The Mystery of the Green Ray - William le Queux (ebook reader .txt) 📗

Hilderman, however, managed to reach the shelter of a ridge of rock, and I watched him as he scuttled up the mountain side, and made straight for a long grey rock which protruded from the foot of a steep crag. And as I looked, and saw him go to the rock and open a door in it, I realised that it was really a great, grey, lean-to shed, cunningly concealed. Hilderman had scarcely opened the door when a huge, dark shadow seemed to fall out of the shed and envelop him. It was Sholto. Blind, and half-mad with fury, he sprang at Hilderman’s throat with the unerring aim of his breed. The wretched man staggered and fell, and Sholto——.

I turned away from the sickening sight, and looked over the side, and saw Myra standing up, waving to me, as they drew alongside the wrecked Fiona.

And then I’m afraid I must have fainted.

I lay on the sofa in Myra’s den, and Myra—God bless her!—was kneeling beside me. Sholto was with us too, looking incredibly wise in a pair of motor-goggles.

“So you see, darling,” said Myra, “the glasses cured me completely, and I can see just as well as ever.” And I shall not repeat what I said in reply to such glorious news.

“Tell me, dear,” I asked shortly, “what exactly happened with Dennis? I haven’t quite got that.”

“Well, he saw me on my way to Glasnabinnie,” she explained, “and was determined to follow. He couldn’t find a boat of any kind, so he swam! Angus saw him in the water and ran and told daddy. When they found there was no boat they went and fetched the one on the loch, carried it down to the sea, and called Hamish. Then they pulled across. Then, you see, when Dennis had his heart attack, I thought he was only pretending. I thought he saw that we should never be able to get away again, and that if he pretended to be dead they would leave us alone. So I followed his lead. I was terribly frightened when I couldn’t make him answer me after they had gone, but before I could do anything daddy and the men arrived. Angus stopped with me, and told me where the Fiona had gone. We took the Baltimore because she is much faster than our boat. He must have been a duffer to lose that race we had. And then daddy and Hamish took Dennis—I refuse to call him Mr. Burnham after this—and brought him here and sent for Dr. Whitehouse.”

“I’m thankful he’s out of danger,” I said fervently.

“But the doctor says he must take it very, very gently for a long time, and he won’t be able to walk much for months. Did he know he had this heart trouble?”

I had scarcely finished explaining the extent of Dennis’s heroism when Garnesk arrived.

“Hilderman’s dead!” he said. “He made a full confession. It seems he is a German, and his name’s von Hilder. He has lived most of his life in America. He is a brilliant physicist, and has done some big things with electricity and light. He was here to prepare the submarine base you found, and he also got on with a new invention—The Green Ray. Of course he didn’t give the secret of that away, but we have the searchlight, and I have already tumbled to it partly. It is practically a new form of light.

“It is formed by passing violet and orange rays through tourmaline and quartz respectively. The accident to Miss McLeod was their first intimation of its blinding properties, and to the end he knew nothing about the suffocation part of it. I find by experiment that when the two rays are switched on simultaneously the air does not become de-oxygenised, but when you put the violet ray first it does, and it remains so until the orange ray is applied. The effect that Hilderman imagined, and succeeded in producing, was a ray of light which should so alter the relative density of the air as to act as a telescope. He’s done it, and it’s one of the finest achievements of science. However, I have a piece of wonderful news for you.”

“What is it?” we both demanded at once.

“The Secret of the Green Ray is ours, and ours alone. Hilderman has admitted that the reason why they did not clear it out at the first sign of suspicion was that, in their final calculations, they were unsure of their figures. That means, put popularly, that though he knew what he was trying to do, and how he meant to do it, the actual result was something of a fluke. It very often is with inventors. They had no drawings that they could rely on to make another searchlight by, so they were bound to take the whole thing back with them. They could send no figures, because the relative distances and other quantities baffled them. They could not take the searchlight back in pieces, because if any piece had been broken they might not have been able to reconstruct the proportions with critical accuracy, as we say. So what was to have been Germany’s hideous weapon of war is now ours. We have a searchlight which acts as a telescope, which will pierce the deepest fog, and which will dispel the most ungodly poisonous gases ever invented. You can see for yourself that no gas could make headway against the atmosphere you encountered the other day. Armies and navies will be absolutely powerless to advance against it. The green ray is the fourth arm of military power. So you see what you’ve done for your country, you lucky dog!”

“I!” I cried. “I like that! I’ve had less to do with it than anyone. What about you, eh?—coming running up with a gunboat at the critical moment. How did you manage that?”

“Well,” he replied, “as soon as I was in the train on my way back I solved the problem of the fateful hour—with your help, of course. You pointed out that only then was the whole of the gorge flooded with sunshine. Now, it struck me that, if it were not electricity, it would be heat or some other form of light. Then it flashed into my mind that if it were done from a searchlight possessed of some devilish properties the light would not be visible, but the properties would continue to act. Voilà! Then I had already—also with your help—had some doubt of von Hilder; and the hut was the place from which a searchlight would operate on the river. As soon as I got out of the train I taxied to my naval chief, under whom I am working throughout the war, and simply paralysed him with the whole yarn. I pitched him such a tale that he got through to the gunboat to stand by at Mallaig. They were at Portree, nice and handy. I rushed and got the glasses done for the men, picked up the destroyer at Mallaig, and made round here to find out what was happening. Then we sighted Miss McLeod and Angus, and you know the rest. Miss McLeod refused to take the shelter the warship offered, and Angus refused to leave her, so I stayed with them. We acted as pilot-boat, and there you are. That’s the lot! Are you satisfied?”

“I’m satisfied, old man,” I said, holding out my hand. “Some day I’ll try and tell you how satisfied.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” he laughed, and left us in great spirits to return to the searchlight.

And so I was left alone with Myra, who a month ago became my wife. For my services rendered in connection with the remarkable affair I received an appointment in the Naval Intelligence Department, while many of our recent successes on land and on sea have, though the truth has been withheld from the public, been due to the employment of The Green Ray.

The End.

Printed in Great Britain by Wyman & Sons, Ltd., London and Reading.

Minor changes have been made to correct typesetter’s errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the author’s words and intent.