Chapter 10
OUTSIDE THE LAW
Such was the letter addressed to the government of the United States.As to the person who had placed it in the mail-box of the police, noone had seen him.
The sidewalk in front of our offices had probably not been oncevacant during the entire night. From sunset to sunrise, there hadalways been people, busy, anxious, or curious, passing before ourdoor. It is true, however, that even then, the bearer of the lettermight easily have slipped by unseen and dropped the letter in thebox. The night had been so dark, you could scarcely see from one sideof the street to the other.
I have said that this letter appeared in facsimile in all thenewspapers to which the government communicated it. Perhaps one wouldnaturally imagine that the first comment of the public would be,"This is the work of some practical joker." It was in that way that Ihad accepted my letter from the Great Eyrie, five weeks before.
But this was not the general attitude toward the present letter,neither in Washington, nor in the rest of America. To the few whowould have maintained that the document should not be takenseriously, an immense majority would have responded. "This letter hasnot the style nor the spirit of a jester. Only one man could havewritten it; and that is the inventor of this unapproachable machine."
To most people this conclusion seemed indisputable owing to a curiousstate of mind easily explainable. For all the strange facts of whichthe key had hitherto been lacking, this letter furnished anexplanation. The theory now almost universally accepted was asfollows. The inventor had hidden himself for a time, only in order toreappear more startlingly in some new light. Instead of havingperished in an accident, he had concealed himself in some retreatwhere the police were unable to discover him. Then to assertpositively his attitude toward all governments he had written thisletter. But instead of dropping it in the post in any one locality,which might have resulted in its being traced to him, he had come toWashington and deposited it himself in the very spot suggested by thegovernment's official notice, the bureau of police.
Well! If this remarkable personage had reckoned that this new proofof his existence would make some noise in two worlds, he certainlyfigured rightly. That day, the millions of good folk who read andre-read their daily paper could to employ a well-known phrase,scarcely believe their eyes.
As for myself, I studied carefully every phrase of the defiantdocument. The hand-writing was black and heavy. An expert atchirography would doubtless have distinguished in the lines traces ofa violent temperament, of a character stern and unsocial. Suddenly, acry escaped me a cry that fortunately my housekeeper did not hear.Why had I not noticed sooner the resemblance of the handwriting tothat of the letter I had received from Morganton?
Moreover, a yet more significant coincidence, the initials with whichmy letter had been signed, did they not stand for the words "Masterof the World?"
And whence came the second letter? "On Board the 'Terror.'" Doubtlessthis name was that of the triple machine commanded by the mysteriouscaptain. The initials in my letter were his own signature; and it washe who had threatened me, if I dared to renew my attempt on the GreatEyrie.
I rose and took from my desk the letter of June thirteenth. Icompared it with the facsimile in the newspapers. There was no doubtabout it. They were both in the same peculiar hand-writing.
My mind worked eagerly. I sought to trace the probable deductionsfrom this striking fact, known only to myself. The man who hadthreatened me was the commander of this "Terror"--startling name,only too well justified! I asked myself if our search could not nowbe prosecuted under less vague conditions. Could we not now start ourmen upon a trail which would lead definitely to success? In short,what relation existed between the "Terror" and the Great Eyrie? Whatconnection was there between the phenomena of the BlueridgeMountains, arid the no less phenomenal performances of the fantasticmachine?
I knew what my first step should be; and with the letter in mypocket, I hastened to police headquarters. Inquiring if Mr. Ward waswithin and receiving an affirmative reply, I hastened toward hisdoor, and rapped upon it with unusual and perhaps unnecessary vigor.Upon his call to enter, I stepped eagerly into the room.
The chief had spread before him the letter published in the papers,not a facsimile, but the original itself which had been deposited inthe letter-box of the department.
"You come as if you had important news, Strock?"
"Judge for yourself, Mr. Ward;" and I drew from my pocket the letterwith the initials.
Mr. Ward took it, glanced at its face, and asked, "What is this?"
"A letter signed only with initials, as you can see."
"And where was it posted?"
"In Morganton, in North Carolina."
"When did you receive it?"
"A month ago, the thirteenth of June."
"What did you think of it then?"
"That it had been written as a joke."
"And now Strock?"
"I think, what you will think, Mr. Ward, after you have studied it."
My chief turned to the letter again and read it carefully. "It issigned with three initials," said he.
"Yes, Mr. Ward, and those initials belong to the words, 'Master ofthe World,' in this facsimile."
"Of which this is the original," responded Mr. Ward, taking it up.
"It is quite evident," I urged, "that the two letters are by the samehand."
"It seems so."
"You see what threats are made against me, to protect the GreatEyrie."
"Yes, the threat of death! But Strock, you have had this letter for amonth. Why have you not shown it to me before?"
"Because I attached no importance to it. Today, after the letter fromthe 'Terror,' it must be taken seriously."
