageous, Mr. Munn!" he cried. -"Poor Gilhooly! Is </span><em class="italics">he</em><span> the new traction power -the other kingdom has been talking about? How -does he happen to be here? And why are they -treating him like that? This must be stopped! -Where's my word-box?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His eyes swept the ground. Glimpsing his -talking machine he dived for it and began -working the keys like mad.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>No one paid any attention to the furious -language that went up under his frenzied fingers, -however. Leviathan in harness absorbed the -entire attention of all the Baigols, and with -another "Toot, toot! Ting-a-ling-a-ling!" the -railway magnate galloped out of sight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a sad spectacle indeed. I was almost as -completely unmanned by it as was Professor Quinn.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="how-we-were-catalogued"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER X.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">HOW WE WERE CATALOGUED.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Let it not be supposed that we had given no -thought to our companions in exile during our -two weeks' probation in Baigol. The professor -and I had talked of them frequently, wondering -whether they were alive or dead, and, if alive, -where they were and what they were doing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our story had been punched out of our word-boxes -for the benefit of the Baigols, but had not -seemed to make much of an impression on Ocou, -or on others who came to see us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Now the sight of Gilhooly would add corroborative -detail, and we harped on that key until -Ocou promised to communicate directly with -King Golbai, and find out what his wishes were -in the matter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As for the professor, he wanted to go roaming -the four kingdoms looking for the other exiles, -first visiting Baigadd and appropriating the -motive power of the B.&B.I. system.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The most we could get from Ocou was a promise -to learn his majesty's pleasure in our affairs; -and while we were abiding the king's decision, -other events took place which were of prime -importance to us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ocou had a queer-looking machine borne to -our "home circle," which was the humorous fashion -in which the professor referred to our prison ring.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The machine was an upright shaft measuring -some three feet in height. To its base was -attached a golden cord several yards long and -terminating in a small silver disk.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn and I were consumed with -curiosity while this contrivance was being set up -and made ready. We put a question through our -word-boxes, but were only smiled at mysteriously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Presently I was made to sit down, Turk fashion, -while one of Ocou's attendants came to me -and passed the silver disk over my head. One -end of Ocou's baton had a black tip, the other -a white.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the disk passed over my head, Ocou rested -the white tip of the baton on the pedestal. -Instantly a slide flew out of the shaft's top -bearing a painted ideograph.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor and I were not "up" in the -Baigol ideographs, and were very much surprised -at the actions of Ocou and his companions when -they looked at the slide. They recoiled, stared at -me suspiciously, and moved about me with caution.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I grabbed my word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's the matter, anyhow?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We have just discovered that you are a -robber," said Ocou.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am no robber here," I answered, "no -matter what I was in the place I came from."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Once a robber always a robber," retorted -Ocou, "unless you touch the Bolla."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, well!" murmured the professor, rubbing -his hands delightedly over the pedestal and -giving little heed to Ocou's remark. "What do -you call this machine, Mr. Ocou?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That, sir," Ocou replied, "is a character -indexograph. We find it very useful in cataloguing -the natural tendencies of subjects of the realm."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He sighed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The number of indexographs in the kingdom -is limited, and they have all been working -overtime of late. This is the first opportunity we -have had to use one on you and your friend. -Now, professor, if you will oblige me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor dropped down, the disk gliding -over his bald head, and another ideograph shot -into sight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah," murmured Ocou, reading the sign: -'philanthropist, scientist, a man to counsel -with!' You'll do, sir; but your friend!"—and he shook -his head sadly as he dropped his talking machine.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I suppose," said I, watching Ocou and his -attendants make off with the indexograph, "that -I shall be kept within this circle indefinitely?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us hope not, Mr. Munn," rejoined the -professor, laying a kindly hand on my arm. -"Rather let us hope that you will experience a -moral rejuvenation, so that when the indexograph -is tried on you at another time it will show -a different result."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wish they would try that thing on J. Archibald -Meigs!" I exclaimed. "The Baigols would -find, I think, that I have no monopoly on that -particular ideograph."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor laughed quietly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us see what comes to us now after we -have been catalogued," said he. "I think they -have simply been waiting to make trial of our -tendencies before allowing us to pass out of this -enchanted circle."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ocou came back in a couple of hours, carrying -a roll of parchment in addition to his baton. He -came alone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gentlemen," said he in his mechanical way, -"your names have been entered and tagged. In -accordance with the information secured through -the indexograph, a task has been set for you. -Perform that task faithfully and you are to have -the freedom of the realm."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is the task, Mr. Ocou?" inquired the -professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are to restore the sacred Bolla to his -majesty, the king of Baigol."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And what is the Bolla?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is the stone of happiness and peace. Merely -to touch it restores a mortal to health, physical -and moral. Crime is a contagious disease, and -since the Bolla has been lost to us and untouched -of any in the kingdom, lawlessness has become -widespread."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where is the Bolla?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was loaned some seasons ago to the king of -Baigadd, who now refuses to return it. As -Baigadd is a more powerful country than ours, it -would be an act of destruction for us to make war -for the stone. So our king has graciously -decreed that Mr. Munn shall proceed to the -neighboring kingdom and steal the Bolla, taking you -along with him, professor, as adviser and general -aide."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nothing could have pleased us more.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As I have stated elsewhere in this narrative, -stealing property from some one to whom that -property does not rightfully belong can hardly be -accounted a crime; and when property thus purloined -is restored to its rightful owner, the theft -is transformed into a high and noble act.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Such a task filled me with enthusiasm, and I -was ready to go forth among the four-handed -enemies of Baigol and demonstrate my abilities. -The professor, thinking of Gilhooly, would have -welcomed any undertaking which carried him -into the neighboring realm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ocou told us that the king of Baigadd was -a very grasping individual, although he was very -careful to abstain from touching the Bolla. Had -he touched the wonderful stone, so great was its -power that he would have experienced a change -of heart immediately, and could not have shirked -returning the property to its rightful owner.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>King Gaddbai was very wealthy, according to -Ocou, drawing his revenues principally from the -kaka industry, of which he had a monopoly. Ka -was a fibrous plant from which kaka, the only -cloth known in the four kingdoms, was made.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This plant would grow nowhere else than in -Baigadd, so that the people of the other three -kingdoms had to go to Baigadd for their kirtles. -Every time the king of Baigadd suffered a -pecuniary backset, or donated a large sum to -charity, he recouped his exchequer by boosting -the price of kirtles.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was a time, Ocou declared, when all -the inhabitants of Njambai went clothed from -neck to heels, but wardrobes dwindled as the -price of cloth rose. Very few people could now -afford the luxury of a full suit; and since the -upper half of the body could not be covered with -a garment, it was covered with paint—the paint -being usually of a color to match or harmonize -with the kirtle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A variety of black kaka was the only serviceable -material to be had for writing purposes, -ideographs being traced on its surface with white -ink. We were told how gentlemen once wealthy, -but who had fallen upon evil days, had drawn -upon their libraries for wearing apparel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Books of poetry, essays, travel, fiction, all -yielded their leaves to the making of various -garments, thereby clothing the body as comfortably -as they had already clothed the mind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>What could be more apropos than a morning -gown inscribed with choice ideographic sonnets? -Or a student's robe begemmed with the brilliant -wit of an essayist? Or a traveling costume -bearing an account of some voyage of discovery?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The only fault to be found with this arrangement -was that such clothing advertised the wearer's -poverty; and in Njambai, as in Terra, the -pride of wealth was most pronounced.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>King Gaddbai, it appeared, had so enhanced -the cost of black kaka that literature lay -languishing. Writers had not the requisite material -on which to inscribe their thoughts, and the four -kingdoms were threatened with a blight of ignorance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>From what we heard of King Gaddbai, the -professor and I were not disposed to regard him -very favorably. He seemed a greedy and -unscrupulous person, more than ready to swell his -coffers by trampling on the rights and the -welfare of others.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The parchment roll brought by Ocou was a -map, showing us how to direct our steps in order -to reach Baigadd. Ocou also delivered to us a -royal banner, direct from the hands of King -Golbai, which was to procure us favor en route -and entitle us to be received and cared for as -ambassadors when we reached the other kingdom.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor asked for a baton, but this was -denied him. The Baigols feared, I suppose, to -trust such a terrible weapon in the hands of aliens.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor's pleasure over the prospect of -being allowed to leave our prison ring and -journey in search of our friends while seeking the -Bolla was marred somewhat by Ocou's revelations.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He had hoped to find Njambai free of -monopoly and greed, and yet here was King Gaddbai -boosting the price of kaka whenever the whim -struck him; and he had hoped to find a people -where poverty was unknown, and yet he -discovered how the educated were obliged to raid -their libraries in order to cover their nakedness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Human nature, professor," I expounded, "is -the same all over the universe. If a man finds -himself in a position to gouge his neighbor, he is -as apt to do it on Jupiter, or Mercury, as he is -on Terra."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am grievously discouraged," he sighed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Furthermore," said I, "my practicing on the -word-box could not have caused the havoc you -imagined it might. Ocou tells us that, since the -Bolla has been taken from Baigol, lawlessness -has been widespread, and increasing."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your rehearsal of the false sentiments -contained in your book may have helped on the -lawlessness. I am more sorry than I know how to -express in finding, among this gifted people, some -of the worst elements of our own civilization. -And my regret is the more pronounced on the -score of Popham, Meigs, Gilhooly, and Markham."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How do they figure in your disappointment?" -I queried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can't you understand?" he cried. "I had the -same hopes of them that I had of you. Suppose -we found on this planet not a trace of monopoly -or greed; suppose we had found here a peace-loving, -justice-serving people, with plenty to eat -and wear, needing no laws to govern them, and -all happy and contented. The moral effect upon -you and the rest of our friends would have been -uplifting. You would have seen, admired and -coveted the same conditions for our own orb. A -change would have been worked in you, and for -the better.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That," he went on passionately, "is the full -measure of my disappointment. So far from -finding such conditions, Mr. Munn, you are -immediately catalogued as a thief, and given a task -commensurate with your supposed abilities—a -task or robbery!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But a righteous robbery," I averred. "Recovering -stolen property and returning it to the -rightful owner is a meritorious act."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We must call it so," he answered bitterly, -"since so much hangs upon our joint attempt. -But what a lesson for these poor, benighted people!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The ability to get the stone is beyond them, -and they call upon us," I pursued. "Their -action is flattering, rather than otherwise. If we -succeed, it means that we shall stand even higher -in their estimation."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We, who ought to know better, are making -ourselves living examples of successful thievery."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The end justifies the means, professor."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We must strive to think so."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I suppose Gilhooly has been catalogued, the -same as you and I, and that he was found to -stand so high in traction affairs that they——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us not dwell upon poor Gilhooly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He is just where he ought to be," I declared. -"I only wish he had a glimmering of sense still -left him in order that he might realize his -position. The effect would be salutary."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This frank expression of my views rather -startled Professor Quinn. He walked back and -forth, his hands clasped behind him and his head -bowed in deep thought.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The indexograph is a most remarkable -invention," he finally observed, "and would be of -inestimable value on our native planet. The -detection of crime would be an easy matter, and on -the testimony of the indexograph alone justice -could be meted out without the intermediate -application of the courts. Furthermore, justice -would never miscarry."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope," I exclaimed in a panic, "that I shall -never live to see the day when the police officials -of Terra are equipped with indexographs! It -would prove a knockout blow for my profession. -Every citizen would be tested, and his proclivities -jotted down in black and white."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That would mean," expanded the professor, -"that crime would be relegated to the limbo of -lost arts! Before a lawless act could be -committed, the artist in crime would be placed where -the deed would be impossible."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's the way I figure it out, professor."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But that is not the least of the indexograph's -merits. Children could be duly catalogued, and, -if they showed criminal tendencies, could be sent -to institutions for proper moral training. The -inclination of the young toward certain trades -could be learned, and they could be given -instruction along the line which would best serve their -future careers. There would not be so many -failures in life, Mr. Munn."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps not," I answered stubbornly, "but I -still maintain that the overturning of our -customary standards would land us in chaos."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Tut!" he exclaimed half angrily. "Some day, -I trust, your angle of vision will change -materially. Until that time, Mr. Munn, it would be -well for you to repress your peculiar views, for, -you are going to be sorry for them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Just three weeks to a day from the time we -reached Baigol we fared forth from the royal -city, bent upon the performance of our mission. -We were armed only with our word-boxes, the -king's standard, and a firm determination to -achieve our liberty by securing the Bolla, no -matter what the cost.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our journey led us through a pleasant country, -level for the most part and covered with -irrigated fields growing the white blossoms which -the Baigols gathered and cooked for food. The -king's will, as made known by the banner, -secured us rest by the way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I have not considered it necessary to refer to -the fact that there was light and darkness -throughout the kingdoms of Baigol and Baigadd -during each period of twenty-four hours and -three minutes. Light and heat were sent through -the under-world by means of the two huge -reflectors already mentioned, and when the sun -passed from the heavens of course night fell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But the climate was at all times delightful. -We were armored against the temperature, and -could not ourselves experience the equable air, -yet our eyes and ears assured us of its presence, -and this proved another surprise for the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>By day we traveled and by night we rested, -often covering as many as five hundred </span><em class="italics">spatli</em><span> in -a single day. Four days, at that rate, were to -carry us to the capital of the other kingdom.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I gathered much wisdom from the professor -as we journeyed, and there were two of our -conversations which made a deep impression on -me. The first had to do with the reflectors that -turned the sun's rays into the bowels of the planet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Without the sun, Mr. Munn," remarked -Quinn, indicating the white fields beside us with -a gesture of the hand, "there could be no -vegetable life in Baigol. Those fields must be -quickened to life by the solar rays or they would be -as barren as the outer shell of the planet. Finite -ingenuity may always be trusted to accommodate -itself to its environment. I can set the -astronomers of Terra right on one mystery, at -least."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What mystery do you refer to, professor?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why," he answered, "a luminous point has -been detected by earthly telescopes on the disk -of Mercury. The phenomenon has been -explained as a huge mountain, whose top reflects -the sun; yet it is only one of the great reflectors -fabricated by these ingenious people."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then at another time:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Professor," said I, "have you made any -discoveries relative to that powerful little weapon -which the Baigols know so well how to use?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A few," he answered. "The baton is called a -zetbai, and its ammunition is drawn from a -peculiar ingredient of the atmosphere. The white -tip of the zetbai furnishes the destructive force, -while the black tip combats and nullifies it. The -inhabitants of this orb, Mr. Munn, have a weapon -of such awful power in the zetbai that a dozen -of their number, armed with the batons, could -descend upon our own globe and devastate it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well is it for Terra that means are lacking -for interplanetary communication; otherwise the -Baigols and their fellow-creatures might prove -the Napoleons of the universe. Such a -contingency is terrible to contemplate."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Had the zetbai anything to do with that -invisible power that stayed us from crossing the -circular wall?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It had everything to do with that. An unseen -barrier was placed around us—a barrier of zet, -drawn from the atmosphere by these Baigols and -made to serve their ends. Unlike powder and -ball, which destroy themselves in creating destruction, -zet is indestructible; it can be regathered -into the zetbai and used over and over again. -The resisting medium, controlled by the black tip -of the baton, is alone powerful to annul the -energy of the white tip."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These were the points that impressed me. -Another which we discussed, but which did not -appeal to me as logical or accurate, had to do with -the object of our quest—the Bolla.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"With all due respect to Mr. Ocou," said I, "he -was certainly talking moonshine when he -described the Bolla."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I would not go so far as to say he was -talking moonshine, Mr. Munn," the professor -answered. "There are stranger things in Heaven, -Earth, and Mercury than are dreamed of in our -philosophy. Take yourself, for instance. You -are a sick man——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Never sick in my life," I declared.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I mean morally," went on Quinn. "If crime -is a disease, you will admit, I think, that you are -sick."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," I averred, "I am healthy in mind and -body. I take no stock in Mr. Ocou's -assertions—which ought to prove that I am mentally -sound, I take it. But we'll get this palladium, -just the same, for our liberty depends on it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Toward noon of the fourth day, as we drew -near the boundaries of Baigadd, we entered a -rocky and uneven country, the well-defined road -we had been following cutting and circling -through the low hills. When we were well in -among the bowlders a frantic shout reached us -from around a bend in the road a few </span><em class="italics">spatli</em><span> -ahead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That was a cry in our own tongue, Mr. Munn!" -exclaimed the professor, coming to a -halt. "Did you not hear it? It was certainly a -call for help."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are right, sir," I answered. "That was -a lusty English yell, if I ever heard one."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was given by one of our friends, of course."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No doubt; it is not hard to distinguish a -human voice from the bleat of one of these Baigol -word-boxes. Possibly the new motive power of -the B.&B. Interplanetary has rebelled and is -fleeing this way."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," answered the professor excitedly, "I do -not think that shout came from Gilhooly. It -was—— Ah, Mr. Meigs!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At that instant, J. Archibald Meigs came -bounding into sight around the bend. But he -was not the well-groomed, richly appareled -Mr. Meigs of Earth and the steel car. His only -garment was a kirtle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He must have been surprised at seeing us, but -so great was his fear that he did not show it. -Panic left no room for any other emotion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Quinn! Munn! Save me—save me from the soldiers!