CHAPTER X. THE GREAT SECRET.
And so Laura McIntyre became duly engaged to Raffles Haw, and oldMcIntyre grew even more hungry-looking as he felt himself a step nearerto the source of wealth, while Robert thought less of work than ever,and never gave as much as a thought to the great canvas which stillstood, dust-covered, upon his easel. Haw gave Laura an engagement ringof old gold, with a great blazing diamond bulging out of it. There waslittle talk about the matter, however, for it was Haw's wish that allshould be done very quietly. Nearly all his evenings were spent atElmdene, where he and Laura would build up the most colossal schemes ofphilanthropy for the future. With a map stretched out on the table infront of them, these two young people would, as it were, hover over theworld, planning, devising, and improving.
"Bless the girl!" said old McIntyre to his son; "she speaks about it asif she were born to millions. Maybe, when once she is married, she won'tbe so ready to chuck her money into every mad scheme that her husbandcan think of."
"Laura is greatly changed," Robert answered; "she has grown much moreserious in her ideas."
"You wait a bit!" sniggered his father. "She is a good girl, is Laura,and she knows what she is about. She's not a girl to let her old dad goto the wall if she can set him right. It's a pretty state of things," headded bitterly: "here's my daughter going to marry a man who thinks nomore of gold than I used to of gun-metal; and here's my son going aboutwith all the money he cares to ask for to help every ne'er-do-well inStaffordshire; and here's their father, who loved them and cared forthem, and brought them both up, without money enough very often to buya bottle of brandy. I don't know what your poor dear mother would havethought of it."
"You have only to ask for what you want."
"Yes, as if I were a five-year-old child. But I tell you, Robert, I'llhave my rights, and if I can't get them one way I will another. I won'tbe treated as if I were no one. And there's one thing: if I am to bethis man's pa-in-law, I'll want to know something about him and hismoney first. We may be poor, but we are honest. I'll up to the Hall now,and have it out with him." He seized his hat and stick and made for thedoor.
"No, no, father," cried Robert, catching him by the sleeve. "You hadbetter leave the matter alone. Mr. Haw is a very sensitive man. He wouldnot like to be examined upon such a point. It might lead to a seriousquarrel. I beg that you will not go."
"I am not to be put off for ever," snarled the old man, who had beendrinking heavily. "I'll put my foot down now, once and for ever." Hetugged at his sleeve to free himself from his son's grasp.
"At least you shall not go without Laura knowing. I will call her down,and we shall have her opinion."
"Oh, I don't want to have any scenes," said McIntyre sulkily, relaxinghis efforts. He lived in dread of his daughter, and at his worst momentsthe mention of her name would serve to restrain him.
"Besides," said Robert, "I have not the slightest doubt that RafflesHaw will see the necessity for giving us some sort of explanation beforematters go further. He must understand that we have some claim now to betaken into his confidence."
He had hardly spoken when there was a tap at the door, and the man ofwhom they were speaking walked in.
"Good-morning, Mr. McIntyre," said he. "Robert, would you mind steppingup to the Hall with me? I want to have a little business chat." Helooked serious, like a man who is carrying out something which he haswell weighed.
They walked up together with hardly a word on either side. Raffles Hawwas absorbed in his own thoughts. Robert felt expectant and nervous,for he knew that something of importance lay before him. The winter hadalmost passed now, and the first young shoots were beginning to peep outtimidly in the face of the wind and the rain of an English March. Thesnows were gone, but the countryside looked bleaker and drearier, allshrouded in the haze from the damp, sodden meadows.
"By the way, Robert," said Raffles Haw suddenly, as they walked up theAvenue. "Has your great Roman picture gone to London?"
"I have not finished it yet."
"But I know that you are a quick worker. You must be nearly at the endof it."
"No, I am afraid that it has not advanced much since you saw it. For onething, the light has not been very good."
Raffles Haw said nothing, but a pained expression flashed over his face.When they reached the house he led the way through the museum. Two greatmetal cases were lying on the floor.
"I have a small addition there to the gem collection," he remarked as hepassed. "They only arrived last night, and I have not opened them yet,but I am given to understand from the letters and invoices that thereare some fine specimens. We might arrange them this afternoon, if youcare to assist me. Let us go into the smoking-room now."
He threw himself down into a settee, and motioned Robert into thearmchair in front of him.
"Light a cigar," he said. "Press the spring if there is any refreshmentwhich you would like. Now, my dear Robert, confess to me in the firstplace that you have often thought me mad."
The charge was so direct and so true that the young artist hesitated,hardly knowing how to answer.
"My dear boy, I do not blame you. It was the most natural thing in theworld. I should have looked upon anyone as a madman who had talked to meas I have talked to you. But for all that, Robert, you were wrong, and Ihave never yet in our conversations proposed any scheme which it was notwell within my power to carry out. I tell you in all sober earnest thatthe amount of my income is limited only by my desire, and that all thebankers and financiers combined could not furnish the sums which I canput forward without an effort."
