The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) - Arthur B. Reeve (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

Limit To Join

With Me,  Furnish The Influence And Standing While I Furnish The

Brains And The Invention. Either We Must Get The Government

Interested And Sell The Invention To It,  Or We Must Get Government

Protection And Special Legislation. I Am Not Seeking Capital; I Am

Seeking Protection. First Let Me Show You Something."

 

He Turned A Switch,  And A Part Of The Collection Of Apparatus

Began To Vibrate.

 

"You Are Undoubtedly Acquainted With The Modern Theories Of

Matter," He Began,  Plunging Into The Explanation Of His Process.

"Starting With The Atom,  We Believe No Longer That It Is

Indivisible. Atoms Are Composed Of Thousands Of Ions,  As They Are

Called,--Really Little Electric Charges. Again,  You Know That We

Have Found That All The Elements Fall Into Groups. Each Group Has

Certain Related Atomic Weights And Properties Which Can Be And

Have Been Predicted In Advance Of The Discovery Of Missing

Elements In The Group. I Started With The Reasonable Assumption

That The Atom Of One Element In A Group Could Be Modified So As To

Part 3 Chapter 11 (The Invisible Ray) Pg 132

Become The Atom Of Another Element In The Group,  That One Group

Could Perhaps Be Transformed Into Another,  And So On,  If Only I

Knew The Force That Would Change The Number Or Modify The

Vibrations Of These Ions Composing The Various Atoms.

 

"Now For Years I Have Been Seeking That Force Or Combination Of

Forces That Would Enable Me To Produce This Change In The

Elements--Raising Or Lowering Them In The Scale,  So To Speak. I

Have Found It. I Am Not Going To Tell You Or Any Other Man Whom

You May Interest The Secret Of How It Is Done Until I Find Some

One I Can Trust As I Trust Myself. But I Am None The Less Willing

That You Should See The Results. If They Are Not Convincing,  Then

Nothing Can Be."

 

He Appeared To Be Debating Whether To Explain Further,  And Finally

Resumed: "Matter Thus Being In Reality A Manifestation Of Force Or

Ether In Motion,  It Is Necessary To Change And Control That Force

And Motion. This Assemblage Of Machines Here Is For That Purpose.

Now A Few Words As To My Theory."

 

He Took A Pencil And Struck A Sharp Blow On The Table. "There You

Have A Single Blow," He Said,  "Just One Isolated Noise. Now If I

Strike This Tuning Fork You Have A Vibrating Note. In Other Words,

A Succession Of Blows Or Wave Vibrations Of A Certain Kind Affects

The Ear And We Call It Sound,  Just As A Succession Of Other Wave

Vibrations Affects The Retina And We Have Sight. If A Moving

Picture Moves Slower Than A Certain Number Of Pictures A Minute

You See The Separate Pictures; Faster It Is One Moving Picture.

 

"Now As We Increase The Rapidity Of Wave Vibration And Decrease

The Wave Length We Pass From Sound Waves To Heat Waves Or What Are

Known As The Infra-Red Waves,  Those Which Lie Below The Red In The

Spectrum Of Light. Next We Come To Light,  Which Is Composed Of The

Seven Colours As You Know From Seeing Them Resolved In A Prism.

After That Are What Are Known As The Ultra-Violet Rays,  Which Lie

Beyond The Violet Of White Light. We Also Have Electric Waves,  The

Waves Of The Alternating Current,  And Shorter Still We Find The

Hertzian Waves,  Which Are Used In Wireless. We Have Only Begun To

Know Of X-Rays And The Alpha,  Beta,  And Gamma Rays From Them,  Of

Radium,  Radioactivity,  And Finally Of This New Force Which I Have

Discovered And Call 'Protodyne,' The Original Force.

 

"In Short,  We Find In The Universe Matter,  Force,  And Ether.

Matter Is Simply Ether In Motion,  Is Composed Of Corpuscles,

Electrically Charged Ions,  Or Electrons,  Moving Units Of Negative

Electricity About One One-Thousandth Part Of The Hydrogen Atom.

Matter Is Made Up Of Electricity And Nothing But Electricity. Let

Us See What That Leads To. You Are Acquainted With Mendeleeff's

Periodic Table?"

 

He Drew Forth A Huge Chart On Which All The Eighty Or So Elements

Were Arranged In Eight Groups Or Octaves And Twelve Series.

Selecting One,  He Placed His Finger On The Letters "Au," Under

Which Was Written The Number,  197.2. I Wondered What The Mystic

Letters And Figures Meant.

 

"That," He Explained,  "Is The Scientific Name For The Element Gold

And The Figure Is Its Atomic Weight. You Will See," He Added,

Pointing Down The Second Vertical Column On The Chart,  "That Gold

Belongs To The Hydrogen Group--Hydrogen,  Lithium,  Sodium,

Potassium,  Copper,  Rubidium,  Silver,  Caesium,  Then Two Blank

Spaces For Elements Yet To Be Discovered To Science,  Then Gold,

And Finally Another Unknown Element."

 

Running His Finger Along The Eleventh,  Horizontal Series,  He,

Continued: "The Gold Series--Not The Group--Reads Gold,  Mercury,

Thallium,  Lead,  Bismuth,  And Other Elements Known Only To Myself.

For The Known Elements,  However,  These Groups And Series Are Now

Perfectly Recognised By All Scientists; They Are Determined By The

Fixed Weight Of The Atom,  And There Is A Close Approximation To

Regularity.

