*CHAPTER XVII.*
*A CHANGE OF HEART.*
The meeting between Gilhooly and his brother exiles was most affecting.In the general joy at finding the ex-railway magnate restored to reasonthe matter of the imperial exchequer was temporarily lost sight of.
And I think the man who rejoiced most over Gilhooly's returned sanitywas Quinn. The professor's beady little eyes were fairly glowing as hecaught and clung to Gilhooly's hand after the others had expressed theirpleasure and tendered congratulations.
"This is a glad day for me, Mr. Gilhooly!" exclaimed the professor. "Ihad taken myself very much to task on account of your clouded mind."
"Your reproach of yourself was well merited," spoke up Meigs, who alwayshad a venomous shaft in his quiver for Quinn. "Small thanks to you thatour friend is himself again."
"Gently, Mr. Meigs, gently," came from Gilhooly. "I do not findProfessor Quinn in the wrong in any particular."
Popham, Meigs, and Markham regarded Gilhooly with open-mouthed amaze. Ithink the professor also was startled; I know at least that I was.
"Do you mean to say, Mr. Gilhooly," cried Meigs, "that you can overlookQuinn's criminal folly in casting us adrift in the unknown?"
"I cannot only overlook it," was the quiet response, "but I can forgiveit. Almost I am of the opinion that it was justifiable."
"Faugh!" rasped Meigs. "You have not recovered your reason after all oryou would not talk that way."
"Let us not engage in useless disputes, gentlemen," put in theprofessor. "There is another affair to engage us. It was thought,"Quinn went on, with an expressive look at me, "that Mr. Gilhooly hadfled the realm and taken the imperial exchequer with him."
"It was I who took the exchequer," said I, "and it is I who hope toreturn it to the king."
"What about the Bolla?" queried Quinn, giving me a sharp look.
"It is here," said I, touching the makeshift bundle I was carrying undermy arm. "At least," I added, "there is a strange looking black stoneamong the gold coins and I suppose it must be King Golbai's palladium."
"We were sent forth to look for Mr. Gilhooly and the stolen treasure,"remarked the professor. "Olox and his Gaddbaizets are likewise on theroad, but we have been able to leave them pretty well in the rear."
"What was thought of my absence?" I asked.
"Very little, Mr. Munn. Every officer of the state seemed united infixing the blame upon Mr. Gilhooly. Since he was known to be mentallyunsound, no crime could be attached to his act."
"I shall tell the truth of it," I declared.
"And be condemned to death by zet," said the professor, gazing at mefixedly.
"Let the king believe what he will," said Gilhooly. "I should ratherhave it so since it means so much to Mr. Munn."
"Why did you not keep on to the other kingdom with the Bolla?" inquiredQuinn of me.
"Because I didn't think I should be doing the right thing," I replied.
"Ah! And why this sudden change in your sentiments, Mr. Munn?"
"I can't explain it, professor."
"I believe it is a theory of yours that one thief has the right to takefrom another what does not belong to either of them."
"Two wrongs do not make a right."
"Indeed! The change in your sentiments is most sudden--and remarkable.Will you please untie the sleeves of your coat and allow me to have alook at that black stone?"
I lowered my bundle and opened it.
"There," said I, but poorly concealing the contempt I felt for the blackstone as I pointed to it. "You may take stock in the superstition ifyou will, professor, but I will have none of it."
The professor gave me a queer smile, then picked up the Bolla andsurveyed it curiously.
"Would you like to look at it, Mr. Meigs?" he asked.
"A fetish like this is a sure sign of barbarism," observed Meigs, takingthe stone. "The creatures who inhabit this planet are not of a veryhigh order mentally."
He passed the Bolla to Popham and Popham handed it to Markham. It waspresently returned to me and I packed it away as before.
The professor then asked me for an account of what had happened duringmy flight toward Baigol with the exchequer. Gilhooly was not able tohelp me much in the recital, as the most important part of ouradventures was a perfect blank to him.
I did not try to conceal anything from Quinn. I painted my designs onthe king's money as black as they really were and he smiled as helistened.
"When did Mr. Gilhooly lay hands on the Bolla?" Quinn asked.
"How do you know that he did?" I returned.
"I am very sure that he did," was the quiet reply.
Thereupon I told the professor how I had thrown the stone from the heapof gold and Gilhooly had picked it up, his reason returning shortlyafterward. Quinn wagged his head sagely and mumbled something I couldnot understand, but which had to do with the ridiculous pretensions ofthe Bolla.
I feared then for the mind of this great and good man. Was he breakingunder the tremendous responsibility incurred by removing the plutocratsfrom Earth?
A chill of apprehension shot to my heart. I was about to say somethingof a soothing nature to my patron--for I certainly looked upon him assuch--when Olox and his Gaddbaizets appeared.
Key seven of the high chief's word-box titillated with relief theinstant the officer got his eye on Gilhooly. The exuberance faded intoa note of foreboding and the foreboding into the words:
"Where is the king's treasure house? If that has not been recovered,calamity threatens our expedition to the planet Terra!"
