THE MOON METAL

By Garrett P. Serviss

CONTENTS

 I. SOUTH POLAR GOLD

 II. THE MAGICIAN OF SCIENCE

 III. THE GRAND TETON MINE

 IV. THE WEALTH OF THE WORLD

 V. WONDERS OF THE NEW METAL

 VI. A STRANGE DISCOVERY

 VII. A MYSTERY INDEED!

VIII. MORE OF DR. SYX'S MAGIC

 IX. THE DETECTIVE OF SCIENCE

 X. THE TOP OF THE GRAND TETON

 XI. STRANGE FATE OF A KITE

 XII. BETTER THAN ALCHEMY

XIII. THE LOOTING OF THE MOON

 XIV. THE LAST OF DR. SYX

THE MOON METAL

I

SOUTH POLAR GOLD

When the news came of the discovery of gold at the south pole, nobodysuspected that the beginning had been reached of a new era in theworld's history. The newsboys cried "Extra!" as they had done athousand times for murders, battles, fires, and Wall Street panics, but nobody was excited. In fact, the reports at first seemed soexaggerated and improbable that hardly anybody believed a word ofthem. Who could have been expected to credit a despatch, forwarded bycable from New Zealand, and signed by an unknown name, which containedsuch a statement as this:

"A seam of gold which can be cut with a knife has been found withinten miles of the south pole. "

The discovery of the pole itself had been announced three yearsbefore, and several scientific parties were known to be exploring theremarkable continent that surrounds it. But while they had sent homemany highly interesting reports, there had been nothing to suggest thepossibility of such an amazing discovery as that which was nowannounced. Accordingly, most sensible people looked upon the NewZealand despatch as a hoax. 

But within a week, and from a different source, flashed anotherdespatch which more than confirmed the first. It declared that goldexisted near the south pole in practically unlimited quantity. Somegeologists said this accounted for the greater depth of the AntarcticOcean. It had always been noticed that the southern hemisphereappeared to be a little overweighted. People now began to prick uptheir ears, and many letters of inquiry appeared in the newspapersconcerning the wonderful tidings from the south. Some asked forinformation about the shortest route to the new goldfields. 

In a little while several additional reports came, some via NewZealand, others via South America, and all confirming in every respectwhat had been sent before. Then a New York newspaper sent a swiftsteamer to the Antarctic, and when this enterprising journal publisheda four-page cable describing the discoveries in detail, all doubtvanished and the rush began. 

Some time I may undertake a description of the wild scenes thatoccurred when, at last, the inhabitants of the northern hemispherewere convinced that boundless stores of gold existed in the unclaimedand uninhabited wastes surrounding the south pole. But at present Ihave something more wonderful to relate. 

Let me briefly depict the situation. 

For many years silver had been absent from the coinage of theworld. Its increasing abundance rendered it unsuitable for money, especially when contrasted with gold. The "silver craze, " which hadraged in the closing decade of the nineteenth century, was already aforgotten incident of financial history. The gold standard had becomeuniversal, and business all over the earth had adjusted itself to thatcondition. The wheels of industry ran smoothly, and there seemed to beno possibility of any disturbance or interruption. The common monetarysystem prevailing in every land fostered trade and facilitated theexchange of products. Travellers never had to bother their heads aboutthe currency of money; any coin that passed in New York would pass forits face value in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Cairo, Khartoum, Jerusalem, Peking, or Yeddo. It wasindeed the "Golden Age, " and the world had never been so free fromfinancial storms. 

Upon this peaceful scene the south polar gold discoveries burst likean unheralded tempest. 

I happened to be in the company of a famous bank president when theconfirmation of those discoveries suddenly filled the streets withyelling newsboys. "Get me one of those 'extras'!" he said, and anoffice-boy ran out to obey him. As he perused the sheet his facedarkened. 

"I'm afraid it's too true, " he said, at length. "Yes, there seems tobe no getting around it. Gold is going to be as plentiful as iron. Ifthere were not such a flood of it, we might manage, but when theybegin to make trousers buttons out of the same metal that is nowlocked and guarded in steel vaults, where will be our standard ofworth? My dear fellow, " he continued, impulsively laying his hand onmy arm, "I would as willingly face the end of the world as this that'scoming!"

"You think it so bad, then?" I asked. "But most people will not agreewith you. They will regard it as very good news. "

"How can it be good?" he burst out. "What have we got to take theplace of gold? Can we go back to the age of barter? Can we substitutecattle-pens and wheat-bins for the strong boxes of the Treasury? Cancommerce exist with no common measure of exchange?"

"It does indeed look serious, " I assented. 

"Serious! I tell you, it is the deluge!"

Thereat he clapped on his hat and hurried across the street to theoffice of another celebrated banker. 

His premonitions of disaster turned out to be but too well grounded. The deposits of gold at the south pole were richer than the wildestreports had represented them. The shipments of the precious metal toAmerica and Europe soon became enormous--so enormous that the metalwas no longer precious. The price of gold dropped like a fallingstone, with accelerated velocity, and within a year every money centrein the world had been swept by a panic. Gold was more common thaniron. Every government was compelled to demonetize it, for when oncegold had fallen into contempt it was less valuable in the eyes of thepublic than stamped paper. For once the world had thoroughly learnedthe lesson that too much of a good thing is worse than none of it. 

Then somebody found a new use for gold by inventing a process by whichit could be hardened and tempered, assuming a wonderful toughness andelasticity without losing its non-corrosive property, and in this formit rapidly took the place of steel. 

In the mean time every effort was made to bolster up credit. Endlesswere the attempts to find a substitute for gold. The chemists soughtit in their laboratories and the mineralogists in the mountains anddeserts. Platinum might have served, but it, too, had become a drug inthe market through the discovery of immense deposits. Out of thetwenty odd elements which had been rarer and more valuable than gold, such as uranium, gallium, etc. , not one was found to answer thepurpose. In short, it was evident that since both gold and silver hadbecome too abundant to serve any longer for a money standard, theplanet held no metal suitable to take their place. 

The entire monetary system of the world must be readjusted, but in thereadjustment it was certain to fall to pieces. In fact, it had alreadyfallen to pieces; the only recourse was to paper money, but whetherthis was based upon agriculture or mining or manufacture, it gavevarying standards, not only among the different nations, but insuccessive years in the same country. Exports and imports practicallyceased. Credit was discredited, commerce perished, and the world, at abound, seemed to have gone back, financially and industrially, to thedark ages. 

One final effort was made. A great financial congress was assembled atNew York. Representatives of all the nations took part in it. Theablest financiers of Europe and America united the efforts of theirgenius and the results of their experience to solve the greatproblem. The various governments all solemnly stipulated to abide bythe decision of the congress. 

But, after spending months in hard but fruitless labor, that body wasno nearer the end of its undertaking than when it first assembled. Theentire world awaited its decision with bated breath, and yet thedecision was not formed. 

At this paralyzing crisis a most unexpected event suddenly opened theway. 

II

THE MAGICIAN OF SCIENCE

An attendant entered the room where the perplexed financiers were insession and presented a peculiar-looking card to the president, Mr. Boon. The president took the card in his hand and instantly fellinto a brown study. So complete was his absorption that Herr Finster, the celebrated Berlin banker, who had been addressing the chair forthe last two hours from the opposite end of the long table, gotconfused, entirely lost track of his verb, and suddenly dropped intohis seat, very red in the face and wearing a most injured expression. 

But President Boon paid no attention except to the singular card, which he continued to turn over and over, balancing it on his fingersand holding it now at arm's-length and then near his nose, with oneeye squinted as if he were trying to look through a hole in the card. 

At length this odd conduct of the presiding officer drew all eyes uponthe card, and then everybody shared the interest of Mr. Boon. In shapeand size the card was not extraordinary, but it was composed ofmetal. What metal? That question had immediately arisen in Mr. Boon'smind when the card came into his hand, and now it exercised the witsof all the others. Plainly it was not tin, brass, copper, bronze, silver, aluminum--although its lightness might have suggested thatmetal--nor even base gold. 

The president, although a skilled metallurgist, confessed hisinability to say what it was. So intent had he become in examining thecurious bit of metal that he forgot it was a visitor's card ofintroduction, and did not even look for the name which it presumablybore. 

As he held the card up to get a better light upon it a stray sunbeamfrom the window fell across the metal and instantly it bloomed withexquisite colors! The president's chair being in the darker end ofthe room, the radiant card suffused the atmosphere about him with afaint rose tint, playing with surprising liveliness into alternatecanary color and violet. 

The effect upon the company of clear-headed financiers was extremelyremarkable. The unknown metal appeared to exercise a kind of mesmericinfluence, its soft hues blending together in a chromatic harmonywhich captivated the sense of vision as the ears are charmed by aperfectly rendered song. Gradually all gathered in an eager grouparound the president's chair. 

"What can it be?" was repeated from lip to lip. 

"Did you ever see anything like it?" asked Mr. Boon for the twentiethtime. 

None of them had ever seen the like of it. A spell fell upon theassemblage. For five minutes no one spoke, while Mr. Boon continued tochase the flickering sunbeam with the wonderful card. Suddenly thesilence was broken by a voice which had a touch of awe in it:

"It must be the metal!"

The speaker was an English financier, First Lord of the Treasury, Hon. James Hampton-Jones, K. C. B. Immediately everybody echoed hisremark, and the strain being thus relieved, the spell dropped fromthem and several laughed loudly over their momentary aberration. 

President Boon recollected himself, and, coloring slightly, placed thecard flat on the table, in order more clearly to see the name. Inplain red letters it stood forth with such surprising distinctnessthat Mr. Boon wondered why he had so long overlooked it. 

 "DR. MAX SYX. "

"Tell the gentleman to come in, " said the president, and thereupon theattendant threw open the door. 

The owner of the mysterious card fixed every eye as he entered. He wasseveral inches more than six feet in height. His complexion was verydark, his eyes were intensely black, bright, and deep-set, hiseyebrows were bushy and up-curled at the ends, his sable hair wasclose-trimmed, and his ears were narrow, pointed at the top, andprominent. He wore black mustaches, covering only half the width ofhis lip and drawn into projecting needles on each side, while a spikedblack beard adorned the middle of his chin. 

He smiled as he stepped confidently forward, with a courtly bow, butit was a very disconcerting smile, because it more than half resembleda sneer. This uncommon person did not wait to be addressed. 

"I have come to solve your problem, " he said, facing President Boon, who had swung round on his pivoted chair. 

"The metal!" exclaimed everybody in a breath, and with a unanimity andexcitement which would have astonished them if they had beenspectators instead of actors of the scene. The tall stranger bowed andsmiled again:

"Just so, " he said. "What do you think of it?"

"It is beautiful!"

Again the reply came from every mouth simultaneously, and again if thespeakers could have been listeners they would have wondered not onlyat their earnestness, but at their words, for why should theyinstantly and unanimously pronounce that beautiful which they had noteven seen? But every man knew he had seen it, for instinctively theirminds reverted to the card and recognized in it the metal referredto. The mesmeric spell seemed once more to fall upon the assemblage, for the financiers noticed nothing remarkable in the next act of thestranger, which was to take a chair, uninvited, at the table, and themoment he sat down he became the presiding officer as naturally as ifhe had just been elected to that post. They all waited for him tospeak, and when he opened his mouth they listened with breathlessattention. 

His words were of the best English, but there was some peculiarity, which they had already noticed, either in his voice or his manner ofenunciation, which struck all of the listeners as denoting aforeigner. But none of them could satisfactorily place him. Neitherthe Americans, the Englishmen, the Germans, the Frenchmen, theRussians, the Austrians, the Italians, the Spaniards, the Turks, theJapanese, or the Chinese at the board could decide to what race ornationality the stranger belonged. 

"This metal, " he began, taking the card from Mr. Boon's hand, "I havediscovered and named. I call it 'artemisium. ' I can produce it, in thepure form, abundantly enough to replace gold, giving it the samerelative value that gold possessed when it was the universalstandard. "

As Dr. Syx spoke he snapped the card with his thumb-nail and itfluttered with quivering hues like a humming-bird hovering over aflower. He seemed to await a reply, and President Boon asked:

"What guarantee can you give that the supply would be adequate andcontinuous?"

"I will conduct a committee of this congress to my mine in the RockyMountains, where, in anticipation of the event, I have accumulatedenough refined artemisium to provide every civilized land with anamount of coin equivalent to that which it formerly held in gold. Ican there satisfy you of my ability to maintain the production. "

"But how do we know that this metal of yours will answer the purpose?"

"Try it, " was the laconic reply. 

"There is another difficulty, " pursued the president. "People will notaccept a new metal in place of gold unless they are convinced that itpossesses equal intrinsic value. They must first become familiar withit, and it must be abundant enough and desirable enough to be usedsparingly in the arts, just as gold was. "

"I have provided for all that, " said the stranger, with one of hisdisconcerting smiles. "I assure you that there will be no trouble withthe people. They will be only too eager to get and to use themetal. Let me show you. "

He stepped to the door and immediately returned with two blackattendants bearing a large tray filled with articles shaped from thesame metal as that of which the card was composed. The financiers alljumped to their feet with exclamations of surprise and admiration, andgathered around the tray, whose dazzling contents lighted up thecorner of the room where it had been placed as if the moon wereshining there. 

There were elegantly formed vases, adorned with artistic figures, embossed and incised, and glowing with delicate colors which shimmeredin tiny waves with the slightest motion of the tray. Cups, pins, finger-rings, earrings, watch-chains, combs, studs, lockets, medals, tableware, models of coins--in brief, almost every article in thefabrication of which precious metals have been employed was to be seenthere in profusion, and all composed of the strange new metal whicheverybody on the spot declared was far more splendid than gold. 

"Do you think it will answer?" asked Dr. Syx. 

"We do, " was the unanimous reply. 

All then resumed their seats at the table, the tray with itsmagnificent array having been placed in the centre of the board. Thisdisplay had a remarkable influence. Confidence awoke in the breasts ofthe financiers. The dark clouds that had oppressed them rolled off, and the prospect grew decidedly brighter. 

"What terms do you demand?" at length asked Mr. Boon, cheerfullyrubbing his hands. 

"I must have military protection for my mine and reducing works, "replied Dr. Syx. "Then I shall ask the return of one per cent, on thecirculating medium, together with the privilege of disposing of acertain amount of the metal--to be limited by agreement--to the publicfor use in the arts. Of the proceeds of this sale I will pay ten percent. To the government in consideration of its protection. "

"But, " exclaimed President Boon, "that will make you the richest manwho ever lived!"