Part 3 Chapter 11 (The Invisible Ray) Pg 133

 

"This Twelfth Series Is Interesting. So Far Only Radium,  Thorium,

And Uranium Are Generally Known. We Know That The Radioactive

Elements Are Constantly Breaking Down,  And One Often Hears

Uranium,  For Instance,  Called The 'Parent' Of Radium. Radium Also

Gives Off An Emanation,  And Among Its Products Is Helium,  Quite

Another Element. Thus The Transmutation Of Matter Is Well Known

Within Certain Bounds To All Scientists To-Day Like Yourself,

Professor Kennedy. It Has Even Been Rumoured But Never Proved That

Copper Has Been Transformed Into Lithium--Both Members Of The

Hydrogen-Gold Group,  You Will Observe. Copper To Lithium Is Going

Backward,  So To Speak. It Has Remained For Me To Devise This

Protodyne Apparatus By Which I Can Reverse That Process Of Decay

And Go Forward In The Table,  So To Put It--Can Change Lithium Into

Copper And Copper Into Gold. I Can Create And Destroy Matter By

Protodyne."

 

He Had Been Fingering A Switch As He Spoke. Now He Turned It On

Triumphantly. A Curious Snapping And Crackling Noise Followed,

Becoming More Rapid,  And As It Mounted In Intensity I Could Smell

A Pungent Odour Of Ozone Which Told Of An Electric Discharge. On

Went The Machine Until We Could Feel Heat Radiating From It. Then

Came A Piercing Burst Of Greenish-Blue Light From A Long Tube

Which Looked Like A Curious Mercury Vapour Lamp.

 

After A Few Minutes Of This Prescott Took A Small Crucible Of

Black Lead. "Now We Are Ready To Try It," He Cried In Great

Excitement. "Here I Have A Crucible Containing Some Copper. Any

Substance In The Group Would Do,  Even Hydrogen If There Was Any

Way I Could Handle The Gas. I Place It In The Machine--So. Now If

You Could Watch Inside You Would See It Change; It Is Now

Rubidium,  Now Silver,  Now Caesium. Now It Is A Hitherto Unknown

Element Which I Have Named After Myself,  Presium,  Now A Second

Unknown Element,  Cottium--Ah!--There We Have Gold."

 

He Drew Forth The Crucible,  And There Glowed In It A Little Bead

Or Globule Of Molten Gold.

 

"I Could Have Taken Lead Or Mercury And By Varying The Process

Done The Same Thing With The Gold Series As Well As The Gold

Group," He Said,  Regarding The Globule With Obvious Pride. "And I

Can Put This Gold Back And Bring It Out Copper Or Hydrogen,  Or

Better Yet,  Can Advance It Instead Of Cause It To Decay,  And Can

Get A Radioactive Element Which I Have Named Morganium--After My

First Name,  Morgan Prescott. Morganium Is A Radioactive Element

Next In The Series To Radium And Much More Active. Come Closer And

Examine The Gold."

 

Kennedy Shook His Head As If Perfectly Satisfied To Accept The

Result. As For Me I Knew Not What To Think. It Was All So

Plausible And There Was The Bead Of Gold,  Too,  That I Turned To

Craig For Enlightenment. Was He Convinced? His Face Was

Inscrutable.

 

But As I Looked I Could See That Kennedy Had Been Holding

Concealed In The Palm Of His Hand A Bit Of What Might Be A

Mineral. From My Position I Could See The Bit Of Mineral Glowing,

But Prescott Could Not.

 

"Might I Ask," Interrupted Kennedy,  "What That Curious Greenish Or

Bluish Light From The Tube Is Composed Of?"

 

Prescott Eyed Him Keenly For An Instant Through His Thick Glasses.

Craig Had Shifted His Gaze From The Bit Of Mineral In His Own

Hand,  But Was Not Looking At The Light. He Seemed To Be

Indifferently Contemplating Prescott's Hand As It Rested On The

Switch.

 

"That,  Sir," Replied Prescott Slowly,  "Is An Emanation Due To This

New Force,  Protodyne,  Which I Use. It Is A Manifestation Of

Energy,  Sir,  That May Run Changes Not Only Through The Whole Gamut

Part 3 Chapter 11 (The Invisible Ray) Pg 134

Of The Elements,  But Is Capable Of Transforming The Ether Itself

Into Matter,  Matter Into Life,  And Life Into Mind. It Is The

Outward Sign Of The Unity Of Nature,  The--"

 

"The Means By Which You Secure The Curious Telepagrams I Have

Heard Of?" Inquired Kennedy Eagerly.

 

Prescott Looked At Him Sharply,  And For A Moment I Thought His

Face Seemed To Change From A Livid White To An Apoplectic Red,

Although It May Have Been Only The Play Of The Weird Light. When

He Spoke It Was With No Show Of Even Suppressed Surprise.

 

"Yes," He Answered Calmly. "I See That You Have Heard Something Of

Them. I Had A Curious Case A Few Days Ago. I Had Hoped To Interest

A Certain Capitalist Of High Standing In This City. I Had Showed

Him Just What I Have Showed You,  And I Think He Was Impressed By

It. Then I Thought To Clinch The Matter By A Telepagram,  But For

Some Reason Or Other I Failed To Consult The Forces I Control As

To The Wisdom Of Doing So. Had I,  I Should Have Known Better. But

I Went Ahead In Self-Confidence And Enthusiasm. I Told Him Of A

Long Banished Daughter With Whom,  In His Heart,  He Was Really

Wishing To Become Reconciled But Was Too Proud To Say The Word. He

Resented It. He Started To Stamp Out Of This Room,  But Not Before

I Had Another Telepagram Which Told Of A Misfortune That Was Soon

To Overtake The Old Man Himself. If He Had Given Me A Chance I

Might Have Saved Him,  At Least Have Flashed A Telepagram To That

Daughter Myself,  But He Gave Me No Chance. He Was Gone.

 

"I Do Not Know Precisely What Happened After