"The treasure house has been broken and wrecked," replied the professor,"but my friends, Mr. Gilhooly and Mr. Munn, are returning the gold tohis majesty in their coats."
"Why should Mr. Gilhooly steal the gold and then help to return it?"came incredulously from Olox. "Is it simply a vagary of his unbalancedmind?"
"I am pleased to say, Chief Olox, that his mind is no longerunbalanced," returned the professor, warning me to silence with a lookas I was about to operate my talking machine. "Mr. Gilhooly is now assane as you or I."
Olox looked worried.
"I declare," said he, "I don't know how the president and board ofdirectors of the Interplanetary will regard this unexpected occurrence."
"They should feel overjoyed at the unclouding of so bright a mind as Mr.Gilhooly's."
"But what if it interferes with the traffic of the road? They have beenrunning limited trains on a schedule heretofore beyond their wildestdreams. His majesty farmed out the concession to the management of theroad for ninety-nine years, on a cash basis. If the traction powerproves unavailable, a demand will be made on the king for a return ofthe money--and just now any depletion of the imperial coffers mightprove fatal to the projected expedition."
It was just as well that the ex-magnates could not comprehend what wasgoing on between the word-boxes. The utilitarian views of the king, asexemplified in Gilhooly's case, would have jarred somewhat on theirconceit and self-esteem.
I noticed that a gleam of hope crossed Quinn's face when Olox spoke of apossible failure of the king's plan of conquest through lack of thesinews of war. But the hope died away almost instantly when Quinnreflected, as I did, that the monarch was as unscrupulous as he wasresourceful.
No further conversation was indulged in. The royal troops executed anabout face and returned to the capital, convoying our reunited party ofaliens.
As we drew up in the square the two glittering soldiers appeared in theturrets and sounded a call that drew the king to the balcony.
His majesty listened to the report of Olox with a beaming face, but hissmiles fled when he learned how the traction interests of the realm werethreatened by Gilhooly's returning sanity.
While this momentous question was still up for debate, Meigs plucked atthe professor's sleeve.
"Tell the king, professor," said he, his eyes downcast, "that I see theerror of my
way and frankly acknowledge it. If I am ever so fortunateas to get back to Earth I shall be a reformer. Please ask the king whenI can have my clothes."
And this was Meigs! Had the heavens fallen I could not have been moreastounded.
"Tell him the same for me," spoke Hannibal Markham. "Make it evenstronger, if you will. I have not been starved into submission--I shouldhave withstood such a siege to the death--but the change has beenwrought here."
He struck a hand against his heart.
"And ask him, professor," added Markham plaintively, "to have my wantssupplied immediately from the palace kitchens."
"Allow me to join my honorable friends in this free announcement of achange of heart," chimed in Augustus Popham. "Look at my hands!"
He held his hands out to us and we found them calloused and scarred.
"I can't go back to those mole burrows!" he supplemented.
Professor Quinn showed no signs of amazement. After grasping the palm ofeach ex-magnate, he fairly electrified his word-box with thesupplications of the exiles.
"Are these acknowledgments freely made and do they come from contritehearts," said the king, "or do they merely cloak a desire to escapefurther privation at the expense of truth?"
The professor indignantly repelled the insinuation. When he hadfinished his vigorous remarks, I stepped to the front and made acomplete confession of my designs on the Bolla and the imperialexchequer. Quinn tried to stop me, but I would suffer no interference.
"Are you aware," said the king gravely, "that _lese majeste_, felony,and half a dozen other capital crimes are mixed up in your confession?"
"Am I less courageous than an ex-trust magnate?" cried I warmly.
"Their confessions free them from servitude and the inconveniences ofhunger and lack of raiment," responded the king; "yours condemns you toa blast of zet that will consume and dissipate your body as though ithad never been."
Professor Quinn groaned and turned away with one hand over his eyes. Myaffection reached out for the good man then as it had never done before.
"Bring on the indexograph, Olox," commanded the king. "We will see howmuch of truth or falsehood it registers in the cases of thesegentlemen."
The indexograph was brought and test was made of all of us except theprofessor. The ideographs must have registered mightily in our favor,for the king seemed more than convinced of our sincerity.
"Restore to the clothing trust man the apparel that is rightfully his,"ordered his majesty; "allow the gentleman who would monopolize food topartake of a sufficient supply to satisfy his hunger; free the personwho has been delving for my black blocks from further duty--andincidentally confiscate the funds paid into the royal treasury for hisservices, as well as for the services of the B.&B. traction power--forMr. Gilhooly's sanity precludes his further use on the Interplanetary.Be happy, gentlemen! I feel that I must do some worthy deeds tocommemorate this the day that witnesses our departure for thesubjugation of Terra."