"Undoubtedly, " was the reply. 

"Why, " added Mr. Boon, opening his eyes wider as the facts continuedto dawn upon him, "you will become the financial dictator of the wholeearth!"

"Undoubtedly, " again responded Dr. Syx, unmoved. "That is what Ipurpose to become. My discovery entitles me to no less. But, remember, I place myself under government inspection and restriction. I shouldnot be allowed to flood the market, even if I were disposed to doso. But my own interest would restrain me. It is to my advantage thatartemisium, once adopted, shall remain stable in value. "

A shadow of doubt suddenly crossed the president's face. 

"Suppose your secret is discovered, " he said. "Surely your mine willnot remain the only one. If you, in so short a time, have been able toaccumulate an immense quantity of the new metal, it must be extremelyabundant. Others will discover it, and then where shall we be?"

While Mr. Boon uttered these words, those who were watching Dr. Syx(as the president was not) resembled persons whose startled eyes arefixed upon a wild beast preparing to spring. As Mr. Boon ceasedspeaking he turned towards the visitor, and instantly his lips fellapart and his face paled. 

Dr. Syx had drawn himself up to his full stature, and his featureswere distorted with that peculiar mocking smile which had now returnedwith a concentrated expression of mingled self-confidence and disdain. 

"Will you have relief, or not?" he asked in a dry, hard voice. "Whatcan you do? I alone possess the secret which can restore industry andcommerce. If you reject my offer, do you think a second one willcome?"

President Boon found voice to reply, stammeringly:

"I did not mean to suggest a rejection of the offer. I only wished toinquire if you thought it probable that there would be no repetitionof what occurred after gold was found at the south pole?"

"The earth may be full of my metal, " returned Dr. Syx, almostfiercely, "but so long as I alone possess the knowledge how to extractit, is it of any more worth than common dirt? But come, " he added, after a pause and softening his manner, "I have other schemes. Willyou, as representatives of the leading nations, undertake theintroduction of artemisium as a substitute for gold, or will you not?"

"Can we not have time for deliberation?" asked President Boon. 

"Yes, one hour. Within that time I shall return to learn yourdecision, " replied Dr. Syx, rising and preparing to depart. "I leavethese things, " pointing to the tray, "in your keeping, and, "significantly, "I trust your decision will be a wise one. "

His curious smile again curved his lips and shot the ends of hismustache upward, and the influence of that smile remained in the roomwhen he had closed the door behind him. The financiers gazed at oneanother for several minutes in silence, then they turned towards thecoruscating metal that filled the tray. 

III

THE GRAND TETON MINE

Away on the western border of Wyoming, in the all but inaccessibleheart of the Rocky Mountains, three mighty brothers, "The Big Tetons, "look perpendicularly into the blue eye of Jenny's Lake, lying at thebottom of the profound depression among the mountains called Jackson'sHole. Bracing against one another for support, these remarkable peakslift their granite spires from 12, 000 to nearly 14, 000 feet into theblue dome that arches the crest of the continent. Their sides, andespecially those of their chief, the Grand Teton, are streaked withglaciers, which shine like silver trappings when the morning sun comesup above the wilderness of mountains stretching away eastward from thehole. 

When the first white men penetrated this wonderful region, and one ofthem bestowed his wife's name upon Jenny's Lake, they were intimidatedby the Grand Teton. It made their flesh creep, accustomed though theywere to rough scrambling among mountain gorges and on the brows ofimmense precipices, when they glanced up the face of the peak, wherethe cliffs fall, one below another, in a series of breathlessdescents, and imagined themselves clinging for dear life to thoseskyey battlements. 

But when, in 1872, Messrs. Stevenson and Langford finally reached thetop of the Grand Teton--the only successful members of a party of ninepractised climbers who had started together from the bottom--theyfound there a little rectangular enclosure, made by piling up rocks, six or seven feet across and three feet in height, bearing evidencesof great age, and indicating that the red Indians had, for someunknown purpose, resorted to the summit of this tremendous peak longbefore the white men invaded their mountains. Yet neither the Indiansnor the whites ever really conquered the Teton, for above the highestpoint that they attained rises a granite buttress, whose smoothvertical sides seemed to them to defy everything but wings. 

Winding across the sage-covered floor of Jackson's Hole runs theShoshone, or Snake River, which takes its rise from Jackson's Lake atthe northern end of the basin, and then, as if shrinking from thethreatening brows of the Tetons, whose fall would block its progress, makes a detour of one hundred miles around the buttressed heights ofthe range before it finds a clear way across Idaho, and so on to theColumbia River and the Pacific Ocean. 

On a July morning, about a month after the visit of Dr. Max Syx to theassembled financiers in New York, a party of twenty horsemen, following a mountain-trail, arrived on the eastern margin of Jackson'sHole, and pausing upon a commanding eminence, with exclamations ofwonder, glanced across the great depression, where lay the shiningcoils of the Snake River, at the towering forms of the Tetons, whoseice-striped cliffs flashed lightnings in the sunshine. Even theimpassive broncos that the party rode lifted their heads inquiringly, and snorted as if in equine astonishment at the magnificent spectacle. 

One familiar with the place would have noticed something, which, tohis mind, would have seemed more surprising than the pageantry of themountains in their morning sun-bath. Curling above one of the wildgorges that cut the lower slopes of the Tetons was a thick blacksmoke, which, when lifted by a passing breeze, obscured the precipiceshalf-way to the summit of the peak. 

Had the Grand Teton become a volcano? Certainly no hunting orexploring party could make a smoke like that. But a word from theleader of the party of horsemen explained the mystery. 

"There is my mill, and the mine is underneath it. "

The speaker was Dr. Syx, and his companions were members of thefinancial congress. When he quitted their presence in New York, withthe promise to return within an hour for their reply, he had no doubtin his own mind what that reply would be. He knew they would accepthis proposition, and they did. No time was then lost in communicatingwith the various governments, and arrangements were quickly perfectedwhereby, in case the inspection of Dr. Syx's mine and its resourcesproved satisfactory, America and Europe should unite in adopting thenew metal as the basis of their coinage. As soon as this stage in thenegotiations was reached, it only remained to send a committee offinanciers and metallurgists, in company with Dr. Syx, to the RockyMountains. They started under the doctor's guidance, completing thelast stage of their journey on horseback. 

"An inspection of the records at Washington, " Dr. Syx continued, addressing the horsemen, "will show that I have filed a claim coveringten acres of ground around the mouth of my mine. This was done as soonas I had discovered the metal. The filing of the claim and thesubsequent proceedings which perfected my ownership attracted noattention, because everybody was thinking of the south pole and itsgold-fields. "

The party gathered closer around Dr. Syx and listened to his wordswith silent attention, while their horses rubbed noses and jingledtheir gold-mounted trappings. 

"As soon as I had legally protected myself, " he continued, "I employeda force of men, transported my machinery and material across themountains, erected my furnaces, and opened the mine. I was safe fromintrusion, and even from idle curiosity, for the reason I have justmentioned. In fact, so exclusive was the attraction of the newgold-fields that I had difficulty in obtaining workmen, and finally Isent to Africa and engaged negroes, whom I placed in charge oftrustworthy foremen. Accordingly, with half a dozen exceptions, youwill see only black men at the mine. "

"And with their aid you have mined enough metal to supply the mints ofthe world?" asked President Boon. 

"Exactly so, " was the reply. "But I no longer employ the large forcewhich I needed at first. "

"How much metal have you on hand? I am aware that you have alreadyanswered this question during our preliminary negotiations, but I askit again for the benefit of some members of our party who were notpresent then. "

"I shall show you to-day, " said Dr. Syx, with his curious smile, "2500tons of refined artemisium, stacked in rock-cut vaults under the GrandTeton. "

"And you have dared to collect such inconceivable wealth in oneplace?"

"You forget that it is not wealth until the people have learned tovalue it, and the governments have put their stamp upon it. "

"True, but how did you arrive at the proper moment?"

"Easily. I first ascertained that before the Antarctic discoveries theworld contained altogether about 16, 000 tons of gold, valued at$450, 000 per ton, or $7, 200, 000, 000 worth all told. Now my metalweighs, bulk for bulk, one-quarter as much as gold. It might bereckoned at the same intrinsic value per ton, but I have considered itpreferable to take advantage of the smaller weight of the new metal, which permits us to make coins of the same size as the old ones, butonly one-quarter as heavy, by giving to artemisium four times thevalue per ton that gold had. Thus only 4000 tons of the new metal arerequired to supply the place of the 16, 000 tons of gold. The 2500 tonswhich I already have on hand are more than enough for coinage. Therest I can supply as fast as needed. "

The party did not wait for further explanations. They were eager tosee the wonderful mine and the store of treasure. Spurs were applied, and they galloped down the steep trail, forded the Snake River, and, skirting the shore of Jenny's Lake, soon found themselves gazing upthe headlong slopes and dizzy parapets of the Grand Teton. Dr. Syx ledthem by a steep ascent to the mouth of the canyon, above one of whosewalls stood his mill, and where the "Champ! Champ!" of a powerfulengine saluted their ears. 

IV

THE WEALTH OF THE WORLD

An electric light shot its penetrating rays into a gallery cut throughvirgin rock and running straight towards the heart of the Teton. Thecentre of the gallery was occupied by a narrow railway, on which a fewflat cars, propelled by electric power, passed to and fro. Black-skinned and silent workmen rode on the cars, both when they cameladen with broken masses of rock from the farther end of the tunneland when they returned empty. 

Suddenly, to an eye situated a little way within the gallery, appearedat the entrance the dark face of Dr. Syx, wearing its mostdiscomposing smile, and a moment later the broader countenance ofPresident Boon loomed in the electric glare beside the doctor's blackframework of eyebrows and mustache. Behind them were grouped the othervisiting financiers. 

"This tunnel, " said Dr. Syx, "leads to the mine head, where theore-bearing rock is blasted. "

As he spoke a hollow roar issued from the depths of the mountain, followed in a short time by a gust of foul air. 

"You probably will not care to go in there, " said the doctor, "and, infact, it is very uncomfortable. But we shall follow the next car-loadto the smelter, and you can witness the reduction of the ore. "

Accordingly when another car came rumbling out of the tunnel, with itsload of cracked rock, they all accompanied it into an adjoiningapartment, where it was cast into a metallic shute, through which, they were informed, it reached the furnace. 

"While it is melting, " explained Dr. Syx, "certain elements, thenature of which I must beg to keep secret, are mixed with the ore, causing chemical action which results in the extraction of themetal. Now let me show you pure artemisium issuing from the furnace. "

He led the visitors through two apartments into a third, one side ofwhich was walled by the front of a furnace. From this projected two orthree small spouts, and iridescent streams of molten metal fell fromthe spouts into earthen receptacles from which the blazing liquid wasled, like flowing iron, into a system of molds, where it was allowedto cool and harden. 

The financiers looked on wondering, and their astonishment grew whenthey were conducted into the rock-cut store-rooms beneath, where theysaw metallic ingots glowing like gigantic opals in the light which Dr. Syx turned on. They were piled in rows along the walls as high as aman could reach. A very brief inspection sufficed to convince thevisitors that Dr. Syx was able to perform all that he promised. Although they had not penetrated the secret of his process of reducingthe ore, yet they had seen the metal flowing from the furnace, and thepiles of ingots proved conclusively that he had uttered no vain boastwhen he said he could give the world a new coinage. 

But President Boon, being himself a metallurgist, desired to inspectthe mysterious ore a little more closely. Possibly he was thinkingthat if another mine was destined to be discovered he might as well bethe discoverer as anybody. Dr. Syx attempted no concealment, but hissmile became more than usually scornful as he stopped a laden car andinvited the visitors to help themselves. 

"I think, " he said, "that I have struck the only lode of this ore inthe Teton, or possibly in this part of the world, but I don't know forcertain. There may be plenty of it only waiting to be found. That, however, doesn't trouble me. The great point is that nobody exceptmyself knows how to extract the metal. "

Mr. Boon closely examined the chunk of rock which he had taken fromthe car. Then he pulled a lens from his pocket, with a deprecatoryglance at Dr. Syx. 

"Oh, that's all right, " said the latter, with a laugh, the first thatthese gentlemen had ever heard from his lips, and it almost made themshudder; "put it to every test, examine it with the microscope, withfire, with electricity, with the spectroscope--in every way you canthink of! I assure you it is worth your while!"

Again Dr. Syx uttered his freezing laugh, passing into the familiarsmile, which had now become an undisguised mock. 

"Upon my word, " said Mr. Boon, taking his eye from the lens, "I see nosign of any metal here!"

"Look at the green specks!" cried the doctor, snatching the specimenfrom the president's hand. "That's it! That's artemisium! But it's ofno use unless you can get it out and purify it, which is my secret!"

For the third time Dr. Syx laughed, and his merriment affected thevisitors so disagreeably that they showed impatience to begone. Immediately he changed his manner. 

"Come into my office, " he said, with a return to the graciousnesswhich had characterized him ever since the party started from NewYork. 

When they were all seated, and the doctor had handed round a box ofcigars, he resumed the conversation in his most amiable manner. 

"You see, gentlemen, " he said, turning a piece of ore in his fingers, "artemisium is like aluminum. It can only be obtained in the metallicform by a special process. While these greenish particles, which youmay perhaps mistake for chrysolite, or some similar unisilicate, really contain the precious metal, they are not entirely composed ofit. The process by which I separate out the metallic element while theore is passing through the furnace is, in truth, quite simple, and itsvery simplicity guards my secret. Make your minds easy as toover-production. A man is as likely to jump over the moon as to findme out. "

"But, " he continued, again changing his manner, "we have hadbusiness enough for one day; now for a little recreation. " Whilespeaking the doctor pressed a button on his desk, and the room, whichwas illuminated by electric lamps--for there were no windows in thebuilding--suddenly became dark, except part of one wall, where a broadarea of light appeared. Dr. Syx's voice had become very soothing whennext he spoke: "I am fond of amusing myself with a peculiar form ofthe magic-lantern, which I invented some years ago, and which I havenever exhibited except for the entertainment of my friends. Thepictures will appear upon the wall, the apparatus being concealed. "

He had hardly ceased speaking when the illuminated space seemed tomelt away, leaving a great opening, through which the spectatorslooked as if into another world on the opposite side of the wall. Fora minute or two they could not clearly discern what was presented;then, gradually, the flitting scenes and figures became more distinctuntil the lifelikeness of the spectacle absorbed their wholeattention. 

