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DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 The Glenn Negley Collection 
 of Utopian Literature 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY 
 
Fred smu his oiru name zvt itten in ji 
 
(2 '^ortun& 
 from tfi& &ki/ 
 
 RUSSO~FF 
 
 "/« a /eiu Jiioinents the a-owd was cheering like mad." 
 
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 (d. 7HCL50)\I v\ND^ON5- 
 
A Fortune 
 
 FROM THE Sky 
 
 BY 
 
 SKELTON KUPPORD 
 
 Author of " The Uitcharted Island" '■'^ Hammond's Hard Lines, 
 
 THOMAS NELSON AND SONS 
 
 London, Edinbiir£;h, and New York 
 1903 
 
d2}i^f=- 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. "SOMETHING DONE TO EARN A NIGHTS REPOSE, 9 
 
 II. DAWN OF PROSPERITY, .... .... .... 34 
 
 III. THE GREEDY 3IACHINE, .... .... .... 51 
 
 IV. A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY, .... .... 69 
 
 V. DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE, .... .... 91 
 
 VI. THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, .... 107 
 
 VII. FATE OF THE S.S. " LAURENTIA," .... .... 122 
 
 VIII. FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE, .... 144 
 
 IX. INTEREST IN FRED's JEWELLERY, .... .... 160 
 
 X. THE LINES OF DEATH, .... .... .... 177 
 
 XL FRISAINE ADVISES, .... .... .... 103 
 
 XIL TIIL MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART, .... .... 200 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 "something done to earn a night's 
 repose/' 
 
 SOMETHING of the kind had been expected foi 
 weeks, but it startled the crowd all the same. 
 Every eye was fixed on the transparent plate on 
 which the great London daily was good enough to 
 expose all the latest news to anybody who cared to 
 come all the way to Fleet Street to read it. 
 
 At first the crowd merely gazed at the bold 
 black letters that showed up so clearly against the 
 yellow light : — 
 
 RUSSO-FRENCH COALITION. 
 
 ULTIMATUM TO ENGLAND. 
 
lo ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 By-and-by the strain became too great. Some- 
 body began a feeble shout. This was welcomed as 
 a pleasant relief. In a few moments the crowd was 
 cheering like mad. 
 
 It was not that they were glad. They had, in- 
 deed, little cause for rejoicing, if there were any 
 truth in what that very newspaper before whose 
 office they were now standing had been dinning into 
 the ears of the public for months. It was the old 
 story — Britain unprepared for war, and her enemies 
 more than ready. The crowd knew all this — they 
 believed it, too — yet they shouted. After all, what 
 was there to do ? You cannot read news of this 
 kind and say nothing ; you are not going to read it 
 and whine : there was nothing left, then, but to 
 shout ; and shout they did as enthusiastically as if 
 they were really glad. It was the only way to 
 express defiance of the combined nations. 
 
 If it were rash for the crowd in general to shout, 
 it was surely rank folly for Fred Gurleigh to join 
 in. But patriotism does not depend on the stake a 
 man has in the country ; if it did, one could hardly 
 expect Fred to be patriotic. His stake amounted to 
 exactly nothing at all. He possessed the clothes he 
 stood in — nothing more. 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE." ii 
 
 Still, when the whole case is considered, it will be 
 admitted that he had more right to cheer than most 
 of that crowd. If the allied French and Russian 
 armies were to land in London to-morrow, he was in 
 a position to defy them. None of them would want 
 his threadbare frock-coat, that by its suggestion of 
 former respectability only intensified its wearer's pres- 
 ent destitution. Not even a Russian scarecrow would 
 have changed hats with him. His boots were past 
 speaking about. He had no idea where he was to 
 sleep that night; or, if he had an idea, he did not 
 like it. All the same, he was not going to let the 
 French and Russians interfere with his hearth and 
 home — not if he could help it. Accordingly, he con- 
 tinued his cheering as lustily as the emptiness be- 
 neath his waistcoat permitted. 
 
 There was, after all, some method in his madness. 
 He knew that this news would make a difference to 
 him. Some months ago he had gladdened the heart 
 of a recruiting-sergeant by asking for the imperial 
 shilling. Things had not then reached their present 
 low-water ebb either with Fred or with the nation ; 
 but if Fred looked better then than now, he did not 
 look quite well enough to satisfy the exacting regi- 
 mental doctor, who discovered that there was some- 
 
12 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 thing unofficial about Fred's anatomy. His astragalus, 
 it appeared, did not obey all the rules laid down for 
 it in doctors' books ; and, as a consequence, this regi- 
 mental doctor was sure that Fred could not stand 
 long marches, and was therefore of no use to the 
 government. Fred, who did not even know that he 
 had an astragalus, but who did know that he had 
 been walking for the past three years at an average 
 of over twelve miles a day, was surprised and dis- 
 gusted at this unexpected rejection. The sergeant, 
 who was as disappointed as his recruit, did his best 
 to comfort him. 
 
 "Cheer up, my lad; you just wait till the war's 
 declared, and they'll jump at you. What does that 
 old white owl know about marching, anyway ? " 
 
 The war had now been practically declared, so 
 Fred had resolved to give the authorities an early 
 opportunity of jumping at him. He would have 
 gone straight off to the office, but he knew that it 
 was long past office hours. Still, it made a difference 
 to him to know that to-morrow he would be almost 
 certain to have a roof over his head again. That day 
 he had looked critically at the Thames several times, 
 but had felt that the time had not yet come to con- 
 sider the Thames seriously. 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE J' 13 
 
 As he turned away from the newspaper office, be- 
 fore which there was still a crowd, but now a quiet 
 one, he felt that a new era was beginning for him, 
 or, at any rate, would begin for him next morning. 
 He should have liked very much if it could have seen 
 its way to begin at once ; but as that was out of the 
 question, he tightened his belt, and tried not to 
 notice the savoury smells that came out of the cook- 
 ing places he had to pass. 
 
 " If it comes to forced marches on an empty stom- 
 ach," muttered Fred to himself, "there will be few 
 better trained men in the British army." 
 
 As he wandered along the busy streets, shivering 
 a little, though none but a hungry man could have 
 felt anything but a pleasant freshness in the October 
 air, he naturally began to review his life in London 
 for the past three years. He usually tried to avoid 
 thinking of this very thing ; but to-morrow he hoped 
 a new chapter would begin, so he found a certain 
 pleasure in recalling the miseries which he now be- 
 lieved to be quite left behind him. 
 
 He had come to London at the ridiculously early 
 age of nineteen. He had no friends in town, but 
 then he had no friends at home either, unless you can 
 call an exceedingly severe uncle a friend. He had 
 
14 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 lived with his uncle, and had paid sixteen shillings a 
 week, by way of board, out of the eighteen shillings 
 he earned as clerk in the newspaper office of his 
 native town in the Midlands. 
 
 Fred was a clever fellow in many ways — perhaps 
 not quite so clever as he thought himself in those 
 early days, but still clever enough to want to better 
 himself. He particularly wanted to " see life." His 
 face grew very grim this evening as he remembered 
 this early desire, and the speed and thoroughness 
 with which it had been gratified. 
 
 Everybody knows that London is the place to see 
 life — in this island, at all events — but everybody 
 who knows this does not have a chance of going 
 to London thrown at him just when the desire is 
 strongest. This happened to Fred. He replied to 
 an advertisement in a London paper. The advertiser 
 wanted a young man, " of prepossessing appearance 
 and good address, as confidential clerk." The adver- 
 tiser further expressed his preference for a candidate 
 from the country, and offered a salary of three 
 pounds a week. Fred had plenty of good recom- 
 mendations and a fairly good photograph, so he was 
 able to satisfy the London man, who wrote to him to 
 come and take up duties at once. 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSED 15 
 
 You must carefully compare eighteen shillings with 
 three pounds before you can hope to have the small- 
 est idea of what this letter meant for Fred, and after 
 that you must add the joy of seeing life. Even then 
 you have not reached anything like a true estimate 
 of the joy that brimmed over in Fred's experience ; 
 for you cannot really enter into the joy of escaping 
 from Uncle Josiah's stern rule, unless, indeed, you 
 have an Uncle Josiah of your own, in which case the 
 more lightly we pass over the matter the better. 
 
 There was a farewell supper, at three and six- 
 pence a head, given by Fred's fellow-clerks, and 
 strongly condemned by Uncle Josiah, who growled 
 that it would have been much better if they had 
 handed over the three-and-sixpences to Fred instead 
 of making hogs of themselves, which was his way of 
 describing anything in the way of what the Americans 
 call a square meal. 
 
 However, everything was over at last. Quite a 
 crowd of envious young men accompanied Fred to 
 the midnight mail to London, and saw him off in 
 grand style. 
 
 He could never forget the feelings of tumultuous 
 joy that kept him awake that night when the other 
 "^^^ passengers ostentatiously began and noisily con- 
 
i6 ^'SOMETHING DONE 
 
 tinued to sleep. The world was before him ; life 
 was in sight; he had over twenty pounds in his 
 pocket-book. Of this enormous sum he could hardly 
 think without rising in his seat. But when he 
 thought of the three pounds every week, h& really 
 had to get up and shake himself. 
 
 When he reached the scene of his future greatness 
 in Queen Victoria Street, he was a little awed by 
 the grandeur of the office. There was a porter in 
 uniform, a message boy, and himself. Mr. Wallaby- 
 Jones, the great man, looked his part. Fred had 
 never seen a white waistcoat like his before, and 
 the watch chain that traversed it was a thing to 
 dream over. 
 
 At first Fred thought that his work was to be 
 purely ornamental. He had a good deal of " witness- 
 ing" to do. He used to be called in to the great 
 man's room steadily, to do nothing but write the 
 words, " Fred Gurleigh, Witness." But he soon 
 found that he had a gTeat deal to do in the way of 
 sending out circulars about various kinds of com- 
 panies. He was a little astonished at the number 
 of different things his master was connected with ; 
 but he was kept so busy — working overtime almost 
 every night — that he had little time to speculate. 
 
 (1,106) 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSED 17 
 
 His first real disappointment came at the end of 
 the first week. He very naturally expected his first 
 three pounds ; but no mention was made of this, to 
 him, essential part of his new life. It is true that 
 he did not actually need the money ; but he was not 
 at all comfortable at having spent so much without 
 having brought in anything. Not only had his 
 landlady's bill astonished him — think of a jump 
 from sixteen shillings to thirty-one and six — but he 
 had been incited by certain hints from the great 
 man to spend large sums in making a good appear- 
 ance. The largest item was five pounds for a 
 diamond ring ; after all, he would make more than 
 its price in a fortnight. 
 
 His first Sunday, after the blank Saturday, was 
 not of the pleasantest. He felt that he should have 
 asked his money, and was a little ashamed that he 
 had lacked the necessary courage. He resolved, at 
 least, that he would keep down his expenses in his 
 lodgings, and had a very disagreeable interview with 
 his landlady. Her explanation of the costliness of 
 her arrangements was particularly galling. She 
 wouldn't have spent quite so much on his account 
 if it hadn't been that she " thought he was a gentle- 
 man." It was hard to bear ; but this time, at least, 
 
 (1,106) 2 
 
1 8 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 he was firm. Gentleman or not gentleman, the bill 
 had to be smaller next week. 
 
 On the following Saturday Fred had screwed him- 
 self up to the asking point, and was determined to 
 demand his money. He had, by what he considered 
 extremely skilful side questions, discovered that both 
 the boy and the porter had received their money on 
 the previous Saturday, so it could not be the mere 
 custom of the office to pay monthly. 
 
 Maybe Mr. Wallaby-Jones read the question in 
 his eye. In any case, he contrived to make a very 
 hurried exit to catch his train, leaving a flowing 
 stream of instructions behind him as he went. 
 
 Fred was not to be shaken off. On the follow- 
 ing Monday he had returned to the charge, and had 
 plainly demanded his money. 
 
 " Why ! " exclaimed Wallaby-Jones, with raised 
 eyebrows, " you don't mean to say you want your 
 salary weekly ? You're not here on wages, like the 
 porter and the office-boy. Of course, if you wish to 
 rank along with them, I have no objection." Here 
 the great Wallaby-Jones put his hand ostentatiously 
 into his pocket, as if to pull out the money on the 
 spot. 
 
 Fred's courage failed him. Instead of calmly 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE:' 19 
 
 taking his money like a man, he explained hurriedly 
 that it was all right ; he had only wanted to know 
 the rule of the office ; he would 'prefer to have his 
 salary monthly. 
 
 The end of the month had come, and yet the 
 money was not forthcoming. There could be no 
 doubt that there was some excuse for Wallaby-Jones. 
 He was literally over the ears in work, and Fred was 
 kept very busy indeed helping him. 
 
 Nearly a week after the wages were due for the 
 month — Fred had asked for his money point-blank 
 two or three times, but had been put off — a letter 
 came to Fred in the morning at the office, asking him 
 to keep things going as well as he could for the next 
 day or two, as Mr. Wallaby-Jones had been called to 
 the country on most important business. 
 
 Then began for Fred three of the most miserable 
 days he had ever put in. Callers came by the score, 
 each more eager than another for an immediate inter- 
 view with Wallaby-Jones. By-and-by it became 
 plain that there was something wrong. Demands 
 were made for the whereabouts of Fred's master. 
 As no one could give any satisfactory answer to 
 these demands, the callers got desperate, and the 
 police were appealed to. 
 
20 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 It was a clear case of swindling. All manner of 
 bogus companies had been worked from that office. 
 All Fred's overtime had been given to carrying out 
 those swindles ; and now, by the irony of fate, he was 
 left to face the victims, and was himself accused as 
 being an accomplice of the man who had robbed him 
 of a month's wages. He had no difficulty in con- 
 vincing the police of his absolute innocence of any 
 connection with the frauds. They were not nearly 
 so astonished at what had happened as Fred was. 
 He had heard of honour among thieves, and never 
 expected that a swindler would cheat even his honest 
 assistants. He now understood that his main fitness 
 for Wallaby-Jones's post was his ignorance of the 
 world. 
 
 Gurleigh was now left with only four pounds and 
 a few shillings to face London with. He began well 
 enough. He changed his lodgings at once, and thus 
 saved a good deal. He set about looking for a place 
 at once, too ; but here he made a serious mistake. 
 He thought that it was a mere matter of a week or 
 two, and that all would be well again. Accordingly, 
 he did not write to Uncle Josiah. It would be time 
 enough, he reflected, when he had a new and perhaps 
 a better situation. 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE." 21 
 
 At first he made the mistake of applying for only 
 good posts — posts for which, under the most favour- 
 able circumstances, he would have had no chance at 
 his age. This wasted a great deal of time. Then 
 he began to apply for anything that turned up, with- 
 out attending to what money was offered. But it 
 was now too late. His testimonials were old. The 
 question naturally arose in the mind of the man who 
 wanted a clerk, " What has this fellow been doing 
 for the past three months ? " In the few cases in 
 which employers took the trouble to ask Fred this 
 question, the reply that he had been assisting 
 Wallaby-Jones at once settled the matter. 
 
 " Oh, that Wallaby-Jones ! " generally concluded the 
 interview. 
 
 Fred was now living as sparingly as Uncle Josiah 
 himself could have wished; but even with the ut- 
 most economy money will melt. He was forced to 
 part with everything that he could do without. The 
 ring went first, as was proper; then followed in 
 regular order everything that made life worth living. 
 There was a limit to this source of supply, and by- 
 and-by Fred found himself forced to appeal to his 
 uncle for help. 
 
 Now, next to money in the purse, the best thing 
 
22 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 an unemployed young man in London can have is an 
 uncle in the provinces ; but it is preferable that he 
 should not be called Josiah, or, at any rate, that he 
 should be built on somewhat different lines from 
 Fred's uncle. Instead of a remittance there came a 
 long letter full of worldly wisdom and good advice 
 about things Fred ought to have done. There was 
 even a reference to the shameless extravagance of 
 that three-and-sixpenny supper. It was true, as 
 Uncle Josiah pointed out, that if Fred had now in 
 his pocket the three-and-sixpences then scandalously 
 wasted, he would not now be in want of bread. But 
 somehow this truth did not seem to help much. 
 
 To do Uncle Josiah justice, he did not at first 
 realize how destitute his nephew was. He had not 
 given him credit for holding out so long before 
 appealing for aid. By-and-by a remittance was sent ; 
 and thereafter, for about two years, Uncle Josiah had 
 sent regular advice and plain speaking, and irregular 
 remittances. At last the uncle made up his mind 
 that this was a hopeless case. Fred was apparently 
 making no serious efforts to better himself. Money 
 sent to him was only encouraging him in idleness. 
 As a result, he sent a final post-office order, with the 
 plain statement that it was the last of his money 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE:' 23 
 
 that Fred would ever see. Fred knew that Josiah 
 never went back on a word of this sort, so he was 
 not surprised to find that all further letters to his 
 uncle remained unanswered. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that all this time Fred 
 had done absolutely nothing. He got occasional jobs 
 where temporary help was required, and sometimes 
 he got a promise of permanent work ; but " inquiries" 
 always ended fatally for him, and he had to begin 
 his hunt for work afresh. Once or twice, too, he had 
 begun well, only to find that his new employer was 
 of the Wallaby-Jones variety. 
 
 He had moved about from cheap lodging-house to 
 cheaper lodging-house, till at last he had reached the 
 lowest kind of night-by-night lodging that is repre- 
 sented by the unqualified word on the signboard, 
 " BEDS." Of late he had frequently been unable even 
 to pay for this humblest lodging. His last regular 
 job had been the writing of circulars. This consisted 
 in sitting in a draughty corridor with a city directory 
 and a pile of sealed circulars. His work was to hunt 
 out from the directory certain kinds of people, and 
 address a circular to each. This was paid at the rate 
 of half a crown per thousand circulars. 
 
 As Fred thought of all these things, and many 
 
24 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 others with which we need not harrow you, he had 
 a feeling of mingled shame and satisfaction — shame 
 that such things had ever occurred at all, and satis- 
 faction that they were now over for ever. It was 
 rather remarkable that, even after these three terrible 
 years, he was quite convinced that what he called his 
 ill-luck was now at an end. It was this incurable 
 hopefulness that had kept him from breaking down 
 long ago, and now convinced him that he would 
 without fail be accepted to-morrow as food for 
 powder, which, after all, is much better than food 
 for Thames. 
 
 As he wandered about, more or less listlessly, round 
 all the better-lit streets, watching the strange air of 
 unrest that marked everybody, and wondering where 
 he would be at that time next night, he hardly 
 felt his hunger. But as the lights disappeared one 
 by one, he began to feel sleepy. He had intended to 
 walk all night ; but as the streets became deserted, 
 he felt tempted to hunt out some quiet place where 
 he might be allowed to rest in peace for a few 
 hours. 
 
 While he was still among the more respectable 
 streets, but just on the border of the less respectable, 
 his attention was attracted by something that aston- 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE." 25 
 
 ished even him, accustomed as he was to the queer 
 things that happen in London streets between the 
 hours of midnight and four o'clock in the morning. 
 It was a street fight, but naturally that was not what 
 astonished Fred. It was not the fight, but the kind 
 of fight, and the kind of fighters. 
 
 Picture to yourself a street row carried on between 
 two white-haired, silk-hatted gentlemen, and you will 
 have some idea of what astonished Fred. When you 
 add that the fight was carried on in perfect silence, 
 your astonishment, like Fred's, will increase. 
 
 He rubbed his eyes vigorously, but the old gentle- 
 men were not to be rubbed out. One of them had a 
 military-looking moustache, but was otherwise closely 
 shaven ; the other had a long white beard. The 
 trouble seemed to be about a small black bag. Each 
 had a firm grip of the bag with the right hand, while 
 the left was free for offensive operations. They were 
 evidently not fighting for victory, but for the bag ; 
 and as Fred watched them from a doorway, he could 
 see that they were not doing much damage with their 
 free hands. At the same time, if he was to judge by 
 the expression of their faces, it was not from want 
 of will that they did not hurt each other more. In 
 the many street fights he had seen, Fred could not 
 
26 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 remember to have observed more virulent hatred ex- 
 pressed on the faces of the combatants. 
 
 You may wonder why Fred did not interfere ; but 
 if you do, you clearly do not understand the etiquette 
 of street fights. Fred was quite at home in the 
 ordinary fight, but this was out of his beat. 
 
 The fight might have gone on long enough, if they 
 had confined themselves to fist-work. But, whether 
 by accident or design, White Beard contrived to trip 
 up White Moustache, who came down upon the pave- 
 ment with a thud that suggested doctors' fees. White 
 Beard then gave such a vicious twist to the bag that 
 the vanquished man had to let go. 
 
 As the conqueror hobbled away at what he prob- 
 ably took for a run, Fred stepped out from the door- 
 way in which he had stood, and proceeded to raise 
 the fallen man. His kindly offices were not wel- 
 comed. White Moustache pushed him off. 
 
 " Don't mind me ! " he screamed ; " I'm all right. 
 Pursue the thief, and recover my valise. A hundred 
 pounds if you recover my valise ! Don't mind me, I 
 tell you. A hundred pounds ! A thousand thunders ! 
 A hundred pounds, did I say ? A hundred and 
 fifty if you save my valise. Run, man, run ! My 
 valise ! my valise ! " 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE:' 27 
 
 Thus urged, Fred gave up his idea of first aid to 
 the wounded, and dashed after the thief. The chase 
 in itself was child's play, but it was easier to come 
 up with the feeble runner than to take from him the 
 stolen bag. The old man gave all his attention to 
 retaining it, and it took all Fred's strength and 
 cunning to wrest it away. First he gave the thief 
 a nasty twist that brought him down on one knee ; 
 then with a sudden blow with the side of the hand 
 at the elbow of the arm that retained a grip of the 
 bag, he succeeded in causing his adversary to let go. 
 Knocking the thief over on the pavement, Fred re- 
 turned at full speed to the place where he had left 
 the plundered man, who was now on his feet, and 
 coming to meet the rescuer of his bag. 
 
 " My valise ! " screamed the old gentleman, holding 
 out his hand for his recovered property. 
 
 " My hundred and fifty pounds," replied Fred 
 quietly. 
 
 " I — I — I haven't the money in my pocket, and I 
 am in a desperate hurry ; the thief may return, and 
 I — Kindly give me the bag, and — " 
 
 " Oh, I daresay," replied Fred coolly. He had 
 now some prospect of both food and shelter, and was 
 not at all inclined to lose the chance of either. 
 
28 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 The old gentleman tore off his watch and chain, 
 and handed them over with a handful of loose money 
 that he had pulled out of his trousers pocket. 
 
 " For Heaven's sake give me my bag 1 It's a 
 matter of life and death. I'll give you the money 
 to-morrow. My address is — that is, I'll meet you 
 anywhere — at — say — here's a ring, too — Charing 
 Cross Station — bookstall — at noon, and — " 
 
 By this time he was moving off as quickly as he 
 could. For, in order to accept the ring, Fred had to 
 let go the bag, since his other hand was occupied 
 with the watch and the loose money. 
 
 As he was putting the watch and the money into 
 his pocket — somehow he had far more satisfaction in 
 the money than in the much more valuable watch 
 and ring — with a good deal of pleasure, he was dis- 
 gusted to find the thief at his elbow. 
 
 " He offers you a hundred and fifty : I offer you 
 two hundred if you catch him and bring me back 
 my bag." 
 
 " Your bag ! Why, didn't I see you steal it ? " 
 
 " My bag, I tell you 1 " snapped the old gentleman. 
 "You'll never see him or your hundred and fifty 
 again, while I'll take you with me now to my house 
 and give you your money. For God's sake after him 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSED' 29 
 
 before it's too late ! At least bring him back, and 
 let us talk face to face." 
 
 Fred was confused, but he determined to see this 
 thing to an end. His plan now was to capture the 
 vanishing old man, drag him back, and have the 
 affair thrashed out before himself as a sort of judge. 
 In a few minutes he had his man by the throat, and 
 was dragging him back to the corner where the row 
 had begun. The old gentleman whom he had sup- 
 posed to be waiting for him at the corner had 
 followed as quickly as he could, and was in fact 
 now close upon the two, and whispered in Fred's 
 ear, — 
 
 " Give me the bag before it's too late, and let the 
 fool go, and look out for yourself. Let's take different 
 ways. He'll follow you, thinking you're the thief. 
 To-morrow afternoon in — eh — the mummy room, 
 British Museum." 
 
 Fred did not at all understand what this meant. 
 Still, he had no intention of thus giving up his hold 
 of the bag ; but at the sound of the whispering the 
 captive old man seemed to become mad, and wriggled 
 with a vigour that called forth all Fred's strength 
 and attention. The bag had to attend to itself while 
 Fred secured his grip of the writhing prisoner. At 
 
3© ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 this point two very diflferent voices sounded in Fred's 
 ears, one in each ear. 
 
 The quiet voice said, — 
 
 " My promise still holds good : a hundred and fifty 
 pounds at Charing Cross, if you say nothing to the 
 authorities." 
 
 The loud voice said with much emphasis, — 
 
 " No you don't ; not this journey." 
 
 It was a moment or two before Fred realized what 
 had happened. Then things became painfully clear. 
 He was in the hands of an aggressively powerful 
 policeman, who was manifestly rejoicing at having 
 caught a robber in the very act. The policeman's 
 delight was very soon damped, however. It had not 
 taken the old gentleman, whose throat Fred had been 
 forced to relinquish, such a long time to realize the 
 situation as had been the case with Fred. And as 
 this old gentleman seemed to have no desire for a 
 closer acquaintance with the police, he was quietly 
 but rapidly moving off. 
 
 " Hi, there, you ! Stop, I say. Stay where you 
 are. I want your name and address." 
 
 As the old gentleman continued what was evi- 
 dently nothing but a flight, the policeman turned his 
 attention to the other old man upon whom he relied 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSE:' 31 
 
 as a witness. To his astonishment this second old 
 gentleman was farther off now than the first. 
 
 " Hi, you too ! " he yelled in rage ; " I want you as 
 a witness. Stop, I tell you." 
 
 As neither of the retreating figures paid any atten- 
 tion to his calls, he suddenly tightened his grip on 
 Fred, and proceeded to drag him after the nearer of 
 the two old gentlemen. But while Fred was helpless 
 to escape from the hands of his powerful captor, he 
 had quite enough energy to make it impossible for 
 that captor to continue a running chase. A moment 
 or two convinced the constable that he could not do 
 two things at once. He halted, and after a pre- 
 liminary extra twist at Fred's coat-collar to make 
 sure of preventing any chance of escape, he used his 
 whistle to call his mate. While the two waited till an 
 answering signal told them that the other constable 
 was coming, Fred had time to collect his thoughts. 
 He resolved that he would brazen it out with this 
 policeman. 
 
 " Now that you have had time to reflect on your 
 conduct, perhaps you will explain what you mean by 
 this unwarrantable assault." 
 
 The constable nearly exploded with suppressed 
 rage at this unheard-of impudence. 
 
32 ''SOMETHING DONE 
 
 "Didn't I catch you red-'anded a-garrotin' a ole 
 gen'leman ? " he spluttered. 
 
 " A charge of this kind generally demands proof, I 
 believe," went on Fred, becoming cooler as his captor 
 waxed more indignant. 
 
 " Proof ! My heyes ! didn' I see ? " 
 
 " And suppose your eyes deceived you ? You've 
 only two, you know." 
 
 " An' wot's your story ? You was a-cuddlin' the 
 ole gent, I s'pose. Quite lovin' like, warn't it ? " 
 
 By this time the other constable had joined them. 
 He took a much calmer view of the case, as was 
 natural, since it was not his catch. When he learned 
 what had passed between Fred and his captor, he 
 whispered something in the ear of the first constable, 
 who thereupon, in some confusion, turned to Fred 
 and warned him that anything he said might be used 
 against him. 
 
 " You're a little late in mentioning that, aren't 
 you ? " asked Fred blandly. But to this no answer 
 was made. 
 
 " You'll find, my youngster, that assault is no 
 laughing matter, whether there has been robbery 
 or not." 
 
 The other constable suggested a search for stolen 
 
TO EARN A NIGHT'S REPOSEP 33 
 
 objects, in case Fred should contrive to drop some of 
 the stolen articles between that and Wardick Square. 
 A dip into Fred's trousers pocket resulted in the 
 production of the watch and chain. 
 
 "The nooest fashun, I b'lieve, 's to wear your 
 watch in your trousers pocket — eh ? " 
 
 The captor had recovered his good humour at this 
 discovery of damning evidence against his prisoner. 
 
 " The old gentleman gave me the watch and chain," 
 retorted Fred, with as much conviction as he could 
 throw into his words. 
 
 " 0' course. An' you was jus' a-huggin' 'im by 
 the throat by way o' sayin' thanky. Oh yes ! " 
 
 The ring was next fished out. 
 
 " Another present from a grateful ole man ? " 
 sneered the constable. 
 
 " Yes," replied Fred steadily ; " he gave me the 
 ring, and promised me money to-morrow besides." 
 
 " If ye'd only let go his windpipe ? " interpolated 
 the second policeman. " But there's no good in 
 talking here. We'll see what the inspector says." 
 
 It has been hinted that Fred had no prospect of a 
 bed that night ; but as he marched off between the 
 two big policemen, he felt that for one night at least 
 he was sure of a shelter. 
 
 (1,106) 3 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 A RRIVED at the Wardick Square Police Station, 
 Jr\, Fred was marched into the charge -room, 
 where the oflficer sleepily turned over the charge-book. 
 
 " Your name ? " 
 
 " Frederick Gurleigh." 
 
 " Your address ? " 
 
 Fred was in a state of utter collapse. The shame 
 of the thing had never before struck him as it did 
 now. He had frequently been homeless before, but 
 he had always been able to keep his humiliation to 
 himself. He had never before been called upon to 
 make a public proclamation that his home was the 
 streets. He had not even the presence of mind to 
 give the latest address to which he had had a title. 
 The policeman who had captured him was evidently 
 greatly pleased at the turn affairs were taking. 
 
DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 35 
 
 However, the officer at the book seemed to lay no 
 stress on the lack of information on this point. He 
 merely remarked in a matter-of-fact tone, as he 
 wrote, — 
 
 " No address." 
 
 " Occupation ? " 
 
 Another collapse. As we know, he had no regular 
 occupation. He was of the great army who are 
 prepared to do that somewhat vague work, "any- 
 thing." The last thing he had been doing was the 
 addressing of circulars for an advertising agency. 
 
 " Better say something," suggested the officer ; " it 
 looks tidier." 
 
 " Advertising agent." 
 
 " Not bad," remarked the officer. " Your age last 
 birthday ? " 
 
 " Twenty-two." 
 
 Thereafter the conversation got into the hands of 
 the constables, who made matters look particularly 
 black for Fred. A more thorough search than the 
 two men could have made in the streets resulted in 
 the production of the loose money and a pocket-book 
 that had seen better days. The money amounted to 
 between four and five pounds, and was altogether out 
 of keeping with the appearance of Fred and with his 
 
36 DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 lack of an address. Before putting any questions, 
 however, the police examined the contents of the 
 pocket-book. These were mainly little bits of white 
 and coloured paper. The searchers were tolerably 
 familiar with this kind of paper ; most of their 
 customers carried some of it about with them. But 
 there was a touch of suspicion in the question which 
 the oflficer now put. 
 
 " You gave your name as Frederick Gurleigh. 
 Then who is this Josiah Larches who has pawned 
 those things ? An aliaSj I suppose ? " 
 
 " Josiah Larches is my uncle." 
 
 Fred understood, but paid no attention to, the 
 smile that flitted across the faces of all present. He 
 had now a new fear. If this thing appeared in the 
 papers, his own name would be known, and would be 
 sure to make its way to the paper in the oflSce of 
 which he had once served. This would be terrible ; 
 but if, in addition, it appeared in black and white 
 that he had actually pawned all his effects under 
 the name of his ultra-respectable uncle, he would be 
 held up to the scorn of all right-thinking men and 
 women. He proceeded to explain his reasons for 
 using his uncle's name. He wanted that uncle to 
 have the right to all the pawn-tickets. It was the 
 
DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 37 
 
 only way he could think of to repay the outlays 
 that the uncle had incurred on his account. This 
 all seemed very amusing to the police people. But 
 what had at first appeared a very suspicious circum- 
 stance turned out to be a point in Fred's favour. 
 
 " These tickets are all of old date. Why have you 
 no newer ones ? " 
 
 " Because I have had nothing to pawn for longer 
 than I can remember." 
 
 This seemed to produce a favourable effect, which 
 was not marred by the discovery in the pocket-book 
 of an exact note of all the money, with dates, which 
 Uncle Josiah had sent him. After being again 
 warned that he need not speak unless he liked, and 
 that if he did speak, what he said might be used 
 against him, he was invited to tell all he knew of the 
 strange events of the night. Thereupon he gave a 
 full statement of all that had happened, reserving 
 only one little point for his own use. This was the 
 appointment in the mummy room at the British 
 Museum. He saw quite clearly that there was very 
 little to be hoped for from the man who had promised 
 the hundred and fifty pounds. The man had not got 
 the bag, and here was Fred telling all he knew about 
 him ; therefore no money could be expected for keep- 
 
38 VA IVN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 ing a secret which was ah-eady divulged, so far as Fred 
 knew it. His idea was to use the watch -and-chain 
 old gentleman for all he was worth as a means of 
 escape from the hands of the police, and then to work 
 the mummy-room man as a means of getting some 
 advantage for himself. 
 
 When Fred had finished his statement, the officer 
 in charge was somewhat at a loss what to do. From 
 one point of view Fred was not a very reputable 
 character, and yet there was nothing whatever against 
 him. The watch-and-ring incident was very sus- 
 picious, yet the conduct of both old gentlemen, as 
 reported by the police, was, to say the least, queer, 
 and tended distinctly in Fred's favour. Turning to 
 Fred, the officer asked, — 
 
 "Have you any great objection to sleeping under 
 our care for to-night — not as a prisoner, you under- 
 stand, but to make sure ? " 
 
 Fred had no objections in the world ; but he took 
 the opportunity of this comparative yielding of the 
 authorities to plead very strongly for the chance of 
 proving his case by trying to meet the old gentleman 
 at Charing Cross Station. The officer would promise 
 him nothinor, but Fred 2:athered that there would 
 be no great difficulty in making the experiment of 
 
DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 39 
 
 giving the old gentleman the chance to redeem his 
 promise. 
 
 Next morning Fred was informed that the authori- 
 ties had decided to let him make the attempt of 
 meeting the owner of the watch and ring. These 
 had been carefully examined. Their joint value was 
 stated to be not less than fifty pounds. The watch 
 was of French make, and could possibly be traced 
 through its maker. The ring had the initials " B.F." 
 inside it. The characters were foreign, probably of 
 French origin. 
 
 Fred and a couple of men in plain clothes were 
 driven as far as the entrance to the National Gallery. 
 From there they walked to Charing Cross, Fred 
 walking as if he were alone; but the two plain- 
 clothes men were not far off. Arrived at the station, 
 he took up a position not far from the principal 
 bookstall, and kept an ostentatious lookout. This 
 he did on the advice of his escort, who had pointed 
 out that, since he had admitted that he would not be 
 able to recognize the old gentleman, it was more than 
 likely that the old gentleman would not be able to 
 recognize him, while it would be easy to select a man 
 who was obviously looking out for somebody. 
 
 Fred was at his post a few minutes before noon, 
 
40 DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 and a few minutes after the clock had indicated noon 
 he was a little startled to find himself addressed by a 
 policeman, who asked him, — 
 
 "Are you the young man that expects to meet 
 somebody here ? " 
 
 " Yes," stammered Fred ; " but you're not — " 
 
 '' What sort o' gentleman did you expect ? " con- 
 tinued the policeman. 
 
 " An old white-haired gentleman." 
 
 " Was there anything about a pocket-book in it ? " 
 went on the policeman stolidly. 
 
 " No ; but there was a ring and there was a watch 
 in it." 
 
 "Right y'are. Here's your letter," replied the 
 policeman, and made for the door with a countenance 
 beaming with self-satisfaction. No doubt he was 
 charmed with the ingenuity he had shown in the 
 discharge of his mission. But his satisfaction was 
 short-lived. When he reached the entrance he found 
 that he had run himself between two men who 
 showed no intention of separating to allow him to 
 pass. Instead, they said some words to him that 
 completely changed the expression on his face. In 
 point of fact, they had reminded him that what he 
 had done was a breach of by-law some number or 
 
DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 41 
 
 other, and that the only way in which he could atone 
 for his sin was by leading to the capture of the 
 person who had intrusted him with this letter. 
 
 But if the plain-clothes men grinned at the sudden 
 change in the constable's expression, he might have 
 reciprocated had he seen the change in theirs a 
 moment after he had gone out ; for, as soon as he 
 had left, they resumed their scrutiny of Fred — or, 
 rather, they meant to, for he was no longer there to 
 be scrutinized. The temptation had been too great. 
 For a moment he had hesitated, when he saw his 
 escort taken up with the unexpected policeman. But 
 the desire for liberty was so strong that he had 
 yielded, and had coolly walked out by another of the 
 gates. 
 
 It was a foolish thing to do, for he felt that the 
 coming of any message at all from the owner of the 
 watch was enough to clear him of all charge of 
 robbery. Still, he was very eager to meet the man 
 in the mummy room. What he hoped for was not 
 so much a mere sum of money, as the chance of 
 getting a respectable position once again. Strange as 
 it may seem, his main desire was to justify himself in 
 the opinion of that Uncle Josiah whose generosity most 
 people would have maintained that he had abused. 
 
42 DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 A moment or two was enough to convince the 
 plain-clothes men that Fred was entirely lost. They 
 then turned their attention vigorously to the con- 
 stable, to see if he would succeed in directing them 
 to the sender of the letter. They followed him at a 
 respectable distance for a while, but at last he turned 
 towards them, confessing that he could find no trace 
 of the young fellow who had given him the letter. 
 
 " Young fellow ! " exclaimed one of the plain- 
 clothes men ; " I thought he was an old white-haired 
 man." 
 
 " There was an old man mixed up in it," replied 
 the crestfallen constable, " but the fellow who gave 
 me the letter and the half-sovereign was quite young." 
 
 " Can you describe him ? " 
 
 The constable eagerly entered into details, the sum 
 of which was that the man was little, dark, foreign- 
 looking. With this unsatisfactory result of their 
 morning's work, the two plain -clothes men had to 
 return to Wardick Square, bringing, like Johnny 
 Cope, the news of their own defeat. 
 
 If they were sad and disappointed, their late 
 prisoner was hardly more cheerful. In spite of 
 all his former trials, he had always been able to 
 look the world in the face ; but now he had fallen 
 
DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 43 
 
 into that lowest level, " wanted " by the police. To 
 be sure, they had no case against him, and his own 
 conscience was entirely clear ; but somehow the 
 world is different when it is necessary to turn into 
 a side street as soon as a policeman's helmet appears 
 in sight. 
 
 The letter which had been the cause of much of 
 this trouble was only mysterious, and gave very little 
 satisfaction. It ran : — 
 
 " If you find out who I am from the other, and 
 have the sense to keep your own counsel, you will 
 find it worth your while. I am much wealthier than 
 he, and whatever he offers you to appear as witness 
 against me, I will pay you double to remain silent. 
 I need not betray my name here; for unless you 
 know me, I need not trouble about you; while if 
 you know me, you will know where to apply." 
 
 Manifestly there was nothing to be done till the 
 interview in the mummy room. This letter was in 
 itself of no importance, and for the first time Fred 
 had a gleam of comfort in having escaped the police. 
 It was terrible, this feeling of being wanted ; but it 
 would have been still more terrible to have missed 
 the chance that this meeting seemed to offer. If he 
 had remained with the police, it was quite likely that 
 
44 DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 they would have invited him to remain under their 
 protection for yet another night ; and even if they 
 had let him go, he would have had no assurance 
 that he was not watched. Then Fred tried, with a 
 little success, to cheer himself up. The police knew 
 almost nothing about him. He was known only to 
 one police station. He had not been photographed. 
 The description that could be sent round the police 
 stations would require to be of the most general 
 character — something that would fit several thousands 
 of unfortunate young men in London. Besides, had 
 they any right to describe him at all ? Was he really 
 wanted ? Was there not some formality to be gone 
 through in the way of getting a warrant ? That 
 could not be done till the afternoon at any rate, so 
 he was free to keep his appointment, even in the 
 teeth of the police. 
 
 In this way he had swaggered himself into quite 
 a bold frame of mind by the time he reached the 
 entrance gate of the British Museum. There, how- 
 ever, all his boldness deserted him, for at the narrower 
 gateway stood a policeman, as if waiting for him. 
 The man had actually a grin on his face, and it 
 took Fred all his time to keep his legs from running 
 away with his body. As soon as he had collected 
 
DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 45 
 
 his scattered thoughts, he remembered that there was 
 always a policeman at that gate, and the grin he 
 easily resolved into an effect of his own imagination. 
 
 At all events he had to pass the man if he meant 
 to keep his appointment; and when it came to the 
 point, he walked past in very good style on the side 
 at which the policeman stood, although it was quite 
 open for him to take the other side, and keep at a 
 distance from the policeman. 
 
 Once within the mummy room, Fred sat on one of 
 the cushioned seats without a back, and waited. He 
 was hungry again, but not very hungry, for that 
 morning he had had breakfast, and it was now only 
 half-past three. But it was well that the seat had 
 no back, since he would inevitably have gone to 
 sleep; for he had acquired the power of going to 
 sleep wherever he could lean against something. 
 
 He had before him one of the mummies placed on 
 end, and had begun to weave a romance round it, as 
 is the manner of idle people in that room, when a 
 soft voice at his ear made him start up. The voice 
 began, " Are you sure you are not watched ? " but 
 ended, " Sit down, can't you, and do not attract 
 attention." 
 
 On this reproof Fred resumed his easy position. 
 
46 DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 and in answer to his questioner gave as full an 
 account as he could of the events that had followed 
 his arrest. The old gentleman appeared to be pleased 
 with what had taken place, but by several unexpected 
 and apparently irrelevant questions satisfied himself 
 that Fred was telling a true tale. What he appeared 
 to lay most stress upon was that Fred had had no 
 previous connection of any kind with the other old 
 man. 
 
 " Would you know him again ? " 
 
 " Easily. I had a capital view of him that time 
 that I had him by the throat and was trying to drag 
 him to you." 
 
 " And if anything were to go wrong with me, you 
 would be prepared to give evidence of what you saw 
 last night ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Fred a little doubtfully. " But you'd 
 better read that." 
 
 " 'M," murmured the other. " By showing me 
 this you mean that you are prepared to act for 
 me. It can't be to raise my terms, for he outbids 
 whatever I may oflfer." 
 
 " I want a respectable situation," replied Fred, not 
 very relevantly. 
 
 " As to respectability I am none too sure," replied 
 
DAWN OF PROSPERITY. 47 
 
 the old man ; " but I want the help of a young and 
 strong fellow like you, if only to protect me against 
 another attack." 
 
 At the end of the talk the old man appeared to 
 be quite convinced of the sincerity of the young 
 one, and told him that he would be glad to see 
 him at his house, number so-and-so Russell Square. 
 His name, it appeared, was Welligham. 
 
 Fred more than appreciated what Mr. Welligham 
 said of the inadvisability of a young man, dressed 
 as Fred then was, coming to take up his abode in 
 Russell Square. A ten-pound note changed hands 
 in that mummy room, and Fred departed towards 
 Holborn. 
 
 There are people who have grave objections to 
 ready-made clothes, but Fred was not among them. 
 In future days, no doubt, he changed his mind, but 
 at this time he was more than pleased at the chance 
 of exchanging that telltale frock-coat of his for 
 something shorter and better; for, by a strange 
 combination of circumstances, the deeper the poverty 
 into which a man falls in London, the longer does 
 his coat become. Probably the nature of cast-off 
 clothing has something to do with this. 
 
 In any case, Fred went to one of those shops that 
 
48 DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 supply you with everything, from silk hats to shoe 
 laces, and, after a considerable amount of careful 
 choosing, had a couple of parcels made up for him, 
 the contents of which represented eight of the ten 
 pounds he had received from Welligham. At first 
 he had intended to put on his new grandeur in the 
 fitting-on room of the general provider, but a more 
 excellent plan suggested itself to him. 
 
 With a bundle under each arm, and a gleam of 
 triumph in his eye, he made for one of the streets 
 joining Holborn with the Strand and the river. He 
 knew exactly where he was going, and when he 
 reached the place, he did not need to look up at the 
 signboard to know that this was where one could 
 have baths. 
 
 The bath man was a little suspicious of the 
 bundles. 
 
 "You're not tryin' on any o' them chemical fakes?" 
 he asked doubtfully ; for he had sometimes to regret 
 the incautious introduction of chemicals into his zinc 
 baths. Fred easily reassured him, by a sight of the 
 contents of one of the parcels. 
 
 When the delightful part of the bath was over, 
 and Fred had donned his new grandeur, he found 
 himself face to face with two difficulties. What 
 
DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 49 
 
 was he to do with his old garments, and what was 
 he to do without a new hat ? The first difficulty 
 was met by paying three coppers to the bath man 
 to throw out the old rags. The second problem 
 was more serious. 
 
 He had felt that the sight of a man dressed as he 
 had been, and burdened with two bulky parcels, yet 
 ending in a brand-new silk hat, would be too funny 
 to be comfortable. So he had arranged that his new 
 hat and umbrella should wait in the shop in Holborn 
 till the rest of his appearance would not make these 
 new possessions ridiculous. But he had forgotten 
 the other side of the question, and now it was his 
 clothes that were ashamed of the hat. Fred will 
 never forget the feeling of intolerable shame that 
 oppressed him all the way from his bath back to 
 the shop. Almost everybody gazed at him, and 
 there were enough youngsters with sufficient leisure 
 to make him exceedingly uncomfortable by their 
 frank criticism of his new " togs " and his concer- 
 tina hat. 
 
 What made his case all the worse was that the 
 ready-mades had turned out a remarkably good fit. 
 It is your well-made man who can best meet the 
 disadvantages of unmeasured garments ; and, in spite 
 
 (1,106) 4 
 
50 DA WN OF PROSPERITY. 
 
 of his unofficial astragalus, Fred was well made. 
 At last it was over : the shop was reached, and Fred 
 came out from it a new man. 
 
 Though we have forgotten to mention it, Fred had 
 not gone to the provider's straight away. He had 
 made a call at one of those shameless shops that call 
 themselves bluntly "eating-houses." There he had 
 spent four-fifths of the half-crown that Welligham 
 had added, on Fred's suggestion, to the ten -pound 
 note, to keep body and soul together till the note had 
 been changed. Eating-house people do not understand 
 notes of this magnitude. 
 
 As Fred moved towards Russell Square in a 
 leisurely way, he felt that he did not care if he 
 never saw food again in his life. He had done 
 enough eating that day to last him for all time. 
 
 It was seven o'clock before he made his appearance 
 at Welligham's, but no one could say that the time 
 had been misspent. The servant had never ushered 
 into Mr. Welligham's study a more creditable figure 
 than Fred made that evening. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 WHEN Fred and his new master were seated 
 opposite each other by the fire in the little 
 study, Welligham evidently felt that it would be 
 better that his assistant should know something 
 about what had happened on the preceding night. 
 
 " You will be surprised to learn that my assailant 
 of last night was none other than Professor Frisaine." 
 
 Fred was surprised, though not quite in the way 
 Welligham had expected. As a matter of fact he 
 had never heard of Professor Frisaine. At first 
 Welligham was a little annoyed at Fred's blank 
 ignorance of a man of world-wide fame, but he 
 soon consoled himself by the thought that this was 
 the very sort of man he wanted to assist him — a 
 man who knew nothing about science, and therefore 
 could not betray any secrets. He proceeded to give 
 Fred a general idea of how things stood. 
 
52 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 " This Frisaine — Blaise Frisaine — has got some 
 inkling of a great discovery that I have made, and 
 is anxious to anticipate me in proclaiming and 
 utilizing it. Two years ago I was vain enough to 
 adumbrate my discovery before the Royal Society. 
 He was the only man among the crowd — I must 
 say that to his credit — who had the least under- 
 standing of the importance of the discovery. The 
 others neither saw its importance, nor, indeed, be- 
 lieved in its existence. Anything dealing with the 
 will of man is always relegated to psychology, and 
 you know what that means to a man of science." 
 
 Fred had no earthly idea what that might mean 
 to a man of science, or to a man of any other kind. 
 Welligham saw that his new assistant, while an in- 
 telligent fellow, had no scientific training, and, what 
 was more, had no scientific interests. 
 
 All that Fred wanted to know was what practical 
 application was to be made of this discovery, but he 
 showed no desire to pry into the elaborate calculations 
 with which Welligham — now that he had begun to 
 trust him — was prepared to overwhelm him. Some- 
 what disappointed at this lack of scientific curiosity, 
 Welligham came suddenly to the practical application, 
 which he expressed in the most unscientific way. 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 53 
 
 " The practical result of my discovery is that I can 
 do with men anything I want. Give me but enough 
 money and the earth is at my feet." 
 
 Fred thought that, even without this marvellous 
 discovery, he could make something of the world him- 
 self, if somebody would but give him " enough money." 
 But, naturally, he did not say this. He knew when 
 he was well off, and did not propose to return to his 
 old address so long as a little silent attention would 
 ensure his residence at Russell Square. He continued 
 listening, and soon began to feel that there must be 
 more in this discovery than he had at first thought. 
 Whether it produced scientific results or not, it was 
 evidently accompanied by very dangerous experi- 
 ments — not dangerous to the experimenters, but to 
 those experimented upon ; for, in the course of his 
 talking, Welligham had made it plain that he had 
 to experiment not only upon animals, but also upon 
 human beings. 
 
 Instinctively Fred edged away from this genial old 
 gentleman. He felt a perfect cataract of cold water 
 running down his back ; his skin began prickling 
 all over him. What is a new suit of clothes of the 
 best ready-made quality, what is a dinner of such 
 stupendous magnitude as to make the very thought 
 
54 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 of food unpleasant, what is even the prospect of 
 paying back Uncle Josiah's begrudged money, if these 
 things are to be purchased by submitting to the knife 
 of a cold-blooded scientist ? 
 
 Too late Fred remembered that Welligham had 
 locked the door of the study on entering, on what 
 now appeared the frivolous pretext of preventing 
 disturbance. Fred had been dodging police helmets 
 all day ; now he would have given anything he had 
 in the world for the sight of one of these friendly 
 helmets. 
 
 " Suppose we go to the laboratory," suggested 
 Welligham genially ; " we shall be better able there 
 to—" 
 
 All at once Fred's courage returned. The perspira- 
 tion did not dry upon his forehead, it is true, but the 
 knowledge returned to him that he was infinitely 
 stronger than this fiendish old man, and could break 
 him over his knees if he liked. He stood, and bend- 
 ing over the old man, threateningly growled, — 
 
 " No laboratory for me ; not any to-day, thank you. 
 If you dare to lay a finger on me in the way of ex- 
 perimenting, I'll break every bone in your miserable 
 body." 
 
 " My good fellow," exclaimed Welligham, without 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 55 
 
 making the slightest motion to rise, "you are en- 
 tirely on the wrong tack. I can understand your 
 feelings, but I ask you to believe me when I say that 
 I have no need whatever for your services as a sub- 
 ject. I have now almost passed the stage of experi- 
 menting ; my results are practically perfect. All 
 that I require now is money to provide materials for 
 work on a grand scale. In fact, my difficulty now 
 lies in the simplicity of my results. I dare not leave 
 my notes about anywhere. If they fell into the 
 hands of an intelligent man, he might be able to piece 
 them together and arrive at my grand conclusion." 
 
 Fred sat down once more. His liking for his new 
 master was no greater than it had been a moment 
 before, but his fear had gone. After a short pause 
 Welligham went on. 
 
 " No, I need not fear a merely intelligent man. 
 The law of gravitation stared intelligent men in the 
 face for thousands of years before Newton discovered 
 it. No, the only man I am really afraid of is this 
 same Blaise Frisaine. He has some of the links ; he 
 knows what is lacking ; he is hunting for the missing 
 links ; and he has plenty of money — a nation at his 
 back, in fact." 
 
 Turning suddenly to Fred, Welligham went on 
 
56 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 eagerly: "You were afraid a moment ago — well, 
 well, not afraid; I withdraw the word if it annoys 
 you ; we'll say startled — because you thought my 
 purpose was to use you as a subject. I wonder how 
 you will take my real use for you." 
 
 Here the same sensations, in a somewhat modified 
 form, made Fred feel that clothing, food, and warmth 
 had their uncomfortable accompaniment. Welligham 
 certainly gave his assistant ample time to conjure up 
 horrible things before going on in the same eager 
 tone. 
 
 "I want you to protect me against this Blaise 
 Frisaine. I cannot sleep at night for him. Not that 
 I am afraid of the man as a man. It is for my dis- 
 covery that I fear. Twice he has penetrated to my 
 laboratory, and twice he has gained a step towards 
 the solution. I dare not leave my notes anywhere 
 out of my sight. What I have done is to reduce 
 them to their most compact form ; to cipher them in 
 different ways ; and, as a final precaution, to keep a 
 certain portion of each calculation in my memory. 
 All the turning points are thus stored in my memory 
 alone. The strain is terrible, and I am breaking 
 down under it. I want you to help to keep watch 
 with me — watch about." 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 57 
 
 " Oh, as to that/' replied Fred, with a sigh of relief, 
 " I'm with you all the time. But why don't you call 
 in the police ? " 
 
 Welligham smiled sarcastically. 
 
 " The police ! Oh yes, I called in the police. I 
 placed my house in their hands for protection, as 
 soon as I found that Frisaine was determined to have 
 my secret. I have the best reason to believe that it 
 was through the 'police that he obtained his first 
 entry into my laboratory." 
 
 " But why didn't you call for the police last night 
 when the fellow attacked you ? " asked Fred, with 
 some suspicion, as he recalled the peculiar affray. 
 
 Welligham hesitated a moment before answering. 
 
 " You are evidently shocked at the idea of experi- 
 menting on human beings, and the police undoubtedly 
 share your objections. I had been experimenting in 
 one of the low districts — it does not matter where. 
 The bag contained the results of my work. Frisaine 
 knew this, and knew that these results were very 
 near the final point. Hence his eagerness. The 
 police, on the other hand, would have found evidence 
 of illegal experimenting. I have no wish to go to 
 prison to please a stupid administration." 
 
 Fred could not repress a shudder. His curiosity 
 
58 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 was roused in spite of himself. He loathed this cold- 
 blooded man, to whom he yet felt himself indebted. 
 Accordingly he wanted to make the best case for 
 him. 
 
 " You give them chloroform, I hope ? " 
 
 " Eh, what ? Chloroform the police ? Why should 
 I do that ? " 
 
 " No, I don't mean the police ; I mean your victims." 
 
 "Oh, my subjects. No, I don't chloroform them. 
 You see, I only act upon their wills ; and if they were 
 unconscious, my experiments would be impossible." 
 
 " Don't they yell horribly ? " asked Fred, unable to 
 suppress his desire to know the worst. 
 
 " No ; why should they ? " replied Welligham with 
 some surprise. " I don't want them to yell." 
 
 "I daresay not," replied Fred dryly. "But it is 
 not every man that will hold his tongue while you 
 are hacking him up, merely because you want him to 
 keep quiet." 
 
 " Ah, you are again under a misapprehension. My 
 experiments do not imply any hacking up ; they are 
 perfectly painless. Sometimes they result in death, 
 it is true ; but even then there is no pain. Besides, 
 the subject is warned beforehand of what may happen, 
 and his death means an additional payment to his 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 59 
 
 relatives. Nearly all my subjects have come to me 
 for the good of their relatives. I'm a public bene- 
 factor." 
 
 This line of humour was abhorrent to Fred, who 
 yet went on probing. 
 
 " Is it a well-paid business, then, being your sub- 
 ject?" 
 
 " That depends on your ideas. All I know is that 
 three years ago I was a very wealthy man, and now 
 I am down to my last five thousand." 
 
 " All spent on subjects ? " 
 
 " Except what has gone in chemicals. But talking 
 of money reminds me that we have that little affair 
 of yours to settle yet — the two hundred pounds." 
 
 " Oh, as to that," replied Fred very uneasily, " I 
 don't know that I want it. You see, I did nothing — 
 at any rate, nothing worth that amount. But I should 
 like a permanent position, at what you think I'm 
 worth." 
 
 " Well, I think you worth two hundred to begin 
 with ; and when we get to know each other better, 
 I have no doubt you will find — " 
 
 Welligham evidently thought better of what he 
 was about to say, and confined himself to going to 
 the safe in the corner and bringing out gold and 
 
6o THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 notes to the amount of one hundred and ninety pounds, 
 for which he required a receipt. 
 
 When Fred represented to him his feeling that it 
 was unfair to take so much money from a man who 
 was confessedly so sorely in need of it himself, Wellig- 
 ham pointed out that a few hundreds were nothing to 
 him. Unless he could secure fifty thousand pounds, 
 no smaller sum was of any consequence. He added, 
 however, that he had hopes of raising the money 
 through a business friend of his, if he could only 
 convince this friend that there was money to be made 
 out of the results of the discovery. He admitted 
 that the friend was very sceptical, but did not alto- 
 gether refuse his co-operation. The conversation then 
 returned to Frisaine, who was never very far from 
 Welligham's thoughts. 
 
 " How would it do," suggested Fred idly, " to kid- 
 nap the fellow, and lay him by the heels in some 
 cellar till it suits you to proclaim your discovery ? " 
 
 To his surprise, Welligham answered quite seriously 
 that he had thought of this plan, but that it was 
 unworkable, since Frisaine had all France at his 
 back. 
 
 " Why, what has France got to do with it ? " asked 
 Fred, more and more puzzled. 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 6i 
 
 " My discovery, if made known to France, would 
 place the world at her feet, and the French govern- 
 ment have the sense to know it." 
 
 " But would it not place the world at our feet, if 
 our government knew it ? " 
 
 " Our government is an ass," was all that Wellig- 
 ham deigned to say on this point ; from which Fred 
 wisely concluded that our government had had an offer 
 of this wonderful discovery, and had not accepted it. 
 
 " Have you thought of floating a company ? " asked 
 Fred, with memories of Wallaby- Jones. 
 
 Welligham indulgently explained that the great 
 discovery did not commend itself to mercantile men 
 in general. He evidently wanted to change the sub- 
 ject ; so, when he proposed that they should now go 
 to the laboratory, Fred offered no objection. 
 
 This laboratory was a long room, with benches 
 along either side, and all manner of queer-looking 
 machines and apparatus. At the end farthest from 
 the door was a rather large and complicated machine, 
 which seemed to be made up mainly of brass spikes. 
 This naturally attracted Fred's notice, but Welligham 
 passed it over with small attention, and turned lov- 
 ingly to a little machine that could be put into an 
 ordinary hat-box. 
 
62 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 "There," said the old man proudly — "there you 
 have a machine that will revolutionize social life." 
 
 " But I thought you wanted fifty thousand pounds 
 to make your machine, and there it is all ready." 
 
 " The machine is all right," was the reply. " It is 
 the feeding of the machine that costs the money." 
 
 " What does it feed on ? " asked Fred curiously. 
 
 " On a stuff that nobody knows anything about but 
 myself, and maybe Frisaine — I'm not sure about him 
 — a stuff that I call jpanergon. Panergon does not 
 exist native anywhere, so far as I know. I have to 
 manufacture it for myself out of certain of the rarest 
 and most costly chemical elements. I have a small 
 stock of it in hand, but not enough, nor nearly enough, 
 to make my machine do its work to any effect." 
 
 " What is the machine good for ? " asked Fred. 
 
 But to this question Welligham made no reply. 
 Either he was unwilling to expose his plans further, 
 at that stage, or he thought that Fred could not 
 follow the necessary scientific explanations. Instead, 
 he got Fred to help him with certain bits of mechani- 
 cal work that involved the shifting about of some 
 heavy materials. It evidently involved also the 
 flashing about of a great many little jagged lights. 
 These attracted Fred's attention much more than did 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE, 63 
 
 the mysterious machine with the costly appetite. He 
 asked what caused them. 
 
 " Oh, these ? These are the overflow energy of 
 the ordinary second-remove electricity." 
 
 Fred knew nothing about the recent discovery that 
 electricity could be dealt with in two modified forms 
 — the first and second remove — as well as in its plain 
 form. But he was curious about the dancing lights, 
 that made a little tame aurora borealis in the labo- 
 ratory. Seeing that he was interested, Welligham 
 gratified him by the display of the lights in regular 
 order — in crosses, circles, squares, and other patterns. 
 
 "You seem to be able to do what you like with 
 these lights. Couldn't you make them form writing ?" 
 
 " Perfectly." And in a moment Fred saw his own 
 name written in flame on the wall, and glimmering 
 out of the darkness with all the awe-inspiring eflTect 
 of the writing at Belshazzar's feast. Fred did not 
 think much of the ghostly eflfect : an idea had come 
 to him. 
 
 " Could you make big writing as easily as little ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Oh yes. It is a mere matter of dynamos." 
 
 " Is the dynamo as greedy for money as your other 
 machine ? " 
 
64 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 " Oh no. An ordinary dynamo can easily produce 
 all the force we require for a thing like this." 
 
 " And you could make writing, with letters maybe 
 ten feet long, on a blank wall, at no very great cost ? " 
 
 " I could write on the sky, with letters any size 
 you please, at a very reasonable cost." 
 
 " On the sky, did you say ? " 
 
 " On the sky," repeated Welligham. 
 
 " So that most of the people in town could read 
 them, for instance ? " 
 
 " There's nothing to prevent it. What of that ? " 
 
 He could not help noticing that Fred was excited. 
 
 " There's just this about it, that if you can guar- 
 antee the writing on the sky, I think I see my way 
 of guaranteeing you, within a very short time, your 
 fifty thousand pounds for your other machine. Does 
 anybody else know how to make writing on the 
 sky?" 
 
 " I should think that every scientific man that 
 deserves the name could direct the second-remove 
 current in any way he chooses ; but probably no one 
 has thought of writing on the sky." 
 
 "I hope not," replied Fred eagerly. "What I 
 propose is that you arrange to print on the sky some 
 plain advertisements — say soap or pills." 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 65 
 
 " I prefer not," said Welligham coldly. " Soap and 
 pills are hardly in my way of working." 
 
 " But then your greedy machine ! " 
 
 This consideration evidently had its effect. 
 
 " Besides, I shall look after all the details," added 
 Fred soothingly. " All you will have to do is to print 
 the letters on the sky." 
 
 From this point Fred took the lead in the con- 
 versation. He did all the questioning, and made all 
 the arrangements. Welligham confined himself to 
 suggesting ways of carrying out Fred's proposals. 
 It turned out that probably most electricial engineers 
 had not the power of the second remove that Wellig- 
 ham had. On being pressed, that gentleman admitted 
 that perhaps he had unduly depreciated the impor- 
 tance of his command over the second remove, and 
 that perhaps he had done this merely because of the 
 enormous importance he attached to his other dis- 
 covery. Further, on inquiry, Fred found that Wellig- 
 ham professed to be able to project his lights as far 
 above the city as was necessary for everybody in the 
 city to see them. 
 
 "For that matter," he added, "why not elevate 
 them to a sufficient altitude for them to be visible 
 from every point in the British Isles ? " 
 
 (1,106) 5 
 
66 THE GREEDY MACHINE, 
 
 "Why not?" gasped Fred. "Do that, and I'll 
 guarantee you your fifty thousand next week." 
 
 Welligham seemed astonished at this prospect, and 
 showed his satisfaction by at once sitting down at 
 a desk and making some calculations by the help of 
 some books that he took down for the purpose. The 
 work took him longer than Fred had anticipated. 
 But the younger man knew too well the importance 
 of humouring such a calculator to think of disturbing 
 him. Welligham wandered from book to book, and 
 filled sheet after sheet of paper. At last he was ready. 
 
 " The cost is rather more than I had thought," 
 he admitted. " I find that to keep the electricity in 
 the required form for four hours, at the required 
 height and of the necessary size, will involve an 
 outlay of close on four hundred pounds — that is, of 
 course, in addition to the apparatus which I already 
 possess." 
 
 " For four hundred pounds you can give a four 
 hours' display in the sky of somebody's pills or soap 
 that can be read by everybody in the British Isles ? " 
 
 " Yes, I think I can safely promise that," replied 
 Welligham, glancing at his calculations. 
 
 " Then our fortune's made, and your greedy machine 
 may look forward to a hearty meal." 
 
THE GREEDY MACHINE. 67 
 
 Welligham made no comment on Fred's our. He 
 seemed to take it for granted that Fred would share 
 in whatever profit might arise from this new venture. 
 As for Fred, his sole regret was that it was now too 
 late to call on any possible advertiser. Turning over 
 in his mind the possibilities before him, he found that 
 it would be desirable to find out as much as possible 
 from Welligham, in order to be able to make the best 
 appeal to his clients. 
 
 " By the way, Mr. Welligham, is there anything to 
 hinder our making the advertisement big enough to 
 be read on both sides of the Atlantic ? " 
 
 Fred's ideas were certainly expanding. 
 
 " Unfortunately there is. We might get over the 
 difficulty of the size of the characters, but then we 
 have the curvature of the earth's surface to contend 
 against. The letters had better be in the zenith. 
 Now it is impossible to give America the same zenith 
 as England." 
 
 Fred saw no difficulty in the matter, but he was 
 willing to take his master's word for it, and confined 
 himself to a consideration of the worldly aspect of 
 the venture. 
 
 " How long will your arrangements take ? I mean, 
 when could I promise the display ? " 
 
68 THE GREEDY MACHINE. 
 
 " A week will be quite long enough for me," replied 
 Welligham. 
 
 There was another question that had been hover- 
 ing upon Fred's lips since the subject had been 
 started, but which he had not dared to ask. It had 
 to be faced now, however, for it involved a vital 
 point. 
 
 " May I ask, Mr. Welligham — it is really necessary 
 that I should know — whether you are prepared to 
 spend the necessary four hundred pounds in the first 
 instance, on condition of being repaid as soon as the 
 experiment has proved successful ? I know those 
 business people. They are quite willing to pay for 
 value received, but they will not advance a penny 
 on mere prospects." 
 
 Welligham looked a little uneasy. But before 
 answering he turned towards some cupboards at the 
 other end of the laboratory, and after a careful 
 examination of their contents, he reported that he 
 thought he had enough material in stock to raise the 
 necessary force for one exhibition of four hours with- 
 out buying any more. 
 
 " In that case," replied Fred, " there will be no 
 diflSculty about the second." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 NEXT morning Fred started work early. But 
 his first piece of business was of a purely- 
 private character. He called at a bank, and pro- 
 cured a draft for fifty-three pounds fourteen and 
 sevenpence, being the exact amount to a penny that 
 he had received from his uncle Josiah. It was a 
 pity that he was so busy that morning, as it pre- 
 vented him from fully enjoying this long-looked- 
 forward-to function of sending back the money. How 
 often he had pictured the scene, and how hopeless 
 had its realization become of late ! The letter itself 
 he had written the evening before. It required no 
 thought, as it had been composed long, long ago. The 
 very words of it had been running in his head for 
 months. Yet the very wording of the letter was in- 
 accurate now, for it referred to " the enclosed detailed 
 
70 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 statement " of all the money he had received, and 
 now there was no detailed statement to enclose ; for, 
 though Fred had no difficulty in remembering the 
 exact amount that he owed, he was unable to recall 
 all the details that were so carefully recorded in that 
 pocket-book now in safe keeping at Wardick Square. 
 
 Before sending off the letter, Fred read it over 
 again, to have the final satisfaction of thinking how 
 Uncle Josiah would squirm as he read its scathing 
 terms. To his own surprise it no longer gave him 
 any satisfaction ; in fact, he rather disliked it. After 
 all, his uncle had done him no wrong in sending the 
 money. A month ago Fred would have denied the 
 possibility of his ever doing what he now did. He 
 tore up the letter that had been so long composed in 
 his mind, went into a stationer's shop, and wrote a 
 very short note, telling Uncle Josiah that he had at 
 last got a situation, that he was glad to be able to 
 return the money, and ended by thanking his uncle 
 for the loan. The letter was posted rather in a 
 hurry, as Fred did not quite know what to make of 
 himself. However, he had other things to keep him 
 busy just then. 
 
 It was perhaps no great matter that he could not 
 recover the note of his debts, but he felt that he 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 71 
 
 should like very much to have his pawn-tickets. He 
 knew by bitter experience that appearances go a very 
 long way in doing business, and he wanted very 
 much to redeem his own watch, from which he had 
 now been so long separated. Then there were that 
 diamond ring and a silver-headed cane ; but somehow 
 Fred had not so much faith in diamond rings and 
 silver-headed canes as he once had. At any rate, he 
 had no thought of buying a fresh supply. He kept 
 his coat buttoned to hide the absence of a watch- 
 chain, and trusted to the quality of his ready-mades. 
 
 His first call was at Hatchem and Company's, whose 
 soap figured in e^gj on the back page of every 
 second-rate magazine in the country. He asked to 
 see the advertising manager, but was asked coldly 
 what his business was. His reply that it was 
 "private" was not regarded as satisfactory. Then 
 he was informed that he could see the second clerk, 
 but that if he absolutely must see the manager, he 
 could send in his card and have an appointment 
 made. 
 
 This was Fred's first rebuflP. He had no card. 
 Accordingly he went straightway to one of those 
 shops where they print your cards " while you wait," 
 and there had them printed in the best style that the 
 
72 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 time would allow, and on the dearest cardboard. 
 They could not be lithographed in the time, but the 
 printing took that form that looks likest script. 
 Fred's bosom swelled as he read the handsome in- 
 timation : — 
 
 Frederick Gurleigh, 
 
 Advertising Agent 
 
 XT Russell Square. 
 
 But two unpleasant thoughts at once obtruded 
 themselves. First, had he any right to use the ad- 
 dress of his master without permission ? Secondly 
 and chiefly, the very wording of the name recalled 
 in the most painful way his experiences of yesterday. 
 He felt inclined to have a new set of cards printed, 
 with a comfortably misleading name and address ; 
 but time was pressing. After all, he had never done 
 anything that gave the police a right to interfere 
 with him. Further, it is wonderful how differently 
 he felt towards the police now that he had a good 
 coat on his back. He resolved to take his chance. 
 
 He next called on "Cocoon Pills Company, Limited." 
 As before, he asked for the advertising manager ; and, 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 73 
 
 as before, he was asked his business. He gave his 
 card, and mentioned that he had a very special offer 
 to make. The reply came back that very special offers 
 were better made in writing. To his remonstrance 
 that his offer was an exclusive one, and could not 
 be submitted for competition along with a crowd of 
 others, the answer came back that he could please 
 himself about submitting his special offer. 
 
 Things were not going just as Fred had expected. 
 He had thought that his chief difficulty would be to 
 convince his clients that he could perform the wonder 
 that he promised, and he had prepared admirable and 
 convincing arguments. He had not anticipated this 
 preliminary block. His next call was at Tomlinson's, 
 the well-known advertising agent. This time he did 
 not use his card. He felt that it would be out of 
 place. Fortunately there was no difficulty in this 
 case. An advertising agent is a very accessible per- 
 son. As Fred was led along that very corridor in 
 which he had so recently sat and written those thou- 
 sand circulars for that eagerly-coveted half-crown, he 
 shivered, and wondered if he would ever again be 
 reduced to sit at that miserable little table and be 
 glad of the chance. 
 
 This was not a good preparation for facing the 
 
74 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 great Tomlinson, who sat in state behind a large roll- 
 top desk and gazed benignantly at his visitor. His 
 gaze always began benignantly. Its development 
 depended on various things. As he confined himself 
 to benignity, Fred found himself compelled to open 
 the conversation. 
 
 " I have called, Mr. Tomlinson, on you, because you 
 — you know advertising." 
 
 The beginning was lame, but there was not a loss 
 of more than one degree of benignity in Tomlinson's 
 face. He still confined himself to benignity, however. 
 
 "I have a very special kind of advertisement at 
 my disposal," went on Fred desperately, noting a fall 
 of about five degrees of benignity when Tomlinson 
 discovered that he had come to offer advertisement, 
 not to buy it, " but I find a great difficulty in gain- 
 ing access to the proper class of advertisers. So I 
 came to you to see if you would be willing — for 
 a commission, of course — to recommend me how to 
 proceed." 
 
 The mention of commission not only raised the be- 
 nignity by at least three points, but it led the great 
 man to open his mouth. 
 
 "What sort of commission are you prepared to 
 offer ? Naturally I cannot have anything to do with 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 75 
 
 petty little matters. Our affairs are carried on on 
 a large scale here. You are not an editor, I hope." 
 
 On this point Fred was glad to be able to give the 
 most satisfactory denial. Regarding the commission 
 he was not quite clear, so he skipped that part, and 
 replied to the agent's remarks about the wholesale 
 character of his business. 
 
 " My business is, at any rate, not a small one," went 
 on Fred, gathering boldness from the sum he was 
 about to mention, "since my minimum fee is fifty 
 thousand pounds." 
 
 " Fifty thousand fiddlesticks," remarked Tomlinson 
 sententiously. But his respect for his visitor clearly 
 rose. Even a swindler who aims at sums like that 
 is worthy of consideration, if not of respect. 
 
 " Of course," added Fred with increasing boldness, 
 "your commission on such a large sum must be in- 
 finitely small as percentage, though in absolute amount 
 it will naturally be very respectable." 
 
 Tomlinson's respect again perceptibly increased. A 
 man who tries to beat down another usually means 
 business. A swindler always offers excellent terms. 
 
 " May I ask what is the nature of the proposed 
 medium of publicity ? " 
 
 "All my arrangements are completed, and the ad- 
 
76 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 vertisement can be made within a week from now, 
 so I need not be afraid of your anticipating my idea 
 if I tell you straight out. My medium is the sky." 
 
 Tomlinson's face indicated a complete change from 
 set benignity to set asperity. 
 
 " Ten minutes clean wasted/' he growled, as he 
 pressed a button on his table. — "James, show this 
 gentleman out." 
 
 But this was just the sort of thing Fred was pre- 
 pared for. So, instead of rising as the porter ap- 
 peared at the door, he asked quietly — so quietly that 
 James could not hear — " Have you ever heard of 
 Professor "Welligham ? " 
 
 "I'm busy," grunted Tomlinson severely. "What 
 has that got to do with the case ? " 
 
 " It's he that will do the scientific part of the ad- 
 vertising ; but, of course, his name must not appear in 
 the matter in any way. In fact, in the contract there 
 must be a clause binding you down, under a penalty 
 of several thousands, against divulging his connection 
 with our operations." 
 
 " I'll ring for you in a moment, James." 
 
 James discreetly withdrew. 
 
 " Now, what's this about Professor Welligham ? " 
 
 "Just this, that he has offered to write upon the 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 77 
 
 sky, by means of what he calls the second remove, 
 any advertisement to the length of about a hundred 
 words, so that every human being in the British 
 Isles shall be able to read it. The length of exposure 
 will be four hours, and the fee fifty thousand pounds." 
 
 " And the amount that must be paid down by the 
 advertisers before the exposure is how much ? " asked 
 Tomlinson dryly. 
 
 " Exactly nothing at all," replied Fred. " We are 
 in a position to offer the most satisfactory terms — 
 payments by results : no exposure, no payment." 
 
 " Can this exposure be repeated, or must it be for 
 the one time only ? " 
 
 "I believe it can be repeated as often as desired, 
 but I need not tell you that the value will go down 
 with each repetition, and — " 
 
 " Naturally ; and my clients would demand a guar- 
 antee that it would not be repeated for a certain 
 period of years." 
 
 " Your clients may make any proposal they choose 
 for the copyright of the sky," replied Fred, " but the 
 fee of fifty thousand pounds is for the first perform- 
 ance only, and that unconditionally." 
 
 " And if you cannot get this ridiculous fee ? " 
 
 " The fee is not ridiculous, and we will get it, and 
 
78 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 you know it. The only question is whether you will 
 earn any commission on it, or whether I must apply 
 elsewhere." 
 
 " No one advertiser could afford the fee. We must 
 arrange a syndicate to buy up the right in this first 
 exhibition." 
 
 " That is for you to decide, perhaps. What I want 
 is the fee. For all that you have to do, one per cent, 
 is an excellent commission. Take it or want it. I 
 would not offer you anything like so much, if it were 
 not that I am in a bit of a hurry to get ready cash, 
 and do not feel able to wait on cheaper methods." 
 
 " We're talking business," replied Tomlinson, " not 
 sentiment. You wouldn't give me five hundred 
 pounds unless you thought I was worth it. Now 
 that we are coming to terms, I would suggest that 
 we do not approach any of the well-known adver- 
 tisers. They have all made their names, and an 
 additional advertisement, however good, is not worth 
 what you are asking. You are aware that it is of 
 no use advertising unless you spend at least fifteen 
 thousand pounds on the business. Ten thousand 
 used to be of some use, but nothing under fifteen 
 thousand is a particle of good nowadays. So we 
 must look out for, say, three or four young firms, and 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 79 
 
 make them pay the fifty thousand among them. You 
 look in to-morrow again at this time, and I shall have 
 an agreement drawn up between you and me and 
 Professor Welligham." 
 
 "He must be kept out of it entirely," said Fred 
 firmly. 
 
 "And what guarantee have I that you will not 
 turn out an impostor ? " 
 
 " None whatever," replied Fred cheerily, " except 
 that I have no more time to spend in imposing than 
 you have to spend in being imposed on." 
 
 Next day Fred appeared promptly at the ap- 
 pointed time, to find that Tomlinson was better than 
 his promise. 
 
 " Sit down," said the agent. " I have a great deal 
 to say to you. You have bargained for fifty thou- 
 sand, of which I am to get five hundred. Now I 
 am prepared to get you ofiers for one hundred 
 thousand, but only on the condition that I get ten 
 thousand as commission. You have your choice of 
 forty-nine thousand five hundred down, or ninety 
 thousand down. Which is it to be ? " 
 
 " Are your clients prepared to pay at once ? " asked 
 Fred with a business-like sharpness that was not 
 without its effect on the agent. 
 
8o A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 " To tell the truth, I am in a bit of a box about 
 this aifair," he confessed. " Some of my clients are 
 not only willing but eager to have the advertisement 
 at once. Others demand a certain number of months 
 before they are prepared to advertise at all. You 
 see, it all depends on the state of their stock. In 
 a case like this it must be sink or swim. If the 
 advertisement serves its purpose, it must result in 
 an enormous immediate demand for the goods ad- 
 vertised. You can see for yourself that unless a firm 
 is prepared to cope with this demand, an advertise- 
 ment is worse than useless." 
 
 Fred admitted the force of this, and said that he 
 could not decide the matter without consulting his 
 principal. This pleased Tomlinson, who saw in this 
 caution an indication that his dealings with Fred 
 were not likely to end in smoke. He willingly 
 agreed to see Fred in an hour and a half. 
 
 When Fred returned, his ultimatum was that if 
 Tomlinson could secure an order for one hundred 
 thousand pounds' worth of advertisements within the 
 week, he would be entitled to fifteen thousand pounds 
 of the proceeds as commission. 
 
 " The thing can be done," said Tomlinson, rubbing 
 his hands. " Since seeing you I have sounded three 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 8i 
 
 of the most important of my probable offerers for 
 this advertisement. They are specially keen to have 
 immediate publication. Their idea is that the war 
 cannot be long delayed now, and that their enormous 
 stock will go to ruin when once the war has begun. 
 Theirs is not the stuff that people actually need, you 
 know ; when real things are happening, people have 
 no time to think of their little foibles and ailments. 
 These clients have their fingers always on the public 
 pulse, and admit that this last scare about the ulti- 
 matum has seriously depressed their sales. The 
 general expectation is that the Allies will now wait 
 for the spring before beginning hostilities, particularly 
 if our government keep up their policy of inaction. 
 This will give my clients a capital opportunity of 
 working off their stock before the war actually breaks 
 out. I think I can manage. What is the earliest 
 date you can give us the show ? " 
 
 Fred could have the performance within three days 
 now, he thought. Thereupon Tomlinson produced a 
 formidable agreement, in which, with much circumlo- 
 cution, it was " agreed between Isaac Tomlinson on 
 the one part, and Fred Gurleigh on the other part," 
 and a great deal more of the same kind. 
 
 " I'll take it with me," remarked Fred, as he glanced 
 
 (1,106) g 
 
82 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 at the closely-written document. " I must have legal 
 advice on such an important matter." 
 
 "Certainly," replied the other, not ill-pleased to 
 note the carefulness of the younger man, "but you 
 can hardly have it to-day. It will be necessary to 
 get the consent of the firms that intend to take up 
 the afiair among them. When these names are filled 
 in, and the representatives of the firms have signed, 
 it will be time enough for you and me to add our 
 signatures." 
 
 Next day Fred received the paper, and found, to 
 his surprise, that only one firm figured in it. He had 
 the impression that this firm — a pill-making concern 
 — had made it worth Tomlinson's while to eliminate 
 all competitors, in order that they might have the 
 sky to themselves for the night of the first appear- 
 ance of what they felt must prove the advertisement 
 of the future. There was no evidence of any unfair 
 means ; so Fred, after consultation with Welligham's 
 lawyers, signed the agreement, and set about carrying 
 out his part of the bargain. It was arranged that 
 the display should take the form of a bold poster in- 
 cluding only some forty words, and that the display 
 should take place on the following Friday — weather 
 permitting. 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 83 
 
 We have no desire to give here a gratuitous 
 advertisement to the pills that made their appear- 
 ance in the sky that Friday evening, for the weather 
 did permit. But the pill-makers will regret this the 
 less that they hardly need any advertisement now. 
 Their stock was sold out within a fortnight after the 
 appearance of their advertisement, and two other 
 stocks had been manufactured and sold before the 
 war actually broke out and spoiled the pill trade for 
 a time. 
 
 The consequences for others were not quite so 
 pleasant as for the pill folk. At the beginning of 
 the display a great fear had spread through the 
 land. At first the forms of the letters were not 
 very clear. Welligham had a good deal of difficulty 
 in focusing the letters, and, indeed, from certain 
 standpoints the focusing was never very perfect. 
 But at the beginning the brilliant flashing that went 
 on in the sky gave rise to profound alarm, for no 
 one had the least idea of the first sky advertisement. 
 It had been debated between Tomlinson and his pill- 
 makers whether some notice should not be inserted 
 in all the papers, preparing for the display on Friday. 
 The chief pill man had been keen on having a notice, 
 " Keep an eye on the sky on Friday, and don't forget 
 
84 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 that you have a liver." But Tomlinson's advice had 
 gained the day, and the inhabitants of these islands 
 had the benefit of a complete surprise on that event- 
 ful Friday evening. 
 
 For half an hour no one was sure whether it was 
 the last day, or the reflection of the French camp-fires. 
 When it became clear that the lights were taking the 
 form of written characters, the alarm increased. The 
 last day theory held the field, and many strange 
 things happened in consequence. As soon as the 
 characters became plain enough to be read, a wave of 
 anger swept over the country, a reaction from the 
 wave of fear. Then came a wave of curiosity, 
 mingled with half admiration of the ingenuity of 
 this new mode of advertisement. Nobody had ever 
 heard of this particular kind of pill before — we have 
 already mentioned that it was a young one. But as 
 the advertisement included an exact reproduction of 
 a certificate by a famous London physician (who, 
 by-the-bye, almost died of indignation at the sight of 
 his handwriting flaunting for half the night in the 
 sky), those people who were over-conscious of having 
 a liver at once made up their minds to give this pill a 
 chance. All the druggists had been supplied that day 
 throughout the whole country with large boxes of the 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 85 
 
 sky-glorified pills, " on approval." Next morning the 
 London pill house was deluged with applications for 
 further supplies. 
 
 The advertisement did indeed more than it had 
 bargained for. It had only promised to let the good 
 qualities of the pills become known to the proper 
 quarters ; but it went farther. What went wrong we 
 cannot exactly say, and since the events that we are 
 about to record have happened, it is likely that we 
 shall never know now. But the result was plain to 
 everybody. Welligham kept his word to the letter. 
 His writing was seen all over the British Isles for 
 the space of four hours, for he was able to keep up 
 the display for full four hours after the time spent 
 in focusing the letters and frightening the British 
 public. But while everything happened that Wellig- 
 ham had expected, something happened that he had 
 not expected. Something went wrong with the elec- 
 tricity of the world. A strange aroma made itself 
 felt over the whole of Britain just towards the end of 
 the display. This aroma was vaguely pleasant at 
 first, but by-and-by it became nauseous, and Great 
 Britain and Ireland became unanimously sick. There 
 never had been before, and it is fervently to be 
 hoped that there never will be again, a universal 
 
86 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 sickness. Welligham and Fred, the cause of it all, 
 did not themselves escape ; but the great British 
 public was unaware of this poetic justice, and 
 therefore had no satisfaction in it. Immediately 
 after the display had ceased a thunderstorm broke 
 out such as had never before been seen or heard of. 
 Those who had thought of the end of the world at 
 the beginning of the night were sure they were right 
 now. But the only result of the terrible uproar was 
 the recovery of all the sick people. It appeared to be 
 the eflfort of nature to restore the proper state of the 
 atmosphere, which had been disturbed by Welligham's 
 performance. He, indeed, seemed to understand pre- 
 cisely what was going on, and even went the length 
 of explaining it to Fred. But beyond a general 
 impression that this was the natural accompaniment 
 of the transference, on a grand scale, of the second 
 remove to the ordinary form, by means of the first 
 remove, he could make nothing of it. 
 
 Next morning, people who had never before had 
 the slightest intimation, from within at any rate, that 
 they had a liver, felt inclined to try the new pills ; 
 but as the general nausea soon passed away, we may 
 now neglect it, and return to Fred and his master. 
 
 There was at first some talk of prosecuting Tom- 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 87 
 
 linson, Fred, and the pill people ; but as there was at 
 the time no law forbidding the use of the sky, it was 
 felt that it would be fairer to make a law at once for- 
 bidding for all time to come this illegitimate use of 
 the British sky. Sweeping penalties were imposed 
 upon all who should make an unfair use of the 
 powers of nature to the detriment of the lieges. 
 Thus at one blow all hope of further gain was taken 
 from Fred and his master. The greed of gain was 
 now upon Fred, who proposed that he should be sent 
 to the United States, where he was sure that he 
 could at one performance secure as much as would 
 keep the greedy machine supplied for a long time. 
 
 But Welligham did not share this greed. He 
 had enough money to serve his turn, and did not 
 want more. In point of fact, he had found, now 
 that he had money, that it was almost as good as 
 useless. He found that there were none of the 
 chemicals available that he wished to buy. They 
 were all out of stock, and on inquiry it was discovered 
 that they had been all bought up by Frisaine. 
 
 " He does not know how to use them — at least I 
 hope not — but he knows that I require them, and he 
 has put it out of my power to use the money you 
 have gained for me." 
 
88 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 " Could I not get some of the stuff in America ? " 
 asked Fred disconsolately. 
 
 Welligham brightened up at the suggestion. 
 
 " Capital [ " he cried. " The American peroxides are 
 more difficult to work, but then we have now plenty 
 of money, so that is of no consequence beyond the 
 necessary delay. And he'll never suspect you of hunt- 
 ing for chemicals, when you have such a good reason 
 to be in America." 
 
 " But if it's known that I am over in America for 
 advertising purposes, I shall be interfered with by the 
 authorities." 
 
 " No one need know why you are there — nobody 
 but Frisaine, and he does not require to be told. 
 He'll find out in that infernal way of his. In fact, 
 the more secrecy we adopt the more he will be thrown 
 off his guard. If he thinks we are bent on money- 
 making, he will let you alone, and give all his atten- 
 tion to me." 
 
 Here, however, Fred's consideration for his master 
 came to the front. He recognized that it would be 
 hardly fair to leave Welligham at the mercy of 
 Frisaine merely for the sake of extra gain. But 
 Welligham was now keen that Fred should go, and 
 pointed out that he would be doing infinitely better 
 
A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 89 
 
 service in America than he could be doing at home. 
 Protection from Frisaine was, after all, only a matter 
 of thew and muscle, while getting a supply of the 
 materials for making panergon was a thing that 
 could be done only by one who knew something 
 about the machine, and Welligham wanted as few 
 people as possible to know his secret in the mean- 
 time. 
 
 Welligham pointed out that his machine was now 
 really ready, and therefore it would be no longer 
 necessary for him to go abroad making those experi- 
 ments that led him into danger. He was, there- 
 fore, much safer than he had been from Frisaine's 
 attempts. 
 
 " Couldn't you use electricity in some way to keep 
 him out ? " asked Fred, vaguely enough. 
 
 " Quite possibly," replied the old man. " And that 
 reminds me that I had better make sure that any- 
 thing I do to keep out Frisaine does not do you any 
 harm. I want you to wear a little ornament, just 
 as a precaution when you come home." 
 
 Fred was very reluctant to let himself be adorned 
 as the old gentleman desired ; but as it was plain 
 that nothing else would give satisfaction, the younger 
 man gave in, and let Welligham put on an ornament, 
 
90 A FORTUNE FROM THE SKY. 
 
 which it became Fred's most serious business to keep 
 out of sight. 
 
 Forty thousand pounds is a large order for chemi- 
 cals, particularly when the buyer carries the ready 
 money with him. Fred had the money locked up in 
 the strong-room of the ship he went out with, and 
 had for himself a double berth, with no companion. 
 This seemed to him an unnecessary expense ; but he 
 could not bear that any one should see his ornament, 
 as might have been the case had anybody seen him 
 dressing. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 DR. Forrester's queer case. 
 
 MAYBE a London policeman has no right to be 
 surprised at anything, particularly when on 
 night duty in a low district. Yet it cannot be 
 denied that Constable RSI 7 9 was distinctly sur- 
 prised at what he saw on November 15, 1909, 
 under the red lamp of Dr. Forrester, at 24 Merrigig 
 Street. 
 
 It was pure surprise, however, not suspicion ; for 
 one does not suspect a man who goes boldly up to a 
 doctor's door, even in the small hours. It was the 
 man's conduct, not his appearance, that gave rise to 
 the surprise. From the opposite corner where the 
 policeman stood, the man looked all right ; but when 
 he suddenly made a snap at the bell-pull with his 
 mouth, RSI 7 9 thought he was entitled to see more 
 of this interesting proceeding. It is not every night, 
 
92 DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 even in London, that one sees a non-professional 
 attempt to swallow a bell-pull. 
 
 By the time the constable had crossed the street 
 the bell-pull swallower had given up his fierce at- 
 tempt, and stood back panting. Dawning intelli- 
 gence gleamed in the policeman's eye. 
 
 " 'Urt yer 'and, eh ? " 
 
 " Yuss." 
 
 " 'Urt both yer 'ands, eh ? " 
 
 " Yuss." 
 
 Satisfied with this proof of his own penetration, 
 and tired with the unusual strain upon his intellect, 
 the constable rested for a little, and confined him- 
 self to a careful examination of the bell-swallower's 
 appearance. He had worked conscientiously from 
 the hatless head down as far as the baggy knees of 
 the greasy trousers, when his investigation was inter- 
 rupted by the opening of the door, apparently of its 
 own accord, in that uncanny way doctors' doors have 
 when answering the night-bell. 
 
 Dr. Forrester himself, clad in a dingy yellow dress- 
 ing-gown, appeared, candle in hand, at the top of the 
 first landing, where he was quite visible to both the 
 constable and the swallower. 
 
 Without ceremony the visitor stepped within, and 
 
DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 93 
 
 with some vehemence kicked the door shut right in 
 the face of RS179, who quietly resumed his walk 
 round his beat. The man was safe in the doctor's 
 hands, and was interesting to the constable only in 
 so far as he had supplied something to talk about 
 to Mrs. RSI 79. 
 
 Meanwhile the doctor had guided his visitor into 
 the consulting-room, which stood on the ground floor 
 just at the right hand of the entrance. Probably a 
 London doctor has even less right than a London 
 policeman to be surprised at anything, yet Dr. 
 Forrester could not help being surprised when he 
 had finished a rapid survey of the newcomer's 
 appearance. Being a quicker man than the con- 
 stable, he had at once noticed that the caller had 
 no shoes. Remarkable at any time, this lack in the 
 cold of winter seemed to the doctor somewhat sus- 
 picious. 
 
 " Well, my man, what can I do for you ? " 
 
 " It's my awms, doc." 
 
 " What's the matter ? " 
 
 " That's wot I've come ter you for." 
 
 " Yes, but what has happened ? Have you fallen ? 
 Have you any pain ? " 
 
 As he spoke the doctor took hold of one of the 
 
94 DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 arms and moved it gently in various directions. It 
 appeared to move easily and naturally enough, and 
 the patient declared that he felt no pain. 
 
 " Then what's the matter ? Why do you come 
 here ? " Dr. Forrester was getting impatient. 
 
 " 'Cos it won't work, I tell yer," growled the patient, 
 in a tone more irritable than the doctor's own. 
 
 As a matter of fact, when Forrester looked closely 
 into the man's face, he saw clearly that only a horrible 
 fear kept him from breaking out savagely. 
 
 "Won't work," muttered the doctor, removing the 
 patient's greasy coat. " It can't be G.P. ; the legs — " 
 
 " How did you get here ? " 
 
 " Easy 'nough. I jus' came along Jerryson Street, 
 an'—" 
 
 " I mean, did you walk, or — " 
 
 " Wawrk ? Naw ; I ran." 
 
 " Hum ! ran ! No pain in the legs, or — " 
 
 " No pain 'tall, doc. ; on'y they won't work." 
 
 By this time the doctor had exposed the two arms, 
 and to his surprise found that they seemed in every 
 way normal. Temperature and colour and feel were 
 all ordinary, yet the man maintained that he had no 
 power over them. 
 
 " When did you notice the loss of power ? 
 
DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 95 
 
 " 'Bout *arf a nour ago." 
 
 " What were you doing at the time ? " 
 
 Up till now the patient had answered freely, if 
 irritably. But at this point he became very uneasy. 
 He remarked with emphasis that what he wanted 
 was to recover the use of what he called his fore- 
 feet, and not to answer nonsensical questions. 
 
 Forrester explained, after the manner of doctors, 
 that unless he was intrusted with the facts of the 
 case he could be of no use. Then he suggested that 
 the patient might try elsewhere. 
 
 The suggestion did not seem to be acceptable to 
 the helpless one, who tried a new tack by asking the 
 doctor if he could keep a secret. Forrester replied 
 gravely that it was a doctor's business to keep his 
 patients' secrets. It appeared, however, that the 
 secret in question was of a very special character, 
 and required a deal of keeping. The doctor tried 
 to make it quite clear that all secrets were safe in 
 his professional keeping, and soon was sorry he had 
 succeeded in gaining his patient's confidence, for it 
 came out that the unfortunate accident had occurred 
 in the way of business, but that this business was 
 not of a popular character. In point of fact, the man 
 had come by his mischief while " cracking a crib." 
 
96 DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 On being pressed, the man explained that there 
 was a sort of machine in the room in which he 
 had been operating, and that it must have been this 
 machine that had " taken the pins " from his two 
 companions. 
 
 " So there were other two of you ? " 
 
 " Yuss." 
 
 " And you came here in the hope of getting put 
 right, and left them to be caught ! " 
 
 " If you'd put me right, I'd 'a gone back for 'em." 
 
 " They're still there, then ? Suppose we go and 
 see them ? Once I see the machine, we may find 
 some way of helping you." 
 
 Very unwillingly the patient was driven to yield, 
 and agreed to lead the doctor to the scene of the 
 disaster. 
 
 On the way Forrester tried to discover as much 
 as he could about the case. At first his companion 
 was very reticent, but by-and-by he opened out, and 
 indeed became rather garrulous. It soon became 
 clear that his main purpose was to put as good a 
 face on his doings as was possible ; and, in truth, 
 Forrester was relieved to find that his services were 
 not being called in to assist law-breakers against 
 law-keepers. 
 
DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 97 
 
 It appeared that the injured man — who, by the 
 way, intimated his willingness to answer to the 
 name of Dick — and some friends had had their eyes 
 for some time on an old man who had recently 
 taken the whole of the top flat of a high tenement 
 in Warpinger's Lane. They had been suspicious of 
 him from the first, and had soon found confirmation 
 of their suspicions. A " bloke " who had white hair 
 and plenty of money did not naturally choose War- 
 pinger's Lane as a suitable place in which to end 
 his days. At first it was just possible that he 
 might turn out to be that species of "bloke" who 
 knows no better than to sacrifice himself for the 
 good of others. And if this had turned out to be 
 the true state of affairs, no one would have been 
 more annoyed than Dick. But careful watching 
 showed that certain parcels were sent up to the 
 stranger's flat, and that at all hours of the evening, 
 but never by daylight. In Warpinger's Lane parcels 
 are such rarities that it is easy to trace their source. 
 The old gentleman rose greatly in the opinion of his 
 neighbours when it was found that the mysterious 
 parcels and boxes came from certain chemical ware- 
 houses. 
 
 It is not for a moment to be supposed that science 
 
 (1,106) 7 
 
98 DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 was responsible in any way for the added respect for 
 the newcomer. His neighbours knew better. They 
 understood what the steady pouring out of smoke 
 from a certain chimney meant, even if they had not 
 had intelligence to interpret the sounds of metal-work 
 that were often to be heard from the attic. In fact, 
 they thought that the old gentleman was too open, 
 and they remarked to one another that it would not 
 last long. The police would very soon be down upon 
 their old neighbour, and make a clean sweep of him 
 and his counterfeiting apparatus. 
 
 They had enough fellow -feehng to make them 
 think that this would be a pity, but this fellow- 
 feeling developed in quite an unexpected direction. 
 It was felt, Dick explained, that it would be a 
 pity for the police to have the whole haul to 
 themselves. Accordingly, Dick and his companions 
 had resolved to anticipate the inevitable raid, and 
 have a little of the plunder to themselves. All 
 that they had meant to do was to take as much 
 good money as they could find, and as much 
 counterfeit as they thought safe. They had no 
 thought of permanently cramping the counterfeiting 
 business. It seemed to them a piece of uncommonly 
 good luck that the old counterfeiter should have 
 
DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 99 
 
 come into their quarter. It was really an invitation 
 to men of enterprise. They looked upon their ex- 
 pedition much in the same light as a Border black- 
 mailer might. They were only making the old man 
 pay for his footing amongst them. 
 
 Dick mentioned that they had had no difficulty in 
 selecting a time when the old man was at business 
 elsewhere — probably, as he believed, disposing of 
 some of his handiwork. The crib was childishly 
 easy to "crack," it appeared; but the proceedings, 
 after an entrance had been effected, did not seem 
 to stand out very clearly in the mind of the un- 
 fortunate Dick. 
 
 The one thing that was distinct was that there 
 was a machine — not a common sort of machine, but 
 one that required a good deal of warm but not very 
 lucid description. Dick was not so much concerned 
 in letting the doctor know what the nature of the 
 machine was, as in expressing his indignation at the 
 keeping of such things in a respectable counterfeiter's 
 establishment. Dick was virulently anxious to know 
 what the old " bloke " needed with such a machine, 
 and only accidentally let out his own impression that 
 this machine was intended to play the part of a 
 "bloomin' 'ouse dorg." His private opinion of the 
 
loo DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 meanness of this misapplication of good machinery need 
 not be given here, as it did not tend to edification. 
 
 How the machine acted was not at all clear. Dick 
 had no time to enter into particulars of this sort; 
 all that he knew was that the blank thing had 
 suddenly caused his two companions to fall to the 
 ground, and when Dick had hurried forward to 
 help them, the sneaking machine had somehow hit 
 him behind his back. At any rate, when he bent 
 down to pick up his friends, he found that his 
 arms would not work. 
 
 He expressed his feelings in his own picturesque 
 way,— 
 
 " I can tell yer, I thort I was sent fur, I did, w'en 
 my bloomin' fins stuk an' 'oodn't work." 
 
 It appeared that there had been a sort of council 
 of war, and that it had been resolved that things 
 were too serious to risk letting them alone. Dick 
 had expressed his opinion that doctors were always 
 reasonable "blokes," not like the sort of "blokes" 
 that wear white chokers. 
 
 Forrester knew pretty well how to value this 
 testimony, so he confined himself to a series of 
 questions about the machine that irritated Dick, 
 but brought no satisfactory information. 
 
DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. loi 
 
 By-and-by they reached Warpinger's Lane, and 
 climbed the six pairs of stairs that led to the scene 
 of the disaster. The door — the only one on the 
 landing — stood invitingly open. Forrester was about 
 to enter the first door within the long corridor that 
 entered from the landing, but Dick with some 
 violence charged him, football fashion, with his 
 shoulder, thus driving him along the corridor to- 
 wards the left, with the apologetic remark, " This 
 way, doc." 
 
 At the end of the long passage they saw a light 
 on the level of the floor. This, Dick explained, was 
 the dark lantern they had used at the earlier stage of 
 the proceedings. If the doctor would be good enough 
 to pick it up, he might find it handy. Forrester 
 turned the light all round the room. The formidable- 
 looking machine in front of the empty fireplace at- 
 tracted his attention, but the figure on the floor 
 obviously required his first care. 
 
 Dick appeared to be vastly annoyed at something, 
 if Forrester could judge by the virulence of his re- 
 marks to the friend on the floor. The cause of his 
 dissatisfaction came out in a moment. It was the 
 unexpected disappearance of one of the three original 
 operators in this enterprise. This missing third was 
 
I02 DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 named Tally. From the evidence o£ the man who 
 remained on the floor, Dick learned that Tally, after 
 recovering his presence of mind, had made the 
 pleasing discovery that only one of his legs had 
 come by any hurt. Thereafter he had made one 
 or two experiments tending towards some sort of 
 walking. In some way or other he had been able 
 to get out of the room ; and thereafter, consequently, 
 his proceedings were beyond the ken of the remain- 
 ing ruffian, who was naturally indignant that both 
 of his companions were so much better off than he. 
 Dick tried to cheer him up by expressing his opinion. 
 " 'E can't be far orf, if 'is leg is like my awms." 
 Forrester went on with his examination of the 
 man's legs exactly as if he had him in the hospital. 
 Everything was precisely the same as with Dick's 
 arms ; that is, nothing at all appeared to be the 
 matter with them. He had no idea what was the 
 cause of their loss of power. He had never seen 
 anything the least like this before. He had, like 
 every other doctor, come across many cases in which 
 the patient had foolish notions about not being able 
 to use certain limbs. But these were ordinary 
 nervous cases, which are only attended to on the 
 assumption that there is something wrong with the 
 
DR, FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 103 
 
 patient's wits. Here, however, there was everything 
 to prevent the patient from pretending a weakness 
 that he did not feel. There was every inducement 
 to escape, if only the legs would do their work. 
 
 The doctor pulled and pinched and turned and 
 twisted the recalcitrant limbs, but could make nothing 
 of them. Dick meantime grew impatient. 
 
 " Wot 'bout my awms, now ye've seen the bloomin' 
 machine an' know all 'bout it ? " 
 
 "I think I shall send along the ambulance van 
 from the hospital, and — " 
 
 " Not much, ye don't," snarled Dick, while the man 
 on the floor joined in to express their joint contempt 
 for a medical man who could do nothing but send his 
 patients to the hospital. 
 
 " An' 'e calls 'isself a doctor," sarcastically observed 
 the man on the floor, who, by the way, usually pleaded 
 not guilty under the name of Henryson. 
 
 Forrester was about to give them a gentle reminder 
 that a hint from him in the proper quarter at that 
 moment would be exceedingly unpleasant for them. 
 But before they gave him an opportunity of striking 
 in, they both suddenly ceased their snarling, and 
 gave him to understand by signs that the time had 
 come for silence. As all three listened, there could 
 
104 DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 be no doubt that some one, or rather several people, 
 were coming stealthily upstairs. Forrester was 
 amused to find that he felt as anxious for a moment 
 as his two companions. At a sign from Henryson 
 he darkened his lantern, and the trio waited in 
 silence. 
 
 They had not long to wait. Those coming ap- 
 parently knew their way. In a moment there was a 
 stream of light along the corridor, and the steps be- 
 came a little less stealthy. The light prevented 
 Forrester from seeing who were coming ; but his 
 own impression was that it was the worthy counter- 
 feiter returning after his night's work, maybe with a 
 business friend or two. The doctor was prepared for 
 an interesting scene. It would be quite pleasant to 
 be present at a thieves' "at home," especially when 
 there had been a bit of domestic sharp practice. Now 
 was his chance of seeing how " honour among thieves " 
 worked. 
 
 He was disappointed, however, for the new arrivals 
 proved to be allies of the gang to which he had the 
 honour to be temporary physician. 
 
 For Tally had not been so disloyal as had ap- 
 peared. He had made use of his recovered liberty to 
 hurry home, and, as afterwards transpired, by means 
 
DR. FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 105 
 
 of some of the proceeds of their night's work, had 
 hired help for his stricken comrades. 
 
 There were three men, and they reported that they 
 had a fourth man and a broad costermonger's barrow 
 in the court. They at once proceeded to lift up 
 Henryson, assuring him that under their tarpaulin he 
 would make an excellent barrowful of vegetables — 
 such a barrowful as no " copper " would think of 
 interfering with. 
 
 This cheerful person seized the upper part of 
 Henryson, while a less-cheerful companion took the 
 lower. But, before they had taken two steps, the 
 cheerful one, with an oath, let go his grip, letting his 
 half of Henryson come crashing down upon the floor. 
 
 When the hubbub had somewhat subsided, and 
 Henryson had had his say about the conduct of the 
 relief party, Dick sarcastically remarked that the 
 cheerful one need not make such a fuss about things. 
 They had a doctor on the spot who could easily cure 
 his now helpless legs. But when the cheerful one 
 had struggled a little upon the floor, he suddenly 
 gave up his movements and lay quite still. 
 
 Bending over the still body, Forrester was forced 
 to admit that everything seemed to point to the fact 
 that the man was dead. 
 
io6 DR, FORRESTER'S QUEER CASE. 
 
 In the middle of his report Forrester's voice 
 trembled. He became silent, and went into a corner, 
 out of the range of the two dark lanterns. The 
 others did not appear to notice, for Dick was volubly 
 discussing some matter of the highest moment to 
 them. The result of the discussion was the sudden 
 seizure of Henryson by the two whole men, and 
 the rapid disappearance of the whole four along the 
 
 Forrester was in no hurry to accompany them. 
 He had made the alarming discovery that his own 
 left arm had ceased to respond to his will. It be- 
 haved exactly like the limbs of his patients of a 
 moment ago. He had felt no shock. He had not 
 touched the machine. He had merely stood over the 
 dead man, and found that his left arm was powerless. 
 Was this some terribly contagious form of disease 
 that had escaped the knowledge of humanity up to 
 this moment, or was it the work of this wretched 
 machine ? Forrester did not profess to make up his 
 mind ; but it is significant that he did not go over 
 the room for the lantern that was lying on the floor. 
 He passed, mainly by feeling his way, along the 
 corridor, intending to look up his friend Dr. Centre- 
 point, and see what he made of this alarming event. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 
 
 AS Forrester groped his way along the corridor, 
 i\ he blamed himself for having had anything 
 to do with people of this kind in a professional way. 
 Naturally he meant in theio" professional way. From 
 the nature of his practice he had a good deal to do 
 with this very class of people, but never in business 
 hours, so to speak. Yet, on looking back on that 
 night's experience, he did not see that he could have 
 acted otherwise than he had done. He could not let 
 even burglars perish unaided when he was called in. 
 To be sure, he reflected grimly, he had not done 
 very much for them after all ; but that was not to 
 the point. 
 
 He had got this length with his reflections when 
 he was recalled to the practical affairs of this world 
 in the most unpleasant way. The door at the end of 
 the corridor did not yield when he turned the handle 
 
io8 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 
 
 and pulled. For a moment he was in doubt, but the 
 firmness of the door's resistance soon convinced him 
 that he was making no mistake. 
 
 His attempt to open the door had been of the 
 quietest, as he had no desire for the publicity his 
 being discovered there would involve. As he stood 
 motionless, considering what he should do next, he 
 had a very unpleasant sensation. He seemed to hear 
 a door somewhere near him gently open. Then he 
 had that queer feeling of having some one near him 
 that we all know but cannot describe. His first 
 impulse was to turn back for the lantern and make 
 sure of his neighbour ; but the memory of what had 
 happened to him already in that dreadful room was 
 quite fresh enough in his mind to make him intensely 
 unwilling to return. 
 
 It may seem strange to some that a doctor, above 
 all men, should be afraid in an empty house. But 
 then it must be remembered that poor Forrester had 
 particular reasons to be out of sorts at that moment. 
 You do not mysteriously lose the power of your left 
 arm every day. 
 
 "Who's there?" he asked, with quite a fair imita- 
 tion of a threatening voice. 
 
 There was absolutely no reply, and the feeling of 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, 109 
 
 having some one in his immediate neighbourhood 
 passed away. 
 
 " I believe my nerve is going," growled he, as he 
 gave a fierce pull at the door. " Which is better — to 
 make a night of it here, or shout ? " 
 
 Evidently shouting carried the day, for he made 
 such a vigorous attack on the door with fist and foot 
 that the neighbours, even in that non- interfering 
 locality, had to attend. 
 
 Certainly Forrester could not long keep up the 
 high level of his din. But he had not had to rest 
 more than twice when he heard a gentle voice on the 
 other side of the door asking what was the matter. 
 
 " Tm locked in here, and I want out." 
 
 " An' '00 are you ? " 
 
 " I'm Dr. Forrester." 
 
 " An' is the pore ole man sick ? " 
 
 " I don't know anything about the poor old man. 
 I have been here attending some people, who have 
 gone away and locked the door by mistake. You 
 must get some one to break open the door. I have 
 hurt my arm." 
 
 There was some muttering outside, and then the 
 voice said that if the doctor would have patience for 
 a little it would be all right. He had the necessary 
 
no THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, 
 
 patience. He leaned against the door and thought 
 about what he should do when he got out. 
 
 His first inclination was to go at once to the police 
 and give information. But then he remembered his 
 promise to Dick. Further, there floated into his 
 memory a certain declaration he had made when he 
 had graduated at his university. In it, so far as he 
 could remember, he had " solemnly and sincerely de- 
 clared," among other things, that " I will keep silence 
 as to anything I have seen or heard while visiting 
 the sick that it would be improper to divulge." 
 There could be no doubt that, from his patients' point 
 of view, it would be extremely improper to divulge 
 what he had seen and heard that night. But his 
 patients had behaved towards him with a want of 
 consideration that freed him from all scruple about 
 dealing harshly with them. He resolved to take 
 Centrepoint's opinion before he did anything. 
 
 Just when he had come to this conclusion, he heard 
 a faint sound at the keyhole. It was repeated once 
 or twice, and then the door swung quietly open, 
 showing a little old man with a bunch of queer, 
 crooked wires in his hand, with one of which he had 
 just turned back the bolt of the lock of the door. 
 The man was certainly a skilled workman. Dr. For- 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, iii 
 
 rester admired the ease with which he had effected an 
 entrance. 
 
 " Now, could you lock it as easily ? " he asked. 
 
 "Nothing easier," was the reply. In a couple of 
 minutes the door was as firmly closed as it had been 
 while. Forrester was on the other side of it. 
 
 " Look here, my man," said Forrester, handing him 
 a few shillings ; " this is for your trouble in getting me 
 so neatly out of that scrape. But I'll give you a piece 
 of advice that is worth even more than the money: 
 don't try to make any use of your skill inside there." 
 
 The old man pocketed the money, muttering in- 
 dignant disclaimers of the implication in the doctor's 
 speech. 
 
 "That's all very fine," was the reply, "but I 
 happen to know what I'm talking about. Inside 
 there you'll find a machine that has lamed two men 
 and broken the arms of other two." 
 
 The old man looked knowing, and said that maybe 
 his old neighbour knew what he was about when he 
 set traps of that sort to make sure of his premises 
 during absence. In any case it was no concern of 
 decent people like the lock-picker, who was now off" 
 to his bed. 
 
 " Remember, if anything happens you have yourself 
 
112 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 
 
 to blame," added Forrester suspiciously, as he made 
 his way cautiously down the stairs. 
 
 It is a long way from Warpinger's Lane to Centre- 
 point's house, and had not Forrester been fortunate 
 enough to meet a belated hansom, it would have been 
 breakfast-time before he had reached his destination. 
 As things turned out, he reached his friend's house 
 about five o'clock in the morning, and greatly as- 
 tonished that gentleman, who was not at all accus- 
 tomed to night calls. In fact, Centrepoint was a 
 nerve specialist, and nerve specialists are not usually 
 called upon in the middle of the night. Indeed, had 
 it not been that the caller was a fellow-doctor, word 
 would have been sent that Dr. Centrepoint was not 
 to be disturbed. As it was, the message came down 
 through a sleepy page-boy that the doctor would see 
 the visitor in his bedroom. 
 
 " Hullo, Forrester ! " called out Centrepoint from 
 beneath the blankets ; " what ill wind has blown you 
 here at this time of night ? " 
 
 " It's morning now," began Forrester. " I've had 
 an accident that is a good deal in your way, I think ; 
 so I came straight away to you. I'm sorry to 
 trouble you, but I'm sure you'll be glad to get the 
 first sight of this peculiar case." 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 113 
 
 "Ah, you're the patient!" cried Centrepoint, in 
 quite a different tone, and sitting up at the same 
 moment. " Come, that's different. I thought it was 
 some case of consultation, and I never — But let 
 that stand. What is it, and how did it happen ? " 
 
 Centrepoint and Forrester had been fellow-students, 
 but the circumstances of the two were different to 
 start with, and had been getting more different ever 
 since. Yet, while Centrepoint was making five 
 times the income of Forrester, the two remained 
 friends in a queer sort of way, though they had little 
 opportunity of seeing each other. The nerve doctor 
 was prepared for a statement of general breakdown 
 through overwork, and had quite made up his mind 
 to send his friend off to the Mediterranean, and help 
 him to go, if that were necessary. He was, accord- 
 '^^^Y. greatly surprised at the tale Forrester had to 
 tell, and still more so when he had examined the in- 
 jured limb and found absolutely nothing the matter 
 with it, so far as external symptoms were concerned. 
 He questioned Forrester in every possible way. The 
 answers were in the highest degree clear and satis- 
 factory. What, above all, convinced Centrepoint that 
 his friend was under no hallucination was the evi- 
 dent satisfaction Forrester had in finding that even 
 
 (1,106) g 
 
114 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, 
 
 the great nerve specialist could do no more than he 
 himself. 
 
 " Since we cannot do anything at present," said 
 Forrester, pulling on his coat awkwardly over his 
 powerless arm, " what would you recommend me to 
 do about the police ? " 
 
 " Nothing whatever, in the meantime," was the 
 quick reply. " They would only interfere and send 
 down one of their government jackasses, who would 
 know no more about it than " — here Centrepoint saw 
 his blunder, and ended his speech with a laugh at his 
 own expense — " than we do." 
 
 Centrepoint's idea was to go at once to Warpin- 
 ger's Lane and examine the instrument ; but Forrester 
 would not hear of this. 
 
 "I'm not a nerve specialist," he admitted, "but 
 I'm a machine specialist as far as this machine goes, 
 and no friend of mine will ever enter that wretched 
 room till some expert in electricity has reported the 
 place safe. An arm's a stiff price to pay for a pretty 
 experiment." 
 
 "But there's the dead man lying there. You do 
 not propose to leave the body — 'm, not that that 
 matters much; indeed, it would be only a reason 
 the more for reporting the whole thing to the police. 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 115 
 
 Yes, I fear it must be put into their hands, if you 
 refuse to examine the machine by ourselves." 
 
 It was settled that way. Forrester was put to 
 bed for an hour or two to recover from his exhaus- 
 tion, while Centrepoint got up at once and set about 
 consulting all the books he could think of. But he 
 could not find a single reference in any of his books 
 to a case at all like his friend's. He had to give up 
 all hope of help from books, and rely upon what his 
 observation should reveal to him by-and-by. 
 
 To satisfy Forrester, Centrepoint called in an 
 electrical engineer, who rather pooh-poohed the whole 
 affair. 
 
 " If people will meddle with things they know 
 nothing about, what can you expect ? " was his only 
 consolation. It was no consolation to Forrester, 
 whose arm remained obstinately powerless, though he 
 had had a vague notion that it might have recovered 
 after a little rest. 
 
 When the three arrived at Warpinger's Lane, they 
 were rather taken aback to find that they could not 
 get admission to the upper flat. One would have 
 thought that Forrester would have been prepared for 
 this. After all, the flat did not belong to him, and 
 he had no right to break open the door. Unfor- 
 
ii6 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, 
 
 tunately, he had no idea where to find the convenient 
 little man who had so skilfully opened and closed the 
 door on the previous night. 
 
 The three did not know that their coming had 
 been expected by several of the inhabitants of the 
 tenement. It was quite well known that strange 
 things had happened in the top flat during the night, 
 though it was not as yet guessed how strange. When 
 strange things happen in Warpinger's Lane, an official 
 visit follows as a matter of course. So nobody was 
 surprised at the appearance of three men in silk hats. 
 Everybody took it for granted that they came from 
 the proper quarter ; everybody was, therefore, more 
 than ready to do any little service, such as breaking 
 in a door or two. 
 
 While our three friends were standing somewhat 
 sheepishly before the closed door, they were surprised 
 by a voice behind them offering help. 
 
 " I've got a key as fits most o' the doors 'ere- 
 abouts," proclaimed the voice. 
 
 " Indeed," replied Centrepoint vaguely. He had 
 naturally assumed the command of the expedition, 
 but hardly cared to open proceedings by a daylight 
 burglary. A few moments' whispered counsel with his 
 companions resolved him to accept the help offered. 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 117 
 
 After one or two well-acted disappointments with 
 his keys, the neighbour found one that exactly suited 
 his purpose ; and the three, closely followed by their 
 fellow - burglar, passed along the passage that For- 
 rester could hardly recognize as that of last night. 
 Everything was so commonplace in the cold light of 
 day, that he was quite prepared to find that the 
 machine had disappeared, and that he had been 
 making a great mistake. His arm, unfortunately, 
 gave him no grounds for this belief; and when the 
 party entered the room at the end, they found not 
 only all that Forrester had left, but an unexpected 
 addition. 
 
 To the right of the machine, sitting on the body 
 of the unfortunate rescuer of the previous night, 
 was the old man who had been so handy with his 
 picklocks. He had evidently fallen with his back 
 to the wall, and was thus supported in a half life- 
 like attitude, the naturalness of which was increased 
 by the air of wild surprise that had been left on his 
 features. As the three gazed at this startling figure, 
 their assistant murmured, with an awe that his words 
 quite failed to convey, — 
 
 " Holy poker ! it's ole Ginger." 
 
 Old Ginger clearly had not believed Forrester's 
 
ii8 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE, 
 
 warnings, and had paid for his unbelief by meeting 
 this quietly tragic fate. 
 
 The electrician was a little nonplused at this sight, 
 so he turned his attention to the machine. 
 
 " Looks like an old-fashioned friction machine," he 
 remarked as he approached it ; " but I can't make 
 out what he wanted with all this muck." 
 
 The muck referred to consisted of a great number 
 of pointed shafts that appeared to spring out of the 
 machine in all directions, giving it quite the appear- 
 ance of a brass hedgehog. The outer shafts and 
 chains seemed to be arranged round a sort of kernel ; 
 but of the nature of this kernel nothing definite could 
 be made out, so dense was the mass of outer appli- 
 ances. The electrician told Centrepoint that the 
 inside was probably made up of the generating 
 wheel ; but what astonished him was how any 
 accident could have occurred with a machine of this 
 kind, since the wheel would require to be worked 
 very vigorously in order to produce any force at all. 
 He was busy explaining that he believed the secret 
 of the thincr to be that the maker of this machine had 
 probably discovered some way of storing f rictional elec- 
 tricity, when the explanation came to a sudden termi- 
 nation. The electrician had examined one side of the 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 119 
 
 machine, and was passing to the other side, between 
 the machine and the two victims. As he did so he 
 quietly slipped down and took his place beside them. 
 
 Centrepoint made a forward movement, but For- 
 rester seized him with all the power of his right arm, 
 and held him back. 
 
 " Maybe you'll believe now how dangerous this 
 infernal machine is," he cried, with a certain amount 
 of satisfaction in his tone. 
 
 " Yer don't mean ter say 'e's dead ! " gasped the 
 assistant, more in the background than ever. 
 
 " That's just what I do mean to say," replied For- 
 rester. Then, turning to Centrepoint, he went on, — 
 
 "I suppose there can be no doubt now that we 
 must call in the police ? " 
 
 " I suppose not," replied Centrepoint regretfully ; 
 " but I must be at the post mortem." 
 
 " Would you mind calling in a constable ? " said 
 Forrester, turning round to their silent companion in 
 the rear, who, however, was found to have made his 
 way elsewhere. Either his nerve had given way, or 
 he was eager to be the bearer of such startling news 
 to his friends. Forrester thought that, in any case, 
 it would be better to report the trouble at the police 
 station itself, as this was hardly a matter that could 
 
I20 THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 
 
 be handed over to the first helmet one chanced to 
 meet. The two then set out, leaving the door locked 
 behind them, for the man who had disappeared had 
 been good enough to leave the key in the lock. 
 
 Driving to the nearest station, they were first 
 amused, then angry, at the pomp and circumstance of 
 their examination. They were made to feel that 
 their conduct had been in the highest degree sus- 
 picious. The officials were at no pains to hide their 
 view that the two doctors had acted in a very 
 irregular way, and signs were not lacking that 
 their version of the action of the machine was 
 received with a very large amount of caution. 
 
 On their way back to the scene of the trouble, the 
 doctors could not disguise from themselves the fact 
 that they were under arrest. Arrived at the top of 
 the sixth pair of stairs, the inspector and his men 
 received their first unpleasant shock. The door was 
 not locked, as had been reported. 
 
 " Your story begins to break down early," said the 
 inspector. 
 
 "Yes," replied Centrepoint. "The door has cer- 
 tainly been forced since we left." 
 
 " Very likely," was the dry reply. But the official 
 swagger was doomed to a speedy collapse. The first 
 
THE MACHINE RESENTS INTERFERENCE. 121 
 
 thing that caught the inspector's eye, when he had 
 penetrated as far as the fatal room, was a helmeted 
 figure resting on the top of the bodies that our 
 friends had reported to be there. 
 
 It was not difficult for the doctors to guess what 
 had happened. In all probability the man who had 
 disappeared had gone straight for a constable ; this 
 constable had been rash. That was all. 
 
 The inspector and his men were not at all inclined 
 to be rash. It is true that Centrepoint invited them to 
 have a closer view, but it was clear that there was more 
 belief now in the improbable story told at the station. 
 
 " You will see that it is now necessary for you to 
 accompany me," said the inspector, with some degree 
 of respect. " We must report this at headquarters." 
 
 Turning to his men, he ordered two of them to 
 keep guard at the door, while the others accompanied 
 him and the doctors. There was a moment of hesita- 
 tion among the men, then a common penny played an 
 important part in the proceedings. Most of the men 
 were in favour of " the best of three," but time per- 
 mitted nothing more elaborate than " sudden death." 
 The two to whom fate had been unkind stolidly took 
 up their places outside the door ; the others made 
 their way to report to higher quarters. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FATE OF THE S.S. " LAURENTIA/' 
 
 WHEN Fred reached New York he quietly 
 proceeded to one of the good hotels, where 
 his daily bill kept him in a steady state of remorse. 
 He could not help calculating how many days he 
 could have lived happily, in the old hard-up times, on 
 the amount that one day now cost him. But it was 
 necessary to appear where Frisaine could easily trace 
 him, and where it would appear reasonable that he 
 should live while arranging an exceedingly profitable 
 deal in advertisements. 
 
 He never knew how the Americans got hold of 
 the fact of who he was. He had set in motion all 
 the wires necessary to procure the required chemicals 
 the moment he had got ashore ; but after that he had 
 taken things very coolly. 
 
 He expected to have a good deal of difficulty in 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIAP 123 
 
 arranging for his sky display, and was in no special 
 hurry to begin. But somehow people began to know 
 who he was. First came several enterprising re- 
 porters, who promised him that they would give his 
 sky advertisement a lift to the highest rates possible, 
 if only he would give them a few special tips about 
 his methods. 
 
 It was in vain that he explained that what he 
 wanted was a little privacy. They misunderstood his 
 drift, and pointed out that he need have no fear 
 about the government interfering, at all events not at 
 first. The government knew their country far too 
 well to interfere with the people's legitimate desire 
 for a new sensation. The governors of the United 
 States were no stick-in-the-mud rulers; they were 
 thoroughly up to date, and wanted to have the best 
 European goods on show at the earliest possible 
 moment. As for the people, the reporters assured 
 him he need have no fear. It was not a trifle like 
 sickness and a mammoth thunderstorm that would 
 turn them away from a new sensation of a startling 
 sort. 
 
 Fred told these inquisitive gentlemen as much of 
 the truth as he thought was good for them, and, 
 indeed, was not sorry to have the chance of pitching 
 
124 FATE OF THE S.S. ''LAURENT/A." 
 
 his story pretty high, in order that the reports in the 
 London papers should be such as would prove to 
 Frisaine that advertisements were taking up all his 
 attention. 
 
 By-and-by, however, the advertisers themselves 
 began to appear. It was no longer Fred who did 
 the hunting; he was now the hunted. He was 
 anxious to keep off the advertisers till he had some 
 chance of getting his supply of chemicals, so he 
 showed himself quite unwilling to treat with any 
 one. As soon as this attitude began to be perceived 
 he was carefully watched by the keen New Yorkers. 
 When it became plain to them that he really wanted 
 to hold off, and was not merely making himself diffi- 
 cult, his price went up at once. He found it very 
 hard to resist the dazzling offers that were made to 
 him. But the enterprising Americans were not to be 
 held off on a mere matter of terms. When private 
 firms had offered all that was possible for them, a 
 grand syndicate was formed for buying up the whole 
 interest in the concern, the syndicate to take all the 
 risks of prohibition by the authorities. Their plan 
 was to keep the sky blazing as long as the authori- 
 ties passed no law against it ; and it was whispered 
 that the syndicate had made private arrangements to 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIAP 125 
 
 make it very difficult to pass any bill against sky 
 advertisement — so difficult, indeed, that it could not 
 be done till the syndicate had had time to make a 
 gigantic profit. Fred sturdily refused to deal with 
 them, and said that whoever he closed with, it would 
 not be with a syndicate. 
 
 This was not a wise remark of Fred's, as he found 
 when, a few days later, the secretary of the syndicate 
 called to renew his offer for the last time. The ofier 
 was accompanied by a threat, which took the form of 
 showing him the draft of a bill that the syndicate 
 were prepared to rush through the necessary stages 
 and have made law before Fred could be back from 
 Europe with his apparatus ; for, in his desire to gain 
 time, Fred had admitted that he was only the agent 
 in advance, and had to return for the material to 
 carry out the proposed display. 
 
 Seeing that there was real danger in this threat, 
 Fred tried to close with the man on the condition 
 that there should be a little delay. The syndicate 
 man was firm. The bargain must be concluded at 
 once, and Fred must start for Europe immediately, 
 and that by the quickest steamer. In fact, it was a 
 concession to let him return at all. Why not wire 
 to send on the stuff? But as Fred was firm about 
 
126 FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAUREN TI A." 
 
 the necessity of seeing his chief, this point was 
 waived. But all speed must be made. Delay was 
 in the highest degree dangerous. Nobody knew 
 what action the U.S.A. government might adopt if 
 some other syndicate were formed. Besides, the war 
 cloud was darkening every day. As the syndicate 
 man told Fred, the betting was even that France 
 would issue an ultimatum within a month, demand- 
 ing the withdrawal of the British troops from 
 Egypt. 
 
 Since they were to be partners anyway, Fred 
 thought that he could not do better than intrust so 
 much of his secret to Mr. Boosterbeg — for by this 
 name the syndicate man had the misfortune to be 
 called — as would enable that gentleman to lend a 
 hand. That is, he told Mr. Boosterbeg that it was 
 absolutely necessary to have so much in the way of 
 chemicals before he could venture to return to his 
 master. 
 
 To Fred's delight, Mr. Boosterbeg assured him that 
 this could be easily arranged. Not that Mr. Booster- 
 beg had ever even heard of the chemicals in question ; 
 but what is the good of being secretary to a billion- 
 aire syndicate if you cannot manage a little affair 
 like that on the shortest notice ? Every respectable 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. "LAURENT/A." 127 
 
 syndicate in the States, he assured Fred, had its own 
 chemical department. 
 
 "Look here," interrupted Fred, in a decided tone, 
 " there's to be no hankey-pankey about this chemical 
 business. My own stuff is on order, and is coming, 
 though slowly ; and if there is the least fear that your 
 stuff is not exactly what we want, then I remain here 
 till my own stuff comes — syndicate or no syndicate, 
 deal or no deal." 
 
 Boosterbeg assured him that he need have no 
 fear. All the same, Mr. Boosterbeg inquired very 
 minutely about Fred's source of supply, and on dis- 
 covering it, said that he really could help, by using 
 all the power of the syndicate to hurry up the transit 
 of the materials. 
 
 Thus it came about that Fred sailed by the 
 Laurentia, instead of by the Appalachia, as he had 
 arranged with Welligham. Of course he cabled to 
 Welligham, telling him that he had started a week 
 earlier than he had intended, but added that he had 
 succeeded beyond his expectations in the real object 
 of his journey. 
 
 With one arrangement of the syndicate Fred did 
 not know whether to be pleased or angry. This was 
 that Mr. Boosterbeg was to accompany him the whole 
 
128 FATE OF THE S.S. "LAURENTIA." 
 
 way to London, to see that no time was lost in re- 
 turning with the operator and the apparatus. Fred 
 was a little suspicious. Was this long-legged Yankee 
 another inventor sent over to see if he could discover 
 for himself the secret of the sky advertisement, and 
 thus save the syndicate the trouble and expense of 
 buying the right to use it ? But, to tell the truth, • 
 there was a much more petty reason that made Fred 
 dislike Boosterbeg's company. Fred had arranged 
 with the steamboat people to hire both berths in a 
 particular room, which he would thus have had en- 
 tirely to himself, just as he had done on the way out. 
 This seems a little luxurious on his part ; but when 
 one is in charge of close upon forty thousand pounds* 
 worth of rare chemicals that can be all stuffed into a 
 smallish travelling-bag without perceptibly increasing 
 its weight, one does right to be careful. Besides, as 
 we know, there was another reason. 
 
 Mr. Boosterbeg's plan was very simple. He had 
 gone to the steamboat office, given out that he was 
 Fred's friend and had arranged with him to share 
 the berth, paid some extra fees, and had come on 
 board just as the Laurentia was starting. 
 
 Fred knew he was coming, and had hopes, when 
 he was so late, that he might miss the boat. But 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIA:' 129 
 
 when he was disappointed in this, he asked him 
 where he had secured a berth, as it appeared that 
 the vessel was rather crowded. It was then that 
 Boosterbeg broke the news. 
 
 Fred tried to hide his chagrin, but with very im- 
 perfect success. 
 
 " Cheer up, old man ; it's only for six nights," said 
 Boosterbeg consolingly. " By the way, let's toss for 
 the porthole bunk." 
 
 " Which is the porthole bunk ? " asked Fred coldly. 
 
 "Oh, don't give way like that," remarked Mr. 
 Boosterbeg cheerfully. " You can have your chemi- 
 cals locked up in the strong-room. In fact, I think 
 you should do that, even if you were not afflicted 
 with me." 
 
 " I asked which was the porthole bunk," repeated 
 Fred severely. 
 
 "Now that I think of it, so you did," admitted 
 Mr. Boosterbeg cheerfully. " Well, the porthole bunk, 
 if you must know, is the first-story one, as it were. 
 It has the advantage of the porthole, but then its 
 occupant misses all the exercise that falls to the lot 
 of the happy winner of the upper lot." 
 
 " In other words, the lower bunk is the better ? " 
 
 "Well, if you put it that way, I daresay it 
 
 (1,106) 9 
 
I30 FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIA^' 
 
 would plead guilty. Heads or tails for the lower 
 bunk." 
 
 " I never toss — at least not now." Fred's correc- 
 tion took away a good deal of the dignity that by 
 right belonged to what he had to say. " As host, the 
 least I can do is to give up the better berth to my 
 guest." 
 
 " Now I call that real generous of you," responded 
 Boosterbeg, with or without — Fred could not make 
 up his mind which — a touch of sarcasm. 
 
 "But there's one condition I'd like to make," 
 added Fred hesitatingly. 
 
 "Why, certainly. Every well-regulated lodging- 
 house has its code of rules. Anything about early 
 rising ? " 
 
 Fred plainly started. How had this fellow guessed 
 what was in his mind ? 
 
 " Well, to be perfectly candid, it is about early 
 rising." 
 
 Mr. Boosterbeg groaned in the most ostentatious 
 way. 
 
 " Of all things in the old world or the new, I 
 detest early rising. When has it to be ? " 
 
 " You can get up when you please, as late or as 
 early as you like. I prefer to dress alone!' 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. "LAURENT/A." 131 
 
 Boosterbeg looked at him keenly for a moment, 
 then smilingly replied, — 
 
 " Not an uncommon complaint. But you can ar- 
 range with the steward about the bath and the 
 other things. Of course you know that it does not 
 really matter a cent to me when I get up. You tell 
 me what you have arranged, and rely upon me fall- 
 ing in every time." 
 
 Fred was sufficiently ashamed to feel inclined to 
 apologize, and sufficiently sensible not to. He inter- 
 viewed the steward as suggested, and the final ar- 
 rangement was that Boosterbeg should tub first, and 
 dress before Fred. It was considered the better time 
 for Boosterbeg, as determined by the unbiased opinion 
 of the steward. 
 
 The first five days of the voyage were uneventful. 
 The only difference from an ordinary run was the 
 element of risk involved in the possibility of a decla- 
 ration of war before they landed. For the Laurentia 
 still flew British colours, though many of the more 
 timid passengers thought that she should have taken 
 advantage of a growing custom, and arranged to run 
 for the meantime under the protection of the stars 
 and stripes. In addition to the usual betting on the 
 number of miles in the day's run, there were certain 
 
132 FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIA:' 
 
 little pools arranged for, regarding the possibilities of 
 war by the time England was reached. Every chance 
 of signalling a passing steamer was seized, but the 
 invariable answer was, " Not yet." 
 
 During the run Fred had quite got over his dis- 
 like to his companion. In fact, his feeling was now 
 all the other way. Boosterbeg gave no indication of 
 an indiscreet curiosity ; Fred was allowed to dress 
 in any way that he pleased. Both were content. 
 The American had crossed the Atlantic so often that 
 he felt perfectly at home in the Laurentia, and was 
 able to give Fred much valuable information in his 
 own picturesque way. 
 
 It was the morning of the day on which they were 
 due at Liverpool. Fred lay in his bunk patiently 
 waiting till his companion would clear out of the 
 lower bunk. Evidently Boosterbeg was lazy on this 
 last morning ; for, if Fred could believe his watch, it 
 was now a quarter past the rising hour. To be sure 
 Fred was doubtful about his watch, for he could not 
 remember having heard the steward knock at the 
 door, a ceremony that the steward never omitted, 
 even in the case of men who did not need the atten- 
 tion, as Mr. Boosterbeg certainly did not. 
 
 Fred's patience lasted for another quarter of an 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. ''LAURENT/A." 133 
 
 hour. Then it struck him that perhaps his com- 
 panion had risen earlier than usual, being the last 
 day on board. Accordingly Fred stretched over the 
 side of his bunk, drew a corner of the lower bunk 
 aside, and peeped in. There his eye met Mr. Booster- 
 beg's. But the twinkle in Mr. Boosterbeg's eye was 
 entirely gone. In its place was an expression of 
 intense anxiety — one might have almost said fear. 
 
 " Lazybones," remarked Fred, resolved not to take 
 any notice of the peculiar expression he had ob- 
 served on his friend's face. " Aren't you thinking 
 of getting up ? " 
 
 " Gurleigh," he replied quietly, " something's gone 
 wrong with my underpinning." 
 
 " Your underpinning ? " 
 
 " My legs may be a little plainer. In any case 
 they won't move, let me try as I will. I have been 
 lying here trying to get them to do their duty ; but 
 there is evidently a strike on, and they have come 
 out." 
 
 By this time Fred was on the floor of the little 
 room, and bending over his unfortunate companion, 
 who persisted in talking lightly of what was evi- 
 dently a very serious matter. 
 
 " I can't even sit up," he remarked, " which I think 
 
134 FATE OF THE S.S. ''LAURENT/A." 
 
 is a mean thing of my legs. If I could, I should like 
 extremely to examine the strikers." 
 
 Fred understood this as a request, and examined 
 the recalcitrant legs, only to report that they seemed 
 in excellent condition. 
 
 "That's what stumps me," replied Boosterbeg, in 
 his usual tones. " My hands can reach down to 
 them, and if my fingers are not bewitched, I am 
 certain that the legs are not cold or stiff. What is 
 their colour ? " 
 
 "Same as usual, I should say," reported Fred. 
 " Hadn't I better call in the doctor ? " 
 
 " I suppose it has come to that," murmured Booster- 
 beg, " though I did think they would have listened 
 to arbitration. I wonder what has come over the 
 steward this morning. I would have sent him in- 
 stead of troubling you." 
 
 « Did he not knock ? " 
 
 " I didn't hear him, and as I have been lying wait- 
 ing for his knock for some little time — But it 
 doesn't matter. I wonder if it's bigger wages or 
 shorter hours that the beggars want. I believe it's 
 the lazy life on shipboard that has put this into their 
 heads." 
 
 By this time Fred had hurried on some clothes 
 
FATE OF THE S,S. '' LAURENTIA,'' 135 
 
 and was ready to start on his hunt for the doctor. 
 Suddenly it struck him how callous he had been. 
 No doubt it was Boosterbeg's quietness that had pre- 
 vented his thinking of it before. 
 
 "By the way, do you — eh — that is, have you — is 
 it very painful ? " 
 
 "That's the rum thing about it. There's nary a 
 pain. They've just come out, leaving me to com- 
 plete my contracts without them, but they've done 
 no damage to stock or machinery." 
 
 Somewhat relieved, Fred hurried off on his search. 
 In his present undress he naturally sought out the 
 most retired ways in his hunt for the doctor. But 
 it seemed as if he need not have exercised quite so 
 much caution. At first his main object had been to 
 avoid meeting any one ; soon he was eager to catch 
 sight of any one at all. Looking into the smoking- 
 room as he passed, he saw three or four men loafing 
 about in very peculiar attitudes. In one of the cor- 
 ridors he nearly fell over a steward, who was lying 
 there at full length. The doctor's cabin was locked, 
 and no amount of knocking made any impression. 
 
 " Most peculiar," remarked Fred, venturing to give 
 a vigorous rat-tat at one of the officers' cabin doors, in 
 the hope of calling out some help. He knew that he 
 
136 FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIA." 
 
 had no right to knock there, but he was desperate, 
 and there are times when little ceremonial laws may 
 be disregarded. Even this daring proceeding pro- 
 duced no result. Fred now turned his attention 
 elsewhere. He dashed up the companion-way to 
 the deck, only to find himself as solitary as before. 
 
 Rushing along to where he could command a view 
 of the oflBcer on the bridge, he was horrified to find 
 that there was no officer there. Turning to the steer- 
 ing gear, he was still more amazed to find that it too 
 had to take care of itself. On closer inspection he 
 found that a man's body lay at the foot of the little 
 wheel that controlled the direction of the big ship. As 
 things now stood, it was evident that the Laurentia 
 was left entirely to her own devices. She might run 
 into another vessel at any moment, thought Fred. 
 But this reflection suggested others, and he thought 
 it rather peculiar that he had not noticed before 
 how much slower than usual the engines seemed to 
 be working. The vessel was certainly not making 
 anything like her usual speed. As he gazed round 
 the horizon, he remarked two trails of smoke, in- 
 dicating passing steamers ; but at the Laurentia's 
 present rate, and their apparent distance, he antici- 
 pated no trouble from them. 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. "LAURENT/A," 137 
 
 He was more interested to find some one on board 
 to whom he might communicate the awful things that 
 had happened. But everywhere that he turned he 
 found nothing but uninterested corpses. He pressed 
 every electric button that he came across, but without 
 the slightest effect. An idea occurred to him. He 
 reached up to the big bell that was used for indicat- 
 ing the watches, and made an enormous din with it 
 — again absolutely without result. 
 
 In despair he returned to his berth to consult with 
 his crippled friend. 
 
 " Everybody dead," remarked Boosterbeg, when 
 he had heard Fred's report. " So my legs have not 
 really struck work. It's a general lockout. Are 
 there any marks on the bodies you have seen — any 
 swellings, anything out of the common ? " 
 
 " Nothing whatever. They all look exactly as if 
 they were asleep ; that's all." 
 
 " And you're sure they aren't ? " 
 
 " Well, some I shook till their teeth rattled ; and 
 as for noise, I think that bell might have wakened 
 the dead." 
 
 " I certainly heard something," said Boosterbeg 
 quietly. " But your plan now is to run down to 
 the machine-room and see how things stand there. 
 
138 FATE OF THE S.S. "LAUJ^ENT/A." 
 
 If the engineers are asleep, you should shut off 
 the steam till we get some one to take charge of 
 the steering gear." 
 
 Fred did not delay a moment; but when he 
 reached the engine-room he realized how helpless 
 he was. Four men were lying on the floor, one 
 of them in a horrible position in relation to the 
 engines. The array of brass rods and taps be- 
 wildered Fred. He did not venture to touch any 
 of the things that stood so invitingly before him, 
 waiting to be turned. He hurried back to Boos- 
 terbeg for further orders. 
 
 Boosterbeg tried to describe the proper crank to 
 turn, but Fred had no confidence in dealing with 
 machinery. He had no head for mechanics, and 
 felt that he would be sure to make a mess. 
 
 " It really does not matter," explained Boosterbeg. 
 " The engines cannot go on much longer without the 
 help of the stokers. In fact, if it were not for the 
 fine state in which the engines of a liner are kept, 
 the Laurentia would probably have stopped long 
 ago." 
 
 All the same, Fred felt very unhappy at the idea 
 of this huge ship stumbling on without any guidance. 
 Accordingly, he proposed to carry Boosterbeg to the 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIAP 139 
 
 engine-room to see what ought to be done. It was 
 a troublesome business carrying the crippled man up 
 to the deck ; for, though Fred was strong, Boosterbeg 
 was big, and there was always the fear of hurting 
 his crippled limbs by bumping them against things 
 on the way. 
 
 Arrived on deck, the American bluntly stated that 
 there was no need to go down to the engine-room : 
 the Laurentia was slowly coming to a standstill on 
 her own account. 
 
 After a little coaching Fred managed to get the 
 ship's siren started to make its abominable din. 
 This was done in the double hope of calling the 
 attention of any passing ship, and also of calling 
 up any member of the ship's company who might 
 have survived the general calamity. 
 
 But the booming produced no effect. So Fred was 
 sent to make a tour of the ship, to see if no one was 
 left alive. 
 
 "If Tve got off with nothing but a slip in the 
 underpinning, there may be others in the same box. 
 All we've seen are dead, but there may be some who 
 are only wounded." 
 
 Fred carried out his instructions to the letter. It 
 was long ere he returned, for shaking nearly two 
 
140 FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIAP 
 
 thousand corpses is no small job. When all was 
 done they were no farther on than they were be- 
 fore. Not a single success crowned all Fred's efforts. 
 
 The Laurentia was now lying like a log in the 
 water. The engines had ceased to work before Fred 
 had well begun his horrible task. 
 
 " We must attract attention somehow," said Booster- 
 beg from the deck-chair in which Fred had installed 
 him. The first thing you have to do is to reverse 
 that ensign at the peak, so that if any steamer comes 
 near enough to take an interest in us, it may know 
 that we want help." 
 
 This was easily done ; but Boosterbeg was not con- 
 tent with one signal, and neither of the survivors 
 knew where to get the necessary flags for the other 
 masts. A little searching, under the advice of the 
 experienced Boosterbeg, led to the discovery of a 
 box filled with flags of the most distressing vivid- 
 ness and variety. 
 
 " In the chart-room you will find a flag-book," 
 explained the cripple. "Break into the drawers, if 
 need be, and bring it here." 
 
 Boosterbeof's head and Fred's hands at last sue- 
 ceeded in running up a string of flags that informed 
 all whom it might concern that the Laurentia par- 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIA!' 141 
 
 ticularly wanted to speak to any vessel that hap- 
 pened to be passing that way. 
 
 " From our position here it is impossible that we 
 should long remain without this invitation being 
 accepted," concluded Boosterbeg, regarding with some 
 satisfaction the stream of gaily -coloured rags that 
 he had arranged. "And now what do you say to 
 a little breakfast ? " 
 
 Fred had nothing whatever to say. Breakfast 
 had not entered his mind since the moment he 
 had caught Boosterbeg's eye in the lower bunk. 
 It is true that both of the survivors had had a 
 sudden craving for something to keep up their 
 spirits under the terrible strain. But one can 
 hardly call a glass of brandy breakfast, and even 
 two or three glasses do not increase the resemblance 
 to breakfast. 
 
 In spite of his coolness Boosterbeg was not very 
 sorry when Fred declined to think of breakfast. 
 Neither of the two was in a condition to eat. 
 
 Fred speedily changed the direction of the con- 
 versation by asking whether Boosterbeg had any 
 theory about the nature of the catastrophe that 
 had overtaken the ship. The American's theory 
 was that something had gone wrong with the 
 
142 FATE OF THE SS. '' LAURENTIA^ 
 
 electricity of the ship, and that the result had been a 
 general shock, from which they two alone had escaped. 
 
 His reason for this belief was that none of the 
 bodies had any mark of wound or plague. They 
 looked exactly like some bodies he had once seen 
 that had been killed by the return shock of light- 
 ning. He laid great stress on this theory — much 
 more stress than Fred saw any necessity for. The 
 real cause was that Boosterbeg was doing his best 
 to feel assured that it was not a case of plague. 
 
 " Not that I am afraid of the plague," he was good 
 enough to explain ; " but if it turns out to be any 
 kind of plague, they'll tie us up in some quarantine 
 shed for weeks, and maybe for months ; and what 
 will become of our syndicate then ? " 
 
 "But how do you explain our escape, if it was an 
 electric shock ? " 
 
 " Oh, as for that, these things do not explain them- 
 selves. The important thing is that I am not going 
 to admit any kind of plague — see ? " 
 
 " But how can we help ourselves ? They won't ask 
 our opinion." 
 
 " Won't they just ! Why, that's the first thing 
 they'll do. I wonder if we couldn't rig up a 
 plausible tale about a terrible shock. What o'clock 
 
FATE OF THE S.S. '' LAURENTIA:' 143 
 
 shall we make it ? Have any of the clocks stopped, 
 by the way ? " 
 
 " Not that I have noticed. But would this story be 
 quite fair to the relations of the — the rest of us ? " 
 
 " Oh, as to that, I do not take much stock in what 
 the relatives think. Say, couldn't you manage to 
 launch one of the smallest of these boats, and sail 
 it or row it to the Irish coast ? It can't be far off 
 now. We could take your little bag and mine — all 
 that is really worth anything, you know. And then, 
 when all was over, we could step in and claim any- 
 thing else we may have to leave on board. Yes, that 
 is certainly the best move. My legs could be doctored 
 much better by a land doctor than by a suspicious sea- 
 going fellow with his brain full of plague. And then 
 that quarantine — I don't mind confessing it gives me 
 the jim-jams. What do you say ? " 
 
 Fred did not say anything. He got up to have a 
 look at the boats referred to. As he very doubtfully 
 gazed at them, his glance chanced to fall over the 
 larboard quarter. The trail of smoke was certainly 
 nearer than it had been the last time he had looked. 
 Yes, there could be no doubt about it. 
 
 " There's no good discussing the boats," he replied ; 
 " there is a steamer bearing down upon us." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 WITH his binoculars at his eyes, Fred reported 
 to his friend that the approaching steamer 
 was evidently a common " tramp." She was busy 
 hoisting a great variety of flags, which he described 
 while Boosterbeg did his best to make out what 
 they meant from the flag-book. After a good deal 
 of work, the American declared that all the tramp 
 wanted was to know what was the matter. 
 
 "And what shall I say?" asked Fred, gazing 
 doubtfully at the pile of flags he had brought from 
 the chest and laid near the deck-chair. 
 
 " Well, as you say she's coming up in style, it 
 would be a pity to interrupt her in any way. If 
 we tell her we're practically all dead, she'll sheer 
 off" as sure as fate, and we'll be left in the lurch. 
 My idea's to let her come on and find out." 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 145 
 
 "She's stringing up more flags," reported Fred, 
 again describing their shapes and colours. 
 
 After a pause, Boosterbeg mentioned that she was 
 threatening to sheer off unless she got some answer 
 to her signals. 
 
 "She won't do it, of course, but it shows she's 
 getting funky. You'd better run to that ensign 
 and dip it two or three times, to show that there's 
 somebody alive here; and after that I'd put away 
 these flags here, in case they feel annoyed when they 
 find that we could have replied and did not." 
 
 Fred did exactly as he was told, and then the two 
 waited till the tramp came near enough to hail them. 
 The first question was the very natural one, 
 
 " What do you want ? " 
 
 To this Fred shouted back, on Boosterbeg's ad- 
 vice, — 
 
 " An engineer and half a dozen hands, to work us 
 into port." 
 
 " What has gone wrong ? " was the next demand. 
 
 "Our engineers and crew have met with an acci- 
 dent," was Fred's astounding answer. 
 
 By this time the tramp was so close that Fred 
 could read the name at her bow — the Wanalulu. 
 Fred himself must have been quite visible from the 
 
 (1,106) 2Q 
 
146 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE, 
 
 WanalulvJs deck. This probably accounted for the 
 next question, — 
 
 " Who are you ? " 
 
 "They miss the gold-banded cap and the brass 
 buttons/' explained Boosterbeg, " and wonder who in 
 thunder you are to be speaking in the name of a 
 liner. Tell them you're a passenger, and that the 
 accident has extended to the officers as well." 
 
 Fred did as he was told ; and after a good deal of 
 impatient ordering and counter-ordering on board the 
 WanaluliJb, a boat was lowered, and with Fred's help 
 the Wanalulu's chief officer and a couple of men 
 clambered up a rope ladder let down over the 
 Laurentia's side. 
 
 Still acting under Boosterbeg's advice (who, by 
 the way, had got himself placed inside one of the 
 deck staterooms out of the way), Fred introduced 
 himself to the officer. 
 
 " My name's Gurleigh." 
 
 " Indeed ! " growled the other surlily, evidently 
 determined to be disagreeable. He thought better 
 of it, however, and added, "Mine's Peterson. Now 
 maybe you'll tell me plainly what's happened." 
 
 " Well, captain " (Fred knew quite well that he 
 was only mate, but it was more politic to give him 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 147 
 
 the higher title), " the fact is that all the crew have 
 met with an accident that has disabled them, and we 
 cannot manage the ship ourselves." 
 
 " Who do you mean by we ? " 
 
 " Mr. Boosterbeg, in the stateroom there, and my- 
 self." 
 
 "But what about the crew and the rest of the 
 passengers ? You don't mean to tell me that you're 
 the only passengers on the Laurentia ? " 
 
 " Well, no ; but we're the only ones left — after the 
 accident, you know." 
 
 " What sort of accident was it ? " 
 
 " Well, you see, we don't exactly know. All that 
 we know is that it happened last night, or rather 
 early this morning, and that only Mr. Boosterbeg and 
 I have been able to get up this morning." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that the whole of the pas- 
 sengers and crew of the Laurentia have been so 
 seriously injured that you two alone are able to 
 come on deck ? " 
 
 "Precisely," replied Fred, delighted to have the 
 opportunity of answering at least one question 
 straight out. " But won't you come and see Mr. 
 Boosterbeg ? He cannot walk, but he knows more 
 about ships than I do." Here Fred wiped his brow. 
 
148 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 and felt relieved that the responsibility was about to 
 be shifted from his shoulders. 
 
 Entering the stateroom, Peterson demanded from 
 Boosterbeg a clearer account of what had happened. 
 
 " But, my dear sir, we are not in a position to give 
 any sort of account at all. The thing happened 
 while we were asleep." 
 
 " Well, take me to some of the officers who know 
 something about it." 
 
 As a distressed look passed between Fred and 
 Boosterbeg, the mate seemed to realize that his 
 treatment of the unfortunates was not quite so 
 considerate as it might have been. After all, they 
 had done nothing wrong, though they had caused 
 him all this bother. 
 
 " I — I am sorry I was so rough. I'm told your 
 legs are broken. But maybe Mr. Gurleigh will take 
 me to the captain." 
 
 " I'm afraid he's dead," was the mild reply. 
 
 " Well, take me to any of the officers." 
 
 " I'm afraid they're all dead." 
 
 " All dead ! What of ? " 
 
 "Of the accident, of course," replied Boosterbeg 
 quickly. " Didn't Gurleigh tell you about it ? " 
 
 " He told me that most of the people on board 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE, 149 
 
 were injured. He did not say that all the officers 
 were dead." 
 
 " Well, they are" went on Boosterbeg, " and all 
 the crew, and all the passengers, except Gurleigh 
 and me." 
 
 ''All dead I" repeated the mate, starting back. 
 " Everybody on board a liner dead, except you two ? " 
 
 "And one of us has lost his legs," explained 
 Boosterbeg, " in the accident." 
 
 " What sort of accident was it ? " 
 
 "An electricity accident, I should say, from the 
 results, and from the state of the bodies." 
 
 " What is the state of the bodies ? " asked Peter- 
 son, in as steady a tone as he could command, con- 
 sidering that his heart was in his mouth. Many 
 men are brave enough in every way, but hate to face 
 horrible sights. 
 
 " They're all exactly as if they were asleep. But 
 Gurleigh will take you below. I need hardly ask 
 you to note very carefully what you see, as you 
 will have to give evidence, no doubt, at the inquiry." 
 
 This hint was not lost on Peterson, who became a 
 great deal more courteous in his treatment of the 
 two. 
 
 When the examination was over, Peterson came up 
 
I50 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 with a very serious face indeed, and quietly went 
 over the side to his boat, leaving two men on the 
 Laurentia. He was rowed back to his own vessel, 
 and in a few minutes the boat was seen returning 
 with six men, but with a different officer in the 
 stern. This officer turned out to be the captain of 
 the WaTialulu. He came on board with four of his 
 men, leaving only two in the boat There were six 
 men now on board the Laurentia. Two of them 
 proved to be engineers. These at once set them- 
 selves to examine the electrical apparatus of the 
 Laurentia. 
 
 At the end of the examination the captain with 
 four men approached the stateroom where Fred and 
 Boosterbeg were sitting, and invited Fred to hold out 
 his hands to receive the pair of handcuffs that a man 
 was holding invitingly towards him. 
 
 "What does this mean?" demanded Boosterbeg 
 hotly. 
 
 "We have a pair for you too," answered the 
 captain sweetly. "It will be necessary to make 
 safe work of two scoundrels who have had the 
 hardihood to poison a whole linerful of people." 
 
 To Fred's intense surprise Boosterbeg quietly held 
 out his hands, and said in a half whisper, — 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 151 
 
 " It's all up ; they've spotted us first turn." 
 
 " What's all up ? " demanded Fred angrily. 
 
 " It's no manner of good," replied Boosterbeg hope- 
 lessly ; " we'd better give in quietly." 
 
 " Yes," added the captain dryly. " One of my en- 
 gineers is a bit of a chemist, and spotted the thing at 
 once." 
 
 In spite of himself, Fred grew pale at this. Could 
 it be possible that Frisaine's agents had got at him 
 after all ? The captain appeared to be struck by the 
 guilty look on Fred's face. In any case, he had 
 made up his mind. He told Fred that if he did not 
 take it quietly he would have to take it fighting; 
 and as Fred thought he would have a poor chance 
 against seven strong men, he took it quietly. 
 
 " We'll lock them up here, in this stateroom," 
 ordered the captain. "By the way," he added, 
 turning a glance towards the carafe standing on 
 the table in the room, " that water is not poisoned, 
 I suppose ? " 
 
 Boosterbeg shook his head sullenly, whereupon the 
 door was locked upon Fred and him. 
 
 Outside they heard the captain giving orders to 
 bring over a barrel of fresh water from the Wana- 
 lulu, and to see that specimens were taken from the 
 
152 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 LaurentioJs water-tanks for purposes of evidence 
 when the prisoners were handed over to justice. 
 
 Inside the stateroom there was a peculiar explana- 
 tion going on. 
 
 "Smart fellow that captain," said Boosterbeg 
 admiringly. 
 
 " Glad you think so," replied Fred, trying to move 
 the handcuflfs to a position in which they would be 
 less irksome. " I cannot say that my admiration goes 
 so far as yours. And, in short," he added, losing 
 command of himself, "what the dickens do 2/ou 
 mean ? " 
 
 " Yes, I thought you didn't quite catch on," replied 
 Boosterbeg coolly, " and it is not to be wondered at, 
 since you did not see the other half of his face when 
 he made that preposterous charge about the poisoned 
 water." 
 
 " And what had the other side of the captain's face 
 to do with the preposterous charge ? " 
 
 " Just this. At the moment he made the charge, 
 the side of his face towards the men and you was, I 
 have no doubt, severe enough ; but the side towards 
 me was softened by an unmistakable smile, accom- 
 panied by two distinct winks." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 153 
 
 " You don't tumble to it yet ? Land ! But then 
 you don't know sailor men as I do, and the captain. 
 Listen to the interpretation of these two winks. It 
 runs something Kke this : ' You, Boosterbeg, know 
 what a sailor man is. You know that my men have 
 been thrown into a funk by that ass of a mate of 
 mine. I know that you have no more the plague 
 than I have ; but my men don't take this view. 
 Poisoning two thousand people for no end or purpose 
 is ridiculous. Again my men don't take this view. 
 Being a sensible man, you will allow yourself to be 
 handcuffed for a few hours, in order to ensure being 
 free at the end of them, and safely ashore.' I am 
 not quite sure whether the winks did not go farther, 
 and promise that if we were good boys there might 
 come a jolly captain on the sly and open these 
 bracelets. I hope the winks do run to that." 
 
 As a matter of fact the winks were proved to be 
 very literally translated by Boosterbeg. The only 
 point on which he was wrong was that the engineer, 
 and not the captain, came to undo the handcuffs. 
 This engineer was particularly anxious to find out 
 what could have caused the accident. He was 
 convinced that the electricity had nothing to do 
 with it. 
 
154 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 " You do not suspect plague ? " demanded Booster- 
 beg sarcastically. 
 
 " To tell the truth, I don't know. You never do 
 know, in cases like this." 
 
 " True for you," replied the American cordially. 
 *' By the way, have you come across many cases 
 ' like this ' ? " 
 
 " You have me there. But, plague or no plague, 
 you're not going to be ill-used for long. We hope to 
 make Liverpool early in the morning." 
 
 When the Laurentia — after all, only eight hours 
 behind her time — came within sight of her berth at 
 Liverpool, the salvage crew were surprised to be 
 signalled to come to, without coming any nearer the 
 shore. 
 
 Very shortly afterwards a small government boat 
 came alongside, and several officials clambered on 
 board. 
 
 " A clean bill of health, captain ? " asked the leader, 
 turning to the salvage captain, who was considerably 
 taken aback by this unexpected incident. 
 
 " That's as you take it," he replied. " So far as 
 my salvage crew of six are concerned, we are all 
 well ; but with regard to the passengers and crew 
 of the Laurentia, they have all met some sort of 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 155 
 
 accident, and " — here the captain paused for the sake 
 of heightening the effect — " they are all dead but two." 
 The captain was not disappointed in the effect he 
 produced. What surprised him was the point which 
 roused the astonishment of the officials. When you 
 report the mysterious death of nearly two thousand 
 human beings, you expect people to be surprised at 
 the number of dead ; but these strange officials were 
 surprised only at the number of living. 
 
 '' Alim, did you say? Two alivQl alive I Are 
 you sure ? " 
 
 " Well, they were last time I saw them. Least- 
 ways, one of them was quite alive, and half of 
 the other was, though he said he was dead in the 
 legs." 
 
 " Take us to them at once," ordered the leader. 
 While the interview was going on inside, the six 
 salvage men were trembling without. They felt that 
 they had been miserably misled. The ship was a 
 plague ship after all, and all the salvage money they 
 had been promised would now only go to give them 
 an extra-grand funeral. 
 
 Within the stateroom the officials — one of whom 
 was a city doctor, another chief of the police, Cap- 
 tain Blazeby — began an examination of the sur- 
 
156 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 vivors at once. But they had hardly begun when 
 Captain Blazeby broke off, — 
 
 "We are forgetting orders from headquarters to 
 report every fresh case. This Laurentia business is 
 too important. We'd better go ashore at once. Be- 
 sides, we can have the evidence taken down in due 
 form there." 
 
 As they went over the side to their boat, they 
 were interrupted by the salvage captain, who asked 
 eagerly if the plague had broken out. He was re- 
 assured, and his men with him, by the plain state- 
 ment that the plague had broken out, but that it did 
 not appear to be at all infectious or contagious. No 
 case in the whole country had been reported of its 
 being communicated from one person to another. 
 
 When they were all comfortably settled in the 
 chiefs room at the Central Police Station, and the 
 necessary wires had been sent to London, Captain 
 Blazeby leaned back in his chair and asked Fred 
 to tell all he knew about the strange occurrence. 
 
 Very briefly, but very pointedly, Fred told his 
 tale. As he went on, he could not fail to see that 
 he was greatly disappointing his auditors. They 
 did not seem at all surprised at his tale of wholesale 
 sudden death ; they seemed to be expecting something 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 157 
 
 more. At the conclusion of his statement he was 
 met by the dry question of Captain Blazeby, — 
 
 " So you were asleep the time the whole thing was 
 happening, and saw nothing ? " 
 
 " Nothing but what I have told you. To me it 
 seems far from nothing. I never wish to see more." 
 
 " Yes, yes. But how did they die ? And why 
 didn't you die ? " 
 
 " This seems a sore point with you all," complained 
 Fred. " Evidently we ought to have died, my friend 
 and I. But we really had nothing to do with it one 
 way or the other." 
 
 At this point there was a vigorous knock at the door, 
 followed by the entrance, on invitation, of another 
 official-looking man whom Blazeby greeted cordially. 
 
 " Come away, doctor. But I fear my message was 
 a false alarm. This gentleman was asleep when two 
 thousand fellow-creatures were dying around him." 
 
 Fred began to feel that he was a perfect Nero. 
 Obviously he had behaved in the most inhumanly 
 callous manner. 
 
 " Still," said the doctor who had entered, " his 
 being on board when all the rest perished is a proof 
 that there is no truth in the unoxygenated air theory. 
 If that zone of unoxygenated air existed, it would be 
 
158 FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 death for every one who passed through it. It would 
 be either die all or die none. — Did you, Mr. — Mr. 
 Gurleigh, thank you — did you feel any difficulty in 
 breathing at any time during the voyage ? " 
 
 " Not the least. I felt nothing at all. The voyage 
 was quite an ordinary one. On the evening before 
 the calamity I went to sleep just as usual. In the 
 morning I awoke, and found that I had made the 
 serious blunder of not being dead ; that's all." 
 
 Neither the captain nor the doctor had time to 
 make the reproving remark that quite obviously rose 
 to the lips of each, for at that moment Boosterbeg 
 struck in with, — 
 
 "About that unoxygenated theory you speak about 
 — how would it explain the damage to my legs ? " 
 
 This led to renewed questioning and renewed 
 theorizing, in the midst of which the telephone bell 
 rang. After the usual preliminary fuss at the instru- 
 ment, the captain turned in a disappointed way to the 
 doctor, and explained that they wanted the survivors 
 to be sent on to headquarters at once, and in as un- 
 altered a state as possible. 
 
 Fred grinned as he heard of how he and his friend 
 were to be disposed of, but Boosterbeg interrupted 
 with a mixture of sarcasm and humility. 
 
FRED ACQUIRES NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 159 
 
 "Will it alter us too much if we have something 
 to eat, and a decent sleep, before we are examined 
 any more ? " 
 
 " Dear me, no," replied the doctor quickly, evidently 
 a little ashamed of his thoughtlessness. " But I shall 
 send a note of what you eat. Also, you might give 
 your memories a little exercise in recalling what you 
 have eaten for the past two days." 
 
 " What they have told me from London," explained 
 the captain apologetically, " is to see that you do not 
 change your garments, or make any change in the 
 contents of the pockets. Anything about you may 
 be of the first importance." 
 
 The two found themselves of even more importance 
 than they had thought. Not only were they wanted 
 in London at once, but a special train was detailed 
 for their accommodation ; and the official doctor who 
 had begun the examination was sent with them, to 
 ensure that they should be delivered in that unaltered 
 state on which the London people seemed to have 
 set their hearts. 
 
 Two hours after their landing from the Laurentiay 
 Fred and Boosterbeg were on their way to their ex- 
 amination in London. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 INTEREST IN FRED's JEWELLERY. 
 
 UP till now nobody had taken the trouble to 
 explain anything to Fred and his crippled 
 companion. Everybody had been far too much occu- 
 pied in asking questions to think of answering any. 
 The two survivors had at first felt that they were 
 treated rather as criminals than as suflferers. For 
 Fred it did not matter so much, but for Boosterbeg 
 it was rather bitter to find that no attempt was made 
 to do anything for his limbs. The doctor's sole care 
 seemed to be to find out how the thing had come 
 about. The American, as we have had cause to see, 
 was not given to complaining ; so he quietly laid him- 
 self down along the side of the railway carriage into 
 which he had been carried, and waited till it would 
 please somebody to tell him what all this meant. 
 When the train had started, and there was absolutely 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. i6i 
 
 nothing more to be done, the guardian doctor at last 
 found the leisure to give some account of the trouble, 
 so far as he knew it. Terrible things had happened, 
 it appeared, during the night that had called away all 
 the ship's company of the Lanrentia. 
 
 The first intimation of disaster came from Paris. 
 Three railway accidents had been already reported in 
 the early morning of the day succeeding the fatal 
 night — that is to say, early on Tuesday morning — in 
 connection with goods trains. In all three cases the 
 damaged trains had deliberately neglected the signals ; 
 but as the drivers and stokers and guards had all 
 perished, no explanation could be had of how the 
 accidents had occurred. 
 
 This was bad enough ; but when the Cherbourg 
 express dashed through Poissy station at full speed, 
 and, neglecting the clearest signals, crashed into a 
 local train that was standing outside the station 
 waiting till the line should be clear, terrible results 
 followed. Not a soul was left alive in the train 
 coming from Cherbourg, while a large number of 
 the passengers in the local train perished. Scarcely 
 had this news been received in Paris, when it was 
 followed by an almost parallel item from Toury, 
 where the express to Orleans had smashed up a 
 
 (1,106) 11 
 
1 62 INTEREST IN FRED 'S JE WELLE R V. 
 
 goods train that was shunting. It was reported that 
 the express had arrived at Toury a good deal before 
 its proper time. This accounted for the fact of the 
 goods train being where it was, in the way of the 
 express, but it did not explain why the express had 
 totally disregarded the signals. 
 
 All this was distressing enough, but worse was to 
 come. It appeared that the medical examination of 
 the victims disclosed very suspicious circumstances. 
 Many of the bodies showed only too clearly the cause 
 of death. But a large proportion of them bore almost 
 no trace of wounds, while many of them showed no 
 wounds at all. At first the doctors had easily ex- 
 plained this by the simple word " shock ; " but no 
 parallel could be found in the annals of railway 
 accidents for the proportion of deaths from this 
 cause. Further, there were two peculiar circumstances 
 that came out. First, the number of uninjured corpses 
 was equally conspicuous in both collisions. Secondly, 
 in both cases this peculiarity was confined to the 
 express. The people in the train which had been 
 run into were badly cut up, but those who were 
 not actually wounded were alive and — apart from 
 the terrible shock they had received — well. 
 
 As the morning wore on, news came of still 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 163 
 
 another calamity on the railway. This time it was 
 in the north of Spain. The early express from 
 Barcelona to Saragossa had neglected the signal at 
 a crossing, and the train had been thrown off the 
 rails. This had happened a few miles from Manresa ; 
 and when help had been sent along the line, it was 
 found that not a living soul was left on the train to 
 explain what had occurred. Obviously the theory of 
 shock would not hold here. The train had run into 
 the embankment, and had had its progress stopped 
 somewhat gradually. Only a couple of carriages had 
 been overturned, and of these one had been smashed, 
 while the other was almost uninjured. 
 
 This news had at first roused little else than a 
 half-pleased pity in Britain. The relations between 
 France and England were such that there could be 
 but small sympathy between them. Indeed, the 
 newspapers made no secret of the gratification with 
 which they published edition after edition that morn- 
 ing, each containing new and startling tales of further 
 railway accidents. It appeared as if the railway 
 system of France had suddenly and completely broken 
 down. It is true that Spain seemed to share in the 
 misfortune, but that only to a very limited extent. 
 
 Up till the afternoon of Tuesday, the prevailing 
 
1 64 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 feeling in Britain was satisfaction at what was 
 taking place across the Channel, mingled with a 
 certain amount of indignation against those writers 
 who had made us so uncomfortable with their tales 
 of the perfect French organization for the invasion of 
 Britain. For the usual predictions and forecasts had 
 been made, and the great superiority of our enemies 
 had been, as usual, fully demonstrated. There was 
 evidently no great fear of French invasion if their 
 railways were in a state like this. Indeed, already a 
 leader had appeared in one of the special editions, 
 maintaining that the rising tide of calamity was 
 itself the direct result of a lack of co-ordination 
 between the military and the civil authorities. Each 
 was acting without consulting the other, with the 
 consequences that we know. 
 
 This suspicion was increased when, later on in the 
 day, it became clear that the French authorities were 
 trying to hush up what had really happened. From 
 private sources, however, our government learned 
 that in the forenoon there had been something not 
 far short of a panic in Paris. In the afternoon the 
 panic was too evident to permit of any attempt at 
 concealment. 
 
 Train after train had come in from the west 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 165 
 
 and south-west filled with corpses. Strange tales, too, 
 had come in from the provinces of sudden and un- 
 accountable deaths taking place in the fields, in boats, 
 in the public roads. From Figeac came the startling 
 report that the whole town was dead. The grande 
 route from Beauvais to Gisors was reported to be 
 quite impassable from the heaps of corpses of men 
 and animals. From Dourdan and La Motte Beuvron 
 came reports similar to that from Figeac : the town- 
 ships were literally wiped out. Half of the inhabit- 
 ants of La Chatre and the whole of the inhabitants 
 of Issoudun were dead. 
 
 At a very early stage the word plague had been 
 whispered, but by-and-by it was no longer possible 
 to keep it to a whisper. It was passed from mouth 
 to mouth, and led to panic all over France. 
 
 There were some reassuring circumstances, however. 
 Nowhere did the bodies bear any trace of disease. 
 In fact, the appearance was so easy and tranquil 
 that the victims had rather the look of sleep than 
 of death. 
 
 Naturally the most important question was — Is it 
 contagious or infectious ? Here the reports were very 
 contradictory. All those who had been engaged in 
 relieving the trains filled with corpses had escaped 
 
1 66 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 without a single case of infection. There were 
 several hundreds of bodies in Paris that had come 
 by their end through this plague, yet not a single 
 person who had had anything to do with the moving 
 of these bodies had suffered any inconvenience. It is 
 true that Paris was clamouring for the immediate 
 cremation of these bodies ; but the doctors, who kept 
 their heads, sturdily maintained that there was no 
 fear of infection. 
 
 On the other hand, the reports from the provinces 
 were of the most disturbing kind. There the plague 
 seemed to be infectious to the highest degree. Men 
 fell down dead, and when their friends came forward 
 to assist them, they fell down beside them. In 
 many places there were piles of bodies. In other 
 cases no harm had come from carrying off the corpses. 
 It was clear that it was not infection but contagion 
 that was to be feared. 
 
 Up till afternoon not a single case had occurred 
 in Britain; but a little after five o'clock a telegram 
 had come from Valentia saying that a sloop had 
 been boarded off the Irish coast there, and found 
 to contain four dead but uninjured men. Their case 
 so exactly resembled that of those reported from 
 France that the panic began to spread through 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 167 
 
 Britain. Other cases of vessels floating about at the 
 mercy of wind and tide had been reported at dif- 
 ferent points along the Irish coast. The natural 
 inference was that the plague was advancing from 
 the west, and that in a few days, or mayhap hours, 
 it would be raging in our midst. 
 
 Little wonder, then, that the Laurentia had met 
 so cold a welcome, and that Fred himself had been 
 handled so carefully. Indeed, he would not have 
 been allowed to land at all had it not been dis- 
 covered by the involuntary experiments of sailors 
 all along the coast, before the existence of the plague 
 ^^as even suspected, that this plague was not- 
 immediately, at any rate-either infectious or con- 
 tagious. The men who had boarded vessels full of 
 corpses had in no case come by any harm. Smce 
 the plague seemed to act so quickly, it was reasoned, 
 not unnaturally, that if these rescuing sailors were 
 to suffer from it at all, they would have suffered 
 at once. Thus it was that Fred had had a chance 
 to make his present journey. 
 
 In fact, the plague theory had already given place 
 to the theory that certain parts of the earth's sur- 
 face had lost their oxygen, and had therefore be- 
 come fatal to human beings who came within the 
 
1 68 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 unoxygenated areas. This theory had found great 
 favour, as it fitted in with certain gloomy prognosti- 
 cations that quasi-scientists had been spreading of 
 late. 
 
 Fred soon realized how important his escape must 
 appear in the eyes of those interested in the dis- 
 covery of the real cause of the calamity that was 
 threatening the human race. Accordingly, he was 
 not at all surprised at the great consideration that 
 was shown him on his arrival in London. He was 
 at once handed over to a committee of the most 
 distinguished doctors, who had been chosen to in- 
 vestigate his case in the public interest. The chair- 
 man of this committee was Dr. Brandwin. 
 
 When Fred had again told his tale, he had anew 
 to undergo the humiliation of seeing disappointment 
 on every face around him ; and, in view of the im- 
 portance attached to his evidence, he himself could 
 hardly help feeling ashamed of his uselessness. But 
 when the doctors intimated that they must make a 
 minute examination of him, in order to discover if 
 he had any peculiarity which might account for his 
 escape when all around him had perished, save only 
 the man in the lower bunk, he had no real reason 
 to object to the examination, but he could not help 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 169 
 
 being a good deal ashamed of a certain thing that 
 he wore round his neck. In fact, it was because 
 he wore this thing round his neck that he had 
 made the bargain we know of between him and the 
 man in the lower bunk. He could not bear that 
 a plain, common-sense man should see what he had 
 about his neck. 
 
 The doctors readily saw that he did not want to 
 be examined ; and, from certain instinctive move- 
 ments he made towards his neck, he led one of the 
 more observant doctors to guess at the cause of his 
 uneasiness. 
 
 "As to any little memento round the neck," re- 
 marked this doctor pleasantly, " don't trouble about 
 that. We doctors understand these things. Why, 
 you'd be amazed to find how often we come across 
 such things, and in the most unexpected cases too." 
 
 He spoke as if it would not be at all an un- 
 expected case to find some memento round the neck 
 of a well-set-up young fellow like Fred. But all 
 the same, when a plain gold ring was found to 
 encircle Fred's neck, the doctors paid a good deal 
 more attention to it than to anything else that 
 transpired during the examination. At first sight 
 it appeared to be a solid ring of plain gold of about 
 
I70 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 the thickness of a man's little finger. Beyond the 
 fact that it is unusual to wear an ornament of such 
 barbaric massiveness in such a position, the nature 
 of the ring aroused the curiosity of the doctors. 
 While to all appearance quite solid, the ring fitted 
 close to the neck just below the Adam's apple, so 
 as to be completely hidden by the collar when Fred 
 was dressed. The remarkable thing was that the 
 ring accommodated itself to every movement of the 
 neck, so as to cause no inconvenience to the wearer. 
 
 "Don't you find the weight of your — eh — orna- 
 ment a little inconvenient ? " asked one of the doctors, 
 after an awkward pause. 
 
 " It has no appreciable weight," replied Fred un- 
 easily. He knew that questions must follow, and his 
 business was private. 
 
 " How is it fastened ? " asked another of the doc- 
 tors, with a certain awkwardness. It was felt by all 
 that they were on delicate ground. 
 
 " I really do not know," replied Fred. " It was 
 fixed on by an expert in London." 
 
 Again there was a long and unpleasant pause. 
 By-and-by, the oldest of the doctors, after an inquiring 
 glance at some of his fellows, turned to Fred, and in 
 an apologetic tone went on, — 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 171 
 
 " Under ordinary circumstances, naturally we 
 would have respected your right to keep your own 
 counsel about your private affairs, but in a national 
 crisis like this we owe it to our country to use every 
 effort to find out the cause of the calamity that seems 
 to threaten the whole nation, if not the whole w^orld. 
 We must ask you to explain under what circum- 
 stances you had this ring fixed on. If it is a purely 
 personal matter, you may rely upon us to keep your 
 confidences sacred. But it is worth remarking that 
 what may have been meant for purely emotional — 
 ah — that is — eh — sentimental — reasons, may have 
 unintentionally accomplished other ends." 
 
 " There's nothing sentimental about it," cried Fred 
 in desperation. He did not like the quizzical look 
 in Boosterbeg's eye. " If I must tell the truth, I put 
 the thing on to please an old crank, when I left for 
 the United States." 
 
 " Ah, that's better," replied Dr. Brandwin encour- 
 agingly. " Now, what sort of crank was this ? And 
 did he assign any reason for thus desiring to adorn 
 you?" 
 
 "My business with him was of the most private 
 character — not that I know very much about it 
 myself." 
 
172 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 " You will see for yourself that we must insist 
 upon your telling us all that took place when he 
 put this peculiar necklace on you." 
 
 " And if I refuse to say anything, what then ? " 
 
 This evidently took Brand win a little aback. He 
 had no reply ready, and withdrew for a moment to 
 take counsel with the other officials. 
 
 While this consultation went on, Boosterbeg looked 
 inquiringly at Fred, but asked no questions. Fred 
 felt that this companion in misfortune deserved his 
 confidence. He whispered that it was the sky- 
 advertizing man who had given him the ring. 
 
 " And this was why you wished to dress alone ? " 
 
 " Naturally. What would you have thought, now, 
 if you had surprised me with this thing on ? " 
 
 Boosterbeg merely smiled, and said he had seen 
 queerer ornaments. 
 
 Here they were interrupted by the return of Dr. 
 Brandwin, who admitted that he was not at present 
 in a position to extort an answer by legal means. 
 But he told Fred quite plainly that in such a crisis 
 as this there would be no strict adhering to legal 
 niceties. To begin with, Fred would be led away 
 to solitary confinement, and deprived of both food 
 and drink till he chose to open his mouth. 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 173 
 
 " But this is a return to the Inquisition," gasped 
 Fred. 
 
 " I am prepared to run all the legal risks," was 
 the cold reply, " so long as I get such information 
 as shall help us in this clamant need." 
 
 Fred proclaimed his willingness to trust the doctor 
 himself and his own friend Boosterbeg, but he firmly 
 declined to make any statement to be written down 
 for public purposes, even if he had to starve for it. 
 
 This compromise was accepted by Brandwin, who 
 thereupon dismissed the shorthand writers, and was 
 left alone with Fred and Boosterbeg. 
 
 When Fred had told all that he knew, he was 
 relieved to find that Brandwin took quite a friendly 
 view of Welligham's action. 
 
 " He evidently meant to guard you against some 
 special machinations of Frisaine, and has succeeded 
 in saving you from some breakdown in the natural 
 forces. This ring has clearly saved your life ; and," 
 turning to Boosterbeg, "yours too, as far as it has 
 been saved. Probably the influence of this substance 
 extends a certain distance outwards, and part of your 
 body — fortunately, the most important part — came 
 within its range, thus saving your life without being 
 able to save your extremities. However, there is 
 
174 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 no need to theorize about the matter. All we 
 have to do is to call on Welligham. He will, no 
 doubt, be able to explain matters. If he can protect 
 against a force, he can tell us something about that 
 force." 
 
 The three then arranged that Fred and Brand win 
 should at once drive to Russell Square, followed by 
 a cab containing four constables. It was not stated 
 what the work of the constables was to be, and Fred 
 did not inquire. 
 
 On reaching Welligham's house, they were aston- 
 ished to find that he had left home more than a 
 month before, and had not been heard of since. 
 The man at the door was a little indignant that 
 they had not heard this important piece of news. 
 
 " It was in all the pipers," he explained. 
 
 " Did he leave any word for me ? " asked Fred. 
 
 " No, sir. And when I saw you now, I thought 
 as you might be able to give us some message from 
 him." 
 
 Now the use of the constables became plain. 
 Brandwin had a general search warrant, in virtue 
 of his very special investigation ; but it was not 
 required here. The man was so used to searches 
 in the house that one more was neither here nor 
 
INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 175 
 
 there. He recognized the official character of the 
 party, and made no difficulty. 
 
 What Fred specially wished to see was the labora- 
 tory. If the great machine were there, then Wellig- 
 ham was either dead or done for in some way. But 
 when the machine was found to be absent from its 
 old place, Fred found that he had no definite opinion 
 as to what might have happened. It was possible 
 that Welligham had taken away the machine, and 
 hoped thus to escape the vigilance of his enemy. 
 But then it was equally possible that Frisaine had 
 got the better of Welligham, and possessed himself 
 of the machine. 
 
 In any case, it would be well to find out the 
 whereabouts of Frisaine. For such a mysterious 
 person as Fred described Frisaine to be, he was 
 singularly easy to discover. He occupied a suite 
 of rooms in one of those grand buildings with all 
 the appliances of a hotel and all the independence 
 of a private house. Unfortunately, Frisaine was not 
 himself so easy to discover as his rooms. His case 
 was somewhat like Welligham's, only in his case 
 the time was much shorter. He had disappeared 
 only since Tuesday night, while it was now Thursday 
 morning. The professor had been out a great deal 
 
176 INTEREST IN FRED'S JEWELLERY. 
 
 during the past week or two. Nobody knew where 
 he was likely to be ; nobody ever did trouble about 
 him — he was so queer. He might turn up at any 
 moment. But even the presence of the police could 
 not quicken any one's memory further. 
 
 A representative was left to report immediately 
 if the professor returned, and Fred and Brandwin 
 drove back to headquarters. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 ALL this while the most depressing news was 
 J~\, coming in on all hands. Scores of vessels 
 from the Atlantic were reported as having met the 
 same fate as the Laurentia. At first it had been 
 hoped that the trouble was confined to the vessels 
 coming from the west, for the French packet steamers 
 had arrived as usual. But it had only too soon 
 been shown that the east had its share of accidents. 
 Not one of the packet steamers from Holland, Bel- 
 gium, Germany, Denmark, or Scandinavia succeeded 
 in escaping this mysterious sweep of death. 
 
 As the telegraph kept on adding information to 
 information, people began to sift out facts that 
 tended to comfort. One thing soon became fairly 
 plain : there were no deaths reported in America at 
 all, either on land or on sea. From the continent 
 
 (1,106) 12 
 
1 78 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 of Europe there was not a single death reported 
 outside of France and Spain. Yet, by an exas- 
 peratingly inexplicable contradiction, the only packet 
 steamers that had come in safely were those from 
 France and Spain. It looked almost as if the 
 scourge were acting intelligently, and working on 
 the law of compensation. 
 
 "Warnings had been sent to all the ports of the 
 world to suspend the sailings of vessels till more 
 should be known about this strange business. These 
 warnings were, of course, immediately attended to 
 on the Continent, so there seemed every prospect 
 that the loss of life from that direction would 
 soon cease. Unfortunately, the Atlantic vessels were 
 beyond the reach of communication, and thousands 
 of men were sailing and steaming all unconsciously 
 to their death. Wild schemes were suggested of 
 sending out tugboats and other small craft to 
 warn approaching vessels. But clearly it would 
 be necessary to find out, in the first place, what to 
 warn them against. 
 
 There is no doubt that for the British there was 
 compensation in the reports that filtered through 
 from France, in spite of all the authorities there 
 could do to maintain secrecy. While not a man 
 
THE LINES OF DE iTH. 179 
 
 on British soil had perished, there had been a 
 terrible mortality across the Channel. Rumours 
 of a great military disaster in France spread with 
 a persistency that almost demanded belief. And 
 yet how could there be a military disaster where 
 there was no enemy and no hostilities ? In the 
 midst of this rather pleasant state of suspense re- 
 garding the doings of our enemies, the alarming 
 news was sprung upon us that the French Channel 
 Squadron, that had so mysteriously eluded the atten- 
 tions of our fleet, had been sighted in the North 
 Sea, a few leagues from Aberdeen. The wildest 
 excitement prevailed throughout the country. There 
 had been at the beginning of the war scare a general 
 belief that the French descent would be made in 
 Scotland ; but more recent developments had made it 
 so plain that our enemy would not care to operate 
 so far from his base, that the Scotch theory had 
 been abandoned. There was now feverish activity 
 in making our usual "too late" preparations. The 
 newspapers, forgetting that the whole question had 
 been fully discussed in their own columns, and the 
 theory of a Scotch invasion dismissed as chimerical, 
 at once rounded on the government for not foresee- 
 ing this move of the enemy. 
 
i8o THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 In some respects the prospect of immediate action 
 with the enemy was a positive relief. Men's minds 
 had been too much exercised with things beyond 
 their comprehension and control. The French were 
 at least real, and could be fought, if not beaten. 
 To be sure it appeared strange that they should 
 attack us at the very moment that their capital 
 was in panic, and without any formal declaration 
 of war. But some of our papers pointed out that 
 we were being attacked precisely because their 
 capital was in a state of panic. It was necessary 
 to take the attention of the Parisians off their own 
 troubles if France was to be saved. Some ingenious 
 persons, indeed, hazarded the theory that the news 
 of deaths from France was false, and had been 
 issued only to lull us into fancied security, while 
 the grand descent was being prepared against Scot- 
 land. Unfortunately, the corpses that were hourly 
 being brought in from helpless vessels were merci- 
 lessly real, and our knowledge of the French panic 
 was not entirely derived from hostile sources. 
 
 In the midst of our feverish preparations for 
 the French, there came a startling piece of news 
 that reduced everything to order once more. The 
 French fleet was certainly lying off Aberdeen, but 
 
THE LINES OF DEATH. i8i 
 
 it was now manned by British seamen. How it 
 had happened no one, of course, could say. All that 
 was known was that some of our smaller vessels, 
 having: observed that the French ironclads were all 
 out of drill, and that they were behaving in the 
 most extraordinary fashion, had hit upon the truth. 
 This sudden death had somehow seized the whole 
 French squadron. Thus it came about that H.M.S. 
 Bottlenose — a cockleshell of a thing that hardly 
 looked big enough to serve as captain's gig to the 
 smallest of the French ironclads — as being the only 
 representative of the British navy on the spot, took 
 possession of the whole French squadron. 
 
 To balance this piece of good news, there came 
 a terrible tale of death from our own fleet — this 
 time, however, accompanied by something in the 
 way of an explanation. Our own Channel Squad- 
 ron, that had been keeping an eye on the French 
 flotilla at Cherbourg, had been ordered off" at once 
 to the North Sea to oppose the French landing. 
 They had passed through the Strait of Dover, 
 and were keeping well out to sea for their north- 
 ward run, when the leading vessels were observed 
 to behave curiously. The first two vessels sailed 
 majestically on, but the third began signalling 
 
i82 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 vigorously, stopping short, however, in the middle 
 of the signal, and gradually stopping her progress 
 altogether. The fourth vessel also slowed down, 
 and signalled the others to bring to. This signal 
 also was not completed. But by this time the fleet 
 had realized that something had happened, and 
 brought to in some confusion. None of the ad- 
 vance vessels paid any attention to the signals 
 asking for explanations. The two first vessels, 
 indeed, sailed straight on, regardless of the impera- 
 tive messages sent from their consorts behind. The 
 second two — those that had signalled — had now 
 stopped, but were lying anyhow, just as wind and 
 tide decided. 
 
 Already a suspicion of what had happened had 
 come to the chief ofiicer left on the remainder of 
 the fleet. He gave orders that no vessel was to 
 change her place till further orders. Then he 
 ordered a boat to be lowered, and told the young 
 officer in command of it to row as sloiuly as 
 possible towards the helpless vessels. The young 
 fellow guessed what was in store for him. He 
 knew that he was being sent to his death ; but 
 he took his place quietly, and determined that he 
 would come back if caution could save him and 
 
THE LINES OF DEATH. 183 
 
 his men. Besides, unless he came back his mission 
 would have been a failure, for nothing would have 
 been learned. 
 
 But this young officer, at least, was not called 
 upon to sacrifice his life. He had hardly started 
 when a signal from his ship directed his attention 
 to the vessels he was sent to board. One of them 
 was clearly seen to be moving towards him in a 
 sort of sideways fashion. The explanation after- 
 wards offered — and no doubt it is the true one — 
 was that the officer on the bridge, observing the 
 confusion caused by the sudden signalling of the 
 preceding vessel, had signalled the engineers first 
 to slow and then to reverse, and that this order 
 had been carried out before the end came for all 
 on board. 
 
 Here, at last, the death fiend had been caught 
 at work red-handed. Putting himself in the way 
 of the slowly-steaming vessel, the officer was able 
 to board her along with his men, among whom 
 was an engineer, who had been told off for just 
 such duty as now fell to his hand. 
 
 What everybody had expected was found to be 
 the case. Not a living soul was left on board. 
 Every man had simply fallen down as he had 
 
1 84 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 stood. When the young officer had reported what 
 he had found, the admiral called a council, at which 
 it was resolved to send forward one of the smaller 
 vessels of the fleet at the slowest pace possible, 
 and with full steam up, ready to reverse the 
 engines at full speed the moment any change took 
 place in the atmospheric or other conditions. 
 
 While the report of these occurrences was being 
 prepared, it was noted that the disaster seemed 
 to have taken place almost exactly on the second 
 meridian east of Greenwich. At this point one of 
 the council suggested that it was quite possible 
 that the second meridian might be the line of 
 death, and that there might be a corresponding 
 line to the west of Great Britain. This quite 
 fitted in with what was known of the happenings 
 in France, and in Spain too. The more it was 
 considered, the more probable it became. It quite 
 explained how the French packets still ran with 
 impunity, while the other Continental packets had 
 suffered so severely. 
 
 In view of this theory, the plans of the admiral 
 changed. Instead of the comparatively small ship, 
 they chose the biggest line-of-battle ship at their 
 disposal, and arranged to steam at a snail's pace 
 
THE LINES OF DEATH. 185 
 
 towards the second meridian. It was proposed to 
 keep all the men abaft of the engines, and to 
 have some animals in an open cage placed at the 
 very bow, so that if anything happened to them, 
 the oflScers would at once note it, and stop the 
 vessel. 
 
 The experiment was entirely successful. The nau- 
 tical instruments were so accurate that there was 
 no difficulty in determining the precise moment at 
 which the ship reached the meridian. To make 
 quite sure that the death of the animals should 
 be easily determined by sight, it was arranged that 
 the cage should contain two troublesome dogs, the 
 galley cat (only the second best one was given up 
 by the third cook), and three or four fowls. As 
 might have been expected, there was considerable 
 stir in the cage, as the battle-ship steamed forward 
 at almost no rate at all. Indeed, some of the 
 younger officers were inclined to wager that the 
 queer thanatomometer, as the ship's surgeon had 
 named the cage, would be useless for its purpose 
 by the time the second meridian was reached. But 
 the " Kilkenny cats " theory was not allowed time to 
 justify itself. There was still a sufficient activity 
 displayed within the cage, accompanied by a corre- 
 
1 86 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 spending din, when, without a moment's notice, 
 all the combatants laid themselves peacefully down 
 on the bottom of the cage, and the bell imperiously 
 sic^nalled to reverse the enorines. There was a mo- 
 ment of suspense before the vessel answered to the 
 new impetus. But no accident occurred. The ad- 
 miral was convinced that the true limits of the 
 disaster had now been determined, though what the 
 cause of the disaster was remained as obscure as 
 ever. 
 
 What had happened to the French fleet proved 
 conclusively that the trouble did not originate in 
 any arrangements of the French. Indeed, by the 
 time the British admiral's report had reached London, 
 it was found to have been anticipated by a report 
 from Paris itself. By bitter experience the truth 
 had been thrust upon the French authorities. A 
 mere glance at the map showed that the scenes of 
 death — except from railway accidents which resulted 
 from the previous death of all in the train — were 
 all to be found exactly in the same north and south 
 line. Had it not been for the fact that French longi- 
 tude begins from Paris, it would have been guessed 
 sooner that all the places were on the same meridian. 
 But two degrees east longitude from Greenwich is 
 
THE LINES OF DEATH. 187 
 
 represented by a fraction of a degree of French 
 longitude west. It was easy to guess at an exact 
 figure like two, but there seemed no reason to sup- 
 pose a fractional meridian to be a line of death. 
 
 The discovery was made at last, all the same, 
 and a terrible effect it had upon France. Here was 
 their country split up into two parts, separated from 
 each other by a line, to cross which was death. 
 Most of the French army was supposed to be in 
 the western portion; but, in the confusion and 
 horror resulting from the discovery of this partition 
 of the country, it leaked out that the massing of 
 troops at Cherbourg was largely a blind. There 
 had to be a great gathering of troops there, it is 
 true; but the purpose had been to make a mere 
 feint of invading Britain, while all the best troops 
 were really to be at the proper time sent down to 
 Marseilles to make a sudden and irresistible descent 
 upon Egypt. Now, as a matter of fact, three-fourths 
 of the French army lay to the west of the line of 
 death, while three-fourths of the food and stores 
 lay to the east. At first this was thought to be 
 fatal; but it was soon pointed out that the stores 
 could be easily sent by train, as if nothing had 
 happened. All that was required was to entrain 
 
i88 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 the stuff and carry it to within a few hundred 
 yards (or feet, for that matter, for the line of 
 death seemed very rigidly drawn), and send the 
 locomotive along at a slow rate without any driver, 
 so that a new driver could pick it up on the other 
 side. 
 
 Naturally there was a wild outcry in France 
 against treacherous England. Many a time before 
 had she proved treacherous, they said ; but this 
 time she had outdone herself, and had reached the 
 climax of all possible treachery. What covld, be 
 more treacherous than to spoil such an elegant 
 plan for the seizure of Egypt and a direct attack 
 upon India ? The plan was brilliant in the highest 
 degree, and would have succeeded completely had 
 not those treacherous Englishmen struck this under- 
 hand blow. 
 
 Then the contemptible way that the Bottlenose had 
 captured the whole French squadron — before war had 
 been declared, too ! And now the whole Russian fleet, 
 that had proposed to bombard London without taking 
 the trouble to land, was helplessly shut up in the 
 Baltic. 
 
 In Britain the main anxiety was now to determine 
 the western meridian of death. It was felt to be a 
 
THE LINES OF DEATH. 189 
 
 dangerous plan to send a vessel with the rude thana- 
 tomometer that the admiral had used, without know- 
 ing ahoui where the diflSculty was likely to arise. 
 
 While people were still in doubt what to do, a 
 message from New Zealand threw some light on the 
 subject — rather a lurid light, it is true, but still a 
 light. It appeared that similar deaths had taken 
 place in Otago ; and when minute inquiries had been 
 wired out as to the exact longitude, it was returned as 
 169° east longitude in each case that had been re- 
 ported. Our scientific men at once came to the con- 
 clusion that the lines of death were great circles — 
 that is, they were not confined to one side of the 
 globe, but went right round it, having the centre of 
 the globe for their centre. Now, 169° east longitude 
 corresponds with 11° west longitude, so our scientific 
 men confidently predicted that the western line of 
 death from the British Islands would be found to 
 be the eleventh meridian. 
 
 The test was applied, and, as before, with perfect 
 success. The result of this discovery was a wild 
 hurry of wiring to every port in the world, warning 
 vessels against passing certain meridians. The western 
 meridian corresponding to 2° east is 178° west. Up 
 till now no report of death had come from that 
 
I90 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 meridian ; but this was to be expected, since that 
 meridian passes over a part of the earth's surface that 
 is almost entirely covered with water. It was for 
 that reason all the more dangerous for us, whose ship- 
 ping covers most of the globe. 
 
 It was now generally admitted that the world 
 was divided into four sections — two large and two 
 small — and that none of these sections could have 
 any personal dealings with the others. Most of 
 Europe and Africa, and practically the whole of Asia, 
 made up one of the large portions ; all America — 
 North and South — made up the other ; while the two 
 small portions were made up by the British Isles, 
 half of France, most of Spain, and a portion of 
 Western Africa in the one, and the greater portion of 
 New Zealand and a tiny scrap of North-Eastern Asia 
 in the other. If Britain had arranged this isolation, 
 it looked as if she might have arranged it better. 
 No doubt it had served the purpose of completely 
 breaking up all the French plans. But then Kussia 
 was now left with an absolutely free hand to work 
 her will in India, while we could send no help. Then, 
 again, our own supplies were in danger. We have 
 never been without cheerful philosophers who tell us 
 exactly how long we can live on our own resources in 
 
THE LINES OF DEATH. 191 
 
 the way of food-stufFs. Now we appeared to be placed 
 for the first time in a position in which we would 
 require to put these calculations to the test. 
 
 It was wonderful how soon the nation settled 
 down into its new limitations — that is, as a whole. 
 There were many individuals who could not be com- 
 forted when they thought that never again could they 
 look upon the face of their friends ; but with private 
 feelings we cannot here deal. The public question 
 was, what was to be done. 
 
 With the usual desire to find a scapegoat, the 
 public seemed anxious for a change of government. 
 It was quietly assumed that, in some way or other, 
 we had been responsible for this change in the condi- 
 tion of the world. The mere fact that the lines of 
 death ran along British meridians was in itself enough 
 to make Britons think they had a right to blame their 
 government. The War Office vigorously protested 
 that it had nothing whatever to do with the objection- 
 able limitations laid on the world's communications ; 
 but no one seemed to believe them. Something had 
 to be done at once to allay popular excitement. 
 
 A Commission of Inquiry was the most natural 
 thing. But it must not be a common commission. 
 It must have full powers, and it must exercise these 
 
192 
 
 THE LINES OF DEATH. 
 
 powers at once. It was accordingly resolved that a 
 Commission be appointed, consisting of twelve of the 
 most important men in the kingdom, in the depart- 
 ments of war, medicine, and science ; and this Com- 
 mission was to have practically unlimited powers for 
 a week. At the end of that time they were to report 
 their doings to the Cabinet, and, if things permitted, 
 to the country itself. 
 
 There was no great eagerness to serve on this 
 Commission. Everybody knew that the Commission 
 would have to bear the whole blame, if it was found 
 impossible to stem the tide of disaster ; and every- 
 body had a shrewd idea that its work would not be 
 easy. There was one man, however, who was very 
 eager to be appointed. This was the Minister of 
 War. For reasons best known to himself, he almost 
 insisted on having his name included; and as there 
 was no objection taken to him, no difficulty arose. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 AS soon as the Commission was established there 
 l\ was a meeting held, and at that meeting the 
 Minister of War mentioned that he had a very im- 
 portant statement to make, which he had not thought 
 it prudent to make to the public at large. It was 
 mainly in order that this statement might have its 
 full weight, without unduly exciting the public mind, 
 that he had so eagerly desired to be a member of 
 this Commission. 
 
 A certain event had occurred some little time 
 before — an event to which he had attached no im- 
 portance at the time. A man had come to make an 
 offer at the War Office. It was only one of a score 
 of somewhat similar offers he had had within as 
 many days. Yet, in the light of what had since 
 transpired, he could no longer regard this special offer 
 as anything but of the most vital consequence. 
 
 (1.106) 13 
 
194 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 The minister's apologetic attitude astonished all his 
 friends, who were little accustomed to find him any- 
 thing but brusque and almost unapproachable. He 
 had become unusually long-winded, too. In short, 
 the whole Commission was thoroughly irritated with 
 him before he came to the actual point, which, how- 
 ever, was so very important as to make all forget the 
 previous prosing. The important part of what he 
 said was (and as soon as he reached this point he 
 ceased to be long-winded) : — 
 
 " In short, this man Welligham came to me with a 
 proposal to pen up either the French, or the Russians, 
 or both, within any meridians I might choose. He 
 could arrange, he maintained, that it would be death 
 for any living creature to cross whichever meridians 
 he operated upon. I ask you, gentlemen, if, three 
 weeks ago, a man had made such a proposal to any of 
 you, how would you have treated him ? Would you 
 not have done exactly as I did ? I took his name 
 and address, and promised that I would look into the 
 matter. You know what that means, and, to tell 
 the whole truth, so did he. He merely told me that 
 I would repent of my conduct, gave me, as he put it, 
 another chance, and then went away. You see I have 
 hidden nothing from you. Clearly, as things have 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES. 195 
 
 turned out, I have done wrong ; but I do not think 
 that any man who knows anything about the absurd 
 plans that are constantly being submitted to the War 
 Office will blame me." 
 
 All the same, the minister looked somewhat anx- 
 iously round the council table to see how his colleagues 
 would take his confession. For a few moments 
 nothing was said. As a matter of fact, almost all the 
 members felt slightly indignant with the minister, 
 yet they all felt that his defence was perfect. Three 
 weeks ago each of them would have treated Wellig- 
 ham in exactly the same way. 
 
 To break the awkward silence, the chairman of the 
 Commission asked what reward the man had claimed 
 for his proposed services. The minister replied that 
 this question brought out another of the reasons for 
 believing that the man was somewhat deranged. His 
 demand had been fifty thousand pounds down, and 
 the sole right to import certain excessively rare 
 chemicals into this country — chemicals on which no 
 duty is charged, and, indeed, of the existence of which 
 not only the imperial customs but even the imperial 
 ministers are ignorant. 
 
 The next question was, Who is this Welligham ? 
 To this question also the minister had prepared a 
 
196 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 reply. He had clearly seen what sort of examination 
 lay before him when he confessed his blunder, and 
 had made praiseworthy efforts to meet the natural 
 curiosity of the commissioners. He was therefore 
 able to give a fairly satisfactory reply. 
 
 " So far as I have been able to learn, since these 
 events have driven me to attach some importance to 
 the man, he is a man of some scientific attainments — 
 formerly professor in our new London University, 
 indeed. From this post he resigned, because he said 
 he had not time to spare from his private investiga- 
 tions ; but it is hinted that he was disgusted by the 
 scepticism of his colleagues, who maintained that he 
 was little better than a quack. In fact, I take some 
 little comfort from the knowledge that his fellow- 
 savants were as far mistaken about him as I have 
 been. At a certain comparatively recent meeting of 
 the Royal Society he read a paper which involved 
 quite a revolution in the correlation of certain fluid 
 forces; but his paper was received with something 
 very like not too carefully veiled contempt." 
 
 After this statement, naturally Welligham was very 
 much wanted by the Commission, and wanted at once. 
 It looked almost as if they had now the key of the 
 whole position, and that if they could only interview 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES. 197 
 
 m 
 
 this queer scientist, they might get out their report 
 immediately, and make it a very important and prac- 
 tical report too. 
 
 While messengers were sent for Welligham, the 
 Commission proceeded to examine Fred and the doc- 
 tors, from whom they hoped to get some important 
 information. Their information was certainly very 
 important, but not very helpful. The disappearance 
 of Welligham spoiled everything. Fred and Booster- 
 beg were examined till they were thoroughly tired, 
 but they could tell nothing more than we already 
 know, except that Fred could assure the Commission 
 that this meridian machine was not the one on which 
 Welligham was busy at the time he disappeared. The 
 machine that Welligham thought most of was a little 
 one that had to do with men's wills, not with their 
 bodies. At this the Commission, priding themselves 
 on having a little common sense left, were only irri- 
 tated, and told Fred to keep to the point. 
 
 The ring round Fred's neck was naturally of more 
 interest. A report was submitted from two eminent 
 mineralogical chemists, stating that, so far as their 
 very limited opportunities of examining the ring per- 
 mitted them to judge, it was made of a material, 
 probably a metal, quite outwith the list of chemical 
 
igS FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 elements at present known to science. They felt 
 very sore on the subject of not being allowed to 
 examine the ring by means of acids, and fire, and 
 other things that chemists are fond of. But the 
 doctors had been firm. This ring had apparently 
 brought Fred through a line which had wrought death 
 on all else, except the part of Boosterbeg that was 
 left alive. An ornament that could accomplish such 
 things must be preserved intact, irrespective of the 
 wishes of two curious though distinguished scientists. 
 
 The Commission determined forthwith to experi- 
 ment with Fred and the ring. It was proposed to 
 send him again through the line of death, to see if he 
 would again survive. Then were to follow certain 
 carefully regulated experiments, in which he was to 
 carry through various animals, at various distances 
 from his gold collar. Remembering some remarks of 
 Welligham, Fred felt pretty certain that the lines of 
 death would not prove fatal against the necklet. He 
 was accordingly quite prepared to be experimented 
 upon. 
 
 As soon as Fred was dismissed, an attendant ap- 
 proached the chairman and reported that two doctors 
 — Forrester and Centrepoint — wished to give what 
 they considered evidence of the most important char- 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES, 199 
 
 acter. Happily Centrepoint's name was suflBcient to 
 guarantee admission, though it is probable that any- 
 one coming with evidence at that time would have 
 been admitted, so anxious were the commissioners to 
 get at the truth. 
 
 Forrester now gave a full statement of what we 
 know already, but he went on to tell what had 
 followed. Centrepoint had certainly been at the 
 'post mortem^ but it had been held only that morning, 
 and only on one corpse. It was explained that the 
 difficulty had been to get a corpse to hold the post 
 mortem on. Several attempts had been made to 
 remove the bodies, but each had resulted in either 
 the death or disablement of the person making the 
 attempt. 
 
 The subject of the jpost mortem was not any of the 
 victims that we have already heard of, but a rash 
 young policeman who had attempted to pull out his 
 fellow-constable from among the little heap in that 
 fatal room. He had fallen backwards, and had been 
 pulled away from the deadly machine without doing 
 harm to any one else. 
 
 The coroner's verdict was " accidental death," 
 which, while it exonerated everybody from any wilful 
 share in his death, left the cause an open question. 
 
200 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 At this point the nerve specialist gave his evidence, 
 which was to the effect that he had had a chance of 
 examining several cases of death by the prevailing 
 scourge, and he was convinced that this death by the 
 Warpinger's Lane machine was of exactly the same 
 nature. The only abnormal feature in both cases 
 was a peculiar and unnatural striation of the nerve- 
 fibres. 
 
 The chairman of the Commission wanted to know 
 why a careful examination of the machine had not 
 been made. The reply was that no one could ap- 
 proach it without danger to his life. The house had 
 been locked up, and was carefully guarded outside ; 
 though, as Centrepoint grimly indicated, there was no 
 great desire to enter it now. 
 
 A member of Commission here remarked that if 
 Fred Gurleigh was proof against the general scourge, 
 he ought to be free to examine this machine with 
 impunity. The suggestion was received with great 
 favour. A messenger was hurriedly sent to recall 
 Fred, and the Commission appointed Centrepoint, 
 Brandwin, and Forrester to make a complete ex- 
 amination of the Warpinger's Lane machine, with the 
 help of Fred Gurleigh. They received full powers 
 to open any house or arrest any person — to do any- 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES, 201 
 
 thing, in short, that would help to throw light upon 
 this terrible subject. Meanwhile the Commission 
 rose, tired and hungry, with orders to resume its 
 sitting next morning to receive the doctors' report. 
 
 There had been little difficulty in finding Fred; 
 and the four, followed by a cabful of constables, had 
 proceeded at once to Warpinger's Lane. When Fred 
 had heard the story, he wanted to know why the 
 police had not caught the burglars. He was in- 
 formed that they had been all duly caught, and were 
 now bemoaning their various woes in the proper 
 place. 
 
 " Did they tell what had happened to them ? " 
 
 They had told the essential parts of their story, 
 but they were much confused about the share the 
 machine had in what happened. 
 
 Both Centrepoint and Forrester were convinced 
 that they were not telling all they knew, but it was 
 impossible to make them tell any more. 
 
 At Warpinger's Lane there was no difficulty in 
 getting in. The policemen on guard looked with 
 mingled pity and respect at the unfortunate gentle- 
 men whose duty took them within the fatal chamber. 
 
 On entering, Forrester had a feeling of proprietor- 
 ship as he led his companions along the, to him. 
 