Quinn was rent with conflicting emotions, as was plainly apparent. Hewas glad the ex-plutocrats had fallen into royal favor, he was sorry tohave me yet under that ban, and he was greatly wrought up to learn thatthe king meditated such an early start on his inter-stellar campaign.
"What of Mr. Munn, your highness?" he inquired.
"Oh, yes," returned the king, "I was forgetting him. Olox, let him bedecorated with the Order of the Open Hand and see that he is inducted onthe morrow into the office of executioner-general. We need anexecutioner to fill the place of the late incumbent and I should have tolook far before I found so conscientious a person as Mr. Munn. Leaveorders with a subordinate, Olox. Neither you nor I will be here toattend the ceremony. My royal will shall be conveyed to the regent.
"And now," added the king as he rose from his seat, "while the treasurercounts the kyicks and takes care of the Bolla, Olox, you and I willproceed to the metal house, guarded by the Gaddbaizets and accompaniedby our alien friends."
Some preparations were necessary before a start for the car could bemade; and while these were going forward Meigs and Markham were led awayto receive the attention their condition demanded.
In an hour we were on the road. Meigs and Markham were in jubilantmood; Popham was optimistic but subdued, Gilhooly was silent andthoughtful, and I was inclined to look at the future with recklessindifference.
But Professor Quinn was bowed under a grievous load. If this madcapmonarch carried out his scheme of conquest, Quinn felt that on him alonewould rest the responsibility.
"I am making my plans, Mr. Munn," he whispered hoarsely to me as weproceeded on our journey to the car. "If the king's expedition getsaway, I shall have to accompany it; and I shall take care that neitherhe nor his Gaddbaizets ever reach our native planet."
"But suppose we can outwit the king in some way," I returned, "andescape in the car, leaving him and his subjects behind?"
"You and our other friends may go, if we can possibly manage it," saidQuinn, "but I have made up my mind to stay here."
I stopped short and stared at him.
"Surely you can't mean that!" I exclaimed.
"I do mean it," he said firmly. "For the good of Terra these creaturesof Njambai must be watched. We have only a surface knowledge of themand their resources. What if they should bring forward other means ofspanning space besides our car?
"Can't you see," the professor went on passionately, "that my misguidedenthusiasm painted the wonders of Earth in such glowing colors that KingGaddbai will strain every effort to gratify his cupidity and lust forconquest? I must remain here to combat him and hold him in check."
"Sir," said I in trepidation, "I think you take fright too easily. Oncewe leave Njambai in the car, it will be impossible for any of theBaigadds to follow us. You overestimate their possible resources."
"Whatever is possible cannot be overestimated. It may chance that Ialone shall stand between this resolute monarch and the welfare andhappiness of Terra. To desert my post would be cowardice. Do not seekto argue with me, for I made up my mind to this last night."
The reckless indifference with which I had fared forth from the citygave place to deep sorrow. Professor Quinn observed this and continued:
"Do not exercise yourself over my fate, Mr. Munn. I removed four rabidenemies of the people from our planet and I give back to it four eminentreformers. My end has been accomplished beyond my fondest dreams ifthis is brought to pass.
"And then, too, there is a work that I can do here, even if my direimaginings prove unfounded. I can, after I know these Mercurialsbetter, lead them perhaps to a higher round in the ladder ofcivilization. With the pattern of our earthly institutions before myeyes, I can choose the good, eliminate the evil, and build a fabric herethat will be a glory to whatever resources the orb may possess. Is itnot a fair destiny for one who was laughed out of the AstronomicalSociety because he dared to have convictions as I did?"
"It is a destiny, professor," said I, "which I intend to share with you.You remain here, and so do I. Possibly you may become prime minister; Iwill be executioner-general. Between us, we will have control of thesituation."
"That is not to be thought of," answered the professor hastily. "If itis possible for the exiles to escape in the car, you must accompany themas the one cool-headed, resourceful man capable of guiding the car toits destination. I shall instruct you carefully and fully.
"And besides," he added, as I was about to demur, "you are a changedman, Mr. Munn. There is work for you on the home planet, for your nativeworth is to retrieve itself on the very scene of your unworthy exploits.I trust you follow me? Pardon me if I hurt your feelings by being toofrank."
He had, wittingly or unwittingly, touched the vital chord which made meeager to regain the world I knew and loved. To stand fair in the sightof men who had known me at my worst was now my one consuming desire.
"Is this your wish, Professor Quinn?" I asked huskily.
"It is, Mr. Munn."
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p; "Then I shall follow your instructions to the letter."
"Do so," he said, with one of his rare smiles. "And if our dear desirescompass fulfillment, open this packet when you have left Njambai and arein the great void. It will be my last word to you and your fellowvoyagers in space."
He handed a sealed packet to me and I placed it carefully in my breastpocket. Then a hand-clasp followed in which heart went out to heart asit rarely does between man and man.
"Look, Mr. Munn!" exclaimed the professor, releasing my palm. "We havereached the car."
Adrift in the Unknown; or, Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm Page 17