Before them passed, in panoramic review, a sunny land, filled withbrilliant-hued vegetation, and dotted with villages and cities whichwere bright with light-colored buildings. People appeared movingthrough the scenes, as in a cinematograph exhibition, but withinfinitely more semblance of reality. In fact, the pictures, blendingone into another, seemed to be life itself. Yet it was not anearth-like scene. The colors of the passing landscape were such as noman in the room had ever beheld; and the people, tall, round-limbed, with florid complexion, golden hair, and brilliant eyes and lips, wereindescribably beautiful and graceful in all their movements. 

From the land the view passed out to sea, and bright blue waves, edgedwith creaming foam, ran swiftly under the spectator's eyes, andoccasionally, driven before light winds, appeared fleets of daintilyshaped vessels, which reminded the beholder, by their flashing wings, of the feigned "ship of pearl. "

After the fairy ships and breezy sea views came a long, curving lineof coast, brilliant with coral sands, and indented by frequent bays, along whose enchanting shores lay pleasant towns, the landscapesbehind them splendid with groves, meadows, and streams. 

Presently the shifting photographic tape, or whatever the mechanismmay have been, appeared to have settled upon a chosen scene, and thereit rested. A broad champaign reached away to distant sapphiremountains, while the foreground was occupied by a magnificent house, resembling a large country villa, fronted with a garden, shaded bybowers and festoons of huge, brilliant flowers. Birds of radiantplumage flitted among the trees and blossoms, and then appeared acompany of gayly attired people, including many young girls, whojoined hands and danced in a ring, apparently with shouts of laughter, while a group of musicians standing near thrummed and blew uponcuriously shaped instruments. 

Suddenly the shadow of a dense cloud flitted across the scene;whereupon the brilliant birds flew away with screams of terror whichalmost seemed to reach the ears of the onlookers through the wall. Anexpression of horror came over the faces of the people. The childrenbroke from their merry circle and ran for protection to theirelders. The utmost confusing and whelming terror were evidenced for amoment--then the ground split asunder, and the house and the garden, with all their living occupants were swallowed by an awful chasm whichopened just where they had stood. The great rent ran in a wideningline across the sunlit landscape until it reached the horizon, whenthe distant mountains crumbled, clouds poured in from all sides atonce, and billows of flame burst through them as they veiled thescene. 

But in another instant the commotion was over, and the world whosecurious spectacles had been enacted as if on the other side of awindow, seemed to retreat swiftly into space, until at last, emergingfrom a fleecy cloud, it reappeared in the form of the full moonhanging in the sky, but larger than is its wont, with its dryocean-beds, its keen-spired peaks, its ragged mountain ranges, itsgaping chasms, its immense crater rings, and Tycho, the chief of themall, shooting raylike streaks across the scarred face of the abandonedlunar globe. The show was ended, and Dr. Syx, turning on only apartial illumination in the room, rose slowly to his feet, his tallform appearing strangely magnified in the gloom, and invited hisbewildered guests to accompany him to his house, outside the mill, where he said dinner awaited them. As they emerged into daylight theyacted like persons just aroused from an opiate dream. 

V

WONDERS OF THE NEW METAL

Within a twelvemonth after the visit of President Boon and his fellowfinanciers to the mine in the Grand Teton a railway had beenconstructed from Jackson's Hole, connecting with one of the Pacificlines, and the distribution of the new metal was begun. All ofDr. Syx's terms had been accepted. United States troops occupied apermanent encampment on the upper waters of the Snake River, to affordprotection, and as the consignments of precious ingots were hurriedeast and west on guarded trains, the mints all over the world resumedtheir activity. Once more a common monetary standard prevailed, andcommerce revived as if touched by a magic wand. 

Artemisium quickly won its way in popular favor. Its matchless beautyalone was enough. Not only was it gladly accepted in the form ofmoney, but its success was instantaneous in the arts. Dr. Syx and theinspectors representing the various nations found it difficult tolimit the output to the agreed upon amount. The demand was incessant. 

Goldsmiths and jewellers continually discovered new excellences in thewonderful metal. Its properties of translucence and refraction enabledskilful artists to perform marvels. By suitable management a chain ofartemisium could be made to resemble a string of vari-colored gems, each separate link having a tint of its own, while, as the wearermoved, delicate complementary colors chased one another, in rapidundulation, from end to end. 

A fresh charm was added by the new metal to the personal adornment ofwomen, and an enhanced splendor to the pageants of society. Gold inits palmiest days had never enjoyed such a vogue. A crowded receptionroom or a dinner party where artemisium abounded possessed anindescribable atmosphere of luxury and richness, refined in quality, yet captivating to every sense. Imaginative persons went so far as toaver that the sight and presence of the metal exercised a strangelysoothing and dreamy power over the mind, like the influence ofmoonlight streaming through the tree-tops on a still, balmy night. 

The public curiosity in regard to the origin of artemisium wasboundless. The various nations published official bulletins in whichthe general facts--omitting, of course, such incidents as the singularexhibition seen by the visiting financiers on the wall of Dr. Syx'soffice--were detailed to gratify the universal desire for information. 

President Boon not only submitted the specimens of ore-bearing rockwhich he had brought from the mine to careful analysis, but alsoappealed to several of the greatest living chemists and mineralogiststo aid him; but they were all equally mystified. The green substancecontained in the ore, although differing slightly from ordinarychrysolite, answered all the known tests of that mineral. It wasremembered, however, that Dr. Syx had said that they would be likelyto mistake the substance for chrysolite, and the result of theirexperiments justified his prediction. Evidently the doctor had gone astone's-cast beyond the chemistry of the day, and, just as evidently, he did not mean to reveal his discovery for the benefit of science, nor for the benefit of any pockets except his own. 

Notwithstanding the failure of the chemists to extract anything fromDr. Syx's ore, the public at large never doubted that the secret wouldbe discovered in good time, and thousands of prospectors flocked tothe Teton Mountains in search of the ore. And without much difficultythey found it. Evidently the doctor had been mistaken in thinking thathis mine might be the only one. The new miners hurried specimens ofthe green-speckled rock to the chemical laboratories forexperimentation, and meanwhile began to lay up stores of the ore inanticipation of the time when the proper way to extract the metalshould be discovered. 

But, alas! that time did not come. The fresh ore proved to be asrefractory as that which had been obtained from Dr. Syx. But in themidst of the universal disappointment there came a new sensation. 

One morning the newspapers glared with a despatch from Grand Tetonstation announcing that the metal itself had been discovered byprospectors on the eastern slope of the main peak. 

"It outcrops in many places, " ran the despatch, "and many smallnuggets have been picked out of crevices in the rocks. "

The excitement produced by this news was even greater than when goldwas discovered at the south pole. Again a mad rush was made for theTetons. The heights around Jackson's Hole and the shores of Jackson'sand Jenny's lakes were quickly dotted with camps, and the militaryforce had to be doubled to keep off the curious, and occasionallymenacing, crowds which gathered in the vicinity and seemed bent onunearthing the great secret locked behind the windowless walls of themill, where the column of black smoke and the roar of the engineserved as reminders of the incredible wealth which the sole possessorof that secret was rolling up. 

This time no mistake had been made. It was a fact that the metal, invirgin purity, had been discovered scattered in various places on theledges of the Grand Teton. In a little while thousands had obtainedspecimens with their own hands. The quantity was distressingly small, considering the number and the eagerness of the seekers, but that itwas genuine artemisium not even Dr. Syx could have denied. He, however, made no attempt to deny it. 

"Yes, " he said, when questioned, "I find that I have been deceived. Atfirst I thought the metal existed only in the form of the green ore, but of late I have come upon veins of pure artemisium in my mine. I amglad for your sakes, but sorry for my own. Still, it may turn out thatthere is no great amount of free artemisium after all. "

While the doctor talked in this manner close observers detected alurking sneer which his acquaintances had not noticed since artemisiumwas first adopted as the money basis of the world. 

The crowd that swarmed upon the mountain quickly exhausted all of thevisible supply of the metal. Sometimes they found it in a thin stratumat the bottom of crevices, where it could be detached in opalescentplates and leaves of the thickness of paper. These superficialdeposits evidently might have been formed from water holding the metalin solution. Occasionally, deep cracks contained nuggets and wirymasses which looked as if they had run together when molten. 

The most promising spots were soon staked out in miners' claims, machinery was procured, stock companies were formed, and borings werebegun. The enthusiasm arising from the earlier finds and theflattering surface indications caused everybody to work with feverishhaste and energy, and within two months one hundred tunnels werepiercing the mountain. 

For a long time nobody was willing to admit the truth which graduallyforced itself upon the attention of the miners. The deeper they wentthe scarcer became the indications of artemisium! In fact, suchdeposits as were found were confined to fissures near the surface. ButDr. Syx continued to report a surprising increase in the amount offree metal in his mine, and this encouraged all who had not exhaustedtheir capital to push on their tunnels in the hope of finally strikinga vein. At length, however, the smaller operators gave up in despair, until only one heavily capitalized company remained at work. 

VI

A STRANGE DISCOVERY

"It is my belief that Dr. Max Syx is a deceiver. "

The person who uttered this opinion was a young engineer, Andrew Hall, who had charge of the operations of one of the mining companies whichwere driving tunnels into the Grand Teton. 

"What do you mean by that?" asked President Boon, who was theprincipal backer of the enterprise. 

"I mean, " replied Hall, "that there is no free metal in this mountain, and Dr. Syx knows there is none. "

"But he is getting it himself from his mine, " retorted President Boon. 

"So he says, but who has seen it? No one is admitted into the Syxmine, his foremen are forbidden to talk, and his workmen are speciallyimported negroes who do not understand the English language. "

"But, " persisted Mr. Boon, "how, then, do you account for the nuggetsscattered over the mountain? And, beside, what object could Dr. Syxhave in pretending that there is free metal to be had for thedigging?"

"He may have salted the mountain, for all I know, " said Hall. "As forhis object, I confess I am entirely in the dark; but, for all that, Iam convinced that we shall find no more metal if we dig ten miles forit. "

"Nonsense, " said the president; "if we keep on we shall strike it. Didnot Dr. Syx himself admit that he found no free artemisium until histunnel had reached the core of the peak? We must go as deep as he hasgone before we give up. "

"I fear the depths he attains are beyond most people's reach, " wasHall's answer, while a thoughtful look crossed his clear-cut brow, "but since you desire it, of course the work shall go on. I shouldlike, however, to change the direction of the tunnel. "

"Certainly, " replied Mr. Boon; "bore in whatever direction you thinkproper, only don't despair. "

About a month after this conversation Andrew Hall, with whom acommunity of tastes in many things had made me intimately acquainted, asked me one morning to accompany him into his tunnel. 

"I want to have a trusty friend at my elbow, " he said, "for, unless Iam a dreamer, something remarkable will happen within the next hour, and two witnesses are better than one. "

I knew Hall was not the person to make such a remark carelessly, andmy curiosity was intensely excited, but, knowing his peculiarities, Idid not press him for an explanation. When we arrived at the head ofthe tunnel I was surprised at finding no workmen there. 

"I stopped blasting some time ago, " said Hall, in explanation, "for areason which, I hope, will become evident to you very soon. Lately Ihave been boring very slowly, and yesterday I paid off the men anddismissed them with the announcement, which, I am confident, PresidentBoon will sanction after he hears my report of this morning's work, that the tunnel is abandoned. You see, I am now using a drill which Ican manage without assistance. I believe the work is almost completed, and I want you to witness the end of it. "

He then carefully applied the drill, which noiselessly screwed itsnose into the rock. When it had sunk to a depth of a few inches hewithdrew it, and, taking a hand-drill capable of making a hole notmore than an eighth of an inch in diameter, cautiously began boring inthe centre of the larger cavity. He had made hardly a hundred turns ofthe handle when the drill shot through the rock! A gratified smileilluminated his features, and he said in a suppressed voice:

"Don't be alarmed; I'm going to put out the light. "

Instantly we were in complete darkness, but being close at Hall's sideI could detect his movements. He pulled out the drill, and for half aminute remained motionless as if listening. There was no sound. 

"I must enlarge the opening, " he whispered, and immediately the faintgrating of a sharp tool cutting through the rock informed me of hisprogress. 

"There, " at last he said, "I think that will do; now for a look. "

I could tell that he had placed his eye at the hole and was gazingwith breathless attention. Presently he pulled my sleeve. 

"Put your eye here, " he whispered, pushing me into the proper positionfor looking through the hole. 

At first I could discern nothing except a smoky blue glow. But soon myvision cleared a little, and then I perceived that I was gazing into anarrow tunnel which met ours directly end to end. Glancing along theaxis of this gallery I saw, some two hundred yards away, a faint lightwhich evidently indicated the mouth of the tunnel. 

At the end where we had met it the mysterious tunnel was considerablywidened at one side, as if the excavators had started to changedirection and then abandoned the work, and in this elbow I could justsee the outlines of two or three flat cars loaded with broken stone, while a heap of the same material lay near them. Through the centre ofthe tunnel ran a railway track. 

"Do you know what you are looking at?" asked Hall in my ear. 

"I begin to suspect, " I replied, "that you have accidentally run intoDr. Syx's mine. "

"If Dr. Syx had been on his guard this accident wouldn't havehappened, " replied Hall, with an almost inaudible chuckle. 

"I heard you remark a month ago, " I said, "that you were changing thedirection of your tunnel. Has this been the aim of your labors eversince?"

"You have hit it, " he replied. "Long ago I became convinced that mycompany was throwing away its money in a vain attempt to strike a lodeof pure artemisium. But President Boon has great faith in Dr. Syx, andwould not give up the work. So I adopted what I regarded as the onlypracticable method of proving the truth of my opinion and saving thecompany's funds. An electric indicator, of my invention, enabled me tolocate the Syx tunnel when I got near it, and I have met it end on, and opened this peep-hole in order to observe the doctor'soperations. I feel that such spying is entirely justified in thecircumstances. Although I cannot yet explain just how or why I feelsure that Dr. Syx was the cause of the sudden discovery of the surfacenuggets, and that he has encouraged the miners for his own ends, untilhe has brought ruin to thousands who have spent their last cent indriving useless tunnels into this mountain. It is a righteous thing toexpose him. "

"But, " I interposed, "I do not see that you have exposed anything yetexcept the interior of a tunnel. "

"You will see more clearly after a while, " was the reply. 

