by Jules Verne
Chapter 8
AT ANY COST
The suggestion of the Star came like a revelation. It was acceptedeverywhere. Not only were these three vehicles the work of the sameinventor; they were the same machine!
It was not easy to see how the remarkable transformation could bepractically accomplished from one means of locomotion to the other.How could an automobile become a boat, and yet more, a submarine? Allthe machine seemed to lack was the power of flying through the air.Nevertheless, everything that was known of the three differentmachines, as to their size, their shape, their lack of odor or ofsteam, and above all their remarkable speed, seemed to imply theiridentity. The public, grown blase with so many excitements, found inthis new marvel a stimulus to reawaken their curiosity.
The newspapers dwelt now chiefly on the importance of the invention.This new engine, whether in one vehicle or three, had given proofs ofits power. What amazing proofs! The invention must be bought at anyprice. The United States government must purchase it at once for theuse of the nation. Assuredly, the great European powers would stop atnothing to be beforehand with America, and gain possession of anengine so invaluable for military and naval use. What incalculableadvantages would it give to any nation, both on land and sea! Itsdestructive powers could not even be estimated, until its qualitiesand limitations were better known. No amount of money would be toogreat to pay for the secret; America could not put her millions tobetter use.
But to buy the machine, it was necessary to find the inventor; andthere seemed the chief difficulty. In vain was Lake Kirdall searchedfrom end to end. Even its depths were explored with a sounding-linewithout result. Must it be concluded that the submarine no longerlurked beneath its waters? But in that case, how had the boat gottenaway? For that matter, how had it come? An insoluble problem!
The submarine was heard from no more, neither in Lake Kirdall norelsewhere. It had disappeared like the automobile from the roads, andlike the boat from the shores of America. Several times in myinterviews with Mr. Ward, we discussed this matter, which stillfilled his mind. Our men continued everywhere on the lookout, but asunsuccessfully as other agents.
On the morning of the twenty-seventh of June, I was summoned into thepresence of Mr. Ward.
"Well, Strock," said he, "here is a splendid chance for you to getyour revenge."
"Revenge for the Great Eyrie disappointment?"
"Of course."
"What chance?" asked I, not knowing if he spoke seriously, or in jest.
"Why, here," he answered. "Would not you like to discover theinventor of this three-fold machine?"
"I certainly should, Mr. Ward. Give me the order to take charge ofthe matter, and I will accomplish the impossible, in order tosucceed. It is true, I believe it will be difficult."
"Undoubtedly, Strock. Perhaps even more difficult than to penetrateinto the Great Eyrie."
It was evident that Mr. Ward was intent on rallying me about myunsuccess. He would not do that, I felt assured, out of mereunkindness. Perhaps then he meant to rouse my resolution. He knew mewell; and realized that I would have given anything in the world torecoup my defeat. I waited quietly for new instructions.
Mr. Ward dropped his jesting and said to me very generously, "I know,Strock, that you accomplished everything that depended on humanpowers; and that no blame attaches to you. But we face now a mattervery different from that of the Great Eyrie. The day the governmentdecides to force that secret, everything is ready. We have only tospend some thousands of dollars, and the road will be open."
"That is what I would urge."
"But at present," said Mr. Ward, shaking his head, "it is much moreimportant to place our hands on this fantastic inventor, who soconstantly escapes us. That is work for a detective, indeed; a masterdetective!"
"He has not been heard from again?"
"No; and though there is every reason to believe that he has been,and still continues, beneath the waters of Lake Kirdall, it has beenimpossible to find any trace of him anywhere around there. One wouldalmost fancy he had the power of making himself invisible, thisProteus of a mechanic!"
"It seems likely," said I, "that he will never be seen until hewishes to be."
"True, Strock. And to my mind there is only one way of dealing withhim, and that is to offer him such an enormous price that he cannotrefuse to sell his invention."
Mr. Ward was right. Indeed, the government had already made theeffort to secure speech with this hero of the day, than whom surelyno human being has ever better merited the title. The press hadwidely spread the news, and this extraordinary individual mustassuredly know what the government desired of him, and how completelyhe could name the terms he wished.
"Surely," added Mr. Ward, "this invention can be of no personal useto the man, that he should hide it from the rest of us. There isevery reason why he should sell it. Can this unknown be already somedangerous criminal who, thanks to his machine, hopes to defy allpursuit?"
