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diff --git a/44404.txt b/44404.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7261f48..0000000 --- a/44404.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7415 +0,0 @@ - ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN - - - - -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 Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Adrift in the Unknown - or, Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm -Author: William Wallace Cook -Release Date: December 10, 2013 [EBook #44404] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - Adrift in the Unknown - - OR, - - Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm - - - By WILLIAM WALLACE COOK - - Author of "The Paymaster's Special," "A Deep-sea Game," - "In the Web," "His Friend the Enemy," etc. - - - - STREET & SMITH CORPORATION - PUBLISHERS - 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York - - - - - *A CARNIVAL OF ACTION* - - *ADVENTURE LIBRARY* - - *Splendid, Interesting, Big Stories* - -For the present the Adventure Library will be devoted to the publication -of stories by William Wallace Cook. - -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. - -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. - - - - - Copyright 1904-1906 - By Frank A. Munsey Co. - - Adrift in the Unknown - - - (Printed In the United States of America) - - - - - *CONTENTS* - - I. Lost, Strayed, or Stolen? - II. An Uninvited Guest - III. Professor Quinn's Feat - IV. The Plutocrats Reconciled - V. Traveling Sunward - VI. A Landing Effected - VII. Facing a Mercurial Storm - VIII. The Mercurials - IX. Learning the Word-Box - X. How We were Catalogued - XI. The Dilemma of Mr. Meigs - XII. Condemned to Death - XIII. A Threatening Calamity - XIV. Plan to Steal a Building - XV. Surveying our own Planet - XVI. How Ill-Luck Overtook Me - XVII. A Change of Heart - XVIII. How We Outwitted the King - XIX. Back to Earth - - - - - *ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN.* - - - - *CHAPTER I.* - - *LOST, STRAYED, OR STOLEN?* - - -There could be no more fitting introduction to this most amazing -narrative from the pen of James Peter Munn than that article in the -_Morning Mercury_. - -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 _Mercury_ article should -do its mite toward preparing the reader for what is to come. - -In the first place, the story was what newspaper men call a "scoop." - -The article in the first edition ran as follows: - - - QUINN'S CASTLE VANISHES. - - AND SO DOES QUINN! WITH HOUSE AND BELONGINGS. THE HARLEM SAGE - DISAPPEARS IN A SINGLE HOUR. LEAVING NOT A TRACE BEHIND. - - What happened to Professor Quinn last night? And what happened - to the strange steel structure known locally among Harlem - residents as Quinn's Castle? - - 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. - - 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. - - 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. - - 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 _Mercury_ presents the following facts: - - 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. - - 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. - - (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.) - - 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. - - 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. - - Yet where is he? And where is his castle? Until some Vidocq - appears and solves the mystery, echo can only answer "Where?" - - -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: - - 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. - - 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. - - 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. - - -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. - -The bright reporter on the _Mercury_ made further discoveries, which -were printed in the third edition rushed from the presses of his paper. - - 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. - - 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. - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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 _coup_ was -brought before them, they would proceed to lay the spectre forthwith. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER II.* - - *AN UNINVITED GUEST.* - - -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. - -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? - -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. - -'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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -Four gentlemen, all of distinguished mien and important bearing, -followed the owner of the castle, and began glancing about with -ill-concealed amusement. - -"Gad, but this is an odd place!" exclaimed one. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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'?" - -The gentlemen acknowledged that they had not. Professor Quinn seemed -disappointed. - -"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?" - -The Napoleons of finance stared at one another. J. Archibald Meigs went -so far as to tap a suggestive finger against his forehead. - -"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?" - -They did follow him, and so signified. - -"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. - -"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. - -"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----" - -Augustus Popham got up hurriedly and put on his hat. - -"A rattle-brained idea, sir!" he exclaimed. "I have no mind to remain -here and listen to such talk." - -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. - -Before he could reach the door, Professor Quinn was in front of him, -barring his way. - -"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." - -"Theories are cheap things," muttered Popham, as he again seated -himself. "An ounce of proof is worth a pound of theory." - -"Exactly," cried Quinn, "and the ounce of proof shall be forthcoming." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"Poppycock!" muttered the coal baron. - -"A trick!" exclaimed Meigs. - -The other two remained silent. They were bewildered, perhaps impressed. - -"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." - -The gentlemen hesitated, but finally came forward, got down with some -difficulty, and grasped the chain as directed. - -"Hold tight!" exclaimed the professor, and drew the pin from the clevis. - -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. - -Bewilderment was written large in the faces of the quartet, their -credulity struggling against the evidence of their senses. - -"You are a good magician, sir," averred Popham, brushing the damp from -his forehead with a handkerchief. - -"You could make your fortune as an entertainer," declared Gilhooly. - -J. Archibald Meigs chewed briskly on an unlighted cigar, while Hannibal -Markham kept his eyes on the cube and dangling chain like one -fascinated. - -"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. - -The head of the railway pool consulted his repeater. - -"Eleven-fourteen," he replied. - -"And high time I was going," added Popham. - -"Just a few moments more," said the professor. - -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. - -"What's this?" cried Markham, jumping up. - -"Do not be alarmed, my friends," cried Quinn, whirling around. - -His face was pallid as death, and his beady eyes gleamed like coals. -Then, wonder of wonders, the white cube settled to the floor. - -"Ha!" shouted Popham. "Your anti-gravity compound is not very long -lived, it seems to me." - -"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----" - -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. - -"What's this, what's this?" gasped Gilhooly. - -"An insult!" muttered Popham. - -"The old addle-pate is not accountable for what he says or does," -remarked J. Archibald Meigs. - -"We had best leave this steel trap of his while there is yet time," -counseled Markham. - -"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!" - -Quinn looked like a Nemesis as he confronted the four men and lashed -them with his scorpion whip of words. - -"Fiddlededee!" exclaimed Popham. - -"We deserve it," said Meigs, "for it was the height of folly for us to -come here, in the first place." - -"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?" - -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. - -"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." - -"Platitudes!" sneered Popham. - -"To call a truth a platitude is witless argument," answered Quinn -serenely. - -"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." - -"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!" - -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. - -"I think we had better get out of here," again suggested Markham. His -half convictions appeared to arouse some small amount of apprehension. - -"I'm of the same opinion," spoke up Meigs. - -"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." - -Professor Quinn laughed. - -"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!" - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"Am I to understand that you decline our offer?" demanded Popham. - -"Most decidedly!" - -"Then there is nothing more to be said. Come on, gentlemen," and Popham -started toward the door. - -"A moment more, if you please," requested the professor. - -"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." - -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. - -Starting up, I drew my revolver and ran hastily down the iron stairs. - - - - - *CHAPTER III.* - - *PROFESSOR QUINN'S FEAT.* - - -My unexpected advent upon the scene proved as startling as I had -anticipated. Even the professor was dashed. - -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. - -At that period of my life, inspired by the sophistry to which I have -already adverted, I was a cool and dangerous man. - -"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." - -"Who are you, sir?" demanded Quinn. - -"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. - -"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." - -The threat was sufficient, and the usual sunny smile returned to my face -as I added: - -"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." - -Fidelity to truth forces me to chronicle the above speech. The _eclat_ -with which I made it is far from me now as I pen it verbatim. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Evidently this amuses you!" cried Gilhooly, in anger, his snapping eyes -on the professor. - -"Your inference is correct, Mr. Gilhooly," answered Quinn. "I am -profoundly amused. It is all so unexpected, so dramatic, and -so--useless." - -"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." - -"A pretty scheme!" snapped Meigs. - -"Clever, very clever," put in Markham. - -"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." - -I was surprised at the way Quinn took this talk. He continued to smile -and was in no way ruffled. - -"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." - -"Mr. Munn," said Quinn, "how long have you been engaged in this -business?" - -"For some years now, sir," I answered. - -"You were honest--once?" - -"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." - -"A dangerous man!" muttered Gilhooly. - -"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!" - -"Merciful heavens!" gasped Meigs, in horror. "I feel sorry for my -country when it produces such men." - -"We--we are tottering on the verge of chaos!" added Markham, in a stage -whisper. - -I laughed at all this, for I enjoyed it hugely. - -"Spare yourselves any needless worry about me, gentlemen," said I. -"Look to home, and you will probably find enough there to fret your -consciences." - -Professor Quinn continued to take pleasure out of the queer situation. - -"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." - -"You are either a fool or a madman!" cried Popham. - -"A rattle-brained zealot!" chimed in Meigs. - -"You are the one who should see things differently," said Markham. "You -preach a doctrine which you fail to apply personally." - -"Enough of this talk, gentlemen," I interposed. "My situation is -precarious and I must ask you to hurry a little." - -"Sir," shouted Popham, leveling a forefinger at me, "I shall see you -properly jailed for this. Why, you miserable footpad, I can----" - -"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." - -He started to argue the point with me, and I allowed my forefinger to -flex, ever so slightly, upon the trigger. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -I was watched by the plutocrats in philosophical silence; by the -professor, with a geniality that nothing seemed able to shake. - -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. - -"Good-by," said I airily. - -"_Au revoir_," answered the professor. "Look well where you step." - -I threw open the door with a laugh. The laugh faded into a shout of -terror. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -Presently I sat up, rubbing forehead and eyes. - -The professor stood in the open door, gloating over the vista below. - -"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." - -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. - -He recoiled with a yell; then, maddened by what he had seen, he leaped -erect and tried to hurl himself out into space. - -"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." - -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. - -Gilhooly jumped forward, gave vent to a maniacal laugh, then crumpled -down on the floor. - -"Bid up for the G.H.&D.," he mumbled, "bid to the limit! I must have -that road--I _will_ have it." - -"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!" - -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: - -"Madman, what have you done?" - -"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!" - -"Your--your castle has risen from the earth?" asked Meigs. - -"It has fallen off the earth. As you and I and the others happened to -be inside, we fell with it!" - -Sudden rage convulsed Meigs. He crouched downward, his eyes ablaze and -his fingers working convulsively. - -"Scoundrel!" he screamed, and launched himself at the professor's throat -like a tiger. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV.* - - *THE PLUTOCRATS RECONCILED.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Leave the professor alone," said I. "You men show mighty poor -judgment, it strikes me, in trying to lay violent hands on him." - -"He deserves death," babbled Meigs. "He had no business shooting us -into space in this summary manner." - -Fear and anger had made Meigs childish. He measured our dilemma in -terms so common a smile came to my lips. - -"Judgment, poor judgment!" sniffed Popham. "Look at Gilhooly, and then -talk about poor judgment, if you can." - -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. - -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. - -"This professor ought to be flayed alive," declared Markham. "Where are -we going, and when will we get there?" - -"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." - -"But what will my family think?" whimpered Meigs. "And my business -interests!" - -He threw up his hands and fell back in his seat with a groan. Then -abruptly he straightened up again. - -"This is a dream! By gad, it must be! The whole affair is too -outrageously unreal for any sane man to believe." - -Gilhooly gave a maudlin chuckle. - -"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! _Now_ we'll see! -_Now!_" - -Meigs shivered. Gilhooly's maunderings struck sharply at his desire to -coddle himself with a myth. - -"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." - -Professor Quinn laughed. It was an eerie laugh, and it shook me to hear -it. - -"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?" - -"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?" - -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. - -"It is twelve-fifteen," said I. - -Quinn took a pencil and notebook from his pocket and did some figuring. - -"We might be a little more than two miles from our native planet," said -he, "but----" - -"Only two miles!" cried the three exiles in chorus. - -"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." - -"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." - -"No?" murmured Markham. - -"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." - -"In other words," said Popham feebly, "we are sailing skyward at a rate -of--of three thousand miles per--per minute?" - -"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." - -"And should be one hundred and eighty thousand miles from home," -faltered Meigs. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"I am sure we are traveling fast enough," said Meigs, leaning back on -the divan hopelessly dejected. - -"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." - -"Our lives, forsooth!" exclaimed Markham bitterly. "Of what value is -life to us, situated as we are?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"Hadn't you better be up there on the look-out?" queried Markham in some -trepidation. - -He was manifesting an interest in his personal safety that pleased the -professor. - -"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." - -"Will it not be possible to land on some other planet, Mars, for -instance?" queried Popham with sudden hope. - -"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." - -Quinn shook his head. - -"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." - -"The moon isn't so far off," suggested Markham. - -"Only two hundred and forty thousand miles," said Quinn. - -"We should be there in less than two hours from the time of starting," -remarked Meigs, after a mental bout with the figures. - -"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----" - -"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?" - -"Entirely so, Mr. Markham," replied Quinn. - -"Evidently," proceeded Markham, "your plot has cost you some time and -labor. You had first to find your gravity-resisting compound----" - -"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." - -"You have planned so well in the smaller details that I wonder you -overlooked the main point." - -"And that is----" - -"What you are going to do with us, now that your plan has succeeded." - -The professor tossed his hands deprecatingly as though that was really -the most insignificant part of his startling scheme. - -"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." - -"It's awful to contemplate," said Meigs, casting a melancholy glance -through the iron latticework at one of the windows. - -The bags of loot were in that vicinity, at the moment, and his glance -swerved reproachfully to me. - -"We shall make a landing, I have no doubt," said the professor -soothingly, "somehow and somewhere." - -"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." - -"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?" - -"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." - -Under the spell of Markham's words, Popham began to glow and expand. -Meigs, all attention, pressed a little closer. - -"The bigger the planet the bigger our field of operations!" cried -Popham. "What's the matter with Jupiter?" - -"Or Saturn?" echoed Meigs. - -"Or Neptune?" put in Markham. - -"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." - -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. - -"Think of that, professor!" I muttered. "And yet there are people who -find fault with a respectable burglar." - -"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." - -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. - -"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----" - -At that instant a most astounding thing happened. The car ducked -sideways, throwing the whole structure out of plumb. - -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. - -Cries of terror went up from Markham, Meigs, and Popham. - -"Where's Gilhooly?" shouted the professor. - -He was answered by a wild yell from overhead. - -"He's in the storeroom!" cried Quinn. "Follow me with that lamp, -Munn--quick!" - -The professor rushed for the stairway and I made after him with what -speed I could. - - - - - *CHAPTER V.* - - *TRAVELING SUNWARD.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -"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. - -"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." - -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. - -Meigs and Popham dropped down on a packing case with Gilhooly moored -between them, and Markham took up his station on an overturned cask. - -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. - -Out of a desire to tag the various materials understandingly, I lifted -the lid of my curiosity and let out a few questions. - -"If I mistake not," said I, "you mentioned this anti-temperature -material once before. What is it, professor?" - -"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. - -"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." - -"You are a very able man, professor," acknowledged Popham. "How long -have you been planning this little excursion?" - -"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." - -"It was your purpose to foil the speculative gentlemen," I struck in, -"and so come to the aid of a long-suffering public?" - -"You hit off the matter finely, Mr. Munn," replied the professor. "That -was my purpose." - -"Could not your anti-temperature mixture have been donated to the poor -with beneficial results?" - -"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." - -"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?" - -"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?" - -The three millionaires understood the situation, but, judging from the -expression of their faces, the knowledge brought keen disappointment. - -"There are only two planets between the earth and the sun," observed -Markham, "Mercury and Venus, if I remember rightly." - -"Both insignificant," grumbled Popham. - -"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----" - -"That does not interest us," cut in Meigs. "Sunward the planets are -smaller, but they get larger as you go the other way." - -"Larger," expounded the professor, "but less dense." - -"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!" - -"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." - -"Are we to understand, then," cried Markham, "that we are compelled to -put up with either Mercury or Venus?" - -"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." - -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. - -"Corner, corner, corner," babbled Gilhooly; "make a corner, corner -everything." - -Markham dropped his face in his hands, Meigs bowed his head, and I saw a -shiver run through Popham. - -"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." - -"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!" - -"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?" - -"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." - -This was too deep for me, and I cast about for some equally important -question which would bring a less indefinite response. - -"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." - -"The food supply, Mr. Munn," answered the professor, "is adequate. -There will be no famine." - -"And the water, the oxygen, the----" - -"I have looked after everything necessary to our safety and comfort." - -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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI.* - - *A LANDING EFFECTED.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -Markham, I remember, was munching a sandwich, contrived out of two -crackers and a slice of tinned beef. - -"Did you never reflect, Mr. Munn," said he, "upon the evil of your -past?" - -"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." - -"Ah, yes, I was forgetting about the books. Were you not horrified with -the results of your retrospection?" - -"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." - -Markham stared at me dazedly. - -"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." - -"Mr. Munn, Mr. Munn!" whispered Markham hoarsely. "Think of the people -from whom you have taken property dishonestly." - -"I never think of them but to wish that I had been able to relieve them -of more." - -"This is awful!" muttered Markham. "You really exult over what you have -done." - -He would have started down the iron stairs had I not restrained him with -a word. - -"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." - -Markham coughed. "Any asteroids in sight?" he inquired absently. - -"I wonder if _you_ ever did any reflecting?" I asked tartly. - -"What do you think of Quinn?" and Markham looked away as I took my eye -from the telescope and gave him an expressive wink. - -"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." - -"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." - -"Mr. Markham, Mr. Markham!" I breathed, in horrified protest. - -"You have bolstered up your nefarious business with false ideals," he -went on, "and you are unregenerate and lost!" - -"This is awful!" I murmured. - -"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." - -"I would not so belittle my ideals," I returned bluntly. - -"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?