CHAPTER VIII. A BILLIONAIRE'S PLANS.
That morning, and many mornings both before and afterwards, were spentby Laura at the New Hall examining the treasures of the museum, playingwith the thousand costly toys which Raffles Haw had collected, orsallying out from the smoking-room in the crystal chamber into the longline of luxurious hot-houses. Haw would walk demurely beside her asshe flitted from one thing to another like a butterfly among flowers,watching her out of the corner of his eyes, and taking a quiet pleasurein her delight. The only joy which his costly possessions had everbrought him was that which came from the entertainment of others.
By this time his attentions towards Laura McIntyre had become somarked that they could hardly be mistaken. He visibly brightened inher presence, and was never weary of devising a thousand methods ofsurprising and pleasing her. Every morning ere the McIntyre family wereafoot a great bouquet of strange and beautiful flowers was broughtdown by a footman from the Hall to brighten their breakfast-table. Herslightest wish, however fantastic, was instantly satisfied, if humanmoney or ingenuity could do it. When the frost lasted a stream wasdammed and turned from its course that it might flood two meadows,solely in order that she might have a place upon which to skate. Withthe thaw there came a groom every afternoon with a sleek and beautifulmare in case Miss McIntyre should care to ride. Everything went to showthat she had made a conquest of the recluse of the New Hall.
And she on her side played her part admirably. With female adaptivenessshe fell in with his humour, and looked at the world through his eyes.Her talk was of almshouses and free libraries, of charities and ofimprovements. He had never a scheme to which she could not add somedetail making it more complete and more effective. To Haw it seemed thatat last he had met a mind which was in absolute affinity with his own.Here was a help-mate, who could not only follow, but even lead him inthe path which he had chosen.
Neither Robert nor his father could fail to see what was going forward,but to the latter nothing could possibly be more acceptable than afamily tie which should connect him, however indirectly, with a man ofvast fortune. The glamour of the gold bags had crept over Robert also,and froze the remonstrance upon his lips. It was very pleasant to havethe handling of all this wealth, even as a mere agent. Why should hedo or say what might disturb their present happy relations? It was hissister's business, not his; and as to Hector Spurling, he must take hischance as other men did. It was obviously best not to move one way orthe other in the matter.
But to Robert himself, his work and his surroundings were becoming moreand more irksome. His joy in his art had become less keen since he hadknown Raffles Haw. It seemed so hard to toll and slave to earn such atrifling sum, when money could really be had for the asking. It was truethat he had asked for none, but large sums were for ever passing throughhis hands for those who were needy, and if he were needy himself hisfriend would surely not grudge it to him. So the Roman galleys stillremained faintly outlined upon the great canvas, while Robert's dayswere spent either in the luxurious library at the Hall, or in strollingabout the country listening to tales of trouble, and returning likea tweed-suited ministering angel to carry Raffles Haw's help to theunfortunate. It was not an ambitious life, but it was one which was verycongenial to his weak and easy-going nature.
Robert had observed that fits of depression had frequently come uponthe millionaire, and it had sometimes struck him that the enormous sumswhich he spent had possibly made a serious inroad into his capital, andthat his mind was troubled as to the future. His abstracted manner, hisclouded brow, and his bent head all spoke of a soul which was weigheddown with care, and it was only in Laura's presence that he could throwoff the load of his secret trouble. For five hours a day he buriedhimself in the laboratory and amused himself with his hobby, but itwas one of his whims that no one, neither any of his servants, noreven Laura or Robert, should ever cross the threshold of that outlyingbuilding. Day after day he vanished into it, to reappear hoursafterwards pale and exhausted, while the whirr of machinery and thesmoke which streamed from his high chimney showed how considerable werethe operations which he undertook single-handed.
"Could I not assist you in any way?" suggested Robert, as they sattogether after luncheon in the smoking-room. "I am convinced that youover-try your strength. I should be so glad to help you, and I know alittle of chemistry."
"Do you, indeed?" said Raffles Haw, raising his eyebrows. "I had noidea of that; it is very seldom that the artistic and the scientificfaculties go together."
"I don't know that I have either particularly developed. But I havetaken classes, and I worked for two years in the laboratory at SirJosiah Mason's Institute."
"I am delighted to hear it," Haw replied with emphasis. "That may beof great importance to us. It is very possible--indeed, almostcertain--that I shall avail myself of your offer of assistance, andteach you something of my chemical methods, which I may say differconsiderably from those of the orthodox school. The time, however, ishardly ripe for that. What is it, Jones?"