"I have had ample proof of your immense wealth," said Robert.
"And you are very naturally curious as to how that wealth was obtained.Well, I can tell you one thing. The money is perfectly clean. I haverobbed no one, cheated no one, sweated no one, ground no one down in thegaining of it. I can read your father's eye, Robert. I can see that hehas done me an injustice in this matter. Well, perhaps he is not to beblamed. Perhaps I also might think uncharitable things if I were In hisplace. But that is why I now give an explanation to you, Robert, and notto him. You, at least, have trusted me, and you have a right, before Ibecome one of your family, to know all that I can tell you. Laura alsohas trusted me, but I know well that she is content still to trust me."
"I would not intrude upon your secrets, Mr. Haw," said Robert, "butof course I cannot deny that I should be very proud and pleased if youcared to confide them to me."
"And I will. Not all. I do not think that I shall ever, while I live,tell all. But I shall leave directions behind me so that when I die youmay be able to carry on my unfinished work. I shall tell you where thosedirections are to be found. In the meantime, you must be content tolearn the effects which I produce without knowing every detail as to themeans."
Robert settled himself down in his chair and concentrated his attentionupon his companion's words, while Haw bent forward his eager, earnestface, like a man who knows the value of the words which he is saying.
"You are already aware," he remarked, "that I have devoted a great dealof energy and of time to the study of chemistry."
"So you told me."
"I commenced my studies under a famous English chemist, I continuedthem under the best man in France, and I completed them in the mostcelebrated laboratory of Germany. I was not rich, but my father had leftme enough to keep me comfortably, and by living economically I had asum at my command which enabled me to carry out my studies in a verycomplete way. When I returned to England I built myself a laboratoryin a quiet country place where I could work without distraction orinterruption. There I began a series of investigations which soon tookme into regions of science to which none of the three famous men whotaught me had ever penetrated.
"You say, Robert, that you have some slight knowledge of chemistry, andyou will find it easier to follow what I say. Chemistry is to a largeextent an empirical science, and the chance experiment may lead togreater results than could, with our present data, be d
erived from theclosest study or the keenest reasoning. The most important chemicaldiscoveries from the first manufacture of glass to the whitening andrefining of sugar have all been due to some happy chance which mighthave befallen a mere dabbler as easily as a deep student.
"Well, it was to such a chance that my own great discovery--perhaps thegreatest that the world has seen--was due, though I may claim the creditof having originated the line of thought which led up to it. I hadfrequently speculated as to the effect which powerful currents ofelectricity exercise upon any substance through which they are pouredfor a considerable time. I did not here mean such feeble currents asare passed along a telegraph wire, but I mean the very highest possibledevelopments. Well, I tried a series of experiments upon this point. Ifound that in liquids, and in compounds, the force had a disintegratingeffect. The well-known experiment of the electrolysis of water will, ofcourse, occur to you. But I found that in the case of elemental solidsthe effect was a remarkable one. The element slowly decreased in weight,without perceptibly altering in composition. I hope that I make myselfclear to you?"
"I follow you entirely," said Robert, deeply interested in hiscompanion's narrative.
"I tried upon several elements, and always with the same result. Inevery case an hour's current would produce a perceptible loss of weight.My theory at that stage was that there was a loosening of the moleculescaused by the electric fluid, and that a certain number of thesemolecules were shed off like an impalpable dust, all round the lump ofearth or of metal, which remained, of course, the lighter by their loss.I had entirely accepted this theory, when a very remarkable chance ledme to completely alter my opinions.
"I had one Saturday night fastened a bar of bismuth in a clamp, and hadattached it on either side to an electric wire, in order to observe whateffect the current would have upon it. I had been testing each metal inturn, exposing them to the influence for from one to two hours. I hadjust got everything in position, and had completed my connection, whenI received a telegram to say that John Stillingfleet, an old chemist inLondon with whom I had been on terms of intimacy, was dangerously ill,and had expressed a wish to see me. The last train was due to leave intwenty minutes, and I lived a good mile from the station, I thrust a fewthings into a bag, locked my laboratory, and ran as hard as I could tocatch it.
"It was not until I was in London that it suddenly occurred to me thatI had neglected to shut off the current, and that it would continue topass through the bar of bismuth until the batteries were exhausted. Thefact, however, seemed to be of small importance, and I dismissed it frommy mind. I was detained in London until the Tuesday night, and itwas Wednesday morning before I got back to my work. As I unlocked thelaboratory door my mind reverted to the uncompleted experiment, and itstruck me that in all probability my piece of bismuth would have beenentirely disintegrated and reduced to its primitive molecules. I wasutterly unprepared for the truth.
"When I approached the table I found, sure enough, that the bar of metalhad vanished, and that the clamp was empty. Having noted the fact, I wasabout to turn away to something else, when my attention was attracted tothe fact that the table upon which the clamp stood was starred over withlittle patches of some liquid silvery matter, which lay in single dropsor coalesced into little pools. I had a very distinct recollection ofhaving thoroughly cleared the table before beginning my experiment,so that this substance had been deposited there since I had left forLondon. Much interested, I very carefully collected it all into onevessel, and examined it minutely. There could be no question as to whatit was. It was the purest mercury, and gave no response to any test forbismuth.