My chief then went on to explain that it had been decided to employother means in search of the inventor. It was possible after all thathe had perished with his machine in some dangerous maneuver. If so,the ruined vehicle might prove almost as valuable and instructive tothe mechanical world as the man himself. But since the accident tothe schooner "Markel" on Lake Kirdall, no news of him whatever hadreached the police.
On this point Mr. Ward did not attempt to hide his disappointment andhis anxiety. Anxiety, yes, for it was manifestly becoming more andmore difficult for him to fulfill his duty of protecting the public.How could we arrest criminals, if they could flee from justice atsuch speed over both land and sea? How could we pursue them under theoceans? And when dirigible balloons should also have reached theirfull perfection, we would even have to chase men through the air! Iasked myself if my colleagues and I would not find ourselves some dayreduced to utter helplessness? If police officials, become a uselessincumbrance, would be definitely discarded by society?
Here, there recurred to me the jesting letter I had received afortnight before, the letter which threatened my liberty and even mylife. I recalled, also, the singular espionage of which I had beenthe subject. I asked myself if I had better mention these things toMr. Ward. But they seemed to have absolutely no relation to thematter now in hand. The Great Eyrie affair had been definitely putaside by the government, since an eruption was no longer threatening.And they now wished to employ me upon this newer matter. I waited,then, to mention this letter to my chief at some future time, when itwould be not so sore a joke to me.
Mr. Ward again took up our conversation. "We are resolved by somemeans to establish communication with this inventor. He hasdisappeared, it is true; but he may reappear at any moment, and inany part of the country. I have chosen you, Strock, to follow him theinstant he appears. You must hold yourself ready to leave Washingtonon the moment. Do not quit your house, except to come here toheadquarters each day; notify me, each time by telephone, when youstart from home, and report to me personally the moment you arrivehere."
"I will follow orders exactly, Mr. Ward," I answered. "But permit meone question. Ought I to act alone, or will it not be better to joinwith me?"
"That is what I intend," said the chief, interrupting me. "You are tochoose two of our men whom you think the best fitted."
"I will do so, Mr. Ward. And now, if some day or other I stand in thepresence of our man, what am I to do with him?"
"Above all things, do not lose sight of him. If there is no otherway, arrest him. You shall have a warrant."
"A useful precaution, Mr. Ward. If he started to jump into hisautomobile and to speed away at the rate we know of, I must stop himat any cost. One cannot argue long with a man making two hundredmiles an hour!"
"You must prevent that, Strock. And the arrest made, telegraph me.After that, the matter will be in my hands."
"Count on me, Mr. Ward; at any hour, day or night, I shall be readyto start with my men. I thank you for having entrusted this missionto me. If it succeeds,
it will be a great honor--"
"And of great profit," added my chief, dismissing me.
Returning home, I made all preparations for a trip of indefiniteduration. Perhaps my good housekeeper imagined that I planned areturn to the Great Eyrie, which she regarded as an ante-chamber ofhell itself. She said nothing, but went about her work with a mostdespairing face. Nevertheless, sure as I was of her discretion, Itold her nothing. In this great mission I would confide in no one.
My choice of the two men to accompany me was easily made. They bothbelonged to my own department, and had many times under my directcommand given proofs of their vigor, courage and intelligence. One,John Hart, of Illinois, was a man of thirty years; the other, agedthirty-two, was Nab Walker, of Massachusetts. I could not have hadbetter assistants.
Several days passed, without news, either of the automobile, theboat, or the submarine. There were rumors in plenty; but the policeknew them to be false. As to the reckless stories that appeared inthe newspapers, they had most of them, no foundation whatever. Eventhe best journals cannot be trusted to refuse an exciting bit of newson the mere ground of its unreliability.
Then, twice in quick succession, there came what seemed trustworthyreports of the "man of the hour." The first asserted that he had beenseen on the roads of Arkansas, near Little Rock. The second, that hewas in the very middle of Lake Superior.
Unfortunately, these two notices were absolutely unreconcilable; forwhile the first gave the afternoon of June twenty-sixth, as the timeof appearance, the second set it for the evening of the same day.Now, these two points of the United States territory are not lessthan eight hundred miles apart. Even granting the automobile thisunthinkable speed, greater than any it had yet shown, how could ithave crossed all the intervening country unseen? How could ittraverse the States of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin, fromend to end without anyone of our agents giving us warning, withoutany interested person rushing to a telephone?