Hall now placed his eye again at the aperture, and was unable entirelyto repress the exclamation that rose to his lips. He remained staringthrough the hole for several minutes without uttering aword. Presently I noticed that the lenses of his eye were illuminatedby a ray of light coming through the hole, but he did not stir. 

After a long inspection he suddenly applied his ear to the hole andlistened intently for at least five minutes. Not a sound was audibleto me, but, by an occasional pressure of the hand, Hall signified thatsome important disclosure was reaching his sense of hearing. At lengthhe removed his ear. 

"Pardon me, " he whispered, "for keeping you so long in waiting, butwhat I have just seen and overheard was of a nature to admit of nointerruption. He is still talking, and by pressing your ear againstthe hole you may be able to catch what he says. "

"Who is 'he'?"

"Look for yourself. "

I placed my eye at the aperture, and almost recoiled with the violenceof my surprise. The tunnel before me was brilliantly illuminated, andwithin three feet of the wall of rock behind which we crouched stoodDr. Syx, his dark profile looking almost satanic in the sharp contrastof light and shadow. He was talking to one of his foremen, and the twowere the only visible occupants of the tunnel. Putting my ear to thelittle opening, I heard his words distinctly:

--"end of their rope. Well, they've spent a pretty lot of money fortheir experience, and I rather think we shall not be troubled again byartemisium-seekers for some time to come. "

The doctor's voice ceased, and instantly I clapped my eye to thehole. He had changed his position so that his black eyes now lookedstraight at the aperture. My heart was in my mouth, for at first Ibelieved from his expression that he had detected the gleam of myeyeball. But if so, he probably mistook it for a bit of mica in therock, and paid no further attention. Then his lips moved, and I put myear again to the hole. He seemed to be replying to a question that theforeman had asked. 

"If they do, " he said, "they will never guess the real secret. "

Thereupon he turned on his heel, kicked a bit of rock off the track, and strode away towards the entrance. The foreman paused long enoughto turn out the electric lamp, and then followed the doctor. 

"Well, " asked Hall, "what have you heard?"

I told him everything. 

"It fully corroborates the evidence of my own eyes and ears, " heremarked, "and we may count ourselves extremely lucky. It is notlikely that Dr. Syx will be heard a second time proclaiming hisdeception with his own lips. It is plain that he was led to talk as hedid to the foreman on account of the latter's having informed him ofthe sudden discharge of my men this morning. Their presence withinear-shot of our hiding-place during their conversation was, of course, pure accident, and so you can see how kind fortune has been to us. Iexpected to have to watch and listen and form deductions for a week, at least, before getting the information which five lucky minutes haveplaced in our hands. "

While he was speaking my companion busied himself in carefullyplugging up the hole in the rock. When it was closed to hissatisfaction he turned on the light in our tunnel. 

"Did you observe, " he asked, "that there was a second tunnel?"

"What do you say?"

"When the light was on in there I saw the mouth of a smaller tunnelentering the main one behind the cars on the right. Did you noticeit?"

"Oh yes, " I replied. "I did observe some kind of a dark hole there, but I paid no attention to it because I was so absorbed in thedoctor. "

"Well, " rejoined Hall, smiling, "it was worth considerably more than aglance. As a subject of thought I find it even more absorbing thanDr. Syx. Did you see the track in it?"

"No, " I had to acknowledge, "I did not notice that. But, " I continued, a little piqued by his manner, "being a branch of the main tunnel, Idon't see anything remarkable in its having a track also. "

"It was rather dim in that hole, " said Hall, still smiling in asomewhat provoking way, "but the railroad track was there plainenough. And, whether you think it remarkable or not, I should like tolay you a wager that that track leads to a secret worth a dozen of theone we have just overheard. "

"My good friend, " I retorted, still smarting a little, "I shall notpresume to match my stupidity against your perspicacity. I haven'tcat's eyes in the dark. "

Hall immediately broke out laughing, and, slapping me good-naturedlyon the shoulder, exclaimed:

"Come, come now! If you go to kicking back at a fellow like that, Ishall be sorry I ever undertook this adventure. "

VII

A MYSTERY INDEED!

When President Boon had heard our story he promptly approved Hall'sdismissal of the men. He expressed great surprise that Dr. Syx shouldhave resorted to a deception which had been so disastrous to innocentpeople, and at first he talked of legal proceedings. But, afterthinking the matter over, he concluded that Syx was too powerful to beattacked with success, especially when the only evidence against himwas that he had claimed to find artemisium in his mine at a time when, as everybody knew, artemisium actually was found outside themine. There was no apparent motive for the deception, and no proof ofmalicious intent. In short, Mr. Boon decided that the best thing forhim and his stockholders to do was to keep silent about their lossesand await events. And, at Hall's suggestion, he also determined to saynothing to anybody about the discovery we had made. 

"It could do no good, " said Hall, in making the suggestion, "and itmight spoil a plan I have in mind. "

"What plan?" asked the president. 

"I prefer not to tell just yet, " was the reply. 

I observed that, in our interview with Mr. Boon, Hall made noreference to the side tunnel to which he had appeared to attach somuch importance, and I concluded that he now regarded it as lackingsignificance. In this I was mistaken. 

A few days afterwards I received an invitation from Hall to accompanyhim once more into the abandoned tunnel. 

"I have found out what that sidetrack means, " he said, "and it hasplunged me into another mystery so dark and profound that I cannot seemy way through it. I must beg you to say no word to any one concerningthe things I am about to show you. "

I gave the required promise, and we entered the tunnel, which nobodyhad visited since our former adventure. Having extinguished our lamp, my companion opened the peep-hole, and a thin ray of light streamedthrough from the tunnel on the opposite side of the wall. He appliedhis eye to the hole. 

"Yes, " he said, quickly stepping back and pushing me into his place, "they are still at it. Look, and tell me what you see. "

"I see, " I replied, after placing my eye at the aperture, "a gang ofmen unloading a car which has just come out of the side tunnel, andputting its contents upon another car standing on the track of themain tunnel. "

"Yes, and what are they handling?"

"Why, ore, of course. "

"And do you see nothing significant in that?"

"To be sure!" I exclaimed. "Why, that ore--"

"Hush! hush!" admonished Hall, putting his hand over my mouth; "don'ttalk so loud. Now go on, in a whisper. "

"The ore, " I resumed, "may have come back from the furnace-room, because the side tunnel turns off so as to run parallel with theother. "

"It not only may have come back, it actually has come back, " saidHall. 

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I have been over the track, and know that it leads to asecret apartment directly under the furnace in which Dr. Syx pretendsto melt the ore!"

For a minute after hearing this avowal I was speechless. 

"Are you serious?" I asked at length. 

"Perfectly serious. Run your finger along the rock here. Do youperceive a seam? Two days ago, after seeing what you have justwitnessed in the Syx tunnel, I carefully cut out a section of thewall, making an aperture large enough to crawl through, and, when Iknew the workmen were asleep, I crept in there and examined bothtunnels from end to end. But in solving one mystery I have run myselfinto another infinitely more perplexing. "

"How is that?"

"Why does Dr. Syx take such elaborate pains to deceive his visitors, and also the government officers? It is now plain that he conducts nomining operations whatever. This mine of his is a giganticblind. Whenever inspectors or scientific curiosity seekers visit hismill his mute workmen assume the air of being very busy, the carsladen with his so-called 'ore' rumble out of the tunnel, and theircontents are ostentatiously poured into the furnace, or appear to bepoured into it, really dropping into a receptacle beneath, to becarried back into the mine again. And then the doctor leads his gulledvisitors around to the other side of the furnace and shows them themolten metal coming out in streams. Now what does it all mean? That'swhat I'd like to find out. What's his game? For, mark you, if hedoesn't get artemisium from this pretended ore, he gets it from someother source, and right on this spot, too. There is no doubt aboutthat. The whole world is supplied by Syx's furnace, and Syx feeds hisfurnace with something that comes from his ten acres of Grand Tetonrock. What is that something? How does he get it, and where does hehide it? These are the things I should like to find out. "

"Well, " I replied, "I fear I can't help you. "

"But the difference between you and me, " he retorted, "is that you cango to sleep over it, while I shall never get another good night's restso long as this black mystery remains unsolved. "

"What will you do?"

"I don't know exactly what. But I've got a dim idea which may takeshape after a while. "

Hall was silent for some time; then he suddenly asked:

"Did you ever hear of that queer magic-lantern show with which Dr. Syxentertained Mr. Boon and the members of the financial commission inthe early days of the artemisium business?"

"Yes, I've heard the story, but I don't think it was ever madepublic. The newspapers never got hold of it. "

"No, I believe not. Odd thing, wasn't it?"

"Why, yes, very odd, but just like the doctor's eccentric ways, though. He's always doing something to astonish somebody, without anyapparent earthly reason. But what put you in mind of that?"

"Free artemisium put me in mind of it, " replied Hall, quizzically. 

"I don't see the connection. "

"I'm not sure that I do either, but when you are dealing with Dr. Syxnothing is too improbable to be thought of. "

Hall thereupon fell to musing again, while we returned to the entranceof the tunnel. After he had made everything secure, and slipped thekey into his pocket, my companion remarked:

"Don't you think it would be best to keep this latest discovery toourselves?"

"Certainly. "

"Because, " he continued, "nobody would be benefited just now byknowing what we know, and to expose the worthlessness of the 'ore'might cause a panic. The public is a queer animal, and never getsscared at just the thing you expect will alarm it, but always atsomething else. "

We had shaken hands and were separating when Hall stopped me. 

"Do you believe in alchemy?" he asked. 

"That's an odd question from you, " I replied. "I thought alchemy wasexploded long ago. "

"Well, " he said, slowly, "I suppose it has been exploded, but then, you know, an explosion may sometimes be a kind of instantaneouseducation, breaking up old things but revealing new ones. "

VIII

MORE OF DR. SYX'S MAGIC

Important business called me East soon after the meeting with Halldescribed in the foregoing chapter, and before I again saw the GrandTeton very stirring events had taken place. 

As the reader is aware, Dr. Syx's agreement with the variousgovernments limited the output of his mine. An internationalcommission, continually in session in New York, adjusted thedifferences arising among the nations concerning financial affairs, and allotted to each the proper amount of artemisium for coinage. Ofcourse, this amount varied from time to time, but a fair average couldeasily be maintained. The gradual increase of wealth, in houses, machinery, manufactured and artistic products called for acorresponding increase in the circulating medium; but this, too, waseasily provided for. An equally painstaking supervision was exercisedover the amount of the precious metal which Dr. Syx was permitted tosupply to the markets for use in the arts. On this side, also, thedemand gradually increased; but the wonderful Teton mine seemed equalto all calls upon its resources. 

After the failure of the mining operations there was a moderaterevival of the efforts to reduce the Teton ore, but no success cheeredthe experimenters. Prospectors also wandered all over the earthlooking for pure artemisium, but in vain. The general public, knowingnothing of what Hall had discovered, and still believing Syx's storythat he also had found pure artemisium in his mine, accounted for thefailure of the tunnelling operations on the supposition that themetal, in a free state, was excessively rare, and that Dr. Syx had hadthe luck to strike the only vein of it that the Grand Tetoncontained. As if to give countenance to this opinion, Dr. Syx nowannounced, in the most public manner, that he had been deceived again, and that the vein of free metal he had struck being exhausted, noother had appeared. Accordingly, he said, he must henceforth relyexclusively, as in the beginning, upon reduction of the ore. 

Artemisium had proved itself an immense boon to mankind, and the newera of commercial prosperity which it had ushered in already exceededeverything that the world had known in the past. School-childrenlearned that human civilization had taken five great strides, knownrespectively, beginning at the bottom, as the "age of stone, " the "ageof bronze, " the "age of iron, " the "age of gold, " and the "age ofartemisium. "

Nevertheless, sources of dissatisfaction finally began to appear, and, after the nature of such things, they developed with marvellousrapidity. People began to grumble about "contraction of the currency. "In every country there arose a party which demanded "free money. "Demagogues pointed to the brief reign of paper money after thedemonetization of gold as a happy period, when the people had enjoyedtheir rights, and the "money barons"--borrowing a term fromnineteenth-century history--were kept at bay. 

Then came denunciations of the international commission forrestricting the coinage. Dr. Syx was described as "a devil-fishsucking the veins of the planet and holding it helpless in the graspof his tentacular billions. " In the United States meetings ofagitators passed furious resolutions, denouncing the government, assailing the rich, cursing Dr. Syx, and calling upon "the oppressed"to rise and "take their own. " The final outcome was, of course, violence. Mobs had to be suppressed by military force. But the mostdramatic scene in the tragedy occurred at the Grand Teton. Excited byinflammatory speeches and printed documents, several thousand armedmen assembled in the neighborhood of Jenny's Lake and prepared toattack the Syx mine. For some reason the military guard had beendepleted, and the mob, under the leadership of a man named Bings, whoshowed no little talent as a commander and strategist, surprised thesmall force of soldiers and locked them up in their own guard-house. 

Telegraphic communication having been cut off by the astute Bings, afierce attack was made on the mine. The assailants swarmed up thesides of the canyon, and attempted to break in through the foundationof the buildings. But the masonry was stronger than they hadanticipated, and the attack failed. Sharp-shooters then climbed theneighboring heights, and kept up an incessant peppering of the wallswith conical bullets driven at four thousand feet per second. 

No reply came from the gloomy structure. The huge column of blacksmoke rose uninterruptedly into the sky, and the noise of the greatengine never ceased for an instant. The mob gathered closer on allsides and redoubled the fire of the rifles, to which was now added thebelching of several machine-guns. Ragged holes began to appear in thewalls, and at the sight of these the assailants yelled withdelight. It was evident that, the mill could not long withstand sodestructive a bombardment. If the besiegers had possessed artillerythey would have knocked the buildings into splinters within twentyminutes. As it was, they would need a whole day to win their victory. 

Suddenly it became evident that the besieged were about to take a handin the fight. Thus far they had not shown themselves or fired a shot, but now a movement was perceived on the roof, and the projecting armsof some kind of machinery became visible. Many marksmen concentratedtheir fire upon the mysterious objects, but apparently with littleeffect. Bings, mounted on a rock, so as to command a clear view of thefield, was on the point, of ordering a party to rush forward with axesand beat down the formidable doors, when there came a blinding flashfrom the roof, something swished through the air, and a gust of heatmet the assailants in the face. Bings dropped dead from his perch, andthen, as if the scythe of the Destroyer had swung downward, and toright and left in quick succession, the close-packed mob was levelled, rank after rank, until the few survivors crept behind rocks forrefuge. 