"I at once grasped the fact that chance had placed in my hands achemical discovery of the very first importance. If bismuth were, undercertain conditions, to be subjected to the action of electricity, itwould begin by losing weight, and would finally be transformed intomercury. I had broken down the partition which separated two elements.
"But the process would be a constant one. It would presumably proveto be a general law, and not an isolated fact. If bismuth turned intomercury, what would mercury turn into? There would be no rest for meuntil I had solved the question. I renewed the exhausted batteries andpassed the current through the bowl of quicksilver. For sixteen hours Isat watching the metal, marking how it slowly seemed to curdle, to growfirmer, to lose its silvery glitter and to take a dull yellow hue. WhenI at last picked it up in a forceps, and threw it upon the table, it hadlost every characteristic of mercury, and had obviously become anothermetal. A few simple tests were enough to show me that this other metalwas platinum.
"Now, to a chemist, there was something very suggestive in the order inwhich these changes had been effected. Perhaps you can see the relation,Robert, which they bear to each other?"
"No, I cannot say that I do."
Robert had sat listening to this strange statement with parted lips andstaring eyes.
"I will show you. Speaking atomically, bismuth is the heaviest of themetals. Its atomic weight is 210. The next in weight is lead, 207, andthen comes mercury at 200. Possibly the long period during which thecurrent had acted in my absence had reduced the bismuth to lead andthe lead in turn to mercury. Now platinum stands at 197.5, and it wasaccordingly the next metal to be produced by the continued current. Doyou see now?"
"It is quite clear."
"And then there came the inference, which sent my heart into my mouthand caused my head to swim round. Gold is the next in the series.Its atomic weight is 197. I remembered now, and for the first timeunderstood why it was always lead and mercury winch were mentioned bythe old alchemists as being the two metals which might be used in theircalling. With fingers which trembled with excitement I adjusted thewires again, and in little more than an hour--for the length of theprocess was always in proportion to the difference in the metals--Ihad before me a knob of ruddy crinkled metal, which answered to everyreaction for gold.
"Well, Robert, this is a long story, but I think that you will agreewith me that its importance justifies me in going into detail. WhenI had satisfied myself that I had really manufactured gold I cut thenugget in two. One half I sent to a jeweller and worker in preciousmetals, with whom I had some slight acquaintance, asking him to reportupon the quality of the metal. With the other half I continued my seriesof experiments, and reduced it in successive stages through all the longseries of metals, through silver and zinc and manganese, until I broughtit to lithium, which is the lightest of all."
"And what did it turn to then?" asked Robert.
"Then came what to chemists is likely to be the most interesting portionof my discovery. It turned to a greyish fine powder, which powder gaveno further results, however much I might treat it with electricity.And that powder is the base of all things; it is the mother of allthe elements; it is, in short, the substance whose existence has beenrecently surmised by a leading chemist, and which has been christenedprotyle by him. I am the discoverer of the great law of the electricaltransposition of the metals, and I am the first to demonstrate protyle,so that, I think, Robert, if all my schemes in other directions come tonothing, my name is at least likely to live in the chemical world.
"There is not very much more for me to tell you. I had my nugget backfrom my friend the jeweller, confirming my opinion as to its nature andits quality. I soon found several methods by which the process mightbe simplified, and especially a modification of the ordinary electriccurrent, which was very much more effective. Having made a certainamount of gold, I disposed of it for a sum which enabled me to buyimproved materials and stronger batteries. In this way I enlarged myoperations until at last I was in a position to build this house andto have a laboratory where I could carry out my work on a much largerscale. As I said before, I can now state with all truth that the amountof my income is only limited by my desires."
"It is wonderful!" gasped Robert. "It is like a fairy tale. But withthis great discovery in your mind you must have been sorely tempted toconfide it to others."
"
I thought well over it. I gave it every consideration. It was obviousto me that if my invention were made public, its immediate result wouldbe to deprive the present precious metals of all their special value.Some other substance--amber, we will say, or ivory--would be chosen as amedium for barter, and gold would be inferior to brass, as being heavierand yet not so hard. No one would be the better for such a consummationas that. Now, if I retained my secret, and used it with wisdom, I mightmake myself the greatest benefactor to mankind that has everlived. Those were the chief reasons, and I trust that they are notdishonourable ones, which led me to form the resolution, which I havetoday for the first time broken."
"But your secret is safe with me," cried Robert. "My lips shall besealed until I have your permission to speak."
"If I had not known that I could trust you I should have withheld itfrom your knowledge. And now, my dear Robert, theory is very weak work,and practice is infinitely more interesting. I have given you more thanenough of the first. If you will be good enough to accompany me to thelaboratory I shall give you a little of the latter."