After these two momentary appearances, if appearances they were, themachine again dropped out of knowledge. Mr. Ward did not think itworth while to dispatch me and my men to either point whence it hadbeen reported.
Yet since this marvelous machine seemed still in existence, somethingmust be done. The following official notice was published in everynewspaper of the United States under July 3d. It was couched in themost formal terms.
"During the month of April, of the present year, an automobiletraversed the roads of Pennsylvania, of Kentucky, of Ohio, ofTennessee, of Missouri, of Illinois; and on the twenty-seventh ofMay, during the race held by the American Automobile Club, it coveredthe course in Wisconsin. Then it disappeared.
"During the first week of June, a boat maneuvering at great speedappeared off the coast of New England between Cape Cod and CapeSable, and more particularly around Boston. Then it disappeared.
"In the second fortnight of the same month, a submarine boat was runbeneath the waters of Lake Kirdall, in Kansas. Then it disappeared.
"Everything points to the belief that the same inventor must havebuilt these three machines, or perhaps that they are the samemachine, constructed so as to travel both on land and water.
"A proposition is therefore addressed to the said inventor, whoeverhe be, with the aim of acquiring the said machine.
"He is requested to make himself known and to name the terms uponwhich he will treat with the United States government. He is alsorequested to answer as promptly as possible to the Department ofFederal Police, Washington, D. C., United States of America."
Such was the notice printed in large type on the front page of everynewspaper. Surely it could not fail to reach the eye of him for whomit was intended, wherever he might be. He would read it. He couldscarce fail to answer it in some manner. And why should he refusesuch an unlimited offer? We had only to await his reply.
One can easily imagine how high the public curiosity rose. Frommorning till night, an eager and noisy crowd pressed about the bureauof police, awaiting the arrival of a letter or a telegram. The bestreporters were on the spot. What honor, what profit would come to thepaper which was first to publish the famous news! To know at last thename and place of the undiscoverable unknown! And to know if he wouldagree to some bargain with the government! It goes without sayingthat America does things on a magnificent scale. Millions would notbe lacking for the inventor. If necessary all the millionaires in thecountry would open their inexhaustible purses!
The day passed. To how many excited and impatient people it seemed tocontain more than twenty-four hours! And each hour held far more thansixty minutes! There came no answer, no letter, no telegram! Thenight following, there was still no news. And it was the same thenext day and the next.
There came, however another result, which had been fully foreseen.The cables informed Europe of what the United States government haddone. The different Powers of the Old World hoped also to obtainpossession of the wonderful invention. Why should they not strugglefor an advantage so tremendous? Why should they not enter the contestwith their millions?
In brief, every great Power took part in the affair, France, England,Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany. Only the states of the second orderrefrained from entering, with their smaller resources, upon a uselesseffort. The European press published notices identical with that ofthe United States. The extraordinary "chauffeur" had only to speak,to become a rival to the Vanderbilts, the Astors, the Goulds, theMorgans, and the Rothschilds of every country of Europe.
And, when the mysterious inventor made no sign, what attractiveoffers were held forth to tempt him to discard the secrecy in whichhe was enwrapped! The whole world became a public market, an auctionhouse whence arose the most amazing bids. Twice a day the newspaperswould add up the amounts, and these kept rising from millions tomillions. The end came when the United States Congress, after amemorable session, voted to offer the sum of twenty million dollars.And there was not a citizen of the States of whatever rank, whoobjected to the amount, so much importance was attached to thepossession of this prodigious engine of locomotion. As for me, I saidemphatically to my old housekeeper: "The machine is worth even morethan that."
Evidently the other nations of the world did not think so, for theirbids remained below the final sum. But how useless was this mightystruggle of the great rivals! The inventor did not appear! He did notexist! He had never existed! It was all a monstrous pretense of theAmerican newspapers. That, at least, became the announced view of theOld World.
And so the time passed. There was no further news of our man, therewas no response from him. He appeared no more. For my part, notknowing what to think, I commenced to lose all hope of reaching anysolution to the strange affair.
Then on the morning of the fifteenth of July, a letter withoutpostmark was found in the mailbox of the police bureau. After theauthorities had studied it, it was given out to the Washingtonjournals, which published it in facsimile, in special numbers. It wascouched as follows: