Chapter 4
A MEETING OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB
Was the mystery of the Great Eyrie to be solved some day by chancesbeyond our imagining? That was known only to the future. And was thesolution a matter of the first importance? That was beyond doubt,since the safety of the people of western Carolina perhaps dependedupon it.
Yet a fortnight after my return to Washington, public attention waswholly distracted from this problem by another very different innature, but equally astonishing.
Toward the middle of that month of May the newspapers of Pennsylvaniainformed their readers of some strange occurrences in different partsof the state. On the roads which radiated from Philadelphia, thechief city, there circulated an extraordinary vehicle, of which noone could describe the form, or the nature, or even the size, sorapidly did it rush past. It was an automobile; all were agreed onthat. But as to what motor drove it, only imagination could say; andwhen the popular imagination is aroused, what limit is there to itshypotheses?
At that period the most improved automobiles, whether driven bysteam, gasoline, or electricity, could not accomplish much more thansixty miles an hour, a speed that the railroads, with their mostrapid expresses, scarce exceed on the best lines of America andEurope. Now, this new automobile which was astonishing the world,traveled at more than double this speed.
It is needless to add that such a rate constituted an extreme dangeron the highroads, as much so for vehicles, as for pedestrians. Thisrushing mass, coming like a thunder-bolt, preceded by a formidablerumbling, caused a whirlwind, which tore the branches from the treesalong the road, terrified the animals browsing in adjoining fields,and scattered and killed the birds, which could not resist thesuction of the tremendous air currents engendered by its passage.
And, a bizarre detail to which the newspapers drew particularattention, the surface of the roads was scarcely even scratched bythe wheels of the apparition, which left behind it no such ruts asare usually made by heavy vehicles. At most there was a light touch,a mere brushing of the dust. It was only the tremendous speed whichraised behind the vehicle such whirlwinds of dust.
"It is probable," commented the New Fork Herald, "that the extremerapidity of motion destroys the weight."
Naturally there were protests from all sides. It was impossible topermit the mad speed of this apparition which threatened to overthrowand destroy everything in its passage, equipages and people. But howcould it be stopped? No one knew to whom the vehicle belonged, norwhence it came, nor whither it went. It was seen but for an instantas it darted forward like a bullet in its dizzy flight. How could oneseize a cannon-ball in the air, as it leaped from the mouth of thegun?
I repeat, there was no evidence as to the character of the propellingengine. It left behind it no smoke, no steam, no odor of gasoline, orany other oil. It seemed probable, therefore, that the vehicle ran byelectricity, and that its accumulators were of an unknown model,using some unknown fluid.
The public imagination, highly excited, readily accepted every sortof rumor about this mysterious automobile. It was said to be asupernatural car. It was driven by a specter, by one of thechauffeurs of hell, a goblin from another world, a monster escapedfrom some mythological menagerie, in short, the devil in person, whocould defy all human intervention, having at his command invisibleand infinite satanic powers.
But even Satan himself had no right to run at such speed over theroads of the United States without a special permit, without a numberon his car, and without a regular license. And it was certain thatnot a single municipality had given him permission to go two hundredmiles an hour. Public security demanded that some means be found tounmask the secret of this terrible chauffeur.
Moreover, it was not only Pennsylvania that served as the theater ofhis sportive eccentricities. The police reported his appearance inother states; in Kentucky near Frankfort; in Ohio near Columbus; inTennessee near Nashville; in Missouri near Jefferson; and finally inIllinois in the neighborhood of Chicago.
The alarm having been given, it became the duty of the authorities totake steps against this public danger. To arrest or even to halt anapparition moving at such speed was scarcely practicable. A betterway would be to erect across the roads solid gateways with which theflying machine must come in contact sooner or later, and be smashedinto a thousand pieces.
"Nonsense!" declared the incredulous. "This madman would know wellhow to circle around such obstructions."
"And if necessary," added others, "the machine would leap over thebarriers."
