Adrift in the Unknown; or, Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm, Page 3

  *CHAPTER III.*

  *PROFESSOR QUINN'S FEAT.*

  My unexpected advent upon the scene proved as startling as I hadanticipated. Even the professor was dashed.

  Stepping in front of the steel door, I toyed menacingly with therevolver and surveyed the plutocrats with a grim humor I made no attemptto conceal.

  At that period of my life, inspired by the sophistry to which I havealready adverted, I was a cool and dangerous man.

  "Pardon me for entering unannounced," said I blindly. "You havelistened to Professor Quinn's theory and witnessed its demonstration. Iam but an humble philosopher, yet I have a theory of my own which Ishould also like to expound and to demonstrate."

  "Who are you, sir?" demanded Quinn.

  "I am a bird of like feather with these, your guests," said Ifacetiously, "albeit my methods are more direct if less extensive. Myname is James Peter Munn; my specialty is robbery of the out-and-outvariety, for I have the courage of my convictions, and do not hidebehind a technicality.

  "I do not wish to intrude my presence here longer than necessary toaccomplish my designs, and if these amiable gentlemen will aid me"--Iindicated the amiable gentlemen with my revolver point--"I will take mydeparture quietly from the castle. But"--and here I scowledblackly--"some trust or other will be minus its guiding power in caseany resistance is attempted."

  The threat was sufficient, and the usual sunny smile returned to my faceas I added:

  "Mr. Gilhooly will advance to the table, spread his handkerchief uponit, and lay thereon his watch and fob, the ring on his finger, thekohinoor in his tie, and the wallet in the breast of his coat. It is mytheory that one thief has the right to take from another property thatdoes not belong to either of them. It is Mr. Gilhooly's privilege togive the first demonstration."

  Fidelity to truth forces me to chronicle the above speech. The _eclat_with which I made it is far from me now as I pen it verbatim.

  There are speeches in life which we could wish unsaid, and this one ofmine I would give much to consign to the limbo of things unspoken.Reformation has worked wonders in me since that evil time.

  I will say for Mr. Gilhooly that he was alacrity itself in carrying outmy command. His hands trembled a little as he placed his belongings onthe handkerchief and knotted the four corners over the plunder as Irequested.

  The professor, smiling strangely, sank down on the divan and watchedproceedings with twinkling eyes. His manner filled me with a forebodingI tried not to manifest.

  "Evidently this amuses you!" cried Gilhooly, in anger, his snapping eyeson the professor.

  "Your inference is correct, Mr. Gilhooly," answered Quinn. "I amprofoundly amused. It is all so unexpected, so dramatic, andso--useless."

  "By gad, sir," cried Popham, "I see more in this than a desire on yourpart to interest capital in a fake discovery. There is a plot here,gentlemen," and he turned to the other three. "Our folly in allowingourselves to be lured to this place was stupendous. I make no doubt butthat there is a plot here between this man Quinn and this thief. Quinngets us in the thief's power, and the thief does the rest."

  "A pretty scheme!" snapped Meigs.

  "Clever, very clever," put in Markham.

  "And successful, too," growled Gilhooly with a regretful look at theplunder on the table. "But there will be a reckoning. When we are onceclear of this place we can set the police at work."

  I was surprised at the way Quinn took this talk. He continued to smileand was in no way ruffled.

  "You're wrong there," cried I, hot and indignant. "Professor Quinn hadnothing to do with my being here. I've had my eye on this castle for along while, and I let myself in, just before you came, hoping to make ahaul and get clear. You interrupted me, and I stowed myself awayupstairs. From what I saw and heard, I must say that it is a pleasurefor me to turn my back on Professor Quinn's property and to give myentire attention to you four."

  "Mr. Munn," said Quinn, "how long have you been engaged in thisbusiness?"

  "For some years now, sir," I answered.

  "You were honest--once?"

  "Every man is born honest, if it comes to that. I used to work in aniron foundry, but the works were taken over by a combination and a lotof us were thrown out of employment. There was nothing for me to do butbeg--and I'm above that. This came handiest, and I went into it. I likethe business. Matching one's wits against the law keeps one constantlyin the midst of alarms, so to speak, and I like excitement. And I haveability, for never yet have I worn the stripes or learned the lock-step.I have written some on the subject of my vocation, in the hope ofbeguiling others into the work."

  "A dangerous man!" muttered Gilhooly.

  "What are we coming to?" clamored Popham. "Here is a thief who isactually proud of his profession, and who actually writes books aboutit!"

  "Merciful heavens!" gasped Meigs, in horror. "I feel sorry for mycountry when it produces such men."

  "We--we are tottering on the verge of chaos!" added Markham, in a stagewhisper.

  I laughed at all this, for I enjoyed it hugely.

  "Spare yourselves any needless worry about me, gentlemen," said I."Look to home, and you will probably find enough there to fret yourconsciences."

  Professor Quinn continued to take pleasure out of the queer situation.

  "I can honor a man like Munn," said he, "where I am tempted to despisemen like you, Gilhooly, Meigs, Markham, and Popham. As Munn said, hehas the courage of his convictions. He does not take from the poor, forin the very nature of things he cannot. His loot comes from those whoare able to lose it, while you are vampires, and sapping the verylifeblood of the nation. You are all criminally deluded, although,perhaps, doing what you conscientiously believe to be exactly right.Would to Heaven," and here the professor grew suddenly sincere andintensely earnest, "that something would conspire to open your eyes tothe exact truth. But I have despaired of that, and I am trying, in myown feeble way, to meet the present emergency."