202 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 well-known passage. He felt that it was to some 
 extent his machine, and he was inclined to begin a 
 little speech ; but as he looked at Fred his speech 
 died on his lips. It was a horrible thought that in 
 a few moments a fellow-creature was to perform an 
 experiment the result of which might be immediate 
 death. It all depended on a mere hypothesis. If 
 this machine had any connection with the widespread 
 death, then probably Fred would be unhurt ; but if 
 not, there would be an additional unit on that ghastly 
 heap in a second or two. Fred was not in too happy 
 a frame of mind himself. Life had become well 
 worth living of late. But he had the courage to 
 show none of his disagreeable reflections. He walked 
 straight over to the heap of victims, and touched one 
 after the other. 
 
 Nothing whatever happened. 
 
 He then turned his attention to the machine itself. 
 He had no difficulty in recognizing it as the big 
 machine that had formerly stood in Welligham's 
 laboratory. When he had proclaimed this fact to his 
 companions there was joy on every face. First they 
 were honestly glad that Fred was not dead, and next 
 they were delighted that there seemed here a clue to 
 the solution of the whole mystery. They felt that if 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES. 203 
 
 they could get at the management of this machine, 
 they were on the fair way to regulate this awful 
 force that threatened to split up the world for all 
 time. 
 
 They had brought brilliant electric lamps with 
 them, so that the machine was now subjected to a 
 careful scrutiny that brought to light a feature that 
 had hitherto escaped such superficial observation as 
 the terrible power of the machine had allowed to be 
 spent upon it. A globe of about seven feet in 
 diameter could be dimly seen in the centre of the 
 complicated arms and cranks and chains that sur- 
 rounded it. 
 
 This discovery rather startled all four. Now they 
 felt themselves to be on the very threshold of the 
 discovery. In a few moments Fred was able to 
 report that the globe was a terrestrial one, with the 
 usual seas and countries painted on it. 
 
 " Look carefully into it, and see if there is nothing 
 special about the second meridian east and the 
 eleventh west," advised Brandwin. 
 
 Fred was a little irritated at this order. It was 
 hard enough to make out the globe as a whole, but 
 to make out details of this kind behind all those 
 brass spines seemed to be a sheer impossibility. 
 
204 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 However, he persevered ; and, by twisting himself into 
 various kinds of knots, he at last was able to announce 
 with triumph that he had discovered several pointers 
 like the hands of a clock, and that two of these were 
 moved out from among the others, and were pointing, 
 as nearly as he could judge, the one at 2° east, the 
 other at 11° west. 
 
 " Then where are the other pointers ? " asked 
 Brandwin. 
 
 " They are all bunched together one over the 
 other. Oh, by-the-bye, I see that the other pointers 
 are not joined to the brass rod that runs right 
 through the globe." 
 
 " In other words," replied Brandwin, " they are not 
 yet connected like the first two with the source of 
 force, whatever that may be." 
 
 " The pointers bend down from the north pole," 
 reported Fred, continuing his examination, " bending 
 to the shape of the globe. I think, if I had a stick 
 of some sort, I could turn them round to any meridian 
 I like." 
 
 " I wouldn't try, if I were you," replied a dry voice 
 from the doorway immediately behind the constables 
 that stood at the door of the room ; " I really 
 wouldn't. There would be this trifling result, that 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES. 205 
 
 every meridian you passed the pointer over would 
 become for the moment a line of death, and I need 
 hardly point out that a moment of death is sufficient 
 to satisfy most of us." 
 
 None of the others had any idea who the new- 
 comer was ; but Fred had no difficulty in recognizing 
 him, in spite of the change for the worse. He was 
 clearly that Blaise Frisaine that Welligham had so 
 greatly feared. His face was haggard and unshaven. 
 His white moustache no longer bristled in its former 
 military defiance, but hung limply down at the ends. 
 There was an anxious, not to say furtive, expression 
 in the once bold eyes. Things had evidently gone 
 amiss with Blaise Frisaine. 
 
 "You appear to know something about this 
 terrible machine," interpolated Brandwin. " You do 
 not happen to be Professor Welligham by any 
 chance ? " 
 
 " I have not that honour," replied Frisaine grimly. 
 " It would indeed be dearly bought at the price of 
 the sad derangement that has taken place in his 
 cerebral elements." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " cried Fred, jealous for the 
 honour of his master. 
 
 " Come and see," was the cold reply. 
 
2o6 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 He led the doctors and Fred, closely followed by 
 the policemen whom Brandwin had called in, back 
 along the passage to the first door to the right of the 
 entrance from the landing. 
 
 " If you care to open that door you will find Pro- 
 fessor Welligham inside. He is always at home there 
 to his friends — and enemies." 
 
 On entering they saw nothing remarkable, and 
 were inclined to be severe with Frisaine, who on 
 his part was very calm, and contented himself with 
 pointing out by a nod a large wardrobe in the corner. 
 In answer to his look, one of the constables went for- 
 ward and opened the wardrobe, only to fall back in 
 unconcealed horror. 
 
 Huddled up in a corner was the body of a man 
 whom they all assumed to be Welligham. In the 
 case of this body there was no question about the 
 cause of death. The hole in the cranium was only 
 too plain and horrible. 
 
 " A pitiful ending for such a brain, Mr. Gurleigh," 
 remarked Frisaine callously, "to be scattered about 
 in this promiscuous way. Ah, Welligham's brain is 
 sadly out of place on this banal waxcloth." 
 
 As he spoke he tapped the dead head gently with 
 his foot. 
 
FRISAINE ADVISES, 207 
 
 " How dare you touch him with your foot ? " 
 demanded Fred hotly. 
 
 "I have my reasons, my friend," was the grim 
 reply. 
 
 " You know how this murder was committed ? " 
 interrupted Brandwin severely. 
 
 " I have not that advantage," was the cool reply. 
 "I found him in his present state in the room next 
 to this. I removed him here to be out of the 
 way. My faith ! I had no desire to interfere with 
 his much - needed rest. Ah, his was an active 
 brain!" 
 
 " You know either too much or too little, sir," 
 growled Brandwin, a good deal annoyed at this fel- 
 low's imperturbability. " In any case, you will be 
 good enough to accompany us to headquarters." 
 
 " With pleasure ; but you will pardon me, I am 
 sure, for reminding you that it is essential that this 
 machine should not be left lying unprotected. Not 
 that it cannot take care of itself when it comes to 
 close quarters," he added, with a sinister smile ; " but 
 the danger to the world at large is that something 
 might be done to the machine as a whole." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean that this toy is a serious menace to 
 
2o8 FRISAINE ADVISES. 
 
 Europe as it stands. Any interference with it may — 
 Bah ! it is no affair of mine." 
 
 " You'll tell us more of this at headquarters," 
 answered Brandwin unpleasantly, as he gave three of 
 the constables orders to take Frisaine along with 
 them into a four-wheeler, and drive to the Central 
 Station, where they were to await further orders. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 AS soon as he reached headquarters again, Brand- 
 ^ win proceeded to examine Frisaine in presence 
 of a shorthand writer, so that all his evidence might 
 be put upon record for the consideration of the Com- 
 mission next morning. Frisaine made no objection ; 
 but Centrepoint, after a careful look at the witness, 
 suggested that he should be allowed an opportunity 
 of attending to his toilet. Brandwin felt a little 
 ashamed of having overlooked the claims of humanity 
 in his eagerness to get at the truth. He apologized 
 to Frisaine, and blamed the excitement of the past 
 few hours for the neglect. Frisaine's reply rather 
 startled them all. 
 
 " As I have had no food for a couple of days, I 
 shall be glad to eat a little, if you will depute one of 
 your men to feed me." 
 
 (1,106) 14 
 
2IO THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART, 
 
 "Feed you!" gasped Brand win, in bitter disappoint- 
 ment. He had hoped for such important information 
 from this witness, and now it seemed to be a case of 
 pure imbecility. 
 
 " Yes. You see I have had the misfortune to inter- 
 fere with a machine that I did not understand. I 
 have paid for my folly by the loss of all power over 
 my arms." 
 
 All turned their attention to the professor's arms, 
 and were astonished that they had not before noticed 
 how peculiarly they hung. Under ordinary circum- 
 stances the discovery would have been made at once. 
 Only the prevailing excitement had kept all eyes 
 blind. 
 
 The three doctors took Frisaine into a private 
 room and attended to him themselves. His symptoms 
 were exactly those of the unfortunate Dick and of 
 Forrester himself. After everything had been done 
 for the witness that food and drink and fresh water 
 could accomplish, he was again brought into the room 
 where the shorthand writer waited. 
 
 His statement was clear and pointed. He had been 
 for long a rival of Wellighara. They had been work- 
 ing on parallel lines — at least Frisaine had thought 
 they were parallel ; he had changed his mind on that 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 211 
 
 point since. He had tried several times to get access 
 to Welligham's notes, but had been only partially- 
 successful. (All this he said in a matter-of-fact way, 
 as if he were telling the most natural thing in the 
 world. He had none of the air of making a con- 
 fession.) Welligham had made the mistake of 
 trying to escape from Frisaine's observation by a 
 midnight removal from Kussell Square to Warpinger's 
 Lane. 
 
 " As if it were possible to escape my surveillance. 
 Why, two of the men who assisted at the removal 
 of the apparatus were in my employment," remarked 
 Frisaine with some complacency. 
 
 By means of his spies Frisaine had discovered 
 everything that Welligham had done, and knew to 
 the minutest detail the contents of every parcel that 
 was delivered at Warpinger's Lane. Things were 
 going just as Frisaine desired, when the murder of 
 Welligham had upset all his plans. 
 
 " Why, I was under the impression that you had 
 murdered him," interposed the candid Brandwin. 
 
 " Ah, a natural but erroneous inference. The time 
 for that had not come. It was emphatically prema- 
 ture. The man had not completed his work — at 
 least I then thought he had not." 
 
212 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 " Am I to infer, then, that after he had completed 
 his work you would have — " 
 
 " Is not this a little irrelevant ? " inquired Frisaine, 
 without showing the least feeling at the innuendo. 
 
 " Go on," was the curt reply. 
 
 " When I was informed of the blunder these ruflSans 
 had made in thinking to make profit out of the plun- 
 der of a laboratory, I at once went to Welligham's 
 place, to see if any serious harm had been done. Un- 
 fortunately, my spy had been insuflSciently informed. 
 The two vital points escaped him altogether. First, 
 he did not know that Welligham was dead ; in the 
 next place, he did not give me any hint of what had 
 happened to the thieves. Had my man been worthy 
 of his reputation, I would not be here to-day." 
 
 "Do you mean that you would have escaped to 
 France ? " 
 
 " I mean that it would have been worth my while 
 to continue the fight. Life is not so interesting to 
 me since I carelessly examined that machine. But, 
 after all, I need not blame my man for going wrong 
 where I myself was at fault. I thought I understood 
 Welligham's plans, and it turns out that we have 
 been working on totally different lines. I thought 
 he was only approaching the completion of this 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 213 
 
 machine that has cost me so dear, while it appears 
 that he has had it completed for years, and had laid 
 it aside till an occasion should arise for using it." 
 
 " Then why was he so afraid of your finding out 
 what he was working at ? " 
 
 " It seems that his work of late has been on some 
 sort of fantastical machine for obtaining a physical 
 force that will control the wills of others. All the 
 chemicals he had been using were for this purpose, 
 and, as you may imagine, all my attempts to apply 
 his chemicals to the machine I was working at only 
 led me farther astray." 
 
 " Am I to understand, then, that you have a machine 
 something like this dangerous one in Warpinger's 
 Lane ? " 
 
 This question was the first that produced any 
 effect upon Frisaine. He appeared to feel the humili- 
 ation of confessing that he wanted to make such a 
 machine, but had hitherto failed, for the reasons he 
 had just stated, to produce what he wanted. 
 
 " You understand, to some extent at least, the use 
 of this machine, then ? " persisted Brandwin. 
 
 " I know the general idea of the machine, but there 
 is very much about it that I do not understand. I 
 know how it works as it stands, but I do not know 
 
214 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 how to generate the power upon which its value 
 depends, nor how to form the necessary connections." 
 
 " Would you mind giving us some idea of how the 
 thing works ? " 
 
 The professor's account was clear enough, I sup- 
 pose ; but it was terribly long-winded, and bristled 
 with dictionary-compelling words. The sum of it 
 was that the brass axis of the model globe in the 
 machine was parallel to the real axis of the earth, 
 and was therefore able to distribute by induction 
 a force that Welligham had named 'panergon. This 
 force exists in enormous abundance, stored up in the 
 cohesive forces that keep the molecules of all matter 
 from falling apart from one another. A comparatively 
 small initial force could, by parallelism, develop an 
 enormous inductive charge. Up till now Frisaine 
 had not been able to discover how to raise this initial 
 charge, but it appeared that Welligham had been 
 more fortunate. Stored up in that machine was 
 sufficient panergon to destroy all the life on the 
 globe. 
 
 " How does this panergon act ? " asked Brandwin. 
 
 " As you see," replied Frisaine, glancing suggestively 
 at his helpless arms. 
 
 " But why are you and the burglars not dead, like 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 215 
 
 those in the Laurentia, if the force is the same in 
 both cases ? " 
 
 " That I think I can explain. The force acts only 
 on the part submitted to its influence. Since those 
 in the vessel passed entirely through the plane of 
 panergic influence that has been established on the 
 two meridians at which the pointers stand, every 
 living creature on board came under its influence 
 portion by portion, and therefore totally perished ; 
 whereas, in the case of those who approached too near 
 this machine, there was no danger save when any 
 part of the body came within the plane of the corre- 
 sponding meridians of the model, and that within a 
 sufficiently small distance to experience the eflects of 
 the direct influence of panergon. In short, my mis- 
 fortune is the result of the panergon actually stored 
 in that globe. The greater disasters are the work of the 
 enormous force of panergon let loose by induction." 
 
 " When you knew all this about the machine, how 
 does it come about that you yourself received this 
 injury ? " demanded Brand win. 
 
 " As I told you, I was not aware that the machine 
 was in working order. Further, I did not know 
 quite so much about the machine till I had ex- 
 amined it." 
 
2i6 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 " By the way," put in Centrepoint, " how did you 
 contrive to get into the house at Warpinger's Lane 
 to examine the machine ? The place was guarded by 
 policemen, I understand." 
 
 " I have been in that accursed place all the time — 
 that is, I came in just before the policemen were 
 placed on duty, and have remained there till your 
 coming showed me the possibility of still greater 
 calamities following from the careless examination 
 of the machine. I had thought that perhaps I might 
 hit upon some way of working out an advantage to 
 France from the machine; but my ignorance of the 
 source of the force, and the loss of my arms, made me 
 give up the attempt." 
 
 " What is to be done now ? " 
 
 Frisaine shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Have you any advice to offer ? I understand 
 that you do not wish to involve the world in any 
 greater calamity." 
 
 " One piece of advice I have already given : do 
 not tamper with the machine. Especially do not 
 try to move the pointers. This will merely result 
 in the rotation of the plane of death round the earth's 
 axis through just as many degrees as are contained 
 in the arc through which the pointers are turned." 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 217 
 
 "How would it do," asked Forrester practically, 
 " if we were to blow up the whole thing ? " 
 
 " I should say that it would result in the immediate 
 and painless death of every living creature within a 
 radius of six hundred miles at least. If the area of 
 destruction had been somewhat smaller, I do not know 
 but that I would have already tried the experiment. 
 Unfortunately, the actual radius would include too 
 many of my friends for me to encourage the blowing- 
 up process." 
 
 " But if it is the machine that causes the trouble, 
 how could the trouble still arise when the machine is 
 in a million atoms ? " 
 
 " The purpose of the machine is not to generate 
 the force, but merely to distribute it — that is, to 
 apply it at the places where it is required. By 
 destroying the machine you would only set free the 
 amount of panergon stored up in it. This panergon 
 would therefore work its will from the centre out- 
 wards, as far as its power was sufficient to act at all. 
 That distance I calculate to be about six hundred 
 miles. Oh, I assure you, gentlemen, that if there 
 had been any chance of saving France without — 
 'm — without saving England, I should not have 
 appeared so opportunely to warn you against your 
 
2i8 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 rash interference with this charming Machine Wel- 
 ligham." 
 
 Nothing more was to be got out of Frisaine ; but 
 the Commission next morning thought that quite 
 enough had been discovered to keep it very busy 
 for some time. The element of mystery had, no 
 doubt, disappeared from the case, but only to have 
 its place taken by the most distressing uncertainty 
 about how to act. It was a new sensation to know 
 that in the middle of London there existed a sort 
 of bomb that at any moment, for all they knew to 
 the contrary, might go off in innocent silence, with 
 the result that a circle of twelve hundred miles' 
 diameter would be at once filled with corpses. It 
 was unanimously agreed that the matter was to be 
 kept perfectly secret. The nation was excited enough 
 already ; it would go mad if this new development 
 w^ere made public. 
 
 Thus it came about that Henryson, Tally, and 
 Dick, contrary to all the rights that the Habeas 
 Corpus Act confers upon British subjects, even those 
 of doubtful professions, were denied the privilege of 
 a fair trial. At the private inquiry at which they 
 were examined, the truth had come out. Dick and 
 Tally rounded on Henryson, who had struck the fatal 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 219 
 
 blow. They all protested that they had had no in- 
 tention of injuring the old counterfeiter, as they re- 
 garded Welligham. He had been so savage, however, 
 that they had been forced to give him a little tap on 
 the head to soothe him. While they were busy at 
 work, the effect of the blow evidently passed away, 
 and the old man had sprung at the machine, and had 
 done something to it, before they could get at him. 
 They could not say exactly what he had done to the 
 machine. All they knew was that he appeared to be 
 greatly pleased at what he had done. Henryson had 
 then given the final tap at the old man's head. After 
 dragging the body into the room where Frisaine 
 found it, they had returned to the machine, expecting 
 to find there the money and precious metals they 
 were searching for. What they got we know. 
 
 The Commission decided that, in the meantime, 
 the three should be kept in solitary confinement. 
 There was plenty of time to deal with them by- 
 and-by. Frisaine, too, being a Frenchman, had no 
 claim on the rights of Habeas Corpus, so the Com- 
 mission had small compunction in keeping him in 
 luxurious though solitary confinement. 
 
 The activity of the Commission did not end here. 
 The whole of the tenement in Warpinger's Lane was 
 
2 20 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 acquired for the nation — that is, the proprietor re- 
 ceived half as much again as his property was worth — 
 and the poor tenants had to clear out at a day's notice. 
 This was hard, but there could be no dallying with 
 an instrument like that on the top flat. From the 
 fact that not a word of complaint was ever heard 
 from the poor tenants thus ruthlessly turned into the 
 street, it is only reasonable to guess that the Com- 
 mission wisely used the power they had of spending 
 money. Any price was cheap for the safety of that 
 terrible machine. 
 
 Many ingenious expedients were suggested by 
 various members of the Commission. Of these the 
 most practicable was to deport the whole machine 
 to the middle of the Pacific, and there sink it to the 
 bottom, accompanied by an enormous overcharge of 
 various kinds of explosives, supplied with the neces- 
 sary machines to explode the whole at such a time 
 as would give the vessel a start of more than six 
 hundred miles from the spot where the machine was 
 sunk. Naturally, it would be necessary to give 
 warning of what was about to be done, so that for 
 a certain length of time no vessel should approach 
 within the danger circle of six hundred miles' radius. 
 It was felt, indeed, that it would be safer to make 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 221 
 
 the circle a thousand miles' radius, so as to be quite 
 sure. Before this could be carried into effect, of 
 course, the people would require to be informed of 
 the whole circumstances. But it was proposed that 
 the secret should not be divulged till the vessel with 
 the machine on board had already left Britain, and 
 was beyond range. 
 
 This plan was less outrageous than at first sight it 
 might seem ; for it was known that the machine had 
 been once at least removed from one part of London 
 to another without doing any damage to any one. It 
 is true that it might not have been charged at the 
 time. But it was felt that something must be risked. 
 
 Frisaine, however, pointed out that the machine 
 had been previously taken asunder, at its last re- 
 moval, and therefore nothing could be argued from 
 that. Further, the change of position of the machine 
 would involve a change of the direction of the axis, 
 and what the effect of that change might be Frisaine 
 was not prepared to say. 
 
 This was discouraging; but some comfort was 
 found in the advice of one of the members of Com- 
 mission, who happened to be a large consumer of 
 electricity. His experience was, he said, that the 
 main difficulty with these new-fangled forces was 
 
222 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART, 
 
 not to get rid of them, but to keep them. His belief 
 was that if they had patience, and did not go hunting 
 up more of this panergon, they would find that the 
 machine would in a very short time become exhausted, 
 and the lines of death would quietly die out. 
 
 When he was asked what he considered a "short 
 time," he declined to say. They knew English as well 
 as he. 
 
 His advice was received with a good deal of 
 favour : the advice to let things go on as they are 
 always does find favour. The more active members, 
 however, would not consent to this purely negative 
 line of action. 
 
 It was in the spirit of compromise that another 
 member suggested that they might wait for the 
 exhaustion of the machine, as his friend had sufj- 
 gested, but that in the meantime they might devote 
 their attention to the discovery of the nature and 
 properties of the ring, that seemed to have been 
 instrumental in saving the life of Mr. Gurleigh. If 
 each of the inhabitants of these islands were provided 
 with a similar ring, all danger for us would disappear, 
 while the danger would remain for France and all 
 our enemies abroad. In fact, these rings, if prop- 
 erly used, might be made to secure our commercial 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 223 
 
 supremacy in such a way that the lines of death 
 would turn out to be a great advantage to us in 
 our struggles against foreign competition. 
 
 The practical outcome of the deliberations of the 
 Commission was that several of the best chemical 
 mineralogists of the country were appointed to do all 
 that they could to produce a facsimile of Fred's ring. 
 This order was coupled with the former restriction 
 that the pattern ring was not to be in any way 
 tampered with. Its value was now regarded as even 
 greater than before, since so much depended on 
 having at least one man able to deal with this 
 dangerous machine, and, if need be, form a personal 
 connecting link with the rest of the world. 
 
 Further, Fred was ordered to examine the machine 
 as carefully as possible, and to report specially on the 
 possibilities of lifting and conveying it. He was 
 bound over, by every solemnity the commissioners 
 could think of, to do nothing in the way of actually 
 touching the machine till he received instructions 
 from the whole Commission. 
 
 All these precautions proved unnecessary. Some- 
 thing happened that completely changed the whole 
 aspect of affairs. Though the world was now split 
 up in this perplexing way, many of the ordinary 
 
2 24 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 routine affairs of life went on as if nothing had 
 happened. Among these the penny post was the 
 most conspicuous. We know that Fred had left the 
 United States by an earlier boat than he had in- 
 tended. Had he waited for the boat he had agreed 
 to come by, he would have received a letter that had 
 been addressed to him by Welligham on board the S.S. 
 Appalachian which vessel belonged to the same line 
 as the Laurentia. The Appalachia was picked up 
 off the Irish coast in the same state as the Laurentia. 
 In her mail-bags was found the letter addressed to 
 Fred. It was sent in due course to the shipping 
 office in London, where Fred's private address was 
 known, and thus in process of very little time the 
 letter reached Fred himself. 
 
 For reasons of state, this letter never became 
 public property ; but it is divulging no state secret 
 to mention that it contained a notice of Welligham's 
 change of address, necessitated by Frisaine's increased 
 activity. But, further, it contained (in the ingenious 
 cipher invented by Welligham, and known only to 
 Welligham and Fred) a full and intelligible description 
 of the machine, and how to use it. Full directions 
 were also given for the manufacture of the charge 
 for the machine, which turned out to be not panergon 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 225 
 
 at all, but a much simpler and more workable sub- 
 stance. 
 
 Welligham had had an idea that an attempt was 
 about to be made on his life, and was anxious that 
 his secret should be in the hands of some one who 
 would see to it that Britain and not France should 
 profit by it. 
 
 Welligham was wrong in supposing that Frisaine 
 had any immediate intentions on his life. He was 
 even more astray in his fear that the Frenchman 
 would discover the secret of the new will-machine. 
 The two were working at totally different things. 
 "What Welligham held to be of vital importance was 
 a theory that Frisaine did not trouble his head about ; 
 while the theory that Frisaine was trying to work 
 out had been reduced to practice by Welligham for 
 several years. The important thing was that Frisaine 
 had been misled by interpreting some of Welligham's 
 results as referring to the older theory, while they 
 really referred to the newer. This mistake so com- 
 pletely threw Frisaine off the right track that he 
 had spent years of fruitless toil in a direction in 
 which there never had been any chance of success. 
 Had he contented himself with using his own clever 
 brains, without employing unfair means, the chances 
 
 (1,106) 15 
 
226 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 are that he would have hit upon the true theory for 
 himself. 
 
 When Fred had translated the letter into plain 
 English he communicated it to Brandwin, who told 
 the commissioners that he now understood how to 
 work the machine, but suggested that the secret of 
 the machine should not be communicated to even the 
 Commission, lest it might possibly leak out. It was 
 far too dangerous a secret to let the world into. The 
 Commission were not too well pleased with this pro- 
 posal, but they compromised matters by referring the 
 whole matter to the Cabinet. Their work was, in 
 fact, finished. They had found out how the machine 
 worked. It was said to be so easily managed that, 
 as the advertisements say, " a child could work it." 
 All the same, it was suggested by the Commission 
 that Fred should be the first to proceed to the work. 
 It was safer that way. 
 
 The Cabinet acted promptly. A wire was sent 
 over to France that the lines of death were about 
 to be lifted, and suggesting that experiments should 
 be made there to verify the removal at a certain hour. 
 
 Fred accordingly proceeded to Warpinger's Lane, 
 where he scrupulously carried out all Welligham's 
 instructions. It was a little disappointing to find 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 227 
 
 that nothing whatever happened in the room where 
 the machme was ; but the telegrams that came pour- 
 ing into the government offices a few minutes later 
 more than made up for the lack of effect on the spot. 
 France went wild with delight at being once more a 
 united nation. It is true that their delight was 
 tempered by anger at the sufferings they had under- 
 gone, for which Britain was clearly to blame. Al- 
 ready plans for vengeance were forming in the minds 
 of the more bitter among them, when a message from 
 the British government roused the wildest indignation 
 throughout France. It was a plain demand to disarm. 
 The Frenchmen could not believe their senses. It 
 seemed to them such a combination of impudence and 
 absurdity that they did not know whether to be con- 
 temptuous or indignant. They soon made up their 
 minds to be neither. They learned that the same 
 command — for it amounted to nothing else — had 
 been given to all the cabinets and councils of the 
 world. The message ran that all armies must be 
 disbanded, leaving only enough trained men under 
 arms to serve for the effective police supervision of 
 the countries. Forty-eight hours were given for assent 
 to be received. Those nations that refused would be 
 at once isolated by lines of death. It was stated that 
 
228 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 as the presence of these lines would involve great 
 danger to life, due notice would be given of the exact 
 date at which they would be laid down. In case any 
 nation became actively hostile towards another, the 
 penalty would be that the attacking nation would 
 have lines of death drawn through every ten miles 
 of it, thus paralyzing not only war but commerce. 
 
 The unanimous protest of the world against this 
 high-handed proceeding of Britain, and the World 
 Meeting that afterwards followed at London, are mere 
 matters of history. But it is necessary for us to tell 
 how Fred fared in what followed. 
 
 He is now in his own person not only the British 
 army but the French, German, Kussian, and all the 
 other armies of the world rolled into one. He is, 
 in fact, all the army that there is anywhere. He 
 represents physical force. It is true that there are 
 appointed along with him three old gentlemen, who 
 have been told how the machine works, and how the 
 force is generated. When one of the old men dies 
 he is to be succeeded by another, who is then to be 
 told the secret of the machine and the force. There 
 will thus be always four persons who know how to 
 work the machine, and only four. Indeed, after 
 Fred dies there are to be only three. The office of 
 
THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 229 
 
 keeper of the great machine has already become 
 perhaps the most honourable in the world, and must 
 always be committed only to the best and most 
 honourable men in the British Empire. 
 
 Fred, however, does the practical part of the work 
 in the meantime. This consists in keeping the 
 machine in good repair, and ready for service. It 
 is thought to be safer that this work should be in 
 the hands of the man who wears that ring; for the 
 mineralogists have made nothing of their attempts to 
 make another ring, and, to tell the truth, the British 
 are in no special hurry to have the secret of the ring 
 discovered, and have, in fact, forbidden all further 
 examination of the ring. 
 
 The treatment of Frisaine is not perhaps exactly 
 fair. He is kept a close prisoner. Naturally, he is 
 well provided with everything that he can desire — 
 everything except freedom. He writes a very great 
 deal, and it appears to be more than likely that he 
 really understands more about this wonderful force 
 than even the keepers of the machine. It is for 
 this reason that he must be kept a close prisoner. 
 Many people, indeed, recommend the strong measure 
 of putting him to death, as a standing menace to the 
 empire; but, at his age, he cannot last long now, 
 
230 THE MACHINE PLAYS A NEW PART. 
 
 and it is not in keepnig with British notions to 
 purchase safety at such a price. Yet, since he was 
 found one day with the full use of his arms, and was 
 able to restore the use of Forrester's arm, it was felt 
 that he could not be trusted with liberty. He has 
 already cured all the cases of partial disablement that 
 have been brought before his notice from France and 
 Spain. Some people even hint that he could go 
 farther, and revive those who have lost their lives 
 altogether ; but no one encourages this speculation, 
 as it has a terribly unsettling tendency. 
 
 Frisaine is not encouraged to find an antidote to 
 this wonderful machine that has banished the possi- 
 bility of war from the earth. Naturally, all other 
 nations have not quite this view. Indeed, at the 
 great World Meeting at which universal disarmament 
 was decided upon, it was very plausibly argued that 
 the safety of the world and the maintenance of law 
 and order would be better intrusted to a committee 
 of representatives from all the nations of the earth ; 
 but our rulers refused, on the ground that they knew 
 of no place where law and order were safer than 
 under the Union Jack. 
 
 THE END. 
 

 
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