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"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----" - -"Hold!" fumed Markham, plunging for the stairs, "I have heard enough." - -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. - -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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -A war of hot words was on between myself and the Wall Street broker when -Quinn interfered. - -"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." - -"What world is that?" said Popham, pricking tip his ears. - -"Mercury," answered the professor. "It is the smallest orb in our solar -system and measures some three thousand miles in diameter." - -"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." - -"I wonder if they have coal mines there?" murmured Popham meditatively. - -"And if they grow wheat and cotton?" added Meigs. - -"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." - -"Poor Gilhooly!" sighed Meigs. "What a pity it will be if the -Mercurials prove to have traction interests!" - -"How long before we shall reach this planet you speak of, professor?" -inquired Popham. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -When five hours were gone, the professor left the lever and came -upstairs to have a look through the telescope for himself. - -"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. - -"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." - -"Trust me, sir," said I. - -But the professor was loath to let me go without still further -impressing upon me the importance of the work before us. - -"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." - -"I understand, professor," I answered and went downstairs. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -Cries of wonder and apprehension echoed to me from overhead. Above them -I heard the shrill voice of the professor: - -"Zero." - -"Zero," I repeated, throwing the lever clear over. - -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. - -"Forty-five!" shrieked Quinn. - -"Forty-five!" I yelled, throwing the lever half over. - -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. - -"Twenty!" came down from above. - -"Twenty," I answered hoarsely, struggling erect and shifting the lever. - -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. - -"Fifteen!" - -"Fifteen!" and over went the lever for five degrees. - -We were swinging stationary in mid-air. From the window by the switch -board I looked outward and downward with bulging eyes. - -A dazzling glow covered peak and plain, and I turned away that my sight -might not be blinded to the lever numbers. - -"Ten!" cried the professor. - -"Ten it is!" and I threw the switch to the number given. - -Then again we dropped, but slowly, very slowly. - -"Five!" - -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. - -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. - -I struggled, but I might as well have tried to rise under the -thousand-tons pressure of a hydraulic press. - -"Ten!" cried Quinn. - -I did not answer--I could not, for my tongue was lolling between my -lips. - -"Ten!" screamed Quinn. "_Ten--or we're lost!_" - -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. - -All tangible life slipped away from me, and I collapsed into an -unconsciousness that I felt might be death itself. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII.* - - *FACING A MERCURIAL STORM.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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." - -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. - -"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." - -"Don't blame the professor for a fault of mine, Meigs," I spoke up -warmly. - -The broker looked at me with something like contempt. - -"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." - -"That's right," added Popham, lifting himself to the divan. - -"Gilhooly made an attack on me," said I. "He bore me down and came -within one of strangling me." - -"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. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Where did you get that key?" demanded the professor, one hand groping -in his pocket. - -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. - -"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." - -"What are you intending to do?" asked the professor quietly. - -"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." - -"Ah!" murmured Quinn, a slow smile hovering about his thin lips. - -The smile caused some acerbity to manifest itself in the three gentlemen -at the door. They drew themselves up haughtily. - -"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----" - -"Your business interests had my every consideration," interrupted the -professor. - -Meigs took no notice of the remark. - -"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?" - -The professor laughed softly and seated himself. - -"Sit down, Mr. Munn," said he. "We have been ostracized by our -fellow-exiles. Let us see how well they get along without us." - -"We bid you farewell," finished Meigs loftily. - -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. - -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. - -"Hurry, Munn!" cried Quinn. "Drag Meigs away from the door or he'll be -burned to a crisp!" - -The broker was already smoking when I caught his ankles and jerked him -inside. The professor slammed the door. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -He was not disrobed, and when sufficiently drenched he leaped from the -tub and fled, raving, to the lower chamber. - -"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." - -"How can there be any life in such an over-heated atmosphere?" inquired -Markham. - -"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." - -His eyes twinkled. - -"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." - -I chuckled at that, and Meigs and his two companions grew duly -resentful. - -"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." - -"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." - -"Or wearing apparel," added Meigs listlessly. "Cotton couldn't grow in -such a temperature. And as for wheat!" He shook his head wearily. - -Cotton and wheat were the abc of his Wall Street experience. Beyond -those commodities he groped in the dark. - -"What sort of food can be grown on such a sun-baked planet?" grumbled -Markham. - -The railway man was shouting something about watered stock, and his -babbling was wafted up to us. - -"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!" - -"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. - -"At the poles of Mercury, in what answers to the polar regions of our -own earth, there must be a more tempered climate----" - -"Then let us get there, by all means," cut in Popham. - -"In whatever we do," answered Quinn, "we must make haste slowly." - -"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." - -"Very good," returned the professor. "We will make our preparations and -go forth." - -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. - -"Sing Sing!" he called out as the professor unlocked the door at the -entrance and pulled it open. - -"Here's where you get off, Munn," said Meigs maliciously. - -"Here's where we all get off," returned the professor, smiling. - -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. - -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. - -It was beyond the power of our eyes to penetrate to the black depths of -the great pit. - -"Listen!" cried the professor, his voice resounding so thunderously as -almost to deafen us--some trick of the atmosphere. - -We stood silently, our ears alert, and heard a confused babel of sound -proceeding apparently out of the very core of the volcano. - -"Sub-Mercurial fires may be at work down there," whispered the -professor, nodding toward the crater. - -Even the whisper sounded unpleasantly loud to us. - -"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?" - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -"No trees, no water, no life of any kind," muttered Meigs querulously. - -"There is a bright spot over there," said Quinn, shading his eyes and -pointing. - -Our eyes followed his finger and encountered a glittering object on a -slight elevation. As we gazed, the object, whatever it was, slowly -vanished. - -"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." - -He would have started forthwith, but the professor stretched out a hand -and detained him. - -"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?" - -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. - -"There's another one of the things!" spoke up Meigs, pointing in another -direction. - -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. - -Some of the hills were capped with the mysterious gleam, which dazzled -for a time and then twinkled out. - -The professor was perplexed, as I could see plainly. - -"We'll examine one of those hills," said Meigs, "and find out what this -means." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"You'd think he belonged to a circus," observed the disgusted Popham. -"I'll go down there and put a stop to the performance." - -"And I'll go along and help," added Markham, visibly distracted because -of the broker's folly. - -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. - -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. - -"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?" - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -A pall had fallen over the landscape. The sun was blotted out by inky -clouds, and a tremendous wind began to blow. - -"We must get back to the car!" cried Quinn. - -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. - -"Merciful powers!" roared Popham, as he and Meigs were driven against -each other with a terrific impact. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Popham and Meigs will be killed if we can't get to them!" shouted -Markham. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Join hands," cried the professor, "and we'll get under the lee of that -rock. Careful, now! We must not get separated again." - -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. - -"What a place, what a place!" groaned Popham. - -"I wish Venus hadn't been out of our course," wailed Meigs. "Certainly -we couldn't have been any worse off there than here." - -"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." - -"What are we to do now?" demanded Popham. "You got us into this, Quinn, -and you've got to get us out of it." - -"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." - -"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." - -"A mistake," breathed Meigs, with some heat, "that came near having -tragic consequences. Popham and I were knocked about like a couple of -footballs." - -"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." - -"That is true," said the professor. "We must get back to the car." - -"There's no telling what will become of us if we try that," called -Markham. - -"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." - -"Even the car may not be able to stand up against this wind," clamored -Meigs. - -"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." - -The professor got up slowly, bracing himself against the fierce swirl -that came around the side of the rock. - -"Come," he called; "it is now or never." - -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. - -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. - -It snapped and crackled overhead and ran like trailing serpents over the -rocks. We were in a sea of flame. - -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. - -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. - -I was hurled against something which I gripped with convulsive energy. -The something gripped me in return. - -"Help!" I cried, bereft of my wits and eager only for rescue. - -"Munn!" shouted a voice. "Is this you?" - -"Quinn!" I exclaimed. - -"We must hang together." said Quinn. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Thank Heaven!" murmured the professor, withdrawing himself from me. -"Are you alive, Mr. Munn?" - -"I believe so," I answered. "What has happened to us, professor?" - -"We have been flung into some sort of a shelter, it seems to me," he -replied. - -"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!" - -Abruptly we fell into broad day, surrounded by such sights and sounds -that I thought myself dealing with the mysteries of a disordered dream. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII.* - - *THE MERCURIALS.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Can you talk English?" asked the professor at last. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"A bright little people," observed the professor as he ate. - -"Seemingly," I responded. - -"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." - -"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!" - -Quinn gave me a reproachful look, and I hastily apologized for even -mentioning a branch of my profession. - -"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?" - -"No," said I. - -"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." - -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. - -"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?" - -"Nothing else could have happened." - -The professor gave a start and looked worried. - -"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." - -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. - -"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?" - -"True, very true," said he. - -"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." - -"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." - -"These Mercurials appear to stand the heat pretty well," I remarked. - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"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----" - -"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." - -"A return is possible?" I asked, hiding the wonder his words aroused. - -"Anything is possible." - -"How about the millionaires? Are they to return provided the means are -at hand?" - -"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?" - -The professor's brow clouded with anxiety. - -"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." - -"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." - -"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 proteges. 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." - -"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." - -"Popham will find little pleasure in that," I laughed. - -"Like the rest of us," answered the professor grimly, "he will have to -accustom himself to new conditions." - -"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?" - -The professor frowned. My mind was running in its old groove despite -its novel environment. - -"That query was inspired by an unworthy motive, Mr. Munn," said Quinn -severely. - -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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"I am glad to see your thoughts taking a philosophical trend, Mr. Munn," -said the professor. "It argues well for your future." - -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. - -"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." - -I looked in the direction indicated by the professor, and saw a long -line of billiard balls rolling our way. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -While this was going forward, Quinn suddenly seized my arm, a troubled -look crossing his face. - -"What is the matter, professor?" I asked. - -"Matter enough, Mr. Munn!" he answered. "The lever was left on Number -Five!" - -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. - -"And what of that, sir?" I asked. - -"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!" - -"You think it has been blown----" - -"Aye! Blown to the uttermost parts of Mercury and perhaps wrecked and -lost--lost with all our scientific apparatus and other paraphernalia!" - -"But----" - -"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!" - -I had already imagined a possible return to Terra, and from this it, -seemed that the professor had not lost sight of that contingency. - -"What is to be done?" I asked, catching some of his excitement. - -"We must return to the outer shell--we must find the car--we must go -back on the oven when they send it up!" - -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. - -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. - -Our movements, however, had acted as a check on proceedings. - -"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----" - -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. - -The professor also resorted to violence. In the midst of it all, I -caught a glimpse of the gilded gentleman aiming his baton. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX.* - - *LEARNING THE WORD-BOX.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -I remember that I asked him a question concerning a matter that had long -been weighing upon my mind. - -"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 _en masse_." - -"I can demonstrate that by means of an algebraic formula," said he. -"Are you acquainted with algebra?" - -"No," I answered humbly. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -The professor was right. Ever since our disastrous attempt to regain -the surface we had been tabooed by the inhabitants of the country. - -"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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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 _chef -d'oeuvre_. 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.) - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"I say, professor," I called restrainingly, "don't do anything rash." - -"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?" - -"Professor," I answered, "your ideas and mine do not harmonize on this -matter of property rights." - -"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." - -"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." - -"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?" - -"Your mere command is enough, professor," I replied. "It is not -necessary to couple it with a threat." - -His face softened, and he at once returned to me my talk-producer. - -"I beg your pardon, Mr. Munn," said he. "I have confidence in your -word, and know that I can trust you." - -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. - -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: - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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 _spatli_ across--a _spatl_ -being the equivalent of a geographical mile. - -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. - -The heat thus secured was further intensified by the planet's shell, -which, forming the vault of the nether kingdoms, constantly diffused -warmth. - -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. - -Names of people, places, and things, as here given, are simply a rude -equivalent as nearly as can be rendered into English. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -At last, far off, the professor and I heard a thunderous shout: - -"Toot, t-o-o-t! Ting-a-ling-a-ling!" - -No word-box could have been the source of that echoing cry. The -professor gave a gasp and clutched my arm convulsively. - -"Do you recognize that voice?" he asked hoarsely. "Merciful powers, Mr. -Munn, how could such a thing happen? Look! Look!" - -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! - -The professor threw himself at the barrier that hedged us round. He -could not pass, although he struggled frantically. - -"Take it coolly, professor," I urged, grasping and holding him upright. - -"But this is outrageous, Mr. Munn!" he cried. "Poor Gilhooly! Is _he_ -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?" - -His eyes swept the ground. Glimpsing his talking machine he dived for -it and began working the keys like mad. - -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. - -It was a sad spectacle indeed. I was almost as completely unmanned by -it as was Professor Quinn. - - - - - *CHAPTER X.* - - *HOW WE WERE CATALOGUED.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -I grabbed my word-box. - -"What's the matter, anyhow?" I asked. - -"We have just discovered that you are a robber," said Ocou. - -"I am no robber here," I answered, "no matter what I was in the place I -came from." - -"Once a robber always a robber," retorted Ocou, "unless you touch the -Bolla." - -"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?" - -"That, sir," Ocou replied, "is a character indexograph. We find it very -useful in cataloguing the natural tendencies of subjects of the realm." - -He sighed. - -"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." - -The professor dropped down, the disk gliding over his bald head, and -another ideograph shot into sight. - -"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. - -"I suppose," said I, watching Ocou and his attendants make off with the -indexograph, "that I shall be kept within this circle indefinitely?" - -"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." - -"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." - -The professor laughed quietly. - -"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." - -Ocou came back in a couple of hours, carrying a roll of parchment in -addition to his baton. He came alone. - -"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." - -"What is the task, Mr. Ocou?" inquired the professor. - -"You are to restore the sacred Bolla to his majesty, the king of -Baigol." - -"And what is the Bolla?" - -"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." - -"Where is the Bolla?" - -"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." - -Nothing could have pleased us more. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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? - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"I am grievously discouraged," he sighed. - -"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." - -"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." - -"How do they figure in your disappointment?" I queried. - -"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. - -"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!" - -"But a righteous robbery," I averred. "Recovering stolen property and -returning it to the rightful owner is a meritorious act." - -"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!" - -"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." - -"We, who ought to know better, are making ourselves living examples of -successful thievery." - -"The end justifies the means, professor." - -"We must strive to think so." - -"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----" - -"Let us not dwell upon poor Gilhooly." - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"That's the way I figure it out, professor." - -"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." - -"Perhaps not," I answered stubbornly, "but I still maintain that the -overturning of our customary standards would land us in chaos." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -By day we traveled and by night we rested, often covering as many as -five hundred _spatli_ in a single day. Four days, at that rate, were to -carry us to the capital of the other kingdom. - -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. - -"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." - -"What mystery do you refer to, professor?" I asked. - -"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." - -Then at another time: - -"Professor," said I, "have you made any discoveries relative to that -powerful little weapon which the Baigols know so well how to use?" - -"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. - -"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." - -"Had the zetbai anything to do with that invisible power that stayed us -from crossing the circular wall?" - -"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." - -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. - -"With all due respect to Mr. Ocou," said I, "he was certainly talking -moonshine when he described the Bolla." - -"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----" - -"Never sick in my life," I declared. - -"I mean morally," went on Quinn. "If crime is a disease, you will -admit, I think, that you are sick." - -"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." - -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 _spatli_ ahead. - -"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." - -"You are right, sir," I answered. "That was a lusty English yell, if I -ever heard one." - -"It was given by one of our friends, of course." - -"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." - -"No," answered the professor excitedly, "I do not think that shout came -from Gilhooly. It was---- Ah, Mr. Meigs!" - -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. - -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. - -"Quinn! Munn! Save me--save me from the soldiers!" - -A few dozen prodigious leaps brought him trembling to our vicinity, and -he fell exhausted to his knees. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI.* - - *THE DILEMMA OF MR. MEIGS.* - - -"My, my!" cried the professor. "What has happened, Mr. Meigs? How is -it that we find you in this--er--forlorn condition?" - -"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!" - -That was Meigs for you. Even in his dire extremity he did not forget to -heap censure upon the head of our great savant. - -"You are not going to be slain," said the professor confidently. - -"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!" - -Meigs got behind the professor. Turning our eyes toward the bend, we -saw a detachment of the Baigadd army just hurling itself into sight. - -We had made some acquaintance with military affairs in Baigol. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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!" - -Then, to us: - -"Behemoths! Whence come you and why are you protecting the monster in -the red kirtle?" - -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. - -"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----" - -"A friend!" screeched the captain's machine. "He is a thief and has -stolen a hundred djins of kaka from our sovereign storehouse." - -I thrilled an amused laugh on the seventh key of my own machine. - -"How do you know he is a thief?" I asked. "Did you try the indexograph -on him?" - -"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." - -"He bears the proof of it upon his person," answered the captain. "It -is the kirtle." - -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. - -"What are you harping about?" asked Meigs. - -"They say you are a thief, Mr. Meigs," said I. - -"Thief!" he blustered, glaring at the captain over the professor's -shoulder. "I deny it, sir, I deny it!" - -"He says you stole that kirtle you have on," I continued. - -"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." - -This was too good an opportunity for the professor to let slip. - -"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?" - -J. Archibald Meigs cringed under the blow. It was a thrust at his -clothing trust, and it found the weak point in his armor. - -"Circumstances are different here," he mumbled. - -"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." - -The captain of the royal guard was growing impatient. - -"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." - -"Take us to his majesty," returned the professor, "and we will explain -everything in a satisfactory manner." - -But this the captain would not do, and he became so threatening that we -retreated behind a barrier of bowlders. - -"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. - -"Deliver up the thief," he ordered, "or I will command my men to -annihilate you with their zetbais." - -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. - -The trust magnate did not fail to take note of the war-like movements of -the soldiers. - -"Can't you do anything to save me, professor?" he pleaded. - -"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?" - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -Seating himself on a bowlder, he gazed pensively down at the red kirtle. - -"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!" - -He leaned his bare elbows on his knees and dropped his face in his -hands. - -"How did this happen, Mr. Meigs?" asked the professor gently. - -"Happen!" cried Meigs, lifting his head with a jerk and glaring at -Quinn. "It would never have happened but for you!" - -"Have you seen Gilhooly?" went on the professor, ignoring the reproach. - -"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." - -"We know that much already. How about Popham and Markham?" - -"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!" - -"Coal fields!" I exclaimed. "What do they need of coal in these -underground kingdoms?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"Ah!" murmured the professor, looking at me. "You remember, Mr. Munn, I -told you I feared something of the kind would happen." - -I nodded. - -"Proceed, Mr. Meigs," added the professor. "This is all intensely -interesting. Was the car seriously damaged?" - -"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. - -"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. - -"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. - -"Popham was the next one to have the queer machine tried on him. When -he was removed my turn came." - -Meigs wrung his hands despairingly. - -"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!" - -"Some good may come out of this unfortunate experience, Mr. Meigs," said -the professor. - -"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." - -"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." - -J. Archibald Meigs stared at the speaker with distended eyes. - -"Is it possible," said he, "that your brain has been turned, like -Gilhooly's?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"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?" - -"Not at all, Meigs," said the professor hastily. - -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. - -"Like yourself and the others, Mr. Meigs," continued the professor, "Mr. -Munn and I were taken prisoners----" - -"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?" - -"We are under the protection of the ruler of the neighboring kingdom of -Baigol. That is the royal standard." - -"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! _Look at me!_" - -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. - -"We are looking at you, Mr. Meigs," observed the professor quietly. - -"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." - -"My heart is wrung with your misfortunes," replied the professor gently, -"but I realize that desperate diseases require desperate remedies." - -"What disease are you referring to," snapped Meigs, suddenly changing -his tack, "and what remedy?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"Be calm," adjured the professor, with an apprehensive look at me. - -"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?" - -"We are here in the role of ambassadors," answered the professor, -"and----" - -"Munn an ambassador!" sneered Meigs, drawing away from me. - -"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." - -"That is rather a vague supposition on which to ground a man's hopes of -life or death," muttered Meigs. - -"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." - -"We were fools ever to land on Mercury in the first place," pursued -Meigs, still wild and unreasoning. - -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. - -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. - -"You must be careful, Mr. Meigs," warned the professor. "Sit down and -rest yourself." - -"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." - -"Be sensible," I struck in, perhaps ill-advisedly. "You act like a -whipped schoolboy, Meigs." - -"I'll hear nothing from you," he cried, glaring at me. - -"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----" - -"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." - -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. - -"What is the demand?" inquired Quinn. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -"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, -_think_!" - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII.* - - *CONDEMNED TO DEATH.* - - -"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." - -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. - -As I write these words, piecing my narrative together out of my -commonplace book, a wave of affection and reverence rolls over me. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -As the lancemen advanced the net took the form of a rapidly contracting -circle, the professor, Meigs, and myself in the centre. - -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. - -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. - -Meigs was loudly bewailing his evil fortune. - -"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." - -"It's all day with us," returned Meigs with a groan, "and you cannot -make me believe otherwise." - -There was no twilight in the nether kingdoms. Day leaped into night as -swiftly as a curtain falls on a stage play. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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?" - -Answer came back: - -"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." - -"What is to be our fate?" - -"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." - -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. - -"Mr. Munn, Mr. Munn!" cried Quinn in rebuke. "This is no time to express -yourself in that key." - -"I am not endowed with your magnificent forbearance, professor," said I, -"and I had to say something." - -"What's it all about, anyway?" asked Meigs. - -"We are to die at sunrise, Meigs," I answered roughly, "or as soon after -sunrise as the executioner-general may find it convenient." - -"I would have spared Mr. Meigs that information," said the professor. - -"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." - -Quinn groped for my hand. - -"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." - -"I have no regrets for what I have done with mine," I declared. - -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. - -"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?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"Possibly we could get back to that other benighted kingdom from which -you and the thief come accredited as ambassadors?" returned Meigs. - -"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." - -Meigs began to complain, and to find fault, and the professor turned -from him and went on talking with me. - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"That's the spirit!" I cried warmly. - -"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. - -I turned with a stinging reply on my lips, but the professor dropped a -hand on my arm, and I held my peace. - -"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." - -"He might, at least, have the grace to leave you alone," I answered. - -"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." - -"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." - -"Thank you for that, my friend." - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -I was aroused by the professor. - -"The first gleam of day, Mr. Munn," said he, bending over me with a -quiet smile. - -I rubbed my eyes and got the cobwebs out of my brain. Yes, it was the -first gleam of day--our last day. - -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. - -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. - -"Toot! toot! Ting-a-ling-a-ling!" - -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. - -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. - -"All aboard!" he cried, and a minute later he was off and away. - -"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." - -Quinn laid his hand on my shoulder. - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -"Be patient, gentlemen," he said through his talk machine. "You will -not be kept waiting much longer." - -"We are not so wildly impatient as you seem to think," I sent back at -him; whereupon he tittered a little with Key 7. - -Seeing that I was getting ready to use the same key for a few -expletives, the professor made haste to break in. - -"What has happened?" he asked. - -"It has just been discovered that there is no white paint in the king's -storehouse," replied the high chief. - -"What is the white paint to be used for?" came curiously from the -professor. - -"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." - -"Could not some one else, who has been freshly decorated, do the work in -his stead?" I inquired, somewhat flippantly. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"Hail to our munificent sovereign, Gaddbai, ruler of the realm and -mightiest monarch of Njambai!" - -Thus the paeans of the soldiers. - -The words were echoed by the crowd, and a surging roar went up from the -talking machines: "Hail to his majesty, King Gaddbai!" - -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. - -"Let the executioner-general stand forth, prepare himself for his work -and then proceed--all in the royal presence!" - -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. - -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. - -"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!" - -"Your eyes do not deceive you, sir," I made answer. - -"But what in the world are they going to do with it?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"Will it answer the purpose?" demanded the king. - -"It is white, your majesty, and of proper consistency. So far as I can -see, it will answer the purpose well." - -"Then proceed with your preparations. I would have this matter over -with as quick as possible." - -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. - -"Before the executioner-general proceeds, your majesty," remarked the -professor, his fingers none too steady, "will you allow me a word?" - -His majesty gave an exclamation of surprise. - -"Where have you learned our language?" he inquired. - -"In Baigol, your majesty. We come from that country on a visit to you, -under the protection of the royal banner of Golbai." - -The professor nodded to me and I shook out the banner and held it aloft. - -"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." - -"But we were ignorant of the law," pleaded the professor. - -"Ignorance of the law is no excuse." - -"The gentleman in the red kirtle is a friend of ours----" - -"If we know a person by the company he keeps, that speaks ill for you," -interrupted the sovereign. - -"You are determined to have us slain, your majesty?" - -"It is my royal will." - -"Then I shall have to set forces at work to combat the royal will," said -the professor calmly. - -Cries of consternation and anger went up on every hand. The king rose -wrathfully from his seat. - -"You dare to dispute my authority?" he demanded. - -"I dare to dispute your ability to slay us," returned Quinn. "Your -executioner will disappear from before your eyes if he attempts it." - -The king laughed ironically. - -"We shall see," he said, sinking placidly back on his seat. "Let the -executioner-general proceed with his preparations." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -As for Quinn, he had struck an attitude, his left hand raised aloft and -his glittering, bead-like eyes transfixing the king. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII.* - - *A THREATENING CALAMITY.* - - -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. - -"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!" - -I caught the professor's hand and gave it a fervent clasp. - -"You saved our lives, professor," said I. - -"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." - -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. - -"Are they ready to--to kill us?" he asked, clasping his hands. - -"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." - -"You don't mean it!" exclaimed the broker. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"Have patience, Mr. Meigs," answered the professor. - -"Patience?" spluttered Meigs. "Merciful powers, man! How can I be -patient and cut such a figure as this?" - -"Attend his majesty!" came from a word-box among the king's suite. "Our -gracious sovereign is about to speak." - -Our close attention being secured, the king remarked: - -"Now that these colossi have been spared they will need food. See that -it is given them." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -The lord of the exchequer thereupon retired in much confusion. - -In the midst of our repast we were startled by a voice behind us. - -"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!" - -"Markham!" cried Meigs, whirling around. - -"Mr. Markham!" exclaimed the professor. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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?" - -"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." - -"And this other gentleman in the kirtle," proceeded the professor, "will -you not exercise a little clemency in his case?" - -"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." - -Markham was as deaf to the word-boxes as was Meigs, and his majesty's -will was interpreted to them. - -"I am not in the wrong!" declared Markham. "The principle involved is of -vital importance, and I will die for it, if need be." - -"So will I," averred Meigs. - -"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." - -"He is pinned to the roof of the under-world," said the professor. - -"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." - -"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." - -This dallying with the royal prerogative was not well received by his -majesty, nor by those around him. - -"What request would you make, in case I was inclined to receive it?" -asked the king. - -"I would have you bring out the Bolla and allow these two gentlemen to -take it in their hands." - -The king gave a start, and a look of consternation overspread the faces -of those in his retinue. - -"Where did you hear of the Bolla?" the king asked sharply. - -"In the other kingdom, your majesty," the professor replied. - -The king was silent a few moments. - -"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." - -"We come from another planet which is called the Earth," said Quinn. - -"Does the planet you speak of circle around our sun?" - -"Yes, your majesty." - -"Is it as large as Njambai?" - -"Much larger, your majesty." - -"And are all the creatures on Earth two-handed, as large as you, and -able to communicate thoughts without a word-box?" - -"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." - -The king clapped two of his hands at this, and gave other evidence of -his pleasure on the word-box. - -"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. - -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. - -"What sort of weapons have your people?" he inquired at last. - -The professor described our powder-and-shot machines to the best of his -ability. The king was puzzled. - -"Don't they know anything about zet on your native orb?" he inquired. - -"No," answered the professor. "There is no zet in our atmosphere." - -"Suppose a company of my soldiers were to land on Earth, fully equipped -with zetbais. Could they be resisted?" - -Quinn shuddered. - -"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." - -"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?" - -Then, and only then, did we see what this crack-brained monarch was -driving at. Quinn was in trepidation over the outcome. - -"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!" - -"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." - -He halted and raised his word-box. - -"Ho, there, Olox!" he cried. - -The high chief stepped forward and made the royal salaam of four hands. - -"We are going forth to conquer the solar system, Olox," paid the king in -a brisk, matter-of-fact way. - -"Yes, your majesty," answered Olox, as readily as though the capturing -of a planet or two was an every-day occurrence. - -"You have overheard what this strange two-handed creature has been -telling me?" went on the king. - -"Yes, your majesty." - -"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!" - -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. - -"And these Earth dwellers can't even see in the dark!" rippled the king -with contemptuous fingers. - -"But they are large, your majesty," ventured the high chief. - -"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." - -"It will be a noble campaign, your majesty." - -"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." - -The king looked at the theoretical side. Olox, naturally, had an eye to -the practical. - -"What are your orders for the campaign, your majesty?" he asked. - -"I shall leave a regent to look after Baigadd," said the king, "and -myself accompany the expedition. You will be the military head, Olox." - -"Yes, your majesty. We are to go in the metal house?" - -"It is the only thing we have to go in. The metal house was unhurt by -its fall into the crater?" - -"That appears to be the case, your majesty, strange as it may seem. It -fell into the kingdom right side up and----" - -"The interior is in good condition?" - -"Very good, your majesty." - -"My orders to the effect that nothing should be removed from it have -been carried out?" - -"The executioner-general would have that tub of white pigment. Nothing -else has been taken from the house." - -"Very good. How many of our people will the house contain comfortably?" - -"I should say that fifty or more could dwell in it without much -inconvenience." - -"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." - -"It will be attended to, your highness." - -The king turned and aimed his word-box at the professor. - -"Is that tub of white pigment essential to the proper equipment of the -metal house?" he asked. - -"Very essential," replied Quinn. - -Three weeks and more in the nether kingdoms had whitened us -considerably, but the professor's face was now a sickly grayish color. - -"Then I will have it taken back to the house," said the king. - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -"What you are thinking of, your majesty," ran the professor's words, "is -only the wildest of dreams." - -"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." - -"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." - -Key 7 of the royal word-box gave a screech of contempt. - -"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?" - -"The atmosphere of Earth is different from that of Mercury," continued -the professor. "You cannot draw zet from the air of our planet." - -"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." - -While the king was using his word-box with two of his hands, he was -rubbing the other two together with ill-concealed delight. - -"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." - -"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." - -"This is your world," the professor thumped angrily on his word-box, -"and you have no right to meddle with any other planet." - -That caused the king to turn his keen eye on the professor, and to keep -it there for a full minute. - -"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?" - -"Your majesty," hummed the professor's talk machine, with dignity, "I am -not in the habit of making misstatements." - -"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." - -Some of the retainers scurried away and vanished inside the palace. -Presently they reappeared with the indexograph. - -The professor was backward in facing the test--strangely backward, as I -thought, for a man so clear-minded and conscientious. - -"The test is not necessary," he demurred. - -"Your actions are far from being open and aboveboard," remarked the -king. "You must submit." - -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. - -"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." - -This was no lure for the professor. He maintained an attitude of -dignified silence, watching the king with steady eyes. - -"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." - -"What do you mean by that, your majesty?" queried the professor. - -"To-night," explained the king, again, "we shall mount to the upper -crust and make a reconnoissance of this orb I am to subjugate." - -"Have you any astronomical instruments?" asked Quinn. - -"None whatever," replied the king. "Have you?" - -"There is an instrument in the steel car which will bring the planet -Terra much nearer to us than the naked eye could do." - -"What is it? Describe the instrument to me and I will have it brought -out for our night's work." - -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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV.* - - *PLAN TO STEAL A BUILDING.* - - -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. - -"Cheer up, professor," said I. "It surprises me to see you give way -like this." - -"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! - -"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. - -"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----" - -The professor could give no added touch to the harrowing picture. -Throwing his hands to his face, he groaned aloud. - -"This hasn't happened yet," said I. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"What is that small, square building under the wing of the palace?" I -asked. - -"That is the imperial exchequer," said he. "Within that building the -king keeps the most priceless of all his treasures." - -"And what is that?" inquired the professor. - -"The Bolla," was the startling answer. - -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. - -"Bolla?" I allowed to come limpingly from the talk instrument. "What -may that be?" - -"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." - -"So we did," I replied, trimming my sails to another breeze, "but what -is it? Our information is rather vague." - -"A stone, as I just said," went on Olox. "It has a beneficial moral and -physical effect on whoever touches it." - -"Where did it come from?" - -"It has been in Njambai for ages," was the indefinite answer. - -"How did King Gaddbai get hold of it?" - -"He borrowed it from the king of Baigol." - -"And yet you call it one of his treasures! If it was borrowed, Olox, -how could it possibly belong here?" - -"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." - -"Was that the right thing for your king to do?" inquired the professor. - -"Whatever our sovereign does is right." - -There was no getting around a flat statement of that sort. Evidently -the ruler of the country had drilled his subjects thoroughly. - -"What did you do at the car, Olox?" said the professor. - -"At the iron house?" The professor nodded. - -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. - -"The king's orders were carried out, at the iron house," finished Olox. - -"The paint was returned to its proper place?" - -"Even so." - -"And the telescope----' - -"That matter was attended to." - -"I trust you handled the telescope with care? It is exceedingly fragile -and could be easily injured." - -"After the king spoke as he did, death by zet would be meted out to the -one who injured the instrument." - -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. - -"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?" - -"It might," replied the professor guardedly. - -"What has become of him?" - -"He disappeared as he was about to commit a deed of base injustice," -said the professor grimly. - -"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?" - -"Undoubtedly." - -Olox pressed closer and muffled his word-box so that the sounds could -not carry to dangerous limits. - -"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." - -"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." - -Olox was greatly shaken--so shaken, in fact, that he could not pursue -the subject further. - -"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. - -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. - -We did not think it necessary or advisable to let Meigs know of our -purpose in regaining control of the Bolla. - -"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." - -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. - -I surveyed the small building with critical eyes. - -"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." - -"I can make a suggestion, Mr. Munn," said Quinn, "which would get you -safely around that difficulty." - -"What is that?" - -"Whisper." I inclined my ear to his lips. "Why not run away with the -imperial exchequer?" - -"Eh?" I gasped. - -"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." - -"And get zetbaied for my pains!" I exclaimed. - -"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." - -I gave much thought to the matter. - -"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." - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV.* - - *SURVEYING OUR OWN PLANET.* - - -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. - -To our surprise and gratification, both Markham and Popham were in the -midst of the royal guard. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -Popham was loud in his complainings, but was cut short by the king. - -"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." - -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. - -"This is the royal lift," explained the king. "When the heat of the day -is suspended I often go above." - -He then addressed himself to Olox. "Give the signal at once." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -Meigs gave a whimpering cry and he and Markham and Popham rushed -together, fell upon each other's neck, and wept aloud. - -"Oh, I wish I was back, I wish I was back!" moaned the broker. - -"I'm lonesome enough to die!" sobbed Markham. - -"Exiled, exiled, exiled!" was all the coal baron could murmur in husky -tones. - -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. - -"There's the United States!" cried Popham. - -"Can you see New York?" whispered Meigs hoarsely. "Look for New York, -man!" - -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. - -"Mr. Munn," said the professor, "this is harrowing." - -"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." - -"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." - -"If it is in my power." answered the king, his eye to the telescope. - -"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." - -"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." - -And along that line the king's conversation ran for a full hour. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -This wail from the brusque and tyrannical Popham was in itself a highly -edifying comment on his sad experiences. - -"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." - -"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." - -"You have your clothes, at least," whimpered Meigs. "Quinn ought to -help us; he _must_ help us." - -"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." - -"Meigs was saying something about that," spoke up Popham. "What is it -this mad king thinks of doing?" - -"Why, with fifty warriors, armed with zetbais, he intends making an -attack upon Terra. He hopes to conquer our mother orb." - -Popham gave a faint cry of derision. - -"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 _I_ 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!" - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -"How does he intend to reach the Earth?" asked Markham. - -"By means of our car." - -"Is that in usable condition?" came joyously from Popham. - -"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." - -"How?" came hoarsely from the three ex-millionaires. - -"By destroying the car, as a last resort and when other means fail," was -the calm rejoinder. - -"You would not dare!" breathed Popham. - -"You would not have the heart to take from us our sole means of escape!" -added Markham. - -"Madman!" ground out Meigs. "If I really thought that you would destroy -our only means of salvation, I'd----" - -"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." - -"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." - -"Certainly it is your duty to send us back," said Meigs, "and you should -consider that duty before anything and everything else." - -"Exactly!" seconded Popham, "and we must take Gilhooly with us. If one -goes, all must go." - -"Leave the matter to me, gentlemen," counseled the professor quietly. -"I shall do everything possible." - -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. - -This threat had the desired result. We gave over our conversation and -settled ourselves for the night. - -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. - -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. - -"Now is the time, Mr. Munn!" whispered the professor. - -"The time?" I returned sotto voce. "Time for what?" - -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. - -I started erect. - -"You have matches, Mr. Munn?" the professor asked in the very faintest -of audible tones. - -I nodded. - -"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." - -"I will strike matches and light my way until I get well into the -hills," said I. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -Striking a match on the roof of the exchequer, I lighted my way down the -street, picking my steps with care and caution. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI.* - - *HOW ILL-LUCK OVERTOOK ME.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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 canon and nursed my barked shins until day began flashing from the -reflectors. - -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. - -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? - -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. - -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. - -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. - -The other plunder also, even if found, could not by any possibility be -utilized by me or any one else. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -The fire of insanity was still in his eyes, and he retreated step by -step as I advanced upon him. - -"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!" - -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. - -"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." - -"That road has gone into the hands of a receiver," I returned, humoring -his fancy, "and I'm the receiver. Give it here, Gilhooly." - -"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. - -I was at my wits' end. I knew that tact was far and away more effective -than violence when dealing with a crazed person. - -"Put it down for a moment, Gilhooly," I wheedled, "and come over to the -directors' meeting." - -"Who are the directors?" he asked suspiciously. - -"Well, there are only two. I'm one, you know, and you're the other." - -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. - -"I'm the boy to juggle with railroads!" he boasted. "Ask any one in the -Street and they'll tell you." - -"Look out!" I gasped, "or you'll drop it." - -"Not I!" he mumbled. "I never yet wrecked a railroad." - -"Where did you come from, Gilhooly?" I asked, seeking to get him into -conversation while I edged closer to him by degrees. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -"Gilhooly," said I, with a gentleness I was far from feeling, "don't you -want to know something about Popham?" - -"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." - -Hugging the exchequer in his arms, he rocked back and forth and began to -sing. - -"Well," said I, starting away again, "if you don't want to attend this -directors' meeting I'll have to look after it myself." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"I'm too many for you," he shouted. "Go away, or I'll call the police." - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -"Good-by," he called suddenly, taking the exchequer under his arm. "I -think I'll go to the office and----" - -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. - -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. - -He had fallen squarely on the exchequer and wrecked it completely! - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -While I stood there consumed with regret and hoping against hope for the -future, a voice hailed me from down the road. - -"Did you say your name was Munn?" - -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. - -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. - -"You have it right, Mr. Gilhooly," I answered, the extreme mildness of -my voice surprising me. "My full name is James Peter Munn and----" - -"You are the thief who just came into the castle and relieved myself and -my friends of their valuables?" - -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. - -"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." - -Gilhooly passed his left hand across his forehead. - -"Where--where am I?" he faltered. - -"In the kingdom of Baigadd," I returned, "some distance out of the royal -city." - -"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." - -I began an explanation, going patiently into every detail, and when I -finally finished Gilhooly knew as much about our situation as I did. - -For some time Gilhooly walked up and down the road, passing and -repassing the heap of gold. At last he paused beside it. - -"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." - -"I think with you, sir," said I. "The Bolla is simply a fetish and its -miraculous powers are purely imaginary." - -"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?" - -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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII.* - - *A CHANGE OF HEART.* - - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"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." - -"Gently, Mr. Meigs, gently," came from Gilhooly. "I do not find -Professor Quinn in the wrong in any particular." - -Popham, Meigs, and Markham regarded Gilhooly with open-mouthed amaze. I -think the professor also was startled; I know at least that I was. - -"Do you mean to say, Mr. Gilhooly," cried Meigs, "that you can overlook -Quinn's criminal folly in casting us adrift in the unknown?" - -"I cannot only overlook it," was the quiet response, "but I can forgive -it. Almost I am of the opinion that it was justifiable." - -"Faugh!" rasped Meigs. "You have not recovered your reason after all or -you would not talk that way." - -"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." - -"It was I who took the exchequer," said I, "and it is I who hope to -return it to the king." - -"What about the Bolla?" queried Quinn, giving me a sharp look. - -"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." - -"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." - -"What was thought of my absence?" I asked. - -"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." - -"I shall tell the truth of it," I declared. - -"And be condemned to death by zet," said the professor, gazing at me -fixedly. - -"Let the king believe what he will," said Gilhooly. "I should rather -have it so since it means so much to Mr. Munn." - -"Why did you not keep on to the other kingdom with the Bolla?" inquired -Quinn of me. - -"Because I didn't think I should be doing the right thing," I replied. - -"Ah! And why this sudden change in your sentiments, Mr. Munn?" - -"I can't explain it, professor." - -"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." - -"Two wrongs do not make a right." - -"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?" - -I lowered my bundle and opened it. - -"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." - -The professor gave me a queer smile, then picked up the Bolla and -surveyed it curiously. - -"Would you like to look at it, Mr. Meigs?" he asked. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"When did Mr. Gilhooly lay hands on the Bolla?" Quinn asked. - -"How do you know that he did?" I returned. - -"I am very sure that he did," was the quiet reply. - -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. - -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? - -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. - -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: - -"Where is the king's treasure house? If that has not been recovered, -calamity threatens our expedition to the planet Terra!" - -"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." - -"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?" - -"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." - -Olox looked worried. - -"I declare," said he, "I don't know how the president and board of -directors of the Interplanetary will regard this unexpected occurrence." - -"They should feel overjoyed at the unclouding of so bright a mind as Mr. -Gilhooly's." - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -No further conversation was indulged in. The royal troops executed an -about face and returned to the capital, convoying our reunited party of -aliens. - -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. - -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. - -While this momentous question was still up for debate, Meigs plucked at -the professor's sleeve. - -"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." - -And this was Meigs! Had the heavens fallen I could not have been more -astounded. - -"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." - -He struck a hand against his heart. - -"And ask him, professor," added Markham plaintively, "to have my wants -supplied immediately from the palace kitchens." - -"Allow me to join my honorable friends in this free announcement of a -change of heart," chimed in Augustus Popham. "Look at my hands!" - -He held his hands out to us and we found them calloused and scarred. - -"I can't go back to those mole burrows!" he supplemented. - -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. - -"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?" - -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. - -"Are you aware," said the king gravely, "that _lese majeste_, felony, -and half a dozen other capital crimes are mixed up in your confession?" - -"Am I less courageous than an ex-trust magnate?" cried I warmly. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -"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." - -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. - -"What of Mr. Munn, your highness?" he inquired. - -"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. - -"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." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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." - -"But suppose we can outwit the king in some way," I returned, "and -escape in the car, leaving him and his subjects behind?" - -"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." - -I stopped short and stared at him. - -"Surely you can't mean that!" I exclaimed. - -"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? - -"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." - -"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." - -"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." - -The reckless indifference with which I had fared forth from the city -gave place to deep sorrow. Professor Quinn observed this and continued: - -"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. - -"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?" - -"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." - -"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. - -"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." - -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. - -"Is this your wish, Professor Quinn?" I asked huskily. - -"It is, Mr. Munn." - -"Then I shall follow your instructions to the letter." - -"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." - -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. - -"Look, Mr. Munn!" exclaimed the professor, releasing my palm. "We have -reached the car." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII.* - - *HOW WE OUTWITTED THE KING.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -After we had halted at the base of the car, the king approached the -professor. - -"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?" - -"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?" - -"You are to do that. Neither I nor Olox could manage the car, I fear." - -"Then I am to accompany you?" - -"I have so decided." - -"What of my friends?" - -"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." - -"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." - -"We will go in with you," returned the king. - -"I should prefer to take only Mr. Munn with me, sir." - -The king became suspicious, and Olox got the royal ear and said -something in an undertone on his word-box. - -"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." - -"Very well." - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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. - -"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. - -"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. - -"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?" - -"Entirely so, professor," I replied. - -"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." - -"It is a great responsibility, sir," said I, "but you can depend upon me -to do my utmost to avoid a disaster." - -He pressed my hand to assure me of his confidence. - -"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." - -"Have you thought of any plan whereby we may outwit his majesty?" I -inquired. - -"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." - -"I shudder to think of that part of it," I murmured. "Will you not -reconsider your determination, professor?" - -"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." - -"I will remember." - -"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." - -I nodded. - -"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." - -"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." - -He turned back from the top of the iron stairway. - -"Go ahead, Mr. Munn," said he. - -"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." - -A glow came to the professor's face. He held up one hand protestingly. - -"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." - -I stretched out my hand, but he held back. - -"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." - -"Why is that?" I asked, puzzled. - -"Answer me this, Mr. Munn," he went on. "How did it chance that Mr. -Gilhooly so suddenly recovered his reason?" - -"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." - -"Indeed!" he said, smiling. "And was it merely a coincidence that you -found your conscience, and Gilhooly his reason, at the same time?" - -"Merely a coincidence," I replied. - -He laughed, and it was his first happy laugh since King Gaddbai had -announced his coming campaign in the direction of Terra. - -"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?" - -"All that merely paved the way," I averred. "Your arguments did the -rest." - -"You are blind, Mr. Munn! It was not the sufferings our friends -endured, nor my arguments." - -"Then what was it?" I demanded. - -"The Bolla!" - -I recoiled, staring blankly at the kindly face before me. - -"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." - -"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." - -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. - -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! - -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. - -"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." - -"And you will not reconsider----" - -He knew what I was about to say, pressed my hand restrainingly and got -up from his seat. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -The diminutive soldiers were well-drilled, well-equipped, and presented -a dazzling spectacle in their gilt war paint and yellow kirtles. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"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. - -"Be careful! We must not let these people suspect, by a word or -gesture, the sort of _coup_ we are planning. Take the others with -you--I will speak to the king and cover your movements as I have already -outlined." - -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. - -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 denouement, brought them after me into the steel -structure. - -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. - -"Rope that steel door on the inside, Gilhooly!" I cried as I bounded up -the iron stairs. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -"We'll be killed!" shouted Meigs. - -"No," I yelled, and jumped to the switch board. - -The next instant the switch was thrown, and the billows of fire faded -from the car windows as if by magic. - -We were saved! Again had we plunged into space, and behind us--living -or dead I knew not--we had left Professor Quinn. - -Sinking down on my knees I buried my face in my hands. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX.* - - *BACK TO EARTH.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - - "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. - - "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. - - "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. - - "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. - - "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. - - "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. - - "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. - - "Gentlemen, adieu. As you read this, I give you hail from - Njambai. QUINN." - -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 _Mollie O.,_ -and in a month sailed through the Golden Gate into San Francisco harbor. - - * * * * * - -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. - -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. - -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. - -Could a reformed burglar have a more suitable occupation? - - - - THE END. - - - - - * * * * * * * * - - - - - *SCIENCE FICTION* - -About, Edmond. The Man with the Broken Ear. 1872 -Allen, Grant. The British Barbarians: A Hill-Top Novel. 1895 -Arnold, Edwin L. Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation. 1905 -Ash, Fenton. A Trip to Mars. 1909 -Aubrey, Frank. A Queen of Atlantis. 1899 -Bargone, Charles (Claude Farrere, pseud.). Useless Hands. [1926] -Beale, Charles Willing. The Secret of the Earth. 1899 -Bell, Eric Temple (John Taine, pseud.). Before the Dawn. 1934 -Benson, Robert Hugh. Lord of the World. 1908 -Beresford, J. D. The Hampdenshire Wonder. 1911 -Bradshaw, William R. The Goddess of Atvatabar. 1892 -Capek, Karel. Krakatit. 1925 -Chambers, Robert W. The Gay Rebellion. 1913 -Colomb, P. et al. The Great War of 189-. 1893 -Cook, William Wallace. Adrift in the Unknown, n.d. -Cummings, Ray. The Man Who Mastered Time. 1929 -[DeMille, James]. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. -1888 -Dixon, Thomas. The Fall of a Nation: A Sequel to the Birth of a Nation. -1916 -England, George Allan. The Golden Blight. 1916 -Fawcett, E. Douglas. Hartmann the Anarchist. 1893 -Flammarion, Camille. Omega: The Last Days of the World. 1894 -Grant, Robert et al. The King's Men: A Tale of To-Morrow. 1884 -Grautoff, Ferdinand Heinrich (Parabellum, pseud.). Banzai! 1909 -Graves, C. L. and E. V. Lucas. The War of the Wenuses. 1898 -Greer, Tom. A Modern Daedalus. [1887] -Griffith, George. A Honeymoon in Space. 1901 -Grousset, Paschal (A. Laurie, pseud.). The Conquest of the Moon. 1894 -Haggard, H. Rider. When the World Shook. 1919 -Hernaman-Johnson, F. The Polyphemes. 1906 -Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe. Empire of the World. [1910] -In The Future. [1875] -Jane, Fred T. The Violet Flame. 1899 -Jefferies, Richard. After London; Or, Wild England. 1885 -Le Queux, William. The Great White Queen. [1896] -London, Jack. The Scarlet Plague. 1915 -Mitchell, John Ames. Drowsy. 1917 -Morris, Ralph. The Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel. -1751 -Newcomb, Simon. His Wisdom The Defender: A Story. 1900 -Paine, Albert Bigelow. The Great White Way. 1901 -Pendray, Edward (Gawain Edwards, pseud.). The Earth-Tube. 1929 -Reginald, R. and Douglas Menville. Ancestral Voices: An Anthology of -Early Science Fiction. 1974 -Russell, W. Clark. The Frozen Pirate. 2 vols. in 1. 1887 -Shiel, M. P. The Lord of the Sea. 1901 -Symmes, John Cleaves (Captain Adam Seaborn, pseud.). Symzonia. 1820 -Train, Arthur and Robert W. Wood. The Man Who Rocked the Earth. 1915 -Waterloo, Stanley. The Story of Ab: A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man. -1903 -White, Stewart E. and Samuel H. Adams. The Mystery. 1907 -Wicks, Mark. To Mars Via the Moon. 1911 -Wright, Sydney Fowler. Deluge: A Romance and Dawn. 2 vols. in 1. -1928/1929 - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADRIFT IN THE UNKNOWN *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44404 - -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. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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