"A note, sir."
The butler handed it in upon a silver salver. Haw broke the seal and ranhis eye over it.
"Tut! tut! It is from Lady Morsley, asking me to the Lord-Lieutenant'sball. I cannot possibly accept. It is very kind of them, but I do wishthey would leave me alone. Very well, Jones. I shall write. Do you know,Robert, I am often very unhappy."
He frequently called the young artist by his Christian name, especiallyin his more confidential moments.
"I have sometimes feared that you were," said the other sympathetically."But how strange it seems, you who are yet young, healthy, with everyfaculty for enjoyment, and a millionaire."
"Ah, Robert," cried Haw, leaning back in his chair, and sending up thickblue wreaths from his pipe. "You have put your finger upon mytrouble. If I were a millionaire I might be happy, but, alas, I am nomillionaire!"
"Good heavens!" gasped Robert.
Cold seemed to shoot to his inmost soul as it flashed upon him that thiswas a prelude to a confession of impending bankruptcy, and that all thisglorious life, all the excitement and the colour and change, were aboutto vanish into thin air.
"No millionaire!" he stammered.
"No, Robert; I am a billionaire--perhaps the only one in the world. Thatis what is on my mind, and why I am unhappy sometimes. I feel that Ishould spend this money--that I should put it in circulation--and yet itis so hard to do it without failing to do good--without doing positiveharm. I feel my responsibility deeply. It weighs me down. Am I justifiedin continuing to live this quiet life when there are so many millionswhom I might save and comfort if I could but reach them?"
Robert heaved a long sigh of relief. "Perhaps you take too grave a viewof your responsibilities," he said. "Everybody knows that the good whichyou have done is immense. What more could you desire? If you reallywished to extend your benevolence further, there are organised charitieseverywhere which would be very glad of your help."
"I have the names of two hundred and seventy of them," Haw answered."You must run your eye over them some time, and see if you can suggestany others. I send my annual mite to each of them. I don't think thereis much room for expansion in that direction."
"Well, really you have done your share, and more than your share.I would settle down to lead a happy life, and think no more of thematter."
"I could not do that," Haw answered earnestly. "I have not been singledout to wield this immense power simply in order that I might leada happy life. I can never believe that. Now, can you not use yourimagination, Robert, and devise methods by which a man who has commandof--well, let us say, for argument's sake, boundless wealth, couldbenefit mankind by it, without taking away any one's independence or inany way doing harm?"
"Well, really, now that I come to think of it, it is a very difficultproblem," said Robert.
"Now I will submit a few schemes to you, and you may give me youropinion on them. Supposing that such a man were to buy ten square milesof ground here in Staffordshir
e, and were to build upon it a neat city,consisting entirely of clean, comfortable little four-roomedhouses, furnished in a simple style, with shops and so forth, but nopublic-houses. Supposing, too, that he were to offer a house free to allthe homeless folk, all the tramps, and broken men, and out-of-workersin Great Britain. Then, having collected them together, let him employthem, under fitting superintendence, upon some colossal piece of workwhich would last for many years, and perhaps be of permanent value tohumanity. Give them a good rate of pay, and let their hours of labour bereasonable, and those of recreation be pleasant. Might you not benefitthem and benefit humanity at one stroke?"
"But what form of work could you devise which would employ so vasta number for so long a time, and yet not compete with any existingindustry? To do the latter would simply mean to shift the misery fromone class to another."
"Precisely so. I should compete with no one. What I thought of doing wasof sinking a shaft through the earth's crust, and of establishing rapidcommunication with the Antipodes. When you had got a certain distancedown--how far is an interesting mathematical problem--the centre ofgravity would be beneath you, presuming that your boring was not quitedirected towards the centre, and you could then lay down rails andtunnel as if you were on the level."
Then for the first time it flashed into Robert McIntyre's head that hisfather's chance words were correct, and that he was in the presence ofa madman. His great wealth had clearly turned his brain, and made him amonomaniac. He nodded indulgently, as when one humours a child.
"It would be very nice," he said. "I have heard, however, that theinterior of the earth is molten, and your workmen would need to beSalamanders."
"The latest scientific data do not bear out the idea that the earthis so hot," answered Raffles Haw. "It is certain that the increasedtemperature in coal mines depends upon the barometric pressure. Thereare gases in the earth which may be ignited, and there are combustiblematerials as we see in the volcanoes; but if we came across anything ofthe sort in our borings, we could turn a river or two down the shaft,and get the better of it in that fashion."
