THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 DR. J. LLOYD EATON
 
 ' 
 
 
 Ck~JU^_-~^ 
 
 (aJLu.^^ /^
 
 I he Disappearance Syndicate 
 
 Senator Stanley's Story 
 
 T. C. CRAWFORD 
 
 Author of " A Man and His Soul," " American Vendetta," " English Life 
 Through Yankee Eyes," " Life of James G. Blaine " 
 
 New York 
 
 CHARLES B. REED, Publisher 
 
 164, 166 & 168 Fulton St. 
 
 1894
 
 
 AUGUSTA W. FLETCHER, M. D.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The two stories, The Disappearance Syndicate and 
 Senator Stanley's Story, contained in this book, originally 
 appeared in the Cosmopolitan Magazine. The first story 
 has been slightly elaborated and extended, for the purpose of 
 developing an idea which the limits of magazine publication 
 did not permit. 
 
 The right to republish these stories in book form has been 
 given through the courtesy of Mr. J. Brisben Walker, the 
 editor and proprietor of the Cosmopolitan Magazine. Mr. 
 Walker's appreciation of these stories led to their being illus- 
 trated by Mr. Frank O. Small, of Boston ; and, in the per- 
 mission to republish in book form, the additional courtesy of 
 using these illustrations was included. 
 
 CHAS. B. REED, Publisher.
 
 The Disappearance Syndicate 
 
 \
 
 The Disappearance Syndicate. 
 
 f'HAPTEK 
 
 I. A chain of mysterious disappearances throughout 
 
 the world, ....... 9 
 
 II. Looking for facts to support the syndicate theory 
 
 of Dr. Briggs, ...... 15 
 
 III. The sensation created by the disappearance of 
 
 banker Musgrove, . . . . . . 23 
 
 IV. Searching through Europe for James Musgrove, 33 
 
 V. A remarkable evening at the Victoria Gallery 
 
 Club 38 
 
 VI. Lord Robert's theory for the explanation of the 
 
 character of Mortimer Mortimer. . . 49 
 
 VII. The editor of the Wasp in London — The sensa- 
 tional disappearance of the Duke of Wex, . 56 
 
 VIII. A dinner at the Central Station of Light with 
 
 Mortimer Mortimer, ..... 69 
 
 IX. The revelations of the House of Light, . . 83 
 
 X. An explanation of the anti-materialistic wave now 
 
 moving over the civilized world, . . 90 
 
 XL The meeting of the Council of Ten, which governs 
 
 the world 97 
 
 XII. A study of the workings of this mysterious Council, 103 
 
 XIII. A return to normal conditions, . . . . in
 
 XIV. Completely changed through psychological influ- 
 ences, so that even the Wasp editor does 
 not recognize me, . . . . . . 116 
 
 XV. Discovery of James Musgrove on the driver's seat 
 
 of an Oxford street 'bus, . . . . 121 
 
 XVI. James Musgrove, the cabman, delivers an order 
 for a special service to be performed by 
 Arthur Livingstone, . . . . . 125 
 
 XVII. Ronald Hapgood exerts the full power of the 
 Central Station of Darkness to make me a 
 deserter from the service of light, . . 136 
 
 Senator Stanley's Story. 
 
 I. Senator Stanley outlines the thread of a peculiar 
 
 story, 155 
 
 II. Seance of the Hindoo adept at Reynolds' house, 161 
 
 III. Personal experience of the Senator with the power 
 
 of the adept, . . . . . . . 171 
 
 IV. The transformation in the Senate chamber, . 174 
 
 V. The work of a substitute in the body of Senator 
 
 Stanley, 182 
 
 VI. Senator Stanley recovers his body, but under cer- 
 tain conditions, ...... 189 
 
 VII. The Senator consents to sacrifice his future to do 
 
 an unselfish act, . . . . . . 195 
 
 VIII. The final fate of the Senator, ... 201
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A CHAIN OF MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES THROUGH- 
 OUT THE WORLD. 
 
 LIFE is full of strange possibilities to those who keep 
 their eyes wide open. Even to those who are blind 
 there comes, at some turn in their existence, a flash of 
 light. I have had a queer experience in my life, as it 
 has thus far been lived, unlike anything I have ever 
 heard of in any book or story. For a brief period I 
 dwelt in a world more wonderful than any described in 
 a tale of the Arabian Nights. How I came to lose 
 this rare opportunity of living a life of light and 
 knowledge, and how I have acquired the patience to 
 follow again the humdrum of ordinary existence, may 
 prove interesting. At any rate, I have firmly made up 
 my mind to tell the story exactly as it occurred, with 
 the hope that its recital will do some good to those 
 who may care to read it through from its beginning to 
 the end. 
 
 My name is Arthur Livingstone. I have been a 
 writer upon social topics for many years. I read all 
 the papers carefully, and am ever on the alert for out- 
 of-the-way topics. At the time of the beginning of 
 this story I had been much impressed by the number 
 of peculiar disappearances throughout the world. 
 These disappearances were nearly always those of
 
 IO THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 men of wealth and prominence. There never ap- 
 peared to be any special predisposing cause, so far 
 as any surface clue might indicate. 
 
 In Paris, during the preceding summer, I had been 
 attracted by an article in the Petit Journal upon 
 the subject of mysterious disappearances throughout 
 France. The French are the most curious people in 
 the world, and when a man disappears in that country, 
 there are generally any number of witnesses, who, by 
 shrewd observation, are able to give the clue which 
 leads to a rational explanation. But this article called 
 attention to the curious fact that, out of the ten cases 
 noted in France that year, all had been identical in 
 character. There was no crime, nor scandal, as a pre- 
 disposing cause. In each case the absent individual 
 had been in prosperous circumstances, and in each case 
 the disappearance had been absolute, no trace being 
 found afterwards. 
 
 When I returned to New York, in the autumn, I 
 took up the files of newspapers kept in the Mercantile 
 Library. I went carefully through the leading papers 
 of the world for the year, looking for cases of mysteri- 
 ous disappearance. I found more than I could have 
 anticipated, and found them, too, in every country 
 where I made search. The record of London had 
 reached, during the year, as high as twenty, and these 
 really notable people. In Spain, there were five ; in 
 Italy, ten ; in Austro-Hungary, five; in Germany, ten ; 
 in Russia, fifteen ; in the north of Europe, fifteen, 
 while the United States had contributed, in the same 
 period, some twenty cases.
 
 thk disappearance syndicate. 
 
 II 
 
 These cases were all alike, the world over. The 
 people were always prominent, well-to-do, with no ap- 
 parent reason for their "stepping out." The disap- 
 pearances were always unforeseen. They were, also, 
 as complete as they were unexplainable. Here are 
 two cases from my note-book of observations in the 
 
 HUNTING VY CASES. 
 
 American papers. Case number one : A naval officer, 
 in good standing at Washington, young, handsome, 
 unmarried, leaves Fortress Monroe on an Old Dominion 
 steamer for New York. His friends see him off, and 
 observe that he is in unusually good spirits. The next 
 morning he walks up the dock in New York, and steps 
 out into the unknown. He has now been lost for one
 
 12 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 year. The utmost resources of the department and of 
 his friends have not been able to produce a trace of his 
 existence. Case number two : A high official in one of 
 the government departments, who has a pleasant home 
 and an agreeable family, leaves his office at mid-day, 
 and says he will return in a half-hour. He is seen 
 upon Pennsylvania avenue, a short time afterwards, 
 and then disappears. No apparent reason for his 
 going away, however, has been found, while the world 
 has been ransacked by detectives, to find out where he 
 could have gone. 
 
 The latest case to attract my attention was the dis- 
 appearance of a banker from the town of Winsted, 
 Connecticut. He was rich, apparently happy, with a 
 well-brought-up family. He had no bad habits known 
 to any one around him. He had come to New York 
 upon a business visit, and had never been heard of 
 afterwards. His accounts were found to be correct to 
 a penny. There was no evidence of any love affair. 
 He had simply stepped out into the unknown and had 
 left no trace behind him. 
 
 One night, at the Critics' Club, I talked over the dis- 
 appearances noted by me with an old college-mate, Dr. 
 Briggs, now headmaster of a large private school near 
 Boston. He suggested, cynically : " You have evolved 
 such a chain of disappearances throughout the world, 
 that you have proved the necessity of some system 
 behind it all. And a system argues a syndicate." 
 
 " A syndicate ? " 
 
 " Certainly, a syndicate. Why not ? The fact that 
 only men well-to-do are taken shows the ear-marks of
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 13 
 
 a great business enterprise. The further fact that the 
 dishonest and the criminal are eliminated from their 
 customers shows how carefully the thing is managed 
 and how it runs no risk of exposure or of coming to 
 ruin through conflict with the law. 1 tell you, sir," 
 and here the professor slapped the table, "there is, un- 
 doubtedly, somewhere in this world some great and 
 overshadowing genius, who is the directing mind of a 
 formidable syndicate created for the purpose of pro- 
 moting disappearances. Oh, what would I not give 
 to be able to see that man and talk with him ! " 
 
 I must confess that I was a bit overwhelmed by the 
 professor's explanation, and I could only feebly ejacu- 
 late, in response to his daring originality : " What you 
 say is ridiculous! " 
 
 "Why ridiculous?" said the professor, sharply. 
 " Would not such a syndicate make an appeal to the 
 universal nomadic instinct ? There are men with 
 whom you touch elbows every day, who are outwardly 
 cheerful, but who are bored to death — wearied with 
 the routine of existence — who would jump at an easy, 
 ready-made path into another existence, to which they 
 could escape without fear of bother, scandal, or of pos- 
 sible failure in arriving there. Why, I once knew a 
 man who committed suicide because he got tired of 
 getting up every morning and lacing his shoes ! Then, 
 the cost of the disappearance would cut no figure if 
 the system were perfect. Clearly, this syndicate is 
 under the direction of a master-mind ! Why, he can 
 point to his past record of last year and even charge a 
 fee of one hundred thousand dollars to the weary,
 
 14 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 worn candidate, and be sure of getting it ! I think he 
 is wise in keeping the number limited and the price 
 high. I would give a good deal to meet the president 
 of The Disappearance Syndicate ! " 
 
 " But, professor, why do you go so fast ? Why do 
 you treat your ingenious surmise as such an indispu- 
 table fact ?" 
 
 " Simply because a syndicate is the only explanation. 
 Without large capital and a perfect system, the disap- 
 pearances noted by you, which are so uniform in 
 character, could not have been possible. Large capital 
 and a system are, naturally, the product of a well- 
 organized syndicate, and the successful syndicate has 
 always back of it the man — the dictator — who makes 
 things cro."
 
 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 LOOKING FOR FACTS TO SUPPORT THE SYNDICATE 
 THEORY OF DR. BRIGGS. 
 
 The professor's idea interested me. I was cer- 
 tain that it would, at least, make a good article for 
 one of the Sunday papers. As I followed the thread 
 of my friend's whimsical idea, I naturally turned in the 
 direction of a possible candidate for the mythical syn- 
 dicate. I found him in my old friend, James Musgrove, 
 banker and broker, whose New York house had Lon- 
 don and Paris branches. It was in Paris that I first 
 knew him. It was through his house that I had 
 cashed the small drafts that came to me, at fitful 
 intervals, as compensation for stray newspaper letters. 
 Musgrove was rich, and tired of everything. He had 
 been a bold speculator all his life, and I knew that any- 
 thing really new would divert him more than any 
 other man of my acquaintance. 
 
 I made up my mind to call upon him and discuss the 
 disappearance syndicate theory, merely to listen to the 
 flow of his cynical talk. The Winsted banker had 
 been one of his customers, and, as the papers were still 
 full of the case, it gave me a good excuse for calling 
 upon him. 
 
 I found the banker seated in the private room re- 
 served for customers. At that time, he was in the
 
 l6 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 neighborhood of sixty years of age. He sat in a 
 stuffed leather chair, with huge gold-mounted eye- 
 glasses fitted up against his eager dark eyes. For up- 
 wards of forty years he had been tossing about upon 
 the raging sea of speculation. Originally a farmer's 
 boy in central New York, he acquired in youth a stock 
 of health and vitality that had stood him splendid 
 service during his life. He was slightly above the 
 medium height, with a round and heavy figure. He 
 always dressed in black. His coat was a loose, unbut- 
 toned frock ; his waistcoat was cut low enough to show 
 a good expanse of white shirt, upon which gleamed a 
 large diamond. His neck was encircled by a high 
 standing-collar ; his black cravat was tied in the form 
 of a double bow at his throat. His trousers were cut 
 as wide as a sailor's ; his boots were broad, low-heeled 
 and highly polished. His hat, worn in and out of 
 doors, summer and winter, was, nine months of the 
 year, a high silk ; for three months, in the summer, it 
 was a coarse, high-crowned straw. His face was round, 
 olive-tinted, heavy-featured and thick-skinned. His 
 nose was a wide-flaring pug. His mouth was large and 
 thick-lipped ; in the days when he was an active broker, 
 engaged on the floor of the Stock Exchange, when 
 opened, it gave forth the roar of a bull or the growl of 
 a bear, according to the side he was engaged upon, in 
 tones only too realistic. His teeth were firm and even, 
 indicating a sound digestion, while his dark, close- 
 cropped and curling hair — slightly thinning now towards 
 the crown — showed only traces of silver-gray. When 
 I came in, he sat in his favorite attitude, with his fat
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 17 
 
 hands clasped over his round stomach, as he gazed, 
 with the intensity of an artist, upon the figures which 
 a lean and hungry boy was continually marking up on 
 the walls of a blackboard, which covered the two sides 
 of the room, the register of the stock quotations of the 
 world. 
 
 There was a great table in the center of the room, 
 littered with financial reports, and newspapers ; a clock- 
 work machine — the "ticker" — monotonously turning, 
 printing stock quotations on rapidly unwinding lengths 
 of white tape, stood in one corner. The hieroglyphics 
 printed by the machine are read from moment to 
 moment, from ten A. M. to three P. M., all over the 
 world, by grave groups, who scan the register of the 
 day's proceedings with the same seriousness that people 
 used to accord to the utterances of the Delphic oracle. 
 About the room were the customers, who watched the 
 figures on the wall with the manner of professional 
 gamblers studying the movements of the hands of the 
 croupiers at Monte Carlo. The whole floor of the 
 building was given up to the offices of J. Musgrove & 
 Company. It was divided off into little, compact pens, 
 each lighted by incandescent electric lights. The great 
 window looking into Wall street was filled with sheets 
 of money, bonds, ingots, and with the gold of all 
 nations ; next to this array of money stood a small 
 army of bookkeepers, who toiled, like convicts in the 
 galleys, at long columns of figures, not daring to look 
 up during the rush of business hours. In other pens 
 were typewriters, telegraph operators, private secre- 
 taries, associate and special partners.
 
 1 8 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 There were also a number of special pens for private 
 conversation, where nervous customers could be taken 
 in quietly and soothed when the market was going 
 against them, and where they could be bravely patted 
 on the back, and praised for their courage, and told to 
 go in and win when the market was going their way. 
 In some of these little pens strong men had broken 
 down and shed tears at the thought of the fortune that 
 had been taken from them through the mutations of 
 the remorseless ticker. 
 
 Here they came, old and young, to try their fortune, 
 to bet boldly or timidly, according to their natures, 
 upon the direction in which the erratic market would 
 jump. Musgrove always told everybody to keep away, 
 and when a new customer came to him, he invariably 
 said : " Don't you try stocks !" It was observed that 
 the customers were never so anxious to try as when 
 Musgrove advised them to keep away. The man who 
 wishes to burn his fingers was never yet deterred by 
 anything in the form of advice ; and so, when the 
 hollow-eyed customer came up to settle at the cashier's 
 office, and sometimes totter away to penury and de- 
 spair, it was an edifying spectacle to watch James 
 Musgrove, as he stood rattling his customer's commis- 
 sions in the deep pockets of his wide trousers, while he 
 called out after him, in good-natured accents : " Re- 
 member, I told you to keep away !" And his " Better 
 luck next time !" was a miracle of art, because it was 
 this hope of the next time that brought each one back 
 as soon as he could scrape together the wherewithal to 
 cover the margins necessary to play again, the beauti-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 19 
 
 ful game of betting what the uncertain movement of 
 the stock quotation machine would grind out next. 
 
 Musgrove looked at me carelessly, as I came in, and 
 then, having nothing very much to do for the moment, 
 he began to give me his views concerning the condition 
 of affairs in the country, which was his way of being 
 agreeable. After he had described the different con- 
 ditions of the various railroads of the country, and the 
 effect upon the market of this and that influence, he 
 walked into another private room, where I followed 
 him. In the midst of his talk I finally interjected this 
 question : " Did you know this Winsted banker, who 
 disappeared the other day ? " 
 
 Musgrove darted a sharp look at me, and said : 
 " Why do you ask that ? I have told over and over 
 again, in the newspapers, for the last ten days, all that 
 I know about him — and more, too." 
 
 " What I want to know is : Did you have intimate 
 relations with him ? " 
 
 Musgrove was no longer responsive. 
 
 " I knew him as I knew hundreds of others, and he 
 used to come in here very often. He was a good 
 customer." 
 
 I ventured to add that I was very much interested 
 in the case, and I was curious to observe that Musgrove 
 did not like to be questioned concerning the Connecti- 
 cut man. I finally said : " I'm interested in all cases 
 of this kind. My interest is only general." 
 
 I fancied, when I said this, that Musgrove looked 
 slightly relieved. He was looking at me, all through 
 this conversation, with that old, hard and curious look
 
 20 
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 that I used to see when he thought I was on the verge 
 of bringing up some question of money. This look of 
 hardness was soon followed by such a look of indiffer- 
 ence that I was repelled. I did not reach a point in the 
 conversation where it would have been natural for me to 
 
 "**&*■ ■ \ . 
 
 " WHY DO TOU ASK THAT ?" 
 
 have introduced the syndicate theory. It takes a born 
 fool, or a diplomat of the first water, to take up an 
 utterly foreign subject, and drag it, neck and heels, into 
 such a conversation, without some kind of prelude. 
 
 I never observed Musgrove so closely as I did upon this 
 particular occasion. Some inner instinct of the detective
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 21 
 
 cautioned me to scrutinize his every feature, as I had 
 never observed him before. Every detail of his char- 
 acteristic face was rephotographed with remarkable 
 distinctness upon my mind. I observed that under his 
 left eye there were three little, blue powder-marks, the 
 result of an accident in childhood. Behind his right 
 ear was a small mole, in the shape of an egg. His 
 hands were made the subject of my most minute 
 attention. The left hand had a slight scar, running 
 from the upper knuckle to the middle of the hand. 
 This was the only characteristic mark, outside of their 
 intensely individual form. They were very short and 
 covered with the hair of a vigorous type of man ; the 
 nails were flat, cut very short, and even with the ends 
 of the fingers, giving the hands a very blunt appear- 
 ance. 
 
 My sharp scrutiny appeared to make him nervous. 
 He said, brusquely : " What in the devil are you looking 
 at me that way for ? " 
 
 I made some explanation about being absent-minded, 
 and got up to take my leave, as he was evidently 
 anxious either to be alone, or to take up some other 
 subject of more interest to him than the conversation 
 of the casual caller. 
 
 When I rose to go, his old heartiness of manner 
 came back. He got up with a rush, shook me by the 
 hand warmly, and invited me to drop in and see him 
 at the Colossus Club that evening, after dinner. " This 
 shop, down here," said he, " is really no place for a 
 talk. I've got some literary ideas I want to suggest to 
 you. I think you are really getting careless in your
 
 22 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 style, and the subjects you have been writing about 
 lately are not new. You're losing your originality, my 
 boy." This kind of remark was not new to me. It 
 was a part of the engaging manner often employed by 
 business men, to endear themselves to their literary 
 friends. 
 
 I left Mr. Musgrove's office at three o'clock. The 
 next morning all the papers published, with great 
 detail, a story of the disappearance of James Mus- 
 grove. This brought the subject of mysterious disap- 
 pearances very close home. I will not give the details 
 of the many stories circulated about Musgrove's dis- 
 appearance. No two of the theories published agreed, 
 and no clue was then found showing what had become 
 of him after leaving his banking-house on the day of 
 my call.
 
 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SENSATION CREATED BY THE DISAPPEARANCE 
 OF BANKER MUSGROVE. 
 
 The sensation created by the disappearance of James 
 Musgrove was very great. He was one of the pillars 
 of the Stock Exchange. His absence made a run on 
 his bank. Rumors of a large defalcation were put in 
 active circulation. All the stock or the enterprises in 
 which the house had been interested were freely sold 
 by the bears, who made so much noise and excitement 
 by their sale of these securities, that they nearly 
 created a panic on the Exchange. They soon found 
 the missing banker had left his house in an absolutely 
 sound condition. Every obligation presented was 
 promptly met. Musgrove had withdrawn nothing 
 from the firm which did not personally belong to him. 
 His accounts were found to be in perfect condition. 
 The reserve was ample for every need, showing that 
 the banker's absence, if continued, would not, of 
 necessity, force the winding up of the affairs of the 
 concern. 
 
 The public interest in his disappearance was greatly 
 increased when it was found that there was no apparent 
 reason for his going away. The attention of the public 
 had been lightly stirred by the story of the disappear- 
 ance of the Winsted banker. The disappearance of so
 
 24 
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE 
 
 prominent a New York banker, in an equally mysterious 
 and unexplainable way, fanned the curiosity of the 
 easily inflamed New York public to a high pitch of 
 excitement. The newspapers increased this by invent- 
 ing various kinds of impossible stories, ranging from 
 
 ^bhSe* 
 
 HERE TOU ABE, SIB ! MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE ! 
 
 scandal to crime. One particular newspaper, noted for 
 leading all others in its audacity of inventions, pre- 
 tended to have discovered the plan of a society formed 
 for the secret assassination of bankers and people of 
 wealth. I was made the subject of a good deal of 
 attention, because an article of mine, on mysterious dis- 
 appearances throughout the world, had appeared
 
 THK DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 25 
 
 during the week, in the Illustrated Journal of Civiliza- 
 tion. Of course, I took advantage of the situation in 
 the market to sell my wares. However, I made no 
 reference in the article to my personal knowledge of 
 Musgrove. If the article had been published during 
 an ordinary period, it would not have attracted more 
 than casual notice. Now, it gave me, temporarily, 
 great notoriety. This notoriety brought me within 
 the visual horizon of the editor of The Daily 
 Wasp. 
 
 A reporter of this newspaper called upon me, one even- 
 ing, at my club, and said the editor wished to see me. 
 As I had never seen him, I was only too glad to accept 
 the invitation, and to say that I would call at his private 
 office at twelve o'clock on the following day. I 
 correctly supposed that he had been attracted by my 
 notoriety, the only qualification necessary, in his eyes, 
 to make a successful writer for a newspaper. The 
 latest criminal, and the freshest subject of some hide- 
 ous scandal are considered to-day more valuable con- 
 tributors, when writing over their own signatures, than 
 the ablest professional writers. In this the modern 
 editor shows his financial genius. An article on 
 parental affection, by a young man who had murdered 
 his mother because she would not lend him money for 
 drink, had recently sent the circulation of The Wasp up 
 several thousand. Its editor said, over and over again, 
 that no member of the editorial staff had ever written 
 an article that had ever given the paper such an upward 
 bound in circulation as this filial article, which bore the 
 address of Sing Sing.
 
 26 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 I was prompt in my appointment, and found the 
 editor in a room, fitted up with some attempt at 
 luxury and taste, although I observed, on my way to it, 
 that the small rooms set aside for the use of the writers 
 were rather bare of furnishings or adornment. It is 
 not my present intention, however, to try to describe 
 the interior of this newspaper office. 
 
 When I entered the editor's office, he was giving 
 final instructions to a reporter, for the presiding genius 
 of this paper interfered with every department, and 
 called it supervision. He was sending this reporter 
 out to interview a widowed mother, whose only son 
 had just been arrested for some crime. 
 
 " Be sure and see the mother," roared he, " and 
 describe, in detail, her agony. Count her tears, and 
 give a general idea of their size. Such descriptions are 
 greatly relished by the public. If she does not break 
 down in your presence — and people have a strange way 
 of controlling themselves when in the presence of my 
 reporters- — then you can denounce her for her indif- 
 ference and coldness. Be sure and make it spicy, and 
 if you can put a touch of humor here and there to 
 lighten the thing, don't fail. Now, go ! " 
 
 I shall never forget the hungry look that came upon 
 his face when he turned and motioned me to a seat 
 near his desk. His eyes appeared to be pointed like 
 gimlets, and as if seeking to bore themselves into my 
 brain and draw out something to make palpitating 
 copy. He said, abruptly : 
 
 " I have read your article on the mysterious disap- 
 pearances throughout the world. It shows great orig-
 
 MY GOD ! AN ORKJINAI, IDEA? Pagk 28.
 
 28 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 inality and study. I have an idea that you did not put 
 all you knew, or surmised, into that article." 
 
 " No, I did not." 
 
 At this, the editor bounded from his chair with ex- 
 citement. No foxhound could bay louder than he, 
 when upon the faintest trail of sensational copy. He 
 now looked at me most admiringly. His commercial 
 instincts approved the idea of writing part, and holding 
 back the most valuable portion, to be sold upon a 
 rising market. My reasons, however, had not been 
 commercial. The editor's questions were now as abrupt 
 as so many pistol shots. 
 
 " Have you any real news about Musgrove ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " What are you holding back ? " 
 
 " A good story." 
 
 " A news story ? " 
 
 " No, not exactly, but a possible explanation ; at 
 least, an original idea concerning it." 
 
 " My God ! An original idea ? " 
 
 " Yes, I am sure of its originality." 
 
 At this, he abruptly rang a bell, and sent out word 
 that he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. 
 He then turned to me, with great nervous anxiety, and 
 said : 
 
 " If you have an original idea, I want to buy it. An 
 original idea is worth money. I boil the brains of the 
 men in this office daily, as I would so much soap-fat, 
 searching for an original idea. Men break down, 
 sometimes die, and sometimes are discharged, under 
 my brain-squeezing process of searching for new ideas.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 20, 
 
 I offer premiums for their discovery, and discharge for 
 their failure. Sometimes we are successful, and have 
 a nice crop of really good ideas. But an original one 
 — a wholly original one — we never had." Here the 
 editor towered above me, brandishing a check-book, as 
 he fairly howled : " Don't deceive me ! Out with it ! 
 If it is original, I will pay any reasonable sum for it." 
 
 "To speak the honest truth," said I, "the idea is 
 not original with me." 
 
 " That does not matter. Have you got it with 
 you ? " 
 
 This treatment of an idea as an article of merchan- 
 dise made a profound impression upon me. It was, 
 after all, my friend's idea. I believed he was entitled 
 to some consideration, if this idea was to be treated as 
 a property. I said something like this ; but the editor 
 waved aside the suggestion as trivial — as if I were 
 trying to evade his desire. My reticence stimulated 
 him. He said : 
 
 " Tell me really what the whole idea is, and, if it is 
 original, I'll give you five thousand dollars for it. Then 
 there may be some business to follow." 
 
 Upon this assurance, which quite took my breath 
 away with its magnificence, I outlined the idea of a 
 disappearance syndicate. The editor was in raptures. 
 
 " I call that an original idea, at last," said he. " If 
 I'd had that, I'd have gotten ten thousand dollars for 
 it. I don't grudge you the price." 
 
 Here he tore open his check-book and wrote out a 
 check for five thousand dollars, with an air of one 
 to whom money was nothing. Then, when I told him
 
 30 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 how intimate I had been with Musgrove, and how I 
 had, by chance, studied him upon the very day of his 
 departure, and could identify him under any disguise, 
 he went into further raptures. 
 