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A few dozen prodigious leaps brought him -trembling to our vicinity, and he fell exhausted -to his knees.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-dilemma-of-mr-meigs"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XI.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">THE DILEMMA OF MR. MEIGS.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"My, my!" cried the professor. "What has -happened, Mr. Meigs? How is it that we find -you in this—er—forlorn condition?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm a wretched man!" wailed Meigs, grabbing -the professor's knees in the stress of his -emotion. "You have got to save me, Professor -Quinn. It was you who brought me to this -awful planet, and if I am slain my blood will be -upon your head!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That was Meigs for you. Even in his dire -extremity he did not forget to heap censure upon -the head of our great savant.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are not going to be slain," said the -professor confidently.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But these creatures are as venomous as -centipedes!" murmured Meigs, suffering himself to -be lifted erect by the professor. "Horrors! -There they come now. Oh, this is too much, too -much!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs got behind the professor. Turning our -eyes toward the bend, we saw a detachment of -the Baigadd army just hurling itself into sight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We had made some acquaintance with military -affairs in Baigol.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Soldiers, as may be surmised, were armed with -zetbais, but word-boxes were kept out of the -ranks. Only officers carried talking machines, -matters being ordered on the principle that -privates were to hear and obey. Each soldier -wielded two zetbais—one with each pair of -hands—thereby enormously increasing his capacity for -destruction.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The fighting force of Baigol, we had been -informed, although organized on a smaller scale, -was equipped and maneuvred exactly as was the -military arm of Baigadd.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The detachment approaching at a double-quick -in pursuit of Meigs was, as we afterward found, -a company of Gaddbaizets, or royal guards. -They numbered fifty, wore yellow kirtles, had -the torso gilded, and were commanded by a -single officer carrying nothing but a word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The sight of the professor and myself caused -the Gaddbaizets to come to an abrupt halt. -They had undoubtedly heard of us, but they were -far from expecting to encounter us there at that -time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The officer was the first to recover his wits, -and approached the place where we were -standing, holding his talking machine over his head -and punching its keys vigorously. His first -words were a command to the soldiers: "Hold -your zetbais and make no move against these -fierce colossi until you get further orders from me!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then, to us:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Behemoths! Whence come you and why are -you protecting the monster in the red kirtle?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs, it could easily be seen, was not on -familiar terms with the word-boxes. So far as -he was concerned, the captain's words fell on -deaf ears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are from Baigol," said the professor, -giving an amiable twist to his words by a deft -use of Key 7, "and come on an errand from -the king of that country. This gentleman is a -friend of ours——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A friend!" screeched the captain's machine. -"He is a thief and has stolen a hundred djins of -kaka from our sovereign storehouse."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I thrilled an amused laugh on the seventh key -of my own machine.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How do you know he is a thief?" I asked. -"Did you try the indexograph on him?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll do the talking, Mr. Munn," said the -professor in our own tongue; then added to the -officer: "There must be some mistake, captain. -This gentleman has a very good reputation and -would not commit a theft, such as you describe."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He bears the proof of it upon his person," -answered the captain. "It is the kirtle."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Now, a djin is a unit of measurement and -corresponds to the inch of our system; from which -it follows that Meigs stood convicted of stealing -about eight feet of red kaka—enough to make -kirtles for a score of the Baigadds.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What are you harping about?" asked Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They say you are a thief, Mr. Meigs," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thief!" he blustered, glaring at the captain -over the professor's shoulder. "I deny it, sir, I -deny it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He says you stole that kirtle you have on," I -continued.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A man has a right to clothe himself as well as -he may," answered Meigs, aggrieved. "I do not -count that theft. The country should see that -a man is provided with a respectable covering."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was too good an opportunity for the -professor to let slip.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Suffer your mind to drift back to your own -planet, sir," said he. "It is your opinion that -our government owes every poor man a suit of -clothes?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>J. Archibald Meigs cringed under the blow. -It was a thrust at his clothing trust, and it found -the weak point in his armor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Circumstances are different here," he mumbled.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In some ways, yes; in other ways, no. King -Gaddbai is the monopolist of this planet. He -controls the kaka output and charges for it -accordingly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The captain of the royal guard was growing -impatient.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you are here on an errand from the king -of Baigol," said he, "we shall be glad to escort -you to the capital—but not until you have -surrendered the giant who stole the king's property."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Take us to his majesty," returned the professor, -"and we will explain everything in a -satisfactory manner."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But this the captain would not do, and he -became so threatening that we retreated behind a -barrier of bowlders.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Display the banner, Mr. Munn," said the -professor, and I held up the royal standard so that -the captain could not help but see it. His one -eye gleamed insolently, and he came as near -swearing as the seventh key of his word-box -would allow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Deliver up the thief," he ordered, "or I will -command my men to annihilate you with their -zetbais."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was certainly a critical situation. I had -already had a slight experience with the -overpowering properties of zet and didn't care for -further acquaintance with it. Meigs was -nothing to me. He would have stripped the coat -from a poor man's back, if he could have had -his way on Earth, and it afforded me secret -pleasure to see him hoisted by his own petard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The trust magnate did not fail to take note of -the war-like movements of the soldiers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can't you do anything to save me, professor?" -he pleaded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We shall not give you up," answered Quinn -firmly. "Can you think of any way, Mr. Munn, -whereby we can extricate ourselves from this -difficulty?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I have a quick mind, if I do say it, and a happy -thought presented itself on the spur of the -instant. Stooping, I picked up a stone; then, -raising myself, I let the missile fly straight at the -captain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His shoulder-arms still held the word-box -above his head, and the stone smashed against -it and carried it away. It was rather neatly -done, for the captain himself was left untouched.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bravo!" cried the professor. "You drew the -fangs of the enemy by that trick, Mr. Munn. -You have rendered the captain mute, and his men -cannot act without orders."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had already figured this out in my mind, and -it was presently proved that I had not gone far -from the mark. The captain recovered the -word-box and attempted to use it, but its mechanism -was so disarranged that the order to attack -became a confused jumble that seemed to sound a -retreat.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The whole company whirled and fled, their -leader following and gesticulating wildly and -helplessly with his arms. Meigs was saved for -the present, and he should have thanked me for -it—but he did not.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Seating himself on a bowlder, he gazed -pensively down at the red kirtle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is what I call the irony of fate," said -he in a morose tone. "And then, on top of it all, -to be called a thief!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He leaned his bare elbows on his knees and -dropped his face in his hands.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How did this happen, Mr. Meigs?" asked the -professor gently.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Happen!" cried Meigs, lifting his head with -a jerk and glaring at Quinn. "It would never -have happened but for you!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you seen Gilhooly?" went on the -professor, ignoring the reproach.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Poor Gilhooly!" sighed Meigs. "He has -become a power in the traction interests of the -country. The last I saw of him he was hauling -trains throughout the kingdom."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We know that much already. How about -Popham and Markham?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Alas!" groaned Meigs. "Popham is working -like a galley-slave in a coal mine; and Markham—well, -these little fiends are slowly starving him -to death. All Markham does is to wander about -the kingdom with a plate and a paddle begging -food enough to keep body and soul together. -Think of it! And the great Augustus Popham, -owner of a controlling interest in all the great -anthracite and bituminous fields of Earth, -delving in the mines of this planet—no better than a -two-dollar-a-day miner!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Coal fields!" I exclaimed. "What do they -need of coal in these underground kingdoms?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They use the coal in the kingdoms of Baijinkz -and Baigossh, which are situated at the poles," -explained the professor. "During the long -nights in those countries a certain degree of cold -must prevail. But"—and here Quinn turned -again to Meigs—"tell us what happened to you -and the other two gentlemen during the storm -which separated us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We managed to regain the car," replied -Meigs. "We could not get in, of course, because -you had the key, but we hung to the latticework -at the windows. I am a little hazy as to what -happened after that, but I think the car must -have been picked up by a terrific gust and thrown -to the bottom of that crater in the volcano."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!" murmured the professor, looking at me. -"You remember, Mr. Munn, I told you I feared -something of the kind would happen."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I nodded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Proceed, Mr. Meigs," added the professor. -"This is all intensely interesting. Was the car -seriously damaged?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I haven't seen the car," resumed Meigs. "A -hiatus followed the blowing away of the castle, -and when I opened my eyes again I was a prisoner -in the hands of a legion of those one-eyed -creatures. For two weeks I was kept confined—an -object of curiosity for the whole kingdom, if -I could judge from the way the little imps flocked -to stare at me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"After a time I was led off to a place where -I joined Popham and Markham. Need I tell you -how affecting that meeting was? Popham shed -tears, and both Markham and myself were nearly -unmanned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Our captors had some sort of a contrivance -consisting of a small shaft and cord. One end -of the cord was put to Markham's head and a -slide flew up on the end of the shaft. Then -Markham was led off, given a plate and paddle -and cast adrift.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Popham was the next one to have the queer -machine tried on him. When he was removed -my turn came."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs wrung his hands despairingly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"After the storm," he continued with an -effort, "my costume was not as complete as I would -have had it, but those impudent creatures -denuded me still further. In self-defense I was -forced to steal this red cloth and run for my -life. Oh, it was terrible! Woe is me that I -should ever have lived to see this day!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Some good may come out of this unfortunate -experience, Mr. Meigs," said the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good!" almost shouted Meigs. "Sir, you -express yourself strangely. Is it good to have a -man used to such luxury as I have been fleeing -through these rocky underground hills merely -because he committed theft in order to retain his -self-respect? Have a care, sir! Do not think -for a moment that I am under any misapprehension -as to the real cause of my sorry situation."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The king of this country is evidently a man -of a humorous and practical turn," observed -Professor Quinn after a little thought. "The -indexograph made him familiar with the natural -bent of you three gentlemen and he is seeking to -show you the error of your ways. On Earth you -were at one end of a trust; here you are placed -at the other end. Really, I think the experience -will prove most wholesome."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>J. Archibald Meigs stared at the speaker with -distended eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is it possible," said he, "that your brain has -been turned, like Gilhooly's?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nonsense!" I struck in. "The professor's -head is as clear as a bell. He's got the right of -this thing, Meigs. The king of Baigadd is -making you take a little of the medicine you -measured out in such large doses on the other planet."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are both crazy," snarled Meigs. "I never -stripped a man to his hide and threw him out in -the cold world—as the king of this country has -done to me, in a figurative sense."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You don't know how much evil you have -done," said Quinn, an expression on his face -similar to the one I had seen when he jerked the -lever and shot us into the unknown. "You have -taken your pound of flesh, Mr. Meigs, but are -now under the heel of a monopoly yourself."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Stuff!" cried Meigs. "We will talk no longer -about a matter in which you display such poor -judgment. Although I have told you my story, -I have heard little of yours. Am I to conclude -that you and Munn purposely cut loose from -myself and my friends? After bringing us to this -miserable planet did you have the heart willfully -to abandon us?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not at all, Meigs," said the professor hastily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I wondered if Meigs had forgotten all about -the attempt he and his friends had made to -abandon the professor and me? He was one of the -most inconsistent men I have ever encountered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Like yourself and the others, Mr. Meigs," -continued the professor, "Mr. Munn and I were -taken prisoners——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But you were not treated with the same -barbarity as the rest of us," burst out Meigs, his -small mind finding even that a cause for temper. -"You, who engineered the plot, and plunged us -all into these terrific difficulties, escape the -consequences. What is that banner?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are under the protection of the ruler of -the neighboring kingdom of Baigol. That is the -royal standard."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah," said Meigs bitterly, "you are even -received at court—you and a professed thief—while -Markham, Popham, Gilhooly, and I are no -more than outcasts! Is there no such thing as -justice, even on this disgusting planet? Look -at me! </span><em class="italics">Look at me!</em><span>"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His final request for us to look at him was a -frantic wail. He yanked savagely at his kirtle, -and twisted his bare feet around in fearsome dejection.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are looking at you, Mr. Meigs," observed -the professor quietly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you find any pleasure in the spectacle? -Does not my situation arouse even a spark of -pity? I do not ask Munn for his sympathy, but -you, Professor Quinn, although criminally careless -in evolving plans and carrying them out, are -a scientist, and you must have a heart."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My heart is wrung with your misfortunes," -replied the professor gently, "but I realize that -desperate diseases require desperate remedies."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What disease are you referring to," snapped -Meigs, suddenly changing his tack, "and what remedy?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The disease that afflicts our common country, -and which you would deny and ridicule were I -even to name it. The remedy, too, you would -consider no remedy at all, but a useless infliction -of discomfort and mental anguish. What you -are undergoing, Mr. Meigs, is not accidental, but -providential. The workings of fate are as -marvelous as they are effective. Patience a little, -and we shall see what we shall see."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is no time for oracular remarks!" -scowled Meigs. "These four-handed, one-eyed -demons are forcing Gilhooly, Markham, -Popham, and me steadily toward destruction. -Gilhooly, daft as he is, is pulling his heart out on -their ugly little transportation system; Markham -is galloping from place to place pounding his -paddle against his dish and begging a few -morsels of food; Popham is working like a galley-slave, -and his wages, already insufficient to give -him the necessary food he requires for his -heart-breaking labor, are being systematically cut -down; as for me, the army of Baigadd is at my -heels. Baigadd!" and, in his extreme discouragement, -Meigs gave vent to a wild, mirthless laugh. -"Baigadd and Baigol! They sound like expletives -from our own good planet, but altogether -too mild to express the state of my feelings."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Be calm," adjured the professor, with an -apprehensive look at me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Calm!" echoed Meigs brokenly. "I shall be -as mad as Gilhooly if this keeps up much longer." He -started forward with a truculent air. "What -are you going to do for me, Quinn?" he cried. -"How are you going to get me out of this fix? -Those infernal little soldiers went away, but -they'll come back again. Then what?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are here in the role of ambassadors," -answered the professor, "and——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Munn an ambassador!" sneered Meigs, drawing -away from me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And, as such, we are entitled to some courtesy -at the hands of King Baigadd. I feel quite -sure that, when the higher authorities understand -you are my friend, they will be lenient in -their treatment of you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is rather a vague supposition on which -to ground a man's hopes of life or death," -muttered Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is all we can fall back on, Mr. Meigs. -There are but six of us on this small planet, and -we must make the inhabitants our friends. If -we do not, annihilation will overtake the lot of us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We were fools ever to land on Mercury in the -first place," pursued Meigs, still wild and unreasoning.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He stamped with his bare foot to emphasize -his anger, and a sharp stone unexpectedly gave -point to it. With a howl of pain he caught his -foot in his hands.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I have never been called particularly -hard-hearted, but somehow I took a measure of -enjoyment out of all this. However, I had the -grace to turn my head and conceal the smile.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You must be careful, Mr. Meigs," warned -the professor. "Sit down and rest yourself."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Rest!" fumed Meigs, "just as though such -a thing were possible! I am one of the miserable -victims of your duplicity, and if I could have -recourse to the law of our planet for about an -hour, I would soon put you where you belong."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Be sensible," I struck in, perhaps ill-advisedly. -"You act like a whipped schoolboy, Meigs."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll hear nothing from you," he cried, glaring -at me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"As I was saying, Mr. Meigs," proceeded the -professor, "Mr. Munn and I, although we appear -to be free, are, nevertheless, virtual prisoners of -the king of Baigol. We are being sent to -Baigadd upon an important mission, and on our -success or failure depends, very largely——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That will do," interrupted the broker -irritably; "I don't care to hear an account of your -experiences, Quinn. It is evident, I think, that -you and Munn have not been crossed by the same -adversity which has overtaken myself and the -others. I have a demand to make."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs arose from the bowlder and struck an -attitude which he intended to be both dignified -and compelling. With his unshaven face and -red kirtle he succeeded only in making himself -ludicrous.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is the demand?" inquired Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You and Munn are fairly well-clothed," -replied Meigs, "and I demand that you share my -distress to the extent of donating enough of your -own clothing to make me presentable."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On the impulse of the moment the professor -began removing his coat. When the garment was -half off he changed his mind and slipped back -into it again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," he returned. "You have made your -own bed, Mr. Meigs, and I think you should -lie in it until you experience a change of heart. -When you can truly say to Mr. Munn and me -that you realize how sadly mistaken you were -on the other planet, we will share your -distress—but not till then."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Out on you for a pair of heartless wretches!" -exclaimed the broker angrily. "Your reasoning -is false, and I will never yield assent to it. I -wash my hands of both of you"—and he went -through the motions—"and if our paths should -cross in the future, it is my desire that we pass as -strangers."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He glared at us, turned on his bare heel and -made his way to the road. Then he strode off in -the direction of the bend.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We watched him silently, the professor with -apprehension and I with unrestrained enjoyment. -As he was about to vanish from our sight we -saw him come to a startled halt, gaze off along -the road that lay beyond the bend, then throw -up his arms, whirl and race back to us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They're coming!" he shouted frantically; "the -whole army is coming! Is there no way you can -save me, gentlemen? Think, for mercy's sake, -</span><em class="italics">think</em><span>!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs was continually building barriers -between himself and the professor and me, only to -knock them down again whenever the slightest -danger threatened him. Had I been the one to -decide, he should then and there have been left -to shift for himself.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="condemned-to-death"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XII.