CHAPTER XI
THIRTY SECONDS MORE
At nine o'clock the following morning five men grouped in McCarthy'soffice, talking earnestly. Darrow and Jack Warford had been the first toarrive. McCarthy did not seem surprised to see them; nor did he greet themwith belligerence.
"Well?" he demanded.
"Well?" repeated Darrow, sinking gracefully to one corner of the table."You're an old fool, McCarthy. What good did you think it would do you toarrest me?"
"I intended to sweat you," confessed the boss frankly, "but I was toobusy."
"Sweat me, eh?" demanded Darrow, with some amusement. "So you decided notto, did you--hence the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the police ineffecting my recapture. You didn't imagine I caused all this, did you?"
"I don't know," growled McCarthy. "But if you, or the other fellow, orwhoever or whatever it is, think you can bluff me out, you or he or it'sleft! That's all!"
"So you've been getting more wireless, have you?" surmised Darrow.
McCarthy cast a surly glance toward Jack, whom previously he had ignored.
"Yes," he admitted grudgingly.
Darrow held out his hand. After a moment's hesitation McCarthy thrustforward a single yellow paper, and Darrow read aloud in spite of the boss'warning gesture:
"McCarthy: The sign has been sent you and sent your people. You are stubborn, but it shall not avail you. You must go; and within twenty-four hours. It will not avail you unless you go. The _Celtic_ leaves to-morrow at noon. You must go on that ship. I shall know whether or not you obey me. Once more I shall warn you; one more sign shall I send. Then I shall strike!"
"He's getting garrulous," remarked Darrow reflectively; "but he's relievedmy mind. You'd better go."
"Go!" cried McCarthy, half starting to his feet. "Not on your life!"
Darrow surveyed him calmly.
"You're getting rattled," said he, "and it doesn't pay you particularly totry to bluff me. A jack-rabbit of average firmness could stampede you inyour present state of mind."
"You think so?" sneered McCarthy.
"I know so. And you're quite right. If you attempt the game too long,he'll destroy you."
"How?" demanded McCarthy.
"Take my word for it, _he can do it!_" replied Darrow.
McCarthy ruminated, drumming his thick fingers on the desk.
"Find him," said he, at last.
"I intend to," replied Darrow.
"That'll be all right about your friend's job," conceded McCarthy, with anod toward Jack.
"I fancy you won't have anything to do with it," returned Darrowpleasantly.
At this moment the door opened and Hallowell entered. He nodded to Darrow,and greeted McCarthy.
"Nothing for you," growled the latter.
Darrow glanced at his watch.
"He will have in about five minutes," said he to the reporter.
The fifth member of the party now entered in the person of Simmons, theUnited Wireless operator. On seeing the number gathered in McCarthy'soffice he came to a halt.
Darrow immediately detached himself from the group and approached thisman.
"Anything new?" he inquired in a low voice.
Simmons glanced toward McCarthy.
"New about what?" he demanded stolidly.
"Any more messages from our mysterious friend out in the ether to ourequally mysterious friend at the desk?"
"I don't know what you mean."
Darrow surveyed him reflectively.
"This is a pretty big story," he said at last, "and affects a lot ofpeople. If you really haven't leaked--well, he"--with a jerk of his headtoward McCarthy--"must bribe high, or have a strangle hold on you forfair."
He looked around to see the boss' eye fixed intently on him, smiledpleasantly, and moved to one side. Simmons stepped forward, handedMcCarthy a paper, and went out. The boss read the message slowly, andturned a little pale. After a moment or so he surreptitiously drew outhis watch. Percy Darrow smiled. He, too, held his watch in his hand.
"Thirty seconds more--about," he remarked pleasantly. The boss looked upstartled. The last thing he saw was the faintly smiling, triumphant faceof the young scientist. Then absolute blackness fell on him.
For several seconds astonishment held the inmates of the room chained totheir places; and for that space of time no sound broke the deathlystillness. Then Percy Darrow spoke, in his natural voice.
"Well, Jack," he remarked, "it worked out, to a second, almost. Now I'mcertain."
As though this breaking of the silence had released a force hitherto heldin repression, the room filled with tumult and clamor, with crashing,banging and scurrying of heavy bodies. A final concussion shook the air,and then, again abruptly, silence fell.
"Say!" Hallowell's voice spoke up, a trifle uncertainly. "I'll stand formost any kind of a dark seance, but this particular spook business isgetting on my nerves. Are you there, Darrow?"
"Yes, I'm here," answered the scientist.
"Well, can you explain _that_ phenomenon?"