 " I believe you can run down Musgrove. You know 
 him. Try it. The story of a disappearance syndicate 
 should be worked up with great detail, and should 
 come from the other side of the water, to give it pith 
 and point. Of course, it is absurdly impossible, and 
 will, for that reason, be all the more readily believed. 
 You should go to London at once. It would be well 
 to visit Berlin and Paris, also. Musgrove is bound to 
 be in some of his old haunts in Europe. Employ the 
 French and London police. Spend money freely. If 
 you find Musgrove, use the cable ; if you don't, elabo- 
 rate the disappearance syndicate idea. Make a twenty- 
 column story. Articles in my paper are judged en- 
 tirely by their length, the only test of true merit. 
 Send it over by mail, and we'll mark it ' Special cable.' 
 How soon can you go ? " 
 
 " Right away." 
 
 " You have no special preparations to make ? " 
 
 " None." 
 
 " I like that." Here the editor picked up a speak- 
 ing-tube, marked " Cashier," and called out : " Send me 
 up one hundred pounds, English money. When is the 
 next European steamer ? " 
 
 " The ' New York ' sails at three this afternoon," 
 came back through the tube. 
 
 In a few moments, up came a package of crisp 
 English bank-notes. I soon had the value of my check
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 31 
 
 in my inside pocket. It had been changed to a 
 draft on London. It was now two o'clock. The cab 
 was called. I had still a few moments, as it was not 
 over a twenty minutes' drive to the " New York's " 
 pier. So, as I turned to go, the editor said : 
 
 " Try hard to think of a new idea on your way over, 
 and cable it from Queenstown. Think of all the time 
 you'll have going over." This last was said with an 
 air of intense regret ; his mind was poisoned by the 
 thought that, for at least five days, I would be out of 
 his reach, where he could not ply me with questions. 
 
 As I rose to go, he still devoured me with his 
 hungry, unhappy gaze, as if he were in doubt whether 
 he had gotten all he could out of me. He had no 
 doubt concerning the correctness of his investment. 
 In such bargains his genius never wavered when he had 
 once marked out a course. He said, after a moment's 
 thought : 
 
 " I'll send two reporters down with you to the 
 steamer. You might have an idea on your way down. 
 And I'll direct the city editor to put a basket of carrier- 
 pigeons on the cab. You may have an idea on the 
 way out through the Narrows, and if you have, you can 
 send it back by them. Now, good-by, and do your 
 best ! " 
 
 Up to this time he had acted with the force and 
 rapidity of a great man of affairs. There had been no 
 feebleness nor hesitation. Now he looked almost 
 pathetic. His investment was about to move out of 
 range of communication. 
 
 " Cable me the moment you arrive," said he. " Send
 
 32 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 a cable address as soon as you get to London. Report 
 something every night." 
 
 At last I got away. It was now half-past two. I 
 dashed into the waiting cab, with two reporters at my 
 heels. The fire and fury of the editorial director yet 
 stimulated the pulsations of my heart, which throbbed 
 with comfortable rapidity against the book containing 
 the five-thousand-dollar draft. In the fire and force of 
 his intense, dominating individuality, I had overlooked 
 all else ; and now, I, caught in the clutches of The Wasp, 
 was suddenly being fired, as from a catapult, towards 
 Europe, without any previous thought or preparation. 
 But the dominating thought was that, at last, I was 
 authorized and financially backed for the purpose of 
 investigating my favorite subject — a mystery. To hunt 
 for James Musgrove was a fascinating task, and I 
 shouted words of encouragement to the cab-driver, as 
 he lashed his horse down the side streets, over the 
 rough pavement and boxes and garbage of lower New- 
 York, deftly dodging street blockades, until we reached 
 the dock, just as they were beginning to haul in the 
 gangways to the steamer. 
 
 I mounted the last gangway, breathless and perspir- 
 ing, just as it was beginning to move in. I waved my 
 hat to the reporters, who cheered me as they cried : 
 " We will tell the old man you made it." 
 
 Five minutes later the " City of New York" cast 
 loose her moorings and was towed out into the stream. 
 Fifteen minutes later she was turned about, and was 
 running free down the Narrows, under the blazing sun 
 of an early June afternoon.
 
 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SEARCHING THROUGH EUROPE FOR JAMES MUSGROVE. 
 
 Eight days after I was in London. From now on I 
 moved in the atmosphere of turmoil and unrest of 
 those who serve, even for the shortest time, a daily 
 newspaper. Cablegrams came to me at all hours of 
 the night, at my lodgings in Half-Moon street. When- 
 ever I thought I had, by some long and toilsome day, 
 earned the right to have a good rest, "bang!" would 
 go the knocker, and in would come a buttoned boy 
 with a blue-lined cablegram, covered with frenzied 
 words, asking for the latest news. The night I arrived 
 in London, before I had fairly entered my room, a 
 cablegram came to me, asking how my search was 
 coming on. This feverish intensity of pursuit made 
 me, at times, wild. My peace of life was now gone ; 
 but I could not go back. I had taken a fee, and had 
 made the engagement to try and perform a certain 
 task. Then my own curiosity was a powerful stimu- 
 lant. I made no attempt to call in the aid of the 
 police. I knew that the best police of Europe had 
 been already engaged by the private inquiries of the 
 Musgrove family. 
 
 I knew that Musgrove was very fond of London, and 
 that, when he lived in Paris, he had a frequent habit of 
 coming over to the English capital, upon some finan-
 
 34 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 cial pretext. In my occasional visits to London I had 
 repeatedly met him. His habit, when there, was to 
 occupy himself with financial affairs down in the city 
 during the day, while, when evening came, he was 
 nearly always to be found in some music-hall, with a 
 group of lively friends, usually winding up with a sup- 
 per at the Hotel Continental. He could not go about 
 in any of his old haunts of London without being 
 observed by some of his former friends. But, from 
 sporting companion to the liveliest and shrewdest of 
 the barmaids, I could find no word of him. He had 
 not been seen. He was remembered, because he had 
 spent his money so freely, and was such a consumer of 
 champagne. 
 
 I searched carefully through the leading cities of 
 Europe for six months, coming back, from time to 
 time, to London. I was an humble, but observant, 
 member of the various sporting circles, where member- 
 ship is not difficult, and where Musgrove had been so 
 prominent ; but I found nothing remotely bearing upon 
 my search. It was clear that I was to find nothing in 
 London ; but, if he was not there, where could he have 
 gone ? His inability to speak the French language, in 
 a manner even approaching ease or correctness, would 
 have made his concealment in Paris as difficult as in a 
 small village, so limited is the English-speaking colony 
 there, and so closely is it observed by the curious 
 French. Musgrove could hardly appear in Paris with- 
 out being noted by the French police, so well was he 
 known to them through his previous life in that city. 
 I knew that he hated small towns, and would as soon
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 35 
 
 think of committing suicide as to bury himself in any 
 rural obscurity. As I knew him, he would be wretched 
 off the pavement of a great capital, and could only find 
 perfect rest in a whirl of excitement. If he was not to 
 be unearthed in London, then it was evident that he 
 had not gone away of his own free will, or had found 
 some new center of interest, outside of the calculations 
 which I could make, based upon my previous knowl- 
 edge of him. 
 
 I will pass over the violent letters and cablegrams 
 which I constantly received from The Wasp, and keep, 
 as near as I can, to the thread of my narrative relating 
 to my search. 
 
 Six months after my arrival in London I made a 
 valuable acquaintance. I met him at Warwick during 
 a lazy trip of two days that I had deliberately taken 
 to free myself from worry over the cablegrams from 
 The Wasp. 
 
 My new acquaintance was Lord Robert Melrose, the 
 youngest son of the Duke of Wex. Melrose's title 
 was a courtesy one, and several lives stood between 
 him and the succession. He was seated near me, 
 the evening after my arrival, in the coffee-room of the 
 Warwick Arms, and we fell into conversation together. 
 He was in the neighborhood of thirty years of age. He 
 was a fresh-colored blonde, with a smooth shaven face 
 and close-cropped hair. He had traveled enough, as 
 I found later, to wear away some of the prejudices of 
 the average Briton. He had a pleasant voice, a quiet 
 manner, and an insatiable curiosity concerning out-of- 
 the-way things, which soon proved a bond between us.
 
 36 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 We returned to London together, and on our way 
 back I told him about my search for Musgrove, and 
 asked him what he thought of the theory of a disap- 
 pearance syndicate. 
 
 " I have traveled too much, and have seen too many 
 surprising things, to regard anything as impossible, or 
 really improbable," he replied. " I would not have 
 you think me foolishly credulous. I simply avoid 
 belief or disbelief, when an incident occurs or a theory 
 comes up, until I can have sufficient facts to warrant a 
 judgment. I am sure I can find out if your friend 
 Musgrove is in London. Have you anything that 
 formerly belonged to him, any picture ? " 
 
 " No, I have no picture. I left New York too sud- 
 denly to go through my personal effects. I may have 
 had there some scrap of his handwriting." 
 
 " Well, if he is in London, I can find him for you." 
 
 At the time, I asked for no explanation of this posi- 
 tive assurance, as we were just arriving at the Padding- 
 ton Station. Lord Robert drove with me to my 
 lodgings, where he took a bedroom, opening into my 
 sitting-room, which we agreed to share in common. 
 We returned upon a Sunday afternoon. That evening, 
 after dining very well, and very late, at the Cafe Royal, 
 we walked up Regent street, and then followed the 
 cross-street which leads across Bond street to the 
 Victoria Gallery. I had been for some time a mem- 
 ber of the Gallery Club, where the leading men 
 of society, politics, art, literature, and, in fact, of 
 every walk of intellectual life, met on Sunday even- 
 ings during the social season. The hall where the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. ^J 
 
 club meetings were held was a large one, used for the 
 display of the pictures of a great society of modern 
 painters. This hall was brilliantly lighted, and adorned 
 with some of the best and noblest examples of modern 
 art. During the meetings of the club, refreshments 
 were served in this room, and opportunities given for 
 intimate conversation. A small stage was always 
 brought in for the Sunday evening gatherings. Upon 
 this stage there came, by invitation, the leading per- 
 sonages of the higher amusement world of London. 
 About the hall were numerous small tables, and easy- 
 chairs, and cigars and drinks of all kinds were served 
 by grave and decorous waiters. The guests wore even- 
 ing dress, this requirement being imperative. Up- 
 wards of two hundred members were always to be found 
 at these gatherings, and at times the attendance would 
 be nearly doubled, if some unusual lion was to appear. 
 No one was obliged to listen to the slight and irregular 
 programme offered on the stage. Those who were 
 not interested generally withdrew to the side rooms, 
 but, as the entertainment always embraced the striking 
 features of what was interesting London that week, 
 the audience chamber was generally well filled.
 
 38 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A REMARKABLE EVENING AT THE VICTORIA GALLERY 
 
 CLUB. 
 
 We arrived at the hour of midnight. It was the 
 beginning of the evening, so far as the entertainment 
 was concerned. As Ave took a small table near the 
 stage, and ordered the usual brandy and soda, with dry 
 cigars and Egyptian cigarettes, Madame Flora, the 
 prima donna of the Drury Lane Theatre, was just finish- 
 ing an aria in a style as brilliant as she was beautiful. 
 As she swept off the stage, escorted by an attentive 
 member of the committee on entertainment, there was 
 the usual wait and idle conversation. 
 
 " I think the next number will interest you," said 
 Lord Robert, with significant meaning. He then 
 added, " You have been so busy in hunting your hobby 
 that you may not have heard of the latest London lion, 
 Mortimer Mortimer." 
 
 " Who is Mortimer Mortimer ? " 
 
 " That's what everybody asks." 
 
 " What is he, a circus manager, poet, escaped assas- 
 sin, reformer, or a philanthropist ? " 
 
 " You'll see him on the stage in a few moments, 
 and when he's gone I'll ask you what you, yourself, 
 think. He has made polite London fairly mad, 
 although he is seen in only the greatest and most ex-
 
 m fi 
 
 w 
 
 m*v 
 
 'MADAME FLORA WAS JUST FINISHING AN AKIA." l'*GK
 
 40 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 elusive houses. My friend here, at my left, saw him 
 at the Duke of Devonshire's the other night, and he 
 can talk of nothing else. Ah, there he is, if I can judge 
 correctly by the attention of my friend. Yes, he nods 
 to my silent question. It is he." 
 
 I now turned to the stage, which was only raised 
 about two feet above the floor of the hall. It was 
 bare of all theatrical paraphernalia. The only articles 
 of furniture were a few chairs and a small table, upon 
 which stood a vase of roses. 
 
 The room was filled with the representative gentle- 
 men of England. 
 
 The clear light of the hall revealed the intellectual 
 faces of the leaders of men in one of the most refined 
 societies in the great capital of the civilized world. It 
 was an audience not to be trifled with, as its disap- 
 proval would have been sufficient to ruin the most 
 ambitious social lion. 
 
 There was never a printed programme of the ex- 
 ercises on this stage. You were supposed to know all 
 about the people who appeared. Explanations or 
 introductions were never made. 
 
 As I looked at the stage there stepped upon it a 
 man of medium height, who came to the front of the 
 platform, with an ease and composure that commended 
 him, at once, to the favorable attention of his audi- 
 ence. He appeared to be in middle life, but to have no 
 particular age. His figure was slight; his face was 
 brown in color, very clear, and regular in its features, 
 and smooth shaven. His hair was straight and dark, 
 cut to a medium length, and parted exactly in the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 41 
 
 center, from his very broad, full forehead. His eyes 
 were intensely black, penetrating, and gleaming with a 
 steely light. His hands were lean, long and indicative 
 of great nervous force. There was a look of calmness 
 and power upon his face. 
 
 He came swiftly to the front of the stage and, with 
 his hands locked before him, gazed calmly at the audi- 
 ence for several moments without speaking. His 
 evening dress bore no sign of ornament. No jewel of 
 the tiniest character showed in his snowy linen. The 
 white cravat at his throat accentuated the dark color of 
 his stern-lined face. As he looked intently at his 
 audience, made up of cynical men of the world, the 
 most difficult of all to impress by any ordinary means, 
 while they are, at the same time, extremely responsive 
 to the evidences of actual power, he soon demonstrated 
 his right to be considered a leader. Before he had 
 said one word, the audience fairly thrilled with ex- 
 pectation, and the hall was strangely silent. Here and 
 there blue clouds of smoke, puffed by nervous smokers, 
 curled and eddied upwards in the shining glare of the 
 electric lights. 
 
 The occupant of the stage, who came in alone and 
 unannounced, understood his audience. He made no 
 gesture, and no change, even of attitude, as he began 
 to talk. His voice was low-keyed, serious in its accents, 
 and so carefully modulated that every syllable was 
 heard throughout the room, although he never de- 
 parted from the conversational tone, and carefully 
 avoided all oratorical phrasing. 
 
 As nearly as I can remember, he said : " I am here
 
 42 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 this evening through the kind invitation of your en- 
 tertainment committee. I wish to talk to you about 
 the natural, although some accuse me of dealing with 
 the supernatural. I will make one experiment to 
 illustrate an idea, and then I will have the honor of 
 bidding you good night. I assume that I will have, 
 during the few moments that I am here, your un- 
 divided attention, and I trust, that when I reach the 
 point where the experiment is to be made, that no 
 word or sound will be uttered. I make this request 
 solely in the interest of the success of the experiment." 
 
 If possible, the attention of the audience deepened. 
 There was a tension in the regard concentrated upon 
 the speaker that was dangerous. If anything ordinary 
 were now to follow, he would simply become an object 
 of polite ridicule. 
 
 The speaker now continued : " You are, of course, 
 aware of all that modern science has done in defining 
 some of the primary possibilities of animal magnetism. 
 I will allude to one only of the recent experiments, in 
 Paris, of the great Dr. Charcot. You, doubtless, have 
 heard of his celebrated sensitive, Leonie. The .learned 
 doctor, in his notes upon this case, calls attention to 
 the fact that in Leonie there have been developed 
 three separate sub-consciousnesses, each distinct, in- 
 dividual and critical of the other. Now, it is among 
 the possibilities of this science that the sub-conscious- 
 ness, that is the best in one, may, by cultivation, be 
 made more prominent and be given permanent con- 
 trol. Who is there who really knows himself ? Who 
 is satisfied with what he is doing ? What is it that
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 43 
 
 directs our thoughts so often to other fields of occupa- 
 tion ? Is it not the shadow of some subdued sub- 
 consciousness seeking supremacy ? But I have no idea 
 of making an address upon the subtleties of this ques- 
 tion. I will simply content myself with making an ex- 
 periment which will show you the advancement that 
 the science of animal magnetism has made. I do this 
 for the purpose of impressing upon you the importance 
 of the power that can be awakened by one who has 
 given the subject some attention, and has been fortu- 
 nate enough to have reached results which appear, only 
 to the ignorant, as supernatural." Here the speaker 
 paused a moment, and then, in the same quiet key, but 
 with an increasing gravity of manner, continued : 
 
 " I believe no one, however perfect an adept in 
 hypnotism, has ever assumed to put into the magnetic 
 sleep or under the magnetic influence, more than one 
 subject at a time. Now, I shall, within the next five 
 minutes, establish such relations with this assembly as 
 to make all here present see something I wish them to 
 see, and to hear something that I wish them to hear. In 
 a word,- while you Avill not pass into the magnetic sleep 
 — which is one of the lowest forms of the evidences of 
 the power of hypnotism — you will, however, surrender 
 your will for the moment utterly to mine. I shall ask 
 you not to speak or move for thirty seconds to follow." 
 
 There was no sound of dissent. Every one present 
 desired perfectly fair play, and the simple condition 
 demanded was conceded as a matter of course. 
 
 The speaker now waved his right hand and disclosed 
 a shining ball, about the size of an Italian orange.
 
 44 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 It was too large to be a jewel, while it was translucent, 
 and reflected light with the brilliancy of a diamond. 
 Mortimer stepped back one step and held the ball 
 above his head. His voice now became more measured, 
 and took on the chanting tone of a priest reading the 
 ritual. " Look on this ball and study its shining 
 beauties," said he. The ball glowed with a mystic fire, 
 as every other light in the room was dimmed. In a 
 second a great cloud of darkness swept through the 
 room, with a faint odor of incense following in its wake. 
 " Listen to the music," now chanted the voice, which 
 had an impersonal sound. It seemed, at this moment, 
 to come direct from the center of the moving cloud of 
 darkness. As the voice became silent, the distant notes 
 of a great organ were heard, then a far-away chorus of 
 pure voices chanting a lofty hymn of praise. This 
 continued for a moment, and then there was silence. 
 The clouds cleared, the lights came back, and the 
 normal conditions of the hall were restored. As the 
 darkness lifted, the brilliancy of the ball held in 
 Mortimer's hands faded until the clear translucence 
 was gone, and it became a dark, dull, unreflecting globe. 
 
 Mortimer now thanked the audience for its attention 
 and its civility in complying with his conditions. 
 
 " You have," said he, " just had a proof of the 
 hypnotic power in its highest form. This entire audi- 
 ence was for a moment under the influence of will 
 power. You were all made to see light in a ball of 
 dense, non-luminous carbon. The lights in the hall 
 went out, to your eyes, although they were bright and 
 shining all the time. You heard music, because it was
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 45 
 
 willed that you should. It was all a deception of your 
 senses through the control of your imagination.'' 
 
 Mortimer Mortimer was about to bow and retire, when 
 the Duke of Wex rose in the audience and begged per- 
 mission to ask one question of the occupant of the stage, 
 before his departure. The Duke was a tall, gallant- 
 looking gentleman with resolute, aquiline features, and 
 a smoothly shaven face, surmounted by a thick mass of 
 closely-cropped white hair. His voice was pleasant 
 and even, while his manner in addressing Mortimer 
 was the perfection of civility. He said: " I, for one, 
 have been profoundly interested in what you have said 
 and done, but, in the interests of the experiment itself, 
 will you permit a committee to examine the ball you 
 have in your hand ? " 
 
 There was a decided stir in the audience at this 
 pointed request, but Mortimer was not at all disturbed 
 by it. He replied : " There is no necessity for a 
 formal committee. If you will come forward to the 
 stage I will place the ball in your hands, and, with 
 your assistance, make one more experiment, which 
 may prove as interesting to you as the one just made. 
 It is needless to repeat that I shall require the same 
 conditions — attention and silence." 
 
 There was again the same profound attention when 
 the Duke of Wex stepped upon the stage. As he faced 
 Mortimer, the latter said, before handing over the ball 
 for inspection : 
 
 " There is a curious property about this ball. When 
 it is in your hand I shall become invisible to you, 
 though visible to the audience, so please make your
 
 46 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 personal inspection of it as it lies in my hand and be- 
 fore I hand it to you." 
 
 The strangest thing about this new situation was 
 that no one of us now questioned Mortimer's ability to do 
 what he proposed. Neither was there any surprise mani- 
 fested. The Duke adjusted his eyeglasses and advanced 
 toward Mortimer, and bent over the ball. As he 
 looked intently at it, Mortimer said to him : 
 
 " Will you kindly report to the audience its appear- 
 ance ? " 
 
 At this request the Duke appeared to be puzzled. 
 He said : 
 
 " As I look at the ball I observe that it has again 
 become translucent, filled with light, and if it were a 
 diamond it could not be purer and more beautiful. As 
 I look at it I am conscious of a feeling of keen pleasure ; 
 its perfection is so complete, if one can use an adjec- 
 tive in connection with such a word. More than this, 
 there appears to be an interior life underneath the 
 forms of light. The ball seems to be the orb of some- 
 thing living. Ah, I now see a vista of distant moun- 
 tains ; a change has come ; it is as if I were gazing 
 through the reverse end of a telescope ; what ! gentle- 
 men, I give you my word of honor, I am now looking 
 upon a reduced picture of my place in Scotland." 
 
 To all else in the room the ball had not changed, 
 while it was clear that the Duke simply saw what 
 Mortimer willed him to see. The latter now handed 
 the ball to the Duke. Instantly, there was a look of 
 almost agonized surprise on the nobleman's face, as he 
 stood staring at Mortimer, as if at vacancy.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 47 
 
 " It is true," said he, " that with the ball in my hand 
 Mr. Mortimer has gone." Then he exclaimed : " The 
 ball is no longer clear. It is black, dense and dull, and 
 has the appearance of being a globe of pure carbon." 
 
 The scene lasted but half a moment, when Mortimer 
 stepped up quietly and took back the ball, thrusting it 
 in one of his pockets. The Duke appeared to be under 
 the influence of some great excitement. He advanced 
 to Mortimer and had a low, hurried word with him, 
 and then he returned to his seat in the hall, where he 
 sat down buried in a profound study. There was no 
 demonstration or applause of any sort ; but when 
 Mortimer bowed and retired there was a low buzz of 
 conversation, showing that the last number of the pro- 
 gramme had had the unusual success of becoming the 
 prevailing topic of conversation in one of the least 
 curious circles in London.
 
 •STUDY ITS SHINING BEAUTIES ! " Page 44.
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LORD ROBERT'S THEORY FOR THE EXPLANATION OF 
 THE CHARACTER OF MORTIMER MORTIMER. 
 
 As we walked home, about half-past one in the 
 morning, Lord Robert said to me : 
 
 " I think I have found out something that draws 
 nearer to your disappearance syndicate. I will give 
 you one surmise, and that is that Mortimer Mortimer 
 could possibly tell you where you could find James 
 Musgrove." 
 
 When I arrived at our lodgings, in Half-Moon street, 
 I asked my friend if he did not think it was about 
 time for him to explain himself. His half-hint had 
 suggested that he had some knowledge, or, at least, 
 some suspicion, concerning the subject which was of 
 so much interest to me. 
 
 When we were once in our sitting-room, with the 
 nearly-dead fire restored to a blaze by judicious nurs- 
 ing, and our pipes lighted, I took up the subject of the 
 evening's entertainment, for the purpose of drawing 
 him out, if possible. But Lord Robert began to speak 
 at once of Mortimer Mortimer. It appeared that he 
 had heard of him for some time. In the higher circles, 
 where Mortimer was occasionally seen, it was faintly 
 surmised that he was some great social reformer, the 
 chief of some strong association, or, at least, a daring
 
 5<D THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 investigator of problems of unusual interest to man- 
 kind. 
 
 " Whence the idea came," said Lord Robert, "that he 
 was at the head of some great organization, I do not 
 know. I have heard it several times, though no one 
 has professed to know anything positive. In Russia, 
 several years ago, I joined a secret society. Its objects 
 were, in the ordinary sense of the word, non-political. 
 The chief aim of the society was to cultivate fraternal 
 relations in the world ; to eliminate, as far as possible, 
 purely selfish interests from the relations of men — in 
 other words, to teach and propagate the doctrine of 
 Christ : to love one's neighbor as one loves himself. 
 All that there was to religion that had any value, the 
 society held, was to be found in that principle. I am 
 still a member of that society, and know its methods, 
 which are most commendable. 
 
 ' Soon after I joined I was called home by my 
 father, and was given a civil appointment in India. I 
 was, however, an active member of the organization 
 long enough to learn its signs and its language. I 
 knew, also, that the society that received me was only 
 an elementary one, and that, somewhere in the world, 
 there was a great central society, presided over by a 
 master, who wielded a vast power, and whose great 
 abilities were concentrated upon the work of raising 
 the standard of human achievements. It is a poor 
 commentary upon our civilization that, with all our 
 wealth and intelligence, we have not been more suc- 
 cessful in eliminating poverty, destitution, and their 
 consequent suffering from the world. It will not do to
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 51 
 
 talk learnedly about the laws of nature, and the laws 
 of supply and demand, in explanation of our defaults 
 in this direction. If the well-to-do, the strong and the 
 powerful were really banded together in a true, frater- 
 nal bond, then, when a weak brother fell in the race of 
 life, he would find some encouraging hand to help him, 
 and we should not have the continual retrograding 
 tendency of the poorer sections of humanity. 
 
 " Have you ever studied the faces of the crowds 
 that come out of the poor quarters in the great cities 
 of the world ? Have you not noticed the sullen 
 savagery, the seeming brutishness of the greater num- 
 ber? It is in such quarters that the race becomes de- 
 based — through hideous surroundings, foul atmos- 
 phere, criminal contiguity, and poor nourishment — 
 until we have crimes of the most terrifying nature, and 
 criminals so hideous in character as to create a shudder 
 at the mere sight of them. These criminals can be 
 charged entirely to the selfishness of men. It is too 
 long a story to go over now, the plan and aims of the 
 society ; but it is enough to summarize all by saying 
 that it aimed to save the world to a newer and higher 
 future by simply engaging the strong and healthy 
 people in the world to unite in one association for the 
 purpose of giving wise and judicious aid to the weak. 
 One feature of its proposed work will give you a key 
 to the practical nature of the reforms sought to be ac- 
 complished by it." 
 
 " What was that ? " 
 
 " The society first pledged every member, upon his 
 sacred word of honor, to undertake the responsibility
 
 52 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 of giving a good education and support to some one 
 destitute child, until it could reach the age of self-sus- 
 tenance. By this plan the society hoped, in the end, to 
 do away with the necessity of charitable institutions 
 for children, where they can have no personal atten- 
 tion, and where they graduate later with the pauper 
 taint upon them. The society offered to substitute 
 personal attention and a sense of responsibility for the 
 individual child. It was not proposed that any mem- 
 ber should adopt any child, nor that he should be 
 given any particular child to look after. Each mem- 
 ber was to make his own selection. The personal at- 
 tention and interest were sought to be attained and 
 held during the period of the up-bringing. 
 
 " The giving of mere money, when it costs no self- 
 denial, nor thought, was considered as nothing. Here 
 members were not pledged beyond the care of one 
 weak child. Each member solemnly covenanted to 
 give to this particular child the best physical training, 
 the most wholesome nourishment and the education 
 best suited to his needs, up to the time of his becom- 
 ing of age, when he was affiliated as a member of the 
 society itself. It was found that the cost of such edu- 
 cation was trivial, in comparison with the sums every 
 day spent by well-to-do men upon mere ordinary 
 pleasures, and that the money-tax involved was the 
 least. It was hoped that, in time, the members would 
 take pride in the selection and training of the waifs 
 and strays of the world, as they do now in their train- 
 ing of horses and dogs. 
 