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">CONDEMNED TO DEATH.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Have courage, Mr. Meigs," said Professor -Quinn. "It is my hope that some high personage -may be with the approaching army, in which -event the royal banner given us by the king of -Baigol will be respected and prove the salvation -of all three of us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This great and good man was utterly incapable -of harboring resentment against any one. He -beguiled the plutocrats into his castle, I grant -you, and shuffled them from the scene of their -grievous labors, yet this was not because he loved -the rich man less but the poor man more.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As I write these words, piecing my narrative -together out of my commonplace book, a wave of -affection and reverence rolls over me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And often I steal forth o' nights when skies -are propitious, gaze at Mercury through my -telescope, and can almost fancy myself in communion -with the gentle soul forever lost to its native -planet. But I anticipate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The retreating Gaddbaizets had reached -headquarters and acquainted the high chief in -command with the fact that two more colossi had -appeared; so the major part of the king's forces -had been ordered out. By tactful maneuvres, -they were approaching from all sides.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A cordon was drawn around us—a cordon of -soldiers with their flashing zetbais presented. -One hostile move would have placed the seal on -our death warrant.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The high chief, perhaps fearing his word-box -might be wrecked as his captain's had been, had -evidently laid plans and given all orders in -advance of his attack on our position. The assault -was noiseless, swift, and sure.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When completely surrounded by the troops, a -number of the soldiers disengaged themselves -from various points of the circle. These soldiers -carried lances at least ten feet long.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The lances were held high, and to the point -of each the upper edge of a net was made fast, -the lower edge of the net trailing along the -ground.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the lancemen advanced the net took the -form of a rapidly contracting circle, the -professor, Meigs, and myself in the centre.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In less than five minutes we three colossi were -stoutly encompassed by the net, hurled together -and thrown in a helpless jumble. The web was -finely woven and of a material that defied our -efforts to break through it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn made a fierce attempt to use -his word-box, but he was held so rigidly that he -could not do so. One by one we were -disentangled, the upper parts of our bodies were -wrapped about in sections of the net so that only -our legs were free, and we were forced to -proceed with our captors, the army marching on -every side of us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs was loudly bewailing his evil fortune.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Take heart, man!" cried Quinn. "If I can -see the king or get word to him I am sure that -all will yet be well."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's all day with us," returned Meigs with a -groan, "and you cannot make me believe otherwise."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was no twilight in the nether kingdoms. -Day leaped into night as swiftly as a curtain -falls on a stage play.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Long before we reached our destination we -were in Stygian blackness. There were no -artificial illuminants known to the creatures of the -under-world, and they had no need of them. -Their single eyes were gifted with power to see -at night almost as keenly as in the daytime.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When we had traveled several hours we were -made to halt and a circle of zet, similar to the -one that had imprisoned Quinn and myself in -Baigol, was reared around us. Thereupon we -were freed of the nets and left to ourselves.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The instant he was able to make use of his -hands the professor grabbed his word-box and -began shooting questions into the opaque gloom -that hemmed us in.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why have you taken us prisoners? What -harm have we ever done you? We are under the -protection of King Golbai. Did not the captain -of the other detachment so inform you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Answer came back:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have been taken prisoners because you -resisted the royal authority and tried to protect -a man who stole goods from our regal master. -Theft of goods from his majesty's storehouse -is punishable with death. Even ambassadors -from King Golbai are not above the laws of our realm."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is to be our fate?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Zet," was the laconic answer. "You will all -three be slain by the executioner-general as soon -as may be after the great reflector sends its first -gleam of day through the kingdom."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That ended the professor's talk with our -unseen enemy who, presumably, was the high chief -of the forces. It was sufficiently discouraging, -although I was reckless enough to ease my -feelings with a few expletives on Key 7—the most -insolent and defiant that I had learned in Baigol.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn, Mr. Munn!" cried Quinn in rebuke. -"This is no time to express yourself in -that key."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am not endowed with your magnificent -forbearance, professor," said I, "and I had to -say something."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's it all about, anyway?" asked Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are to die at sunrise, Meigs," I answered -roughly, "or as soon after sunrise as the -executioner-general may find it convenient."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I would have spared Mr. Meigs that -information," said the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He ought to have time to prepare himself," -I returned. "As the night is far spent I am -going to turn in and snatch forty winks against the -time the reflectors begin to work. Good night, -professor," I added, as I stretched out on the -ground. "I don't amount to much more than -Meigs, and will never be missed, but I am sorry -for you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn groped for my hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Life, in itself, is a small thing," said he, "no -matter whether it is long or short. It is what we -do with life that counts, Mr. Munn."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have no regrets for what I have done with -mine," I declared.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And I had not. Conscience did not accuse me -in the least. Never had I taken a penny from -those who could not afford to lose it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Think again, Mr. Munn!" implored the -professor. "I would not have you face your doom -in that mental attitude. Surely your senses are -not blunted to the evil of your past life?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sir," I answered, imbued to the core with -the sophistry that had made me what I was, "I -have been a financier in a small way. Not -having the requisite capital for large operations, I -was compelled to work in a small way. My -business, however, while it may not have been as -legitimate, was every whit as honest as that of -Meigs and his associates."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you men would stop that useless palavering," -called Meigs, from somewhere in the dark, -"and try to think of some way for making our -escape, you would be putting in your time to -better advantage."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Never mind him, professor," said I. "This is -probably the last opportunity we shall ever have -for an extended talk. At such a time a man -speaks from the heart, and I want you to know -just where I stand."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just a moment, Mr. Munn." The professor -turned his head to answer Meigs. "It is -impossible for us to escape," said he. "Even if we -could get away from here, we should find the -entire country in arms against us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Possibly we could get back to that other -benighted kingdom from which you and the thief -come accredited as ambassadors?" returned Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is a hard journey from here, Mr. Meigs, -and we should be overtaken and recaptured -before we could cross the border into a friendly -country. Before we could take to flight, -however, we should have to beat down the barrier -of zet that hems its in. That, as I know from -experience, is out of the question."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs began to complain, and to find fault, -and the professor turned from him and went -on talking with me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have brought these troubles upon you, -Mr. Munn," he continued, a sad note in his voice, -"and upon the others. It seems impossible to -accomplish any great good without causing some -small amount of misery."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't let my situation worry you," I -remarked. "While constantly exercising my wits -to secure the best fortune for myself, I have -always made it a point to be prepared for the -worst. I shall face the zetbais in the morning -without the quiver of an eyelid."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't misunderstand me, Mr. Munn," said -the professor earnestly. "While I grieve that -matters should have fallen out in this fashion, -yet I would not undo the one thing which brought -us into these troubled waters. In other words, -I would rather be here, in Njambai, with death -staring us in the face, than back there on Terra, -with Meigs, Markham, Popham, and Gilhooly -free to work out their nefarious plans."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's the spirit!" I cried warmly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's the spirit that has put many a man in the -penitentiary," called Meigs, who appeared to be -following our conversation even if he was not -taking any part in it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I turned with a stinging reply on my lips, but -the professor dropped a hand on my arm, and -I held my peace.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are sharing together our last few hours," -said he, "and let us have no quarrelsome talk. -Personally, I have a good deal of charity for -Meigs. He is a man who, until very recently, -has been accustomed to having scores of people -wait upon his slightest nod. Here he has been -subjected to much indignity, and at the hands -of a people whom he believes to be his inferiors. -Naturally that renders him disagreeable."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He might, at least, have the grace to leave -you alone," I answered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not so, Mr. Munn. He is perfectly right in -badgering me. I am at fault, so far as he and -his associates are concerned, and he knows it. -I do not expect approbation at their hands, but -at the hands of those, in far-away Terra, whom -my drastic actions have helped. Your calm -acceptance of your fate is so different from the -attitude of Meigs that it touches me deeply. You -have the same cause to blame and abuse me, and -yet you let the opportunity pass."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It has been worth something, professor," I -responded, "to stand at your side and to pass -through these remarkable adventures shoulder -to shoulder with you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you for that, my friend."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have no doubt," I continued, "that if you -and I were to be spared, you might in time lead -me to see what you are disposed to call the error -of my way, for you are a master hand at -arguing; but, as I am at present, I feel that my -chances in the next world are as good as any -one's. The rich have taken from the poor in a -way that the law sanctions; and I have taken -from the rich in a way the law does not -sanction, and, in a few rare instances, have given -to the poor. There's nothing in that to oppress -my conscience. The only thing I am sorry for is -that I entered your castle with my felonious -intention centred upon your property. Now that -I know you so well, my plan to steal from you -looks more like a crime than anything else I have -done."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Munn," he replied, "it grieves me to think -that your career is to be cut short before you -have had an opportunity to reform. However"—and -he sighed softly—"there is no escaping -fate on our own planet or on this. Good night -to you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was dog-tired and went off into slumber the -moment I closed my eyes. About the last thing -I heard was the peevish voice of Meigs resisting -what little comfort the professor tried to offer him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was aroused by the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The first gleam of day, Mr. Munn," said he, -bending over me with a quiet smile.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I rubbed my eyes and got the cobwebs out of -my brain. Yes, it was the first gleam of -day—our last day.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We were in an open square in the heart of a -diminutive city. From every side radiated trim -little streets bordered thickly with white dwellings.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In front of us was a palace, rising dome upon -dome until it stood full thirty feet high. -Inhabitants of the royal city were already abroad, -walking rapidly or gathering in groups and using -their word-boxes excitedly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Toot! toot! Ting-a-ling-a-ling!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The familiar sounds came from a distance, -and I sprang erect and with the professor gazed -in the direction from which they reached us. -Presently Gilhooly came along with a loaded train.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He halted in front of the palace, the passengers -disembarked and Gilhooly bent over the cars, -picked them up carefully and turned them the -other way along the V-shaped groove.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All aboard!" he cried, and a minute later he -was off and away.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Poor Gilhooly!" murmured Quinn. "He is -bringing excursionists to witness our execution. -I am glad that he does not know what he is -doing and that Meigs is asleep."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn laid his hand on my shoulder.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I deeply regret, Mr. Munn," he went on, -"that I am the indirect cause of Gilhooly's -lunacy. It was a great surprise to me to find that -his intellect was not strong enough to withstand -the ordeal to which I subjected it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It couldn't be helped, professor," I returned. -"It was a grand idea of yours—that of abducting -these trust magnates and placing them where -they could do no harm to the poor of our planet. -What though one mind has been wrecked? Better -that than the misery and enslavement of -hundreds of thousands."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn," said the professor with feeling, -"I thank you. Such words from a companion -who is about to suffer jointly with me the -extreme penalty prove that you are a man of parts -and fitted for a nobler walk in life than the one -you have heretofore taken. I am very, very -sorry that you are to be cut off so soon."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn was fortitude itself, his courage born -of a knowledge of duty well done. I am prone -to believe, also, that I myself was not less firm, -although a less laudable cause lay back of it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The square, I should judge, measured about -two hundred feet on each side. While the -professor and I were engaged in talk, sight-seers -had been gathering in the streets, keeping -carefully to the sidewalk boundaries of the open -space.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Every eye was turned upon the professor and -myself and the sleeping Meigs. The broker was -snoring dismally, the sound rumbling above the -babble of the word-boxes and echoing through -the adjacent thoroughfares.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What has happened to the executioner-general?" -I said to the professor. "He isn't very -punctual in keeping his engagement with us, it -seems to me. We have had daylight for an hour."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Something has gone wrong, Mr. Munn," -Quinn answered, taking note of a ripple of -excitement that ran through the crowds around us. -"Ah! Here comes the high chief of the military -forces. He has his word-box ready, so I -suppose he is going to explain."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The high chief was pushing through the -throng into the square, two of his hands holding -a word-box and the other two a zetbai. Advancing -upon us, he halted just without the ring.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Be patient, gentlemen," he said through his -talk machine. "You will not be kept waiting -much longer."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are not so wildly impatient as you seem -to think," I sent back at him; whereupon he -tittered a little with Key 7.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Seeing that I was getting ready to use the -same key for a few expletives, the professor -made haste to break in.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What has happened?" he asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It has just been discovered that there is no -white paint in the king's storehouse," replied the -high chief.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is the white paint to be used for?" -came curiously from the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The executioner-general is obliged by law to -give himself a fresh coat of white paint at every -execution. It would be impossible for him to -perform his function without first complying -with the statute."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Could not some one else, who has been freshly -decorated, do the work in his stead?" I inquired, -somewhat flippantly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," answered the high chief. "He is the -only one in the kingdom who is duly empowered -to execute criminals. Our executioner is a proud -person, and jealous of the prerogatives of his -office. He receives no less than two kanos for -every happy dispatch that he performs. In this -case he will be the richer by six kanos, so you -will understand how anxious he is to have -everything done as it should be."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A kano was the equivalent of a half cent of -our own money; so that our one-time millionaire, -Mr. J. Archibald Meigs, was to yield up his -valuable life and help swell the executioner-general's -income to the extent of a single copper. Had he -been awake, I should have explained the matter -to him so that he might have still further -expatiated upon the irony of fate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This kingdom of Baigadd differed from the -other kingdom with which we had already made -acquaintance in one material respect: The -surface of the country had shrunk much farther -from the outer crust of the planet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In Baigol, for instance, we were always able -to see the vault that covered us; but in Baigadd -the sight reached into nothing but empty space.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Shortly after the high chief had finished -speaking there came a flourish of word-boxes -from the direction of the palace. Turning our -eyes toward that point we beheld two resplendent -soldiers in turrets to right and left of the -richly hung balcony.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hail to our munificent sovereign, Gaddbai, -ruler of the realm and mightiest monarch of -Njambai!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thus the pæans of the soldiers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The words were echoed by the crowd, and a -surging roar went up from the talking machines: -"Hail to his majesty, King Gaddbai!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On the heels of the tumult the kaka draperies -parted at the rear of the royal balcony and the -king appeared, bowed and seated himself. He -had a reserved seat for the performance and -could see everything that took place.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let the executioner-general stand forth, -prepare himself for his work and then -proceed—all in the royal presence!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Instantly the master of ceremonies put in an -appearance. He wore a white kirtle, carried -himself with a lordly air, and was followed by a -retinue of attendants.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Two of the attendants bore the official zetbais; -another carried the official word-box; four more -were dragging a cart on spherical wheels—an -open cart laden with an object that startled us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Great heavens, Mr. Munn!" gasped the professor. -"Unless my eyes deceive me, the executioner-general -is having my tub of anti-gravity -compound hauled after him!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your eyes do not deceive you, sir," I made -answer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But what in the world are they going to do -with it?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We shall be able to tell in a few moments. -Look! The executioner takes his word-box and -kneels; he is about to address the king."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your majesty," said the executioner-general -through his talking machine, "your slave craves -your indulgence in the matter of preparing for -this happy dispatch. The supply of the official -pigment is quite exhausted, and it has been -found necessary to fall back upon the white paint -that was found in the dwelling recently fallen -from the top of the crater."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Will it answer the purpose?" demanded the king.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is white, your majesty, and of proper -consistency. So far as I can see, it will answer the -purpose well."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then proceed with your preparations. I -would have this matter over with as quick as possible."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Of course Quinn and I understood all this. I -knew that the professor was meditating a final -appeal to the king, and he shot a strange look at -me as his trembling hands lifted his word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Before the executioner-general proceeds, your -majesty," remarked the professor, his fingers -none too steady, "will you allow me a word?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His majesty gave an exclamation of surprise.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where have you learned our language?" he inquired.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In Baigol, your majesty. We come from -that country on a visit to you, under the -protection of the royal banner of Golbai."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor nodded to me and I shook out -the banner and held it aloft.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My royal friend," said Gaddbai, "should have -been more particular in choosing the subjects -he sends to visit my realm. The sleeping colossus, -in the ring with you raided my storehouse, and -you sought to save him from capture. For that -lawless act death has been decreed to all three of -you, and the sentence must be carried out."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But we were ignorant of the law," pleaded -the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ignorance of the law is no excuse."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The gentleman in the red kirtle is a friend -of ours——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If we know a person by the company he -keeps, that speaks ill for you," interrupted the -sovereign.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are determined to have us slain, your majesty?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is my royal will."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then I shall have to set forces at work to -combat the royal will," said the professor calmly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cries of consternation and anger went up on -every hand. The king rose wrathfully from his seat.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You dare to dispute my authority?" he demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I dare to dispute your ability to slay us," -returned Quinn. "Your executioner will disappear -from before your eyes if he attempts it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king laughed ironically.