Instantly the atmospheric broom swept up and down the canyon andacross the mountain's flanks, and the marksmen fell in bunches likeshaken grapes. Nine-tenths of the besiegers were destroyed within tenminutes after the first movement had been noticed on the roof. Thosewho survived owed their escape to the rocks which concealed them, andthey lost no time in crawling off into neighboring chasms, and, assoon as they were beyond eye-shot from the mill, they fled with panicspeed. 

Then the towering form of Dr. Syx appeared at the door. Emergingwithout sign of fear or excitement, he picked his way among his fallenenemies, and, approaching the military guard-house, undid thefastening and set the imprisoned soldiers free. 

"I think I am paying rather dear for my whistle, " he said, with acharacteristic sneer, to Captain Carter, the commander of thetroop. "It seems that I must not only defend my own people andproperty when attacked by mob force, but must also come to the rescueof the soldiers whose pay-rolls are met from my pocket. "

The captain made no reply, and Dr. Syx strode back to the works. Whenthe released soldiers saw what had occurred their amazement had nobounds. It was necessary at once to dispose of the dead, and this wasno easy undertaking for their small force. However, they accomplishedit, and at the beginning of their work made a most surprisingdiscovery. 

"How's this, Jim?" said one of the men to his comrade, as they stoopedto lift the nearest victim of Dr. Syx's withering fire. "What's thisfellow got all over him?"

"Artemisium! 'pon my soul!" responded "Jim, " staring at thebody. "He's all coated over with it. "

Immediately from all sides came similar exclamations. Every man whohad fallen was covered with a film of the precious metal, as if he hadbeen dipped into an electrolytic bath. Clothing seemed to have beencharred, and the metallic atoms had penetrated the flesh of thevictims. The rocks all round the battle-field were similarlyveneered. "It looks to me, " said Captain Carter, "as if old Syx hadturned one of his spouts of artemisium into a hose-pipe and soaked 'emwith it. "

"That's it, " chimed in a lieutenant, "that's exactly what he's done. "

"Well, " returned the captain, "if he can do that, I don't see what usehe's got for us here. "

"Probably he don't want to waste the stuff, " said thelieutenant. "What do you suppose it cost him to plate this crowd?"

"I guess a month's pay for the whole troop wouldn't cover theexpense. It's costly, but then--gracious! Wouldn't I have givensomething for the doctor's hose when I was a youngster campaigning inthe Philippines in '99?"

The story of the marvellous way in which Dr. Syx defended his millbecame the sensation of the world for many days. The hose-pipe theory, struck off on the spot by Captain Carter, seized the popular fancy, and was generally accepted without further question. There was anelement of the ludicrous which robbed the tragedy of some of itshorror. Moreover, no one could deny that Dr. Syx was well within hisrights in defending himself by any means when so savagely attacked, and his triumphant success, no less than the ingenuity which wassupposed to underlie it, placed him in an heroic light which he hadnot hitherto enjoyed. 

As to the demagogues who were responsible for the outbreak and itsterrible consequences, they slunk out of the public eye, and theresult of the battle at the mine seemed to have been a clearing up ofthe atmosphere, such as a thunderstorm effects at the close of aseason of foul weather. 

But now, little as men guessed it, the beginning of the end was closeat hand. 

IX

THE DETECTIVE OF SCIENCE

The morning of my arrival at Grand Teton station, on my return fromthe East, Andrew Hall met me with a warm greeting. 

"I have been anxiously expecting you, " he said, "for I have made someprogress towards solving the great mystery. I have not yet reached aconclusion, but I hope soon to let you into the entire secret. In themeantime you can aid me with your companionship, if in no other way, for, since the defeat of the mob, this place has been mightylonesome. The Grand Teton is a spot that people who have no particularbusiness out here carefully avoid. I am on speaking terms withDr. Syx, and occasionally, when there is a party to be shown around, Ivisit his works, and make the best possible use of my eyes. CaptainCarter of the military is a capital fellow, and I like to hear hisstories of the war in Luzon forty years ago, but I want somebody towhom I can occasionally confide things, and so you are as welcome asmoonlight in harvest-time. "

"Tell me something about that wonderful fight with the mob. Did yousee it?"

"I did. I had got wind of what Bings intended to do while I was downat Pocotello, and I hurried up here to warn the soldiers, butunfortunately I came too late. Finding the military cooped up in theguard-house and the mob masters of the situation, I kept out of sighton the side of the Teton, and watched the siege with my binocular. Ithink there was very little of the spectacle that I missed. "

"What of the mysterious force that the doctor employed to sweep offthe assailants?"

"Of course, Captain Carter's suggestion that Syx turned moltenartemisium from his furnace into a hose-pipe and sprayed the enemywith it is ridiculous. But it is much easier to dismiss Carter'stheory than to substitute a better one. I saw the doctor on the roofwith a gang of black workmen, and I noticed the flash of polishedmetal turned rapidly this way and that, but there was some interveningobstacle which prevented me from getting a good view of the mechanismemployed. It certainly bore no resemblance to a hose-pipe, or anythingof that kind. No emanation was visible from the machine, but it wasstupefying to see the mob melt down. "

"How about the coating of the bodies with artemisium?"

"There you are back on the hose-pipe again, " laughed Hall. "But, totell you the truth, I'd rather be excused from expressing an opinionon that operation in wholesale electro-plating just at present. I'vethe ghost of an idea what it means, but let me test my theory a littlebefore I formulate it. In the meanwhile, won't you take a stroll withme?"

"Certainly; nothing could please me better, " I replied. "Which wayshall we go?"

"To the top of the Grand Teton. "

"What! are you seized with the mountain-climbing fever?"

"Not exactly, but I have a particular reason for wishing to take alook from that pinnacle. "

"I suppose you know the real apex of the peak has never been troddenby man?"

"I do know it, but it is just that apex that I am determined to haveunder my feet for ten minutes. The failure of others is no argumentfor us. "

"Just as you say, " I rejoined. "But I suppose there is no indiscretionin asking whether this little climb has any relation to the mystery?"

"If it didn't have an important relation to the clearing up of thatdark thing I wouldn't risk my neck in such an undertaking, " was thereply. 

Accordingly, the next morning we set out for the peak. All previousclimbers, as we were aware, had attacked it from the west. That seemedthe obvious thing to do, because the westward slopes of the mountain, while very steep, are less abrupt than those which face the risingsun. In fact, the eastern side of the Grand Teton appears to beabsolutely unclimbable. But both Hall and I had had experience withrock climbing in the Alps and the Dolomites, and we knew that whatlooked like the hardest places sometimes turn out to be next to theeasiest. Accordingly we decided--the more particularly because itwould save time, but also because we yielded to the common desire tooutdo our predecessors--to try to scale the giant right up his face. 

We carried a very light but exceedingly strong rope, about fivehundred feet long, wore nail-shod shoes, and had each a metal-pointedstaff and a small hatchet in lieu of the regular mountaineer'saxe. Advancing at first along the broken ridge between two gorges wegradually approached the steeper part of the Teton, where the cliffslooked so sheer and smooth that it seemed no wonder that nobody hadever tried to scale them. The air was deliciously clear and the skywonderfully blue above the mountains, and the moon, a few days pastits last quarter, was visible in the southwest, its pale crescent faceslightly blued by the atmosphere, as it always appears when seen indaylight. 

 "Slow westering, a phantom sail-- The lonely soul of yesterday. "

Behind us, somewhat north of east, lay the Syx works, with their blacksmoke rising almost vertically in the still air. Suddenly, as westumbled along on the rough surface, something whizzed past my faceand fell on the rock at my feet. I looked at the strange missile, thathad come like a meteor out of open space, with astonishment. 

It was a bird, a beautiful specimen of the scarlet tanagers, which Iremembered the early explorers had found inhabiting the Teton canyons, their brilliant plumage borrowing splendor from contrast with thegloomy surroundings. It lay motionless, its outstretched wings havinga curious shrivelled aspect, while the flaming color of the breast washalf obliterated with smutty patches. Stooping to pick it up, Inoticed a slight bronzing, which instantly recalled to my mind thepeculiar appearance of the victims of the attack on the mine. 

"Look here!" I called to Hall, who was several yards in advance. Heturned, and I held up the bird by a wing. 

"Where did you get that?" he asked. 

"It fell at my feet a moment ago. "

Hall glanced in a startled manner at the sky, and then down the slopeof the mountain. 

"Did you notice in what direction it was flying?" he asked. 

"No, it dropped so close that it almost grazed my nose. I saw nothingof it until it made me blink. "

"I have been heedless, " muttered Hall under his breath. At the time Idid not notice the singularity of his remark, my attention beingabsorbed in contemplating the unfortunate tanager. 

"Look how its feathers are scorched, " I said. 

"I know it, " Hall replied, without glancing at the bird. 

"And it is covered with a film of artemisium, " I added, a littlepiqued by his abstraction. 

"I know that, too. "

"See here, Hall, " I exclaimed, "are you trying to make game of me?"

"Not at all, my dear fellow, " he replied, dropping hiscogitation. "Pray forgive me. But this is no new phenomenon to me. Ihave picked up birds in that condition on this mountain before. Thereis a terrible mystery here, but I am slowly letting light into it, andif we succeed in reaching the top of the peak I have good hope thatthe illumination will increase. "

"Here now, " he added a moment later, sitting down upon a rock andthrusting the blade of his penknife into a crevice, "what do you thinkof this?"

He held up a little nugget of pure artemisium, and then went on:

"You know that all this slope was swept as clean as a Dutchhousewife's kitchen floor by the thousands of miners and prospectorswho swarmed over it a year or two ago, and do you suppose they wouldhave missed such a tidbit if it had been here then?"

"Dr. Syx must have been salting the mountain again, " I suggested. 

"Well, " replied Hall, with a significant smile, "if the doctor hasn'tsalted it somebody else has, that's plain enough. But perhaps youwould like to know precisely what I expect to find out when we get onthe topknot of the Teton. "

"I should certainly be delighted to learn the object of our journey, "I said. "Of course, I'm only going along for company and for the funof the thing; but you know you can count on me for substantial aidwhenever you need it. "

"It is because you are so willing to let me keep my own counsel, " herejoined, "and to wait for things to ripen before compelling me todisclose them, that I like to have you with me at critical times. Now, as to the object of this break-neck expedition, whose risks youunderstand as fully as I do, I need not assure you that it is ofsupreme importance to the success of my plans. In a word, I hope to beable to look down into a part of Dr. Syx's mill which, if I am notmistaken, no human eye except his and those of his most trustworthyhelpers has ever been permitted to see. And if I see there what Ifully expect to see, I shall have got a long step nearer to a greatfortune. "

"Good!" I cried. "_En avant_, then! We are losing time. "

X

THE TOP OF THE GRAND TETON

The climbing soon became difficult, until at length we were going uphand over hand, taking advantage of crevices and knobs which aninexperienced eye would have regarded as incapable of affording a gripfor the fingers or a support for the toes. Presently we arrived at thefoot of a stupendous precipice, which was absolutely insurmountable byany ordinary method of ascent. Parts of it overhung, and everywherethe face of the rock was too free from irregularities to afford anyfooting, except to a fly. 

"Now, to borrow the expression of old Bunyan, we are hard put to it, "I remarked. "If you will go to the left I will take the right and seeif there is any chance of getting up. "

"I don't believe we could find any place easier than this, " Hallreplied, "and so up we go where we are. "

"Have you a pair of wings concealed about you?" I asked, laughing athis folly. 

"Well, something nearly as good, " he responded, unstrapping hisknapsack. He produced a silken bag, which he unfolded on the rock. 

"A balloon!" I exclaimed. "But how are you going to inflate it?"

For reply Hall showed me a receptacle which, he said, contained liquidhydrogen, and which was furnished with a device for retarding thevolatilization of the liquid so that it could be carried with littleloss. 

"You remember I have a small laboratory in the abandoned mine, " heexplained, "where we used to manufacture liquid air for blasting. Thisballoon I made for our present purpose. It will just suffice to carryup our rope, and a small but practically unbreakable grapple ofhardened gold. I calculate to send the grapple to the top of theprecipice with the balloon, and when it has obtained a firm hold inthe riven rock there we can ascend, sailor fashion. You see the ropehas knots, and I know your muscles are as trustworthy in such work asmy own. "

There was a slight breeze from the eastward, and the current of airslanting up the face of the peak assisted the balloon in mounting withits burden, and favored us by promptly swinging the little airship, with the grapple swaying beneath it, over the brow of the cliff intothe atmospheric eddy above. As soon as we saw that the grapple waswell over the edge we pulled upon the rope. The balloon instantly shotinto view with the anchor dancing, but, under the influence of thewind, quickly returned to its former position behind the projectingbrink. The grapple had failed to take hold. 

"'Try, try again' must be our motto now, " muttered Hall. 

We tried several times with the same result, although each time weslightly shifted our position. At last the grapple caught. 

"Now, all together!" cried my companion, and simultaneously we threwour weight upon the slender rope. The anchor apparently did not givean inch. 

"Let me go first, " said Hall, pushing me aside as I caught the firstknot above my head. "It's my device, and it's only fair that I shouldhave the first try. "

In a minute he was many feet up the wall, climbing swiftly hand overhand, but occasionally stopping and twisting his leg around the ropewhile he took breath. 

"It's easier than I expected, " he called down, when he had ascendedabout one hundred feet. "Here and there the rock offers a little holdfor the knees. "

I watched him, breathless with anxiety, and, as he got higher, myimagination pictured the little gold grapple, invisible above the browof the precipice, with perhaps a single thin prong wedged into acrevice, and slowly ploughing its way towards the edge with eachimpulse of the climber, until but another pull was needed to set itflying! So vivid was my fancy that I tried to banish it by noticingthat a certain knot in the rope remained just at the level of my eyes, where it had been from the start. Hall was now fully two hundred feetabove the ledge on which I stood, and was rapidly nearing the top ofthe precipice. In a minute more he would be safe. 

Suddenly he shouted, and, glancing up with a leap of the heart, I sawthat he was falling! He kept his face to the rock, and came down feetforemost. It would be useless to attempt any description of myfeelings; I would not go through that experience again for the priceof a battleship. Yet it lasted less than a second. He had dropped notmore than ten feet when the fall was arrested. 

"All right!" he called, cheerily. "No harm done! It was only a slip. "

But what a slip! If the balloon had not carried the anchor severalyards back from the edge it would have had no opportunity to catchanother hold as it shot forward. And how could we know that the secondhold would prove more secure than the first? Hall did not hesitate, however, for one instant. Up he went again. But, in fact, his bestchance was in going up, for he was within four yards of the top whenthe mishap occurred. With a sigh of relief I saw him at last throw hisarm over the verge and then wriggle his body upon the ledge. A fewseconds later he was lying on his stomach, with his face over theedge, looking down at me. 

"Come on!" he shouted. "It's all right. "

When I had pulled myself over the brink at his side I grasped his handand pressed it without a word. We understood one another. 

"It was pretty close to a miracle, " he remarked at last. "Look atthis. "

The rock over which the grapple had slipped was deeply scored by theunyielding point of the metal, and exactly at the verge of theprecipice the prong had wedged itself into a narrow crack, so firmlythat we had to chip away the stone in order to release it. If it hadslipped a single inch farther before taking hold it would have beenall over with my friend. 

Such experiences shake the strongest nerves, and we sat on the shelfwe had attained for fully a quarter of an hour before we ventured toattack the next precipice which hung beetling directly above us. Itwas not as lofty as the one we had just ascended, but it impended tosuch a degree that we saw we should have to climb our rope while itswung free in the air!

Luckily we had little difficulty in getting a grip for the prongs, andwe took every precaution to test the security of the anchorage, notonly putting our combined weight repeatedly upon the rope, butflipping and jerking it with all our strength. The grapple resistedevery effort to dislodge it, and finally I started up, insisting on myturn as leader. 

The height I had to ascend did not exceed one hundred feet, but thatis a very great distance to climb on a swinging rope, without a wallwithin reach to assist by its friction and occasional friendlyprojections. In a little while my movements, together with the effectof the slight wind, had imparted a most distressing oscillation to therope. This sometimes carried me with a nerve-shaking bang against aprominent point of the precipice, where I would dislodge loosefragments that kept Hall dodging for his life, and then I would swingout, apparently beyond the brow of the cliff below, so that, as Iinvoluntarily glanced downward, I seemed to be hanging in free space, while the steep mountain-side, looking ten times steeper than itreally was, resembled the vertical wall of an absolutely bottomlessabyss, as if I were suspended over the edge of the world. 

I avoided thinking of what the grapple might be about, and in my hasteto get through with the awful experience I worked myself fairly out ofbreath, so that, when at last I reached the rounded brow of the cliff, I had to stop and cling there for fully a minute before I could summonstrength enough to lift myself over it. 

When I was assured that the grapple was still securely fastened Isignalled to Hall, and he soon stood at my side, exclaiming, as hewiped the perspiration from his face:

"I think I'll try wings next time!"

But our difficulties had only begun. As we had foreseen, it was a caseof Alp above Alp, to the very limit of human strength andpatience. However, it would have been impossible to go back. In orderto descend the two precipices we had surmounted it would have beennecessary to leave our life-lines clinging to the rocks, and we hadnot rope enough to do that. If we could not reach the top we werelost. 

Having refreshed ourselves with a bite to eat and a little stimulant, we resumed the climb. After several hours of the most exhausting workI have ever performed we pulled our weary limbs upon the narrow ridge, but a few square yards in area, which constitutes the apex of theGrand Teton. A little below, on the opposite side of a steep-walledgap which divides the top of the mountain into two parts, we saw thesingular enclosure of stones which the early white explorers foundthere, and which they ascribed to the Indians, although nobody hasever known who built it or what purpose it served. 

The view was, of course, superb, but while I was admiring it in allits wonderful extent and variety, Hall, who had immediately pulled outhis binocular, was busy inspecting the Syx works, the top of whosegreat tufted smoke column was thousands of feet beneath ourlevel. Jackson's Lake, Jenny's Lake, Leigh's Lake, and severallakelets glittered in the sunlight amid the pale grays and greens ofJackson's Hole, while many a bending reach of the Snake River shoneamid the wastes of sage-brush and rock. 

"There!" suddenly exclaimed Hall, "I thought I should find it. "

"What?"

"Take a look through my glass at the roof of Syx's mill. Look just inthe centre. "

"Why, it's open in the middle!" I cried as soon as I had put the glassto my eyes. "There's a big circular hole in the centre of the roof, "

"Look inside! Look inside!" repeated Hall, impatiently. 

"I see nothing there except something bright. "

"Do you call it nothing because it is bright?"

"Well, no, " I replied, laughing. "What I mean is that I see nothingthat I can make anything of except a shining object, and all I canmake of that is that it is bright. "

"You've been in the Syx works many times, haven't you?"

"Yes. "

"Did you ever see the opening in the roof?"

"Never. "

"Did you ever hear of it?"

"Never. "

"Then Dr. Syx doesn't show his visitors everything that is to beseen. "

"Evidently not since, as we know, he concealed the double tunnel andthe room under the furnace. "

"Dr. Syx has concealed a bigger secret than that, " Hall responded, "and the Grand Teton has helped me to a glimpse of it. "

For several minutes my friend was absorbed in thought. Then he brokeout:

"I tell you he's the most wonderful man in the world!"

"Who, Dr. Syx? Well, I've long thought that. "

"Yes, but I mean in a different way from what you are thinking of. Doyou remember my asking you once if you believed in alchemy?"

"I remember being greatly surprised by your question to that effect. "

"Well, now, " said Hall, rubbing his hands with a satisfied air, whilehis eyes glanced keen and bright with the reflection of some passingthought, "Max Syx is greater than any alchemist that ever lived. Ifthose old fellows in the dark ages had accomplished everything theyset out to do, they would have been of no more consequence incomparison with our black-browed friend down yonder than--than my headis of consequence in comparison with the moon. "

"I fear you flatter the man in the moon, " was my laughing reply. 

"No, I don't, " returned Hall, "and some day you'll admit it. "

"Well, what about that something that shines down there? You seem tosee more in it than I can. "

But my companion had fallen into a reverie and didn't hear myquestion. He was gazing abstractedly at the faint image of the waningmoon, now nearing the distant mountain-top over in Idaho. Presentlyhis mind seemed to return to the old magnet, and he whirled about andglanced down at the Syx mill. The column of smoke was diminishing involume, an indication that the engine was about to enjoy one of itsperiodical rests. The irregularity of these stoppages had always beena subject of remark among practical engineers. The hours of labor wereexceedingly erratic, but the engine had never been known to work atnight, except on one occasion, and then only for a few minutes, whenit was suddenly stopped on account of a fire. 

Just as Hall resumed his inspection two huge quarter spheres, whichhad been resting wide apart on the roof, moved towards one anotheruntil their arched sections met over the circular aperture which theycovered like the dome of an observatory. 

"I expected it, " Hall remarked. "But come, it is mid-afternoon, and weshall need all of our time to get safely down before the light fades. "

As I have already explained, it would not have been possible for us toreturn the way we came. We determined to descend the comparativelyeasy western slopes of the peak, and pass the night on that side ofthe mountain. Letting ourselves down with the rope into the hollow waythat divides the summit of the Teton into two pinnacles, we had nodifficulty in descending by the route followed by all previousclimbers. The weather was fine, and, having found good shelter amongthe rocks, we passed the night in comfort. The next day we succeededin swinging round upon the eastern flank of the Teton, below the moreformidable cliffs, and, just at nightfall, we arrived at thestation. As we passed the Syx mine the doctor himself confrontedus. There was a very displeasing look on his dark countenance, and hissneer was strongly marked. 

"So you have been on top of the Teton?" he said. 

"Yes, " replied Hall, very blandly, "and if you have a taste for thatsort of thing I should advise you to go up. The view is immense, asfine as the best in the Alps. "

"Pretty ingenious plan, that balloon of yours, " continued the doctor, still looking black. 

"Thank you, " Hall replied, more suavely than ever. "I've been planningthat a long time. You probably don't know that mountaineering used tobe my chief amusement. "

The doctor turned away without pursuing the conversation. 

"I could kick myself, " Hall muttered as soon as Dr. Syx was out ofearshot. "If my absurd wish to outdo others had not blinded me, Ishould have known that he would see us going up this side of the peak, particularly with the balloon to give us away. However, what's donecan't be undone. He may not really suspect the truth, and if he doeshe can't help himself, even though he is the richest man in theworld. "

XI

STRANGE FATE OF A KITE

"Are you ready for another tramp?" was Andrew Hall's greeting when wemet early on the morning following our return from the peak. 

"Certainly I am. What is your programme for to-day?"

"I wish to test the flying qualities of a kite which I haveconstructed since our return last night. "

"You don't allow the calls of sleep to interfere very much with youractivity. "

"I haven't much time for sleep just now, " replied Hall, withoutsmiling. "The kite test will carry us up the flanks of the Teton, butI am not going to try for the top this time. If you will come alongI'll ask you to help me by carrying and operating a light transit Ishall carry another myself. I am desirous to get the elevation thatthe kite attains and certain other data that will be of use to me. Wewill make a detour towards the south, for I don't want old Syx'ssuspicions to be prodded any more. "

"What interest can he have in your kite-flying?"

"The same interest that a burglar has in the rap of a policeman'snight-stick. "

"Then your experiment to-day has some connection with the solution ofthe great mystery?"

"My dear fellow, " said Hall, laying his hand on my shoulder, "until Isee the end of that mystery I shall think of nothing else. "

In a few hours we were clambering over the broken rocks on thesouth-eastern flank of the Teton at an elevation of about threethousand feet above the level of Jackson's Hole. Finally Hall pausedand began to put his kite together. It was a small box-shaped affair, very light in construction, with paper sides. 

"In order to diminish the chances of Dr. Syx noticing what we areabout, " he said, as he worked away, "I have covered the kite withsky-blue paper. This, together with distance, will probably insure usagainst his notice. "

In a few minutes the kite was ready. Having ascertained the directionof the wind with much attention, he stationed me with my transit on acommanding rock, and sought another post for himself at a distance oftwo hundred yards, which he carefully measured with a gold tape. Myinstructions were to keep the telescope on the kite as soon as it hadattained a considerable height, and to note the angle of elevation andthe horizontal angle with the base line joining our points ofobservation. 

"Be particularly careful, " was Hall's injunction, "and if anythinghappens to the kite by all means note the angles at that instant. "

As soon as we had fixed our stations Hall began to pay out the string, and the kite rose very swiftly. As it sped away into the blue it wassoon practically invisible to the naked eye, although the telescope ofthe transit enabled me to follow it with ease. 

Glancing across now and then at my companion, I noticed that he washaving considerable difficulty in, at the same time, managing the kiteand manipulating his transit. But as the kite continued to rise andsteadied in position his task became easier, until at length he ceasedto remove his eye from the telescope while holding the string withoutstretched hand. 

"Don't lose sight of it now for an instant!" he shouted. 

For at least half an hour he continued to manipulate the string, sending the kite now high towards the zenith with a sudden pull, andthen letting it drift off. It seemed at last to become almost a fixedpoint. Very slowly the angles changed, when, suddenly, there was aflash, and to my amazement I saw the paper of the kite shrivel anddisappear in a momentary flame, and then the bare sticks came tumblingout of the sky. 

"Did you get the angles?" yelled Hall, excitedly. 

"Yes; the telescope is yet pointed on the spot where the kitedisappeared. "

"Read them off, " he called, "and then get your angle with the Syxworks. "

"All right, " I replied, doing as he had requested, and noticing at thesame time that he was in the act of putting his watch in hispocket. "Is there anything else?" I asked. 

"No, that will do, thank you. "

Hall came running over, his face beaming, and with the air of a manwho has just hooked a particularly cunning old trout. 

"Ah!" he exclaimed, "this has been a great success! I could almostdispense with the calculation, but it is best to be sure. "

"What are you about, anyhow?" I asked, "and what was it that happenedto the kite?"

"Don't interrupt me just now, please, " was the only reply I received. 

Thereupon my friend sat down on a rock, pulled out a pad of paper, noted the angles which I had read on the transit, and fell to figuringwith feverish haste. In the course of his work he consulted a pocketalmanac, then glanced up at the sky, muttered approvingly, and finallyleaped to his feet with a half-suppressed "Hurrah!" If I had not knownhim so well I should have thought that he had gone daft. 

"Will you kindly tell me, " I asked, "how you managed to set the kiteafire?"

Hall laughed heartily. "You though it was a trick, did you?" saidhe. "Well, it was no trick, but a very beautiful demonstration. Yousurely haven't forgotten the scarlet tanager that gave you such asurprise the day before yesterday. "

"Do you mean" I exclaimed, startled at the suggestion, "that the fateof the bird had any connection with the accident to your kite?"

"Accident isn't precisely the right word, " replied Hall. "The twothings are as intimately related as own brothers. If you should careto hunt up the kite sticks, you would find that they, too, are nowartemisium plated. "

"This is getting too deep for me, " was all that I could say. 

"I am not absolutely confident that I have touched bottom myself, "said Hall, "but I'm going to make another dive, and if I don't bringup treasures greater than Vanderdecken found at the bottom of the sea, then Dr. Syx is even a more wonderful human mystery than I havethought him to be. "

"What do you propose to do next?"

"To shake the dust of the Grand Teton from my shoes and go to SanFrancisco, where I have an extensive laboratory. "

"So you are going to try a little alchemy yourself, are you?"

"Perhaps; who knows? At any rate, my good friend, I am foreverindebted to you for your assistance, and even more for yourdiscretion, and if I succeed you shall be the first person in theworld to hear the news. "

XII

BETTER THAN ALCHEMY

I come now to a part of my narrative which would have been deemedaltogether incredible in those closing years of the nineteenth centurythat witnessed the first steps towards the solution of the deepestmysteries of the ether, although men even then held in their hands, without knowing it, powers which, after they had been mastered andbefore use had made them familiar, seemed no less than godlike. 

For six months after Hall's departure for San Francisco I heardnothing from him. Notwithstanding my intense desire to know what hewas doing, I did not seek to disturb him in his retirement. In themeantime things ran on as usual in the world, only a ripple beingcaused by renewed discoveries of small nuggets of artemisium on theTetons, a fact which recalled to my mind the remark of my friend whenhe dislodged a flake of the metal from a crevice during our ascent ofthe peak. At last one day I received this telegram at my office in NewYork:

"SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 1940. 

"Come at once. The mystery is solved. 

"(Signed) HALL. "

As soon as I could pack a grip I was flying westward one hundred milesan hour. On reaching San Francisco, which had made enormous stridessince the opening of the twentieth century, owing to the extension ofour Oriental possessions, and which already ranked with New York andChicago among the financial capitals of the world, I hastened toHall's laboratory. He was there expecting me, and, after a heartygreeting, during which his elation over his success was manifest, hesaid:

"I am compelled to ask you to make a little journey. I found itimpossible to secure the necessary privacy here, and, before openingmy experiments, I selected a site for a new laboratory in anunfrequented spot among the mountains this side of Lake Tahoe. Youwill be the first man, with the exception of my two devotedassistants, to see my apparatus, and you shall share the sensation ofthe critical experiment. "

"Then you have not yet completed your solution of the secret?"

"Yes, I have; for I am as certain of the result as if I had seen it, but I thought you were entitled to be in with me at the death. "

From the nearest railway station we took horses to the laboratory, which occupied a secluded but most beautiful site at an elevation ofabout six thousand feet above sea-level. With considerable surprise Inoticed a building surmounted with a dome, recalling what we had seenfrom the Grand Teton on the roof of Dr. Syx's mill. Hall, observing mylook, smiled significantly, but said nothing. The laboratory properoccupied a smaller building adjoining the domed structure. Hall ledthe way into an apartment having but a single door and illuminated bya skylight. 

"This is my sanctum sanctorum, " he said, "and you are the firstoutsider to enter it. Seat yourself comfortably while I proceed tounveil a little corner of the artemisium mystery. "

Near one end of the room, which was about thirty feet in length, was atable, on which lay a glass tube about two inches in diameter andthirty inches long. In the farther end of the tube gleamed a lump ofyellow metal, which I took to be gold. Hall and I were seated nearanother table about twenty-five feet distant from the tube, and onthis table was an apparatus furnished with a concave mirror, whoseoptical axis was directed towards the tube. It occurred to me at oncethat this apparatus would be suitable for experimenting with electricwaves. Wires ran from it to the floor, and in the cellar beneath wasaudible the beating of an engine. My companion made an adjustment ortwo, and then remarked:

"Now, keep your eyes on the lump of gold in the farther end of thetube yonder. The tube is exhausted of air, and I am about toconcentrate upon the gold an intense electric influence, which willhave the effect of making it a kind of kathode pole. I only use thisterm for the sake of illustration. You will recall that as long ago asthe days of Crookes it was known that a kathode in an exhausted tubewould project particles, or atoms, of its substance away in straightlines. Now watch!"

I fixed my attention upon the gold, and presently saw it enveloped ina most beautiful violet light. This grew more intense, until, attimes, it was blinding, while, at the same moment, the interior of thetube seemed to have become charged with a luminous vapor of a delicatepinkish hue. 

"Watch! Watch!" said Hall. "Look at the nearer end of the tube!"

"Why, it is becoming coated with gold!" I exclaimed. 

He smiled, but made no reply. Still the strange process continued. Thepink vapor became so dense that the lump of gold was no longervisible, although the eye of violet light glared piercingly throughthe colored fog. Every second the deposit of metal, shining like amirror, increased, until suddenly there came a curious whistlingsound. Hall, who had been adjusting the mirror, jerked away his handand gave it a flip, as if hot water had spattered it, and then thelight in the tube quickly died away, the vapor escaped, filling theroom with a peculiar stimulating odor, and I perceived that the end ofthe glass tube had been melted through, and the molten gold was slowlydripping from it. 

"I carried it a little too far, " said Hall, ruefully rubbing the backof his hand, "and when the glass gave way under the atomic bombardmenta few atoms of gold visited my bones. But there is no harm done. Youobserved that the instant the air reached the kathode, as I forconvenience call the electrified mass of gold, the action ceased. "

"But your anode, to continue your simile, " I said, "is constantlyexposed to the air. "

"True, " he replied, "but in the first place, of course, this is notreally an anode, just as the other is not actually a kathode. Asscience advances we are compelled, for a time, to use old terms in anew sense until a fresh nomenclature can be invented. But we are nowdealing with a form of electric action more subtile in its effectsthan any at present described in the text-books and the transactionsof learned societies. I have not yet even attempted to work out thetheory of it. I am only concerned with its facts. "

"But wonderful as the exhibition you have given is, I do not see, " Isaid, "how it concerns Dr. Syx and his artemisium. "

"Listen, " replied Hall, settling back in his chair after disconnectinghis apparatus. "You no doubt have been told how one night the Syxengine was heard working for a few minutes, the first and only nightwork it was ever known to have done, and how, hardly had it started upwhen a fire broke out in the mill, and the engine was instantlystopped. Now there is a very remarkable story connected with that, andit will show you how I got my first clew to the mystery, although itwas rather a mere suspicion than a clew, for at first I could makenothing out of it. The alleged fire occurred about a fortnight afterour discovery of the double tunnel. My mind was then full ofsuspicions concerning Syx, because I thought that a man who would foolpeople with one hand was not likely to deal fairly with the other. 

"It was a glorious night, with a full moon, whose face was so clear inthe limpid air that, having found a snug place at the foot of ayellow-pine-tree, where the ground was carpeted with odoriferousneedles, I lay on my back and renewed my early acquaintance with theromantically named mountains and 'seas' of the Lunar globe. With mybinocular I could trace those long white streaks which radiate fromthe crater ring, called 'Tycho, ' and run hundreds of miles in alldirections over the moon. As I gazed at these singular objects Irecalled the various theories which astronomers, puzzled by theirenigmatical aspect, have offered to a more or less confiding publicconcerning them. 

"In the midst of my meditation and moon gazing I was startled byhearing the engine in the Syx works suddenly begin to run. Immediatelya queer light, shaped like the beam of a ship's searchlight, butreddish in color, rose high in the moonlit heavens above the mill. Itdid not last more than a minute or two, for almost instantly theengine was stopped, and with its stoppage the light faded and soondisappeared. The next day Dr. Syx gave it out that on starting up hisengine in the night something had caught fire, which compelled himimmediately to shut down again. The few who had seen the light, withthe exception of your humble servant, accepted the doctor'sexplanation without a question. But I knew there had been no fire, andSyx's anxiety to spread the lie led me to believe that he had narrowlyescaped giving away a vital secret. I said nothing about mysuspicions, but upon inquiry I found out that an extra and pressingorder for metal had arrived from the Austrian government the very dayof the pretended fire, and I drew the inference that Syx, in his hasteto fill the order--his supply having been drawn low--had started towork, contrary to his custom, at night, and had immediately foundreason to repent his rashness. Of course, I connected the strangelight with this sudden change of mind. 

"My suspicion having been thus stimulated, and having been directed ina certain way, I began, from that moment to notice closely the hoursduring which the engine labored. At night it was always quiet, excepton that one brief occasion. Sometimes it began early in the morningand stopped about noon. At other times the work was done entirely inthe afternoon, beginning sometimes as late as three or four o'clock, and ceasing invariably at sundown. Then again it would start atsunrise and continue the whole day through. 

"For a long time I was unable to account for these eccentricities, andthe problem was not rendered much clearer, although a startlingsuggestiveness was added to it, when, at length, I noticed that theperiods of activity of the engine had a definite relation to the ageof the moon. Then I discovered, with the aid of an almanac, that Icould predict the hours when the engine would be busy. At the time ofnew moon it worked all day; at full moon, it was idle; between fullmoon and last quarter, it labored in the forenoon, the length of itsworking hours increasing as the quarter was approached; between lastquarter and new moon, the hours of work lengthened, until, as I havesaid, at new moon they lasted all day; between new moon and firstquarter, work began later and later in the forenoon as the quarter wasapproached, and between first quarter and full moon the laboring hoursrapidly shortened, being confined to the latter part of the afternoon, until at full moon complete silence reigned in the mill. "

"Well! well!" I broke in, greatly astonished by Hall's singularrecital, "you must have thought Dr. Syx was a cross between analchemist and an astrologer. "

"Note this, " said Hall, disregarding my interruption, "the hours whenthe engine worked were invariably the hours during which the moon wasabove the horizon!"

"What did you infer from that?" "Of course, I inferred that the moonwas directly concerned in the mystery; but how? That bothered me for along time, but a little light broke into my mind when I picked up, onthe mountain-side, a dead bird, whose scorched feathers were bronzedwith artemisium, and sometime later another similar victim of amysterious form of death. Then came the attack on the mine and itstragic finish. I have already told you what I observed on thatoccasion. But, instead of helping to clear up the mystery, it rathercomplicated it for a time. At length, however, I reasoned my waypartly out of the difficulty. Certain things which I had noticed inthe Syx mill convinced me that there was a part of the building whoseexistence no visitor suspected, and, putting one thing with another, Iinferred that the roof must be open above that secret part of thestructure, and that if I could get upon a sufficiently elevated placeI could see something of what was hidden there. 

"At this point in the investigation I proposed to you the trip to thetop of the Teton, the result of which you remember. I had calculatedthe angles with great care, and I felt certain that from the apex ofthe mountain I should be able to get a view into the concealedchamber, and into just that side of it which I wished particularly toinspect. You remember that I called your attention to a shining objectunderneath the circular opening in the roof. You could not make outwhat it was, but I saw enough to convince me that it was a giganticparabolic mirror. I'll show you a smaller one of the same kindpresently. 

"Now, at last, I began to perceive the real truth, but it was sowildly incredible, so infinitely remote from all human experience, that I hardly ventured to formulate it, even in my own secretmind. But I was bound to see the thing through to the end. It occurredto me that I could prove the accuracy of my theory with the aid of akite. You were kind enough to lend your assistance in that experiment, and it gave me irrefragable evidence of the existence of a shaft offlying atoms extending in a direct line between Dr. Syx's pretendedmine and the moon!"

"Hall!" I exclaimed, "you are mad!" My friend smiled good-naturedly, and went on with his story. 

"The instant the kite shrivelled and disappeared I understood why theworks were idle when the moon was not above the horizon, why birdsflying across that fatal beam fell dead upon the rocks, and whence theterrible master of that mysterious mill derived the power ofdestruction that could wither an army as the Assyrian host in Byron'spoem

 "Melted like snow in the glance of the Lord. "

"But how did Dr. Syx turn the flying atoms against his enemies?" Iasked. 

"In a very simple manner. He had a mirror mounted so that it could beturned in any direction, and would shunt the stream of metallic atoms, heated by their friction with the air, towards any desired point. Whenthe attack came he raised this machine above the level of the roof andswept the mob to a lustrous, if expensive, death. "

"And the light at night--"

"Was the shining of the heated atoms, not luminous enough to bevisible in broad day, for which reason the engine never worked atnight, and the stream of volatilized artemisium was never set flowingat full moon, when the lunar globe is above the horizon only duringthe hours of darkness. "

"I see, " I said, "whence came the nuggets on the mountain. Some of theatoms, owing to the resistance of the air, fell short and settled inthe form of impalpable dust until the winds and rains collected andcompacted them in the cracks and crevices of the rocks. "

"That was it, of course. "

"And now, " I added, my amazement at the success of Hall's experimentsand the accuracy of his deductions increasing every moment, "do yousay that you have also discovered the means employed by Dr. Syx toobtain artemisium from the moon?"

"Not only that, " replied my friend, "but within the next few minutes Ishall have the pleasure of presenting to you a button of moon metal, fresh from the veins of Artemis herself. "

XIII

THE LOOTING OF THE MOON

I shall spare the reader a recital of the tireless efforts, continuingthrough many almost sleepless weeks, whereby Andrew Hall obtained hisclew to Dr. Syx's method. It was manifest from the beginning that theagent concerned must be some form of etheric, or so-called electric, energy; but how to set it in operation was the problem. Finally he hitupon the apparatus for his initial experiments which I have alreadydescribed. 

"Recurring to what had been done more than half a century ago byHertz, when he concentrated electric waves upon a focal point by meansof a concave mirror, " said Hall, "I saw that the key I wanted lay inan extension of these experiments. At last I found that I couldtransform the energy of an engine into undulations of the ether, which, when they had been concentrated upon a metallic object, like achunk of gold, imparted to it an intense charge of an apparentlyelectric nature. Upon thus charging a metallic body enclosed in avacuum, I observed that the energy imparted to it possessed theremarkable power of disrupting its atoms and projecting them off instraight lines, very much as occurs with a kathode in a Crookes'stube. But--and this was of supreme importance--I found that the lineof projection was directly towards the apparatus from which theimpulse producing the charge had come. In other words, I could producetwo poles between which a marvellous interaction occurred. Mytransformer, with its concentrating mirror, acted as one pole, fromwhich energy was transferred to the other pole, and that other poleimmediately flung off atoms of its own substance in the direction ofthe transformer. But these atoms were stopped by the glass wall ofthe vacuum tube; and when I tried the experiment with the metalremoved from the vacuum, and surrounded with air, it failed utterly. 

"This at first completely discouraged me, until I suddenly rememberedthat the moon is in a vacuum, the great vacuum of interplanetaryspace, and that it possesses no perceptible atmosphere of its own. Atthis a great light broke around me, and I shouted 'Eureka!' Withouthesitation I constructed a transformer of great power, furnished witha large parabolic mirror to transmit the waves in parallel lines, erected the machinery and buildings here, and when all was ready forthe final experiment I telegraphed for you. " Prepared by theseexplanations I was all on fire to see the thing tried. Hall was noless eager, and, calling in his two faithful assistants to make thefinal adjustments, he led the way into what he facetiously named "thelunar chamber. "

"If we fail, " he remarked with a smile that had an element ofworriment in it, "it will become the 'lunatic chamber'--but no dangerof that. You observe this polished silver knob, supported by ametallic rod curved over at the top like a crane. That constitutes thepole from which I propose to transmit the energy to the moon, and uponwhich I expect the storm of atoms to be centred by reflection from themirror at whose focus it is placed. "

"One moment, " I said. "Am I to understand that you think that the moonis a solid mass of artemisium, and that no matter where your radiantforce strikes it a 'kathodic pole' will be formed there from whichatoms will be projected to the earth?"

"No, " said Hall, "I must carefully choose the point on the lunarsurface where to operate. But that will present no difficulty. I madeup my mind as soon as I had penetrated Syx's secret that he obtainedthe metal from those mystic white streaks which radiate from Tycho, and which have puzzled the astronomers ever since the invention oftelescopes. I now believe those streaks to be composed of immenseveins of the metal that Syx has most appropriately named artemisium, which you, of course, recognize as being derived from the name of theGreek goddess of the moon, Artemis, whom the Romans called Diana. Butnow to work!"

It was less than a day past the time of new moon, and the earth'ssatellite was too near the sun to be visible in broad daylight. Accordingly, the mirror had to be directed by means of knowledge ofthe moon's place in the sky. Driven by accurate clockwork, it could bedepended upon to retain the proper direction when once set. 

With breathless interest I watched the proceedings of my friend andhis assistants. The strain upon the nerves of all of us was such ascould not have been borne for many hours at a stretch. When everythinghad been adjusted to his satisfaction, Hall stepped back, not withoutbetraying his excitement in flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, andpressed a lever. The powerful engine underneath the floor instantlyresponded. The experiment was begun. 

"I have set it upon a point about a hundred miles north of Tycho, where the Yerkes photographs show a great abundance of the whitesubstance, " said Hall. 

Then we waited. A minute elapsed. A bird, fluttering in the openingabove, for a second or two, wrenched our strained nerves. Hall's faceturned pale. 

"They had better keep away from here, " he whispered, with a ghastlysmile. 

Two minutes! I could hear the beating of my heart. The engine shookthe floor. 

Three minutes! Hall's face was wet with perspiration. The birdblundered in and startled us again. 

Four minutes! We were like statues, with all eyes fixed on thepolished ball of silver, which shone in the brilliant lightconcentrated upon it by the mirror. 

Five minutes! The shining ball had become a confused blue, and Iviolently winked to clear my vision. 

"At last! Thank God! Look! There it is!"

It was Hall who spoke, trembling like an aspen. The silver knob hadchanged color. What seemed a miniature rainbow surrounded it, withconcentric circles of blinding brilliance. 

Then something dropped flashing into an earthen dish set beneath theball! Another glittering drop followed, and, at a shorter interval, another!

Almost before a word could be uttered the drops had coalesced andbecome a tiny stream, which, as it fell, twisted itself into a brightspiral, gleaming with a hundred shifting hues, and forming on thebottom of the dish a glowing, interlacing maze of viscid rings andcirclets, which turned and twined about and over one another, untilthey had blended and settled into a button-shaped mass of hot metallicjelly. Hall snatched the dish away, and placed another in its stead. 

"This will be about right for a watch charm when it cools, " he said, with a return of his customary self-command. "I promised you the firstspecimen. I'll catch another for myself. "

"But can it be possible that we are not dreaming?" I exclaimed. "Doyou really believe that this comes from the moon?"

"Just as surely as rain comes from the clouds, " cried Hall, with allhis old impatience. "Haven't I just showed you the whole process?"

"Then I congratulate you. You will be as rich as Dr. Syx. "

"Perhaps, " was the unperturbed reply, "but not until I have enlargedmy apparatus. At present I shall hardly do more than supply mementoesto my friends. But since the principle is established, the rest ismere detail. "

Six weeks later the financial centres of the earth were shaken by thenews that a new supply of artemisium was being marketed from a millwhich had been secretly opened in the Sierras of California. For atime there was almost a panic. If Hall had chosen to do so, he mighthave precipitated serious trouble. But he immediately entered intonegotiations with government representatives, and the inevitableresult was that, to preserve the monetary system of the world fromupheaval, Dr. Syx had to consent that Hall's mill should share equallywith his in the production of artemisium. During the negotiations thedoctor paid a visit to Hall's establishment. The meeting between themwas most dramatic. Syx tried to blast his rival with a glance, butknowledge is power, and my friend faced his mysterious antagonist, whose deepest secrets he had penetrated, with an unflinching eye. Itwas remarked that Dr. Syx became a changed man from that moment. Hismasterful air seemed to have deserted him, and it was with somethingresembling humility that he assented to the arrangement which requiredhim to share his enormous gains with his conqueror. 

Of course, Hall's success led to an immediate recrudescence of theefforts to extract artemisium from the Syx ore, and, equally ofcourse, every such attempt failed. Hall, while keeping his own secret, did all he could to discourage the experiments, but they naturallybelieved that he must have made the very discovery which was thesubject of their dreams, and he could not, without betraying himself, and upsetting the finances of the planet, directly undeceive them. Theconsequence was that fortunes were wasted in hopeless experimentation, and, with Hall's achievement dazzling their eyes, the deludedfortune-seekers kept on in the face of endless disappointments anddisaster. 

And presently there came another tragedy. The Syx mill was blown up!The accident--although many people refused to regard it as anaccident, and asserted that the doctor himself, in his chagrin, hadapplied the match--the explosion, then, occurred about sundown, andits effects were awful. The great works, with everything pertaining tothem, and every rail that they contained, were blown to atoms. Theydisappeared as if they had never existed. Even the twin tunnels wereinvolved in the ruin, a vast cavity being left in the mountain-sidewhere Syx's ten acres had been. The force of the explosion was sogreat that the shattered rock was reduced to dust. To this fact wasowing the escape of the troops camped near. While the mountain wasshaken to its core, and enormous parapets of living rock were hurleddown the precipices of the Teton, no missiles of appreciable sizetraversed the air, and not a man at the camp was injured. ButJackson's Hole, filled with red dust, looked for days afterwards likethe mouth of a tremendous volcano just after an eruption. Dr. Syx hadbeen seen entering the mill a few minutes before the catastrophe by asentinel who was stationed about a quarter of a mile away, and who, although he was felled like an ox by the shock, and had his eyes, ears, and nostrils filled with flying dust, miraculously escaped withhis life. 

After this a new arrangement was made whereby Andrew Hall became thesole producer of artemisium, and his wealth began to mount by leaps ofmillions towards the starry heights of the billions. 

About a year after the explosion of the Syx mill a strange rumor gotabout. It came first from Budapest, in Hungary, where it was averredseveral persons of credibility had seen Dr. Max Syx. Millions had beenfamiliar with his face and his personal peculiarities, throughactually meeting him, as well as through photographs and descriptions, and, unless there was an intention to deceive, it did not seempossible that a mistake could be made in identification. There surelynever was another man who looked just like Dr. Syx. And, besides, wasit not demonstrable that he must have perished in the awfuldestruction of his mill?

Soon after came a report that Dr. Syx had been seen again; this timeat Ekaterinburg, in the Urals. Next he was said to have paid a visitto Batang, in the mountainous district of southwestern China, andfinally, according to rumor, he was seen in Sicily, at Nicolosi, amongthe volcanic pimples on the southern slope of Mount Etna. 

Next followed something of more curious and even startling interest. Achemist at Budapest, where the first rumors of Syx's reappearance hadplaced the mysterious doctor, announced that he could produceartemisium, and proved it, although he kept his process secret. Hardlyhad the sensation caused by this news partially subsided when asimilar report arrived from Ekaterinburg; then another from Batang;after that a fourth from Nicolosi!

Nobody could fail to notice the coincidence; wherever the doctor--orwas it his ghost?--appeared, there, shortly afterwards, somebodydiscovered the much-sought secret. 

After this Syx's apparitions rapidly increased in frequency, followedin each instance by the announcement of another productive artemisiummill. He appeared in Germany, Italy, France, England, and finally atmany places in the United States. 

"It is the old doctor's revenge, " said Hall to me one day, trying tosmile, although the matter was too serious to be taken humorously. "Yes, it is his revenge, and I must admit that it is complete. Theprice of artemisium has fallen one-half within six months. All theefforts we have made to hold back the flood have proved useless. Thesecret itself is becoming public property. We shall inevitably beoverwhelmed with artemisium, just as we were with gold, and the lastcondition of the financial world will be worse than the first. "

My friend's gloomy prognostications came near being fulfilled to theletter. Ten thousand artemisium mills shot their etheric rays upon themoon, and our unfortunate satellite's metal ribs were stripped byatomic force. Some of the great white rays that had been one of thetelescopic wonders of the lunar landscapes disappeared, and the faceof the moon, which had remained unchanged before the eyes of thechildren of Adam from the beginning of their race, now looked as ifthe blast of a furnace had swept it. At night, on the moonward side, the earth was studded with brilliant spikes, all pointed at the heartof its child in the sky. 

But the looting of the moon brought disaster to the robber planet. Somad were the efforts to get the precious metal that the surface of ourglobe was fairly showered with it, productive fields were, in somecases, almost smothered under a metallic coating, the air was filledwith shining dust, until finally famine and pestilence joined handswith financial disaster to punish the grasping world. 

Then, at last, the various governments took effective measures toprotect themselves and their people. Another combined effort resultedin an international agreement whereby the production of the preciousmoon metal was once more rigidly controlled. But the existence of amonopoly, such as Dr. Syx had so long enjoyed, and in the enjoyment ofwhich Andrew Hall had for a brief period succeeded him, was henceforthrendered impossible. 

XIV

THE LAST OF DR. SYX

Many years after the events last recorded I sat, at the close of abrilliant autumn day, side by side with my old friend Andrew Hall, ona broad, vine-shaded piazza which faced the east, where the full moonwas just rising above the rim of the Sierra, and replacing the rosycounter-glow of sunset with its silvery radiance. The sight wascalculated to carry the minds of both back to the events of formeryears. But I noticed that Hall quickly changed the position of hischair, and sat down again with his back to the rising moon. He hadmanaged to save some millions from the wreck of his vast fortune whenartemisium started to go to the dogs, and I was now paying him one ofmy annual visits at his palatial home in California. 

"Did I ever tell you of my last trip to the Teton?" he asked, as Icontinued to gaze contemplatively at the broad lunar disk which slowlydetached itself from the horizon and began to swim in the clearevening sky. 

"No, " I replied, "but I should like to hear about it. "

"Or of my last sight of Dr. Syx?"

"Indeed! I did not suppose that you ever saw him after that conferencein your mill, when he had to surrender half of the world to you. "

"Once only I saw him again, " said Hall, with a peculiar intonation. 

"Pray go ahead, and tell me the whole story. "

My friend lighted a fresh cigar, tipped his chair into a morecomfortable position, and began:

"It was about seven years ago. I had long felt an unconquerable desireto have another look at the Teton and the scenes amid which so manystrange events in my life had occurred. I thought of sending for youto go with me, but I knew you were abroad much of your time, and Icould not be certain of catching you. Finally I decided to go alone. Itravelled on horseback by way of the Snake River canyon, and arrivedearly one morning in Jackson's Hole. I can tell you it was a gloomyplace, as barren and deserted as some of those Arabian wadies that youhave been describing to me. The railroad had long ago been abandoned, and the site of the military camp could scarcely be recognized. Animmense cavity with ragged walls showed where Dr. Syx's mill used tosend up its plume of black smoke. 

"As I stared up the gaunt form of the Teton, whose beetling precipiceshad been smashed and split by the great explosion, I was seized with aresistless impulse to climb it. I thought I should like to peer offagain from that pinnacle which had once formed so fateful awatch-tower for me. Turning my horse loose to graze in the grassyriver bottom, and carrying my rope tether along as a possible aid inclimbing, I set out for the ascent. I knew I could not get up theprecipices on the eastern side, which we were able to master with theaid of our balloon, and so I bore round, when I reached the steepestcliffs, until I was on the southwestern side of the peak, where theclimbing was easier. 

"But it took me a long time, and I did not reach the rift in thesummit until just before sundown. Knowing that it would be impossiblefor me to descend at night, I bethought me of the enclosure of rocks, supposed to have been made by Indians, on the western pinnacle, anddecided that I could pass the night there. 

"The perpendicular buttress forming the easternmost and highest pointof the Teton's head would have baffled me but for the fact that Ifound a long crack, probably an effect of the tremendous explosion, extending from bottom to top of the rock. Driving my toes and fingersinto this rift, I managed, with a good deal of trouble, and no littleperil, to reach the top. As I lifted myself over the edge and rose tomy feet, imagine my amazement at seeing Dr. Syx standing withinarm's-length of me!

"My breath seemed pent in my lungs, and I could not even utter theexclamation that rose to my lips. It was like meeting aghost. Notwithstanding the many reports of his having been seen invarious parts of the world, it had always been my conviction that hehad perished in the explosion. 

"Yet there he stood in the twilight, for the sun was hidden by thetime I reached the summit, his tall form erect, and his black eyesgleaming under the heavy brows as he fixed them sternly upon myface. You know I never was given to losing my nerve, but I am afraid Ilost it on that occasion. Again and again I strove to speak, but itwas impossible to move my tongue. So powerless seemed my lungs that Iwondered how I could continue breathing. 

"The doctor remained silent, but his curious smile, which, as youknow, was a thing of terror to most people, overspread hisblack-rimmed face and was broad enough to reveal the gleam of histeeth. I felt that he was looking me through and through. Thesensation was as if he had transfixed me with an ice-cold blade. Therewas a gleam of devilish pleasure in his eyes, as though my evidentsuffering was a delight to him and a gratification of hisvengeance. At length I succeeded in overcoming the feeling whichoppressed me, and, making a step forward, I shouted in a strainedvoice, "'You black Satan!'

"I cannot clearly explain the psychological process which led me toutter those words. I had never entertained any enmity towards Dr. Syx, although I had always regarded him as a heartless person, who hadpurposely led thousands to their ruin for his selfish gain, but I knewthat he could not help hating me, and I felt now that, in someinexplicable manner, a struggle, not physical, but spiritual, wastaking place between us, and my exclamation, uttered with surprisingintensity, produced upon me, and apparently upon him, the effect of adesperate sword thrust which attains its mark. 

"Immediately the doctor's form seemed to recede, as if he had passedthe verge of the precipice behind him. At the same time it became dim, and then dimmer, until only the dark outlines, and particularly thejet-black eyes, glaring fiercely, remained visible. And still hereceded, as though floating in the air, which was now silvered withthe evening light, until he appeared to cross the immense atmosphericgulf over Jackson's Hole and paused on the rim of the horizon in theeast. 

"Then, suddenly, I became aware that the full moon had risen at thevery place on the distant mountain-brow where the spectre rested, andas I continued to gaze, as if entranced, the face and figure of thedoctor seemed slowly to frame themselves within the lunar disk, untilat last he appeared to have quitted the air and the earth and to befrowning at me from the circle of the moon. "

While Hall was pronouncing his closing words I had begun to stare atthe moon with swiftly increasing interest, until, as his voicestopped, I exclaimed, "Why, there he is now! Funny I never noticed it before. There'sDr. Syx's face in the moon, as plain as day. "

"Yes, " replied Hall, without turning round, "and I never like to lookat it. "