"It would be rather awkward if the other end of your shaft came outunder the Pacific Ocean," said Robert, choking down his inclination tolaugh.
"I have had estimates and calculations from the first livingengineers--French, English, and American. The point of exit of thetunnel could be calculated to the yard. That portfolio in the corner isfull of sections, plans, and diagrams. I have agents employed in buyingup land, and if all goes well, we may get to work in the autumn. That isone device which may produce results. Another is canal-cutting."
"Ah, there you would compete with the railways."
"You don't quite understand. I intend to cut canals through every neckof land where such a convenience would facilitate commerce. Such ascheme, when unaccompanied by any toll upon vessels, would, I think, bea very judicious way of helping the human race."
"And where, pray, would you cut the canals?" asked Robert.
"I have a map of the world here," Haw answered, rising, and taking onedown from the paper-rack. "You see the blue pencil marks. Those are thepoints where I propose to establish communication. Of course, I shouldbegin by the obvious duty of finishing the Panama business."
"Naturally." The man's lunacy was becoming more and more obvious, andyet there was such precision and coolness in his manner, that Robertfound himself against his own reason endorsing and speculating over hisplans.
"The Isthmus of Corinth also occurs to one. That, however, is a smallmatter, from either a financial or an engineering point of view. Ipropose, however, to make a junction here, through Kiel between theGerman Ocean and the Baltic. It saves, you will observe, the wholejourney round the coast of Denmark, and would facilitate our trade withGermany and Russia. Another very obvious improvement is to join theForth and the Clyde, so as to connect Leith with the Irish and Americanroutes. You see the blue line?"
"Quite so."
"And we will have a little cutting here. It will run from Uleaborg toKem, and will connect the White Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia. We mustnot allow our sympathies to be insular, must we? Our little charitiesshould be cosmopolitan. We will try and give the good people ofArchangel a better outlet for their furs and their tallow."
"But it will freeze."
"For six months in the year. Still, it will be something. Then we mustdo something for the East. It would never do to overlook the East."
"It would certainly be an oversight," said Robert, who was keenly aliveto the comical side of the question. Raffles Haw, however, in deadlyearnest, sat scratching away at his map with his blue pencil.
"Here is a point where we might be of some little use. If we cut throughfrom Batoum to the Kura River we might tap the trade of the Caspian, andopen up communication with all the rivers which run into it. You noticethat they include a considerable tract of country. Then, again, I thinkthat we might venture upon a little cutting between Beirut, on theMediterranean, and the upper waters of the Euphrates, which would leadus into the Persian Gulf. Those are one or two of the more obviouscanals which might knit the human race into a closer whole."
"Your plans are certainly stupendous," said Robert, uncertain whether tolaugh or to be awe-struck. "You will cease to be a man, and become oneof the great forces of Nature, altering, moulding, and improving."
"That is precisely the view which I take of myself. That is why I feelmy responsibility so acutely."
"But surely if you will do all this you may rest. It is a considerableprogramme."
"Not at all. I am a patriotic Briton, and I should like to do somethingto leave my name in the annals of my country. I should prefer, however,to do it after my own death, as anything in the shape of publicity andhonour is very offensive to me. I have, therefore, put by eight hundredmillion in a place which shall be duly mentioned in my will, which Ipropose to devote to paying off the National Debt. I cannot see that anyharm could arise from its extinction."
Robert sat staring, struck dumb by the audacity of the strange man'swords.
"Then there is the heating of the soil. There is room for improvementthere. You have no doubt read of the immense yields which have resultedin Jersey and elsewhere, from the running of hot-water pipes through thesoil. The crops are trebled and quadrupled. I would propose to try theexperiment upon a larger scale. We might possibly reserve the Isle ofMan to serve as a pumping and heating station. The main pipes would runto England, Ireland, and Scotland, where they would subdivide rapidlyuntil they formed a network two feet deep under the whole country. Apipe at distances of a yard would suffice for every purpose."
"I am afraid," suggested Robert, "that the water which left the Isle ofMan warm might lose a little of its virtue before it reached Caithness,for example."
"There need not be any difficulty there. Every few miles a furnace mightbe arranged to keep up the temperature. These are a few of my plans forthe future, Robert, and I shall want the co-operation of disinterestedmen like yourself in all of them. But how brightly the sun shines, andhow sweet the countryside looks! The world is very beautiful, andI should like to leave it happier than I found it. Let us walk outtogether, Robert, and you will tell me of any fresh cases where I may beof assistance."