 " It was held, further," continued Lord Robert,
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 53 
 
 "that when the well-to-do in the world were united to- 
 gether to carry out such a plan, crime and poverty 
 would be driven from the face of the earth ; for nearly 
 all misery and suffering in the world come from an un- 
 trained, underfed, misused childhood. To reform 
 adults was no part of the work of the elementary 
 society. Neither was a member confined in his duty 
 to the education of one child. If he could show that 
 he could take care of more than one, without injury 
 to those immediately dependent upon him, he had, of 
 course, that privilege. The more successful a member 
 was in this high work, the more rapid his advancement. 
 The successful up-bringing of one child entitled the 
 member to advancement to membership in one of the 
 inner societies. I am still a member of the elementary 
 society, and, from what I know of its work, I am con- 
 vinced that Mortimer Mortimer belongs to the Central 
 organization, which is very limited in its membership, 
 and is made up only of men who have given up every 
 other object in life, of a strictly selfish character, in 
 order to have their whole time to work for the raising 
 of the standard of human character and achievement." 
 
 " Why do you connect such a man and such an 
 organization with the character of such a man as James 
 Musgrove ? " 
 
 " It's a mere surmise upon my part. The society I 
 have mentioned is a very practical one. There is not 
 a line concerning any formal religion in any of its 
 writings. There is no impossible straining after an 
 assumed standard of an impossible perfection. It is 
 especially sought to interest those who have money
 
 54 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 and who have the command, therefore, of leisure. The 
 experiment of this evening suggested to me a possi- 
 bility, although I would not venture to mention it out- 
 side of a confidential conversation with a trusted friend. 
 Mind you, this is only a possibility. It may be that 
 the Central society is massing a great sum of money, 
 to be employed as the basis of this movement, and 
 your idea of a syndicate somehow fits into my mind. 
 You note that all who step out are well-to-do ; they 
 are never accused of crime or ill-doing. They leave 
 enough behind, so that no one suffers by their absence. 
 They are nearly always men apparently absorbed in a 
 mere selfish pursuit of gain. Now " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " It may be that the Central society, from time to 
 time, marks a man of that class, leads him to the fasci- 
 nating border of some entrancing unknown, shields him 
 when he steps out, then develops his second or third 
 sub-consciousness, according to its nature, employs 
 him, and thus gives the man that perfect contentment 
 which is only found when engaged in work in accord- 
 ance with one's better nature, while his money, or a 
 portion of it, is used for the work of the society. Mus- 
 grove may have come in contact with some member of 
 the society when he lived in Paris. The society has 
 only lately begun its work in America, which is, you 
 know, the land of material development and bad man- 
 ners, and the land in which selfishness rules." 
 
 " Come, that is hard on my country." 
 
 " No. In what country were there, in the past, such 
 great opportunities for the poor? You were free from
 
 THE- DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 55 
 
 the environments of Europe ; but your history is like 
 ours in the feudal days. It is one long story of seizure 
 of wealth and property by the skillful and the bold, 
 while your poor are now going to the wall with great 
 rapidity. The slums of your great cities are even 
 worse than the worst in Europe. Your material 
 spirit, your greed for money, and your selfishness, 
 show in everything — in the general indifference to art, 
 in the general lack of manners, in the mad rush to see 
 and be seen, and the subordination of your intellectual 
 
 life to the most material one. You " 
 
 " Oh, spare us ! It is too late an hour to take up my 
 country's defense. What you say, in one sense, is lit- 
 erally true, so far as it relates to a portion ; but you 
 overlook all of the good, which, I hope, is not in such a 
 small minority as you would think. However, the fire 
 is going out. Let us say good-night." 
 
 " Oh, by the way — I can't breakfast with you in the 
 morning, as I have an early engagement ; but I will 
 meet you at the Carlton Club for our dinner. Before 
 you go to bed, take one suggestion." 
 "What is that?" 
 
 " Make the acquaintance of Mortimer Mortimer." 
 " Thank you. I will look him up to-morrow." 
 And what a morrow I had before me ! No thought 
 of it disturbed me as I calmly retired for the night.
 
 56 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE EDITOR OF THE WASP IN LONDON — THE SEN- 
 SATIONAL DISAPPEARANCE OF THE DUKE OF WEX. 
 
 The next morning I found upon my mantel-piece a 
 note from The Wasp editor, who had arrived in Lon- 
 don, and was at Brown's Hotel. I had written for him 
 a number of letters, during the last six months, descrip- 
 tive of London and Continental social life. These had 
 commanded enough attention to satisfy him, and con- 
 vince him that I was not wholly a failure, and that the 
 money invested in me was not a loss. I called at his 
 hotel about noon, just after my light breakfast. 
 
 I found him the center of the confusion which was 
 so delightful to him. The floor of his sitting-room was 
 literally covered with newspapers, bills, telegrams, and 
 the rubbish of a counting-house. Servants were con- 
 tinually coming and going, in answer to his imperative 
 orders. He kept up an incessant demand for every- 
 thing he could think of, while, at the same time, ex- 
 pressing continued dissatisfaction with everything 
 done for him. Such a guest knows the true way to 
 endear himself to a host, but the hour of retribution 
 comes when the account is to be made up. But this 
 modern editor never winced at any bill incurred in ad- 
 ministering to the wants of his glorious self, and so he 
 was tolerated in hotels where otherwise his uproar and
 
 A NOTE FROM THE WASP EDITOR. Page: 5K.
 
 58 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 continual fault-finding might have ended in closing the 
 doors against him. 
 
 I found him in a perfectly livid state of excitement. 
 Without a word of greeting even, he cried out : " Have 
 you seen the first edition of the Evening Standard? " 
 
 " No ; I have not looked at a paper to-day." 
 
 "And here it is afternoon." My standing in his 
 estimation went down many degrees. A man who 
 could go by the mid-day breakfast hour without a look 
 at those devices of the devil, the modern newspapers, 
 was wholly outside of his range of comprehension. 
 " Well, let me call your placid attention to a mysterious 
 paragraph in The Standard." Here he caught up the 
 newspaper, adjusted his eyeglasses, and read the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 " ' Last evening the Duke of Wex visited the Vic- 
 toria Gallery Club with some friends. He left the club 
 at half-past one in the morning in his own carriage. 
 His coachman, a man who has been in his service for 
 twenty years, observed that his Grace was strangely 
 preoccupied as he came out of the club. He gave 
 directions to drive home at once to the house occupied 
 by him, in Park Lane. Ten minutes after, the carriage 
 stopped in front of his house. The footman descended 
 from the box to open the door, and he found the car- 
 riage empty. As the carriage had been driven at a 
 rapid pace from the club, the surprise of the servants 
 who attended him was great. They drove back over 
 the route to the club, but could not find him. The 
 footman entered the club and made inquiries, but no 
 information was elicited. Naturally, the disappearance
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 59 
 
 of the Duke, under such circumstances of apparent 
 mystery, has made a profound sensation. The police 
 were asked to-day to assist in unraveling the mystery, 
 as no trace or word has been heard of him during the 
 night, or up to a late hour this morning.' 
 
 " Now," roared the editor, " you have a disappear- 
 ance right under your nose. You must make a big 
 story out of that, to be cabled at once. Do you know 
 the Duke ? " 
 
 " I have seen him. I know his son, Lord Robert 
 Melrose. He lives in the same lodging with me and 
 shares my sitting-room. I saw the Duke at the Vic- 
 toria Gallery Club last night. Lord Robert was up 
 and out this morning before me. I shall not see him 
 before dinner. I wonder if he knows of this news." 
 
 " Living with Lord Robert Melrose, the son of the 
 Duke of Wex. Why didn't you mention it before ? " 
 
 " Why should I ? " 
 
 "But it is most important." 
 
 The editor's manner changed towards me at once. 
 I was to write out a good story of the disappearance 
 of the Duke. Then I was at once to prepare an elabo- 
 ration of the idea of The Disappearance Syndicate. It 
 was now time for publication. Had I learned any- 
 thing new ? 
 
 I told my questioner something about Lord Robert 
 Melrose and the Russian society. 
 
 He roared with derision at the idea of a society 
 being organized for mere purposes of doing good 
 in the quietest way possible. That was grotesquely 
 improbable. He had no doubt concerning the good
 
 60 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 faith of Lord Robert Melrose, but he had been taken 
 in by the Central society. Those fellows were living 
 high upon the plunder gathered in by them. He 
 would expose them in the interest of reform and sen- 
 sational journalism. " Run down this Mortimer 
 Mortimer, and, if he is connected with the disappear- 
 ance of the many rich men through the world, we 
 will make him disgorge the boodle." 
 
 I left, after preparing a cable story in accordance 
 with his instructions, and took the first cab that came 
 along. I directed the driver to take me to the Carl- 
 ton Club, where I expected later to meet Lord Robert, 
 and make some arrangement for finding Mortimer 
 Mortimer. I remember distinctly the hour. I saw a 
 large clock in the waiting-room of the hotel as I passed 
 out. It was just four o'clock. The cabman who ad- 
 vanced from the head of the rank was a typical London 
 cabby, red-faced, alert, tidy in dress, with a manner 
 strangely blending impudence and respect. I told him 
 where to go, gave him the shilling fare, and jumped 
 into the cab. When I was about half-way down to 
 the club, which was not more then five minutes away, 
 I suddenly felt an imperious desire to jump out of the 
 cab. I obeyed it on the instant, and, however ir- 
 rational was the act which I made in response to some 
 sudden command, I should have obeyed it had it led 
 to my death. I vaulted out lightly just before we had 
 reached Piccadilly. The short side street we were in 
 was comparatively deserted. No one was near me when 
 I jumped out, and I observed that the cabman was 
 looking straight ahead of him, as if buried in thought.
 
 "i FELT AN IMPERIOUS DESIRE TO JUMP OUT OF THE CAB." PiO« 80.
 
 62 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 I turned in an opposite direction from the cab, and 
 soon was around the corner. Here I took another 
 cab, paid the fare, and in a moment was in another 
 side street. Here I again jumped out. I changed 
 cabs three times without being observed, and without 
 any particular thought in my mind but that I was en- 
 gaged in an ordinary occupation, although, in reality, 
 no one seeking to elude detectives could have employed 
 more successful means to evade pursuit. 
 
 Following my last directions, the third cab brought 
 me within a few squares of Park Lane. As I jumped 
 out, unobserved, as before, I found myself alone in 
 Hargrave street, down which I walked quickly, until I 
 had nearly reached the lane, where a small door in a 
 garden wall which surrounded a great mansion silently 
 opened, and I plunged through it as if I were expected, 
 traversed a carefully laid out garden, and entered the 
 house. It was apparently deserted. I walked through 
 one vast hallway after another, mounting wide and 
 dimly-lighted stairways, until I came to the top of the 
 house. Here I kept on, up a circular stairway, which 
 went up to a lofty dome, where I entered a circular 
 room, at least twenty feet in diameter, which was aglow 
 with a soft, clear light, producing a wonderfully sooth- 
 ing effect upon the eyes. I had noticed but little about 
 the house as I entered, beyond the general fact that its 
 dimensions and furnishing were palatial in character. 
 
 The room which I now entered contained no win- 
 dows. It was ventilated from the top. The interior 
 of the dome was pale blue, with a magnificent fresco, 
 representing the Angel Gabriel summoning the earth
 
 "i ENTERED THE HOUSE." Page 62.
 
 64 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 to judgment. The walls were in panels of white and 
 gold. Around the line of the circles of the room were 
 broad divans, covered with soft white furs and numer- 
 ous white silken pillows. The floor was in white 
 marble, with small squares of blue set at the corners 
 of the larger squares. Suspended from the dome, by 
 a silver-covered cord, was a globe the size of an ordi- 
 nary globe of the schools. Only this one was clear, 
 translucent, shining, identical in character with the 
 ball shown by Mortimer Mortimer, the night before, 
 at the Victoria Gallery Club. Underneath the ball 
 was a dark table, inlaid in some fantastic oriental 
 design. Upon the table was a large sheet of white 
 paper, fixed in the center. Near the table was a 
 strong armchair, with the head of an angel of light 
 carved upon the top. The figure was looking aloft, 
 holding, in a gracefully posed hand, a star. 
 
 The room had an atmosphere distinct to itself. It 
 fairly radiated rest, peace and harmony. I had not 
 been in the room for more than a second when I be- 
 came fairly intoxicated with its charm. What was it 
 that made my heart pulsate with such rapture, my 
 every breath an aspiration of delight ? I did not stop 
 then to analyze the charm. It is best to grasp un- 
 questioningly perfect happiness when it comes, and so 
 I quietly walked, still like one in a trance, to the side 
 of the circular divan, where I sunk down in an attitude 
 of luxurious repose, and gazed dreamily at the central 
 globe, Avhich glowed and paled with mysterious fires 
 as incessant in their continued movement as the waves 
 of mid-ocean.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 65 
 
 " Where was I ? Why had I come there ? What 
 mysterious power had brought me there?" were 
 questions I did not ask for a long time. I was only 
 too content to have stepped out from the grim realities 
 of modern life into this enchanted atmosphere. As 1 
 lay upon the silken couch and studied the wave-lines 
 of light in the ball, I gradually came back to myself. 
 My usual powers of observation were restored to me. 
 I saw, at this moment, some dark characters forming 
 upon one of the sheets of the paper lying upon the 
 table. I arose from the couch, glanced at the sheet of 
 paper, and found written thereon, in a clear, scholarly 
 hand, the following note : 
 
 " I learned to-day that you were desirous of meeting 
 me, and that you had received instructions to write 
 what is called, in the latest jargon of American 
 journalism, ' An Exposure of My Career.' You wish 
 to know also about a disappearance syndicate, the 
 Central society, and many things which interest and 
 puzzle you, and which you think I may be able to ex- 
 plain. On account of the friendship of Lord Robert 
 Melrose for you, I am disposed to see you and to talk 
 with you. You are at present in my house, upon my 
 invitation. I will have the pleasure of dining with 
 you at half-past seven this evening. 
 
 " Mortimer Mortimer." 
 
 Scarcely had I read the note, when the letters faded 
 and the paper was left as blank as before. I may add 
 here that the paper had remained attached to the table, 
 directly under the ball, during my reading. Any sensa-
 
 "I AROSE AND GLANCED AT THE SHEET OF PAPER." Page 65.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 67 
 
 tion of surprise seemed impossible in this enchanted 
 chamber. I fairly bathed in the atmosphere of peace 
 and tranquility. Thoughts of a material character 
 drifted away from me. What was it to me whether 
 there was a disappearance syndicate or not ? What was 
 there more vulgar than curiosity for mere curiosity's 
 sake ? I had now even lost my desire to meet 
 Mortimer Mortimer. I cannot describe my pleasure 
 by using any ordinary words of comparison. The 
 pleasure was wholly spiritual and intellectual. The 
 body and its wants were forgotten. 
 
 Such a sense of perfect peace and contentment I had 
 never known before. It was so novel, that my mind 
 was completely lost in a flood of rapturous contem- 
 plation. I sank back upon the circular divan and 
 coiled myself into a knot of luxurious ease. My eyes 
 now came back to the ball, and I soon saw that its 
 mysterious flashings had a meaning. I was familiar 
 with the Morse code, and as soon as I had concentrated 
 my attention upon the globe, after making this dis- 
 covery, I saw that the news of the world was being 
 flashed upon it by this telegraphic code. It was a 
 curious use of electricity, and one wholly unknown to 
 me. There now came a message personal to me : 
 
 " Will you kindly indicate what you would like for 
 your dinner ? " 
 
 This prosaic message, coming to me in my anything 
 but prosaic surroundings, made me smile. I left the 
 cloud-land where my dreamings had carried me, and 
 became aware that I was intensely hungry. I invol- 
 untarily thought of what I would like, even to the
 
 68 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 wines that best pleased me ; but before I could think 
 of any way of communicating my answer, there came 
 flashing upon the globe : 
 
 " All right ! I understand you. Dinner will be 
 served at sharp half-past seven. No dress."
 
 69 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A DINNER AT THE CENTRAL STATION OF LIGHT 
 WITH MORTIMER MORTIMER. 
 
 I was now like the child in the Christmas pantomime. 
 I was ready to accept everything as it came, and 
 wanted no explanations. I looked at my watch and 
 saw that it was six o'clock. I had been in the circular 
 globe-room of light for nearly two hours, and it did not 
 seem longer than so many moments. 
 
 At a quarter after seven, a tiny metallic sound came 
 from the globe, and I heard the clear music of an 
 orchestra of many pieces. Then I must have lost con- 
 sciousness for a few moments, for, when I next opened 
 my eyes, I saw that the table under the globe was 
 covered with fine linen, and set out with the white 
 china and the glittering silver of a dinner service. In 
 the center of the table was a tall epergne filled with 
 roses. The table was set for two. 
 
 By the side of the table stood my host, Mortimer 
 Mortimer. He looked exactly as he did when he ap- 
 peared upon the platform of the Victoria Gallery Club. 
 Only now, instead of being in evening dress, he wore a 
 dark morning costume. He bowed gravely to me as 
 I arose, and indicated the nearest seat as mine. As I 
 took the seat a Japanese servant entered the room and 
 began to serve the soup.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. Jl 
 
 Everything during the dinner was matter-of-fact, 
 and in accordance with the regular course of things. 
 My host said, as dinner began : 
 
 " There is no enchantment in this house, save that 
 of modern science. I say now, as I said at the Gallery 
 Club, that I do not deal with the supernatural. I have 
 no desire to mystify or to surprise any one. Where I 
 make an experiment or an explanation, it is with a 
 definite object. If you will wait until the dinner is 
 passed, I will answer any questions you may wish to 
 ask." 
 
 " How did you know of me, and that I wanted to 
 see you ?" 
 
 " Lord Robert Melrose told me. He met me in 
 Hyde Park this afternoon and said you were anxious 
 to see me." 
 
 " When did he tell you ? " 
 
 " At half-past three." 
 
 " And at four I was upon my way here, and yet you 
 profess to be no master of magical arts." 
 
 " All that is susceptible of explanation. Wait until 
 the dinner is passed." 
 
 The dinner was one that was worthy of the host. 
 Everything was simple, but exquisitely good. The 
 soup was like a fine wine. Each course was dainty, at 
 once a whip to the palate and satisfying. The dishes 
 I had indicated were cooked as I never had tasted 
 them before. At the dessert, fruits were served in the 
 greatest profusion. The delicacy of the wines, the 
 elegance of the service, the excellence of the food, left 
 behind a sense of well-being, the reverse of the heavy
 
 72 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 sensation that follows the eating of the usual dinner. 
 Our conversation during dinner related to the ordinary 
 topics of the day. 
 
 At its conclusion the service was cleared away in a 
 moment, and then Mortimer Mortimer, still sitting op- 
 posite to me, pointed to a bundle of Egyptian cigarettes 
 upon a silver plate between us. When I had lighted 
 one, he, excusing himself from smoking, began the con- 
 versation by saying : 
 
 " Will you excuse me if I ask a few questions before 
 answering those I know you are anxious to make ? 
 What has been your motive in seeking to probe the so- 
 called mystery of Mortimer Mortimer?" 
 
 " I fear not a very exalted one. I love puzzles, but 
 my motive in your case goes back to my first studies 
 concerning the various disappearances of men through 
 the world. In my study of this general subject, I was led 
 to you as possibly one who could give me light and help." 
 
 " But underneath all that ? " 
 
 " Well, I am now looking into the subject for The 
 Wasp, an American newspaper." 
 
 Mortimer frowned as he asked : " Are you a regular 
 member of the staff of that paper ? " 
 
 To this I replied " No," and then explained how I 
 had been led to accept the special employment that 
 had brought me to London to investigate the possi- 
 bility of a disappearance syndicate. 
 
 " How did you come to assume that I could throw 
 any light upon the matter ? " 
 
 " It was Lord Robert Melrose who suggested it." 
 
 During this time Mortimer Mortimer was studying
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 73 
 
 me intently. Finally, he said : "If I did not believe 
 you were better than you profess, I should be very 
 reluctant to talk to you at all. Suppose, for a moment, 
 I could give you some information concerning the sub- 
 ject of your inquiry. Will you kindly tell me why I 
 should ? Can you, as an honest man, say that the in- 
 formation will be used in such a way as to do any one 
 any good ? " 
 
 " It will be used as a basis for an article." 
 
 " For publication in a sensational newspaper ? " 
 
 " Yes. ' 
 
 " Has this newspaper ever really served the public ? " 
 
 " It prates of nothing else but of its duty to the 
 public ! " 
 
 " But in reality." 
 
 " Honestly, I cannot say that it ever has. It is 
 published first and last to make money for its owner." 
 
 " So you ask me, a perfect stranger, to expose to 
 your gaze my privacy and my innermost life for the 
 sake of making copy to satisfy mere vulgar curiosity. 
 No, a thousand times no ! I will never consent to do 
 that. If I did not know that you were capable of 
 better things, I should not talk to you at all. I do 
 know about the things you have so carelessly stumbled 
 upon. There is something in this subject wholly be- 
 yond what you have imagined. But it is not what you 
 have supposed. You have a thread of fact that could 
 be used very cunningly to make a sensational story. 
 It could not do harm to the cause I represent, but it 
 would do harm to you. So, before I go farther into this 
 subject, I will call your attention to a few possibilities
 
 74 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 of modern science. First, this ball which hangs sus- 
 pended here should interest you. It is one of the 
 latest achievements of science. It is the product of 
 the united work of some of the best minds of this 
 world. A knowledge of it is not given to the public, 
 and it may be generations before it will be. But I will 
 show you some of its workings and its powers before 
 proceeding to its explanation. You have here a central 
 receiver of sound and of light. The person who under- 
 stands its working, can, with its aid, see and hear what 
 is taking place at a distance. It is also a medium of 
 thought-transference, and a constant radiator of elec- 
 trical force. I wrote you the note in my library, below, 
 and it was flashed to the surface of the sensitized paper 
 in the center of the table in my actual handwriting, 
 which faded soon after the impression was passed. I 
 sustained the impression until I learned by the reflex 
 action in my library that you had read it. The atmos- 
 phere in this room is regulated by the globe. Through 
 it your system was at once keyed up to its perfect 
 electrical tone, which is the only perfect state of ex- 
 istence. When you have the proper electrical condi- 
 tions in your body you are at the maximum of your 
 powers, and disease or fatigue are impossible. Electric- 
 ity is the life that animates everything. Electricity, as 
 you know, can be transmitted, without wires, upon the 
 air currents. Even electric lights have been produced 
 without the actual contact of wires. How far this 
 science has progressed under the direction of the 
 Central society," here Mortimer Mortimer's eyes 
 flashed, " I will, perhaps, indicate later."
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 75 
 
 " Now," he continued, " will you kindly give your 
 attention to the ball? Fix your mind upon some one 
 you want to see. Concentrate your mind upon the 
 ball, and look into its innermost depths." 
 
 Mechanically, I obeyed. Upon the instant the vista 
 of the globe enlarged and I gazed, as through a clear 
 magnifying glass, directly into my sitting-room in Half- 
 Moon street. I saw Lord Robert in the room. He 
 
 "WHAT TIME DID MR. LIVINGSTONE LEAVE THE HOUSE ?' 
 
 was looking on the mantel for some note. Then he 
 turned, and rang the bell sharply. I saw the servant 
 enter and then I heard the following conversation, as 
 distinctly as if I had been in the room :
 
 j6 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 " What time did Mr. Livingstone leave the house?" 
 
 " Just after his breakfast." 
 
 " Did he leave any word for me ? " 
 
 " Yes, he said to tell you, when you returned, that 
 he would meet you at the Carlton Club at seven o'clock, 
 for dinner." 
 
 " Mr. Livingstone has not been back since ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Very good. That will do." 
 
 The servant retired. Lord Robert now said to him- 
 self : " I should think Livingstone would have returned 
 before this. I wonder if he found Mortimer Mortimer 
 and was detained. I did not find him at the club at 
 seven, and he has sent me no word. Well, I must go 
 and dine, as it is late enough, heaven knows." With 
 this he left the room. 
 
 " Do you wish to follow him ? " said Mortimer. 
 
 " No, not at present." 
 
 I turned to Mortimer Mortimer as I said : " How 
 am I to know that this is not a repetition of the ex- 
 periment made by you at the Victoria Gallery ? How 
 can I know that you are not making me see and hear 
 what you wish me to hear, and that you are making 
 me respond to your will as you did this afternoon, 
 when you arrested me in a cab and summoned me 
 here ? " 
 
 " Your question is pertinent, but future tests will 
 show you that this surmise is not correct. The element 
 of animal magnetism, as it is known to you, need not 
 now be considered, as it is a subordinate branch of the 
 general subject of electricity. It belongs to the de-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. JJ 
 
 partment of personal electricity. This globe repre- 
 sents the highest achievement of mechanical electric- 
 ity. It makes simple and certain what was formerly 
 the occasional and uncertain gift of a few individuals. 
 All of our sensations are recorded in the brain by 
 electric waves along the lines of the nerves, which end 
 in producing an impression upon the brain. Thought 
 is the brain in action. The brain is the battery, and the 
 thought is electricity generated. This, brought in con- 
 tact with this high instrument of electrical skill, and 
 you have the means of seeing and hearing what is going 
 on at a distance, by projecting the thought-wave upon 
 this globe. Between two people who understand the 
 use of the instrument a conversation can be maintained 
 at any distance." 
 
 " You mean between any points on this globe ? " 
 
 " Let it stand there, as I do not want to go too far 
 in this preliminary conversation." 
 
 At this, something within me moved through my 
 body like a warm wave. A tide of emotion swept 
 over my mind. All the littleness of my past came to 
 me, in clear, sharp lines. Suddenly, I said : 
 
 " Mortimer Mortimer, I wish that you thought me 
 worthy of becoming your associate, no matter how 
 humble might be my place." 
 
 " The wish shows you to be worthy. I knew that, 
 when you were waked up, you would become conscious 
 that life, as it is now lived by the average mortal, is 
 wholly unworthy and devoid of a proper object. With 
 the most fortunate, it is but a brief struggle of selfish- 
 ness, for successes achieved at the expense of others.
 
 7$ THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 Perhaps you understand, even now, why this great and 
 simple invention of the electrical globe could not be 
 given to the world." 
 
 " Surely. It would only be used by the strong for 
 the more successful preying upon the weak. Such 
 inventions would naturally come first into the hands of 
 the rich and the powerful, and its superior knowledge 
 would be used in the further selfish aggregation of 
 power." 
 
 " More than that," said Mortimer Mortimer, " it 
 would become, in the present diseased condition of 
 society, a weapon in the hands of the criminal. In 
 time, I hope that it may become the means of regenerat- 
 ing the world, and of giving to it its proper place in 
 the universe. It is, after all, only a union of the 
 principle of the phonograph, the telephone and the 
 kineotograph of Edison ; so one instrument serves for 
 all. It is no more wonderful, as it now stands, than 
 would have been either the telephone or the phono- 
 graph, twenty-five years ago. But, come, I have con- 
 fidence in you. You may ask me what question you 
 will, and I will answer. Leave the general subject to 
 the last." 
 
 " First, how did you summon me here?" 
 
 " That was by an exercise, simply, of my will." 
 
 " How did you know where I was ? " 
 
 " I returned directly to the house after seeing Lord 
 Robert Melrose in the park near here, and looked for 
 you in the globe." 
 
 " Did you direct my movements here ?" 
 
 "Yes."
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 79 
 
 " Then, to all practical purposes, I am the hero of 
 another case of mysterious disappearance ? " 
 
 "You are. But you can return to your former life, 
 if you wish, by simply giving me your word to be 
 silent concerning what you have learned, or may learn, 
 in this house. We hold no one against his will." 
 
 " We ? Then there is a Central society, as you 
 said ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Are you its head ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Do you belong to the Inner section ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Do you know James Musgrove ? " 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " Where is he now ? " 
 
 " He is at present in one of the monasteries in the 
 Himalayas." 
 
 " Did he go there of his own free will ? " 
 
 " Most assuredly. Do you suppose, for a moment, 
 that we seek to have with us any one who is not willing 
 to co-operate with us ? I dare say, some time in the 
 future, you will be able to see and talk with Musgrove. 
 But now you can have but a passing glimpse of him, 
 and I shall especially request you not to disturb him 
 with any questions." 
 
 With this remark, Mortimer turned to the globe, 
 and within a second I saw before me a whitewashed 
 cell in the distant monastery. In this cell knelt James 
 Musgrove, ex-money-hunter, attired in the white robe 
 of an Eastern monk. He was looking steadfastly at
 
 IN Till- CELL KNKLT JAMES JIl'SIIKDVE. I>A.; f 79.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 8l 
 
 the pictures which were being flashed before his eyes 
 in a globe which hung from the center of his cell. He 
 was studying, with earnest care, the various pictures of 
 his speculative life. He was made to see the unhappi- 
 ness and the wrongs following the speculations which 
 had been encouraged by him and his class. Tears 
 were actually chasing down the cynical face of this 
 broad-faced man, who, in the past, had seen regiments 
 of men ruined without even drawing a long breath of 
 regret. 
 
 u Musgrove, at heart, is a good fellow," said Morti- 
 mer. " We are developing now his better conscious- 
 ness. He has been tired a long time of what he is 
 doing. We are training him now to see things as they 
 actually are, and very soon we will have him at work 
 as a member of one of the Inner societies, although it 
 will be a long time before he can come to the Central 
 station. You may rest assured of one thing, however, 
 and that is, that he is contented and that no earthly 
 inducement would ever tempt him to go back to the 
 life he formerly lived." 
 
 My questions now ceased. My mind was in a 
 tumult. I tried to grasp the situation clearly. I was 
 face to face with one of the best preserved secrets in 
 the world, and the door to its innermost mystery stood 
 wide open. 
 
 Finally, Mortimer Mortimer said to me : " You 
 have experienced a desire to join us. Before doing so 
 you should know generally what we are doing and 
 what we hope to accomplish. This room is one of the 
 places where candidates come. Those who stand the
 
 82 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 tests, and are accepted, are given their work. We 
 have been so careful in summoning candidates, by a 
 study of their surroundings, that thus far we have had 
 to reject only one. That one was the Washington 
 official noted by you in your talk with your friend, the 
 professor. At the last moment the politician became 
 too strong for his better nature. A wave of forgetful- 
 ness was passed over his brain, and he was sent away. 
 He came to his former consciousness in Sydney, Aus- 
 tralia. From this place he made his way home to 
 Washington, after an absence of over a year. He 
 could give no acceptable explanation of his absence. 
 He is now back at his profession of law, and while he 
 is conscious, sometimes, of having missed a great oppor- 
 tunity, this year of absence is a blank in his mind. 
 But you have had enough for one day. You can re- 
 main here, and, if you want anything, may address 
 yourself to the globe." 
 
 Here my host turned to one of the panels, and, 
 pushing it open, showed a passageway to a small, 
 adjacent room. "In this room," said he, " you will 
 find linens, toilet articles, changes of apparel, anything 
 you may need for your short stay ; and now, good- 
 night." With this my host departed down the circular 
 stairway, dropping a silken hanging over the passage- 
 way, leaving me to the exquisite luxury of being 
 alone with my thoughts in the life-giving atmosphere 
 of this beautiful chamber.
 
 83 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HIE REVELATIONS OF THE HOUSE OF LIGHT. 
 
 If I had been merely occupied with amusing myself, 
 without other thought, I might well have been con- 
 tented to have remained in this room for the rest of 
 my days. The whole world was at my command. Its 
 news was constantly flashing before my eyes. Its 
 secrets were to be had for the asking. The motives of 
 men, the thousand and one puzzles of every-day life, 
 made an entrancing study. I remained alone in this 
 room for a week, seeing only the Japanese servant, be- 
 fore I thought of summoning Mortimer Mortimer. 
 During this time, owing to the peculiar electric atmos- 
 phere in the room, my nature appeared to have 
 changed. I seemed to realize more and more clearly 
 the perfect hopelessness of life as it was lived. The 
 indifference and cruelty of it all were relieved by so 
 little of the leaven of unselfishness that when once my 
 curiosity was satisfied, there succeeded a feeling of im- 
 patience that it should be so. This was followed by a 
 firm resolution upon my part that I would devote my 
 life and thought to something better than self. This 
 determination was no sooner made than the globe 
 gave forth a metallic note, and a moment later Morti- 
 mer Mortimer was with me. 
 
 "Your resolution is a wise one. You will now best
 
 84 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 serve your true interests by apparently forgetting 
 them. Are you prepared to renounce all personal 
 ambition, to give up all hope of riches ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Are you willing to be obscure, unknown and 
 
 poor 
 
 ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " There are no great formalities of membership. 
 There is but little to learn that can be taught you by 
 word of mouth. Neither will I now demand a pledge of 
 secrecy from you. Perhaps, in time, it would be well 
 to make the story of your coming here known. Now 
 I will give a brief account of the work we are doing, 
 and that which we propose to do in the future, and 
 how I became attached to it. Twenty years ago I was 
 in Paris, with a large sum of money at my command. 
 I was then the heir to a large fortune. I am a Russian 
 born, although I defy any one who does not know to 
 name my nationality. My father was English, but my 
 mother was Russian. I lived the life of pleasure that 
 is so alluring when one is young. I exhausted every- 
 thing in the way of sensual pleasure, my fortune drift- 
 ing through my hands, until at the last I was left 
 penniless. Then I was tempted to commit a crime. 
 Years of debilitating pleasure and loose companionship 
 had eaten almost the last shred of my moral nature, 
 but there was one fiber that resisted at the thought 
 of crime. I fell ill through distress and suffering; 
 in fact, became hysterical through the disease of my 
 overwrought nerves. I was taken to one of the public 
 hospitals, and there I came under the care of Dr.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 85 
 
 Charcot. In my shattered condition I was easily made 
 one of his subjects, and in the magnetic sleep a sub- 
 consciousness was developed in me that was so strong 
 that it took complete possession of me, and after six 
 months of patient care, my selfish character was sunk- 
 en, I now know, forever. 
 
 " When I left the hospital Dr. Charcot was good 
 enough to secure for me the position of secretary to a 
 distinguished Orientalist, a learned man, who had spent 
 a long life studying the characteristics of the various 
 religions of the world, in the periods of their early 
 development. I was with him several years and be- 
 came, in the peaceful and serene atmosphere of the 
 old man's library, imbued with an almost savage desire- 
 to redeem the years of my life that I had, apparently, 
 wasted. One night I received a summons such as you 
 received when you came here. I left my master and 
 walked forth in the night, following the movement 
 of another's will, until I found myself in a great hotel, 
 surrounded by a park, in the outskirts of Paris. 
 
 " It was here my new life began. I shall not now 
 go into details. The influence of Charcot, acquired in 
 the hospital, was exerted magnetically, and I was 
 brought, through it, to the chateau, where lived the 
 president of the Russian society, described to you by 
 Lord Melrose. I became a member, and continued 
 my work with my master, the Orientalist, until about 
 five years ago. It was during my work in Paris that I 
 became acquainted with James Musgrove. I became 
 deeply impressed, after a time, with the struggle con- 
 tinually going on between two very vigorous and very
 
 86 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 diverse elements in his nature. The one that was up- 
 permost was coarse, selfish and devoted to material 
 pursuits. The other was poetical, with aspirations as 
 lofty and great as ever visited the brain of Shakes- 
 peare." 
 
 He paused at my look of surprise, and then added : 
 " In time, I was fortunate enough to become ad- 
 vanced to membership in the Central society, and now 
 I am one of the Inner Council of Ten that governs the 
 world." 
 
 " Governs the world ? " 
 
 " Yes. Not as might ordinarily be understood. But 
 it is a government that grows day by day, and will, in 
 the end, be the one government for the entire world, 
 doing away with all others. You need not look 
 surprised. It is simple enough. The elementary 
 societies throughout the world are strong. Through 
 them we have invited to our Inner societies, during the 
 last few years, hundreds of very rich men. Their dis- 
 appearance from the active circles of the world has not 
 attracted any particular attention beyond the local ripple 
 following their departure. We have selected only those 
 who could be spared, who were doing no good to them- 
 selves, and whose departure will not impose suffering 
 upon any one. When they are once with us, they would 
 prefer death to going back to their old life. They 
 willingly give their money to us. We have a reserve 
 fund now of over one billion of dollars. We use this 
 money to control great institutions throughout the 
 world. The monasteries of Thibet are with us. In 
 the Himalayas we have built numerous monasteries of
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. S? 
 
 our own. Wo own great houses in the various capitals 
 of the world. The Council of Ten live, for a portion 
 of its time, in the world, and, as presiding officers of 
 trust companies, manage, without attracting notice, the 
 treasury of the Central society." 
 
 " But how can you own such vast possessions as 
 hotels, monasteries, and the like, thoughout the world 
 without becoming subjects for curious gossip ? " 
 
 " Because we move only as individuals. The whole 
 world is bare to the gaze of inspectors, who watch the 
 globes that are in our sub-telegraph stations. Here the 
 members are watched, and warned constantly of every 
 possible antagonistic influence. We have cultivated the 
 wills of the Council of Ten until, united, they can, 
 through the influence of a large central globe, highly 
 charged, send out thought-waves, sufficiently powerful 
 to affect a nation. This work is now going on at the 
 central station of London. It is owing to the influence 
 of this station that war has been so long held back in 
 Europe. We do not say that there will never be a war 
 again ; that will depend only upon a power higher than 
 our own. But peace is now in the air, and arbitration 
 is taking the place of war, as a means of settling 
 disputes." 
 
 " What is the primary basis of this new social 
 order ? " 
 
 " Simply to carry out Christ's new commandment, 
 ' that ye love one another ; as I have loved you, that 
 ye also love one another.' There are no other laws 
 governing it. There is no other creed contained 
 therein."
 
 88 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 " But how can you guard against the invasion of 
 ambition and a perversion of the lofty aims of the 
 society by the necessarily imperfect men who compose 
 its directors ? " 
 
 " In the atmosphere of the electric globes, man's 
 nature is placed in accord with the laws of the universe, 
 which are governed by justice and love. When the 
 Council meets, an improper thought would break the 
 harmony and strike a discordant note upon the central 
 globe, like a clap of thunder. Every member knows 
 that his every act and thought is laid bare, and re- 
 corded at every central station. Even if this were 
 not a protection, I should defy any one to have his 
 eyes really opened to the meanness of the motives of 
 ordinary life and ambition, and ever consent to leave 
 this life of serenity and of high purpose (with the 
 mirror of the real world constantly before his eyes), 
 for the dull incidents of the life of an ordinary 
 ambition."
 
 90 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN EXPLANATION OF THE ANTI-MATERIALISTIC WAVE 
 N< >W MOVING OVER THE CIVILIZED WORLD. 
 
 " But can every one be brought in accord with the 
 laws of electrical harmony ? " 
 
 "Not always. There is no one who has not an 
 inner nature better than its exterior ; but, with some, 
 this is so deeply hidden as to make necessary several 
 generations of development. We take the most favor- 
 able natures first and impress them. You have ob- 
 served that great popular movements come often with- 
 out much preliminary agitation. The electrical current 
 that runs through an excited crowd moving as a mob 
 will often produce deeds of cruelty the individual 
 would contemplate only with horror. It is important 
 to control and direct the thought waves for the good ; 
 that is one of the subjects sought to be accomplished 
 by the directors at the central stations. You have, 
 doubtless, observed the recent interest in spiritual 
 things, now so prevalent in Europe. Works upon 
 Theosophy, Occultism, Spiritualism and ghost stories 
 are sold by the thousands. This is owing to a spiritual, 
 anti-material wave now constantly being sent out from 
 the Central station in this house." 
 
 " Do you encourage Spiritualism ? " 
 
 " As it is generally understood, no. But even that,
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 91 
 
 with its wildest absurdities, is better than gross ma- 
 terialism. But Spiritualism, as construed by mediums 
 in the form of table-tipping, the summoning of spirits 
 from the vasty deep to tell Susan whether James is in 
 love with her, or the stock-broker how stocks will 
 move, is even now out of date. If there is nothing 
 better in the next world than a return to this to act as 
 the messenger of a medium, working, for money, to 
 serve the vulgar or selfish curiosity of credulous 
 visitors, then the next world is vastly inferior to this. 
 But Spiritualism in the highest sense, the reaching up 
 to a higher power for support, the belief in inspiration 
 for those who are worthy to receive it, we fully believe, 
 for we know some of the finest modern compositions 
 are mere copies of tones flashed to our Central station 
 in the Himalayas from higher and more distant spheres. 
 It is at this station that we are studying the questions 
 of the highest interest. It is there that we have estab- 
 lished connection with the other worlds, through the 
 power to transfer thought upon the great electric 
 wave-conductors of the universe. Full histories of 
 these worlds will be published in an age when the 
 public will be educated sufficiently to comprehend. 
 Now the ordinary scientists of the earth would regard 
 such publications as emanations from a mad-house." 
 
 " Have you sought to absolutely prove that there is 
 another world for us after this ? " 
 
 " No. That is no more necessary for one who has 
 studied the law of the electric forces of the universe 
 through our globes, than it would be to prove the sun 
 shines. We are constantly working, when in full elec-
 
 92 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 trie harmony, in the flood of the light of love of the 
 central universe, and we see and have every moment 
 the evidences of another life, as convincing as the 
 light that shines indicates the sun as its dispensing 
 power. We seek to avoid the so-called supernatural, 
 and keep to the development in the highest degree of 
 the possibilities of the life on this earth. It is here 
 that we are to be made worthy of a higher life. Our 
 Inner society now holds within its hands the seeds of 
 the millenium." 
 
 " Have you the power to reach the perfect existence 
 here ? " 
 
 " For the few only. We have abolished from among 
 us disease or pain. Electricity, as the remedial agent, 
 has done this. We cannot perform the miracle of re- 
 storing the actual loss of physical organs, nor can we 
 more than postpone the day of death, but we prevent 
 the inroads of disease by electric guards. As our 
 system is at present organized, we select as members 
 of our society only those possessing good physical or- 
 ganizations. With the perfection of existence will 
 come the perfection of government. When once 
 Christ's commandment of love is fully lived up to, the 
 necessity for all governments, such as those now organ- 
 ized, will no longer exist. No one will seek to injure 
 or wrong his neighbor, and as government is organized 
 for the protection of the individual, when he no longer 
 needs protection the usefulness of government is at an 
 end. Our work is now to prepare the public — to im- 
 press it in new directions." 
 
 " Have you no fear of being disturbed in your work
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 93 
 
 by political organizations jealous of the power of the 
 Central Council?" 
 
 " No. Our control of affairs is by indirection and 
 by the impression of thought-transference. We break 
 110 laws. We seek no fruits of power. An electric 
 current surrounds each one of our stations, through 
 which no one not invited by us, or affiliated with us, 
 can pass. Our interference is only for the purpose of 
 doing good. Our progress is slow, as the world is 
 crusted throughout every social channel with stupid, 
 gross materialism, and a selfishness perfectly inhuman. 
 Murders the most atrocious, crimes the most terrible, 
 and suffering the most piteous in character, make no 
 impression upon the hardened sympathies of modern 
 civilization, while the mere suggestion of religious 
 thought is coupled by the world with weak mentality. 
 
 " In no place do we find so much need of reform as 
 in the churches themselves, and in no place do we meet 
 with such resistance to the waves of love constantly 
 sent towards them from our central stations. What 
 member of any church follows to-day strictly in the 
 path of his Master? Who of them would dare to fol- 
 low His poverty, His obscurity, and His suffering? 
 There we have found so much resistance from those 
 intrenched in authority, backed by the accumulations 
 of wealth, that we have turned our batteries upon the 
 people themselves. The organization of the Salvation 
 Army is the direct result of the central London sta- 
 tion. Its rapid growth is owing to the stimulus of our 
 stations throughout the world." 
 
 " But the Salvation Army is ridiculed even by the
 
 94 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 churches, and every one feels qualified to look upon its 
 members with pitying contempt." 
 
 "Yes; but it is almost the only religious organiza- 
 tion in the world to-day whose members are honestly 
 seeking to follow in the footsteps of Christ. They are 
 poor. Their lives are consecrated to poverty, to the 
 renunciation of self, while they do not shut themselves 
 up in dreary prisons, seeking the purity of asceticism, 
 but walk into the thickest rush of life to carry the light 
 of love and truth to the poorest, the lowest, and the 
 most debased." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Stop, before another word. Come with me to the 
 globe and let us look, for a moment, upon the hourly 
 work of one of the members of this band." I turned 
 to the globe, and I saw, instantly, a dark, noisome 
 alley in the east end of London. A young girl, with a 
 white, resolute face, dressed in a robe of dark-blue, 
 wearing the bonnet of the Army, now appeared alone. 
 She walked through the alley and ascended the stair- 
 way of a tenement, crowded in all its quarters with the 
 homes of the poor. Upon one floor I saw three 
 families, crowded like animals, fifteen in all, in one 
 room. Oaths, imprecations and quarreling were heard 
 on all sides. Here dwelt the criminal and the outcast. 
 Stalwart drunkards, dissolute women, sleeping in a 
 dull, sodden stupor, little children poisoned in the foul 
 atmosphere, desolate mothers, and discouraged work- 
 men, made up a population of misery that can be 
 found everywhere, every day in the year, in any of the 
 slums of the great cities. I shuddered at the thought
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 95 
 
 of this young girl coming in contact with this vile 
 throng. But her uniform made her sacred. I saw even 
 the vilest of criminals give way before her with respect. 
 I did not hear her say one word about religion. She 
 came to help, and in any way she could, the poor and 
 suffering. She shamed the most dissolute by asking 
 permission to help clean up their dreary rooms. Soon 
 she was joined by a companion, and for nearly an hour 
 I watched these brave girls carrying water into rooms 
 that never had been cleaned, dressing the children of 
 drunken parents, steadfastly working in the grim and 
 noisome atmosphere, with the patience and loving 
 energy of so many angels of light. 
 
 "Now," said Mortimer Mortimer, "study well the 
 work of these women." 
 
 " Do they do this every day ? " 
 
 " Every day of their lives." 
 
 " But surely they do not spend all of their lives 
 here? " 
 
 "That is what they do. They would have no influ- 
 ence if they did not come and live among these people. 
 In the darkest quarters these missionaries take rooms, 
 clean one spot in this foul quarter, and then work, as 
 no domestic servant ever has worked, to fight the devil 
 of dirt with soap and pure water. You cannot touch 
 these people until they are made clean and fed. Every 
 day some devoted heroine in this Army loses her life 
 from disease or exposure. They nurse the newly- 
 born, train the growing, and close the eyes of the 
 dying. They accept poverty as their share. They 
 know that they must be obscure, and that they may
 
 96 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 fall in the first period of their engagement, but their 
 courage never hesitates. Yet the poet who celebrates 
 the deeds of the hero who, crazed by excitement, 
 charges into the jaws of death upon a mission of mur- 
 der, would never dream of looking into the life of a 
 brave Salvation Army lass for a subject for his cantos. 
 This movement is growing, and we intend that it shall, 
 in the end, revolutionize the churches, until they wake 
 to their duty and go forth to try to equal, if possible, 
 the good now being accomplished by the only religious 
 organization on the face of the globe that has a place 
 or a thought for the outcast and the criminal poor."
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF TEN, WHICH 
 GOVERNS THE WORLD. 
 
 I do not know how much longer this conversation 
 might have continued, nor how many more scenes 
 might have been shown me, had there not, suddenly, 
 appeared upon the globe a signal which I did not com- 
 prehend. 
 
 Mortimer Mortimer said : " It is a signal for a meet- 
 ing of the Council of Ten. Wait ; I want to ask a 
 question." 
 
 He now turned towards the globe, and, in a moment, 
 there came back the answer, "yes," in the Morse 
 characters. 
 
 " I have asked permission to connect you with the 
 council-chamber, that you may both see and hear the 
 proceedings of that body. You have been examined 
 and accepted as a member, on probation, of one of the 
 Inner societies, and we shall rely upon your pen as 
 your contribution towards the work. You shall be a 
 thought-wave in action, impelled by the power that is 
 above us. But you are to be taught many things be- 
 fore you return to the world again." 
 
 " But when was I accepted as a member ? " 
 
 " Yesterday." 
 
 "But how?"
 
 98 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 " The electrical register in the Council reported 
 yesterday, about noon, that your system indicated one 
 hundred in the scale of harmony. That entitled you 
 to be recorded as an acceptable candidate." 
 
 " But I made no pledges. I have taken no oaths." 
 
 " None are necessary. With our system, personal ex- 
 amination might, in the end, lead to deception. The 
 electrical register of a man's inner character never lies." 
 
 " How long am I to remain ? " 
 
 " Until you, yourself, wish to go so as to be at work. 
 It will not be long. Remember, too, that when you 
 are gone from this station, and appear in the world, 
 you will still be in constant touch with us. All of our 
 central stations will be open to you. Before you go, 
 you will be given an electrical ball, similar to the 
 one you saw with me in the Victoria Gallery. By its 
 aid you can communicate always with the central 
 stations for advice or information. Be careful not to 
 lose it, though in strange hands it would have no more 
 use than an ordinary telegraph instrument in the hands 
 of a savage. Besides this, your will is to be strength- 
 ened to the grade of one thousand. Each member of 
 the Council of Ten has a will worked up by electrical 
 processes, so that, by union with the globe, it represents 
 a degree of one hundred thousand. That is, the will 
 of one such member is equal to the united wills of that 
 number of people. For the purpose of thought-trans- 
 ference, solely, to distant spheres, this strength of will 
 can, by union with other mechanical devices, be worked 
 up to a billion. But you will find out all about these 
 things soon, so that they will not excite your surprise.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 99 
 
 They would have all been known to mankind long ago, 
 if the minds of men were not so clouded by materialism 
 and disbelief in everything not represented by money 
 or some equivalent." 
 
 With this Mortimer Mortimer withdrew, saying that 
 the Council was about to meet, and while he could take 
 part in its proceedings by remaining with me, there 
 were advantages secured by coming in actual personal 
 contact with his associates, and so he left me awake 
 with curiosity concerning the proceedings of the 
 Council that secretly ruled the world. 
 
 I had been, for years, in attendance upon Congress 
 in my own country, had studied the House of Parlia- 
 ment in London, the proceedings of the Corps Legis- 
 latif in France, the Cortes in Madrid, the Reichstag in 
 Berlin, in fact, had been a witness of the methods of 
 legislative proceedings in the various leading countries 
 of the world, where selfish interests entirely predomi- 
 nated. At last I was to be a witness of the proceed- 
 ings of a Supreme Council, whose single rule of pro- 
 cedure was unselfishness, and whose code was a pure 
 love for mankind. 
 
 Need I say that I rubbed my eyes wide open and 
 was all attention when the globe sounded and I read 
 the message : " The Council is about to meet " ? 
 
 Hardly had my friend, Mortimer Mortimer, left the 
 room, when I addressed my most earnest attention to 
 the globe. I had, previously, found that concentration 
 of attention upon the subject under consideration was 
 of vital importance, for the scenes shifted with the cur- 
 rent of the thought, and, unless the thought was clear,
 
 IOO THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 the scenes in the globe were dim. A dull person, with 
 but little imagination or interest in things, would not 
 see much in the globe, beyond a succession of blurred, 
 disconnected visions. 
 
 I was much excited at the thought of having an op- 
 portunity to look behind the scenes and watch the 
 powers which govern the world at work. At first I 
 could not see clearly ; but this dimness of vision con- 
 tinued only for a moment. Then I saw a large, wide 
 room, with lofty ceilings. It was a council chamber, 
 worthy of the powerful body to be assembled there. 
 It was somber-hued in its furnishings. The ceiling was 
 light, but divided off into heavily-framed circles. The 
 light surface of each was covered by a map of some 
 one of the various countries of the world. The center 
 circle was larger than any of the others, and upon it 
 was outlined the plane of the world. 
 
 This shifted, in alternating flashes of light, showing 
 first the old world and then the new. The brilliant 
 colors of the coats-of-arms of the various countries 
 showed in brilliant relief in the center of the other 
 circles. The woodwork of the room, which included 
 the polished floor, the high and polished wainscot, and 
 the broad, heavily-carved frieze, had the rich warmth 
 of color of old Spanish mahogany. 
 
 Large, high-backed chairs with arms, broad and 
 strong enough for giants, were placed about a heavy, 
 round table which stood in the center of the room. 
 Places were arranged for ten. In front of each seat 
 was a sensitized paper similar to the one under the 
 globe in the room where I was. Suspended above the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. IOI 
 
 table was also a globe, about three feet in diameter. 
 It looked very large in comparison with the globe in 
 my room. When I first began to see this room dis- 
 tinctly, it was unoccupied. I should add, here, that this 
 room, apparently, had no windows. The central globe 
 furnished a clear light, so well diffused that there was 
 not a dark spot or corner in the room, while under the 
 table the shadow was a faint gray. 
 
 Soon I heard a low sound of music, and the portieres 
 at the right parted, and the Council of Ten entered 
 and quickly took their places around the table. I was 
 astonished to find that this Council of Ten was divided 
 equally in its membership between the two sexes. All 
 wore evening dress. The men were of varying types. 
 The eldest was a venerable sage, while the youngest 
 was not older than Lord Robert Melrose. The ladies 
 of this august circle were of the highest types. Their 
 faces were beautiful and intelligent. All were richly 
 dressed and had an air of great ease and refinement. 
 
 There was no chief in this Council to sit in any post 
 of honor. There was no order of precedence. No one 
 had a special seat, and no rule seemed to prevail for 
 the seating of the Council, beyond the one of alternat- 
 ing the sexes. Naturally, my attention was arrested 
 by the novel sight of women seated as peers of men in 
 this high board of administration. The eldest of the 
 five ladies was at the right of the picture as it appeared 
 in the globe before me. She was, at least, sixty years 
 of age. Her hair was snowy white and combed in a 
 thick, high, rolling mass from a broad forehead. Her 
 eyes were dark. Her complexion was of a childlike
 
 102 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 fairness, and her regular features were overshadowed 
 by a look of gentleness that would have subdued a 
 savage. She wore a black lace dress that set off the 
 lines of her robust, womanly figure. Diamonds flashed 
 in her hair and at her throat. Her arms and hands 
 would have done credit to a young woman. 
 
 Three of the other ladies were of ripe years, also, 
 with forceful faces and calm manners. They secured, 
 however, but casual notice from me. I passed them 
 rapidly in review, and then, not pausing to examine the 
 faces of the grave and serious men, who sat with their 
 earnest gaze fixed upon the globe, my eyes swiftly 
 turned to the one who was, for the moment, the over- 
 shadowing figure of the circle to me. 
 
 The fifth lady was the personification of all the 
 beauty that is to be found in youth, encased in a body 
 abounding in health of absolute perfection. What 
 words can give one an idea of such youth, in such per- 
 fection ? Her form showed the noble lines of a god- 
 dess, while her face was radiant with life, purity and 
 high purpose. It needs the actual sight to obtain any 
 impression of her charms. I knew but few of the 
 great ladies of the world of London, and so I could 
 not, for the moment, determine the nationality or 
 social position of the one who seemed, to me, by 
 natural right, to be above any rank. A feeling of the 
 most passionate admiration filled my mind. It was so 
 intense that it must have communicated itself as a 
 message to its object. She gravely turned, for a 
 moment, in my direction, smiled, and then turned her 
 attention again to the work in the council chamber.
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A STUDY OF THE WORKINGS OF THIS MYSTERIOUS 
 COUNCIL. 
 
 I studied for a long time the workings of the 
 Council before I fully understood its methods, the 
 great power exercised by this circle, and its daring 
 grasp of the questions of the day. Instead of seeking 
 to act as a recorder of any portion of the proceedings, 
 I will give a few general facts noted during my first 
 hour of observation. I could not give more if I would, 
 and I have no desire to say one word that could in any 
 way injure the cause of those who have trusted me. 
 
 I first observed that, while no one was in absolute 
 authority, Mortimer appeared for the time to be the 
 directing mind. It was he who made suggestions and 
 introduced subjects to be considered. I learned, later, 
 that the direction of the Council passed in turns around 
 the circle at each meeting. Each was engaged in work- 
 ing for unselfish purposes, and, as no personal ambition 
 was possible within the circle, perfect courtesy and 
 consideration prevailed. The speech or comment of 
 the director's mind was taken up by the one who, by 
 chance, sat at his right hand, and so the talk or the 
 presentation of opinions passed around the circle. 
 
 Differences of opinion occurred, but when it came 
 to final action, the best judgment or suggestion pre-
 
 104 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 vailed, as if the Council, being ruled by higher purposes 
 than mere self, had infallible guides to lead them to 
 what was the best. 
 
 Each subject, such as the condition of a particular 
 nation, was shown by a succession of pictures passing 
 over the face of the globe. The tremendous struggles 
 of an overweighted humanity, fighting for a place of 
 security, the rapt and insolent selfishness of the few 
 who, by chance or good fortune, were placed above the 
 universal law of contest, were given in clear, sharp and 
 distinct pictures. 
 
 The attention of the Council was first directed to 
 European affairs. I learned, to my great surprise, that 
 two of the most imposing potentates in Europe had 
 direct affiliations with the Council of Ten, and co- 
 operated with it. 
 
 I saw, for the first time, the wise, serene face of Lee 
 XIII., which appeared in the globe soon after the 
 meeting of the Council. I saw him sitting, alone, in the 
 privacy of his palace, in his robes of white, turning his 
 gentle eyes upon the Council, who were brought in 
 direct accord with him through a globe suspended 
 over his library desk. I learned that it was through 
 his desire for peace and goodness to dominate selfish- 
 ness that he had been brought to work in harmony 
 with the powerful Council of Ten. He saw them only 
 as in a vision, but their influence was ever at his right 
 hand. I now understood, for the first time, some of 
 the apparent contradictions of his political actions, 
 and why the influence of his holy office was now 
 constantly turning from the old forms of monarchical
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 105 
 
 rules to the best forms of self-government inspired by 
 modern democracy. I saw that the lifting of the little 
 finger of this great prelate would, at once, bring 
 about the fall of the monarch)', and the rise of a 
 republic in Italy. But the people were not yet ripe for 
 this change. At present it could not be brought 
 about without the shedding of blood, so the influences 
 watched and waited. I now understood why the holy 
 father of the Catholic Church immures himself in the 
 Vatican and no longer goes in the world. What need 
 had he of the world ? It lay before him in the flashing 
 scenes of the globe, and his every working moment is 
 needed to devise some plan for the relief of suffering 
 and cruelty, daily disclosed to him. 
 
 I saw, secluded in his closely-guarded castle at 
 Gatschina, the Imperial Czar of all the Russias, and 
 learned that it was not through fear of the Nihilists 
 that he remained so constantly out of sight of the 
 public. He, too, was closely affiliated with the Council 
 of Ten, and upon him they showered all their influence, 
 making him the one mighty war lord enlisted upon the 
 side of peace, so that, while he lives, war is moved 
 farther and farther away. 
 
 After this I saw pass in review the various royalties 
 of Europe. All were subject, directly, to the influences 
 of the Council, but only the Czar and the Pope were 
 conscious of the influence, and in direct contact with 
 it. The German Emperor I saw as he was changing 
 from a wild and dissolute youth into a strong, forceful 
 power, marching in high directions, but moving in 
 erratic curves of action, owing to the pressure brought
 
 I06 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 to bear upon him. I saw numerous royalties, stupid, 
 eaten up with petty vanities, imagining themselves as 
 specially authorized by God Almighty to lead empty, 
 vain, animal lives, without one thought of the respon- 
 sibilities toward the people in their charge. I saw dis- 
 graceful downfalls preparing for them before the swift- 
 rising tide of republicanism visible throughout the length 
 and breadth of Europe to-day. 
 
 I saw one monarch near to the time when he would 
 be deemed worthy to enter into the affiliation with the 
 Council of Ten. This was the gracious King of 
 Belgium, who has devoted his life and private fortune 
 to stamping out the murderous slave trade of Africa. 
 Instead of taking his ease and fattening upon the spoils 
 of his position, his eyes, blinded by tears of sympathy, 
 had turned towards the negroes of Africa, tortured by 
 the rapacious slave-traders, whose murders in one year 
 reached the astonishing number of one hundred thou- 
 sand. If it had not been for his gentle yielding to the 
 imperious impression sent him by the Council of Ten, 
 the mob in Brussels would have been shot down by 
 the orders of his ministers, mere selfish politicians, 
 when the workingmen arose and justly demanded an 
 increase in their suffrage rights. 
 
 I observed that the movement to increase the 
 armed forces of Europe, the stimulus to increased skill 
 in the manufacture of devices to kill, came directly from 
 the Council of Ten. They sought thus to make war 
 odious and terrible, and so add a bulwark to the edifice 
 of peace. 
 
 As the scenes flashed in rapid succession upon the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 107 
 
 globe, the discussion of this inspired Council ran on 
 with the musical, murmuring evenness of a brook, 
 running on over smoothly-worn surfaces, down the 
 incline of thought to the broader sea of accomplish- 
 ment. The smallest subject, the sorrows of an 
 individual, were as often considered as affairs of 
 national or world-wide importance. Those who were 
 struggling upwards in any calling of life, who showed 
 any indication of a noble character, were observed, or 
 noted upon the records of the society, and later were 
 commended to the care of some of the smaller stations. 
 Small lapses from the path of high endeavor were not 
 noticed. The spirit of forgiveness and charity hovered 
 over every judgment. Even the worst of men were 
 shown, in rapidly-flying reflections, to have qualities 
 that occasionally made them subject to the influence 
 of the Council of Ten. 
 
 Each one of the Inner council lives in the world. 
 They are all independent, each one answerable only to 
 himself ; but to describe, more closely, their positions 
 and their actual relations with the busy world where 
 they are known, would require a knowledge not given 
 me. 
 
 The Council elects its own members, and when a 
 vacancy occurs, through death or absence, the gap is 
 filled with one of the best members of the smaller 
 societies. No one who has not utterly conquered selfish- 
 ness can ever be considered as a candidate here. More 
 than this, knowledge and administrative ability are 
 needed to obtain a seat at the round table of this 
 modern and model government. This information
 
 108 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 came to me in a direct message from Mortimer 
 Mortimer. 
 
 I was strongly interested in the equal participation 
 of women in the Council, and to see how strongly their 
 keenness of vision, their refinement and tenderness of 
 heart, supplemented the strength and audacity of the 
 men. Yet I saw this Council united, battling in vain 
 to overcome the adamantine wall of selfishness of 
 women, in the treatment of the fallen of their own sex. 
 
 The session lasted for nearly two hours. Towards 
 the last, my attention was concentrated upon one 
 member, only, of the Council. I could only see her as 
 she sat at the table. I was powerless to disengage her 
 attention from the Council and its proceedings. My 
 will was too weak to compel the slightest message re- 
 garding her individuality. I see her now, as I write, 
 my heart throbbing with the bitter-sweet memory of 
 the picture she presented as she sat in this council of 
 administration, charged with the remedying of the evils 
 of a suffering world. Her white satin dress, and the 
 pearls which she wore, set off her fair and radiant 
 beauty. Her face was a pure oval. Her color was 
 fair and delicate. Her eyes were dark, showing soft 
 and clear between the long lashes, under perfectly- 
 lined brows. Her nose was a pure Grecian. Her 
 mouth was full and small, disclosing even, white teeth, 
 as she spoke or smiled. Her hair, a reddish brown, 
 was combed high from her forehead and gathered in 
 a regal crown upon the top of the gracefully-poised 
 head. But her mere physical beauty was enhanced a 
 thousand-fold by the inner light of a noble soul, that
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 109 
 
 shone through the transparent mask of her emotional 
 countenance. 
 
 As I looked, the light in the globe faded, and I saw- 
 nothing. I looked for hours for something more, hut 
 nothing came ; then, exhausted by the many emotions 
 of the day, at midnight I fell into a sleep broken by 
 dreams.
 
 v~VA& ■• 
 
 "I FOUND MYSELF BACK IN MY ROOMS IN HALF-MOON STREET." Page 111.
 
 1 1 1 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A RETURN TO NORMAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 When next my eyes opened, I found myself back- 
 in my rooms in Half-Moon street. Lord Robert Mel- 
 rose was at my side. 
 
 "Well," said he, "when did you come in ? " 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " Do not know ? You have been absent for ten days, 
 and without leaving a word of explanation. Your edi- 
 torial director has added you to the list of mysterious 
 disappearances. Here you are, in your bedroom, just 
 waked up from a mid-day sleep. Were you dropped 
 through the ceiling?" 
 
 " I repeat, I do not know." 
 
 " Well, if you do not know, who does ? " 
 
 " Let me ask you, has anything been heard of your 
 father, the Duke of Wex?" 
 
 " There has been no sign from him, not one word to 
 indicate where he has gone. But, nevertheless, I think 
 I know the explanation of his absence." 
 
 " I can explain to you the reason for his disappear- 
 ing, if you do not really know. But, honestly, for the 
 present, I cannot tell you how I came to be back here 
 in my own room. However, I may soon be enlight- 
 ened." I suddenly thought of the globe. If I had been 
 returned to the world to work as a humble assistant of
 
 112 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 the great Central organization, then I must have the 
 globe that was promised me by Mortimer Mortimer. 
 Otherwise, I could have no means of communicating 
 with my superiors, and would possess no evidence to 
 disprove that my recent experience in the Central 
 Station of Light was not a dream. 
 
 I now bounded out of bed, and began looking for 
 the globe. I ran through the pockets of my clothing, 
 like a madman, and, then, to my horror, I found noth- 
 ing. I turned back my pillow — nothing. I tore open 
 the bed — still nothing. I sank down in my chair in 
 utter despair. Then a thought flashed into mind that 
 this was, perhaps, a trial of my independence. I 
 calmed myself. I begged Lord Robert to excuse 
 me while I dressed, as I said : " I will see you in the 
 sitting-room in a few moments and tell you the story 
 of my absence." 
 
 When he left me, I dressed, and then sat down in a 
 chair, before my little writing-desk. I wrote upon a 
 sheet of paper the following message, addressed to 
 Mortimer Mortimer: " I thank you for your kindness 
 to me in the Station of Light. I realize now, in my 
 return to the world, that you want me to recover my 
 sense of independence. You do not wish me to lean 
 upon any system of central aid as a crutch to my own 
 halting steps, but merely to use it as a stimulant to 
 help me advance my own individuality." 
 
 Hardly had the ink dried up on this message, when 
 there appeared, directly under it, in shadowy-traced 
 lines: "You understand. Have such faith always in 
 us. " M. M."
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 1 I 3 
 
 As I read this brief note, I was content. The Cen- 
 tral station was, after all, a reality. I was one of its 
 later disciples. I believed that I was to first find the 
 work to be done, and, as I progressed, I would have 
 my eyes opened more and more to the beauties of the 
 life lived and directed by the Council of Ten. 
 
 There was now a pressure in my hand, and, looking 
 down, I saw a globe. My badge of office, at last, had 
 arrived, and, with it, a sense of tranquility and power 
 I had never known before. I hastily placed it in my 
 pocket, and joined Lord Robert. 
 
 He was profoundly interested in my story. " You 
 are to be envied," said he. " I am prepared, by my ex- 
 periences in the Russian society, to believe readily 
 what you tell. I have suspected something of this kind 
 for some time. I told you to seek Mortimer Mortimer, 
 you know. I sought him this morning to ask him 
 about my father." 
 
 " Did you see him, and where ? " 
 
 " I saw him in the Bank of England, conferring with 
 one of the governors. I had business in the bank, and 
 so waited for him. He drove me back to my club in 
 his brougham. He was upon the eve of leaving Lon- 
 don for a long time, he told me." 
 
 "What did he say about your father?" 
 
 " Not much ; but enough to convince me that I had 
 no reason to worry about him. He also told me that 
 you would be back in your room this afternoon ; but 
 in what way you were to come, he did not say. None 
 of the servants saw you come in ; and, when I entered 
 your bedroom, I had no idea you were really returned,
 
 114 TH E DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 although I was expecting you. By the way, have you 
 taken a good look at yourself since your return?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Well, take the trouble. If I had not known you 
 intimately, I would not have recognized you. If I had 
 met you outside, I fear I should have passed you by." 
 
 I ran hastily to the mirror, over the mantel-piece, in 
 our sitting-room, and there I saw a face, strange, wholly 
 new in its expression, and only remotely familiar. While 
 the features were unchanged, the expression under- 
 lying them was so different as to produce the impres- 
 sion of another individuality. It was more refined and 
 gentle, and there was an accompanying shadow of 
 force and resolution that created a wholly new type. 
 
 Said Lord Robert : " It is, undoubtedly, the result of 
 the development of one of your sub-conscious selves. 
 It is the better part of your individuality that has come 
 to the surface, and has assumed control. I can under- 
 stand how such influence could, in a very short time, 
 make you wholly unrecognizable to those who knew 
 you in your ordinary stage of existence." 
 
 " But, in spirit, I feel the same." 
 
 " Yet, but are you not conscious of a different in- 
 fluence inspiring your actions ? Do you not, now, feel 
 the same high desire to serve your fellow-mortals as 
 when you were a guest of the Central Station of 
 Light ? " 
 
 " I certainly do." 
 
 " Then you, to all practical purposes, are dead to 
 your former life. If you were to walk the streets of 
 London to-day, you would escape the notice, abso-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. I I 5 
 
 lutely, of your ordinal')- acquaintances. In one month 
 from now you would not be recognized, unless you so 
 willed, by your most intimate friend. Although re- 
 turned to me and to my friendship, on account of my 
 past affiliations, you have disappeared forever from the 
 life you have known. Let the authorities put a reward 
 of ,£100,000 sterling on your head for your discovery, 
 and you can, with perfect impunity, call at Scotland 
 Yard and talk with every detective employed in the 
 case without awakening suspicion." 
 
 " If you are correct in your theory, then this explains 
 the perfect disappearance of the missing people noted 
 in my original observations upon this subject." 
 
 " You, to-day, are conscious of no intellectual 
 change ? " 
 
 " Not at all. My powers seem as before. I am sure 
 I am, intellectually, no different. My disposition 
 seems, however, to be wholly changed. I feel in ab- 
 solute harmony with the high directors of the Central 
 station." I spoke with fervor. 
 
 As I said this, I heard a dull sound. It was like the 
 note of a distant, tiny bell. It came from the globe in 
 my pocket. But I did not speak of this to my friend.
 
 u6 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COMPLETELY CHANGED THROUGH PSYCHOLOGICAL 
 
 INFLUENCES, SO THAT EVEN THE " WASP " 
 
 EDITOR DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ME. 
 
 I took up life again, as I had known it. I looked 
 eagerly for some path in life where I could be of ser- 
 vice. My first duty was to my employer, who had 
 sent me to Europe. I wrote for him the story as I 
 have given it here ; but, before I could send it, I saw a 
 copy of The Wasp, in which it was publicly announced, 
 under flaring headlines, that the mysterious disappear- 
 ance of Arthur Livingstone, the special correspondent 
 of The Wasp, had been rendered doubly mysterious 
 by the return of the exact amount The Wasp editor 
 had given the correspondent upon his departure for 
 Europe to search for James Musgrove. 
 
 " The money," said the account, " came in the shape 
 of a draft on New York, drawn by the Bank of Eng- 
 land. No explanation came with it, except a briefly- 
 printed line, ' On account of Arthur Livingstone.' " 
 
 The editor added : " Why any one should return 
 money once paid over to him for value given is the 
 mystery of all mysteries. The Wasp, now, is willing to 
 pay the five thousand dollars thus returned, with an 
 equal amount added to it, ten thousand dollars in all, to 
 any one who explains this mystery and gives a detailed
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. \\J 
 
 and exact account of the present whereabouts of 
 Arthur Livingstone." 
 
 So I withheld, for the time, my story, and it was 
 weeks before I took it up again. Mortimer Mortimer's 
 kindness thus freed me from any moral obligation re- 
 lating to my former life. 
 
 It was now for me to elect how I should live. Lord 
 Robert, who soon left me after my return from the 
 Central station, went to Paris, where he received an 
 appointment as secretary to the British Ambassador. 
 
 My globe, which I kept as the prize of my life, was, 
 for the greater part of the time, dull and dark. But, 
 every night, I studied its dark surface, and soon gleams 
 of light taught me that the possibility of seeing in it 
 would come rapidly if I were patient and persistent. 
 
 At the end of three months, I began to see again as 
 I had seen in the great globe at the Central Station of 
 Light, although the range of view was, as yet, limited, 
 and confined to the neighborhood about me. I received 
 occasional messages ; and, when I resolved to take up, 
 once more, my calling as a writer, to advance the 
 cause of humanity, my globe rang out a triumphant 
 note of approval ; and, from then on, my development 
 was rapid. 
 
 Not long after this, I dined at the house of a great 
 statesman, who is fond of entertaining literary people 
 and eccentric Americans. I was seated next to the 
 famous editor of The Wasp, who was among the guests. 
 
 " So your name is Livingstone," said he, glancing at 
 my guest card, next my plate, which bore the simple 
 inscription, " Mr. Livingstone." " That recalls to my
 
 Il8 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 mind a strange experience I had, recently, with a 
 gentleman bearing your name. Perhaps you may 
 have heard of Arthur Livingstone ? " 
 
 "Yes; I have heard of him." 
 
 "At the first moment, I had just the shadow of an 
 impression that you resembled him ; but, as I look at 
 you, I see that there is not the slightest resemblance. 
 Did you ever hear of his mysterious disappearance?" 
 
 " Something about it comes to my mind, as you men- 
 tion it." 
 
 " It was the most peculiar of all the disappearances 
 noted by my great journal, for Livingstone went out 
 of sight while engaged by me to unearth the disap- 
 pearance of one of our leading bankers, James Mus- 
 grove. More than this : all the money I had given him 
 was sent back to me, after he had been engaged for 
 nearly a year in work upon this case. Now, Living 
 stone had a most original idea, as an explanation of 
 these disappearances. He thought that there must be, 
 behind them all, some great syndicate for the promo- 
 tion of the successful disappearance of notable people 
 that has taken place throughout the world. I never 
 believed in the idea, but was willing enough to exploit 
 the theory, on account of its originality. But, when the 
 money came back, following Livingstone's disappear- 
 ance, I have been forced to believe in a syndicate. 
 But, my God, what kind of a syndicate is it that pays 
 back money for no reason at all ? My days will be 
 shortened, unless I can probe this mystery." 
 
 " Are you still looking for the missing banker? " 
 
 " No ; my whole attention is concentrated upon the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. I 19 
 
 search for Livingstone, and the explanation of the 
 system that carried him away and returned me that 
 money. I will expend one hundred thousand dollars 
 before I will give up beaten. If Livingstone is on top 
 of this earth, I will find him. You have no idea of the 
 enterprise of American journalism ; it explains every- 
 thing, and pierces all mysteries." 
 
 " Did you know Livingstone well ? " 
 " No ; I never saw him but twice. Once, upon the 
 occasion when I sent for him to engage him to go to 
 Europe. The second time was in London, at my 
 hotel, upon the very day of his disappearance. Oh, 
 that disappearance ! I hope the mystery will not drive 
 me mad. But money can do anything, and, with its use, 
 I shall succeed." 
 
 " You are not interested in Livingstone personally ? " 
 " Not at all ; but why was that money returned ? " 
 " Would you know Livingstone if you were to see 
 him, by chance, in a passing crowd ? " 
 
 " Know him ! Every feature of his face, bearing, 
 walk and talk is indelibly photographed upon my 
 brain. I see him in my dreams at night. You must 
 know I was, originally, a reporter, and one of the best 
 sensational reporters living. If I should see only the 
 corner of Livingstone's ears, in a crowd, I should know 
 him,- and should follow him to the ends of the earth, 
 before I should lose him. I carry about with me 
 money sufficient for the longest of journeys, so as to 
 be ready, upon an instant's notice, to take the track of 
 an active scent. I am beginning to make it a matter 
 of personal pride with myself to run him down."
 
 120 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 " What would you do with him if you should find 
 him ? " 
 
 " Pump him dry." 
 
 " But, suppose he should not wish to talk. How 
 could you compel him to explain ? " 
 
 "With money. He could have what he liked." 
 
 " But suppose he should not care for your money? " 
 
 " Such an idea is inconceivable. Livingstone was, 
 when he left for Europe, a poor, ambitious American ; 
 such men always want money." 
 
 " But suppose he should refuse ? " 
 
 " Everything is conceivable to a poet, and the host in- 
 forms me you are one of the coming poets of England. 
 But, if all else should fail, I should fall on my knees, 
 and plead for my life, which could not endure this 
 forced further damming up of my curiosity. But you 
 need not fear my failing, if once I secure the slightest 
 trace of the missing man." 
 
 As the editor said this, he grasped my arm, with 
 violence, adding : " The editor of The Wasp never 
 fails. If I only could lay my hands upon the actual 
 man my task would then be simple." 
 
 Was there ever anything more amusing than this 
 boasting of alertness and acuteness in the presence of 
 the person sought ? Never did I have a more convinc- 
 ing proof of my complete outward change. To be 
 shielded from the piercing keenness of the vision of 
 this editor was to be guarded against the world.
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF JAMES MUSGROVE, ON THE DRIVER'S 
 SEAT OF AN OXFORD STREET 'BUS. 
 
 Two days after this dinner, I mounted an omnibus, 
 at Oxford Circus, to ride down to the Mansion House. 
 I advanced over the roof of the 'bus, and took a seat 
 by the side of the driver. I was his only companion 
 upon the seat. I pulled out a cigar from my pocket 
 and handed it to him, as I lighted one myself, pre- 
 pared for a lazy observation of the great crowds and 
 busy traffic of this, one of the busiest of London high- 
 ways. 
 
 The driver was an elderly man, with a splendid, 
 clear, strong face, neatly framed between his multi- 
 tudinous neck-wraps and high, shiny, black hat. As he 
 took the first puff at the cigar, a change came over his 
 face. I fancied I heard a dull ring from one of his 
 pockets, as of a bell. 
 
 Then the bell rang in my pocket, as if in response. 
 
 I then turned, and looked long at the driver. With 
 a thrill, I first noted, under his left eye, as he turned 
 to thank me for the cigar, three little, blue powder 
 marks. Involuntarily, I looked behind his right ear, as 
 I was upon his right. There I saw a mole, the size 
 and shape of a small egg. I remembered, then, my 
 last call upon James Musgrove, and my note of his per-
 
 122 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 sonal peculiarities. The powder marks and the mole 
 were his. I could not see his scarred left hand, as he 
 wore heavy, leather gloves. In no other way was there 
 any resemblance to Musgrove. This omnibus driver 
 was a noble-looking man, with a grandly-benevolent 
 face. Suddenly, I thought where Musgrove had been 
 — of the possibilities of the change in his character. I 
 believed it was Musgrove, transformed. As I murmured 
 this to myself, the sound of a bell, in my pocket, con- 
 firmed my thought. This was followed by a similar 
 one from the pocket of the thick overcoat of the 
 driver. 
 
 There was no longer any room for doubt. Turning 
 to the driver, I said : " Have you any objections to 
 telling me your name ? " 
 
 " None at all, Mr. Arthur Livingstone. Oh, don't 
 look surprised. The initiated ones of the Circle of 
 Light surely should know each other. I have been 
 longer in than you, and so recognized you at once. I 
 am, as you suspect, James Musgrove, ex-banker and 
 broker, late of Wall street, New York." 
 
 "But how did you become a 'bus driver? When I 
 saw you last, through the aid of Mortimer Mortimer, 
 you were in the garb of a monk, in a Himalayan 
 monastery, studying the scenes of your past life." 
 
 " And a tough study it was, too, my boy. Their 
 memory remains with me now, but they appear as the 
 acts of another individuality. How did I become a 'bus 
 driver ? Well, I wanted to begin in some walk of life 
 where I could shake off the last crust of selfishness 
 and hardness. I wanted to unload sixty years' ac-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 1 23 
 
 cumulations of acquired habits of preying on others, 
 and I thought I might, learn something in the way of 
 a new life by beginning to work with my hands. I 
 always did know how to drive. I picked out some- 
 thing hard and tough, as a kind of penance, you know. 
 I work, now, twelve and fourteen hours a day, and it 
 is doing me good. I shall begin as a cab-driver next 
 month. I am studying, in this post of observation, 
 the profound misery and wretchedness of the great 
 working masses of London. The tales of sorrow I 
 have heard told on the top of this 'bus have wrung 
 my heart. But I am learning, in this long exposure 
 and toil, some of the values of life. Just why I piled 
 up money wrung from people struggling around me, I 
 cannot now understand." 
 
 At the Mansion House I bade Musgrove good-bye. 
 
 " When am I to see you again ? " said I, as I began 
 to climb down the steps from my elevated seat. 
 
 " It is not necessary for us to make appointments," 
 said James Musgrove. " You and I are in the same 
 circle, and, for a time, will work together. The next 
 time you see me I shall be the driver of the cab 
 engaged by you, upon the eve of your change of occu- 
 pation and advancement in the service of light." 
 
 "When will that be?" 
 
 "You will know when the order comes. That will 
 be time enough." 
 
 James Musgrove, London omnibus-driver, still puff- 
 ing, with serene satisfaction, at the black Havana cigar, 
 now gravely saluted, as he turned to the right, in 
 response to the imperative foot-tapping of the conduc-
 
 124 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 tor, who bawled, " Liverpool Stytion a penny." In a 
 moment, his 'bus was lost in the traffic, while I sought 
 the underground, and made my way back to the west 
 end of the town, to my lodgings. 
 
 As I finish this paragraph, the globe lying upon 
 the desk sounds. Its surface begins to glow with 
 light. I see the faint shadow of the fair queen of the 
 Council of Ten looking kindly upon me. 
 
 The globe now tinkles with a more imperious note. 
 
 Does that mean that I am to write no more upon 
 this subject for the present ?
 
 125 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 JAMES MUSGROVE, THE CABMAN, DELIVERS AN ORDER 
 
 FOR A SFECIAL SERVICE TO BE PERFORMED 
 
 BY ARTHUR LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 When my pen dropped at the imperious sound, 
 noted in the last chapter, I thought I had, perhaps, 
 reached the conclusion of the record that I would, for 
 the present, be permitted to tell. 
 
 Three months have since elapsed, and the experi- 
 ences of that period are necessary to a complete expo- 
 sition of this preliminary record of The Disappearance 
 Syndicate. The last chapter I finished late in the 
 evening, in my writing-room, in my modest quarters in 
 Knightsbridge Road. Up to the time I had completed 
 the record of the story, as above written, I had made 
 some progress in my readings of the globe. Yet I had 
 by no means arrived at the power of clear seeing. It 
 was only at intervals that I could see anything in it ; 
 and then the visions were faint and hazy. 
 
 Upon the evening in question, mentioned in the last 
 chapter, the face of the fair lady of the Council of Ten 
 came to me. A year had elapsed since my visit to the 
 Central Station of Light, and this was the first time I 
 had seen the faintest trace of the one who had made 
 such an enduring impression upon me. It made my 
 heart throb with delight. It was the shadow of a
 
 126 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 promise that I might see her in reality. Her face in 
 the globe was evidence to me of my progress, although 
 the vision faded nearly as quickly as it appeared. 
 
 The globe glowed, after the vision faded, with a mystic 
 fire ; then there appeared to me the evidences of a 
 struggle within its mysterious depths, as if two mighty 
 forces were combining for a contest of life and death. 
 I received merely the impression of a deadly struggle, 
 but could not receive any information concerning it, 
 neither could I see any of the figures engaged therein. 
 Suddenly the globe became dark. I was moved to go 
 out into the street for a walk, to relieve myself from 
 the disappointment of the vain strivings to pierce its 
 hidden meaning. 
 
 It was a soft, gray light of early spring. I was in 
 evening dress, as I had come in from a call. I flung 
 on, hurriedly, a light top coat and lighted a cigarette 
 for a stroll in the park opposite my apartment. As I 
 set foot on the street, I saw a hansom cab drawn up in 
 front of the entrance. 
 
 The cabman saluted me, and then I recognized 
 James Musgrove, by the signals of the globe. He bent 
 down to me, with a cheerful smile, as he said : " Good 
 evening, Livingstone. I have been waiting for you." 
 
 " Waiting for me ? " 
 
 " Yes. You remember the last time you saw me I 
 told you you would next see me as a hansom cab 
 driver? " 
 
 " Do you like your present occupation ? " 
 
 " Well enough ; but let me come back to your busi- 
 ness, which is more important. You will also remem-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 127 
 
 ber that I said I would see you again when you would 
 be upon the eve of an advancement in the service of 
 
 light and of an entire change of occupation." 
 
 " Yes, I remember." 
 
 "Well, the time is arrived. Jump in the cab." 
 
 " To go where ? " 
 
 " Never mind. You should obey orders without 
 questions. If you doubt my authority as the bearer 
 of the order, ask your globe." 
 
 The globe in my pocket sounded clearly the sharp 
 ring of affirmation, and then, without a second of hesita- 
 tion, I entered the cab, and was driven with great 
 rapidity along the park to Piccadilly. When the cab 
 passed the Rothschild house, it whirled to the right 
 and plunged down in the direction of St. James' Palace. 
 We soon passed that into the open of the Mall, and 
 then pierced the gloom of the quarter to the southwest 
 of Buckingham Palace. Ten minutes' drive brought us 
 to a gloomy fortress of a mansion surrounded by high 
 brick walls, behind which were groups of trees, shadow- 
 ing deeply with their thick foliage the massive front of 
 the house, where not a single light appeared to in- 
 dicate living occupation. 
 
 As the cab stopped, Musgrove called through the top 
 of the cab : " You are to enter here, and alone. I will 
 wait for you until morning. If you need my help 
 in any way, summon me through pressing the globe 
 firmly in your hand as you call out my name. Your 
 courage, I think, will be equal to the situation you will 
 find inside that house." 
 
 " But how am I to enter ? Why am I going ? "
 
 128 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 " Enter, that is the order. Have faith and go ahead. 
 I am giving you the straight tip, and if you play it 
 right you won't get left." 
 
 The Wall street flavor of Musgrove's conversation 
 caused me to look sharply at him, as I stepped out of 
 the cab. There was a trace of the old Musgrove in 
 his face, while, at the same time, he showed great 
 excitement. 
 
 " Go ahead, my boy, and don't waste your time 
 staring at me." 
 
 Mechanically, I advanced to the grim gateway, and, 
 as I reached it, it opened silently. I entered, and, as 
 I cleared the passage-way, the gate closed with a clang, 
 and I heard the slide of a bolt in its socket. 
 
 I was now in the thick darkness of the garden. 
 Turning for a last look at Musgrove, I saw him sitting, 
 erect and grim, upon his box, puffing away at a cigar, 
 without a trace of his former anxiety. In the darkness 
 of the garden, I was impressed with a sense of evil, 
 which I could not shake off. I advanced but a few 
 steps, when the darkness closed in behind me, shutting 
 off the light of the street, and the gate where I had en- 
 tered. The darkness was of an unusual character, as 
 it was absolutely impenetrable. I was exactly as if I 
 had become deprived of my eyes. 
 
 There was an awful silence with the blackness, that 
 deepened my impression of evil or misfortune. After 
 the first few steps, I hesitated ; but the thought came 
 to me, I was under orders, and was I to show weakness 
 at the first trial ? With this thought, I lifted my head, 
 although I could see nothing, and began to walk reso-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 129 
 
 lutch' forward. The darkness prevented me from 
 knowing in which direction I set my feet, and the soft 
 turf silenced my energetic footsteps. As I walked, tin- 
 gloom deepened, until it hung about me with the effect 
 of a weight. Occasional whispers came through the 
 blackness, faint puffs of air, and now and then a tremu- 
 lous action of the atmosphere, in the form of undulating 
 waves, passed over me. I grasped firmly the globe in my 
 right hand, and continued to advance. To my surprise 
 I met no obstacles, and stumbled over nothing, al- 
 though the view from the street had shown me a gar- 
 den crowded with shrubbery and trees. I walked as 
 freely as if I had been on a desert plain. 
 
 Suddenly I found myself at the main entrance to the 
 house. Dimly I could see its outlines. Here the door 
 opened silently, as had the gate, and I entered the 
 house. 
 
 I was now in a region of light sufficient for me to see 
 clearly. The interior was that of a palace, while the 
 furnishings were of an amazing luxuriance and rich- 
 ness, carried to the point of extreme lavishness. 
 
 I walked through suite after suite of apartments, un- 
 til I found my way into a great library chamber at the 
 back of the house. Here there were luxurious couches 
 and easy chairs ranged about a small center-table, upon 
 which was an inlaid steel disk. Upon the surface of 
 this disk there was a long, undulating needle, poised as 
 the needle of a compass. It was whirling constantly, 
 and with the rapidity of its movements the shifting 
 light upon its surface gave it the appearance of a tiny 
 serpent.
 
 130 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 In this room there was an atmosphere of sensuous- 
 ness that appealed to every instinct of my animal na- 
 ture. The rich and extravagant coloring of the room 
 and its furnishings, its perfumed atmosphere, the 
 gentle music that sounded as if from a distant sphere 
 as I entered, combined to capture and impress the 
 senses. 
 
 In the Central Station of Light, I entered an atmos- 
 phere of harmony and rest. Here, the atmosphere was 
 one of discord and unrest ; yet, one that fascinated and 
 enthralled. I sank, enervated and listless, upon one of 
 the easy couches near the center-table, and began to 
 lazily watch the needle as it moved to and fro. 
 
 My first thought, upon entering the house, was that 
 it might be one of the stations of the service of light. 
 The richness and the mystery were in keeping with 
 what I saw at the Central station, but the atmosphere 
 of relaxation and sensuous attraction showed me that 
 this was foreign to what I had seen and experienced 
 under the direction of Mortimer Mortimer. 
 
 But, before I had had a moment to question the 
 character of my surroundings, the tapestries at the far 
 end of the room parted, and there entered a gracious, 
 slim man, of an extremely youthful appearance. He was 
 blue-eyed, with a clear complexion, and such regular 
 features, such full, ripe lips, such white teeth, and such 
 fine, silky blonde hair, as to suggest the fair features of 
 a beautiful woman. He was in evening dress, and 
 came forward to greet me, as I arose, with the easy 
 courtesy of an accomplished man of the world. 
 
 " I thank you for the honor of this visit," said he.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 131 
 
 "Your name I know very well, as one of England's 
 most brilliant writers. My name is Ronald Hapgood." 
 
 " Are you the master of this house ? " 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " Why am I here at this hour of the night? I offer 
 no apology for my call, but seek the explanation of 
 my coming from you, as I am not here of my own 
 volition." 
 
 " I suppose not. This is not a mysterious place. It 
 is a rival shop, if I may use that term, of the one con- 
 trolled by your friend, Mortimer Mortimer, the prince 
 of humbugs." 
 
 " Why do you call him the prince of humbugs ? " 
 
 " Because he seeks, continually, the impossible, and, 
 by his will and power to create illusions, deludes nu- 
 merous people into following him with a credulity 
 that does not hesitate even at the sacrifice of their 
 personal fortunes." 
 
 " But in what way does this prove him a humbug ? 
 He aims only to do good." 
 
 " Yes; but the people who have such aims are always 
 tiresome and impractical. Neither he nor any set of 
 men are strong enough to bring about the millennium. 
 Why should any one do good ? Why should any one 
 seek to be any better than nature has created him ? " 
 
 " Because there is no true happiness to be found 
 otherwise." 
 
 " Well, let us see about that. I belong to an asso- 
 ciation of individuals who live for the life we know. 
 We are shrewd observers, and keep very close to this 
 earth, although we have nearly the same amount of
 
 132 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 scientific knowledge at our disposal that is at the com- 
 mand of Mortimer Mortimer and his followers. Now, 
 you will concede that the universal quest in this world 
 is happiness; is it not ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well, the world is old enough to have learned a few 
 lessons. If only happiness was to be found in doing 
 good, do you not suppose that the natural shrewdness 
 of mankind would, by this time, have taught them this 
 lesson ? " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Why is it that man is given a nature that is in- 
 stinctively opposed to so-called good, as outlined by 
 Mortimer Mortimer? Let us admit, for a moment, his 
 theory of another life, and an overruling power. If 
 there is an overruling power of infinite goodness, why is 
 it that men are endowed with natures that constantly 
 impel them in the direction of the so-called opposite ? " 
 
 " It is not for me to question the wisdom of creation. 
 I only know that I have found no such happiness as I 
 have experienced since I have begun to work upon the 
 side of the good." 
 
 "You are of a dreamy, poetical nature, and I daresay 
 that, for the time being, you are content. But have 
 you ever really tested your own nature? Have you 
 fought for the cause of the good, as you call it ? Have 
 you ever made one real sacrifice for it ? Have you 
 endured pain or ignominy for its sake ? With you 
 it is an abstract sensation. As Mortimer Mortimer 
 has presented himself and his associates to you, he has 
 made every appeal to the love of refinement and
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. I 33 
 
 beauty in your nature ; but are you sure you are really 
 changed by your contact with him ? What do you sec 
 in the globe which you carry about with you, that any 
 person with hypnotic tendencies and some imagination 
 cannot see ? " 
 
 "You speak of things I cannot discuss with you." 
 
 " Pardon me, I am not questioning you. I know 
 what I am talking about. For a long time I was a fol- 
 lower of Mortimer Mortimer. I was advanced in what 
 he was pleased to call the service of light. I am as 
 great an electrical and hypnotical expert as he. But, 
 in the end, the disciple differed from the prophet, and 
 I was expelled from the society." 
 
 " In what did you differ ? " 
 
 " As to the motives and objects of the society. 
 Mortimer had, with his skill and administrative ability, 
 built up a power and a reserve that would have justi- 
 fied his seizing the control of all the actual govern- 
 ments of the world. But he would not. He was con- 
 tent with indirect power. I was not. I also aimed to 
 supplant him. But I did not succeed ; but, to-day, I 
 have a more powerful society than he ; at least it is 
 the equal of his, and I mean to contend with him for 
 supremacy." 
 
 " But what are your objects ? " 
 
 "To cultivate the theory, and sustain it against 
 all comers, that men should follow out the law of the 
 natures given them. Whatever nature wills them to 
 do, let them do it, in so far as they can, without com- 
 promising their own comfort or safety. In other 
 words, the doctrine of absolute selfishness. Who, do
 
 134 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 you suppose, has, to-day, the greater number of fol- 
 lowers? " 
 
 "You have, undoubtedly." 
 
 " And will have unto the end of all things. Look 
 at the history of the countless ages, and you will 
 find human nature unchangeable. Its tendencies are 
 always the same. It is strangely made up of contra- 
 dictory elements of unselfishness and selfishness, but 
 the latter prevails and always will prevail. Any man 
 of practical common sense should know that. What a 
 stupid place this earth would be, if we were all arrived 
 at what your friend, Mortimer Mortimer, would call the 
 ideal state. Then there would no longer be any work 
 left to be done by the Council of Ten. It is the very 
 imperfections of the world that make it interesting." 
 
 " Why have you invited me here to tell me all 
 this ? " 
 
 " Well, I am going to be frank with you. You are 
 Mortimer Mortimer's most promising proselyte. I am 
 going to try and win you over to my side." 
 
 " Impossible ! " 
 
 " Don't say that. Look over my case first. Let us 
 take all the extreme phrases of modern speech in going 
 over the situation. Let us suppose Mortimer Mor- 
 timer an angel of light and I the devil of darkness, you 
 must concede I arn a gentlemanly devil and entitled to 
 a fair hearing." 
 
 " Go on." 
 
 " Well, give me the same attention you did Mortimer 
 Mortimer. Look as intently at what I can show you as 
 you did at the pictures in the Central Station of Light,
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 1 35 
 
 and then decide who has the better collection. If your 
 convictions are not firm enough, or your courage great 
 enough, to face temptation to pursue an opposite direc- 
 tion from the one you are now following, then you will 
 only prove my theory concerning human nature and 
 raise my estimate of your prudence. If you are so 
 enchanted with your present system for cultivating hap- 
 piness, surely nothing I can show, or ever offer, can 
 have the slightest influence over you." 
 
 " I do not fear your influence." 
 
 " I like that. You have courage. Are you willing 
 to look over my claims to superiority ? " 
 
 " I am here through the orders of my superiors. I 
 know it is through their will that I am in your society. 
 So I am free to accept your challenge to move me 
 from my present position." 
 
 At this Ronald Hapgood clapped his hands with 
 delight, and looked so humanely pleased and boyish in 
 his pleasure, that it was difficult to imagine him an 
 evil person and an advocate of the doctrine of perfect 
 selfishness as the best means to be employed to secure 
 perfect happiness.
 
 136 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RONALD HAPGOOD EXERTS THE FULL POWER OF THE 
 
 CENTRAL STATION OF DARKNESS TO MAKE ME 
 
 A DESERTER FROM THE SERVICE OF LIGHT. 
 
 My temporary host now said : " There is no use of 
 our being too serious about this matter. I am not very 
 hospitable in treating you to nothing but mere talk and 
 argument." 
 
 With this, he clapped his hands, and there entered 
 several Indian servants, who quickly moved up a table 
 near the one where the needle was ever revolving. 
 Three chairs were placed about the table, and then the 
 dishes of a light repast, flanked by several bottles of 
 dry champagne, were brought in. Hardly was the first 
 bottle opened, than the tapestries again parted, and 
 there entered a lady, young, beautifully dressed in a 
 black evening dress, who advanced with only a slight 
 salutation, and seated herself in the third chair. 
 
 Her beauty was startling ; for, in addition to the 
 charms of a great physical beauty, there was the addi- 
 tional charm of a refined and cultivated mind, shown in 
 the expression of the face and in the clear light of the 
 dark, full-lidded eyes, arched by absolutely perfect eye- 
 brows. Her clear, straight nose, her perfect mouth, 
 and delicate, oval chin, would have enchanted any 
 artist ; while the blue-black of her luxuriant hair, the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 1 37 
 
 snowy whiteness of her teeth and the delicate, creamy 
 tint of her complexion testified to the lavishness of 
 Nature. Her evening dress showed the contours and 
 form of a young woman enjoying the perfection of 
 health; while there was an atmosphere about her of 
 radiant vitality, which would have made a much uglier 
 person attractive. 
 
 She looked at me with the frankness of a man look- 
 ing at a brother, and slightly inclined her head, upon 
 which shone a glittering diamond star, as my host intro- 
 duced me to her. 
 
 " Lady Somers," said he, " another one of the re- 
 jected disciples of Mortimer Mortimer." 
 
 I looked at her intently and inquiringly as he said this. 
 
 " Yes," said she, with a mysterious smile. " I sat for 
 one day in the Council of Ten, but I found it too 
 stupid and — well, Hapgood can tell you the rest." 
 
 Then, with an easy air of languid indolence, she 
 caught up a Venetian glass filled with champagne, and 
 drank the foaming beverage at one draught. Her sigh 
 of pleasure, and the lighting of her somber eyes, spoke 
 volumes for her pleasure-loving nature. 
 
 Hapgood noted my earnest gaze at our fair compan- 
 ion, as he said : " I do not think you will find it so dull 
 with us. You will find in our group the ablest and 
 most interesting people in London. If you, with your 
 refinement and love of beauty, find with us anything 
 to shock or annoy you, then I shall give up all claim 
 upon you." 
 
 As he said this, in a gentle, wheedling way, the hand 
 of Lady Somers stole into mine under the cloth and
 
 138 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 gave me a kindly pressure. Her hand gave me a feel- 
 ing of sympathy and consideration that ran through 
 my veins like fire. Her eyes seemed to say to me : 
 " Do not yield, but stand firm " ; and I must confess 
 that this attitude of hers tempted me more than would 
 have the persuasive pleadings. 
 
 To avoid the trouble occasioned by this touch of 
 apparent sympathy, I turned to Hapgood and said : 
 " Why do you bother at all about me ? I am not of 
 sufficient importance. I am as nothing in the councils 
 of Mortimer Mortimer." 
 
 " It is not a matter I care to explain, beyond the fact 
 that I oppose Mortimer Mortimer at every point, and 
 I hope, before many years have passed, to be able to 
 break the power of his syndicate." 
 
 " But how can you contend against him ? He must 
 know all your plans." 
 
 " To a certain extent, that is true; but, while he can 
 witness, at a distance, the acts of his opponents, he 
 cannot pierce behind the wall of our separate indi- 
 vidualities, and read the secrets of our minds against 
 our will. We have the same weapons that he has. We, 
 too, can see what he is doing. When you are of us, I 
 will show you how it is all done. I will give you a globe 
 that will give you something besides gray, hazy sug- 
 gestions of a possible something." 
 
 " When I am of you ? That can never be." 
 
 " Well, we will see. It would not be polite to con- 
 tradict you. I think you will find us more friendly 
 and companionable than your present friends, whom 
 you never see and may never see again. Is not Lady
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 1 39 
 
 Somers as beautiful as your Lady Flora of the Council 
 of Ten ? " 
 
 " Lady Flora ? " 
 
 " Yes ; she is one of the ladies in waiting upon the 
 Queen. She is fond of fads, and has a great influence 
 with the Sovereign. She was a great capture for Morti- 
 mer Mortimer. But you need never expect she will 
 look at you. She is absorbed in the ideal. She really 
 believes that the reform of the world is possible." 
 
 I looked inquiringly at Lady Somers. She said, with 
 easy frankness : " Lady Flora is easily the most beau- 
 tiful woman ever seen in London. You may praise her 
 as much as you will, and I will concede the truth of all 
 you say ; but she is cold and passionless, a natural-born 
 nun. She has never been in love with any one, not 
 even herself, and if she were not in the service of Her 
 Majesty, would never be seen in society at all. Mr. 
 Livingstone, you are following a poetical idea in wor- 
 shiping her." 
 
 I shrunk back at this personal application, but Lady 
 Somers continued, unmoved : " We discuss everything 
 in this house as it is, without apology or phrase. We 
 know you are hopelessly in love with her, and, through 
 this infatuation, Mortimer Mortimer will be able to 
 lead you to a perfect slavery of service. Now, for your 
 own comfort and pleasure, you had much better fall in 
 love with me." Here she gave me openly her hand, and 
 looked straight into my eyes. " I know how to amuse 
 and interest men of your dreamy, poetical type. I 
 will promise to love you, if you will engage to never 
 talk to me about reforming the world. Make love to
 
 140 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 me, and earn the right to my favorable consideration 
 by your devotion, and then we will face the world as it 
 is, and hunt for the little pleasure there is to be found 
 in it, among the practical things of life, such as is this "; 
 here she lifted a glass of champagne, and after touch- 
 ing it to her lips, pressed it to mine, as she continued : 
 "instead of among the impractical idealities of life, that 
 one never finds among sensible people, who actually 
 rule and control the world about them." 
 
 I looked at the author of this cynical little speech, 
 and found upon her beautiful face such an engaging air 
 of frankness and seeming friendliness, that I could not 
 conceal my artistic appreciation of so much surface 
 beauty. 
 
 The supper was now ended. Lady Somers took my 
 arm, and we followed our host into a spacious gallery, 
 behind the tapestries, at the right of the room into 
 which I had first entered. What had taken place was 
 interesting ; but a mere agreeable companionship could 
 hardly be considered as having risen to the dignity of 
 a temptation. 
 
 Lady Somers was too much of a woman of the world 
 to overdo any part. On her way across the room, she 
 said : " I have advised you to fall in love with me, but 
 the advice is not good. I might return your love for 
 a short time. I do not know, but I am certain it 
 would not be for long, and, as you are a good fellow, 
 who does not make too heroic a parade of his virtues, 
 I give you this last piece of advice as the only really 
 friendly suggestion I shall make to you while you are 
 in this house."
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 141 
 
 I looked down at my companion with friendly 
 gratitude and admiration. She was divinely beautiful, 
 and it was impossible to believe that, if she had ever 
 been affiliated with the Council of Ten, she could have 
 been retired through any unpardonable fault of her 
 own. Surely, some day she would be taken back. 
 The virtues that had led to her advancement still 
 existed. The charm of a daring intellectuality shone 
 in her face. 
 
 As I looked at her, she said : " I am sure, if it were 
 not for Lady Flora, you would already be on the high 
 road of falling in love with me." 
 
 It was an odd thought in my mind that I should be 
 inspired in my devotion to the highest good by one 
 beautiful woman, and now have my thoughts turned, 
 for the moment, in an opposite direction by another 
 beautiful woman, of an equal, if not superior, intel- 
 lectual qualification. But, while I was agreeably im- 
 pressed for the moment, I found in Lady Somers only 
 the charm that is ever found in the society of an ac- 
 complished and beautiful woman of the world. As I 
 walked with her, I could not help comparing the lofty 
 purity of Lady Flora's face with the easy, gracious 
 worldliness of my companion. 
 
 It occurred to me, as I entered the large, studio-look- 
 ing chamber, which was most brilliantly lighted, that 
 the service I was asked to perform in this house was of 
 a most peculiar character. It was odd to ask me to 
 visit two worldly people, who did not appear to be any 
 too much in earnest in their arguments to persuade me 
 to leave the service of light and join them.
 
 I42 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 If I were to be confronted with no more dangerous 
 temptations than the easy-going arguments of Hap- 
 good and the indifferent talk of Lady Somers, I would 
 be entitled to very little credit for strength of character 
 in resisting them. 
 
 In this next room, Hapgood motioned me to a seat 
 in the center of the room, flanked by two comfortable 
 chairs. " Come," said he, " you sit down here by me ; I 
 will show our world in action. I can, perhaps, show 
 you as interesting pictures as did Mortimer Mortimer." 
 
 As he spoke, an attendant wheeled forward from a 
 corner a large glass screen, bordered by an ornate and 
 heavy scroll-work frame. Back of the screen was hung 
 a black curtain, which shut off all reflected light from 
 the surface of the glass. This screen was wheeled in 
 front of the three chairs. I seated myself in the center. 
 Hapgood was at my right and Lady Somers was at my 
 left. His voice now took on the caressing notes of an 
 affectionate friend ; Lady Somers leaned upon my 
 chair, until her warm breath fanned my cheek, while 
 the gentle perfume of her raven-black hair whipped 
 my now half-awakened senses, stimulated from the first 
 by the force of the radiant vitality of this exquisitely 
 indifferent lady, who stood, apparently, upon the line 
 between the two lines of life. 
 
 A dashing air, full of life, played by an unseen 
 orchestra of artists, brought my pulse up to fever- 
 beats, as a series of pictures began to unfold upon the 
 screens. 
 
 It is possible that my former self, for a long time 
 relegated to a position of sub-consciousness, now
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 143 
 
 struggled for supremacy, In no other way can 1 ac- 
 count for the feeling of delight at the pictures which 
 represented pleasure, luxury, power, in all the varying 
 forms of the most artistic and munificent selfishness. 
 Throughout this splendid imagery there was not the 
 faintest touch of self-denial or of a desire to benefit 
 others. As these representations of power and pomp 
 and pleasure passed before me, I felt a sensation of 
 ambition and a thirst for power which I thought 
 foreign to me. 
 
 I first noticed this change in myself in gazing upon 
 the scene of a battle where thousands of men were 
 portrayed rushing at each other, in a mad desire to 
 commit murder. 
 
 "Actually, I have hopes of you," said Hapgood. 
 " You can take pleasure in seeing a pack of fools try 
 to make away with each other. You'll be on the same 
 basis with us the moment you reach the conclusion 
 that mankind is made up of a mass of fools, not worth 
 saving, and that the only real pleasure in life is the 
 exercise of power. This knowledge is, to-day, in the 
 hands of the few wise people, who show their wisdom 
 by guarding their interests against all comers. This life 
 is the only thing we know anything about. Grasp a 
 certainty in preference to a shadowy illusion. The so- 
 called good is a weak force, at best. It works inter- 
 mittently, and never with the resistless, unwearying 
 force of human selfishness. Perfect selfishness is the 
 true secret of power." 
 
 Hapgood was now silent. A slight turn of my head 
 showed that he was gone. Now a scene of beauty and
 
 144 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 of love was disclosed upon the scene. As I looked 
 upon the gracious forms which waved and beckoned 
 before me, the soft arms of my companion stole around 
 my neck, and her beautiful face, now pillowed upon 
 my breast, murmured words of endearment. 
 
 As I slowly turned towards Lady Somers, her in- 
 fluence ceased. Between my face and hers, there 
 extended a fair, white hand. As I lifted my head, to 
 trace the source of this intervention, I saw, for a fleet- 
 ing moment, the vision of Lady Flora; and, at the 
 sight of her face, the warm blood changed to ice in 
 my veins. Had I no more strength than this to resist 
 temptation ? I felt for the globe in my pocket. It 
 was gone. 
 
 At the thought of its loss, I sprung to my feet. 
 
 Lady Somers regarded me cynically. 
 
 " You are right," said she, " I should have despised 
 you if you had yielded ; but you have lost, after all. 
 You are outside, now, of the circle of light. For to 
 half yield is as deadly an offense, in their eyes, as if you 
 had crossed the line completely. More than this, you 
 are not entitled to the credit, for not passing clear 
 across the line. It was my successor in the Council 
 of Ten who interposed; so, if you are saved,, and after- 
 wards taken back to the service of that tiresome circle, 
 why, you need not take any credit to yourself." 
 
 I bowed, in all humility, as I said : " There is no 
 man vain enough, nor brave enough, to combat against 
 the intellect and the beauty of such a woman as you. 
 If I escape without any of the honors of the struggle, 
 I am only too well pleased. Now that I have recov-
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 145 
 
 ered, to a certain extent, my ordinary vision, I can see 
 that you are simply making sport of me." 
 
 " Even a poet has an occasional gleam of seeing 
 clearly," said Lady Somers. " Pardon me for my im- 
 pertinent attempt to interfere with the plan of your life." 
 
 With this, she walked out of the room, with as 
 cheerful and as brisk an air as if she had been actuated 
 by the loftiest of motives. 
 
 It was now light in the room again, but the light was 
 a luminous green, shimmering with a sense of ani- 
 mosity. Yet I felt no fear. I said to myself : if I have 
 shown weakness in the face of one temptation, I shall 
 at least hope to redeem myself by courage in the face 
 of danger. 
 
 With the stimulus of this thought, I turned, and 
 sought the room where I had first met Hapgood. I 
 entered this room without obstacle, although, as I 
 crossed its threshold, I felt a shock from the magnetic 
 needle, ever playing upon the polished dial of the 
 center-table. 
 
 Here I found a new group, all men, seated in a row. 
 They faced me as judges, and, before I was fully con- 
 scious, I was seized and bound, and placed upon the 
 huge table, alongside the central dial. 
 