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We shall see," he said, sinking placidly back -on his seat. "Let the executioner-general -proceed with his preparations."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was greatly pleased with the drift of affairs. -Circumstances had conspired to favor us, and the -professor was making the most of his opportunity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The executioner-general motioned to one of -his attendants and then raised his four hands -above his head. A moment later the attendant -had seized the whitewash brush, dabbed it into -the anti-gravity compound, and with two quick -strokes had covered the executioner's chest and back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Had a third stroke been needed it could not -have been given. In a flash the official had been -snatched away, vanishing like a streak of white -in the void above.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king rose gasping, clutching at the -balcony rail. The throng around us was paralyzed -for a space, and not a word-box was heard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As for Quinn, he had struck an attitude, his -left hand raised aloft and his glittering, -bead-like eyes transfixing the king.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-threatening-calamity"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XIII.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A THREATENING CALAMITY.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>And through all this J. Archibald Meigs slept -placidly on. Presently a perfect roar of awe -and dismay broke from thousands of word-boxes. -In the midst of the hubbub the king could be seen -waving his hands to command silence and -attention. The glittering soldiers in the turrets -sounded a clarion warning and silence fell once more.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Marvelous are the powers of these colossi!" -cried the king with trembling voice. "The sleeping -thief receives my royal pardon; the offense -of his two friends, in attempting to succor him, -is condoned. From now henceforth these three -are my honored guests! Let all take heed!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I caught the professor's hand and gave it a -fervent clasp.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You saved our lives, professor," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hardly," he returned, smiling. "It was the -anti-gravity compound that did that. Now that -we can inflate our lungs without catching our -breath, suppose we waken Mr. Meigs."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On being aroused Meigs sat up and stared -around at him. He was not long in picking up -the trend of events where he had left off during -the night.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Are they ready to—to kill us?" he asked, -clasping his hands.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They are not going to kill us, Mr. Meigs," -answered the professor. "The king has changed -his mind, and we are now his honored guests."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You don't mean it!" exclaimed the broker.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor replied that he did mean it, and -went on to tell how the unexpected result had -been accomplished. Before he had fairly -finished, the king, clad in his robes of state and -accompanied by a dozen members of his household, -could be seen approaching across the square.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Attendants followed the royal party, bearing -basins of food, a chair on which his majesty could -repose himself and a canopy to shield his august -person from the reflected rays of the sun.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The first thing you do, Quinn," said Meigs, -while the royal party was making itself comfortable, -"tell the king I've got to have my clothes."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have patience, Mr. Meigs," answered the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Patience?" spluttered Meigs. "Merciful -powers, man! How can I be patient and cut -such a figure as this?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Attend his majesty!" came from a word-box -among the king's suite. "Our gracious sovereign -is about to speak."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our close attention being secured, the king remarked:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now that these colossi have been spared they -will need food. See that it is given them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This command was very satisfactory to me, -for I was little short of famished. Presently our -paddles were flying over the basins, and we were -breaking our fast in a way that made the king -open his eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The lord of the exchequer—a most important -officer of state—drew near his majesty and said -that if the kingdom was going to board us for -any length of time it would behoove them to till -all the crown lands and get every available acre -into produce.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king made answer that the little man with -the beady eyes was a wonder-worker; he had -taken care of the executioner-general with a -mere wave of the hand, and no doubt he could, -with a stamp of the foot, materialize as much -food as he wanted and whenever he wanted.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The lord of the exchequer thereupon retired in -much confusion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the midst of our repast we were startled by -a voice behind us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gentlemen, gentlemen! Out of your abundant -store will you not have the goodness to give -me a few mouthfuls of food? I'm starving, -literally starving!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Markham!" cried Meigs, whirling around.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Markham!" exclaimed the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The food-trust magnate was fully clad, -although his clothing showed signs of much hard -usage. His cheeks were sunken and pale, while -his eyes were round and abnormally bright. In -his left hand was a metal plate, and in his right a -small paddle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Both Meigs and Quinn started toward Markham -with the food that still remained in their -basins. The zet-ring, however, reared its -intangible barrier between so that Markham could -not so much as touch the receptacles extended -toward him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was pathetic to watch this one-time master -of millions struggling to get the coveted food. -He would throw himself at it and recoil -trembling from the mysterious force that had shocked -and baffled him; he would sink to his knees or -leap in the air, trying to reach above or below the -invisible barrier; and then he would dissemble, -slink toward the basins and make a sudden dash, -as though the strong chemical was an enemy -whom he thought he could take off its guard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At last he gave over and turned away with a -despairing moan. Meigs faced the king and -began an angry outburst which the professor made -haste to interrupt.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your majesty," said Quinn, "this needy -gentleman is also a friend of ours. Will you not -supply his wants, or enable us to do so?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The indexograph informed me as to his -character," answered the king, "and it is a law of -the realm that punishment must fit the crime. -When your friend will truly acknowledge himself -in the wrong his needs will be plentifully -supplied. Until that time he must beg his food from -house to house, morsel by morsel."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And this other gentleman in the kirtle," -proceeded the professor, "will you not exercise a -little clemency in his case?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have already exercised a good deal of -clemency," the king answered; "nor can I go any -further until he also announces a change of -heart."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Markham was as deaf to the word-boxes as -was Meigs, and his majesty's will was -interpreted to them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am not in the wrong!" declared Markham. -"The principle involved is of vital importance, -and I will die for it, if need be."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So will I," averred Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We will eliminate your friends from our -calculations for the present," said the king. "Just -now I would like to know what has become of -my executioner-general."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He is pinned to the roof of the under-world," -said the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can you bring him back?" asked the king, -turning his eye aloft. "Really, I don't see how -we are to get along without him."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Possibly I can return him to you," answered -the professor. "I will try, at least, providing -you will grant a request I have to make."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This dallying with the royal prerogative was -not well received by his majesty, nor by those -around him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What request would you make, in case I was -inclined to receive it?" asked the king.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I would have you bring out the Bolla and -allow these two gentlemen to take it in their -hands."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king gave a start, and a look of consternation -overspread the faces of those in his retinue.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where did you hear of the Bolla?" the king -asked sharply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the other kingdom, your majesty," the -professor replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king was silent a few moments.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We will take that matter up later," said he -finally. "From whence come you and your -friends? That point has been bothering me for -some little time."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We come from another planet which is called -the Earth," said Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Does the planet you speak of circle around -our sun?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, your majesty."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is it as large as Njambai?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Much larger, your majesty."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And are all the creatures on Earth two-handed, -as large as you, and able to communicate -thoughts without a word-box?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The inhabitants of Earth are just as you see -us. But they do not live beneath the crust of the -planet. The sun's rays are so tempered by the -time they reach the Earth that beings are able -to live in comfort on the outer shell."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king clapped two of his hands at this, and -gave other evidence of his pleasure on the word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Most wonderful!" he exclaimed, and launched -into a series of questions concerning the physical -attributes of our mother planet and the character -and institutions of its people.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn answered him fully, expatiating on the -progress in arts and sciences already made by -the Earth dwellers. The king's wonder grew -into awe and admiration. Rising from his chair -he paced back and forth in front of us, thinking -deeply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What sort of weapons have your people?" he -inquired at last.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor described our powder-and-shot -machines to the best of his ability. The king was -puzzled.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't they know anything about zet on your -native orb?" he inquired.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," answered the professor. "There is no -zet in our atmosphere."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Suppose a company of my soldiers were to -land on Earth, fully equipped with zetbais. -Could they be resisted?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn shuddered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, your majesty, they could not be resisted. -With your wonderful zetbais you could conquer -and lay waste the entire planet. Candor -compels me to tell you this, knowing full well that -such a result would not be possible to you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why impossible?" cried the king, with wild -enthusiasm. "You and your friends must have -come hither in that strange house which fell -into the crater. Why could I not load a company -of my soldiers into the house and go back with you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then, and only then, did we see what this -crack-brained monarch was driving at. Quinn -was in trepidation over the outcome.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Such a thing is not to be thought of!" he -cried. "Your majesty, let me beg you not to give -your attention to such a quixotic project!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am fully resolved!" exclaimed the king, -striding up and down with clinched hands. "It -is a very alluring picture you give me of this -planet called Earth. I'll conquer it, annex it -and own it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He halted and raised his word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ho, there, Olox!" he cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The high chief stepped forward and made the -royal salaam of four hands.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are going forth to conquer the solar -system, Olox," paid the king in a brisk, -matter-of-fact way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, your majesty," answered Olox, as readily -as though the capturing of a planet or two -was an every-day occurrence.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have overheard what this strange -two-handed creature has been telling me?" went on -the king.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, your majesty."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Trains that burn the black blocks and need -not be hauled by hand! Green vegetation, -laughing rivers and babbling brooks all on the outer -shell! Rich cities, stores of art and heaps of -yellow gold! These, and myriad other marvelous -things are on the Earth, Olox, and guarded -only by two-handed, five-fingered colossi, who -have to load a tube of iron with black powder and -round missiles before they can attack their foes!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king threw back his head and laughed -on the word-box. Taking a cue from the king, -Olox also laughed, and so did the others.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And these Earth dwellers can't even see in the -dark!" rippled the king with contemptuous fingers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But they are large, your majesty," ventured -the high chief.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Large and therefore awkward; not quick like -our people, Olox. The zetbai is the key to the -situation. We could girdle the green star of -these colossi, devastate it and destroy all who -sought to oppose us. That is what we shall do."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It will be a noble campaign, your majesty."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Noble? That is not the word, Olox. It will -be stupendous! We'll monopolize everything -when we get there, my dear sir—everything we -can get our hands on. And I guess we can get -our hands on whatever there is—zet will clear -every obstacle out of our way."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king looked at the theoretical side. Olox, -naturally, had an eye to the practical.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What are your orders for the campaign, your -majesty?" he asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I shall leave a regent to look after Baigadd," -said the king, "and myself accompany the -expedition. You will be the military head, Olox."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, your majesty. We are to go in the metal house?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is the only thing we have to go in. The -metal house was unhurt by its fall into the crater?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That appears to be the case, your majesty, -strange as it may seem. It fell into the kingdom -right side up and——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The interior is in good condition?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very good, your majesty."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My orders to the effect that nothing should -be removed from it have been carried out?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The executioner-general would have that tub -of white pigment. Nothing else has been taken -from the house."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very good. How many of our people will -the house contain comfortably?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I should say that fifty or more could dwell in -it without much inconvenience."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then select fifty soldiers, the flower of the -Gaddbaizets. Among your stores be sure you -have a good supply of black kaka. I want some -one who is away up in ideographs to accompany -the expedition as historian."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It will be attended to, your highness."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king turned and aimed his word-box at -the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is that tub of white pigment essential to the -proper equipment of the metal house?" he asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very essential," replied Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Three weeks and more in the nether kingdoms -had whitened us considerably, but the professor's -face was now a sickly grayish color.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then I will have it taken back to the house," -said the king.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He gave orders to that end at once, and the -cart was laid hold of and drawn out of the square -and down the street, Olox accompanying it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I had no idea," the king drummed on his -word-box, "that there were any people in the -solar system with so much wealth and so little -power with which to guard it. I've got the other -three kingdoms of Njambai pretty well under my -thumb, and the regent I leave behind to boss -things will have an easy time of it. Quite -possibly I may conclude not to come back to -Njambai. This other star has natural advantages -which we do not seem to have here, and may -prove a more comfortable place in which to live."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn was shivering, like a man -with an ague. He proceeded to use his talk-machine, -and the words shook under his unsteady fingers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What you are thinking of, your majesty," ran -the professor's words, "is only the wildest of -dreams."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have had dreams before, and wild ones," -the king's word-box rattled off complacently, -"and I have made them come true. It shall be -the same with this. I am a conqueror, and I -come of a line of conquerors."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There are millions upon millions of people -on our planet," persisted the professor, despairingly. -"They could hurl these countless numbers -against you faster than you could slay them with -your zetbais."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Key 7 of the royal word-box gave a screech -of contempt.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Suppose we draw a line of zet," the box -added, when the derision had died out, "imprison -groups of those countless numbers and then wipe -them out by detachments? How would that -work?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The atmosphere of Earth is different from -that of Mercury," continued the professor. -"You cannot draw zet from the air of our planet."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thanks for the hint," replied the king. "We -will take an ample supply with us and charge the -atmosphere with it. Then we shall have a store -at hand whenever the need develops."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While the king was using his word-box with -two of his hands, he was rubbing the other two -together with ill-concealed delight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Conditions there are absolutely unknown to -you, your majesty," persisted the professor in a -frantic endeavor to turn the king from his -designs. "You will be brought face to face, at -every turn, with situations that will puzzle you -and be fraught with danger. All the nations of -the Earth will combine against you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let them combine!" was the monarch's answer. -"I hope they will display sufficient strength -to make the campaign exciting. I will capture -this Earth of yours and rule over it! From one -end of it to the other I will make it mine! I have -long felt that Njambai was too small for the -proper exercise of my wide abilities."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is your world," the professor thumped -angrily on his word-box, "and you have no right -to meddle with any other planet."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That caused the king to turn his keen eye on -the professor, and to keep it there for a full minute.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have the right to do whatever I see fit," -snapped his talk machine. "There is no will in -this kingdom but mine, and no other will in the -four kingdoms, if I choose to have it so. But -why are you saying such things on your word-box? -After firing me with a kingly ambition to -capture and annex a distant planet, why do you -proceed to throw discouragement in my way? -Ha! I wonder if you have been telling me the -truth?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your majesty," hummed the professor's talk -machine, with dignity, "I am not in the habit of -making misstatements."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll find out whether you are or not," came -from the king. "This is an important matter, -and I shall take no man's word for anything. -Ho, there!" and the word-box was leveled at -some of the retainers; "bring an indexograph, -varlets! We will settle this question of veracity -here and now."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Some of the retainers scurried away and -vanished inside the palace. Presently they -reappeared with the indexograph.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor was backward in facing the -test—strangely backward, as I thought, for a man -so clear-minded and conscientious.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The test is not necessary," he demurred.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your actions are far from being open and -aboveboard," remarked the king. "You must -submit."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The royal eye was on the machine as the -professor was tried out. The ideograph told of a -truthful mind, sadly perturbed. The royal -word-box chattered mirthfully.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are afraid I can accomplish my -purpose!" laughed his majesty. "You are worried -about your planet! Such a state of mind merely -enhances my determination, for you, if I mistake -not, are a clever man. You would not feel -worried if you did not believe I could accomplish -what I have in mind. But be at peace, my dear -sir. You shall in nowise suffer. I will make -you ruler of one of the captured kingdoms."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was no lure for the professor. He maintained -an attitude of dignified silence, watching -the king with steady eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A wise general," went on his majesty, -"always looks over his ground, as well as he may, -before going out to battle. That will be -advisable in the case of my present campaign."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What do you mean by that, your majesty?" -queried the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"To-night," explained the king, again, "we -shall mount to the upper crust and make a -reconnoissance of this orb I am to subjugate."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you any astronomical instruments?" asked Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"None whatever," replied the king. "Have you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There is an instrument in the steel car which -will bring the planet Terra much nearer to us -than the naked eye could do."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is it? Describe the instrument to me -and I will have it brought out for our night's -work."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor described the telescope, and the -king dispatched a messenger after Olox in hot -haste, with supplementary orders. Thereupon -the king bade us farewell and left the square, -followed by his suite.