Chapter 1 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOUNTAINS

If I speak of myself in this story, it is because I have been deeply involved in its startling events, events doubtless among the most extraordinary which this twentieth century will witness.  Sometimes I even ask myself if all this has really happened, if its pictures dwell in truth in my memory, and not merely in my imagination.  In my position as head inspector in the federal police department at Washington, urged on moreover by the desire, which has always been very strong in me, to investigate and understand everything which is mysterious, I naturally became much interested in these remarkable occurrences.  And as I have been employed by the government in various important affairs and secret missions since I was a mere lad, it also happened very naturally that the head of my department placed in my charge this astonishing investigation, wherein I found myself wrestling with so many impenetrable mysteries.

In the remarkable passages of the recital, it is important that you should believe my word.  For some of the facts I can bring no other testimony than my own.  If you do not wish to believe me, so be it.  I can scarce believe it all myself.

The strange occurrences began in the western part of our great American State of North Carolina.  There, deep amid the Blueridge Mountains rises the crest called the Great Eyrie.  Its huge rounded form is distinctly seen from the little town of Morganton on the Catawba River, and still more clearly as one approaches the mountains by way of the village of Pleasant Garden....

In brief was not this the site of an ancient volcano, one which had slept through ages, but whose inner fires might yet reawake?  Might not the Great Eyrie reproduce in its neighborhood the violence of Mount Krakatoa or the terrible disaster of Mont Pelee?  If there were indeed a central lake, was there not danger that its waters, penetrating the strata beneath, would be turned to steam by the volcanic fires and tear their way forth in a tremendous explosion, deluging the fair plains of Carolina with an eruption such as that of 1902 in Martinique?

Indeed, with regard to this last possibility there had been certain symptoms recently observed which might well be due to volcanic action.  Smoke had floated above the mountain and once the country folk passing near had heard subterranean noises, unexplainable rumblings.  A glow in the sky had crowned the height at night.

When the wind blew the smoky cloud eastward toward Pleasant Garden, a few cinders and ashes drifted down from it.  And finally one stormy night pale flames, reflected from the clouds above the summit, cast upon the district below a sinister, warning light.

In presence of these strange phenomena, it is not astonishing that the people of the surrounding district became seriously disquieted.  And to the disquiet was joined an imperious need of knowing the true condition of the mountain.  The Carolina newspapers had flaring headlines, "The Mystery of Great Eyrie!"  They asked if it was not dangerous to dwell in such a region.  Their articles aroused curiosity and fear--curiosity among those who being in no danger themselves were interested in the disturbance merely as a strange phenomenon of nature, fear in those who were likely to be the victims if a catastrophe actually occurred.  Those more immediately threatened were the citizens of Morganton, and even more the good folk of Pleasant Garden and the hamlets and farms yet closer to the mountain....

During the first days of April of that year, these more or less vague apprehensions turned to actual panic.  The newspapers gave prompt echo to the public terror.  The entire district between the mountains and Morganton was sure that an eruption was at hand.

The night of the fourth of April, the good folk of Pleasant Garden were awakened by a sudden uproar.  They thought that the mountains were falling upon them.  They rushed from their houses, ready for instant flight, fearing to see open before them some immense abyss, engulfing the farms and villages for miles around.

The night was very dark.  A weight of heavy clouds pressed down upon the plain.  Even had it been day the crest of the mountains would have been invisible.

In the midst of this impenetrable obscurity, there was no response to the cries which arose from every side.  Frightened groups of men, women, and children groped their way along the black roads in wild confusion.  From every quarter came the screaming voices:  "It is an earthquake!" "It is an eruption!" "Whence comes it?" "From the Great Eyrie!"

Into Morganton sped the news that stones, lava, ashes, were raining down upon the country.

Shrewd citizens of the town, however, observed that if there were an eruption the noise would have continued and increased, the flames would have appeared above the crater; or at least their lurid reflections would have penetrated the clouds.  Now, even these reflections were no longer seen.  If there had been an earthquake, the terrified people saw that at least their houses had not crumbled beneath the shock.  It was possible that the uproar had been caused by an avalanche, the fall of some mighty rock from the summit of the mountains.

An hour passed without other incident.  A wind from the west sweeping over the long chain of the Blueridge, set the pines and hemlocks wailing on the higher slopes.  There seemed no new cause for panic; and folk began to return to their houses.  All, however, awaited impatiently the return of day.

Then suddenly, toward three o'clock in the morning, another alarm!  Flames leaped up above the rocky wall of the Great Eyrie.  Reflected from the clouds, they illuminated the atmosphere for a great distance.  A crackling, as if of many burning trees, was heard.

Had a fire spontaneously broken out?  And to what cause was it due?  Lightning could not have started the conflagration; for no thunder had been heard.  True, there was plenty of material for fire; at this height the chain of the Blueridge is well wooded.  But these flames were too sudden for any ordinary cause.

"An eruption!  An eruption!"

The cry resounded from all sides.  An eruption!  The Great Eyrie was then indeed the crater of a volcano buried in the bowels of the mountains.  And after so many years, so many ages even, had it reawakened?  Added to the flames, was a rain of stones and ashes about to follow?  Were the lavas going to pour down torrents of molten fire, destroying everything in their passage, annihilating the towns, the villages, the farms, all this beautiful world of meadows, fields and forests, even as far as Pleasant Garden and Morganton?

This time the panic was overwhelming; nothing could stop it.  Women carrying their infants, crazed with terror, rushed along the eastward roads.  Men, deserting their homes, made hurried bundles of their most precious belongings and set free their livestock, cows, sheep, pigs, which fled in all directions.  What disorder resulted from this agglomeration, human and animal, under darkest night, amid forests, threatened by the fires of the volcano, along the border of marshes whose waters might be upheaved and overflow!  With the earth itself threatening to disappear from under the feet of the fugitives!  Would they be in time to save themselves, if a cascade of glowing lava came rolling down the slope of the mountain across their route?

Nevertheless, some of the chief and shrewder farm owners were not swept away in this mad flight, which they did their best to restrain.  Venturing within a mile of the mountain, they saw that the glare of the flames was decreasing.  In truth it hardly seemed that the region was immediately menaced by any further upheaval.  No stones were being hurled into space; no torrent of lava was visible upon the slopes; no rumblings rose from the ground.  There was no further manifestation of any seismic disturbance capable of overwhelming the land.

At length, the flight of the fugitives ceased at a distance where they seemed secure from all danger.  Then a few ventured back toward the mountain.  Some farms were reoccupied before the break of day.

By morning the crests of the Great Eyrie showed scarcely the least remnant of its cloud of smoke.  The fires were certainly at an end; and if it were impossible to determine their cause, one might at least hope that they would not break out again.

It appeared possible that the Great Eyrie had not really been the theater of volcanic phenomena at all.  There was no further evidence that the neighborhood was at the mercy either of eruptions or of earthquakes.

Yet once more about five o'clock, from beneath the ridge of the mountain, where the shadows of night still lingered, a strange noise swept across the air, a sort of whirring, accompanied by the beating of mighty wings.  And had it been a clear day, perhaps the farmers would have seen the passage of a mighty bird of prey, some monster of the skies, which having risen from the Great Eyrie sped away toward the east....
 

Chapter 4 A MEETING OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB

Was the mystery of the Great Eyrie to be solved some day by chances beyond our imagining?  That was known only to the future.  And was the solution a matter of the first importance?  That was beyond doubt, since the safety of the people of western Carolina perhaps depended upon it.

Yet a fortnight after my return to Washington, public attention was wholly distracted from this problem by another very different in nature, but equally astonishing.

Toward the middle of that month of May the newspapers of Pennsylvania informed their readers of some strange occurrences in different parts of the state.  On the roads which radiated from Philadelphia, the chief city, there circulated an extraordinary vehicle, of which no one could describe the form, or the nature, or even the size, so rapidly did it rush past.  It was an automobile; all were agreed on that.  But as to what motor drove it, only imagination could say; and when the popular imagination is aroused, what limit is there to its hypotheses?

At that period the most improved automobiles, whether driven by steam, gasoline, or electricity, could not accomplish much more than sixty miles an hour, a speed that the railroads, with their most rapid expresses, scarce exceed on the best lines of America and Europe.  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 danger on the highroads, as much so for vehicles, as for pedestrians.  This rushing mass, coming like a thunder-bolt, preceded by a formidable rumbling, caused a whirlwind, which tore the branches from the trees along the road, terrified the animals browsing in adjoining fields, and scattered and killed the birds, which could not resist the suction of the tremendous air currents engendered by its passage.

And, a bizarre detail to which the newspapers drew particular attention, the surface of the roads was scarcely even scratched by the wheels of the apparition, which left behind it no such ruts as are usually made by heavy vehicles.  At most there was a light touch, a mere brushing of the dust.  It was only the tremendous speed which raised behind the vehicle such whirlwinds of dust.

"It is probable," commented the New York Herald, "that the extreme rapidity of motion destroys the weight."

Naturally there were protests from all sides.  It was impossible to permit the mad speed of this apparition which threatened to overthrow and destroy everything in its passage, equipages and people.  But how could it be stopped?  No one knew to whom the vehicle belonged, nor whence it came, nor whither it went.  It was seen but for an instant as it darted forward like a bullet in its dizzy flight.  How could one seize a cannon-ball in the air, as it leaped from the mouth of the gun?

I repeat, there was no evidence as to the character of the propelling engine.  It left behind it no smoke, no steam, no odor of gasoline, or any other oil.  It seemed probable, therefore, that the vehicle ran by electricity, and that its accumulators were of an unknown model, using some unknown fluid.

The public imagination, highly excited, readily accepted every sort of rumor about this mysterious automobile.  It was said to be a supernatural car.  It was driven by a specter, by one of the chauffeurs of hell, a goblin from another world, a monster escaped from some mythological menagerie, in short, the devil in person, who could defy all human intervention, having at his command invisible and infinite satanic powers.

But even Satan himself had no right to run at such speed over the roads of the United States without a special permit, without a number on his car, and without a regular license.  And it was certain that not a single municipality had given him permission to go two hundred miles an hour.  Public security demanded that some means be found to unmask the secret of this terrible chauffeur.

Moreover, it was not only Pennsylvania that served as the theater of his sportive eccentricities.  The police reported his appearance in other states; in Kentucky near Frankfort; in Ohio near Columbus; in Tennessee near Nashville; in Missouri near Jefferson; and finally in Illinois in the neighborhood of Chicago.

The alarm having been given, it became the duty of the authorities to take steps against this public danger.  To arrest or even to halt an apparition moving at such speed was scarcely practicable.  A better way would be to erect across the roads solid gateways with which the flying machine must come in contact sooner or later, and be smashed into a thousand pieces.

"Nonsense!" declared the incredulous.  "This madman would know well how to circle around such obstructions."

"And if necessary," added others," the machine would leap over the barriers."

"And if he is indeed the devil, he has, as a former angel, presumably preserved his wings, and so he will take to flight."

But this last was but the suggestion of foolish old gossips who did not stop to study the matter.  For if the King of Hades possessed a pair of wings, why did he obstinately persist in running around on the earth at the risk of crushing his own subjects, when he might more easily have hurled himself through space as free as a bird.

Such was the situation when, in the last week of May, a fresh event occurred, which seemed to show that the United States was indeed helpless in the hands of some unapproachable monster.  And after the New World, would not the Old in its turn, be desecrated by the mad career of this remarkable automobilist?

The following occurrence was reported in all the newspapers of the Union, and with what comments and outcries it is easy to imagine.

A race was to be held by the automobile Club of Wisconsin, over the roads of that state of which Madison is the capital.  The route laid out formed an excellent track, about two hundred miles in length, starting from Prairie-du-chien on the western frontier, passing by Madison and ending a little above Milwaukee on the borders of Lake Michigan.  Except for the Japanese road between Nikko and Namode, bordered by giant cypresses, there is no better track in the world than this of Wisconsin.  It runs straight and level as an arrow for sometimes fifty miles at a stretch.  Many and noted were the machines entered for this great race.  Every kind of motor vehicle was permitted to compete, even motorcycles, as well as automobiles.  The machines were of all makes and nationalities.  The sum of the different prizes reached fifty thousand dollars, so that the race was sure to be desperately contested.  New records were expected to be made.

Calculating on the maximum speed hitherto attained, of perhaps eighty miles an hour, this international contest covering two hundred miles would last about three hours.  And, to avoid all danger, the state authorities of Wisconsin had forbidden all other traffic between Prairie-du-chien and Milwaukee during three hours on the morning of the thirtieth of May.  Thus, if there were any accidents, those who suffered would be themselves to blame.

There was an enormous crowd; and it was not composed only of the people of Wisconsin.  Many thousands gathered from the neighboring states 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 the chauffeurs of its land.  Moreover, as this was the United States, the country of the greatest gamblers of the world, bets were made of every sort and of enormous amounts.

The start was to be made at eight o'clock in the morning; and to avoid crowding and the accidents which must result from it, the automobiles were to follow each other at two minute intervals, along the roads whose borders were black with spectators.

The first ten racers, numbered by lot, were dispatched between eight o'clock and twenty minutes past.  Unless there was some disastrous accident, some of these machines would surely arrive at the goal by eleven o'clock.  The others followed in order.

An hour and a half had passed.  There remained but a single contestant at Prairie-du-chien.  Word was sent back and forth by telephone every five minutes as to the order of the racers.  Midway between Madison and Milwaukee, the lead was held by a machine of Renault brothers, four cylindered, of twenty horsepower, and with Michelin tires.  It was closely followed by a Harvard-Watson car and by a Dion-Bouton.  Some accidents had already occurred, other machines were hopelessly behind.  Not more than a dozen would contest the finish.  Several chauffeurs had been injured, but not seriously.  And even had they been killed, the death of men is but a detail, not considered of great importance in that astonishing country of America.

Naturally the excitement became more intense as one approached the finishing line near Milwaukee.  There were assembled the most curious, the most interested; and there the passions of the moment were unchained.  By ten o'clock it was evident, that the first prize, twenty thousand dollars, lay between five machines, two American, two French, and one English.  Imagine, therefore, the fury with which bets were being made under the influence of national pride.  The regular book makers could scarcely meet the demands of those who wished to wager.  Offers and amounts were hurled from lip to lip with feverish rapidity.  "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 new announcement from the telephones.

Suddenly at half-past nine by the town clock of Prairie-du-chien, two miles beyond that town was heard a tremendous noise and rumbling which proceeded from the midst of a flying cloud of dust accompanied by shrieks like those of a naval siren.

Scarcely had the crowds time to draw to one side, to escape a destruction which would have included hundreds of victims.  The cloud swept by like a hurricane.  No one could distinguish what it was that passed with such speed.  There was no exaggeration in saying that its rate was at least one hundred and fifty miles an hour.

The apparition passed and disappeared in an instant, leaving behind it a long train of white dust, as an express locomotive leaves behind a train of smoke.  Evidently it was an automobile with a most extraordinary motor.  If it maintained this arrow-like speed, it would reach the contestants in the fore-front of the race; it would pass them with this speed double their own; it would arrive first at the goal.

And then from all parts arose an uproar, as soon as the spectators had 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 mysterious chauffeur be, driving with this unbelievable velocity, his no less mysterious machine?  At least it was beyond doubt that this was the same machine which had already attracted so much attention.  If the police believed that they had frightened it away, that it was never to be, heard of more, well, the police were mistaken which happens in America as elsewhere.

The first stunned moment of surprise having passed, many people rushed to the telephones to warn those further along the route of the danger which menaced, not only the people, but also the automobiles scattered along the road.

When this terrible madman arrived like an avalanche they would be smashed to pieces, ground into powder, annihilated!

And from the collision might not the destroyer himself emerge safe and sound?  He must be so adroit, this chauffeur of chauffeurs, he must handle his machine with such perfection of eye and hand, that he knew, no doubt, how to escape from every situation.  Fortunately the Wisconsin authorities had taken such precautions that the road would be clear except for contesting automobiles.  But what right had this machine among them!

And what said the racers themselves, who, warned by telephone, had to sheer aside from the road in their struggle for the grand prize?  By their estimate, this amazing vehicle was going at least one hundred and thirty miles an hour.  Fast as was their speed, it shot by them at such a rate that they could hardly make out even the shape of the machine, a sort of lengthened spindle, probably not over thirty feet long.  Its wheels spun with such velocity that they could scarce be seen.  For the rest, the machine left behind it neither smoke nor scent.

As for the driver, hidden in the interior of his machine, he had been quite invisible.  He remained as unknown as when he had first appeared on the various roads throughout the country.

Milwaukee was promptly warned of the coming of this interloper.  Fancy the excitement the news caused!  The immediate purpose agreed upon was to stop this projectile, to erect across its route an obstacle against which it would smash into a thousand pieces.  But was there time?  Would not the machine appear at any moment?  And what need was there, since the track ended on the edge of Lake Michigan, and so the vehicle would be forced to stop there anyway, unless its supernatural driver could ride the water as well as the land.

Here, also, as all along the route, the most extravagant suggestions were offered.  Even those who would not admit that the mysterious chauffeur must be Satan in person allowed that he might be some monster escaped from the fantastic visions of the Apocalypse.

And now there were no longer minutes to wait.  Any second might bring the expected apparition.

It was not yet eleven o'clock when a rumbling was heard far down the track, and the dust rose in violent whirlwinds.  Harsh whistlings shrieked through the air warning all to give passage to the monster.

It did not slacken speed at the finish.  Lake Michigan was not half a mile beyond, and the machine must certainly be hurled into the water!  Could it be that the mechanician was no longer master of his mechanism?

There could be little doubt of it.  Like a shooting star, the vehicle flashed through Milwaukee.  When it had passed the city, would it plunge itself to destruction in the waters of Lake Michigan?

At any rate when it disappeared at a slight bend in the road no trace was to be found of its passage.
 

Chapter 5 ALONG THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND

...For some days the waters along the coast of Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts had been the scene of an appearance which no one could exactly describe.  A moving body would appear amid the waters, some two or three miles off shore, and go through rapid evolutions.  It would flash for a while back and forth among the waves and then dart out of sight.

The body moved with such lightning speed that the best telescopes could hardly follow it.  Its length did not seem to exceed thirty feet.  Its cigar-shaped form and greenish color, made it difficult to distinguish against the background of the ocean.  It had been most frequently observed along the coast between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia.  From Providence, from Boston, from Portsmouth, and from Portland motor boats and steam launches had repeatedly attempted to approach this moving body and even to give it chase.  They could not get anywhere near it.  Pursuit seemed useless.  It darted like an arrow beyond the range of view.

Naturally, widely differing opinions were held as to the nature of this object.  But no hypothesis rested on any secure basis.  Seamen were as much at a loss as others.  At first sailors thought it must be some great fish, like a whale.  But it is well known that all these animals come to the surface with a certain regularity to breathe, and spout up columns of mingled air and water.  Now, this strange animal, if it was an animal, had never "blown" as the whalers say; nor, had it ever made any noises of breathing.  Yet if it were not one of these huge marine mammals, how was this unknown monster to be classed?  Did it belong among the legendary dwellers in the deep, the krakens, the octopuses, the leviathans, the famous sea-serpents?

At any rate, since this monster, whatever it was, had appeared along the New England shores, the little fishing-smacks and pleasure boats dared not venture forth.  Wherever it appeared the boats fled to the nearest harbor, as was but prudent.  If the animal was of a ferocious character, none cared to await its attack.

As to the large ships and coast steamers, they had nothing to fear from any monster, whale or otherwise.  Several of them had seen this creature at a distance of some miles.  But when they attempted to approach, it fled rapidly away.  One day, even, a fast United States gun boat went out from Boston, if not to pursue the monster, at least to send after it a few cannon shot.  Almost instantly the animal disappeared, and the attempt was vain.  As yet, however, the monster had shown no intention of attacking either boats or people.

At this moment Mr. Ward returned and I interrupted my reading to say, "There seems as yet no reason to complain of this sea-serpent.  It flees before big ships.  It does not pursue little ones.  Feeling and intelligence are not very strong in fishes."

"Yet their emotions exist, Strock, and if strongly aroused--"

"But, Mr. Ward, the beast seems not at all dangerous.  One of two things will happen.  Either it will presently quit these coasts, or finally it will be captured and we shall be able to study it at our leisure here in the museum of Washington."

"And if it is not a marine animal?" asked Mr. Ward.

"What else can it be?" I protested in surprise.

"Finish your reading," said Mr. Ward.

I did so; and found that in the second part of the report, my chief had underlined some passages in red pencil.

For some time no one had doubted that this was an animal; and that, if it were vigorously pursued, it would at last be driven from our shores.  But a change of opinion had come about.  People began to ask if, instead of a fish, this were not some new and remarkable kind of boat.

Certainly in that case its engine must be one of amazing power.  Perhaps the inventor before selling the secret of his invention, sought to attract public attention and to astound the maritime world.  Such surety in the movements of his boat, grace in its every evolution, such ease in defying pursuit by its arrow-like speed, surely, these were enough to arouse world-wide curiosity!

At that time great progress had been made in the manufacture of marine engines.  Huge transatlantic steamers completed the ocean passage in five days.  And the engineers had not yet spoken their last word.  Neither were the navies of the world behind.  The cruisers, the torpedo boats, the torpedo-destroyers, could match the swiftest steamers of the Atlantic and Pacific, or of the Indian trade.

If, however, this were a boat of some new design, there had as yet been no opportunity to observe its form.  As to the engines which drove it, they must be of a power far beyond the fastest known.  By what force they worked, was equally a problem.  Since the boat had no sails, it was not driven by the wind; and since it had no smoke-stack, it was not driven by steam.

At this point in the report, I again paused in my reading and considered the comment I wished to make.

"What are you puzzling over, Strock?" demanded my chief.

"It is this, Mr. Ward; the motive power of this so-called boat must be as tremendous and as unknown as that of the remarkable automobile which has so amazed us all."....

There was but one conclusion to be drawn.  If the mysterious chauffeur had disappeared, if he had perished with his machine in Lake Michigan, it was equally important now to win the secret of this no less mysterious navigator.  And it must be won before he in his turn plunged into the abyss of the ocean.  Was it not the interest of the inventor to disclose his invention?  Would not the American government or any other give him any price he chose to ask?

Yet unfortunately, since the inventor of the terrestrial apparition had persisted in preserving his incognito, was it not to be feared that the inventor of the marine apparition would equally preserve his?  Even if the first machine still existed, it was no longer heard from; and would not the second, in the same way, after having disclosed its powers, disappear in its turn, without a single trace?

What gave weight to this probability was that since the arrival of this report at Washington twenty-four hours before, the presence of the extraordinary boat hadn't been announced from anywhere along the shore.  Neither had it been seen on any other coast.  Though, of course, the assertion that it would not reappear at all would have been hazardous, to say the least.

I noted another interesting and possibly important point.  It was a singular coincidence which indeed Mr. Ward suggested to me, at the same moment that I was considering it.  This was that only after the disappearance of the wonderful automobile had the no less wonderful boat come into view.  Moreover, their engines both possessed a most dangerous power of locomotion.  If both should go rushing at the same time over the face of the world, the same danger would threaten mankind everywhere, in boats, in vehicles, and on foot.  Therefore it was absolutely necessary that the police should in some manner interfere to protect the public ways of travel.

That is what Mr. Ward pointed out to me; and our duty was obvious.  But how could we accomplish this task?  We discussed the matter for some time; and I was just about to leave when Mr. Ward made one last suggestion.

"Have you not observed, Strock," said he, "that there is a sort of fantastic resemblance between the general appearance of this boat and this automobile?"

"There is something of the sort, Mr. Ward."

"Well, is it not possible that the two are one?"
 

Chapter 6 THE FIRST LETTER

...[P]erhaps the automobile and the boat which had attracted our attention were in reality one and the same.  Very probably, at least, the two machines had been built by the same hand.  And beyond doubt, these were similar engines, which generated this remarkable speed, more than doubling the previous records of earth and sea.

"The same inventor!" repeated I.

Evidently this hypothesis had strong grounds.  The fact that the two machines had not yet appeared at the same time added weight to the idea.  I murmured to myself, "After the mystery of Great Eyrie, comes that of Milwaukee and Boston.  Will this new problem be as difficult to solve as was the other?"

I noted idly that this new affair had a general resemblance to the other, since both menaced the security of the general public.  To be sure, only the inhabitants of the Blueridge region had been in danger from an eruption or possible earthquake at Great Eyrie.  While now, on every road of the United States, or along every league of its coasts and harbors, every inhabitant was in danger from this vehicle or this boat, with its sudden appearance and insane speed.

I found that, as was to be expected, the newspapers not only suggested, but enlarged upon the dangers of the case.  Timid people everywhere were much alarmed.  My old servant, naturally credulous and superstitious, was particularly upset.  That same day after dinner, as she was clearing away the things, she stopped before me, a water bottle in one hand, the serviette in the other, and asked anxiously, "Is there no news, sir?"

"None," I answered, knowing well to what she referred.

"The automobile has not come back?"

"No."

"Nor the boat?"

"Nor the boat There is no news even-in the best informed papers."

"But--your secret police information?"

"We are no wiser."

"Then, sir, if you please, of what use are the police?"

It is a question which has phased me more than once.

"Now you see what will happen," continued the old housekeeper, complainingly, "Some fine morning, he will come without warning, this terrible chauffeur, and rush down our street here, and kill us all!"

"Good!  When that happens, there will be some chance of catching him."

"He will never be arrested, sir."

"Why not?"

"Because he is the devil himself, and you can't arrest the devil!"

Decidedly, thought I, the devil has many uses; and if he did not exist we would have to invent him, to give people some way of explaining the inexplicable.  It was he who lit the flames of the Great Eyrie.  It was he who smashed the record in the Wisconsin race.  It is he who is scurrying along the shores of Connecticut and Massachusetts.  But putting to one side this evil spirit who is so necessary, for the convenience of the ignorant, there was no doubt that we were facing a most bewildering problem.  Had both of these machines disappeared forever?  They had passed like a meteor, like a star shooting through space; and in a hundred years the adventure would become a legend, much to the taste of the gossips of the next century.

For several days the newspapers of America and even those of Europe continued to discuss these events.  Editorials crowded upon editorials.  Rumors were added to rumors.  Story tellers of every kind crowded to the front.  The public of two continents was interested.  In some parts of Europe there was even jealousy that America should have been chosen as the field of such an experience.  If these marvelous inventors were American, then their country, their army and navy, would have a great advantage over others.  The United States might acquire an incontestable superiority.

Under the date of the tenth of June, a New York paper published a carefully studied article on this phase of the subject.  Comparing the speed of the swiftest known vessels with the smallest minimum of speed which could possibly be assigned to the new boat, the article demonstrated that if the United States secured this secret, Europe would be but three days away from her, while she would still be five days from Europe.

If our own police had searched diligently to discover the mystery of the Great Eyrie, the secret service of every country in the world was now interested in these new problems....

Matters stood thus when, on the morning of June fifteenth, my old servant brought me a letter from the letter-carrier, a registered letter for which I had to sign.  I looked at the address.  I did not know the handwriting.  The postmark, dating from two days before, was stamped at the post office of Morganton....

The envelope was sealed with red sealing wax, and stamped with a sort of coat of arms, surmounted with three stars.  The paper was thick and very strong.  I broke the envelope and drew out a letter.  It was a single sheet, folded in four, and written on one side only.  My first glance was for the signature.

There was no signature!  Nothing but three initials at the end of the last line!

"The letter is not from the Mayor of Morganton," said I.

"Then from whom?" asked the old servant, doubly curious in her quality as a woman and as an old gossip.

Looking again at the three initials of the signature, I said, "I know no one for whom these letters would stand; neither at Morganton nor elsewhere."

The hand-writing was bold.  Both up strokes and down strokes very sharp, about twenty lines in all.  Here is the letter, of which I, with good reason, retained an exact copy.  It was dated, to my extreme stupefaction, from that mysterious Great Eyrie:
 

Chapter 7 A THIRD MACHINE

I confess that at first this letter dumfounded me.  "Ohs!" and "Ahs!" slipped from my open mouth.  The old servant stared at me, not knowing what to think.

"Oh, sir!  is it bad news?"

I answered for I kept few secrets from this faithful soul by reading her the letter from end to end.  She listened with much anxiety.

"A joke, without doubt," said I, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well," returned my superstitious handmaid, "if it isn't from the devil, it's from the devil's country, anyway."

Left alone, I again went over this unexpected letter.  Reflection inclined me yet more strongly to believe that it was the work of a practical joker.  My adventure was well known.  The newspapers had given it in full detail.  Some satirist, such as exists even in America, must have written this threatening letter to mock me.

To assume, on the other hand, that the Eyrie really served as the refuge of a band of criminals, seemed absurd.  If they feared that the police would discover their retreat, surely they would not have been so foolish as thus to force attention upon themselves.  Their chief security would lie in keeping their presence there unknown.  They must have realized that such a challenge from them would only arouse the police to renewed activity.  Dynamite or melinite would soon open an entrance to their fortress.  Moreover, how could these men have, themselves, gained entrance into the Eyrie unless there existed a passage which we had failed to discover?  Assuredly the letter came from a jester or a madman; and I need not worry over it, nor even consider it.

Hence, though for an instant I had thought of showing this letter to Mr. Ward, I decided not to do so.  Surely he would attach no importance to it.  However, I did not destroy it, but locked it in my desk for safe keeping.  If more letters came of the same kind, and with the same initials, I would attach as little weight to them as to this....

The nineteenth of June I was going to the police bureau, when, on leaving my house, I noticed two men who looked at me with a certain keenness.  Not knowing them, I took no notice; and if my attention was drawn to the matter, it was because my servant spoke of it when I returned.

For some days, she said, she had noticed that two men seemed to be spying upon me in the street.  They stood constantly, perhaps a hundred steps from my house; and she suspected that they followed me each time I went up the street....

Then, on the twenty-fourth of June, there came a new event, to further stimulate both my interest and that of the general public in the previous mysteries of the automobile and the boat.  The Washington Evening Star published the following account, which was next morning copied by every paper in the country.
 

And this is what the Evening Star then reported in its startling article.
 

The article in the Evening Star closed with this truly striking suggestion:  "After the mysterious automobile, came the mysterious boat.  Now comes the mysterious submarine.

"Must we conclude that the three engines are due to the genius of the same inventor, and that the three vehicles are in truth but one?"
 

Chapter 8 AT ANY COST

The suggestion of the Star came like a revelation.  It was accepted everywhere.  Not only were these three vehicles the work of the same inventor; they were the same machine!

It was not easy to see how the remarkable transformation could be practically accomplished from one means of locomotion to the other.  How could an automobile become a boat, and yet more, a submarine?  All the machine seemed to lack was the power of flying through the air.  Nevertheless, everything that was known of the three different machines, as to their size, their shape, their lack of odor or of steam, and above all their remarkable speed, seemed to imply their identity.  The public, grown blasé with so many excitements, found in this 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 of its power.  What amazing proofs!  The invention must be bought at any price.  The United States government must purchase it at once for the use of the nation.  Assuredly, the great European powers would stop at nothing to be beforehand with America, and gain possession of an engine so invaluable for military and naval use.  What incalculable advantages would it give to any nation, both on land and sea!  Its destructive powers could not even be estimated, until its qualities and limitations were better known.  No amount of money would be too great to pay for the secret; America could not put her millions to better use.

But to buy the machine, it was necessary to find the inventor; and there seemed the chief difficulty.  In vain was Lake Kirdall searched from end to end.  Even its depths were explored with a sounding-line without result.  Must it be concluded that the submarine no longer lurked beneath its waters?  But in that case, how had the boat gotten away?  For that matter, how had it come?  An insoluble problem!

The submarine was heard from no more, neither in Lake Kirdall nor elsewhere.  It had disappeared like the automobile from the roads, and like the boat from the shores of America.  Several times in my interviews with Mr. Ward, we discussed this matter, which still filled his mind.  Our men continued everywhere on the lookout, but as unsuccessfully as other agents.

On the morning of the twenty-seventh of June, I was summoned into the presence of Mr. Ward....

"Would not you like to discover the inventor of this three-fold machine?''

"I certainly should, Mr. Ward.  Give me the order to take charge of the matter, and I will accomplish the impossible, in order to succeed.  It is true, I believe it will be difficult."

"Undoubtedly, Strock.  Perhaps even more difficult than to penetrate into the Great Eyrie."

It was evident that Mr. Ward was intent on rallying me about my unsuccess.  He would not do that, I felt assured, out of mere unkindness.  Perhaps then he meant to rouse my resolution.  He knew me well; and realized that I would have given anything in the world to recoup 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 human powers; and that no blame attaches to you.  But we face now a matter very different from that of the Great Eyrie.  The day the government decides to force that secret, everything is ready.  We have only to spend 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 more important to place our hands on this fantastic inventor, who so constantly escapes us.  That is work for a detective, indeed; a master detective!"

"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 been impossible to find any trace of him anywhere around there.  One would almost fancy he had the power of making himself invisible, this Proteus of a mechanic!"

"It seems likely," said I, "that he will never be seen until he wishes to be."

"True, Strock.  And to my mind there is only one way of dealing with him, and that is to offer him such an enormous price that he cannot refuse to sell his invention."

Mr. Ward was right.  Indeed, the government had already made the effort to secure speech with this hero of the day, than whom surely no human being has ever better merited the title.  The press had widely spread the news, and this extraordinary individual must assuredly know what the government desired of him, and how completely he could name the terms he wished.

"Surely," added Mr. Ward, "this invention can be of no personal use to the man, that he should hide it from the rest of us.  There is every reason why he should sell it.  Can this unknown be already some dangerous criminal who, thanks to his machine, hopes to defy all pursuit?"

My chief then went on to explain that it had been decided to employ other means in search of the inventor.  It was possible after all that he had perished with his machine in some dangerous maneuver.  If so, the ruined vehicle might prove almost as valuable and instructive to the mechanical world as the man himself.  But since the accident to the schooner "Markel" on Lake Kirdall, no news of him whatever had reached the police.

On this point Mr. Ward did not attempt to hide his disappointment and his anxiety.  Anxiety, yes, for it was manifestly becoming more and more difficult for him to fulfill his duty of protecting the public.  How could we arrest criminals, if they could flee from justice at such speed over both land and sea?  How could we pursue them under the oceans?  And when dirigible balloons should also have reached their full perfection, we would even have to chase men through the air!  I asked myself if my colleagues and I would not find ourselves some day reduced to utter helplessness?  If police officials, become a useless incumbrance, would be definitely discarded by society?

Here, there recurred to me the jesting letter I had received a fortnight before, the letter which threatened my liberty and even my life.  I recalled, also, the singular espionage of which I had been the subject.  I asked myself if I had better mention these things to Mr. Ward.  But they seemed to have absolutely no relation to the matter now in hand.  The Great Eyrie affair had been definitely put aside 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 it would be not so sore a joke to me.

Mr. Ward again took up our conversation.  "We are resolved by some means to establish communication with this inventor.  He has disappeared, it is true; but he may reappear at any moment, and in any part of the country.  I have chosen you, Strock, to follow him the instant he appears.  You must hold yourself ready to leave Washington on the moment.  Do not quit your house, except to come here to headquarters each day; notify me, each time by telephone, when you start from home, and report to me personally the moment you arrive here."...

"I will do so, Mr. Ward.  And now, if some day or other I stand in the presence of our man, what am I to do with him?"

"Above all things, do not lose sight of him.  If there is no other way, arrest him.  You shall have a warrant."

"A useful precaution, Mr. Ward.  If he started to jump into his automobile and to speed away at the rate we know of, I must stop him at any cost.  One cannot argue long with a man making two hundred miles 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 ready to start with my men.  I thank you for having entrusted this mission to 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 indefinite duration.  Perhaps my good housekeeper imagined that I planned a return to the Great Eyrie, which she regarded as an ante-chamber of hell itself.  She said nothing, but went about her work with a most despairing face.  Nevertheless, sure as I was of her discretion, I told her nothing.  In this great mission I would confide in no one....

Several days passed, without news, either of the automobile, the boat, or the submarine.  There were rumors in plenty; but the police knew them to be false.  As to the reckless stories that appeared in the newspapers, they had most of them, no foundation whatever.  Even the best journals cannot be trusted to refuse an exciting bit of news on the mere ground of its unreliability.

Then, twice in quick succession, there came what seemed trustworthy reports of the "man of the hour."  The first asserted that he had been seen on the roads of Arkansas, near Little Rock.  The second, that he was in the very middle of Lake Superior.

Unfortunately, these two notices were absolutely unreconcilable; for while the first gave the afternoon of June twenty-sixth, as the time of appearance, the second set it for the evening of the same day.  Now, these two points of the United States territory are not less than eight hundred miles apart.  Even granting the automobile this unthinkable speed, greater than any it had yet shown, how could it have crossed all the intervening country unseen?  How could it traverse the States of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin, from end to end without anyone of our agents giving us warning, without any interested person rushing to a telephone?

After these two momentary appearances, if appearances they were, the machine again dropped out of knowledge....

The following official notice was published in every newspaper of the United States under July 3d.  It was couched in the most formal terms.
 

Such was the notice printed in large type on the front page of every newspaper.  Surely it could not fail to reach the eye of him for whom it was intended, wherever he might be.  He would read it.  He could scarce fail to answer it in some manner.  And why should he refuse such an unlimited offer?  We had only to await his reply.

One can easily imagine how high the public curiosity rose.  From morning till night, an eager and noisy crowd pressed about the bureau of police, awaiting the arrival of a letter or a telegram.  The best reporters were on the spot.  What honor, what profit would come to the paper which was first to publish the famous news!  To know at last the name and place of the undiscoverable unknown!  And to know if he would agree to some bargain with the government!  It goes without saying that America does things on a magnificent scale.  Millions would not be lacking for the inventor.  If necessary all the millionaires in the country would open their inexhaustible purses!

The day passed.  To how many excited and impatient people it seemed to contain more than twenty-four hours!  And each hour held far more than sixty minutes!  There came no answer, no letter, no telegram!  The night following, there was still no news.  And it was the same the next day and the next.

There came, however another result, which had been fully foreseen.  The cables informed Europe of what the United States government had done.  The different Powers of the Old World hoped also to obtain possession of the wonderful invention.  Why should they not struggle for an advantage so tremendous?  Why should they not enter the contest with their millions?

In brief, every great Power took part in the affair, France, England, Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany.  Only the states of the second order refrained from entering, with their smaller resources, upon a useless effort.  The European press published notices identical with that of the United States.  The extraordinary "chauffeur" had only to speak, to become a rival to the Vanderbilts, the Astors, the Goulds, the Morgans, and the Rothschilds of every country of Europe.

And, when the mysterious inventor made no sign, what attractive offers were held forth to tempt him to discard the secrecy in which he was enwrapped!  The whole world became a public market, an auction house whence arose the most amazing bids.  Twice a day the newspapers would add up the amounts, and these kept rising from millions to millions.  The end came when the United States Congress, after a memorable session, voted to offer the sum of twenty million dollars.  And there was not a citizen of the States of whatever rank, who objected to the amount, so much importance was attached to the possession of this prodigious engine of locomotion.  As for me, I said emphatically to my old housekeeper:  "The machine is worth even more than that."

Evidently the other nations of the world did not think so, for their bids remained below the final sum.  But how useless was this mighty struggle of the great rivals!  The inventor did not appear!  He did not exist!  He had never existed!  It was all a monstrous pretense of the American newspapers.  That, at least, became the announced view of the Old World.

And so the time passed.  There was no further news of our man, there was no response from him.  He appeared no more.  For my part, not knowing what to think, I commenced to lose all hope of reaching any solution to the strange affair.

Then on the morning of the fifteenth of July, a letter without postmark was found in the mailbox of the police bureau.  After the authorities had studied it, it was given out to the Washington journals, which published it in facsimile, in special numbers.  It was couched as follows:
 

Chapter 9 THE SECOND LETTER

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, no one had seen him....

I have said that this letter appeared in facsimile in all the newspapers to which the government communicated it.  Perhaps one would naturally imagine that the first comment of the public would be, "This is the work of some practical joker."  It was in that way that I had 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 who would have maintained that the document should not be taken seriously, an immense majority would have responded.  "This letter has not the style nor the spirit of a jester.  Only one man could have written it; and that is the inventor of this unapproachable machine."....

As for myself, I studied carefully every phrase of the defiant document.  The hand-writing was black and heavy.  An expert at chirography would doubtless have distinguished in the lines traces of a violent temperament, of a character stern and unsocial.  Suddenly, a cry escaped me a cry that fortunately my housekeeper did not hear.  Why had I not noticed sooner the resemblance of the handwriting to that of the letter I had received from Morganton?

Moreover, a yet more significant coincidence, the initials with which my letter had been signed, did they not stand for the words "Master of the World?"

And whence came the second letter?  "On Board the 'Terror.'" Doubtless this name was that of the triple machine commanded by the mysterious captain.  The initials in my letter were his own signature; and it was he who had threatened me, if I dared to renew my attempt on the Great Eyrie.

I rose and took from my desk the letter of June thirteenth.  I compared it with the facsimile in the newspapers.  There was no doubt about it.  They were both in the same peculiar hand-writing....

I knew what my first step should be; and with the letter in my pocket, I hastened to police headquarters....

The chief had spread before him the letter published in the papers, not a facsimile, but the original itself which had been deposited in the letter-box of the department....

He took the two letters and compared them afresh.  He examined them under a microscope, especially the signatures, and established their perfect identity.  Not only the same hand, but the same pen had written them....

All that day, the public excitement caused by the defiant letter mounted steadily higher.  It was felt both at the White House and at the Capitol that public opinion absolutely demanded some action.  Of course, it was difficult to do anything.  Where could one find this Master of the World?  And even if he were discovered, how could he be captured?  He had at his disposal not only the powers he had displayed, but apparently still greater resources as yet unknown.  How had he been able to reach Lake Kirdall over the rocks; and how had he escaped 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 it all the more important to get to the bottom of it.  Since the millions of dollars had been refused, force must be employed.  The inventor and his invention were not to be bought.  And in what haughty and menacing terms he had couched his refusal!  So be it!  He must be treated as an enemy of society, against whom all means became justified, that he might be deprived of his power to injure others.  The idea that he had perished 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 following proclamation:
 

It was a declaration of war, war to the death against this "Master of the World" who thought to threaten and defy an entire nation, the American nation!

Before the day was over, various rewards of large amounts were promised to anyone who revealed the hiding place of this dangerous inventor, to anyone who could identify him, and to anyone who should rid the country of him.

Such was the situation during the last fortnight of July.  All was left to the hazard of fortune.  The moment the outlaw re-appeared he would be seen and signaled, and when the chance came he would be arrested.  This could not be accomplished when he was in his automobile on land or in his boat on the water.  No; he must be seized suddenly, before he had any opportunity to escape by means of that speed which no other machine could equal.

I was therefore all alert, awaiting an order from Mr. Ward to start out with my men.  But the order did not arrive for the very good reason that the man whom it concerned remained undiscovered.  The end of July approached.  The newspapers continued the excitement.  They published repeated rumors.  New clues were constantly being announced.  But all this was mere idle talk.  Telegrams reached the police bureau from every part of America, each contradicting and nullifying the others.  The enormous rewards offered could not help but lead to accusations, errors, and blunders, made, many of them, in good faith.  One time it would be a cloud of dust, which must have contained the automobile.  At another time, almost any wave on any of America's thousand lakes represented the submarine.  In truth, in the excited state of the public imagination, apparitions assailed us from every side.

At last, on the twenty-ninth of July, I received a telephone message to come to Mr. Ward on the instant.  Twenty minutes later I was in his cabinet.

"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!"
 

Chapter 11 THE CAMPAIGN

So the undiscoverable commander had reappeared upon the territory of the United States!  He had never shown himself in Europe either on the roads or in the seas.  He had not crossed the Atlantic, which apparently he could have traversed in three days.  Did he then intend to make only America the scene of his exploits?  Ought we to conclude from this that he was an American?

Let me insist upon this point.  It seemed clear that the submarine might easily have crossed the vast sea which separates the New and the Old World.  Not only would its amazing speed have made its voyage short, in comparison to that of the swiftest steamship, but also it would have escaped all the storms that make the voyage dangerous.  Tempests did not exist for it.  It had but to abandon the surface of the waves, and it could find absolute calm a few score feet beneath.

But the inventor had not crossed the Atlantic, and if he were to be captured now, it would probably be in Ohio, since Toledo is a city of that state.

This time the fact of the machine's appearance had been kept secret, between the police and the agent who had warned them, and whom I was hurrying to meet.  No journal--and many would have paid high for the chance--was printing this news.  We had decided that nothing should be revealed until our effort was at an end.  No indiscretion would be committed by either my comrades or myself.

The man to whom I was sent with an order from Mr. Ward was named Arthur Wells.  He awaited us at Toledo.  The city of Toledo stands at the western end of Lake Erie.  Our train sped during the night across West Virginia and Ohio.  There was no delay; and before noon the next day the locomotive stopped in the Toledo depot.

John Hart, Nab Walker and I stepped out with traveling bags in our hands, and revolvers in our pockets.  Perhaps we should need weapons for an attack, or even to defend ourselves.  Scarcely had I stepped from the train when I picked out the man who awaited us.  He was scanning the arriving passengers impatiently, evidently as eager and full of haste as I.

I approached him.  "Mr. Wells?" said I.

"Mr. Strock?" asked he.

"Yes."

"I am at your command," said Mr. Wells.

"Are we to stop any time in Toledo?" I asked.

"No; with your permission, Mr. Strock.  A carriage with two good horses is waiting outside the station; and we must leave at once to reach our destination as soon as possible."

"We will go at once," I answered, signing to my two men to follow us.  "Is it far?"

"Twenty miles."

"And the place is called?"

"Black Rock Creek."

Having left our bags at a hotel, we started on our drive.  Much to my surprise I found there were provisions sufficient for several days packed beneath the seat of the carriage..  Mr. Wells told me that the region around Black Rock Creek was among the wildest in the state.  There was nothing there to attract either farmers or fishermen.  We would find not an inn for our meals nor a room in which to sleep.  Fortunately, during the July heat there would be no hardship even if we had to lie one or two nights under the stars.

More probably, however, if we were successful, the matter would not occupy us many hours.  Either the commander of the "Terror" would be surprised before he had a chance to escape, or he would take to flight and we must give up all hope of arresting him....

We drove rapidly along the shore of Lake Erie, toward the southwest.  This inland sea of water is on the northern boundary of the United States, lying between Canada on one side and the States of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York on the other.  If I stop to mention the geographical position of this lake, its depth, its extent, and the waters nearest around, it is because the knowledge is necessary for the understanding of the events which were about to happen.

The surface of Lake Erie covers about ten thousand square miles.  It is nearly six hundred feet above sea level.  It is joined on the northwest, by means of the Detroit River, with the still greater lakes to the westward, and receives their waters.  It has also rivers of its own though of less importance, such as the Rocky, the Cuyahoga, and the Black.  The lake empties at its northeastern end into Lake Ontario by means of Niagara River and its celebrated falls.

The greatest known depth of Lake Erie is over one hundred and thirty feet.  Hence it will be seen that the mass of its waters is considerable.  In short, this is a region of most magnificent lakes.  The land, though not situated far northward, is exposed to the full sweep of the Arctic cold.  The region to the northward is low, and the winds of winter rush down with extreme violence.  Hence Lake Erie is sometimes frozen over from shore to shore.

The principal cities on the borders of this great lake are Buffalo at the east, which belongs to New York State, and Toledo in Ohio, at the west, with Cleveland and Sandusky, both Ohio cities, at the south.  Smaller towns and villages are numerous along the shore.  The traffic is naturally large, its annual value being estimated at considerably over two million dollars.

Our carriage followed a rough and little used road along the borders of the lake; and as we toiled along, Arthur Wells told me, what he had learned

Less than two days before, on the afternoon of July twenty-seventh Wells had been riding on horseback toward the town of Herly.  Five miles outside the town, he was riding through a little wood, when he saw, far up across the lake, a submarine which rose suddenly above the waves.  He stopped, tied his horse, and stole on foot to the edge of the lake.  There, from behind a tree he had seen with his own eyes seen this submarine advance toward him, and stop at the mouth of Black Rock Creek.  Was it the famous machine for which the whole world was seeking, which thus came directly to his feet?

When the submarine was close to the rocks, two men climbed out upon its deck and stepped ashore.  Was one of them this Master of the World, who had not been seen since he was reported from Lake Superior?  Was this the mysterious "Terror" which had thus risen from the depths of Lake Erie?

"I was alone," said Wells.  "Alone on the edge of the Creek.  If you and your assistants, Mr. Strock had been there, we four against two, we would have been able to reach these men and seize them before they could have regained their boat and fled."

"Probably," I answered.  "But were there no others on the boat with them?  Still, if we had seized the two, we could at least have learned who they were."

"And above all," added Wells, "if one of them turned out to be the captain of the 'Terror!'"

"I have only one fear, Wells; this submarine, whether it is the one we seek or another, may have left the creek since your departure."

"We shall know about that in a few hours, now.  Pray Heaven they are still there!  Then when night comes--"

"But," I asked, "did you remain watching in the wood until night?"

"No; I left after an hour's watching, and rode straight for the telegraph station at Toledo.  I reached there late at night and sent immediate word to Washington."

"That was night before last.  Did you return yesterday to Black Rock Creek?"

"Yes."

"The submarine was still there?"

"In the same spot."

"And the two men?"

"The same two men.  I judge that some accident had happened, and they came to this lonely spot to repair it."

"Probably so," said I.  "Some damage which made it impossible for them to regain their usual hiding-place.  If only they are still here!"

"I have reason to believe they will be, for quite a lot of stuff was taken out of the boat, and laid about upon the shore; and as well as I could discern from a distance they seemed to be working on board."

"Only the two men?"

"Only the two."

"But," protested I, "can two be sufficient to handle an apparatus of such speed, and of such intricacy, as to be at once automobile, boat and submarine?"

"I think not, Mr. Strock; but I only saw the same two.  Several times they came to the edge of the little wood where I was hidden, and gathered sticks for a fire which they made upon the beach.  The region is so uninhabited and the creek so hidden from the lake that they ran little danger of discovery.  They seemed to know this."

"You would recognize them both again?"

"Perfectly.  One was of middle size, vigorous, and quick of movement, heavily bearded.  The other was smaller, but stocky and strong.  Yesterday, as before, I left the wood about five o'clock and hurried back to Toledo.  There I found a telegram from Mr. Ward, notifying me of your coming; and I awaited you at the station."....

And now, if the "Terror" had already left the creek, or if she escaped when we attempted to seize her, in what direction would she turn?  In any case, there was little chance o following her.  There were two torpedo-destroyers at the port of Buffalo, at the other extremity of Lake Erie.  [By treaty between the United States and Canada, there are no vessels of war whatever on the Great Lakes.  These might, however, have been little launches belonging to the customs service.]  Before I left Washington Mr. Ward had informed me of their presence; and a telegram to their commanders would, if there were need, start them in pursuit of the "Terror." But despite their splendid speed, how could they vie with her!  And if she plunged beneath the waters, they would be helpless.  Moreover Arthur Wells averred that in case of a battle, the advantage would not be with the destroyers, despite their large crews, and many guns.  Hence, if we did not succeed this night, the campaign would end in failure.

Arthur Wells knew Black Rock Creek thoroughly, having hunted there more than once.  It was bordered in most places with sharp rocks against which the waters of the lake beat heavily.  Its channel was some thirty feet deep, so that the "Terror" could take shelter either upon the surface or under water.  In two or three places the steep banks gave way to sand beaches which led to little gorges reaching up toward the woods, two or three hundred feet.

It was seven in the evening when our carriage reached these woods.  There was still daylight enough for us to see easily, even in the shade of the trees.  To have crossed openly to the edge of the creek would have exposed us to the view of the men of the "Terror," if she were still there, and thus give her warning to escape.

"Had we better stop here?" I asked Wells, as our rig drew up to the edge of the woods.

"No, Mr. Strock," said he.  "We had better leave the carriage deeper in the woods, where there will be no chance whatever of our being seen....  Five or six hundred feet from here, there is a little clearing, where we will be completely hidden, and where our horses may find pasture.  Then, as soon as it is dark, we will go down to the beach, at the edge of the rocks which shut in the mouth of the creek.  Thus if the 'Terror' is still there, we shall stand between her and escape."....

Silence reigned within the wood.  The last song of the birds had ceased.  With the coming of night the breeze fell little by little, and the leaves scarcely quivered even at the tops of the highest branches.  The sky darkened rapidly after sundown and twilight deepened into obscurity.

I looked at my watch, it was half-past eight.  "It is time, Wells."....

All was silent; all seemed deserted.  We could advance without risk.  If the "Terror" was there, she had cast anchor behind the rocks.  But was she there?  That was the momentous question!  As we approached the denouement of this exciting affair, my heart was in my throat.

Wells motioned to us to advance.  The sand of the shore crunched beneath our steps.  The two hundred feet between us and the mouth of the Creek were crossed softly, and a few minutes sufficed to bring us to the rocks at the edge of the lake.

There was nothing!  Nothing!

The spot where Wells had left the "Terror" twenty-four hours before was empty.  The "Master of the World" was no longer at Black Rock Creek.
 

Chapter 12 BLACK ROCK CREEK

...Posted there, at the mouth of the Creek, Wells and I exchanged scarcely a word.  What need was there of words to enable us to understand each other!  After our eagerness and our despair, we were now exhausted.  Defeated in our well-planned attempt, we felt as unwilling to abandon our campaign, as we were unable to continue it.

Nearly an hour slipped by.  We could not resolve to leave the place.  Our eyes still sought to pierce the night.  Sometimes a glimmer, due to the sparkle of the waters, trembled on the surface of the lake.  Then it vanished, and with it the foolish hope that it had roused.  Sometimes again, we thought we saw a shadow outlined against the dark, the silhouette of an approaching boat.  Yet again some eddies would swirl up at our feet, as if the Creek had been stirred within its depths.  These vain imaginings were dissipated one after the other.  They were but the illusions raised by our strained fancies....

"Let us wait awhile," said I, unable to resolve upon a return to the woods.

At that moment our attention was caught by a sudden agitation of the waters, which swelled upward at the foot of the rocks.

"It is like the swell from a vessel," said Wells.

"Yes," said I, instinctively lowering my voice.  "What has caused it?  The wind has completely died out.  Does it come from something on the surface of the lake?"

"Or from something underneath," said Wells, bending forward, the better to determine.

The commotion certainly seemed as if caused by some boat, whether from beneath the water, or approaching the creek from outside upon the lake.

Silent, motionless, we strained eyes and ears to pierce the profound obscurity.  The faint noise of the waves of the lake lapping on the shore beyond the creek, came to us distinctly through the night.  John Hart and Nab Walker drew a little aside upon a higher ridge of rocks.  As for me, I leaned close to the water to watch the agitation.  It did not lessen.  On the contrary it became momentarily more evident, and I began to distinguish a sort of regular throbbing, like that produced by a screw in motion.

"There is no doubt," declared Wells, leaning close to me, "there is a boat coming toward us."

"There certainly is," responded I, "unless they have whales or sharks in Lake Erie."....

We vaguely distinguished a black mass moving through the darkness.  It advanced very slowly and was still outside the creek, upon the lake, perhaps a cable's length to the northeast.  We could scarcely hear even now the faint throbbing of its engines.  Perhaps they had stopped and the boat was only gliding forward under their previous impulse.

It seemed, then, that this was indeed the submarine which Wells had watched, and it was returning to pass this night, like the last, within the shelter of the creek.

Why had it left the anchorage, if only to return?  Had it suffered some new disaster, which again impaired its power?  Or had it been before compelled to leave, with its repairs still unfinished?  What cause constrained it to return here?  Was there some imperious reason why it could no longer be turned into an automobile, and go darting away across the roads of Ohio?

To all these questions which came crowding upon me, I could give no answer.  Furthermore both Wells and I kept reasoning under the assumption that this was really the "Terror" commanded by the "Master of the World" who had dated from it his letter of defiance to the government.  Yet this premise was still unproven, no matter how confident we might feel of it.

Whatever boat this was, that stole so softly through the night, it continued to approach us.  Assuredly its captain must know perfectly the channels and shores of Black Rock Creek, since he ventured here in such darkness.  Not a light showed upon the deck.  Not a single ray from within the cabin glimmered through any crevice.

A moment later, we heard some machinery moving very softly.  The swell of the eddies grew stronger, and in a few moments the boat touched the quay.

This word "quay," only used in that region, exactly describes the spot.  The rocks at our feet formed a level, five or six feet above the water, and descending to it perpendicularly, exactly like a landing wharf.

"We must not stop here," whispered Wells, seizing me by the arm....

There was not a moment to lose.  The dark mass was now close at hand, and on its deck, but slightly raised above the surface of the water, we could trace the silhouettes of two men.

Were there, then, really only two on board?

We stole softly back to where the ravines rose toward the woods above.  Several niches in the rocks were at hand.  Wells and I crouched down in one, my two assistants in another.  If the men on the "Terror" landed, they could not see us; but we could see them, and would be able to act as opportunity offered.

There were some slight noises from the boat, a few words exchanged in our own language.  It was evident that the vessel was preparing to anchor.  Then almost instantly, a rope was thrown out, exactly on the point of the quay where we had stood.

Leaning forward, Wells could discern that the rope was seized by one of the mariners, who had leaped ashore.  Then we heard a grappling-iron scrape along the ground.

Some moments later, steps crunched upon the sand.  Two men came up the ravine, and went onward toward the edge of the woods, guiding their steps by a ship lantern.

Where were they going?  Was Black Rock Creek a regular hiding place of the "Terror?"  Had her commander a depot here for stores or provisions?  Did they come here to restock their craft, when the whim of their wild voyaging brought them to this part of the continent?  Did they know this deserted, uninhabited spot so well, that they had no fear of ever being discovered here?....

The men were not thirty feet from us, when, one of them chancing to turn suddenly, the light of their lantern fell full upon his face.

He was one of the two men who had watched before my house in Long Street!  I could not be mistaken!....  There was no longer any doubt, my warning letter had come from them.  It was therefore from the "Master of the World"; it had been written from the "Terror" and this was the "Terror."....

Meanwhile the two men had continued on their way to the woods, and were gathering sticks beneath the trees....

Toward the creek, where their craft lay, there was no further sound.  I left my hiding-place; I descended the ravine to the quay; I stood on the very spot where the grappling-iron was fast among the rocks.

The "Terror" lay there, quiet at the end of its cable.  Not a light was on board; not a person visible, either on the deck, or on the bank.  Was not this my opportunity?  Should I leap on board and there await the return of the two men?

"Mr. Strock!"  It was Wells, who called to me softly from close at hand.

I drew back in all haste and crouched down beside him.  Was it too late to take possession of the boat?  Or would the attempt perhaps result in disaster from the presence of others watching on board?

At any rate, the two men with the lantern were close at hand returning down the ravine.  Plainly they suspected nothing.  Each carrying a bundle of wood, they came forward and stopped upon the quay.

Then one of them raised his voice, though not loudly.  "Hullo!  Captain!"

"All right," answered a voice from the boat.

Wells murmured in my ear, "There are three!"

"Perhaps four," I answered, "perhaps five or six!"

The situation grew more complicated.  Against a crew so numerous, what ought we to do?  The least imprudence might cost us dear!  Now that the two men had returned, would they re-embark with their faggots?  Then would the boat leave the creek, or would it remain anchored until day?  If it withdrew, would it not be lost to us?  It could leave the waters of Lake Erie, and cross any of the neighboring states by land; or it could retrace its road by the Detroit River which would lead it to Lake Huron and the Great Lakes above.  Would such an opportunity as this, in the narrow waters of Black Rock Creek, ever occur again!

"At least," said I to Wells, "we are four.  They do not expect attack; they will be surprised.  The result is in the hands of Providence."

I was about to call our two men, when Wells again seized my arm.  "Listen!" said he.

One of the men hailed the boat, and it drew close up to the rocks.  We heard the Captain say to the two men ashore, "Everything is all right, up there?"

"Everything, Captain."

"There are still two bundles of wood left there?"

"Two."

"Then one more trip will bring them all on board the 'Terror.'"

The "Terror!"  It WAS she!

"Yes; just one more trip," answered one of the men.

"Good; then we will start off again at daybreak."

Were there then but three of them on board?  The Captain, this Master of the World, and these two men?

Evidently they planned to take aboard the last of their wood.  Then they would withdraw within their machine, and go to sleep.  Would not that be the time to surprise them, before they could defend themselves?

Rather than to attempt to reach and capture the ship in face of this resolute Captain who was guarding it, Wells and I agreed that it was better to let his men return unassailed, and wait till they were all asleep.

It was now half an hour after ten.  Steps were once more heard upon the shore.  The man with a lantern and his companion, again remounted the ravine toward the woods.  When they were safely beyond hearing, Wells went to warn our men, while I stole forward again to the very edge of the water.

The "Terror" lay at the end of a short cable.  As well as I could judge, she was long and slim, shaped like a spindle, without chimney, without masts, without rigging, such a shape as had been described when she was seen on the coast of New England.

I returned to my place, with my men in the shelter of the ravine; and we looked to our revolvers, which might well prove of service.

Five minutes had passed since the men reached the woods, and we expected their return at any moment.  After that, we must wait at least an hour before we made our attack; so that both the Captain and his comrades might be deep in sleep.  It was important that they should have not a moment either to send their craft darting out upon the waters of Lake Erie, or to plunge it beneath the waves where we would have been entrapped with it.

In all my career I have never felt such impatience.  It seemed to me that the two men must have been detained in the woods.  Something had barred their return.

Suddenly a loud noise was heard, the tumult of run-away horses, galloping furiously along the shore!

They were our own, which, frightened, and perhaps neglected by the driver, had broken away from the clearing, and now came rushing along the bank.

At the same moment, the two men reappeared, and this time they were running with all speed.  Doubtless they had discovered our encampment, and had at once suspected that there were police hidden in the woods.  They realized that they were watched, they were followed, they would be seized.  So they dashed recklessly down the ravine, and after loosening the cable, they would doubtless endeavor to leap aboard.  The "Terror" would disappear with the speed of a meteor, and our attempt would be wholly defeated!

"Forward," I cried.  And we scrambled down the sides of the ravine to cut off the retreat of the two men.

They saw us and, on the instant, throwing down their bundles, fired at us with revolvers, hitting John Hart in the leg.

We fired in our turn, but less successfully.  The men neither fell nor faltered in their course.  Reaching the edge of the creek, without stopping to unloose the cable, they plunged overboard, and in a moment were clinging to the deck of the "Terror."

Their captain, springing forward, revolver in hand, fired.  The ball grazed Wells.

Nab Walker and I seizing the cable, pulled the black mass of the boat toward shore.  Could they cut the rope in time to escape us ?

Suddenly the grappling-iron was torn violently from the rocks.  One of its hooks caught in my belt, while Walker was knocked down by the flying cable.  I was entangled by the iron and the rope and dragged forward--

The "Terror," driven by all the power of her engines, made a single bound and darted out across Black Rock Creek.
 

Chapter 13 ON BOARD THE "TERROR"

When I came to my senses it was daylight.  A half light pierced the thick glass port-hole of the narrow cabin wherein someone had placed me--how many hours ago, I could not say!  Yet it seemed to me by the slanting rays, that the sun could not be very far above the horizon....

Now, was I on board the "Terror?" And was I alone with the Captain and his two men?....

Where was the "Terror" now, and how was it navigating?  Was it moving as an automobile?  Speeding across the roads of some neighboring State?  If so, and if I had been unconscious for many hours, the machine with its tremendous powers must be already far away.  Or, on the other hand, were we, as a submarine, following some course beneath the lake?

No, the "Terror" was moving upon some broad liquid surface.  The sunlight, penetrating my cabin, showed that the window was not submerged....

I decided to go up on deck.  From there I might be able to judge....

The only exit seemed by a ladder and hatchway above my head.  The hatch rose readily to my hand, and I ascended half way on deck.

My first care was to look forward, backward, and on both sides of the speeding "Terror." Everywhere a vast expanse of waves!  Not a shore in sight!  Nothing but the horizon formed by sea and sky!

Whether it was a lake or the ocean I could easily settle.  As we shot forward at such speed the water cut by the bow, rose furiously upward on either side, and the spray lashed savagely against me.

I tasted it.  It was fresh water, and very probably that of Lake Erie.  The sun was but midway toward the zenith so it could scarcely be more than seven or eight hours since the moment when the "Terror" had darted from Black Rock Creek.

This must therefore be the following morning, that of the thirty-first of July.

Considering that Lake Erie is two hundred and twenty miles long, and over fifty wide, there was no reason to be surprised that I could see no land, neither that of the United States to the southeast nor of Canada to the northwest.

At this moment there were two men on the deck, one being at the bow on the look-out, the other in the stern, keeping the course to the northeast, as I judged by the position of the sun....  I looked in vain for the one whom they had called Captain.  He was not in sight.

It will be readily appreciated how eager was my desire to stand in the presence of the creator of this prodigious machines of this fantastic personage who occupied and preoccupied the attention of all the world, the daring inventor who did not fear to engage in battle against the entire human race, and who proclaimed himself "Master of the World."

I approached the man on the look-out, and after a minute of silence I asked him, "Where is the Captain?"....

Turning his back upon me, he continued to search the horizon.

I stepped then toward the stern, determined to ask the same question about the Captain.  But when I approached the steersman, he waved me away with his hand, and I obtained no other response....

I therefore set leisurely to work to examine the construction of this machine, which was carrying me--whither?  The deck and the upper works were all made of some metal which I did not recognize.  In the center of the deck, a scuttle half raised covered the room where the engines were working regularly and almost silently.  As I had seen before, neither masts, nor rigging!  Not even a flagstaff at the stern!  Toward the bow there arose the top of a periscope by which the "Terror" could be guided when beneath the water.

On the sides were folded back two sort of outshoots resembling the gangways on certain Dutch boats.  Of these I could not understand the use.

In the bow there rose a third hatch-way which presumably covered the quarters occupied by the two men when the "Terror" was at rest.

At the stern a similar hatch gave access probably to the cabin of the captain, who remained unseen.  When these different hatches were shut down, they had a sort of rubber covering which closed them hermetically tight, so that the water could not reach the interior when the boat plunged beneath the ocean.

As to the motor, which imparted such prodigious speed to the machine, I could see nothing of it, nor of the propeller.  However, the fast speeding boat left behind it only a long, smooth wake.  The extreme fineness of the lines of the craft, caused it to make scarcely any waves, and enabled it to ride lightly over the crest of the billows even in a rough sea.

As was already known, the power by which the machine was driven, was neither steam nor gasoline, nor any of those similar liquids so well known by their odor, which are usually employed for automobiles and submarines.  No doubt the power here used was electricity, generated on board, at some high power.  Naturally I asked myself whence comes this electricity, from piles, or from accumulators?  But how were these piles or accumulators charged?  Unless, indeed, the electricity was drawn directly from the surrounding air or from the water, by processes hitherto unknown.  And I asked myself with intense eagerness if in the present situation, I might be able to discover these secrets....

There was nothing further to attract my eyes, and I sank again into thought.  How would this adventure finish?  Would I see this invisible captain at length, and would he restore me to liberty?  Could I regain it in spite of him?  That would depend on circumstances!  But if the "Terror" kept thus far away from the shore, or if she traveled beneath the water, how could I escape from her?  Unless we landed, and the machine became an automobile, must I not abandon all hope of escape?....

The craft continued headed to the northeast, following the longer axis of Lake Erie.  She was advancing at only half speed; for, had she been doing her best, she must some hours before have reached the northeastern extremity of the lake.

At this end Lake Erie has no other outlet than the Niagara River, by which it empties into Lake Ontario.  Now, this river is barred by the famous cataract some fifteen miles beyond the important city of Buffalo.  Since the "Terror" had not retreated by the Detroit River, down which she had descended from the upper lakes, how was she to escape from these waters, unless indeed she crossed by land?....

Toward two o'clock, however, I heard a slight noise; the central hatchway was raised.  The man I had so impatiently awaited appeared on deck.

I must admit he paid no more attention to me, than his men had done.  Going to the stern, he took the helm.  The man whom he had relieved, after a few words in a low tone, left the deck, descending by the forward hatchway.  The captain, having scanned the horizon, consulted the compass, and slightly altered our course.  The speed of the "Terror" increased.

This man, so interesting both to me and to the world, must have been some years over fifty.  He was of middle height, with powerful shoulders still very erect; a strong head, with thick hair rather gray than white, smooth shaven cheeks, and a short, crisp beard.  His chest was broad, his jaw prominent, and he had that characteristic sign of tremendous energy, bushy eyebrows drawn sharply together.  Assuredly he possessed a constitution of iron, splendid health, and warm red blood beneath his sun burned skin....

Need I add that the captain of the "Terror" was the other of the two men, who had watched my house in Long street.  Moreover, if I recognized him, he also must recognize me as chief-inspector Strock, to whom had been assigned the task of penetrating the Great Eyrie.

I looked at him curiously.  On his part, while he did not seek to avoid my eyes, he showed at least a singular indifference to the fact that he had a stranger on board.

As I watched him, the idea came to me, a suggestion which I had not connected with the first view of him in Washington, that I had already seen this characteristic figure.  Was it in one of the photographs held in the police department, or was it merely a picture in some shop window?  But the remembrance was very vague.  Perhaps I merely imagined it....

For long hours, I patiently watched the horizon in the hope that land would soon appear.  Yes, I sat waiting!  For I was reduced to that!  Waiting!  No doubt, before the day closed, the "Terror" must reach the end of Lake Erie, since she continued her course steadily to the northeast.
 

Chapter 14 NIAGARA

...I knew the northeast end of Lake Erie well, having often visited that section of New York State which extends westward from Albany to Buffalo.  Three years before, a police mission had led me to explore carefully the shores of the Niagara River, both above and below the.  cataract and its Suspension Bridge.  I had visited the two principal islands between Buffalo and the little city of Niagara Falls, I had explored Navy Island and also Goat Island, which separates the American falls from those of the Canadian side.

Thus if an opportunity for flight presented itself, I should not find myself in an unknown district.  But would this chance offer?  And at heart, did I desire it, or would I seize upon it?  What secrets still remained in this affair in which good fortune or was it evil fortune--had so closely entangled me!.....

And always one persistent question remained insolvable.  Why had the captain written to me personally that threatening letter?  Why had he spied upon me in Washington?  What bond attached him to the Great Eyrie?  There might indeed be subterranean canals which gave him passage to Lake Kirdall, but could he pierce the impenetrable fortress of the Eyrie?  No!  That was beyond him!

Toward four o'clock in the afternoon, reckoning by the speed of the "Terror" and her direction, I knew we must be approaching Buffalo; and indeed, its outlines began to show some fifteen miles ahead.  During our passage, a few boats had been seen, but we had passed them at a long distance, a distance which our captain could easily keep as great as he pleased.  Moreover, the "Terror" lay so low upon the water, that at even a mile away it would have been difficult to discover her.

Now, however, the hills encircling the end of Lake Erie, came within vision, beyond Buffalo, forming the sort of funnel by which Lake Erie pours its waters into the channel of the Niagara river.  Some dunes rose on the right, groups of trees stood out here and there.  In the distance, several freight steamers and fishing smacks appeared.  The sky became spotted with trails of smoke, which were swept along by a light eastern breeze.

What was our captain thinking of in still heading toward the port of Buffalo!  Did not prudence forbid him to venture further?  At each moment, I expected that he would give a sweep of the helm and turn away toward the western shore of the lake.  Or else, I thought, he would prepare to plunge beneath the surface.  But this persistence in holding our bow toward Buffalo was impossible to understand!

At length the helmsman, whose eyes were watching the northeastern shore, made a sign to his companion.  The latter, leaving the bow, went to the central hatchway, and descended into the engine room.  Almost immediately the captain came on deck, and joining the helmsman, spoke with him in a low voice.

The latter, extending his hand toward Buffalo, pointed out two black spots, which showed five or six miles distant on the starboard side.  The captain studied them attentively.  Then shrugging his shoulders, he seated himself at the stern without altering the course of the "Terror."

A quarter of an hour later, I could see plainly that there were two smoke clouds at the point they had studied so carefully.  Little by little the black spots beneath these became more defined.  They were two long, low steamers, which, coming from the port of Buffalo, were approaching rapidly.

Suddenly it struck me that these were the two torpedo destroyers of which Mr. Ward had spoken, and which I had been told to summon in case of need.

These destroyers were of the newest type, the swiftest boats yet constructed in the country.  Driven by powerful engines of the latest make, they had covered almost thirty miles an hour.  It is true, the "Terror" commanded an even greater speed, and always, if she were surrounded so that flight was impossible, she could submerge herself out of reach of all pursuit.  In truth, the destroyers would have had to be submarines to attack the "Terror" with any chance of success.  And I know not, if even in that case, the contest would have been equal.

Meanwhile, it seemed to me evident that the commanders of the two ships had been warned, perhaps by Mr. Wells who, returning swiftly to Toledo, might have telegraphed to them the news of our defeat.  It appeared, moreover, that they had seen the "Terror," for they were headed at full speed toward her Yet our captain, seemingly giving them no thought whatever, continued his course toward the Niagara River.

What would the torpedo destroyers do?  Presumably, they would maneuver so as to seek to shut the "Terror" within the narrowing end of the lake where the Niagara offered her no passage.

Our captain now took the helm.  One of the men was at the bow, the other in the engine room.  Would the order be given for me to go down into the cabin?....

Five minutes later, scarcely a mile separated us from the two powerful fighters which pursued us.  Our captain permitted them to approach still closer.  Then he pressed upon a handle.  The "Terror," doubling the action of her propellers, leaped across the surface of the lake.  She played with the destroyers!  Instead of turning in flight, she continued her forward course.  Who knew if she would not even have the audacity to pass between her two enemies, to coax them after her, until the hour when, as night closed in, they would be forced to abandon the useless pursuit!

The city of Buffalo was now in plain view on the border of the lake.  I saw its huge buildings, its church towers, its grain elevators.  Only four or five miles ahead, Niagara river opened to the northward.

Under these new conditions which way should I turn?  When we passed in front of the destroyers, or perhaps between them, should I not throw myself into the waters I was a good swimmer, and such a chance might never occur again.  The captain could not stop to recapture me.  By diving could I not easily escape, even from a bullet?  I should surely be seen by one or other of the pursuers.  Perhaps, even, their commanders had been warned of my presence on board the "Terror."  Would not a boat be sent to rescue me?

Evidently my chance of success would be even greater, if the "Terror" entered the narrow waters of Niagara River.  At Navy Island I would be able to set foot on territory that I knew well.  But to suppose that our captain would rush into this river where he might be swept over the great cataract!  That seemed impossible!  I resolved to await the destroyers' closest approach and at the last moment I would decide....

It was a quarter past six.  The destroyers, quivering and trembling under the strain of their speed, gained on us perceptibly.  They were now directly astern, leaving between them a distance of twelve or fifteen cable lengths.  The "Terror," without increasing her speed, saw one of them approach on the port side, the other to starboard.

I did not leave my place.  The man at the bow was close by me.  Immovable at the helm, his eyes burning beneath his contracted brows, the captain waited.  He meant, perhaps, to finish the chase by one last maneuver.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke rose from the destroyer on our left.  A projectile, brushing the surface of the water, passed in front of the "Terror," and sped beyond the destroyer on our right.

I glanced around anxiously.  Standing by my side, the lookout seemed to await a sign from the captain.  As for him, he did not even turn his head; and I shall never forget the expression of disdain imprinted on his visage.

At this moment, I was pushed suddenly toward the hatchway of my cabin, which was fastened above me.  At the same instant the other hatchways were closed; the deck became watertight.  I heard a single throb of the machinery, and the plunge was made, the submarine disappeared beneath the waters of the lake.

Cannon shot still boomed above us.  Their heavy echo reached my ear; then everything was peace.  Only a faint light penetrated through the porthole into my cabin.  The submarine, without the least rolling or pitching, sped silently through the deeps.

I had seen with what rapidity, and also with what ease the transformation of the "Terror" had been made.  No less easy and rapid, perhaps, would be her change to an automobile.

And now what would this Master of the World do?  Presumably he would change his course, unless, indeed, he preferred to speed to land, and there continue his route along the roads.  It still seemed more probable, however, that he would turn back toward the west, and after distancing the destroyers, regain the Detroit River.  Our submersion would probably only last long enough to escape out of cannon range, or until night forbade pursuit.

Fate, however, had decreed a different ending to this exciting chase.  Scarce ten minutes had passed when there seemed some confusion on board.  I heard rapid words exchanged in the engine room.  The steadily moving machinery became noisy and irregular.  At once I suspected that some accident compelled the submarine to reascend.

I was not mistaken.  In a moment, the semi-obscurity of my cabin was pierced by sunshine.  The "Terror" had risen above water.  I heard steps on the deck, and the hatchways were re-opened, including mine.  I sprang up the ladder.

The captain had resumed his place at the helm, while the two men were busy below.  I looked to see if the destroyers were still in view.  Yes!  Only a quarter of a mile away!  The "Terror" had already been seen, and the powerful vessels which enforced the mandates of our government were swinging into position to give chase.  Once more the "Terror" sped in the direction of Niagara River.

I must confess, I could make nothing of this maneuver.  Plunging into a cul-de-sac, no longer able to seek the depths because of the accident, the "Terror" might, indeed, temporarily distance her pursuers; but she must find her path barred by them when she attempted to return.  Did she intend to land, and if so, could she hope to outrun the telegrams which would warn every police agency of her approach?

We were now not half a mile ahead.  The destroyers pursued us at top speed, though being now directly behind, they were in poor position for using their guns.  Our captain seemed content to keep this distance; though it would have been easy for him to increase it, and then at nightfall, to dodge back behind the enemy.

Already Buffalo had disappeared on our right, and a little after seven o'clock the opening of the Niagara River appeared ahead.  If he entered there, knowing that he could not return, our captain must have lost his mind!  And in truth was he not insane, this man who proclaimed himself, who believed himself, Master of the World?

I watched him there, calm, impassive not even turning his head to note the progress of the destroyers and I wondered at him.

This end of the lake was absolutely deserted.  Freight steamers bound for the towns on the banks of the upper Niagara are not numerous, as its navigation is dangerous.  Not one was in sight.  Not even a fishing-boat crossed the path of the "Terror."  Even the two destroyers would soon be obliged to pause in their pursuit, if we continued our mad rush through these dangerous waters.

I have said that the Niagara River flows between New York and Canada.  Its width, of about three quarters of a mile, narrows as it approaches the falls.  Its length, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is about fifteen leagues.  It flows in a northerly direction, until it empties the waters of Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie into Ontario, the last lake of this mighty chain.  The celebrated falls, which occur in the midst of this great river have a height of over a hundred and fifty feet.  They are called sometimes the Horse-shoe Falls, because they curve inward like the iron shoe.  The Indians have given them the name of "Thunder of Waters," and in truth a mighty thunder roars from them without cessation, and with a tumult which is heard for several miles away.

Between Lake Erie, and the little city of Niagara Falls, two islands divide the current of the river, Navy Island, a league above the cataract, and Goat Island, which separates the American and the Canadian Falls.  Indeed, on the lower point of this latter isle stood once that "Terrapin Tower" so daringly built in the midst of the plunging waters on the very edge of the abyss.  It has been destroyed; for the constant wearing away of the stone beneath the cataract makes the ledge move with the ages slowly up the river, and the tower has been drawn into the gulf.

The town of Fort Erie stands on the Canadian shore at the entrance of the river.  Two other towns are set along the banks above the falls, Schlosser on the right bank, and Chippewa on the left, located on either side of Navy Island.  It is at this point that the current, bound within a narrower channel, begins to move at tremendous speed, to become two miles further on, the celebrated cataract.

The "Terror" had already passed Fort Erie.  The sun in the west touched the edge of the Canadian horizon, and the moon, faintly seen, rose above the mists of the south.  Darkness would not envelop us for another hour.

The destroyers, with huge clouds of smoke streaming from their funnels, followed us a mile behind.  They sped between banks green with shade trees and dotted with cottages which lay among lovely gardens.

Obviously the "Terror" could no longer turn back.  The destroyers shut her in completely.  It is true their commanders did not know, as I did, that an accident to her machinery had forced her to the surface, and that it was impossible for her to escape them by another plunge.  Nevertheless, they continued to follow, and would assuredly maintain their pursuit to the very last.

I marveled at the intrepidity of their chase through these dangerous waters.  I marveled still more at the conduct of our captain.  Within a half hour now, his course would be barred by the cataract.  No matter how perfect his machine, it could not escape the power of the great falls.  If the current once mastered our engines, we should inevitably disappear in the gulf nearly two hundred feet deep which the waters have dug at the base of the falls!  Perhaps, however, our captain had still power to turn to one of the shores and flee by the automobile routes....

We could hear the hissing of the steam which escaped from the valves of the destroyers, to mingle with the streamers of black smoke.  But we heard, even more plainly, the roar of the cataract, now less than three miles away.

The "Terror" took the left branch of the river in passing Navy Island.  At this point, she was within easy reach of the shore, yet she shot ahead.  Five minutes later, we could see the first trees of Goat Island.  The current became more and more irresistible.  If the "Terror" did not stop, the destroyers could not much longer follow her.  If it pleased our accursed captain to plunge us into the vortex of the falls, surely they did not mean to follow into the abyss!

Indeed, at this moment they signaled each other, and stopped the pursuit.  They were scarce more than six hundred feet from the cataract.  Then their thunders burst on the air and several cannon shot swept over the "Terror" without hitting its low-lying deck.

The sun had set, and through the twilight the moon's rays shone upon us from the south..  The speed of our craft, doubled by the speed of the current, was prodigious!  In another moment, we should plunge into that black hollow which forms the very center of the Canadian Falls.

With an eye of horror, I saw the shores of Goat Island flashed by, then came the Isles of the Three Sisters, drowned in the spray from the abyss.

I sprang up; I started to throw myself into the water, in the desperate hope of gaining this last refuge.  One of the men seized me from behind.

Suddenly a sharp noise was heard from the mechanism which throbbed within our craft.  The long gangways folded back on the sides of the machine, spread out like wings, and at the moment when the "Terror" reached the very edge of the falls, she arose into space, escaping from the thundering cataract in the center of a lunar rainbow.
 

Chapter 15 THE EAGLE'S NEST

On the morrow, when I awoke after a sound sleep, our vehicle seemed motionless....

It seemed astonishing that I had slept so profoundly during most of our voyage through the air.  It puzzled me and I asked if this sleep had not been caused by some drug, mixed with my last meal, the captain of the "Terror" having wished thus to prevent me from knowing the place where we landed.  All that I can recall of the previous night is the terrible impression made upon me by that moment when the machine, instead of being caught in the vortex of the cataract rose under the impulse of its machinery like a bird with its huge wings beating with tremendous power!

So this machine actually fulfilled a four-fold use!  It was at the same time automobile, boat, submarine, and airship.  Earth, sea and air,--it could move through all three elements!  And with what power!  With what speed!  A few instants sufficed to complete its marvelous transformations.  The same engine drove it along all its courses!  And I had been a witness of its metamorphoses!  But that of which I was still ignorant, and which I could perhaps discover, was the source of the energy which drove the machine, and above all, who was the inspired inventor who, after having created it, in every detail, guided it with so much ability and audacity!

At the moment when the "Terror" rose above the Canadian Falls, I was held down against the hatchway of my cabin.  The clear, moonlit evening had permitted me to note the direction taken by the air-ship.  It followed the course of the river and passed the Suspension Bridge three miles below the falls.  It is here that the irresistible rapids of the Niagara River begin, where the river bends sharply to descend toward Lake Ontario.

On leaving this point, I was sure that we had turned toward the east.  The captain continued at the helm....  I noted that the "Terror" seemed to be guided in its course through the air with surprising ease.  Assuredly the roads of the air were as familiar to it as those of the seas and of the lands!

In the presence of such results, could one not understand the enormous pride of this man who proclaimed himself Master of the World?  Was he not in control of a machine infinitely superior to any that had ever sprung from the hand of man, and against which men were powerless?  In truth, why should he sell this marvel?  Why should he accept the millions offered him?  Yes, I comprehended now that absolute confidence in himself which was expressed in his every attitude.  And where might not his ambition carry him, if by its own excess it mounted some day into madness!....

Now, what was to follow from this adventure?  And especially concerning myself, what would be its end?....

A noise of bars being removed came to my ear.  The hatchway was raised from above.  A wave of light and air penetrated my cabin.

With one bound I reached the deck.  My eyes in an instant swept round the horizon.

The "Terror," as I had thought, rested quiet on the ground.  She was in the midst of a rocky hollow measuring from fifteen to eighteen hundred feet in circumference.  A floor of yellow gravel carpeted its entire extent, unrelieved by a single tuft of herbage.

This hollow formed an almost regular oval, with its longer diameter extending north and south.  As to the surrounding-wall, what was its height, what the character of its crest, I could not judge.  Above us was gathered a fog so heavy, that the rays of the sun had not yet pierced it....

At this moment, I saw the captain come from an opening in the rocks, probably a grotto, at the base of this cliff hidden in the fog....

Everything led me to believe that it was here that the Master of the World withdrew in the intervals between his prodigious journeys.  Here was the garage of his automobile; the harbor of his boat; the hangar of his air-ship.

And now the "Terror" stood motionless at the bottom of this hollow.  At last I could examine her; and it looked as if her owners had no intention of preventing me....  What a chance to study the machine, at least its exterior!  As to its inner parts, probably I should never get beyond conjecture....

The machine was as I have said spindle-shaped.  The bow was sharper than the stern.  The body was of aluminium, the wings of a substance whose nature I could not determine.  The body rested on four wheels, about two feet in diameter.  These had pneumatic tires so thick as to assure ease of movement at any speed.  Their spokes spread out like paddles or battledores; and when the "Terror" moved either on or under the water, they must have increased her pace.

These wheels were not however, the principal propeller.  This consisted of two "Parsons" turbines placed on either side of the keel.  Driven with extreme rapidity by the engine, they urged the boat onward in the water by twin screws, and I even questioned if they were not powerful enough to propel the machine through the air.

The chief aerial support, however, was that of the great wings, now again in repose, and folded back along the sides.  Thus the theory of the "heavier than air" flying machine was employed by the inventor, a system which enabled him to dart through space with a speed probably superior to that of the largest birds.

As to the agent which set in action these various mechanisms, I repeat, it was, it could be, no other than electricity.  But from what source did his batteries get their power?  Had he somewhere an electric factory, to which he must return?  Were the dynamos, perhaps working in one of the caverns of this hollow?

The result of my examination was that, while I could see that the machine used wheels and turbine screws and wings, I knew nothing of either its engine, nor of the force which drove it.  To be sure, the discovery of this secret would be of little value to me.  To employ it I must first be free.  And after what I knew--little as that really was--the Master of the World would never release me....

The first question to be solved was the location of this hollow.  What communication did it have with the surrounding region?  Could one only depart from it by a flying-machine?  And in what part of the United States were we?  Was it not reasonable to estimate, that our flight through the darkness had covered several hundred leagues?....

At this moment I felt a breath of air; a breeze came from the east.  The sky swiftly cleared.  The hollow was filled with light from the rays of the sun which appeared midway between the horizon and the zenith.

A cry escaped me!  The crest of the rocky wall rose a hundred feet above me.  And on the eastern side was revealed that easily recognizable pinnacle, the rock like a mounting eagle.  It was the same that had held the attention of Mr. Elias Smith and myself, when we had looked up at it from the outer side of the Great Eyrie.

Thus there was no further doubt.  In its flight during the night the airship had covered the distance between Lake Erie and North Carolina.  It was in the depth of this Eyrie that the machine had found shelter!  This was the nest, worthy of the gigantic and powerful bird created by the genius of our captain!  The fortress whose mighty walls none but he could scale!  Perhaps even, he had discovered in the depths of some cavern, some subterranean passage by which he himself could quit the Great Eyrie, leaving the "Terror" safely sheltered within....

Steps approached behind me.  I turned.  The inventor stood by my side, and pausing looked me in the face.

I was unable to restrain myself; the words burst forth--"The Great Eyrie!  The Great Eyrie!"

"Yes, Inspector Strock."

"And you!  You are the Master of the World?"

"Of that world to which I have already proved myself to be the most powerful of men."

"You!" I reiterated, stupefied with amazement.

"I," responded he, drawing himself up in all his pride, "I, Robur--Robur, the Conqueror!"
 

Chapter 16 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

Robur, the Conqueror!  This then was the likeness I had vaguely recalled.  Some years before the portrait of this extraordinary man had been printed in all the American newspapers, under date of the thirteenth of June, the day after this personage had made his sensational appearance at the meeting of the Weldon Institute at Philadelphia.

I had noted the striking character of the portrait at the time; the square shoulders; the back like a regular trapezoid, its longer side formed by that geometrical shoulder line; the robust neck; the enormous spheroidal head.  The eyes at the least emotion, burned with fire, while above them were the heavy, permanently contracted brows, which signified such energy.  The hair was short and crisp, with a glitter as of metal in its lights.  The huge breast rose and fell like a blacksmith's forge; and the thighs, the arms and hands, were worthy of the mighty body.  The narrow beard was the same also, with the smooth shaven cheeks which showed the powerful muscles of the jaw.

And this was Robur the Conqueror, who now stood before me, who revealed himself to me, hurling forth his name like a threat, within his own impenetrable fortress!

Let me recall briefly the facts which had previously drawn upon Robur the Conqueror the attention of the entire world.  The Weldon Institute was a club devoted to aeronautics under the presidency of one of the chief personages of Philadelphia, commonly called Uncle Prudent.  Its secretary was Mr. Phillip Evans.  The members of the Institute were devoted to the theory of the "lighter than air" machine; and under their two leaders were constructing an enormous dirigible balloon, the "Go-Ahead."

At a meeting in which they were discussing the details of the construction of their balloon, this unknown Robur had suddenly appeared and, ridiculing all their plans, had insisted that the only true solution of flight lay with the heavier than air machines, and that he had proven this by constructing one.

He was in this turn doubted and ridiculed by the members of the club, who called him in mockery Robur the Conqueror.  In the tumult that followed, revolver shots were fired; and the intruder disappeared.

That same night he had by force abducted the president and the secretary of the club, and had taken them, much against their will upon a voyage in the wonderful air-ship, the "Albatross," which he had constructed.  He meant thus to prove to them beyond argument the correctness of his assertions.  This ship, a hundred feet long, was upheld in the air by a large number of horizontal screws and was driven forward by vertical screws at its bow and stern.  It was managed by a crew of at least half a dozen men, who seemed absolutely devoted to their leader, Robur.

After a voyage almost completely around the world, Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans managed to escape from the "Albatross" after a desperate struggle.  They even managed to cause an explosion on the airship, destroying it, and involving the inventor and all his crew in a terrific fall from the sky into the Pacific ocean.

Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans then returned to Philadelphia.  They had learned that the "Albatross" had been constructed on an unknown isle of the Pacific called Island X; but since the location of this hiding-place was wholly unknown, its discovery lay scarcely within the bounds of possibility.  Moreover, the search seemed entirely unnecessary, as the vengeful prisoners were quite certain that they had destroyed their jailers.

Hence the two millionaires, restored to their homes, went calmly on with the construction of their own machine, the "Go-Ahead."  They hoped by means of it to soar once more into the regions they had traversed with Robur, and to prove to themselves that their lighter than air machine was at least the equal of the heavy "Albatross."  If they had not persisted, they would not have been true Americans.

On the twentieth of April in the following year the "Go-Ahead" was finished and the ascent was made, from Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.  I myself was there with thousands of other spectators.  We saw the huge balloon rise gracefully; and, thanks to its powerful screws, it maneuvered in every direction with surprising ease.  Suddenly a cry was heard, a cry repeated from a thousand throats.  Another airship had appeared in the distant skies and it now approached with marvelous rapidity.  It was another "Albatross," perhaps even superior to the first.  Robur and his men had escaped death in the Pacific; and, burning for revenge, they had constructed a second airship in their secret Island X.

Like a gigantic bird of prey, the "Albatross" hurled itself upon the "Go-Ahead."  Doubtless, Robur, while avenging himself wished also to prove the immeasurable superiority of the heavier than air machines.

Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans defended themselves as best they could.  Knowing that their balloon had nothing like the horizontal speed of the "Albatross," they attempted to take advantage of their superior lightness and rise above her.  The "Go-Ahead," throwing out all her ballast, soared to a height of over twenty thousand feet.  Yet even there the "Albatross" rose above her, and circled round her with ease.

Suddenly an explosion was heard.  The enormous gas-bag of the "Go-Ahead," expanding under the dilation of its contents at this great height, had finally burst.

Half-emptied, the balloon fell rapidly.

Then to our universal astonishment, the "Albatross" shot down after her rival, not to finish the work of destruction but to bring rescue.  Yes!  Robur, forgetting his vengeance, rejoined the sinking "Go-Ahead," and his men lifted Mr. Prudent, Mr. Evans, and the aeronaut who accompanied them, onto the platform of his craft.  Then the balloon, being at length entirely empty, fell to its destruction among the trees of Fairmount Park.

The public was overwhelmed with astonishment, with fear!  Now that Robur had recaptured his prisoners, how would he avenge himself?  Would they be carried away, this time, forever?

The "Albatross" continued to descend, as if to land in the clearing at Fairmount Park.  But if it came within reach, would not the infuriated crowd throw themselves upon the airship, tearing both it and its inventor to pieces?

The "Albatross" descended within six feet of the ground.  I remember well the general movement forward with which the crowd threatened to attack it.  Then Robur's voice rang out in words which even now I can repeat almost as he said them:

"Citizens of the United States, the president and the secretary of the Weldon Institute are again in my power.  In holding them prisoners I would but be exercising my natural right of reprisal for the injuries they have done me.  But the passion and resentment which have been roused both in them and you by the success of the 'Albatross,' show that the souls of men are not yet ready for the vast increase of power which the conquest of the air will bring to them.  Uncle Prudent, Phillip Evans, you are free."....

The airship rose some thirty feet out of reach, and Robur recommenced:

"Citizens of the United States, the conquest of the air is made; but it shall not be given into your hands until the proper time.  I leave, and I carry my secret with me.  It will not be lost to humanity, but shall be entrusted to them when they have learned not to abuse it.  Farewell, Citizens of the United States!"

Then the "Albatross" rose under the impulse of its mighty screws, and sped away amidst the hurrahs of the multitude.

I have ventured to remind my readers of this last scene somewhat in detail, because it seemed to reveal the state of mind of the remarkable personage who now stood before me.  Apparently he had not then been animated by sentiments hostile to humanity.  He was content to await the future; though his attitude undeniably revealed the immeasurable confidence which he had in his own genius, the immense pride which his almost superhuman powers had aroused within him.

It was not astonishing, moreover, that this haughtiness had little by little been aggravated to such a degree that he now presumed to enslave the entire world, as his public letter had suggested by its significant threats.  His vehement mind had with time been roused to such over-excitement that he might easily be driven into the most violent excesses.

As to what had happened in the years since the last departure of the "Albatross," I could only partly reconstruct this even with my present knowledge.  It had not sufficed the prodigious inventor to create a flying machine, perfect as that was!  He had planned to construct a machine which could conquer all the elements at once.  Probably in the workshops of Island X, a selected body of devoted workmen had constructed, one by one, the pieces of this marvelous machine, with its quadruple transformation.  Then the second "Albatross" must have carried these pieces to the Great Eyrie, where they had been put together, within easier access of the world of men than the far-off island had permitted.  The "Albatross" itself had apparently been destroyed, whether by accident or design, within the eyrie.  The "Terror" had then made its appearance on the roads of the United States and in the neighboring waters.  And I have told under what conditions, after having been vainly pursued across Lake Erie, this remarkable masterpiece had risen through the air carrying me a prisoner on board.
 

Chapter 17 IN THE NAME OF THE LAW

What was to be the issue of this remarkable adventure?  Could I bring it to any denouement whatever, either sooner or later?  Did not Robur hold the results wholly in his own hands?  Probably I would never have such an opportunity for escape as had occurred to Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans amid the islands of the Pacific.  I could only wait.  And how long might the waiting last!

To be sure, my curiosity had been partly satisfied.  But even now I knew only the answer to the problems of the Great Eyrie.  Having at length penetrated its circle, I comprehended all the phenomena observed by the people of the Blueridge Mountains.  I was assured that neither the country-folk throughout the region, nor the townfolk of Pleasant Garden and Morganton were in danger of volcanic eruptions or earthquakes.  No subterranean forces whatever were battling within the bowels of the mountains.  No crater had arisen in this corner of the Alleghanies.  The Great Eyrie served merely as the retreat of Robur the Conqueror.  This impenetrable hiding-place where he stored his materials and provisions, had without doubt been discovered by him during one of his aerial voyages in the "Albatross." It was a retreat probably even more secure than that as yet undiscovered Island X in the Pacific.

This much I knew of him; but of this marvelous machine of his, of the secrets of its construction and propelling force, what did I really know?  Admitting that this multiple mechanism was driven by electricity, and that this electricity was, as we knew it had been in the "Albatross," extracted directly from the surrounding air by some new process, what were the details of its mechanism?  I had not been permitted to see the engine; doubtless I should never see it.

On the question of my liberty I argued thus:  Robur evidently intends to remain unknown.  As to what he intends to do with his machine, I fear, recalling his letter, that the world must expect from it more of evil than of good.  At any rate, the incognito which he has so carefully guarded in the past he must mean to preserve in the future.  Now only one man can establish the identity of the Master of the World with Robur the Conqueror.  This man is I his prisoner, I who have the right to arrest him, I, who ought to put my hand on his shoulder, saying, "In the Name of the Law--"

On the other hand, could I hope for a rescue from with out?  Evidently not.  The police authorities must know everything that had happened at Black Rock Creek.  Mr. Ward, advised of all the incidents, would have reasoned on the matter as follows:  when the "Terror" quitted the creek dragging me at the end of her hawser, I had either been drowned or, since my body had not been recovered, I had been taken on board the "Terror," and was in the hands of its commander....

What I studied particularly during this period was the mental state of Robur.  He seemed to me under the dominance of a continuous excitement.  What was it that his ever-seething brain now meditated?  What projects was he forming for the future?  Toward what region would he now turn?  Would he put in execution the menaces expressed in his letter--the menaces of a madman!...

Sometimes I saw him wander about the Eyrie buried in thought, or he would stop and raise his arm toward heaven as if in defiance of that God with Whom he assumed to divide the empire of the world.  Was not his overweening pride leading him toward insanity?  An insanity which his two companions, hardly less excited than he, could do nothing to subdue!  Had he not come to regard himself as mightier than the elements which he had so audaciously defied even when he possessed only an airship, the "Albatross?"  And now, how much more powerful had he become, when earth, air and water combined to offer him an infinite field where none might follow him!

Hence I had much to fear from the future, even the most dread catastrophes.  It was impossible for me to escape from the Great Eyrie, before being dragged into a new voyage.  After that, how could I possibly get away while the "Terror" sped through the air or the ocean?  My only chance must be when she crossed the land, and did so at some moderate speed.  Surely a distant and feeble hope to cling to!....

How long this sojourn or rather relaxation of the "Terror" in the Great Eyrie was to last, I did not know.  I saw, however, on the afternoon of this third of August that the repairs and the embarkation of stores were completed.  The hold and lockers of our craft must have been completely crowded with the provisions taken from the grottoes of the Eyrie....

The sun disappeared behind the crests of the Blueridge.  His rays now lighted only the very summit of Black Dome towering in the northwest....

Toward nine o'clock profound obscurity enwrapped the hollow.  Not a star looked down on us.  Heavy clouds driven by a keen eastern wind covered the entire sky.  The passage of the "Terror" would be invisible, not only in our immediate neighborhood, but probably across all the American territory and even the adjoining seas....

Suddenly I felt myself seized by the arm.  Turner drew me toward the "Terror."  Resistance would have been useless.  And moreover what could be worse than to be abandoned without resources in this prison whose walls I could not climb!

As soon as I set foot on the deck, Turner also embarked.  His companion went forward to the look-out; Turner climbed down into the engine-room, lighted by electric bulbs, from which not a gleam escaped outside.

Robur himself was at the helm, the regulator within reach of his hand, so that he could control both our speed and our direction.  As to me, I was forced to descend into my cabin, and the hatchway was fastened above me.  During that night, as on that of our departure from Niagara, I was not allowed to watch the movements of the "Terror."

Nevertheless, if I could see nothing of what was passing on board, I could hear the noises of the machinery.  I had first the feeling that our craft, its bow slightly raised, lost contact with the earth.  Some swerves and balancings in the air followed.  Then the turbines underneath spun with prodigious rapidity, while the great wings beat with steady regularity.

Thus the "Terror," probably forever, had left the Great Eyrie, and launched into the air as a ship launches into the waters.  Our captain soared above the double chain of the Alleghanies, and without doubt he would remain in the upper zones of the air until he had left all the mountain region behind.

But in what direction would he turn?  Would he pass in flight across the plains of North Carolina, seeking the Atlantic Ocean?  Or would he head to the west to reach the Pacific?  Perhaps he would seek, to the south, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  When day came how should I recognize which sea we were upon, if the horizon of water and sky encircled us on every side?

Several hours passed; and how long they seemed to me!  I made no effort to find forgetfulness in sleep.  Wild and incoherent thoughts assailed me.  I felt myself swept over worlds of imagination, as I was swept through space, by an aerial monster.  At the speed which the "Terror" possessed, whither might I not be carried during this interminable night?  I recalled the unbelievable voyage of the "Albatross," of which the Weldon Institute had published an account, as described by Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans.  What Robur, the Conqueror, had done with his first airship, he could do even more readily with this quadruple machine.

At length the first rays of daylight brightened my cabin.  Would I be permitted to go out now, to take my place upon the deck, as I had done upon Lake Erie?

I pushed upon the hatchway:  it opened.  I came half way out upon the deck.

All about was sky and sea.  We floated in the air above an ocean, at a height which I judged to be about a thousand or twelve hundred feet.  I could not see Robur, so he was probably in the engine room.  Turner was at the helm, his companion on the look-out.

Now that I was upon the deck, I saw what I had not been able to see during our former nocturnal voyage, the action of those powerful wings which beat upon either side at the same time that the screws spun beneath the flanks of the machine.

By the position of the sun, as it slowly mounted from the horizon, I realized that we were advancing toward the south.  Hence if this direction had not been changed during the night this was the Gulf of Mexico which lay beneath us.

A hot day was announced by the heavy livid clouds which clung to the horizon.  These warnings of a coming storm did not escape the eye of Robur when toward eight o'clock he came on deck and took Turner's place at the helm.  Perhaps the cloud-bank recalled to him the waterspout in which the "Albatross" had so nearly been destroyed, or the mighty cyclone from which he had escaped only as if by a miracle above the Antarctic Sea.

It is true that the forces of Nature which had been too strong for the "Albatross," might easily be evaded by this lighter and more versatile machine.  It could abandon the sky where the elements were in battle and descend to the surface of the sea; and if the waves beat against it there too heavily, it could always find calm in the tranquil depths.

Doubtless, however, there were some signs by which Robur, who must be experienced in judging, decided that the storm would not burst until the next day.

He continued his flight; and in the afternoon, when we settled down upon the surface of the sea, there was not a sign of bad weather.  The "Terror" is a sea bird, an albatross or frigate-bird, which can rest at will upon the waves!  Only we have this advantage, that fatigue has never any hold upon this metal organism, driven by the inexhaustible electricity!

The whole vast ocean around us was empty.  Not a sail nor a trail of smoke was visible even on the limits of the horizon.  Hence our passage through the clouds had not been seen and signaled ahead....

Evening came.  The sun sank in an horizon red as blood.  The sea glistened around the "Terror," which seemed to raise a shower of sparks in its passage.  There was a storm at hand.  Evidently our captain thought so.  Instead of being allowed to remain on deck, I was compelled to re-enter my cabin, and the hatchway was closed above me....

When I awoke, after a length of time which I could not reckon, the "Terror" had not yet returned to the surface of the sea.

This maneuver was executed a little later.  The daylight pierced my porthole; and at the same moment I felt the pitching and tossing to which we were subjected by a heavy sea.

I was allowed to take my place once more outside the hatchway; where my first thought was for the weather.  A storm was approaching from the northwest.  Vivid lightning darted amid the dense, black clouds.  Already we could hear the rumbling of thunder echoing continuously through space.  I was surprised--more than surprised, frightened!--by the rapidity with which the storm rushed upward toward the zenith.  Scarcely would a ship have had time to furl her sails to escape the shock of the blast, before it was upon her!  The advance was as swift as it was terrible.

Suddenly the wind was unchained with unheard of violence, as if it had suddenly burst from this prison of cloud.  In an instant a frightful sea uprose.  The breaking waves, foaming along all their crests, swept with their full weight over the "Terror."  If I had not been wedged solidly against the rail, I should have been swept overboard!

There was but one thing to do--to change our machine again into a submarine.  It would find security and calm at a few dozen feet beneath the surface.  To continue to brave the fury of this outrageous sea was impossible.

Robur himself was on deck, and I awaited the order to return to my cabin--an order which was not given.  There was not even any preparation for the plunge.  With an eye more burning than ever, impassive before this frightful storm, the captain looked it full in the face, as if to defy it, knowing that he had nothing to fear.

It was imperative that the "Terror" should plunge below without losing a moment.  Yet Robur seemed to have no thought of doing so.  No!  He preserved his haughty attitude as of a man who in his immeasurable pride, believed himself above or beyond humanity.

Seeing him thus I asked myself with almost superstitious awe, if he were not indeed a demoniac being, escaped from some supernatural world.

A cry leaped from his mouth, and was heard amid the shrieks of the tempest and the howlings of the thunder.  "I, Robur!  Robur!--The master of the world!"

He made a gesture which Turner and his companions understood.  It was a command; and without any hesitation these unhappy men, insane as their master, obeyed it.

The great wings shot out, and the airship rose as it had risen above the falls of Niagara.  But if on that day it had escaped the might of the cataract, this time it was amidst the might of the hurricane that we attempted our insensate flight.

The air-ship soared upward into the heart of the sky, amid a thousand lightning flashes, surrounded and shaken by the bursts of thunder.  It steered amid the blinding, darting lights, courting destruction at every instant.

Robur's position and attitude did not change.  With one hand on the helm, the other on the speed regulators while the great wings beat furiously, he headed his machine toward the very center of the storm, where the electric flashes were leaping from cloud to cloud.

I must throw myself upon this madman to prevent him from driving his machine into the very middle of this aerial furnace!  I must compel him to descend, to seek beneath the waters, a safety which was no longer possible either upon the surface of the sea or in the sky!  Beneath, we could wait until this frightful outburst of the elements was at an end!....

Suddenly the "Terror" trembled as if from a violent shock.  All her frame quivered, as the human frame quivers under the electric fluid.  Struck by the lightning in the very middle of her powerful batteries, the air-ship spread out on all sides and went to pieces.

With her wings fallen, her screws broken, with bolt after bolt of the lightning darting amid her ruins, the "Terror" fell from the height of more than a thousand feet into the ocean beneath.
 

Chapter 18 THE OLD HOUSEKEEPER'S LAST COMMENT

When I came to myself after having been unconscious for many hours, a group of sailors whose care had restored me to life surrounded the door of a cabin in which I lay.  By my pillow sat an officer who questioned me; and as my senses slowly returned, I answered to his questioning.

I told them everything.  Yes, everything!  And assuredly my listeners must have thought that they had upon their hands an unfortunate whose reason had not returned with his consciousness.

I was on board the steamer Ottawa, in the Gulf of Mexico, headed for the port of New Orleans.  This ship, while flying before the same terrific thunder-storm which destroyed the "Terror," had encountered some wreckage, among whose fragments was entangled my helpless body.  Thus I found myself back among humankind once more, while Robur the Conqueror and his two companions had ended their adventurous careers in the waters of the Gulf.  The Master of the World had disappeared forever, struck down by those thunder-bolts which he had dared to brave in the regions of their fullest power.  He carried with him the secret of his extraordinary machine.

Five days later the Ottawa sighted the shores of Louisiana; and on the morning of the tenth of August she reached her port.  After taking a warm leave of my rescuers, I set out at once by train for Washington, which more than once I had despaired of ever seeing again.

I went first of all to the bureau of police, meaning to make my earliest appearance before Mr. Ward....

I informed him of all my experiences since I had disappeared, the pursuit of the destroyers on the lake, the soaring of the "Terror" from amid Niagara Falls, the halt within the crater of the Great Eyrie, and the catastrophe, during the storm, above the Gulf of Mexico....

In truth, did not the possession of so complete and marvelous a machine justify the name of Master of the World, which Robur had taken to himself?  Certain it is that the comfort and even the lives of the public must have been forever in danger from him; and that all methods of defence must have been feeble and ineffective.

But the pride which I had seen rising bit by bit within the heart of this prodigious man had driven him to give equal battle to the most terrible of all the elements.  It was a miracle that I had escaped safe and sound from that frightful catastrophe....

It is easy to imagine what a welcome my old housekeeper gave me when I entered my house in Long Street....  [A]fter hearing my story, with eyes streaming with tears, she thanked Providence for having saved me from so many perils.

"Now, sir," said she, "now--was I wrong?"

"Wrong?  About what?"

"In saying that the Great Eyrie was the home of the devil?"

"Nonsense; this Robur was not the devil!"

"Ah, well!" replied the old woman, "he was worthy of being so!"