"And if he is indeed the devil, he has, as a former angel, presumablypreserved his wings, and so he will take to flight."
But this last was but the suggestion of foolish old gossips who didnot stop to study the matter. For if the King of Hades possessed apair of wings, why did he obstinately persist in running around onthe earth at the risk of crushing his own subjects, when he mightmore easily have hurled himself through space as free as a bird.
Such was the situation when, in the last week of May, a fresh eventoccurred, which seemed to show that the United States was indeedhelpless in the hands of some unapproachable monster. And after theNew World, would not the Old in its turn, be desecrated by the madcareer of this remarkable automobilist?
The following occurrence was reported in all the newspapers of theUnion, and with what comments and outcries it is easy to imagine.
A race was to be held by the automobile Club of Wisconsin, over theroads of that state of which Madison is the capital. The route laidout formed an excellent track, about two hundred miles in length,starting from Prairie-du-chien on the western frontier, passing byMadison and ending a little above Milwaukee on the borders of LakeMichigan. Except for the Japanese road between Nikko and Namode,bordered by giant cypresses, there is no better track in the worldthan this of Wisconsin. It runs straight and level as an arrow forsometimes fifty miles at a stretch. Many and noted were the machinesentered for this great race. Every kind of motor vehicle waspermitted to compete, even motorcycles, as well as automobiles. Themachines were of all makes and nationalities. The sum of thedifferent prizes reached fifty thousand dollars, so that the race wassure to be desperately contested. New records were expected to bemade.
Calculating on the maximum speed hitherto attained, of perhaps eightymiles an hour, this international contest covering two hundred mileswould last about three hours. And, to avoid all danger, the stateauthorities of Wisconsin had forbidden all other traffic betweenPrairie-du-chien and Milwaukee during three hours on the morning ofthe thirtieth of May. Thus, if there were any accidents, those whosuffered would be themselves to blame.
There was an enormous crowd; and it was not composed only of thepeople of Wisconsin. Many thousands gathered from the neighboringstates of Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, and even from New York.Among the sportsmen assembled were many foreigners, English, French,Germans and Austrians, each nationality, of course, supporting thechauffeurs of its land. Moreover, as this was the United States, thecountry of the greatest gamblers of the world, bets were made ofevery sort and of enormous amounts.
The start was to be made at eight o'clock in the morning; and toavoid crowding and the accidents which must result from it, theautomobiles were to follow each other at two minute intervals, alongthe roads whose borders were black with spectators.
The first ten racers, numbered by lot, were dispatched between eighto'clock and twenty minutes past. Unless there was some disastrousaccident, some of these machines would surely arrive at the goal byeleven o'clock. The others followed in order.
An hour and a half had passed. There remained but a single contestantat Prairie-du-chien. Word was sent back and forth by telephone everyfive minutes as to the order of the racers. Midway between Madisonand Milwaukee, the lead was held by a machine of Renault brothers,four cylindered, of twenty horsepower, and with Michelin tires. Itwas closely followed by a Harvard-Watson car and by a Dion-Bouton.Some accidents had already occurred, other machines were hopelesslybehind. Not
more than a dozen would contest the finish. Severalchauffeurs had been injured, but not seriously. And even had theybeen killed, the death of men is but a detail, not considered ofgreat importance in that astonishing country of America.
Naturally the excitement became more intense as one approached thefinishing line near Milwaukee. There were assembled the most curious,the most interested; and there the passions of the moment wereunchained. By ten o'clock it was evident, that the first prize,twenty thousand dollars, lay between five machines, two American, twoFrench, and one English. Imagine, therefore, the fury with which betswere being made under the influence of national pride. The regularbook makers could scarcely meet the demands of those who wished towager. Offers and amounts were hurled from lip to lip with feverishrapidity. "One to three on the Harvard-Watson!"
"One to two on the Dion-Bouton!"
"Even money on the Renault!"
These cries rang along the line of spectators at each newannouncement from the telephones.
Suddenly at half-past nine by the town clock of Prairie-du-chien, twomiles beyond that town was heard a tremendous noise and rumblingwhich proceeded from the midst of a flying cloud of dust accompaniedby shrieks like those of a naval siren.
Scarcely had the crowds time to draw to one side, to escape adestruction which would have included hundreds of victims. The cloudswept by like a hurricane. No one could distinguish what it was thatpassed with such speed. There was no exaggeration in saying that itsrate was at least one hundred and fifty miles an hour.
The apparition passed and disappeared in an instant, leaving behindit a long train of white dust, as an express locomotive leaves behinda train of smoke. Evidently it was an automobile with a mostextraordinary motor. If it maintained this arrow-like speed, it wouldreach the contestants in the fore-front of the race; it would passthem with this speed double their own; it would arrive first at thegoal.
And then from all parts arose an uproar, as soon as the spectatorshad nothing more to fear.
"It is that infernal machine."
"Yes; the one the police cannot stop."
"But it has not been heard of for a fortnight."
"It was supposed to be done for, destroyed, gone forever."
"It is a devil's car, driven by hellfire, and with Satan driving!"
In truth, if he were not the devil, who could this mysteriouschauffeur be, driving with this unbelievable velocity, his no lessmysterious machine? At least it was beyond doubt that this was thesame machine which had already attracted so much attention. If thepolice believed that they had frightened it away, that it was neverto be, heard of more, well, the police were mistaken which happens inAmerica as elsewhere.
The first stunned moment of surprise having passed,many people rushed to the telephones to warn those furtheralong the route of the danger which menaced, not only thepeople, but also the automobiles scattered along the road.
When this terrible madman arrived like an avalanche they would besmashed to pieces, ground into powder, annihilated!
And from the collision might not the destroyer himself emerge safeand sound? He must be so adroit, this chauffeur of chauffeurs, hemust handle his machine with such perfection of eye and hand, that heknew, no doubt, how to escape from every situation. Fortunately theWisconsin authorities had taken such precautions that the road wouldbe clear except for contesting automobiles. But what right had thismachine among them!
And what said the racers themselves, who, warned by telephone, had tosheer aside from the road in their struggle for the grand prize? Bytheir estimate, this amazing vehicle was going at least one hundredand thirty miles an hour. Fast as was their speed, it shot by them atsuch a rate that they could hardly make out even the shape of themachine, a sort of lengthened spindle, probably not over thirty feetlong. Its wheels spun with such velocity that they could scarce beseen. For the rest, the machine left behind it neither smoke norscent.
As for the driver, hidden in the interior of his machine, he had beenquite invisible. He remained as unknown as when he had first appearedon the various roads throughout the country.
Milwaukee was promptly warned of the coming of this interloper. Fancythe excitement the news caused! The immediate purpose agreed upon wasto stop this projectile, to erect across its route an obstacleagainst which it would smash into a thousand pieces. But was theretime? Would not the machine appear at any moment? And what need wasthere, since the track ended on the edge of Lake Michigan, and so thevehicle would be forced to stop there anyway, unless its supernaturaldriver could ride the water as well as the land.
Here, also, as all along the route, the most extravagant suggestionswere offered. Even those who would not admit that the mysteriouschauffeur must be Satan in person allowed that he might be somemonster escaped from the fantastic visions of the Apocalypse.
And now there were no longer minutes to wait. Any second might bringthe expected apparition.
It was not yet eleven o'clock when a rumbling was heard far down thetrack, and the dust rose in violent whirlwinds. Harsh whistlingsshrieked through the air warning all to give passage to the monster.
It did not slacken speed at the finish. Lake Michigan was not half amile beyond, and the machine must certainly be hurled into the water!Could it be that the mechanician was no longer master of hismechanism?
There could be little doubt of it. Like a shooting star, the vehicleflashed through Milwaukee. When it had passed the city, would itplunge itself to destruction in the waters of Lake Michigan?
At any rate when it disappeared at a slight bend in the road no tracewas to be found of its passage.