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As I stood watching the royal party out of -sight, I heard a gurgling groan behind me. -Facing about I saw the professor reeling unsteadily; -the next moment I had caught him in my arms -and saved him a fall.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="plan-to-steal-a-building"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XIV.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">PLAN TO STEAL A BUILDING.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Professor Quinn did not become unconscious. -The frightful catastrophe that threatened Terra -had preyed upon him at the expense of his -strength. Easing him to the ground, I dropped -beside him and held his head on my knee.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cheer up, professor," said I. "It surprises -me to see you give way like this."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn," he returned brokenly, "if this -rattle-brained monarch goes out into the universe -with a picked company of fifty men and a hundred -zetbais, it will mean that the whole solar -system will get a set-back to a period corresponding -with our Middle Ages!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"These creatures of Njambai are far beneath -those of Terra in civilization, and fate has placed -in their hands the terrible zetbai, a weapon whose -destructive powers are beyond compute.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, Mr. Munn, think of our government being -overwhelmed by these four-handed, one-eyed -creatures! Think of the word-box screeching -through the lofty corridors of the Capitol at -Washington, where the soul-stirring eloquence -of Senators and Representatives has been -thundered amain! Think of the——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor could give no added touch to -the harrowing picture. Throwing his hands to -his face, he groaned aloud.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This hasn't happened yet," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, but it will happen unless we can do -something to circumvent the mad scheme. Anarchy -will reign in our beloved land—over the whole -earth—and I will be held responsible. Ah, me! -In removing the trust magnates I have but paved -the way for a mightier monopolist! I have but -followed the sad example of Frankenstein, for -out of my plans has sprung a monstrous project -that will check progress and hurl civilization back -five hundred years."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't give up hope," said I, but not very -cheerfully, for I was greatly cast down. "Let us -pretend to help them. We will lend our aid in -making the car ready, and then, at the final -moment, perhaps we can dart away and leave them -behind; or, failing in that, we may be able to -throw the zetbais from the car while in space. -That will pull the fangs of the Baigadds, I think, -and they will land on Earth as harmless as a lot -of kittens."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor took heart at this. He would -have rallied any way, for his resourceful nature -could not struggle long in the slough of despond.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>J. Archibald Meigs had been circling around -the edge of our barrier seeking for another -glimpse of Markham and even calling his name -with all his lung power. But the food-trust -magnate neither answered nor showed himself, being -engaged in a house-to-house canvass for the -pittance of provender that would keep him alive.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs finally turned to us and demanded the -cause of the professor's downcast air. Quinn -revealed the king's plot and Meigs tore off into -an outburst of recrimination, just as I expected -he would do.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor bowed his head meekly to the -tempest and even restrained me when I would -have put a stop to the broker's intemperate language.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>By and by we had our noon meal, and with the -attendants who brought it came Olox, seating -himself on the ground and watching us as we -ate. The high chief was quite amiable, and I -began asking him questions relative to our surroundings.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He indicated the king's private apartments in -the palace, and pointed out his own residence, as -well as the dwelling occupied by the late -executioner-general, besides vouchsafing other -information of interest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is that small, square building under -the wing of the palace?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is the imperial exchequer," said he. -"Within that building the king keeps the most -priceless of all his treasures."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And what is that?" inquired the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The Bolla," was the startling answer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn and I exchanged expressive glances. -Here, through a chance remark by Olox, we were -suddenly reminded of our duty to the king of -Baigol. It was necessary that Olox should not -see the startled looks which the professor and I -were exchanging, and Mercurial eyes were -preternaturally sharp.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bolla?" I allowed to come limpingly from the -talk instrument. "What may that be?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A stone," answered Olox, and there was -suspicion in his manner in spite of my attempt to -avert it. "You already know of the Bolla. Your -friend requested his majesty to have it brought -out, and at that time you said that you had heard -of it in the other kingdom."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So we did," I replied, trimming my sails to -another breeze, "but what is it? Our information -is rather vague."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A stone, as I just said," went on Olox. "It -has a beneficial moral and physical effect on -whoever touches it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where did it come from?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It has been in Njambai for ages," was the -indefinite answer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How did King Gaddbai get hold of it?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He borrowed it from the king of Baigol."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And yet you call it one of his treasures! If -it was borrowed, Olox, how could it possibly -belong here?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"King Gaddbai has taken it," was the calm -response. "What he wants he makes his own. If -King Golbai had not loaned the stone, there -would have been a war."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Was that the right thing for your king to -do?" inquired the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Whatever our sovereign does is right."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was no getting around a flat statement -of that sort. Evidently the ruler of the country -had drilled his subjects thoroughly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What did you do at the car, Olox?" said the -professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"At the iron house?" The professor nodded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nods and gestures were well understood by -the people of Njambai, for, with four hands, they -were well equipped for finger and whole arm -movements.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The king's orders were carried out, at the -iron house," finished Olox.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The paint was returned to its proper place?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Even so."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And the telescope——'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That matter was attended to."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I trust you handled the telescope with care? -It is exceedingly fragile and could be easily injured."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"After the king spoke as he did, death by zet -would be meted out to the one who injured the -instrument."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There were several things I wanted to ask -Olox, and the principal one had to do with -Gilhooly, and the way he had been taken from the -car and made to serve the traction interests of -the kingdom. However, the professor was keeping -Olox so busy with his word-box that my own -questions were crowded out.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The family of the executioner-general are -anxious to have him returned," remarked Olox, -while the professor was looking for the proper -key on which to formulate his next question. -"Could that be accomplished?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It might," replied the professor guardedly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What has become of him?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He disappeared as he was about to commit -a deed of base injustice," said the professor -grimly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are aware of that," and Olox looked -uneasily around as he punched the words, "but we -are ignorant of the cause of his disappearance. -He is a distant relative of mine, and I promised -his next of kin to put these questions to you. Is -he alive?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Undoubtedly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Olox pressed closer and muffled his word-box -so that the sounds could not carry to dangerous -limits.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you would tell us how to proceed in the -matter of getting the executioner-general back," -he whispered, "I can promise you and your -friends help in getting out of the country."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look out for the indexograph, Olox," said I. -"If they should happen to give you a try out with -it, the ideograph wouldn't look well to the king."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Olox was greatly shaken—so shaken, in fact, -that he could not pursue the subject further.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I will talk with you later about the -executioner-general," he finished, noting the empty -dishes before the professor and Meigs and me, -and the curious manner of those who had come -with him. "Until then, pray consider that -nothing has been said on the subject." With that, he -arose and beckoned to his companions.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After Olox had led the attendants away with -the empty food receptacles, the professor and I -got our heads together on the mission that had -brought us to Baigadd.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We did not think it necessary or advisable to -let Meigs know of our purpose in regaining -control of the Bolla.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are pledged to secure the mysterious -stone if we can, Mr. Munn," said Quinn. -"Undoubtedly the work will put us in bad odor here, -and may interfere with our attempt to balk the -king in his comprehensive scheme of conquest, -but that does not release us from the task in question."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A tingle of gratification shot along my nerves. -The feeling of oppression that had burdened me -was lifted, for I ever loved to crack a -professional nut, and here was one that would -certainly try me to the utmost.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I surveyed the small building with critical eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Here is where my inches get the better of -me, professor," said I. "For one of my size to -get into that house is out of the question. And -I wouldn't know where to lay hands on the Bolla -if it were physically possible for me to effect an -entrance."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I can make a suggestion, Mr. Munn," said -Quinn, "which would get you safely around that -difficulty."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is that?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Whisper." I inclined my ear to his lips. -"Why not run away with the imperial exchequer?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Eh?" I gasped.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Steal it bodily, I mean. When you get to -Baigol with it, let the king effect entrance, -secure his Bolla, and then you return the exchequer -to its original location. Of course, it would be -very wrong to steal the king's treasury, and I -would not counsel that under any consideration. -You merely borrow it to obtain the Bolla; the -stone returned to its rightful owners, you -return the exchequer."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And get zetbaied for my pains!" I exclaimed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us hope," said the professor, "that before -you can get zetbaied we shall be in a position to -use the car and escape from the planet."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I gave much thought to the matter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is a long chance," I returned frankly, "but -I have been taking long chances ever since I -became a cracksman. I will put the plan in operation, -professor, at the very first opportunity that -presents itself."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thus we left the matter, the professor warmly -congratulating me on my courage and expressing -the hope that I would prove equally courageous -in more worthy pursuits, if the chance ever offered.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="surveying-our-own-planet"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XV.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">SURVEYING OUR OWN PLANET.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Day slipped along to its close, and shortly after -the reflectors winked out the king came, -accompanied by Olox, a guard of Gaddbaizets, and six -attendants bearing the telescope.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>To our surprise and gratification, both -Markham and Popham were in the midst of the royal -guard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It struck me," said the king graciously, "that -your friends might also wish to view the orb -from which they came. It is a little thing and -can be done without inconvenience, so I am -pleased to favor them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The high chief traced an opening in the zet -ring with the black tip of his weapon, and Meigs -was first to rush through and hurl himself into -the arms of Popham. The unfortunate gentlemen -were long in each other's embrace.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When they finally drew apart, Meigs groped -through the black gloom by Markham, while the -professor felt for the coal baron's hand and gave -it a gentle and reassuring pressure.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Professor Quinn," said Popham, "I am being -badly treated. The king has put me on the night -shift in one of the royal coal mines and the -soldiers make me work like a galley slave. This is -the first night I have had off since they set me -to work."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham was loud in his complainings, but was -cut short by the king.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We must proceed, gentlemen. I have word -from above that the night is fine and everything -propitious for an excellent view of your planet, -but storms come suddenly and we can never be -sure of the weather on the outer crust. It is -well to make haste."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We started stumblingly, each of us led by a -soldier to whom the way was plain. We were -jostled here and there through the gloom, and -finally were made to mount some object which -gave a metallic ring beneath our feet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is the royal lift," explained the king. -"When the heat of the day is suspended I often go above."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He then addressed himself to Olox. "Give the -signal at once."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The signal was given and we shot aloft. The -transformation from the fury of a storm to the -light and tranquillity of the underworld had been -great and astounding; but this second transformation -was none the less impressive.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We emerged into a wonderful night set with -stars that were perfectly familiar to me. The -Dipper and Polaris were in the north and -occupying relatively the same positions that they do -when viewed from Earth—so little effect has the -immensities of distance upon their posts in the -vault.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But our own globe! It hung huge and tremulous -in the blue of the evening sky, so plain that -we could almost note the continents that gemmed -its surface.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Meigs gave a whimpering cry and he and -Markham and Popham rushed together, fell upon -each other's neck, and wept aloud.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, I wish I was back, I wish I was back!" -moaned the broker.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm lonesome enough to die!" sobbed Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Exiled, exiled, exiled!" was all the coal baron -could murmur in husky tones.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I will not say that I was proof against the -sentiments that had unmanned the one-time -magnates, but I will declare that both Quinn and -myself had our feelings under better control. In -silence I assisted the professor to plant the -telescope and we each gazed longingly at the -greenish star magnified to many times its diameter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There's the United States!" cried Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can you see New York?" whispered Meigs -hoarsely. "Look for New York, man!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Of course, a view of New York was out of the -question, but the frantic ex-plutocrats imagined -they could see it, and even look down into Wall -Street for aught I know. Again were their -emotions too much for them, and they gave way as -they had done before.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Munn," said the professor, "this is harrowing."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is pretty hard on those gentlemen," I -returned, "to be brought face to face with -something they thought they owned and yet not be -able to possess it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That remark is unlike you," answered the -professor, and turned to the king. "A thought -occurred to me while we were coming up on the -lift," he went on, "and I should like you to explain."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If it is in my power." answered the king, his -eye to the telescope.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When we dropped into the kingdom of -Baigol there was a storm on the surface of this -planet. That storm must have hidden the sun, -and yet the reflectors below were sending day -throughout the realm."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The reflection came from other and smaller -reflectors arranged to take care of just such an -emergency," explained the king. "Storms are -only local, you know, and when one gathers over -the giant reflector the smaller ones at the other -points are brought into use. But let's not talk -of this planet, but of that other one up here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And along that line the king's conversation -ran for a full hour.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At last, when we were ready to descend, so -far from being dismayed by the enormity of the -task before him, the royal zealot was fortified -in his resolution to carry it out.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His majesty was in great good humor, and -when we had left the lift and marched back to -the square he very graciously tendered us the -freedom of the town.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He could not understand why the professor -and I should have any desire to escape from his -country, and inasmuch as he had made us his -honored guests, to return us to the circle of zet -would be to besmirch his hospitality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The zet had been regathered into the high -chief's zetbai and it was not again released. It -was not necessary for Popham to return to the -royal mines until the following night, so he -remained with us, along with Markham, and we -all bunked down in the centre of the plaza.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is there no way, Professor Quinn," quavered -Popham, "whereby we can escape from the -inhuman monsters who people this planet? The -treatment I have suffered is monstrous! I feel -as though I shall die if I have to go back to -those royal coal mines again. Being a large -man, they expect me to do the work of a dozen -Mercurials. There are blisters on my hands and -my feet are so sore I can hardly walk."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This wail from the brusque and tyrannical -Popham was in itself a highly edifying comment -on his sad experiences.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your position was grace itself compared with -mine," mourned Markham. "These people -seemed determined to starve me to death. I am -expected to travel from house to house, begging -food, and they hardly give me enough at one -house to take me to the next."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are on the surface," returned Popham, -"and you are not delving continually in the hot, -unhealthy regions where I must do my work. I -have to toil like a galley slave for a cent a day, -and a cent's worth of this vegetable food, which -seems to be all they have here, does not furnish -me with enough strength for my labor."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have your clothes, at least," whimpered -Meigs. "Quinn ought to help us; he </span><em class="italics">must</em><span> help us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I shall do what I can, gentlemen," said the -professor wearily. "I have not succeeded in -showing you the error of your ways, but I must -let that pass. A greater calamity menaces our -planet than any you could possibly let loose upon -our devoted country."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Meigs was saying something about that," -spoke up Popham. "What is it this mad king -thinks of doing?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, with fifty warriors, armed with zetbais, -he intends making an attack upon Terra. He -hopes to conquer our mother orb."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham gave a faint cry of derision.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why; if that rascal ever landed on our -planet," said he, "he and his warriors would be -captured out of hand and turned over to some -museum for exhibition purposes. If </span><em class="italics">I</em><span> happened -to be around at the time of their capture," he -finished angrily, "I would send every last one of -them into mines that are mines. I'd make them -toil with their four hands until they wore them -off at the wrists. Gad, but that would be a -revenge worth having!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is not a time to think of revenge, -Mr. Popham," spoke up the professor, more in -sorrow than rebuke. "We have our planet to -consider, and, next to the planet, ourselves."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Our planet is big enough to take care of -itself," averred Markham. "Leave that out of -the question, professor, and confine your -attention to some way in which we can better our -condition."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The danger that threatens Earth is greater -than you appear to imagine," went on Quinn. -"For whatever happened to our home-star -because of King Gaddbai and his astounding plans -of conquest, I should be responsible. The -thought weighs upon me and will give me no -rest. The king must be foiled."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How does he intend to reach the Earth?" -asked Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"By means of our car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is that in usable condition?" came joyously -from Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So far as I can discover, it lies intact at the -bottom of the crater on whose rim we landed. -There is no reason why the car cannot be -employed for a return to Terra; but," and here the -professor's words became emphatic, "it shall not -be so employed by King Gaddbai and his army of -conquest. I shall prevent that at all hazards."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How?" came hoarsely from the three ex-millionaires.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"By destroying the car, as a last resort and -when other means fail," was the calm rejoinder.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You would not dare!" breathed Popham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You would not have the heart to take from us -our sole means of escape!" added Markham.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Madman!" ground out Meigs. "If I really -thought that you would destroy our only means -of salvation, I'd——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You wouldn't do a thing, Meigs," I chimed -in. "Whatever the professor thinks best to do -is going to be done, and no two ways about it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't want to destroy the car," continued -the professor, unmoved by this storm he had -aroused, "if other means can be made to serve. -And I may say that we shall exhaust every -effort to make other means serve. I feel that it -is my duty to return you gentlemen to the place -from whence you were taken. I have not -accomplished what I had hoped to do, but it is better -to be disappointed in that rather than to let King -Gaddbai get away in the car with his fifty warriors."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly it is your duty to send us back," -said Meigs, "and you should consider that duty -before anything and everything else."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Exactly!" seconded Popham, "and we must -take Gilhooly with us. If one goes, all must go."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Leave the matter to me, gentlemen," counseled -the professor quietly. "I shall do everything -possible."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The coal baron and the food-trust magnate -continued to dwell upon their harrowing -experiences with various degrees of intensity until a -command for silence came from a word-box -somewhere around us. Our raucous tones were -keeping the people awake all over the city, the -talking machine averred, and unless we became -instantly quiet the authorities would take the -matter in hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This threat had the desired result. We gave -over our conversation and settled ourselves for -the night.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I do not know how long I slept, but it must -have been some hours. I was aroused to find it -still dark and to behold the professor with a -lighted match in one hand and his other hand -over my lips.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The burning match threw a fitful glare around -the open space and even reached to the roof tops -beyond. Both the palace and the imperial -exchequer were brought shadowily forth out of -the gloom.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now is the time, Mr. Munn!" whispered the -professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The time?" I returned sotto voce. "Time for what?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Without a word he pointed to the square building -under the wing of the palace. I understood. -It was now or never if I intended to make my -raid and secure the Bolla.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I started erect.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have matches, Mr. Munn?" the professor -asked in the very faintest of audible tones.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I nodded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You must be very careful to keep to the -street until you reach the country," the professor -went on. "If you should make a misstep and -wreck a block of houses the disaster would be -irretrievable."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I will strike matches and light my way until -I get well into the hills," said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just what I should have suggested," said -he. "Good-by, Mr. Munn. Fail not to return -with the exchequer as soon as the king of Baigol -has secured the Bolla. Meantime I shall hope to -get the car in readiness to speed our departure."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We struck hands as men will when confronted -by an issue of life and death. Then I stepped -into the street, bent over the imperial exchequer, -and wrenched it from its foundations.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a well-constructed building, and, -although its contents jingled like a rattle box when -I took it under my arm, it did not give way in -any part.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Striking a match on the roof of the exchequer, -I lighted my way down the street, picking my -steps with care and caution.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="how-ill-luck-overtook-me"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XVI.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">HOW ILL-LUCK OVERTOOK ME.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Good fortune fared forth with me from the -royal city and remained steadfastly at my right -hand as long as the matches lasted; but when the -last one had flickered out and left me in -impenetrable gloom, my troubles began.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was well into the rough country when the -lights failed, threading a road bordered by hills -that in some places were shoulder high. About -the first thing I did was to blunder off the trail; -in trying to regain it I stumbled over a five-foot -mountain and went down all of a heap.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Had I fallen on the exchequer I should have -smashed it into a cocked hat—a result only -narrowly averted. Regaining my feet and smothering -some good strong language that rose instinctively -to my lips, I essayed once more to find -the Baigol road.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had my trouble for my pains, and, after an -hour spent in fruitless blundering, I sat down on -a cliff, propped up the exchequer on the side of a -cañon and nursed my barked shins until day -began flashing from the reflectors.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As I sat there waiting for the light my brain -was filled with evil thoughts which I recall with -contrition and chronicle with regret. I knew -the exchequer must contain the king's wealth—golden -pieces of eight of a rare fineness unknown -to the mints of Terra.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was not of a mind to return the gold after -allowing the king of Baigol to take his Bolla. -Why not stow the treasure away about my -clothes and rely upon my native tact and -discretion to get me to the steel car in spite of the -grasping monarch of Baigadd?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was much wrought up over the way I had lost -the loot taken from the plutocrats. In my mind's -eye I could see those four bulging handkerchiefs -waxing and waning about the castle, and I had -hoped they would fall to the surface of Mercury -along with the car, so that I might still be able -to secure them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In this I was disappointed. Once the Mercurial -atmosphere was struck the loot and the -revolver had fallen away from the castle like so -many pieces of lead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The wallets, undoubtedly, had been incinerated -by the sun's rays, together with the banknotes -that were in them. I imagined that the intense -heat had exploded the cartridges in the -six-shooter and had warped and twisted the firearm -until it was no longer serviceable.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The other plunder also, even if found, could -not by any possibility be utilized by me or any -one else.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All this had made me savagely eager to -recoup my finances. And as I sat brooding on the -cliff I asked myself why I should not do this at -the expense of the Baigadd exchequer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I did not arouse myself at the first reflected -flash of day. Although I had decided to -appropriate the contents of Gaddbai's coffers, I was -casting about for a suitable method that would -gain my end with the least inconvenience.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A maudlin chuckle from near at hand brought -me abruptly out of my reflections. I turned, and -there, on a neighboring elevation, stood Gilhooly, -balancing the exchequer on the broad of his -hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was brought up staring. What could the -motive power of the B.&B. Interplanetary be -doing there, at that time? His absence must have -interfered sadly with the train schedule. -Certainly the officers of the system, would not have -countenanced this neglect of duty, had they -known of it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then it flashed over me that Gilhooly had run -away. He had tired of racing up and down the -V-shaped groove with a string of toy cars and -had taken French leave of the system.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The fire of insanity was still in his eyes, and -he retreated step by step as I advanced upon him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look here, Gilhooly," said I in my most -persuasive tones, "that building you have in your -hands is the imperial exchequer. Put it down, -there's a good fellow. Don't juggle with it in -that way. Suppose you were to drop it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly had begun shaking it up and down -as though it were one of those cast-iron banks in -which children sometimes deposit their coppers -The jingle of the exchequer's contents appeared -to please him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you want this road you have got to bid -up for it," said he. "I'm not so young that I -don't know a good thing when I've got it in my grip."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That road has gone into the hands of a -receiver," I returned, humoring his fancy, "and -I'm the receiver. Give it here, Gilhooly."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I was not consulted when the receiver was -appointed," he answered. "I have rights in the -matter and those rights must be protected. It's -a deal framed up to beat the pool. My, how -it rattles!" and he shook the exchequer again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was at my wits' end. I knew that tact was -far and away more effective than violence when -dealing with a crazed person.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Put it down for a moment, Gilhooly," I -wheedled, "and come over to the directors' meeting."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Who are the directors?" he asked suspiciously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, there are only two. I'm one, you know, -and you're the other."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He exploded a laugh, tossed the exchequer in -the air like a strong man playing with a cannon -ball, and then caught it deftly as it came down.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm the boy to juggle with railroads!" he -boasted. "Ask any one in the Street and they'll -tell you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look out!" I gasped, "or you'll drop it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not I!" he mumbled. "I never yet wrecked -a railroad."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where did you come from, Gilhooly?" I -asked, seeking to get him into conversation while -I edged closer to him by degrees.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"From distant parts," he replied. "I've been -the whole thing for a big transcontinental line -that I'm adding to the Gilhooly System." He -chuckled craftily. "They thought they had me, -but I got out from under with the rolling stock. -I've hid the cars in a gully, and my next move -will be to steal the right of way. I'm the big -railroad man of the country. Just ask anybody -who knows what's what in transportation circles -and they'll tell you the same thing."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I had arrived within a few feet of him, and -suddenly I leaped forward. But he was wary -and sprang aside, the exchequer jingling sharply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, you don't," said he. "You're trying to -serve a subpoena on me and I'm too foxy for -you. Get out of here or I'll have you thrown -downstairs."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Come over to the directors' meeting, Gilhooly," -I urged, turning and walking away from -him. "You've got to look after your interests, -you know."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But the vagaries of a shattered mind are hard -to deal with. Gilhooly laughed at me, sat down -on a rock and took the exchequer on his knees. -He was wary, and never for an instant permitted -me to lose his eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You can't fool me," he cried, "so you'd better -take the next train for home. I hold a majority -of the stock, and after I've watered it a little I'll -have enough to buy another line. It's easy being -a railroad magnate when you know how. Clear -out, you annoy me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gilhooly," said I, with a gentleness I was far -from feeling, "don't you want to know -something about Popham?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't know him," snarled Gilhooly, "but if -he's trying to break into this railroad game, just -tell him that I control the whole bag of tricks -and that it's not worth his while."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Hugging the exchequer in his arms, he rocked -back and forth and began to sing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," said I, starting away again, "if you -don't want to attend this directors' meeting I'll -have to look after it myself."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He made no reply but kept on hugging the -exchequer, rocking back and forth, and timing -his monotonous croon to the rattle of treasure in -the king's strong rooms.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Warily as I could, I circled about, creeping on -all fours and screening myself by the little hills -and ridges. My design was to come up on -Gilhooly from behind and snatch the exchequer -away from him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But he heard me. Before I had come within a -dozen feet of him, he stopped his singing, leaped -to his feet, and whirled around. The next -moment he had placed himself at a safe distance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm too many for you," he shouted. "Go -away, or I'll call the police."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was in a sweat for fear some of King Gaddbai's -soldiers would locate us and develop their -zetbais. One flash of that violet fire would do -the business for both Gilhooly and me, and the -professor's cherished plans would go by the -board. Besides, I had plans of my own, and it -seemed as though Gilhooly was destined to make -a mess of everything.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, come, now," I cried, in a bit of a temper. -"That won't do you any good, Gilhooly. It -doesn't belong to you, and you haven't any right -to keep it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't we ever keep anything that don't belong -to us?" he asked sarcastically. "I'm not -that sort of a fellow, for I keep everything in -the railroad line that I can get my hands on."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Logic and reason were utterly dead in his -mind. Whims he had, but they were but fancies -of the moment. As I stood there looking at him, -I wondered how the people of Baigadd had ever -managed to keep him hauling their trains as long -as they had.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good-by," he called suddenly, taking the -exchequer under his arm. "I think I'll go to the -office and——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Just then I made a dash at him. With a mocking -laugh he whirled about and raced off across -the hills, myself in hot pursuit.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly's course intersected the Baigol highway -and he turned into it, roaring defiantly as -he sped along. Suddenly he stumbled and fell, -and a cry of dismay escaped me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He had fallen squarely on the exchequer and -wrecked it completely!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Kyzicks—yellow coins the size of a gold -dollar and worth five times as much—rolled, -everywhere about the road, diverging from a heap -that lay revealed by the collapsed walls of the -building. Flinging forward, I went to my knees -and began plunging my hands into the pile.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I believe that just then I was as daft as -Gilhooly himself. In those days the glimmer of -gold always had a demoralizing effect on me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As I raked my outspread fingers through the -yellow pile I brought up a round, jet-black stone -the size of my fist. I regarded it as a bit of chaff -in the bin of wealth and hurled it from me down -the road. With a loud yell, Gilhooly leaped after it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then I became aware of a weird and inexplicable -feeling that laid itself like an axe at the root -of my professional instinct. What right had I to -all this treasure? It belonged to the king of -Baigall; he was an unworthy creature, perhaps, -but still it belonged to him. What had I been -about to do? My heart sickened and I sprang -up, spurned the kyzicks with my heel and turned -my back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That was my awakening. In one instant the -iron of repentance had pierced my soul. The -past rolled its turgid waters in front of me. I -shivered and drew back from that wave of evil, -covering my eyes to blot it from my sight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>How should I atone for the days that had -been? Could I do it by an unflinching rectitude -in the days there were to be? Conscience was -belaboring me with telling blows. I had not been -on intimate terms with my conscience for many -years, and to have it thus suddenly overmaster -me and drive me into reformation was a -mystery beyond my power to explain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While I stood there consumed with regret and -hoping against hope for the future, a voice hailed -me from down the road.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you say your name was Munn?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Could that calm, contained voice have come -from Emmet Gilhooly? I looked in his direction -and found him leaning against a jutting spur -of rocks, his right hand clutching convulsively -the black stone I had flung from me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The crazed light had vanished from his eyes. -An expression of wonder was on his face, but it -was a rational wonder developed by an -awakening as abrupt and complete as mine had been.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have it right, Mr. Gilhooly," I -answered, the extreme mildness of my voice -surprising me. "My full name is James Peter Munn -and——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are the thief who just came into the -castle and relieved myself and my friends of their -valuables?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly's normal condition had come back to -him at the point where it had been dropped. I -was not slow in reasoning how this might be.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I was a thief in the letter and spirit less than -ten minutes back," I humbly answered, "but now, -sir, I have turned a leaf. I promise you that the -rest of the book shall read better than what has -gone before."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly passed his left hand across his forehead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where—where am I?" he faltered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the kingdom of Baigadd," I returned, -"some distance out of the royal city."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Baigadd? Royal city? You talk strangely, -Mr. Munn. Where is the castle? Where are -Meigs, Markham, and Popham? And Professor -Quinn? Are we";—he started forward and -looked wildly around—"still in the castle? But -no, that can't be. You just said we were -somewhere else. I beg your pardon, Mr. Munn. I -am confused and hardly know what I am saying."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I began an explanation, going patiently into -every detail, and when I finally finished Gilhooly -knew as much about our situation as I did.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For some time Gilhooly walked up and down -the road, passing and repassing the heap of gold. -At last he paused beside it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We should return this treasure to its owner, -Mr. Munn," said he, and he dropped the black -stone on the yellow pile. "From what you tell -me, this is a strange planet and strangely -peopled. Yet there is superstition here as well as in -our native orb—as these wonder tales about the -Bolla will bear evidence."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think with you, sir," said I. "The Bolla is -simply a fetish and its miraculous powers are -purely imaginary."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is the sensible way to look at it. Suppose -we load our pockets with the gold and start -back with it to the city from whence it was taken?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I assented and suggested using our coats as -improvised bags for the easier transportation of -the king's wealth, and we stripped to our shirt -sleeves and set about our work. In half an hour -we had collected all the scattered treasure, had -bound it up in our coats and had started back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly preserved a pensive silence. His -thoughts were far away and he seemed entirely -oblivious of the fact that I was trudging along -at his side. It was only when we turned an angle -in the road and came face to face with Quinn, -Meigs, Markham, and Popham that Gilhooly -showed any interest in our present situation.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-change-of-heart"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XVII.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A CHANGE OF HEART.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The meeting between Gilhooly and his brother -exiles was most affecting. In the general joy -at finding the ex-railway magnate restored to -reason the matter of the imperial exchequer was -temporarily lost sight of.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And I think the man who rejoiced most over -Gilhooly's returned sanity was Quinn. The -professor's beady little eyes were fairly glowing as -he caught and clung to Gilhooly's hand after the -others had expressed their pleasure and tendered -congratulations.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is a glad day for me, Mr. Gilhooly!" -exclaimed the professor. "I had taken myself very -much to task on account of your clouded mind."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your reproach of yourself was well merited," -spoke up Meigs, who always had a venomous -shaft in his quiver for Quinn. "Small thanks -to you that our friend is himself again."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gently, Mr. Meigs, gently," came from -Gilhooly. "I do not find Professor Quinn in the -wrong in any particular."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Popham, Meigs, and Markham regarded Gilhooly -with open-mouthed amaze. I think the -professor also was startled; I know at least that -I was.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you mean to say, Mr. Gilhooly," cried -Meigs, "that you can overlook Quinn's criminal -folly in casting us adrift in the unknown?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I cannot only overlook it," was the quiet -response, "but I can forgive it. Almost I am of -the opinion that it was justifiable."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Faugh!" rasped Meigs. "You have not -recovered your reason after all or you would not -talk that way."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us not engage in useless disputes, -gentlemen," put in the professor. "There is another -affair to engage us. It was thought," Quinn -went on, with an expressive look at me, "that -Mr. Gilhooly had fled the realm and taken the -imperial exchequer with him."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was I who took the exchequer," said I, -"and it is I who hope to return it to the king."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What about the Bolla?" queried Quinn, -giving me a sharp look.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is here," said I, touching the makeshift -bundle I was carrying under my arm. "At -least," I added, "there is a strange looking black -stone among the gold coins and I suppose it -must be King Golbai's palladium."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We were sent forth to look for Mr. Gilhooly -and the stolen treasure," remarked the professor. -"Olox and his Gaddbaizets are likewise on the -road, but we have been able to leave them pretty -well in the rear."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What was thought of my absence?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very little, Mr. Munn. Every officer of the -state seemed united in fixing the blame upon -Mr. Gilhooly. Since he was known to be mentally -unsound, no crime could be attached to his act."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I shall tell the truth of it," I declared.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And be condemned to death by zet," said the -professor, gazing at me fixedly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let the king believe what he will," said Gilhooly. -"I should rather have it so since it means -so much to Mr. Munn."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why did you not keep on to the other -kingdom with the Bolla?" inquired Quinn of me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Because I didn't think I should be doing the -right thing," I replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! And why this sudden change in your -sentiments, Mr. Munn?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I can't explain it, professor."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I believe it is a theory of yours that one thief -has the right to take from another what does -not belong to either of them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Two wrongs do not make a right."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed! The change in your sentiments is -most sudden—and remarkable. Will you please -untie the sleeves of your coat and allow me to -have a look at that black stone?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I lowered my bundle and opened it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There," said I, but poorly concealing the -contempt I felt for the black stone as I pointed to -it. "You may take stock in the superstition if -you will, professor, but I will have none of it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor gave me a queer smile, then -picked up the Bolla and surveyed it curiously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Would you like to look at it, Mr. Meigs?" he -asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A fetish like this is a sure sign of barbarism," -observed Meigs, taking the stone. "The creatures -who inhabit this planet are not of a very -high order mentally."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He passed the Bolla to Popham and Popham -handed it to Markham. It was presently -returned to me and I packed it away as before.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor then asked me for an account -of what had happened during my flight toward -Baigol with the exchequer. Gilhooly was not -able to help me much in the recital, as the most -important part of our adventures was a perfect -blank to him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I did not try to conceal anything from Quinn. -I painted my designs on the king's money as -black as they really were and he smiled as he -listened.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When did Mr. Gilhooly lay hands on the -Bolla?" Quinn asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How do you know that he did?" I returned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am very sure that he did," was the quiet reply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Thereupon I told the professor how I had -thrown the stone from the heap of gold and -Gilhooly had picked it up, his reason returning -shortly afterward. Quinn wagged his head -sagely and mumbled something I could not -understand, but which had to do with the -ridiculous pretensions of the Bolla.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I feared then for the mind of this great and -good man. Was he breaking under the tremendous -responsibility incurred by removing the -plutocrats from Earth?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A chill of apprehension shot to my heart. I -was about to say something of a soothing nature -to my patron—for I certainly looked upon him as -such—when Olox and his Gaddbaizets appeared.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Key seven of the high chief's word-box titillated -with relief the instant the officer got his eye -on Gilhooly. The exuberance faded into a note -of foreboding and the foreboding into the words:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where is the king's treasure house? If that -has not been recovered, calamity threatens our -expedition to the planet Terra!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The treasure house has been broken and -wrecked," replied the professor, "but my friends, -Mr. Gilhooly and Mr. Munn, are returning the -gold to his majesty in their coats."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why should Mr. Gilhooly steal the gold and -then help to return it?" came incredulously from -Olox. "Is it simply a vagary of his unbalanced -mind?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am pleased to say, Chief Olox, that his mind -is no longer unbalanced," returned the professor, -warning me to silence with a look as I was about -to operate my talking machine. "Mr. Gilhooly -is now as sane as you or I."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Olox looked worried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I declare," said he, "I don't know how the -president and board of directors of the -Interplanetary will regard this unexpected occurrence."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They should feel overjoyed at the unclouding -of so bright a mind as Mr. Gilhooly's."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But what if it interferes with the traffic of -the road? They have been running limited -trains on a schedule heretofore beyond their -wildest dreams. His majesty farmed out the -concession to the management of the road for -ninety-nine years, on a cash basis. If the traction power -proves unavailable, a demand will be made on the -king for a return of the money—and just now -any depletion of the imperial coffers might prove -fatal to the projected expedition."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was just as well that the ex-magnates could -not comprehend what was going on between the -word-boxes. The utilitarian views of the king, -as exemplified in Gilhooly's case, would have -jarred somewhat on their conceit and self-esteem.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I noticed that a gleam of hope crossed Quinn's -face when Olox spoke of a possible failure of -the king's plan of conquest through lack of the -sinews of war. But the hope died away almost -instantly when Quinn reflected, as I did, that -the monarch was as unscrupulous as he was resourceful.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>No further conversation was indulged in. The -royal troops executed an about face and -returned to the capital, convoying our reunited -party of aliens.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As we drew up in the square the two glittering -soldiers appeared in the turrets and sounded -a call that drew the king to the balcony.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His majesty listened to the report of Olox with -a beaming face, but his smiles fled when he -learned how the traction interests of the realm -were threatened by Gilhooly's returning sanity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While this momentous question was still up for -debate, Meigs plucked at the professor's sleeve.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Tell the king, professor," said he, his eyes -downcast, "that I see the error of my way and -frankly acknowledge it. If I am ever so -fortunate as to get back to Earth I shall be a -reformer. Please ask the king when I can have -my clothes."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And this was Meigs! Had the heavens fallen -I could not have been more astounded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Tell him the same for me," spoke Hannibal -Markham. "Make it even stronger, if you will. -I have not been starved into submission—I -should have withstood such a siege to the -death—but the change has been wrought here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He struck a hand against his heart.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And ask him, professor," added Markham -plaintively, "to have my wants supplied -immediately from the palace kitchens."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Allow me to join my honorable friends in this -free announcement of a change of heart," chimed -in Augustus Popham. "Look at my hands!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He held his hands out to us and we found them -calloused and scarred.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I can't go back to those mole burrows!" he -supplemented.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn showed no signs of amazement. -After grasping the palm of each ex-magnate, -he fairly electrified his word-box with the -supplications of the exiles.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Are these acknowledgments freely made and -do they come from contrite hearts," said the -king, "or do they merely cloak a desire to -escape further privation at the expense of truth?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor indignantly repelled the -insinuation. When he had finished his vigorous -remarks, I stepped to the front and made a -complete confession of my designs on the Bolla and -the imperial exchequer. Quinn tried to stop me, -but I would suffer no interference.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Are you aware," said the king gravely, "that -</span><em class="italics">lèse majesté</em><span>, felony, and half a dozen other -capital crimes are mixed up in your confession?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Am I less courageous than an ex-trust -magnate?" cried I warmly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Their confessions free them from servitude -and the inconveniences of hunger and lack of -raiment," responded the king; "yours condemns -you to a blast of zet that will consume and -dissipate your body as though it had never been."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn groaned and turned away -with one hand over his eyes. My affection -reached out for the good man then as it had -never done before.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bring on the indexograph, Olox," commanded -the king. "We will see how much of -truth or falsehood it registers in the cases of -these gentlemen."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The indexograph was brought and test was -made of all of us except the professor. The -ideographs must have registered mightily in our -favor, for the king seemed more than convinced -of our sincerity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Restore to the clothing trust man the apparel -that is rightfully his," ordered his majesty; -"allow the gentleman who would monopolize food -to partake of a sufficient supply to satisfy his -hunger; free the person who has been delving -for my black blocks from further duty—and -incidentally confiscate the funds paid into the royal -treasury for his services, as well as for the -services of the B.&B. traction power—for -Mr. Gilhooly's sanity precludes his further use on -the Interplanetary. Be happy, gentlemen! I -feel that I must do some worthy deeds to -commemorate this the day that witnesses our -departure for the subjugation of Terra."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn was rent with conflicting emotions, as -was plainly apparent. He was glad the ex-plutocrats -had fallen into royal favor, he was sorry to -have me yet under that ban, and he was greatly -wrought up to learn that the king meditated -such an early start on his inter-stellar campaign.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What of Mr. Munn, your highness?" he inquired.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes," returned the king, "I was forgetting -him. Olox, let him be decorated with the -Order of the Open Hand and see that he is -inducted on the morrow into the office of -executioner-general. We need an executioner to fill -the place of the late incumbent and I should have -to look far before I found so conscientious a -person as Mr. Munn. Leave orders with a -subordinate, Olox. Neither you nor I will be here -to attend the ceremony. My royal will shall be -conveyed to the regent.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And now," added the king as he rose from -his seat, "while the treasurer counts the kyicks -and takes care of the Bolla, Olox, you and I will -proceed to the metal house, guarded by the -Gaddbaizets and accompanied by our alien friends."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Some preparations were necessary before a -start for the car could be made; and while these -were going forward Meigs and Markham were -led away to receive the attention their condition -demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In an hour we were on the road. Meigs and -Markham were in jubilant mood; Popham was -optimistic but subdued, Gilhooly was silent and -thoughtful, and I was inclined to look at the -future with reckless indifference.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But Professor Quinn was bowed under a -grievous load. If this madcap monarch carried -out his scheme of conquest, Quinn felt that on -him alone would rest the responsibility.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am making my plans, Mr. Munn," he -whispered hoarsely to me as we proceeded on our -journey to the car. "If the king's expedition -gets away, I shall have to accompany it; and I -shall take care that neither he nor his -Gaddbaizets ever reach our native planet."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But suppose we can outwit the king in some -way," I returned, "and escape in the car, -leaving him and his subjects behind?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You and our other friends may go, if we can -possibly manage it," said Quinn, "but I have -made up my mind to stay here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I stopped short and stared at him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Surely you can't mean that!" I exclaimed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I do mean it," he said firmly. "For the good -of Terra these creatures of Njambai must be -watched. We have only a surface knowledge -of them and their resources. What if they -should bring forward other means of spanning -space besides our car?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can't you see," the professor went on -passionately, "that my misguided enthusiasm painted -the wonders of Earth in such glowing colors -that King Gaddbai will strain every effort to -gratify his cupidity and lust for conquest? I -must remain here to combat him and hold him in check."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sir," said I in trepidation, "I think you take -fright too easily. Once we leave Njambai in -the car, it will be impossible for any of the -Baigadds to follow us. You overestimate their -possible resources."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Whatever is possible cannot be overestimated. -It may chance that I alone shall stand -between this resolute monarch and the welfare and -happiness of Terra. To desert my post would -be cowardice. Do not seek to argue with me, -for I made up my mind to this last night."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The reckless indifference with which I had -fared forth from the city gave place to deep -sorrow. Professor Quinn observed this and continued:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do not exercise yourself over my fate, -Mr. Munn. I removed four rabid enemies of the -people from our planet and I give back to it four -eminent reformers. My end has been -accomplished beyond my fondest dreams if this is -brought to pass.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And then, too, there is a work that I can do -here, even if my dire imaginings prove -unfounded. I can, after I know these Mercurials -better, lead them perhaps to a higher round in -the ladder of civilization. With the pattern of -our earthly institutions before my eyes, I can -choose the good, eliminate the evil, and build a -fabric here that will be a glory to whatever -resources the orb may possess. Is it not a fair -destiny for one who was laughed out of the -Astronomical Society because he dared to have -convictions as I did?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is a destiny, professor," said I, "which I -intend to share with you. You remain here, -and so do I. Possibly you may become prime -minister; I will be executioner-general. Between -us, we will have control of the situation."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That is not to be thought of," answered the -professor hastily. "If it is possible for the exiles -to escape in the car, you must accompany them -as the one cool-headed, resourceful man capable -of guiding the car to its destination. I shall -instruct you carefully and fully.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And besides," he added, as I was about to -demur, "you are a changed man, Mr. Munn. -There is work for you on the home planet, for -your native worth is to retrieve itself on the very -scene of your unworthy exploits. I trust you -follow me? Pardon me if I hurt your feelings -by being too frank."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He had, wittingly or unwittingly, touched the -vital chord which made me eager to regain the -world I knew and loved. To stand fair in the -sight of men who had known me at my worst -was now my one consuming desire.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Is this your wish, Professor Quinn?" I asked -huskily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is, Mr. Munn."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then I shall follow your instructions to the -letter."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do so," he said, with one of his rare smiles. -"And if our dear desires compass fulfillment, -open this packet when you have left Njambai -and are in the great void. It will be my last -word to you and your fellow voyagers in space."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He handed a sealed packet to me and I placed -it carefully in my breast pocket. Then a -hand-clasp followed in which heart went out to heart -as it rarely does between man and man.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look, Mr. Munn!" exclaimed the professor, -releasing my palm. "We have reached the car."</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="how-we-outwitted-the-king"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XVIII.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">HOW WE OUTWITTED THE KING.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>We had come to a point in the under-world -which the reflected rays of the sun reached but -dimly. There would have been semi-gloom but -for an unreflected glow that fell upon us from above.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The car, as has been brought out in the course -of this narrative, had been blown into the crater -of a dead volcano. This crater may be likened -to a deep basin, pierced with a huge hole at the -bottom.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Through the hole fell daylight from the outer -shell, bathing the car in a soft radiance. The -projectile-shaped house was standing upright, -and appeared to have suffered no injury by its fall.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Professor Quinn had already explained to me -how this might be possible. The screens of the -anti-gravity cubes had been left open by five -decrees.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The energy of the cubes lightened the house to -an extent that made it offer less than normal -resistance to the tempest, and it also buoyed it -to withstand the shock of a tumble from the -upper crust of the sphere.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>How like an old friend that car looked! My -heart labored at the mere sight of it. It was to -be our bridge through space, if so we could -contrive; although it might easily fall out to prove a -bridge for the king and the Gaddbaizets to the -earth's undoing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After we had halted at the base of the car, -the king approached the professor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your metal house is intact and uninjured," -said his majesty, "save for the door that gives -admittance to it. It was necessary to burn out -the lock with a draft of zet before the door -could be opened. The telescope and the tub of -white pigment have both been replaced, and you -will, I think, find all your goods and chattels -intact. How long before we can start?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let me first understand your arrangements, -your majesty," the professor answered. "Are -you, or Olox, to guide the car through space to -your intended destination?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are to do that. Neither I nor Olox -could manage the car, I fear."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then I am to accompany you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have so decided."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What of my friends?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They are to be left here. You need not worry -about them, however, as they will be well cared -for. I have already given proof of my interest -in them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Before I can give you an answer as to when -it will be well to start," Quinn remarked, after -a little thought, "I shall have to go into the car -and make some calculations."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We will go in with you," returned the king.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I should prefer to take only Mr. Munn with me, sir."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The king became suspicious, and Olox got -the royal ear and said something in an undertone -on his word-box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You and Munn may go in," the king said -when Olox had finished, "but we shall keep the -rest of your friends with us while you are making -your calculations."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very well."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The professor and I thereupon entered the -car, watched with some apprehension by Meigs -and the rest. Possibly they feared that we were -about to desert them; if so, the look the -professor gave them must have set their fears at -rest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A survey of the interior of the car showed -everything to be exactly as we had left it. The -door at the top of the iron stairway had been -forced precisely as the other at the outside -entrance had been, but this was a matter of small -importance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The oxygen tank was intact, and the professor -showed me how to manipulate the lever that -regulated the supply necessary for the car; there -was still plenty of water, of good quality, in the -reservoir, and of food, such as we were -accustomed to, there was an abundance. Everything -appeared to be in proper order and just as it -should be.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We are very fortunate, Mr. Munn," said -Quinn, seating himself on a box. "I brought -you in here with me less to have your help in -examining the interior of the car than to seize -an opportunity for giving you a few directions -which you will find of use.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When we left Earth we started at an hour -which gave us a course that angled sunward; -when you leave Njambai, however, you must do -so at an hour when this part of the planet is -turned away from the sun, and as far away as -possible. That will cause the car to be hurled -toward the outer edge of the solar system and -in the direction of the earth's orbit.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wish I could inform you as to the exact -position the earth will be in when you cross its -orbit, but the king's mad project was sprung so -suddenly, and he has acted upon his plan so -quickly, that I have had no time for calculations -in that respect.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your business, however, will be to overhaul -the Earth. The telescope will inform you of the -planet's position, and by properly regulating the -screens of the cubes you can hang in the orbit -of Terra until it reaches you; then, once within -its influence, shut off the energy of the cubes -and suffer the car to fall to its surface. Do I -make myself plain?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Entirely so, professor," I replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You understand the dangers of landing. All -you can do is to experiment with the atmosphere -while you are falling, exactly as we did when -landing here. On your quickness and discretion -will depend the lives of yourself and the others -who will be with you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is a great responsibility, sir," said I, "but -you can depend upon me to do my utmost to avoid -a disaster."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He pressed my hand to assure me of his confidence.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Midnight to-night will be the hour to start. -The crater of the volcano will then be at its -farthest from the sun. I shall so inform the -king when we leave the car."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you thought of any plan whereby we -may outwit his majesty?" I inquired.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have thought of it. Prior to the moment, of -embarking, I shall request his majesty to allow -you and the rest of our friends to come aboard -while I detain him and his followers outside for -a few final instructions. The king will suspect -nothing, for he will not imagine that I would -allow you to escape and leave me behind."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I shudder to think of that part of it," I -murmured. "Will you not reconsider your -determination, professor?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, Mr. Munn. On that point I am adamant. -The instant you enter the car, hurry aloft -and set loose the oxygen. I will drop this bit -of rope near the door when we leave, and you -will have to make use of it to tie the door -securely shut on the inside. Mind what I tell -you—do not pull the lever until the door is securely -closed."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I will remember."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The car is exactly under the crater opening, -and you will have a clear path aloft. Therefore -I would advise that you throw the lever to ninety -the instant the door is fastened."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I nodded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think that is all. Your work is simple -enough, for in order to reach Terra you have -only to reduce or expand the energy of the -anti-gravity cubes. We will now go below and rejoin -the king."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just a few minutes more, professor," I -begged. "This may be our last opportunity for -a private talk, and there is something I wish to -tell you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He turned back from the top of the iron stairway.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Go ahead, Mr. Munn," said he.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All of us whom you brought to Njambai," I -proceeded, "are changed men. To you alone we -owe this, and I wish to go on record, here and -now, for giving you credit. I see my past as -I thought I never should see it, and I realize how -I have wasted a large part of my life. I shall -prove a worthy citizen, if we succeed in -getting back to Earth, and it is you who have -brought about my reformation."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A glow came to the professor's face. He held -up one hand protestingly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is the truth," I insisted. "You have -argued with me constantly ever since we were -thrown together, and it was while on the road to -Baigol that the truth of your arguments -suddenly came home to me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I stretched out my hand, but he held back.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are too shrewd a man, Mr. Munn," said -he kindly, "to be so deceived. There have been -times when your artlessness made me wonder, -but you have never aroused my wonder quite so -much as you have now."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why is that?" I asked, puzzled.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Answer me this, Mr. Munn," he went on. -"How did it chance that Mr. Gilhooly so -suddenly recovered his reason?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He lost his wits suddenly, and crazed people -have been known to regain their sanity as quickly -as they lost it. It must have been so in -Gilhooly's case."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed!" he said, smiling. "And was it -merely a coincidence that you found your -conscience, and Gilhooly his reason, at the same -time?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Merely a coincidence," I replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He laughed, and it was his first happy laugh -since King Gaddbai had announced his coming -campaign in the direction of Terra.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let us go further," he went on. "What -caused Markham, Popham and Meigs to change -their points of view so miraculously? Was it -the coal mines, the lack of food and the need of -decent clothing?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All that merely paved the way," I averred. -"Your arguments did the rest."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are blind, Mr. Munn! It was not the -sufferings our friends endured, nor my arguments."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then what was it?" I demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The Bolla!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I recoiled, staring blankly at the kindly face -before me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't let me part from you, Professor -Quinn," I whispered hoarsely, "feeling that I -have left behind a man of unsound mind! If I -thought that, I believe I should remain here with -you at any cost."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Unsound mind?" he returned. "My dear -Munn! My brain was never clearer, nor my -reasoning more sound, than at the present moment. -You found the Bolla. The moment you picked -it up, every unworthy thought vanished from -your mind and you became morally the man you -ought to be. You did not understand the cause -of your salvation, and you hurled the stone from -you. Gilhooly picked it up. What happened -then? Did he not recover his senses and a true -outlook upon life at one and the same time? Yet, -as if this were not enough to prove a clear case -for the Bolla, note the change in Popham, -Markham and Meigs when I asked them to examine -the stone. All this, sir, should prove my -contention beyond all peradventure. I am filled -with wonder because you have gone so far afield -in trying to explain what has occurred."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The notion amazed, and, in a measure, -disappointed me. A black stone had turned me from -my evil course—a mere bit of insensate matter -about which clustered the traditions and -superstitious veneration of all Njambians! My -regeneration had come from without, and not from -within, and if there was no credit for the -professor in my awakening, then there was still less -for myself.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Not the operations of my own mind, urged -and guided by the friendly counsels of the -professor, but a stone which I had picked up to cast -away, had worked my transformation!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The fact still remained, and would always -remain, but it was in no way flattering to me. -What was going on in my mind must have been -divined by the professor, for he stepped close -and took the hand which he had a moment -before refused.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The methods of Fate are inexplicable to us -mortals, Mr. Munn," said he; "but what matters -it how a thing is brought to pass so long as -it really happens? And why should we concern -ourselves with a failure to understand the -underlying cause? Great is the Bolla, my friend, -even though its powers pass our comprehension! -I shall make it a point to see that it is returned -to King Golbai, during my probation here. To -accomplish that, and at the same time keep -watchful eyes on King Gaddbai, will not let time -hang heavy on my hands."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And you will not reconsider——"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He knew what I was about to say, pressed -my hand restrainingly and got up from his seat.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Presently he removed a few feet of rope from -a bale, and took a last, long look around him. -What his thoughts were I will not even hazard a -guess.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cutting loose from every tie that held him to -Earth, I knew very well what my feelings would -have been under the circumstances. But I have -already stated that the professor was "queer" in -his outlook upon life, and in his grasp of ways -and means, so my pen hesitates to attempt a -description of his emotions at this critical moment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When we emerged from the steel shell, the -king and his retainers crowded close to hear -what my companion had to say. His majesty -was greatly disappointed on learning that the -start was not to be made until some hours had -passed, but he smothered his impatience and -busied himself with a communication to the -regent giving the exact hour the expedition -intended to take its departure.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The historian chosen to accompany the -monarch and put into imperishable ideographs the -history he was to make transcribed the king's -message, and it was dispatched by courier to the -capital. Following this business, his majesty -entertained us with a review of the Gaddbaizets -selected by Olox for the expedition.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The diminutive soldiers were well-drilled, -well-equipped, and presented a dazzling spectacle in -their gilt war paint and yellow kirtles.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They were truly the flower of the country. -Each carried a pair of zetbais, filled to the white -tip with a special supply of zet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Quinn, now that his mind was made up to -defeat the king and to remain on Njambia, -displayed much interest in the maneuvres, even -going so far as to applaud them. Stores of -prepared food had been collected in bales, which -were piled in a heap beside the car, ready for -loading.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>One bale was opened toward the close of day, -and we used its contents for our supper rations. -Night fell, and the professor asked me to enter -the car and light the lamp on the table. I did -so, and in the glow that came through the car -windows we who were not gifted with the owl-sight -of the Njambaians were able to see a little -of what went on around us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the night advanced, and King Gaddbai -evinced his impatience and excitement by walking -back and forth in front of his picked guard, -strains of the national anthem were borne to us -from a distance. Louder and louder swelled the -tones of the word-boxes, and at last the regent -arrived, accompanied by a host from the town.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They were there to give their monarch a rousing -send-off, and I smiled a little as I thought of -the disappointment that was likely to overtake -them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While felicitations were being exchanged -between the king and his people, Professor Quinn -asked me to consult my watch. I found that -we were within fifteen minutes of midnight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>My timepiece was not strictly accurate, -inasmuch as in the exciting events of the morning -I had neglected my usual custom of setting the -hand three minutes back. However, the indicated -time was close enough for all practical purposes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Into the car with you, Mr. Munn," said the -professor as calmly as though his command were -not going to separate him from his kind for all -eternity. I would have taken his hand had he -not observed the movement and said quickly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Be careful! We must not let these people -suspect, by a word or gesture, the sort of </span><em class="italics">coup</em><span> -we are planning. Take the others with you—I -will speak to the king and cover your movements -as I have already outlined."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Those were Professor Quinn's last words to -me. My final glimpse of him showed me his -resolute face and slender form drifting away into -the gloom in the direction of King Gaddbai.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I felt as though I must run after him and drag -him into the car whether he would or no. How -I succeeded in fighting down the mad impulse -has ever since been a mystery to me; but I did, -and a word to Popham, Meigs, Markham, and -Gilhooly, who had already been informed that -they were to expect a startling dénouement, -brought them after me into the steel structure.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I heard Olox give a loud command for us to -turn back, but his word-box was suddenly -quieted, and I presumed that the professor had -already gone far enough with his part of the -ruse to lull any suspicions that had arisen.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Rope that steel door on the inside, Gilhooly!" -I cried as I bounded up the iron stairs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gilhooly did not know what had been planned, -but leaped instantly to the task. With a quick -pull of the lever I opened the oxygen tank and -dashed below once more.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Something had gone wrong outside—I did -not know what, and do not know to this day. -The mysterious violet fire which accompanied a -discharge of the zetbais was rolling all around -the steel wall that hemmed us in, and a perfect -tumult of shrieks and cries came frantically to our cars.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Violent hands were laid on the door, pushing -it inward against the rope made fast by Gilhooly. -Gilhooly and the others hurled themselves at -the portal and flung it back, holding it so by -main strength.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll be killed!" shouted Meigs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," I yelled, and jumped to the switch board.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The next instant the switch was thrown, and -the billows of fire faded from the car windows -as if by magic.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We were saved! Again had we plunged into -space, and behind us—living or dead I knew -not—we had left Professor Quinn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Sinking down on my knees I buried my face -in my hands.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="back-to-earth"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XIX.</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">BACK TO EARTH.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>I have heard some one say that life is only -a dream, and that when we awaken in the other -country we shall find it so. Far be it from me -to dispute this or affirm it, yet I know, of my -own experience, that our waking moments -furnish events that seem as illusory as the stuff -that dreams are made of.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Of all our strange adventures, the flight from -Njambai has been the one that I recall with most -vividness, and, at the same time, as seeming the -most unreal. The tension of my nerves at the -moment may account for this.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As I stated somewhere close to the beginning -of this narrative, what I set out to write was a -description of the planet Mercury in so far as -my limited abilities for observation enabled me -to gather knowledge. In looking back over my -manuscript, I find I have made it more of an -adventurous tale than I intended.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Now, when near the close, I can hold more -closely to my text and deal only generally with -our return trip to Terra. It is needless to dwell -upon the way we missed and mourned the -professor. At every turn some want developed -which he could easily have satisfied had he been -with us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>However, his wisdom had started us correctly, -and we had perforce to make shift and get along -without him as best we could. As captain of -the car, the weight of a great responsibility -rested on me. I was almost constantly at the -telescope, and I kept Gilhooly—in whom I had -the most confidence—about as constantly at the -switch board.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We were menaced by frequent dangers during -the trip, our course being literally strewn with -meteoroids which it required much deft maneuvring -to evade; but we came safely out of these -perils, and, as if to compensate us for them, we -formed a most happy juncture with the Earth's -orbit at a time when that planet was approaching -and nearly upon us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With Gilhooly at the lever, and myself at the -telescope, we accomplished a very successful -landing. So evenly balanced did the car hang -between the cubes and the drawing power of -gravity that the last thousand feet of our descent -was merely a floating earthward, and we alighted -with so slight a shock that none of us experienced -a particle of inconvenience.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The land that claimed us was a deserted island -in mid-Pacific, where we remained for two weeks, -living off our food supply and keeping a sharp -lookout for a sail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We had not been more than a day on the island -before I remembered the document Professor -Quinn had given me. I had been directed to -open it while on our way through the great void, -but I had been so burdened with responsibilities -during that time that I had not once thought of -the packet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With my four companions as auditors, I read -aloud one of the papers inclosed in the packet, -which was addressed to all of us jointly.</span></p> -<blockquote> -<div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"MY DEAR FRIENDS: When you read this, I -trust that the plans of myself and Mr. Munn -will have proved so far successful that an -impassable gulf will stretch between you and the -undersigned—and I write this out of a desire -to have you speeding on your return to our native -planet, not because I would willingly separate -myself from you were circumstances here -different from what we have found them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"As long as I live, I shall stand between King -Gaddbai and any monstrous plan he may form, -and attempt to carry out, looking to the -subjugating of the world we know and love so well. -I am convinced that the king has resources of -which we know nothing, and it shall be my aim -to fathom the resources of Njambai and assist -in their development along other and more -peaceable lines. This is to be my work, and I enter -upon it with a tranquil soul.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No doubt I took what you gentlemen may -think was an unwarranted liberty in luring four -of your number to my castle and casting it adrift -in the unknown. As for myself, I believe I had -ample warrant for doing what I did; I will not -dwell on that motive, as it is already familiar to you.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The experience each of you has had on -Njambai has been most salutary. You have -undergone a change of heart, and reform has wrought -its great work. Had I not been assured of this, -none of you would ever have left this sphere for -that other one which has been the cradle of your -pet schemes in speculation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You are not the same men you were. As -reformers, you will do your share to preserve -our noble country from dire calamities that -threaten it. That is your mission, and see to it -that you fail not in its performance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is my prayerful hope that you will reach -your destination in safety, and with Mr. Munn -at the helm I am prone to think that this result -will be achieved. If a civilized country claims -you, immediately upon landing it is my wish that -you give full power to the anti-gravity cubes and -send the car into space; it is my wish that none -of you give a record of his experiences to the -papers, either wholly or in part, until five years -have passed, and then that this duty devolve upon -Mr. Munn; and it is my final wish that -Mr. Munn accept the enclosed deed to my Harlem -lot, and the enclosed check making payable to -him all the funds I have in bank. I would have -him return to the other four of you an equivalent -for the funds and valuables stolen the night we -left Earth in the car.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My second wish, as to the revelations you -gentlemen could make, is born of a desire to -save the earth dwellers any unnecessary fear on -the score of King Gaddbai and his undertakings. -If he has not invaded Terra with his terrifying -zetbais by the time five years have elapsed, it -is my conviction that the danger will be done -away with forever.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Gentlemen, adieu. As you read this, I give -you hail from Njambai. QUINN."</span></p> -</div> -</blockquote> -<p class="pfirst"><span>A fortnight after the reading of the above -document, we sighted a sail on the horizon, and, -by means of a rope reaching from the switch -board through a window, the lever was pulled -and Professor Quinn's castle shot into the clouds -and vanished for all time. Three hours later -we were picked up by a whale boat, conveyed to -the tramp steamer </span><em class="italics">Mollie O.,</em><span> and in a month -sailed through the Golden Gate into San -Francisco harbor.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>* * * * *</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The five years have passed, and I have set -my hand to the foregoing. Gilhooly and Meigs -have crossed to the great majority, but the -strenuous work they did in the interests of the -people is an imperishable monument to their -memory. Popham and Markham are still laboring -for the good of the cause.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The return to home and friends of these four, -long given up for dead, caused a sensation -throughout the country. True to the expressed -wish of Professor Quinn, none of them has -breathed a whisper of the marvelous things he -saw, or of the weird experiences that fell to his -lot while journeying to and from Njambai, and -while sojourning upon that planet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So far as I am concerned, my life since my -return to Earth has been as spotless as a thorough -reformation could make it. As far as I could, -I have reimbursed those from whom I took what -was not rightfully mine, I have pleaded the cause -of the poor man, and helped him liberally out -of the generous fortune bestowed upon me by -Professor Quinn, and I intend to pursue this line -of action until the last day of my life.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Could a reformed burglar have a more -suitable occupation?</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">THE END.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>* * * * * * * *</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">SCIENCE FICTION</span></p> -<p class="noindent pnext"><span>About, Edmond. The Man with the Broken Ear. 1872 -<br />Allen, Grant. The British Barbarians: A Hill-Top Novel. 1895 -<br />Arnold, Edwin L. Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation. 1905 -<br />Ash, Fenton. A Trip to Mars. 1909 -<br />Aubrey, Frank. A Queen of Atlantis. 1899 -<br />Bargone, Charles (Claude Farrere, pseud.). Useless Hands. [1926] -<br />Beale, Charles Willing. The Secret of the Earth. 1899 -<br />Bell, Eric Temple (John Taine, pseud.). Before the Dawn. 1934 -<br />Benson, Robert Hugh. Lord of the World. 1908 -<br />Beresford, J. D. The Hampdenshire Wonder. 1911 -<br />Bradshaw, William R. The Goddess of Atvatabar. 1892 -<br />Capek, Karel. Krakatit. 1925 -<br />Chambers, Robert W. The Gay Rebellion. 1913 -<br />Colomb, P. et al. The Great War of 189-. 1893 -<br />Cook, William Wallace. Adrift in the Unknown, n.d. -<br />Cummings, Ray. The Man Who Mastered Time. 1929 -<br />[DeMille, James]. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. 1888 -<br />Dixon, Thomas. The Fall of a Nation: A Sequel to the Birth of a Nation. 1916 -<br />England, George Allan. The Golden Blight. 1916 -<br />Fawcett, E. Douglas. Hartmann the Anarchist. 1893 -<br />Flammarion, Camille. Omega: The Last Days of the World. 1894 -<br />Grant, Robert et al. The King's Men: A Tale of To-Morrow. 1884 -<br />Grautoff, Ferdinand Heinrich (Parabellum, pseud.). Banzai! 1909 -<br />Graves, C. L. and E. V. Lucas. The War of the Wenuses. 1898 -<br />Greer, Tom. A Modern Daedalus. [1887] -<br />Griffith, George. A Honeymoon in Space. 1901 -<br />Grousset, Paschal (A. Laurie, pseud.). The Conquest of the Moon. 1894 -<br />Haggard, H. Rider. When the World Shook. 1919 -<br />Hernaman-Johnson, F. The Polyphemes. 1906 -<br />Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe. Empire of the World. [1910] -<br />In The Future. [1875] -<br />Jane, Fred T. The Violet Flame. 1899 -<br />Jefferies, Richard. After London; Or, Wild England. 1885 -<br />Le Queux, William. The Great White Queen. [1896] -<br />London, Jack. The Scarlet Plague. 1915 -<br />Mitchell, John Ames. Drowsy. 1917 -<br />Morris, Ralph. The Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel. 1751 -<br />Newcomb, Simon. His Wisdom The Defender: A Story. 1900 -<br />Paine, Albert Bigelow. The Great White Way. 1901 -<br />Pendray, Edward (Gawain Edwards, pseud.). The Earth-Tube. 1929 -<br />Reginald, R. and Douglas Menville. Ancestral Voices: An Anthology of Early Science Fiction. 1974 -<br />Russell, W. Clark. The Frozen Pirate. 2 vols. in 1. 1887 -<br />Shiel, M. P. The Lord of the Sea. 1901 -<br />Symmes, John Cleaves (Captain Adam Seaborn, pseud.). Symzonia. 1820 -<br />Train, Arthur and Robert W. Wood. The Man Who Rocked the Earth. 1915 -<br />Waterloo, Stanley. The Story of Ab: A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man. 1903 -<br />White, Stewart E. and Samuel H. Adams. The Mystery. 1907 -<br />Wicks, Mark. To Mars Via the Moon. 1911 -<br />Wright, Sydney Fowler. Deluge: A Romance and Dawn. 2 vols. in 1. 1928/1929</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em"> -</div> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="backmatter"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line"><span>*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN</span><span> ***</span></p> -<div class="cleardoublepage"> -</div> -<div class="language-en level-2 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<span id="pg-footer"></span><h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><span>A Word from Project Gutenberg</span></h2> -<p class="pfirst"><span>We will update this book if we find any errors.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This book can be found under: </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44404"><span>http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44404</span></a></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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