  "You are either a fool or a madman!" cried Popham.

  "A rattle-brained zealot!" chimed in Meigs.

  "You are the one who should see things differently," said Markham. "Youpreach a doctrine which you fail to apply personally."

  "Enough of this talk, gentlemen," I interposed. "My situation isprecarious and I must ask you to hurry a little."

  "Sir," shouted Popham, leveling a forefinger at me, "I shall see youproperly jailed for this. Why, you miserable footpad, I can----"

  "Save your breath," I interrupted tartly, meeting his forefinger withthe muzzle of the pepper box. "Lead is no respecter of persons. One ofyou has called me a dangerous man. I am all of that, and desperate.Mr. Popham, you saw how Mr. Gilhooly carried out my orders. You willproceed in the same manner, and without further loss of time. In fiveminutes I must be out of here."

  He started to argue the point with me, and I allowed my forefinger toflex, ever so slightly, upon the trigger.

  That was enough. A man values his life in a direct ratio with what heconsiders his importance; therefore, the esteem in which these fourmillionaires held themselves must have been overwhelming.

  The Honorable Augustus Popham finally yielded up his personal propertywith the same readiness that had characterized his friend. HannibalMarkham followed him, and after Markham came J. Archibald Meigs.

  I had a pleasant word for each as I marshaled the four bundles, strungthem on the fingers of my left hand and backed toward the door, whichwas a few paces behind me.

  "When a good general beats a retreat," said I, preparing to pull openthe door and let myself out, "he places as many obstacles in the path ofthe pursuing force as possible. When I leave, therefore, I shall lockthis door on the outside."

  I was watched by the plutocrats in philosophical silence; by theprofessor, with a geniality that nothing seemed able to shake.

  I had spared Quinn because he was a friend of the poor, as I haddiscovered. A
nd I had been poor myself some fifteen minutes back.

  "Good-by," said I airily.

  "_Au revoir_," answered the professor. "Look well where you step."

  I threw open the door with a laugh. The laugh faded into a shout ofterror.

  I threw out my hands, revolver and packets of loot falling through thedoor, and I only barely saving myself with one foot over the threshold.

  The horror that gripped me then is such a horror as comes to a man butonce in a lifetime. My brain sickened and chilled, my heart all butstopped its beating, and my limbs grew rigid.

  In the black of the fearsome night--not the atmospheric blue-black I hadbeen accustomed to, but the ebony dark of Erebus--I saw a wild greenishstar below, a huge disk whose gleaming nimbus danced on my sight inquivering lines.

  Half crazed, I flung back into the room and fell groveling to the floor,my ears echoing with the professor's merriment and the startledexclamations of the four men I had robbed--all to no purpose.

  Presently I sat up, rubbing forehead and eyes.

  The professor stood in the open door, gloating over the vista below.

  "Come!" he called, beckoning to the huddled quartet at the other side ofthe room. "Come, Gilhooly, Meigs, Popham, and Markham--come, look downupon the scene of your feverish activities. You were plutocrats there,more powerful than kings! Here you are no more than shoulder high withme, and yon muddled thief on the floor! You have been snatched from thescene of your pernicious labors--exiled into planetary space where youwill be powerless to work further evil. I have not lived in vain; forthis, this is the triumph of my career."

  Slowly Meigs disentangled himself from the mute group by the oppositewall and crept on all fours to the threshold that overlooked the voidand the greenish star.

  He recoiled with a yell; then, maddened by what he had seen, he leapederect and tried to hurl himself out into space.

  "Fool!" cried the professor, laying hold of him and struggling to keephim back. "Would you become a satellite of this twenty-by-thirtyplanet? We are beyond the atmosphere of the earth--look! See the fourpackets of loot and the thief's revolver."

  He pointed through the door and the bulging handkerchiefs and mysix-shooter were abreast of us, hanging in space, turning slowly,weirdly--a sight to upset the strongest mind.

  Gilhooly jumped forward, gave vent to a maniacal laugh, then crumpleddown on the floor.

  "Bid up for the G.H.&D.," he mumbled, "bid to the limit! I must havethat road--I _will_ have it."

  "Brace up, Meigs!" said the professor sharply, pulling the key from theouter side of the lock, slamming the door, fastening it, and putting thekey in his pocket. "Take care of Gilhooly, man! His mind falters!Heavens, are you all mad? Are your keen minds, unshaken in thecontemplation of vast deals for the enslavement of the poor, so quick tobreak? I had thought better of you than this!"

  Meigs, white as the spotless linen that covered his breast, advancedupon the professor. He tried to speak, but without success. At last,with a supreme effort, the words came:

  "Madman, what have you done?"

  "That is better," returned the professor, smiling as he looked at Meigsand noted how Markham and Popham ranged themselves at his side; "muchbetter. You were engaged in plots back there on the earth, and thesuccess of those plots would have proved a great calamity. I have savedthe world from the calamity!"

  "Your--your castle has risen from the earth?" asked Meigs.

  "It has fallen off the earth. As you and I and the others happened tobe inside, we fell with it!"

  Sudden rage convulsed Meigs. He crouched downward, his eyes ablaze andhis fingers working convulsively.

  "Scoundrel!" he screamed, and launched himself at the professor's throatlike a tiger.