"I agree with you. It appears to me most important. I even hope itmay prove the means of tracking this strange personage."
"That is what I also hope, Mr. Ward."
"Only what connection can possibly exist between the 'Terror' and theGreat Eyrie?"
"That I do not know. I cannot even imagine."
"There can be but one explanation," continued Mr. Ward, "though it isalmost inadmissible, even impossible."
"And that is?"
"That the Great Eyrie was the spot selected by the inventor, where hegathered his material."
"That is impossible!" cried I. "In what way would he get his materialin there? And how get his machine out? After what I have seen, Mr.Ward, your suggestion is impossible."
"Unless, Strock--"
"Unless what?" I demanded.
"Unless the machine of this Master of the World has also wings, whichpermit it to take refuge in the Great Eyrie."
At the suggestion that the "Terror," which had searched the deeps ofthe sea, might be capable also of rivaling the vultures and theeagles, I could not restrain an expressive shrug of incredulity.Neither did Mr. Ward himself dwell upon the extravagant hypothesis.
He took the two letters and compared them afresh. He examined themunder a microscope, especially the signatures, and established theirperfect identity. Not only the same hand, but the same pen hadwritten them.
After some moments of further reflection, Mr. Ward said, "I will keepyour letter, Strock. Decidedly, I think, that you are fated to playan important part in this strange affair or rather in these twoaffairs. What thread attaches them, I cannot yet see; but I am surethe thread exists. You have been connected with the first, and itwill not be surprising if you have a large part in the second."
"I hope so, Mr. Ward. You know how inquisitive I am."
"I do, Strock. That is understood. Now, I can only repeat my formerorder; hold yourself in readiness to leave Washington at a moment'swarning."
All that day, the public excitement caused by the defiant lettermounted steadily higher. It was felt both at the White House and atthe Capitol that public opinion absolutely demanded some action. Ofcourse, it was difficult to do anything. Where could one find thisMaster of the World? And even if he were di
scovered, how could he becaptured? He had at his disposal not only the powers he haddisplayed, but apparently still greater resources as yet unknown. Howhad he been able to reach Lake Kirdall over the rocks; and how had heescaped from it? Then, if he had indeed appeared on Lake Superior,how had he covered all the intervening territory unseen?
What a bewildering affair it was altogether! This, of course, made itall the more important to get to the bottom of it. Since the millionsof dollars had been refused, force must be employed. The inventor andhis invention were not to be bought. And in what haughty and menacingterms he had couched his refusal! So be it! He must be treated as anenemy of society, against whom all means became justified, that hemight be deprived of his power to injure others. The idea that he hadperished was now entirely discarded. He was alive, very much alive;and his existence constituted a perpetual public danger!
Influenced by these ideas, the government issued the followingproclamation:
"Since the commander of the 'Terror' has refused to make public hisinvention, at any price whatever, since the use which he makes of hismachine constitutes a public menace, against which it is impossibleto guard, the said commander of the 'Terror' is hereby placed beyondthe protection of the law. Any measures taken in the effort tocapture or destroy either him or his machine will be approved andrewarded."
It was a declaration of war, war to the death against this "Master ofthe World" who thought to threaten and defy an entire nation, theAmerican nation!
Before the day was over, various rewards of large amounts werepromised to anyone who revealed the hiding place of this dangerousinventor, to anyone who could identify him, and to anyone who shouldrid the country of him.
Such was the situation during the last fortnight of July. All wasleft to the hazard of fortune. The moment the outlaw re-appeared hewould be seen and signaled, and when the chance came he would bearrested. This could not be accomplished when he was in hisautomobile on land or in his boat on the water. No; he must be seizedsuddenly, before he had any opportunity to escape by means of thatspeed which no other machine could equal.
I was therefore all alert, awaiting an order from Mr. Ward to startout with my men. But the order did not arrive for the very goodreason that the man whom it concerned remained undiscovered. The endof July approached. The newspapers continued the excitement. Theypublished repeated rumors. New clues were constantly being announced.But all this was mere idle talk. Telegrams reached the police bureaufrom every part of America, each contradicting and nullifying theothers. The enormous rewards offered could not help but lead toaccusations, errors, and blunders, made, many of them, in good faith.One time it would be a cloud of dust, which must have contained theautomobile. At another time, almost any wave on any of America'sthousand lakes represented the submarine. In truth, in the excitedstate of the public imagination, apparitions assailed us from everyside.
At last, on the twenty-ninth of July, I received a telephone messageto come to Mr. Ward on the instant. Twenty minutes later I was in hiscabinet.
"You leave in an hour, Strock," said he.
"Where for?"
"For Toledo."
"It has been seen?"
"Yes. At Toledo you will get your final orders."
"In an hour, my men and I will be on the way."
"Good! And, Strock, I now give you a formal order."
"What is it, Mr. Ward?"
"To succeed! This time to succeed!"