"That," drawled Darrow, a slight note of laughter in his voice, "was thatextraordinary upheaval of natural forces known as Brother McCarthy goingaway from here--hastily."
Jack chuckled.
"He hit me on the way out," remarked that young man. "I'll testify he wasa solid spook."
The reporter was methodically striking match after match, but withoutresult. After a moment the acrid smell of burning woolen rose in the air.
"Are you dropping those matches?" asked Darrow.
"Sure; they're no good."
"Well, they're good enough to burn holes in McCarthy's rugs. Stamp arounda little to put them out; and quit it."
"What next; and how long?" asked Jack. "What is it? Have we gone blind, oris it a total eclipse, or what?"
"I don't know how long," came back Darrow's voice calmly. "Next we willget out of the building. I want to make some observations. Get hold of myhand; we'll have to grope our way out."
"If we could only get a light," muttered Hallowell.
"You can't," stated Darrow.
They felt their way down the ten flights of stairs like blind men. A fewinmates of the building they jostled, or passed, or picked up on the way.
"This settles it," one remarked profanely. "My lease quits. They can sueand be damned. I decline to have anything more to do with any freak-linedskyscraper of this description."
In the lower corridors Darrow halted them.
"Here's another thing," said he: "if I'm right, we should run out of thisjust eleven feet beyond the last elevator cage."
He felt his way along the grill, made four paces forward, and uttered alittle cry of satisfaction. The two men followed him blindly. As thoughstepping from one room to another they emerged into glaring daylight!
Both involuntarily looked back. The darkness hung there like a curtain,just inside the outer walls of the building. Already a crowd had gatheredto observe this new and strange phenomenon of the now celebrated AtlasBuilding. It was a curious and a facetious crowd, but not awestricken, asit had been at the first manifestations of this freakish upset of naturalforces.
A man observing the flight of an aeroplane for the first time loses hissense of strangeness inside of a few minutes; and yet flying has beensince the days of Icarus considered one of the impossible achievements. Sothe general public of Manhattan were becoming accustomed to reversals ofform in the affairs of the physical world. The frivolous majority, havingdiscovered nothing to be apprehended from the phenomena save a few hours'helplessness of a sort, and much to be gained through the savor ofnovelty, were inclined to an amused or irritated attitude, depending onthe extent to which its occupations were interfered with. The minoritytook to religious meetings and interpretations.
Darrow's exit, and that of his companions, was greeted uproariously.
"'Please go 'way an' let me sleep!'" sang one, at the blinking men.
"Here's another!" shrilled a gamin. "Get up! The p
orter wants to make upyour berth!"
Several of the crowd, pending the usual arrival of the police to clear thecorridor, had ventured through the wide portals, and were experimentingwith this strange palpable quality of darkness. One or two popped insidethe curtain, but emerged quickly, looking a little scared.
A bright youth made the discovery that if one lighted a match and steppedwithin the blackness, the match was immediately extinguished, but thatupon emerging into daylight the flame came up again. Some one happenedalong with a plumber's gasoline torch. Immediately this was lighted andthe experiment repeated. The bearer of the torch, astonished at theinstant extinguishment of the flame, felt with his hand to see what couldbe the matter. Instantly he uttered a yelp of pain, and leaped outside,displaying a badly burned palm.
"There wasn't no flame; I swear it!" he explained excitedly, "but sheburned, just the same!" He rushed about from one to another, displayinghis injured palm to whoever would look.
Darrow paid little attention to this gathering crowd. First of all, hescanned a paper he held in his hand; then plunged back again into theblackness.
Jack Warford and Hallowell, left together, hesitated uncertainly.
"He'll be back," the reporter decided finally, "and he's the man to tieto."
While waiting, he proceeded to pick up what information he could fromthe bystanders. It seemed that the first intimation of anything wrongwas followed very shortly by the emergence of McCarthy, disheveled,hatless, staring, gasping. The boss had stumbled into the street,hesitated, then started south on a run. Before any one could stop him,he had turned a corner and disappeared. The excitement at the AtlasBuilding had distracted attention from him. Nobody wondered at hisgetting rattled and running away. The few tenants remaining in thebuilding had stumbled forth, vowing never to return to such a--assortedadjectives--building. That was all there seemed to be to say.
In the meantime the crowd had increased from a few hundred to thousands.Police appeared. The corridors were cleared of all but a few. Among thesewere Hallowell and Jack Warford; the former as a reporter, the latter asthe reporter's companion. Doctor Knox and Professor Eldridge arrivedshortly. After a time Darrow reappeared, sauntering quite calmly from thepall of darkness, as though emerging from behind a velvet curtain.