 My judges wore masks, and the long robes of in- 
 quisitors. As soon as I was placed upon the table, I 
 became the subject of a discussion of a purely scientific 
 character. I was treated as a subject of a scientific 
 experiment about to be made. 
 
 The leader in the group, beneath whose mask hung 
 a long, white beard, opened the discussion : " I have
 
 146 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 long held," said he, "that mere good or evil in one 
 depends largely upon the mechanical construction of 
 the brain. Certain brain formations turn instinctively 
 in the direction of crime, or what society has been 
 taught to regard as wrong. Now, I propose to operate 
 upon this subject before me, who has been treated by 
 a benevolent association of scientists, until he has be- 
 come weak, nerveless, and incapable of any expression 
 except that of sympathy and kindness. To this de- 
 grading position in the human scale has he been forced 
 by one Mortimer Mortimer. Of him he has made a 
 poet. Now, instead of destroying him, as Hapgood 
 advises, I propose to make him over into an assassin, 
 an emissary of this society, armed with a will to fulfill 
 all its mandates, in our building up of power. Those 
 who oppose us shall not live. This man can be taught 
 even to strike down Mortimer Mortimer. For, what is 
 human nature but what is created through association 
 and brain impressions. I pass beyond the years re- 
 quired to produce these impressions, and, by electrical 
 power, in a short time, shall stimulate the particular cells 
 of the brain necessary to develop my idea, and I shall 
 thereby produce a man who will obey my will, as my 
 right hand. Of what use is it to seek to rival the 
 creative force, when we can utilize its results thus laid 
 at our hand." 
 
 As he finished his prelude, he picked up an elec- 
 trical appliance attached to a battery, and advanced 
 towards me as he summoned several attendants. 
 
 " Shave his head," said he, " so as to leave bare the 
 points of attack. I will begin at the base of the skull
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 147 
 
 and destroy, at first, all sensation of humanity, the love 
 of mankind." 
 
 I shrieked with horror at the advance of the 
 attendant. 
 
 No torture of a physical character could have rung 
 from me such a cry. There was an instant response 
 at the door. James Musgrove entered. He walked 
 quickly up to the table, and, with a quick, deft touch, 
 unbound me and placed me on my feet. He turned 
 to the assembled inquisitors, who now stood in a circle 
 about us, advancing threateningly. 
 
 " It is no go," said he ; " I am not afraid of you. 
 You have no power to injure me, and my friend here is 
 under my protection." With this, he drew from his 
 pocket the globe — the same in character as the one 
 which I had lost. As he raised it, it flashed an angry 
 fire, and the dark circle of enemies fell prostrate, as if 
 paralyzed by a powerful shock. 
 
 Holding the globe in his upright hand, Musgrove, 
 catching me by the arm, said: "Come, it is time to get 
 out of this. You have had a new and interesting experi- 
 ence, and, for the present, you have been tried enough." 
 
 " But," said I, " I have forfeited my rights of protec- 
 tion. I have wavered under the influences of this 
 house, and the proof of my weakness is found in the 
 fact that I no longer have the globe, which was given 
 me as the emblem of my membership of the service of 
 light." 
 
 "Feel in your pocket," said Musgrove, "before 
 you say any more." My right hand flashed into my 
 pocket in an instant, and there, oh, joy! I found my
 
 I48 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 
 
 emblem of membership. At my look of surprise, 
 Musgrove said : " This trial has been but a simple one, 
 and is only in the direction of developing your char- 
 acter. It has taught you the lesson that the circle 
 of light has opposed to it the circle of darkness, and 
 that the principal work of the circle of light is in seek- 
 ing to defeat the plans and evil works of the circle 
 which uses the weaknesses of human nature for the 
 extension of its power." 
 
 A moment later, we were outside of the house. It 
 was early morning. Musgrove's cab was still in waiting. 
 He drove me back hastily to my lodgings in Knights 
 bridge. As I entered my room, I found Musgrove's 
 prediction fulfilled. Upon the writing-desk of my sit- 
 ting-room there was a note addressed to me. It was 
 from Mortimer Mortimer. 
 
 This note, in brief and formal phrases, conferred 
 upon me the important office of chief of one of the sec- 
 tions of light, whose special duty was to watch and 
 guard against the evil influences of Ronald Hapgood 
 and Lady Somers, both deserters from the original 
 service of light. In this letter, I was told to devote my 
 entire attention to them, and to try and see if I could 
 not win them back to the cause which they had 
 deserted. To them and their influences could be 
 traced nearly all the great crimes of Europe. The 
 influence sent out from the station of evil is, at times, 
 strong enough to overcome, temporarily, the influence 
 of the station of light. 
 
 This episode closes the history of my preliminary ex- 
 periences in pursuit of The Disappearance Syndicate.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE SYNDICATE. 149 
 
 At some day in the future, I hope to be able to relate 
 some of the experiences of the position assigned to me 
 as chief of the section of light. I have had to employ 
 tireless energy and attention to counteract the evil in- 
 fluences of the circle dominated by Mr. Ronald Hap- 
 good, who occupies, to-day, before the world, the posi- 
 tion of editor of one of the most fashionable society 
 papers in London. 
 
 THE END.
 
 Senator Stanley's Story
 
 :o 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SENATOR STANLEY OUTLINES THE THREAD OF A 
 PECULIAR STORY. 
 
 I am a senator of the United States. A man who 
 has reached a position in this body, by fair means or 
 otherwise, has had much experience ; he certainly has 
 been through enough to kill all romance and senti- 
 mentalism of disposition. As a brother senator of 
 mine once said : " A man who reaches the Senate of 
 the United States has been chased and torn on the 
 way by bloodhounds, tramped over and tossed by wild 
 elephants to such an extent that nothing afterwards 
 can hurt him." This remark was brought out by a 
 question concerning an editorial in a leading New York 
 newspaper, which tore the character of my friend to 
 shreds, and held him up as an object of contumely 
 before its readers. 
 
 Possibly, my senatorial friend exaggerated the diffi- 
 culties along the path to the Senate, so as to properly 
 set off his own success in getting there, but there was 
 a touch of truth in his highly-colored and dramatic 
 picture of the road to the position of a senator. We 
 senators know that we are a class set apart. We are the 
 eighty-eight men who have captured the first prizes of 
 American politics, and it cannot be denied that we 
 always maintain the superiority of our positions.
 
 156 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 But I must not forget that I have a story to tell. I 
 have acquired a bad habit, in the Senate debates, of 
 rambling at will when engaged in a discourse, and it is 
 difficult for me to harness myself down to the straight 
 way of a succinct narrative. From a friend, a successful 
 writer, I have learned the following rule for telling a 
 story ; it is : Begin at the beginning and stop when 
 you have finished. 
 
 This looks like a simple rule, but I find it will re- 
 quire some practice to follow it absolutely. I shall 
 begin with myself, in this very peculiar story which I 
 have to tell. To make it understood, I am obliged to 
 say something about my character and position. First, 
 I am fifty-five years of age. My wife is dead ; I lived 
 with her twenty years. She has now been dead five 
 years. She was a quiet, self-contained woman, not 
 given to much talk. Our marriage was a happy one 
 as marriages go. She was a faithful wife, and I was a 
 reasonably faithful husband. I never dreamed an old 
 man's foil}- of trying to replace her. I have two sons, 
 both grown up, and in business in Denver. Both are 
 married. I have been alone for some time, but I find 
 there are worse things than that. I have lived for 
 many years in a house of my own at Washington. It 
 is a good, well-built house, roomy and complete in all 
 its appointments. It is in charge of a very wise, very 
 quiet and good-mannered colored man of middle life. 
 There is not a woman employed about the house. As 
 a consequence, my house is always quiet and in a good 
 state of discipline. My cook is an especially good one 
 and understands my simple tastes. I have had good
 
 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. I 57 
 
 health and an ample fortune. My position in the 
 Senate was assured. Up to a year ago, I knew I could 
 stay there as long as I wished, because there had been, 
 for a long time, no opposition to me in my State. I 
 was a welcome guest in every house of note in Wash- 
 ington. My ten odd years of social experience de- 
 veloped my powers of entertaining. I flatter myself 
 that I was not a dull companion at the dinner-table, 
 and I could endure a general reception with the 
 stoicism of a veteran. 
 
 You might think that life should have had for me 
 a look of cheerfulness, and that I should have been 
 contented to float down the stream of life to its 
 unknown and unknowable destination with some- 
 thing approaching contentment. Such contentment 
 was possible, but now that sentiment is past. How 
 mere physical comfort ceased to be a source of con- 
 tentment will be found by any one who is patient 
 enough to read what follows. Let me add one or 
 two more points about myself. All my busy life I 
 have been a materialist. In matters of religion, I 
 have said simply I do not know ; what appears to 
 be evidence to others of a future life has never ap- 
 pealed to my reason. I have always treated religion, 
 however, with great respect. I have always thought 
 it most unfortunate that there was not some high 
 court of appeal to settle disputed questions of religion ; 
 but as there is none, I have always regarded such dis- 
 cussions as idle and impracticable. In fact, I have 
 refused to bother my mind with them. In politics, I 
 have very positive convictions : but it is not necessary
 
 158 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 to say to which one of the great parties I belong. I 
 will merely add, that never in my great career have I 
 occupied a position on the fence. 
 
 I have a friend, Martin Reynolds, who is an old 
 school-mate. He is rich. He made his money in 
 railroad building. He was always a member of the 
 construction company. He is married, and has two 
 grown daughters, Mary and Florence. His wife is a 
 very dark, well-preserved brunette, who thinks her 
 husband is one of the greatest men this country has 
 yet produced. She is familiar with good society, to 
 which she is devoted. She is not brilliant nor par- 
 ticularly well informed, but she makes no blunders. 
 She does not have that unpardonable vice of some 
 Washington women of affecting an interest in politics. 
 The two daughters have a more pretentious educa- 
 tion, but still remain good, genuine, clean-minded 
 American girls. My friend Reynolds has retired from 
 railroad building and has settled down in Washington. 
 He has an amiable weakness for entertaining people 
 of high official position. He is a member of the 
 Metropolitan Club, and, thanks to his wife, is noted 
 for his good dinners and his entertaining. I, myself, 
 have never belonged to any club. I regard them 
 as mere social trades unions for the advancement of 
 those who are either socially or mentally feeble. 
 
 Reynolds' house is an old colonial one on Panorama 
 Heights in Washington. It is built in the solid fashion 
 of the early days, and is touched up with the light hand 
 and color of modern taste and comfort. Reynolds has 
 a good deal of time on his hands, and as he is very
 
 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. I 59 
 
 active, he has always been on the lookout for new 
 forms of entertainment. 
 
 One day, in April, I think it was near the middle, I 
 received the following note from him : " My dear 
 Senator : I have captured such an odd fish for a guest. 
 He is a Hindoo fakir. No, perhaps I should not call 
 him that ; I believe he calls himself an expert. He is 
 a great juggler. I have invited a few friends out to see 
 him this evening. He is going to give some tests of 
 his wonderful power. Be sure and come. 
 
 " Reynolds." 
 
 This note I received late in the afternoon, just be- 
 fore dinner. It came very opportunely. I was very 
 nearly in a temper. I had, practically, been called a 
 liar, in the brief space of one afternoon by, at least, 
 two members of the opposition, because I had tried to 
 tell the truth about a certain railroad scheme that was 
 slowly, but surely, wriggling its way through the 
 Senate. I had also found in my mail, upon my return 
 to the house, a scathing editorial of a distinguished 
 independent editor, calling the attention of the public 
 to my suspicious attitude in opposing this railroad 
 scheme. " Was the senator, or were his friends, bearing 
 the stock?" asked the editor ; "for we see no other 
 motive for his peculiar actions." To be called a liar 
 by two colleagues in one day, and then to be pointed 
 out as an object of suspicion by a leading editor, because 
 I was really trying to do my duty, were enough to dis- 
 turb even my philosophy. But this note, and the 
 prospect of a pleasant evening, made me forget my 
 annoyances.
 
 l6o SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 I knew, at Reynolds' house, I should see pleasant 
 people, and if the visit included some curious diversion 
 by the Hindoo, his special guest, why, so much the 
 better. If I could have foreseen the result of that visit, 
 I would have fled to the opposite end of the earth 
 before I would have gone. In calm ignorance of any- 
 thing, but the prospect of an agreeable evening of 
 ordinary social converse, I prepared, soon after an 
 early six o'clock dinner, to go out.
 
 i6i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SEANCE OF THE HINDOO ADEPT AT REYNOLDS' HOUSE. 
 
 I drove from my house, on Massachusetts avenue, 
 out on the wide and spacious Sixteenth street, over the 
 hill. In twenty minutes from the time I left my house, 
 I was alighting at my friend's door. I paused for a 
 moment under the old-fashioned porch, supported by 
 four solid gray granite pillars, before ringing the bell. 
 The air was very sweet and moist. The odor of the 
 spring was heavy upon the languid atmosphere. In 
 the west, great blue-black clouds were slowly moving 
 forward with flashings of lightning playing in and out 
 of their huge masses. The color of the bank of advanc- 
 ing clouds, under the play of the lightning, ran through 
 a brilliant scale, from faint azure-gray tones, to royal 
 purple and then densely blue-black. The stillness of 
 the air was broken, occasionally, by short, sharp gusts, 
 flying messengers in advance of the approaching storm. 
 I stood for a moment lost in reverie, gazing upon the 
 majestic spectacle, when the sound of voices within the 
 house recalled me to myself, and I rang the bell, after 
 dismissing my carriage. 
 
 I found the lower part of the house well lighted. It 
 was now nearly half-past eight. The guests were 
 gathered about a very distinguished-looking man, of 
 the Oriental type. They were assembled in the library-
 
 1 62 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 room, at the right of the main hall. In the group 
 about him, I recognized Reynolds, his wife, their two 
 daughters, the Secretary of State and his wife, the 
 Secretary of the Navy, and his keen, intellectual, 
 cynical-looking daughter, three or four senatorial friends, 
 and several members of the diplomatic colony. 
 
 I give this group merely to indicate the stage-setting 
 about the scene where Ram Chunder, the Hindoo ex- 
 pert, and I were soon to play the principal parts in what 
 you may call comedy or tragedy, as you please. 
 
 The East Indian wore the conventional evening dress 
 of polite society. He appeared, to me, to be about 
 fifty years of age. He was tall, with a thin, spare 
 figure. His head was long, and broad at the top. 
 His hair was a short grizzled gray, nearly as white as 
 his turban, the only bit of Oriental dress retained by 
 him. His face was angular, and deeply lined with 
 the strokes that character and experience alone can 
 stamp upon the human countenance. His eyes were 
 dark, and deep set, glowing with a subdued fire, an 
 inner light rather than an outward sparkle. His 
 nose was a fierce hook, with a broad base. His 
 mouth was thin-lined, very firm in its outlines, and, 
 partly, hidden by a drooping gray mustache, which 
 shaded into a spiky beard of a lighter tint. In his 
 shirt bosom there was a small emerald, which glowed 
 in the light with, apparently, more expression than 
 was visible in its owner's eyes. His long, slim, dark- 
 brown hands were devoid of ornament, except for a 
 great opal, set in a solid gold band, and worn upon 
 the middle finger of the left hand. This left hand
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 1 63 
 
 rested lightly upon a round oaken center-table, which 
 had been stripped bare of ornaments, books, and 
 cover, for his use. 
 
 I found the company so absorbed in some mysterious 
 source of excitement that my entrance was hardly 
 noticed. Reynolds presented me in half a word to 
 Ram Chunder, as I made a sweeping general bow to 
 the company, all of whom were known to me. The 
 Oriental made a profound impression upon me. He 
 was seated as the host introduced me. The expert did 
 not rise, and he scarcely bowed, yet his manner gave 
 me the impression of a very subtle and penetrating 
 courtesy. A slight sensation of fear, incomprehensible 
 and unexplainable, stole over me as I met his look. 
 His figure appeared to radiate a sense of great power. 
 Burke says that all ideas of power are associated in the 
 minds of men with ideas of fear. I am not an imagina- 
 tive man. I am not even nervous. I had never seen 
 a man who could produce upon me the sensation of 
 fear until I saw this Hindoo expert. In his presence, 
 for a moment, I felt as must a raw, young trooper feel 
 when first a gleaming bayonet in the hands of a 
 vigorous enemy darts towards his breast. There was 
 the same faintness of the stomach and the shiver along 
 the spine. These sensations were so wonderful to me 
 that I was quite content to sit down and ask no ques- 
 tions concerning the strange scene which was being 
 enacted in this great circular room. 
 
 A silent conversation was going on between Ram 
 Chunder and those about him. As an evidence of the 
 peculiar power of an expert, he had said that he would
 
 164 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 engage in a mental conversation with those present. 
 Questions were to be asked mentally by individuals, in 
 turn, and his answers were to be made by flashing a 
 reply upon the consciousness of the questioner. This 
 test had just begun when I entered. The Secretary of 
 State had been favored with the first mental conversa- 
 tion. The Secretary was an amiable, consequential, 
 old gentleman, described by a friend as a man whose 
 mind went to sleep at three o'clock every afternoon. 
 He had listened to the explanation of what was re- 
 quired of him, with an easy, vacuous look. There was 
 a silence as Ram Chunder dwelt upon the importance 
 of the questioner keeping his mind absolutely upon the 
 subject of the inquiry made. There was such a pos- 
 sibility of delusion in the whole thing. How could 
 one know whether the mental question was really an- 
 swered ? was asked by several. Said Ram Chunder : 
 " That you can only know by experiment. You will 
 have no doubt when the answer comes that it is the 
 real answer and from me." Then he added, quietly : 
 " As a storm will soon burst over this house that will 
 make ordinary talking impossible, you will find this 
 method of exchanging thoughts quite advantageous." 
 
 There were some further preliminaries to arrange. 
 It was agreed that the questioners should make a 
 record of the conversation. Each questioner was given 
 a pad of paper, with a pencil. The question was first 
 to be written, and then the answer was to be promptly 
 recorded. Where possible and agreeable, the records 
 were to be shown ; but I noticed that there was very 
 little heartiness in the approval of this proposal.
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 165 
 
 I would not have trusted, for a moment, this first ex- 
 periment to the lively imagination of the ladies present. 
 Their highly-sensitive organizations were strung up t<> 
 an unnatural tension — an atmosphere overcharged 
 with the electricity of the coming storm — and, stimu- 
 lated by an experiment of such an unusual character, 
 their powers of imagination might lead them into the 
 realm of delusion. But the Secretary of State had no 
 imagination. He could be safely trusted to lead off. 
 He began his questions with a most impassive face. I 
 almost knew, from the grave lines of his countenance, 
 that he was asking some serious diplomatic question. 
 I was wondering how a reply could be flashed upon 
 his feeble consciousness, when I heard the Secretary 
 give a chuckle of delight ; and then, after one or two 
 more seconds of silence, he waved his hand gracefully, 
 and said : " I am satisfied. I am more than satisfied." 
 
 I may as well add, right here, that I afterwards 
 talked with every one of the persons present upon this 
 eventful night, and they all agreed that their questions 
 were answered correctly. The Secretary of State con- 
 fessed with difficult}-. From the meager scraps I pulled 
 from him before my own experience began, I learned 
 that his conversation with Ram Chunder must have 
 run about as follows : 
 
 "Shall I ever see the beautiful, red-headed girl who 
 applied to me, the other morning, for amanuensis 
 work? " 
 
 "You certainly will. Red-headed girls in search of 
 work from statesmen, if given a little encouragement, 
 are very apt to call again."
 
 l66 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 " You think there is no harm in my taking a paternal 
 interest in her? She is so young, and she says she is 
 all alone in the world." 
 
 " Harm ? I think there is no more touching sight 
 in the world than the interest taken by weary, worn 
 men of affairs in young and good-looking women, how- 
 ever unfortunate and lonely in life they may be. It 
 shows that no experience of life is sufficient to quite 
 stamp out youthful freshness from the human heart." 
 
 I shall not report the details of the other conversa- 
 tions as I obtained them. I give that with the Secre- 
 tary of State, in order to gratify a very laudable 
 public curiosity to know some of the phases of the 
 workings of a great mind, and will pass directly to a 
 most serious conversation had between Ram Chunder 
 and myself. The others reported to me lighter sub- 
 jects of talk. Perhaps, if I had started the conversa- 
 tion with Ram Chunder, I might have had a different 
 experience. At the very instant it was my turn, there 
 came to me, as distinctly and clearly as if it had been 
 fairly shouted in my ear : " I have a message for you, 
 of the greatest importance." 
 
 Now, I quite despair of making clear just how this 
 sentence reached my mind. It came to me so posi- 
 tively that I drew myself up with all my senatorial 
 dignity, and said, mentally : "At your service." 
 
 I cannot explain just how, for the time being, I 
 surrendered my reason, and soon ceased even to won- 
 der. I cannot say that I believed in the man. I may 
 have thought that he had some peculiar power of pro- 
 ducing illusions. Something of this was in my mind,
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. l6j 
 
 when he said, mentally : " I see you do not believe in 
 me very much. You concede a certain peculiar ability, 
 but you really question my power to do anything not 
 explainable by known natural laws." 
 
 This came to me so clearly that, for the life of me, I 
 could not help nodding my head affirmatively. Then 
 it occurred to me that I was not fully exercising my 
 will against possible illusion. I was permitting my 
 now awakened imagination to gallop at a pace in keep 
 ing with the mad rush of the storm that was now dash- 
 ing against the house with great fury. I pride myself 
 upon my will. I set my teeth firmly, as I said to my 
 self: "Well, my black-faced friend, try your best to 
 humbug me. I give you permission." 
 
 " You defy my pow r er," came to me, as direct as if 
 from a telegraph instrument. 
 
 "Yes," was my mental reply. 
 
 Ram Chunder now turned and looked at Reynolds. 
 The host at once arose, stepped to the door, where he 
 called a servant to bring a glass of water and place it 
 in front of the expert. 
 
 Then Reynolds spoke. He said : " Ram Chunder 
 can converse, mentally, with but one at a time. To 
 save time, I will explain to you what he is going to do. 
 He is going to take this glass of pure water and give 
 you two illustrations of his power before continuing his 
 conversation with the senator. The first experiment 
 will be visible to you all, directly under the light of the 
 chandelier, where the glass stands. The second will be 
 very interesting. He will, without approaching the 
 water, or without touching, in any way, the table,
 
 1 68 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 change the harmless contents of the glass into the most 
 deadly poison." 
 
 Need I say that I was the most intensely interested 
 member of this group ? Why this parade of, what 
 appeared to be, supernatural power before giving me 
 my message ? 
 
 But, as I thought this, the expert raised the glass to 
 his lips and swallowed a draught of it to show its 
 harmlessness. 
 
 Then he placed the glass at a distance from him, 
 and, with his hands folded gracefully in his lap, he 
 looked steadfastly at the water. It was in a plain, cut- 
 glass goblet, devoid of ornament, heavy and clumsy in 
 its lines. There was now a lull in the storm. Each 
 one followed, earnestly, the gaze of the expert and 
 concentrated his attention upon the same object. The 
 silence was profound. 
 
 Faintly, now, there began to dawn, upon this clear 
 water, a pink glow. Then this glow deepened, until it 
 became the color of blood. A light shudder ran 
 through the circle at this mysterious change, and then 
 the solid color began to take form. Light places ap- 
 peared in the water, and, in a moment more, a great 
 red rose, full, velvety and fragrant, appeared upon its 
 surface ; perhaps the strangest part of this incident lies 
 in the fact that there was no surprise expressed at this 
 apparent miracle, although murmurs of admiration were 
 heard on all sides. Now the rose faded, and, again, in 
 another moment, the water became blood-red, paled, 
 and once more was as before. 
 
 A light-green vapor was now seen hovering over the
 
 IT PASSED STRAIGHT THROUGH THE CEILING, VANISHING INTO Till: 
 NIGHT." Pack 170.
 
 I70 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 glass. The water caught its reflection, and soon it 
 took on a tone that suggested a poison of the most 
 malignant character. I am not a superstitious man, 
 by heredity or training, but I would not then have 
 breathed the air hovering over this glass to have saved 
 my seat in the United States Senate. In a second, 
 almost, the vapor and color faded. The water was 
 clear again. Was it really poison ? 
 
 There was a secret signal from Ram Chunder ; Rey- 
 nolds went to the door, and again called to the servant. 
 The man entered the room five minutes afterwards, 
 bringing with him a purple dove, from a cote in the 
 rear of the house. Dazzled by being brought, sud- 
 denly, into the light, it stared, stupidly, about, and did 
 not flutter or struggle. 
 
 Obeying instructions, always given mentally, Rey- 
 nolds stepped forward and held the dove, at arm's 
 length, over the water, so that its head was not more 
 than an inch above the fluid. The water flashed an 
 angry green light, and in the instant the bird was dead. 
 Reynolds placed it, gently, upon the table, as he stepped 
 back, apparently stricken with fear. A blue vapor 
 floated over the bird a moment ; then, from the pros- 
 trate form there moved upward another bird, exactly 
 like the dead one in form and color, and passed straight 
 through the ceiling, vanishing into the hurry and roar 
 of the storm.
 
 i7i 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE SENATOR WITH THE 
 POWER OF THE ADEPT. 
 
 Ram Chunder now turned to me, and said : " Are 
 you satisfied that you are in the presence of unknown 
 forces ? " And, then, without waiting for my reply, he 
 bade me, in the silent language of which he was master, 
 to fix my gaze upon the glass of water. 
 
 From that moment my surroundings disappeared 
 from, what I shall call, for lack of a better term, my 
 normal vision. The room, the people, the table, every- 
 thing first became dim in the mist that ascended from 
 the glass, and then, in a moment, I was looking into 
 what seemed, to me, to be another world. I could not, 
 by any exercise of my will, change back to my preced- 
 ing condition. My body was as if I were dead. Only 
 the intelligence lived, and gazed out of the body as 
 from a frame, from which it might, at any moment, be 
 released, following, without question, the will of an all- 
 controlling master. 
 
 I saw the past unfold before me, like the leaves of 
 a book. Every incident of my life was repeated in a 
 series of flashing pictures. Notwithstanding the rapidity 
 of their lightning-like production, not a single detail 
 was lost to me ; my super-sensitized vision recorded 
 everything as sharply and as distinctly as if years had
 
 172 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. 
 
 been employed in presenting visions, instead of a brief 
 fraction of a second. 
 
 I assure you it is not agreeable to sit as a spectator 
 and see, so correctly, the incidents of one's past. No 
 illusion was possible. There was no cloud of personal 
 passion or prejudice to stand between me and them. 
 For the first time in my life, I was enabled to see things 
 exactly as they were. I had not supposed, up to that 
 time, that I was either better or worse than the average 
 man. But, as I sat in judgment upon myself, with the 
 clear record before me, I could not help being deeply 
 impressed by the intense selfishness and hopeless petti- 
 ness of it all. My loftiest ambitions looked very small 
 and unworthy. Any evidence of self-denial, any sacri- 
 fice for the good of another, did not appear. Often 
 some charitable act would come to the surface, but it 
 was always the result of mere idle good-nature, and 
 never represented any thought or sacrifice on my part. 
 
 Suddenly, the pictures ceased. A mist again swam 
 before my eyes. A voice, as from a distance, came to 
 me, saying : " Of what use has been your life ? Who 
 has been better for your living ? In what way has the 
 world been a gainer by your presence in it ? " 
 
 I am willing to confess that such questions addressed 
 to me, normally, under the ordinary natural conditions 
 of life, would not have bothered me. I would have 
 made most satisfactory replies to any such queries if 
 they had been propounded to me in the open Senate ; 
 but here it was different. 
 
 The questions pierced to my inner consciousness, 
 and appeared to compel, by some mighty power, the
 
 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. 1 73 
 
 exact truth in reply. My new vision made no reply 
 possible. I was crushed with the sense of the utter 
 and dire failure of my life. 
 
 Now, there came another change. The visions began 
 again. I was invited to project my consciousness into 
 the future. I had no will but to consent. I was borne 
 along upon a tide I could not resist. You cannot know 
 the hopeless horror of the thing. I felt myself a mere 
 waif in the hands of unseen and irresistible forces. My 
 mental pride was crushed. My physical courage was 
 gone. 
 
 From then on I saw nothing of individual freedom. 
 I was bound in strong fetters, and the end of my life 
 appeared so dark and so dismal that I will not here 
 dwell upon it, as I wish to make no appeal to any one's 
 sympathies. I will simply speak of the after-effects of 
 that evening. At the close of the conversation with 
 the expert, I was told that I had forfeited my right to 
 my own individuality through my selfish love of com- 
 fort, and that I must be prepared, at any moment, to 
 surrender that individuality to influences which would 
 make a better use of the opportunity afforded by my 
 position. 
 
 I went home in rather a dazed frame of mind.
 
 174 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TRANSFORMATION IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 
 
 The next morning the scene of the preceding even- 
 ing appeared like a dream. In fact, I could not con- 
 ceive, in the bright light of open day, in the quiet 
 serenity of my own house, how I could have been so 
 affected by the incidents of the evening before. My 
 mind was in a quiet state, and I turned to my morning 
 paper, and documents requiring attention, with more 
 than ordinary interest. I returned to my philosophical 
 frame of mind by saying to myself that things that are 
 not naturally explainable should be dismissed from all 
 consideration. 
 
 I went to the Senate chamber at an early hour. There 
 was to be a hearing before a committee, of which I was 
 a member. I do not now recall the question that was 
 pending ; the proceedings were of a routine character, 
 and no one there observed anything unusual about my 
 manner. I then remember going to the Senate cham- 
 ber, and there I listened, with more than ordinary 
 interest, to the opening prayer of the chaplain. He 
 appeared to direct his attention to me from the first. 
 There were only two or three members in the Senate 
 chamber, as few come in before the prayer is ended. 
 Some moral reflections in this good man's discourse 
 stirred, somewhere in my organization, a dull repetition
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 175 
 
 of the questions of the night before. What had I 
 really accomplished beyond achieving personal comfort 
 for myself ? 
 
 During the morning hour, I wrote letters. 1 dwell 
 upon the incidents of the morning because this was, 
 really, the last day of my normal life. It is not often 
 given to a man to witness the closing hours of his own 
 existence, and to be able to write, correctly, and in 
 his own person, the story of his departure from this 
 life. I did not go away in any ordinary sense, and no 
 one will be more surprised than my friends when they 
 come to read this assertion. 
 
 At fifteen minutes past two, on the day following my 
 visit to Reynolds' house, I rose to make a speech upon 
 a measure which had been pending before the Senate 
 for some time. It was a general proposition relating 
 to the proper government of the business affairs of the 
 various great railroad companies in their relations 
 to the public. According to the traditions of my 
 political career, I took, naturally, the strong side of the 
 corporations, and in this I was thoroughly in harmony 
 with the spirit which prevailed in the Senate of the 
 United States. I had not, however, openly, said that 
 the people had no rights in the matter, and that the 
 rights of the public should not be protected as against 
 the rights and claims of these corporations. My views 
 concerning the subject were well known. My whole 
 success in life had dated from early connections with 
 corporations. I had represented them before the Legis- 
 lature of my State, and in that body. Now, that I am 
 speaking with such frankness, I may as well add that I
 
 176 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 owed my election to the United States Senate to the 
 powerful influences of the corporations which have, for 
 years, controlled the political affairs of my State. 
 
 When I arose to speak, a little, blonde page darted 
 from in front of the presiding officer's chair with a 
 glass of water. I am a very deliberate speaker, and 
 not at all inclined to be eloquent. I belonged to 
 the class of modern statesmen who believe that facts 
 cannot be stated too clearly and too simply. They 
 discard adjectives, impassioned phrases, and studiously 
 adopt the conversational tone in presenting arguments. 
 I was never more deliberate than I was on this day. 
 It was warm, and, before speaking, I raised the glass 
 of water to my lips. As I did so, I involuntarily 
 glanced to the private gallery, where visitors of promi- 
 nence or fashionable ladies are to be found during 
 debates. It is natural for a speaker to wish to know 
 whether he has an audience or not. There were not 
 over a half-dozen ladies in the gallery. There was a 
 white spot in the farthest corner, shadowed by the 
 heavy ceiling, which attracted my notice. In an instant 
 I saw it was the white turban of the Hindoo expert. 
 There were, perhaps, twenty-five or thirty senators in 
 their seats. The debate on the bill had been led by 
 two or three senators who had not presented very 
 strong arguments. There was a trifle more than 
 ordinary interest in what I was going to say, because, 
 even now, I have left some remnant of pride concern- 
 ing my former manner of discussing public questions. 
 
 I began, " Mr. President." These were the last words 
 of any public address ever made by me. There was a
 
 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. \" 
 
 jar in my bod)', as if from some shock to its internal 
 mechanism, and then I was conscious of passing directly 
 out of my bod}', and had the extraordinarily odd sen- 
 sation of seeing this self-same body standing there, full 
 of life, occupied by some one else. The experience is 
 not a common one. I need not add that it was any- 
 thing" but a pleasing one. Here I was, changed, in the 
 twinkling of an eye, from a positive entity to an abso- 
 lute nonentity. My first impression was one of out- 
 rage. I turned and shouted at the expert. I roared 
 at him, shrieking with rage ; but, apparently, no sound 
 of my voice stirred the quiet tranquility of the Senate. 
 No one had observed the transformation. 
 
 After the first moment of shock, succeeded an angry 
 curiosity to know the result. I seated myself, deliber- 
 ately, in a vacant chair, near my old place, and 
 watched my material body go through the form of 
 making a speech. I was strangely critical. At last, 
 the power had been given me to see myself as others 
 saw me. I observed, with regret, that I had been care- 
 less in my shaving that morning. My hair needed 
 trimming, and my coat had not been properly brushed. 
 These superficial facts made the same impression upon 
 me that would be made by one looking into a mirror, 
 and were the evidences that I must have been more 
 than ordinarily disturbed during the morning. My 
 interest was not, at first, very great. My substitute 
 did not depart from my usual manner for a few 
 moments, but there was an unusual undertone of 
 earnestness in his thoughts, and every now and then I 
 saw a flash of fire in his eyes. This was a grave infrac-
 
 d*>* 
 
 HE WAS CONTENTING HIMSELF "WITH A CLEAR AND ANALYTICAL EXAMINATION 
 OF THE LAW IN QUESTION." Page 179.
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 1 79 
 
 tion of senatorial etiquette, and so I watched, carefully, 
 my successor to see whether these new features were 
 attracting attention. He had not, as yet, expressed any 
 view concerning the measure. He was contenting 
 himself with a clear and analytical examination of the 
 law in question. I must say he did this very well ; but, 
 in a moment, he turned to the Senate, and began to 
 express sentiments so foreign to my own beliefs that a 
 positive sensation was created. He became strangely 
 eloquent. His voice was musical and persuasive. This 
 speech rapidly filled the galleries. News of anything 
 unusual flies upon mysterious wings at Washington. 
 Whenever the unusual happens it does not take many 
 seconds to produce an audience. After the Senate 
 galleries were filled, the Senate itself became crowded. 
 Word was sent over to the House, and members came 
 crowding in from every direction. I must confess that 
 I was so filled up with pride at the sight of this vast 
 audience gathering to listen to what, in all appearances, 
 was the amiable gentleman who had so many years oc- 
 cupied my seat in the Senate, that I did not pay much 
 attention to the thread of his discourse. But the 
 senator — let me call him, because to me he was the 
 senator of all — was now speaking with a fire and a 
 fury which absolutely thrilled his audience, so that they 
 swayed up and down the gamut of passion and feeling, 
 like waves on a sea before a mighty wind. 
 
 At first, there was a look of surprise on the faces of 
 the senators ; then there was a shock at this breaking 
 away from traditions, and this daring to be eloquent, 
 at this arrogant presumption of attempting to stir up
 
 ISO SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 the emotions of men hardened to every trick and ap- 
 peal of ordinary eloquence or phrase-making. Then 
 this feeling was succeeded by one of indignation. I 
 began, myself, to listen, and if it can be said that the 
 hair of a nonentity can rise, then my hair rose with 
 horror. The senator who had the floor was making a 
 picturesque, powerful appeal for the consideration 
 of the rights of the people. Think of that, and 
 in the Senate chamber ! It was clear that every one 
 about was under the impression that I had either 
 gone mad or that I had suddenly developed an ab- 
 normal ambition to become a popular candidate for 
 President of the United States. He used such plain 
 language, and he had such a way of driving home old- 
 fashioned truths, that no one thought of interrupting 
 him. He said that the senators of the United States 
 were simply servants of the people, and that it was 
 time that they were reminded of that fact. The cor- 
 porations of the country were loaded with gifts from 
 the people. Was the generosity and was the care 
 always to be given to these great vested interests? 
 Was there ever to be legislation in the interests of 
 humanity, in the interests of the sin and suffering that 
 filled the world ? Was this measure, which was, at 
 best, but a feeble step in the direction of restoring the 
 rights of the people to their own, to be choked and 
 throttled by arguments, stale and shop-worn, from the 
 bureaus of the great corporations which furnished 
 them ? 
 
 I do not propose to make a report of this speech. 
 It is enough to say that it overturned every tradition
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. I Si 
 
 of the Senate ; defied every belief before expressed by 
 me ; contradicted every one of my previous utterances 
 upon public questions; and, in the end, closed with a 
 peroration picturing the duties and aspirations of a 
 man properly educated to honestly serve the public. 
 These words were uttered with such deep conviction 
 that a corresponding wave of emotion thrilled through 
 and through the great audience.
 
 182 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE WORK OF A SUBSTITUTE IN THE BODY OF 
 SENATOR STANLEY. 
 
 From this day, my substitute was very active in all 
 debates, and was easily the foremost figure in the dis- 
 cussions of the day. Naturally, he was the constant 
 subject of attack. My old friends in the Senate looked 
 at him first with wonder, then distrust, and then dis- 
 like. It was inconceivable to them that he was acting 
 from disinterested motives ; some held that he had 
 gone out of his mind. I was in constant communica- 
 tion with him, although powerless to control him in 
 any way. It was a long time before he would promise 
 that I should occupy my old place again ; and, then, 
 only upon the condition that I would carry out the 
 work he had begun. For months, I was in a dull state 
 of rage at my powerlessness. He was using my brain, 
 my place, my former opportunity, to advocate theories 
 of an absolutely impossible kind. 
 
 One day, when the appropriation bill for the sup- 
 port of the agricultural department was pending before 
 the Senate, he arose, and said that he saw no objection 
 to appropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars for 
 the study of agricultural subjects, for the payment of 
 distinguished scientists to devote their time to a skill- 
 ful warfare against the noxious enemies of valuable
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 1 83 
 
 vegetable growths, nor for the experimenting with new 
 plants for the extension of the food-products of the 
 farm. Wise were the provisions for the stamping out 
 of the diseases of cattle and hogs. Cheerfully should 
 be paid all sums necessary for the extension of our 
 food supplies. When the Fish Commission comes to 
 the Senate and asks for large sums of money for deep- 
 sea studies, for the propagation of food-fishes in barren 
 waters, what sensible man thinks of objecting ? Govern- 
 ment aid to such subjects is wise, because more secure 
 than could be the support of private enterprise. 
 
 Thus far, in his discourse, my senator attracted no 
 particular attention. The advocacy of large appropria- 
 tions for almost any purpose of a routine character for 
 which there are well-known precedents, is always re- 
 ceived in the Senate with the sleepy approval of the 
 lullaby song in the nursery. Suddenly, my represent- 
 ative changed his note of polite comment, and said, 
 in sharp, trenchant tones, that waked every one : " If 
 you are ready to spend the money of the people so 
 freely in the directions already indicated, why would 
 you not be willing to appropriate sums infinitely larger 
 for the study of the means to prevent the ills and 
 diseases of mankind ? By ills, I mean everything re- 
 lating to one's social condition. You have, now, 
 bureaus, under the direction of wise and sagacious ex- 
 perts, dexterous in the arts of stamping out the mis- 
 fortunes and diseases of the vegetable and lower 
 animal world. Why not, now, ascend the plane and 
 take up the subject of man ? " 
 
 I shall not follow the speaker too closely. His plan
 
 1 84 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 for the establishment of Government training-schools 
 in every crowded district, for the care of children, for 
 the enforced development of their physical condition, 
 and for their being fed by the Government when 
 necessary, he said, did not savor of charity, which 
 might encourage pauperism. It was the duty of the 
 Government to see that every child in the country 
 should have an opportunity to acquire the full maxi- 
 mum of robust manhood that nature intended for him, 
 with an education and a training which would make him 
 self-supporting as an adult. " The hopelessly depraved, 
 if there are any such," said he, " should be isolated 
 and placed within the lines of a social quarantine to be 
 crossed only when morally healed. You will never 
 stamp out poverty and crime in the country without 
 beginning with the children. There are thousands of 
 children now growing up in the crowded cities who are 
 steeped in a daily atmosphere of vice and sodden 
 misery that would degrade, pollute and destroy any 
 character, however nobly gifted, at the start, by nature. 
 We have progressed to the point where we quarantine 
 known contagious diseases. Years ago, when the 
 ' black death ' appeared, or when the Asiatic ' pest ' 
 swept over the earth, thousands upon thousands died 
 without a struggle. Now, the public good, which is 
 the sole excuse for all laws, justifies the seizure of 
 property, the arrest of individuals, and even lives are 
 ruthlessly taken in the maintenance of a quarantine. 
 If all this can be done to keep out a fever, what might 
 not be ventured in the interests of our moral and physi- 
 cal welfare, continually threatened from all directions?"
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 185 
 
 Must I go on ? My senator could not be restrained. 
 He continued : " We have, every year, questions involv- 
 ing the right of quarantine. The powers of the Govern- 
 ment have been enormously increased, so that the 
 Government of the great American Republic is as 
 autocratic as that of Russia, in the exercise of its power 
 to protect the national health. Now, I do not propose 
 any sweeping change to be made at once, but I would 
 like to have incorporated in this measure an amend- 
 ment for the establishment of a commission of nine 
 members, to be appointed by the President, to take up 
 the question of how best to protect the weaker mem- 
 bers of society. You have, among the people, a deep- 
 seated discontent that grows year by year. The reason 
 for this is that we permit the production under such 
 unfavorable conditions of a continually increasing 
 population, which is always a menace and a detriment 
 to a country through its lack of early moral, intel- 
 lectual, and, most important of all, physical training. 
 The huge sums paid cheerfully for the pensions of the 
 war, the burden of which is felt by but few, would give 
 more than enough to take out of their present vile and 
 unhappy surroundings the children of all the unfortu- 
 nate in the country, and train them up into clean and 
 self-supporting independence. It will not do to say 
 that the children of even vicious and degraded parents 
 have not, within them, the bud of promise. Look at 
 the splendid work of the New York Reform School, 
 and the high average result actually accomplished there 
 in the building up of character, although its inmates 
 are never admitted to the school until they have,
 
 1 86 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 actually, broken some one of the criminal laws of the 
 State." 
 
 Need I add how severely was my senator snubbed 
 for his views ? His amendment did not receive a single 
 vote besides his own. Few condescended to answer 
 any of his arguments. From this day on, he was more 
 of a marked man than before. The letters received by 
 him were now wholly different from those that used to 
 come to me. There were no more communications 
 from the heads of great corporations or leading 
 bankers, but, instead, a perfect deluge of letters from 
 the under-world of society. My senator rarely slept, 
 so furious was his desire to help others. My comfort- 
 able fortune melted to the right and the left under his 
 benevolent touch. The newspapers hinted that some 
 of my relatives were talking of having a conservator 
 appointed for the protection of my estate ; but these 
 reports were untrue. My boys were sturdy and self-sup- 
 porting, very loyal to their father. If it pleased me, 
 they said, to blow in my money on games of benevo- 
 lence, it was my affair, not theirs. 
 
 Where was I all this time, the individual I, who 
 records this story ? I was chained, as a shadow, to my 
 senatorial body. I could not escape from it. I fol- 
 lowed it where it went, and learned, after a time, to 
 know something of this new world of duty assumed 
 by my representative, who, often, talked the subject 
 over with me when we were at home, in my library. 
 He said, one evening : " If I could convince you of the 
 correctness of my views, I would give you back your 
 body and let you take up my tasks while I go on else-
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 1 87 
 
 where. You need to learn a new definition of honesty. 
 How could you, in the past, call yourself a public man 
 when you were never actuated by anything but motives 
 of private interest ? Now, honestly, have you ever felt 
 a single heart-throb of indignation over the unjust suf- 
 fering there is in this world ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Have you ever shed a tear of pity over the wrongs 
 of the unhappy ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then by what right have you dared to assume the 
 post of the guardian of the people, if you have not 
 thought, constantly, of the poorest and the unhappiest ? 
 The wisdom of the legislative ages has been concen- 
 trated upon the building up of guards about the 
 properties and rights of the well-to-do. It is time for 
 an extension of the field of legislative action." 
 
 " But what can the Government do ? It can't make 
 poor people rich ; it can't give them money, you 
 know " 
 
 "If you follow, so-called, natural laws in the struggle 
 with small-pox or the cholera, where would you be ? 
 The trouble with even the friends of the people has 
 been in the remedies sought to be employed by them. 
 They have wanted to move too rapidly, and to right, 
 by law and purse, immediate wrongs. This, of course, 
 cannot be done in a moment. We can, by Govern- 
 ment aid, help the cause of physical training, and so 
 educate the up-growing that it will not be possible for 
 an ill-formed or an ill-trained child, saving always 
 accidents, to escape such a system of wise beneficence."
 
 1 88 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 I cannot say that the senator convinced me that his 
 views represented anything practical. I believed that 
 if I were permitted to once more gain back my body 
 before all my fortune was gone, that I should sink 
 back into my comfort-living habits. You cannot teach 
 old dogs new tricks.
 
 1 89 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SENATOR STANLEY RECOVERS HIS BODY, BUT UNDER 
 CERTAIN CONDITIONS. 
 
 One clay he gave me permission to gain back my 
 body. He was summoned to a high conference in 
 India. " Mind you," said he, " if you fail in your duty 
 as an honest man in serving the public, I will come back 
 at once and punish you." 
 
 " How ? " I asked, for I was curious to know what 
 to expect, as I had no hope of meeting his anticipa 
 tions. I was conscious of being several centuries be- 
 hind him in development. He looked at me carefully. 
 I was then seated opposite him at the library-table 
 in my home. " I think," said he, " I will give you an 
 object lesson before I go." He called my carriage, 
 and gave my coachman an order to drive to the 
 National Zoological Gardens. 
 
 I may add here that I hate menageries. The smell 
 of wild animals in confinement makes my gorge rise. 
 So you can imagine the pleasure for me in being 
 dragged at the heels of my tormentor, until we reached 
 a cage, in which a large, disgusting monkey, of the 
 mandrill type, was confined. Attached to the monkey's 
 cage was a huge phonograph. Outside the cage, and 
 near the phonograph, was a small, red-bearded man, 
 dancing about, uttering the discordant notes of an
 
 I90 SENATOR STANLEY S STORY. 
 
 idiot, while frantically attempting to attract the atten- 
 tion of the mandrill. 
 
 Suddenly, the occupant of the cage came out of its 
 dull, apathetic mood, advanced to the bars, and stretched 
 out a huge, long-fingered paw, as he began to utter 
 howls almost frantic in their misery and wailing. The 
 little man outside with the phonograph now danced 
 with delight. " Excellent," he said. He then began 
 to try and repeat the peculiar howls of the mandrill. 
 
 " This man," said my companion, " is engaged in the 
 fascinating task of collecting and registering, with the 
 aid of the phonograph, the cries of the monkey species. 
 He thinks he has classified these cries, and imagines 
 that he has evolved from them a semblance of language. 
 But I did not bring you here to observe him. I want 
 you to take a good look at the mandrill standing at the 
 bars. Do you notice anything peculiar about him ? " 
 
 " Nothing, except the fact that he has a blue nose, 
 red stripes around his beastly face, and that the hair is 
 well worn off from his haunches." 
 
 " Do you notice anything peculiar about the expres- 
 sion of his eyes? " 
 
 The mandrill now ceased his shrieking, as if he under- 
 stood the silent question. He appeared, also, to have 
 the gift of seeing me, as well as hearing the conversa- 
 tion which passed. I answered : " Nothing, except an 
 expression of low cunning and extreme selfishness." 
 
 My companion laughed, as the mandrill flew about in 
 a perfect fury of anger, shaking the bars of his cage, 
 and uttering cries of such deep and piercing rage that 
 they nearly cracked the phonograph cylinder.
 
 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. 191 
 
 " Now," continued my friend, " that mandrill before 
 you is, at present, occupied by the spirit of your old 
 friend, Senator Babbington." 
 
 At this the mandrill bowed his head affirmatively, as 
 I turned toward him. 
 
 " He is a disembodied spirit, in temporary confine- 
 ment at the Zoo ; and, of course, sees you, and can 
 hear you. He was one of the richest senators. His 
 fortune was colossal. He never used one penny of it, 
 except for his own personal advancement. With mil- 
 lions in his grasp, he only thought of heaping together 
 money, which neither he nor many generations of 
 descendants could hope to use. He never had a kind 
 or a charitable impulse. He ruthlessly ruined every 
 friend who had ever trusted him. Towards the last of 
 his wretched life, he paid a small insurance upon his 
 future happiness by giving money to the church of 
 which he was a nominal member. At present he is 
 serving a preliminary term in the body of the mandrill 
 to subdue his pride. He is soon to be the spirit which 
 will enter into a child to be born of the poorest and 
 most wretched and starving peasants in East Galicia. 
 He will have to know centuries of poverty and suffer- 
 ing before he will be heard of again above the surface. 
 But it was not to speak of him that I brought you here. 
 It was to show you your future home for the remain- 
 ing term of your natural life, after I leave you, if you 
 ever swerve from your duty after I give you back your 
 old body." 
 
 I shuddered at the horrible thought, and Babbington 
 howled with malicious delight at my perplexity. It
 
 I92 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 was evident he did not believe he would be much 
 longer confined in the mandrill's form. His sturdy, 
 selfish spirit was eager for the contest with the forces 
 of the world again, even if he should have to begin 
 with a handicap of poverty and miserable conditions. 
 
 The next day, with the same jar and sense of electric 
 shock with which I left my body, I resumed my old 
 form. I was once more at home. But how changed 
 was the situation. I was now the center of entirely 
 new interests. My mail was one mass of begging ap- 
 peals ; my money was now going so rapidly that 
 I doubted if my fortune would last out my days. 
 Even my cook was ruined, as his abilities had been so 
 long ignored that he had become indifferent. I did 
 not dare to change one feature of my rearranged life. 
 At a moment's hesitation, at any call of duty made 
 upon me, I instantly saw a vision of the blue-nosed 
 mandrill, and scented Babbington's eager impatience to 
 have me slip, so that he could be moving on to new 
 scenes. 
 
 Thank God, I did not slip, however, for a long time. 
 Perhaps, if it had not been for the incident I am now 
 about to relate, I might have escaped, for a much 
 longer time, my ultimate fate. In the Senate I was 
 severely let alone. In my State, all the corporations 
 were arrayed against my re-election, as my term was 
 now near an end. The people, outside of the poli- 
 ticians, were for me with a madness of enthusiasm 
 hard for me to understand. 
 
 There was, during this closing winter of my life, a 
 number of senatorial elections throughout the country.
 
 SENATOR STANLEYS STORY. 193 
 
 In one State there had been an unusually bitter con- 
 test against a former friend, Senator Elihu Backus, a 
 member of the opposition. He was re-elected, but the 
 election was followed by a huge scandal. The use of 
 money had been so open and flagrant in the election 
 that the disappointed contestants were able to force an 
 official investigation at Washington. The usual con- 
 flicting mass of testimony was taken ; but such a clear 
 case was finally established against Backus, that my 
 party associates, who then had a majority of one in the 
 Senate, decided, in secret caucus, for purely political 
 advantage, to vote to expel the offending Senator. 
 While the motives of my party associates were partisan, 
 there was no question about the justness of the sen- 
 tence, and the correctness of the action agreed upon 
 in the secret caucus. 
 
 So it was clear what my vote must be. It was not 
 often my new sense of duty placed me in accord with 
 my party associates. My position was so clear that no 
 one took the trouble to ask me about it. 
 
 The night before the day when the subject was to 
 be finally passed upon, the agents of millionaire Backus 
 fairly stormed the houses of senators whom they 
 thought might be influenced. Pleas, piteous and 
 sordid, struggled for a hearing. Backus was old ; the 
 disgrace would kill him. His only child, a beautiful, 
 young and motherless woman, would be socially ostra- 
 cized, in spite of her father's millions, if he should be 
 expelled. Huge sums were brandished as temptations. 
 But it was now a party matter, and our side was hope- 
 lessly committed. A change of vote was not possible,
 
 194 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 without incurring greater disgrace than that which 
 threatened the guilty senator. 
 
 No one called upon me until nine o'clock that even- 
 ing. I sat alone in my library. I could no longer 
 take my ease. I was at work upon reports, answering 
 letters of appeal, writing checks for this and that, bit- 
 terly toiling at my hateful task of doing good to people 
 I did not know, and for whom I cared nothing.
 
 195 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE SENATOR CONSENTS TO SACRIFICE HIS FUTURE 
 TO DO AN UNSELFISH ACT. 
 
 At nine o'clock, a young, manly-looking man, about 
 twenty-five years of age, stained with travel and care- 
 less of attire, entered the room, unannounced. I took 
 a second look at him before I recognized my favorite 
 son, if it can be said that I had a favorite. I loved 
 both my boys, God bless them ! but the younger 
 always seemed nearer to my heart. He had a trick of 
 the eyes and a slight tossing of the head, when in 
 earnest, that always reminded me of his mother. He 
 was now the assistant manager of a great western rail- 
 road, and so closely occupied with his duties that I 
 knew his unheralded presence in Washington, and the 
 hurry of his visit, meant something unusual. 
 
 I folded Dick in my arms and kissed him. He re- 
 turned the kiss with the same loyal affection of his 
 boyhood. 
 
 Standing on the rug, in front of the open fire, with 
 one hand clasped in mine, with the other on my 
 shoulder, as he looked up into my face, he said : 
 
 " Father, I have a request to make of you." 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " I want you to vote for Senator Backus, and save 
 him."
 
 I96 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 I was astonished ; but I kept silence, as I thought 
 of what such a vote would mean for me. First, I 
 would lose all my popular support at home, without 
 gaining any support from my former friends, the cor- 
 porations. Thus I must lose, first, my election ; second, 
 my reputation for honesty, because eleventh-hour 
 changes of opinions, where millionaire interests are at 
 stake, are damning ; and, lastly, there was the blue- 
 nosed mandrill to be thought of. 
 
 Alarmed at my long silence, my son burst forth into 
 eloquent pleadings. 
 
 " Do you know," said he, "that I am engaged to be 
 married to Jane Backus ? We have been long in love 
 with each other, as you must have known, if you had 
 ever given the subject attention. But Mr. Backus 
 never encouraged me ; nothing under a foreign prince 
 could match his millions, he said, and no engagement 
 was permitted. All this you might have known ; but I 
 found you, during the last year, so devoted to a new 
 life, so different from your past, that I did not like to 
 come to you." 
 
 "But," he added, loyally, " do not think, father, I 
 am criticising you. Only, I did not understand, and 
 you had so much to bear, in the way of unfriendliness, 
 that I had not the heart to tell you that Senator Backus 
 laid the chief burden of his opposition to me upon you 
 and your devotion of a once great fortune to chimerical 
 ideas. ' He will leave his sons beggars,' said he, 'and 
 my daughter shall never marry a beggar.' But all this 
 is changed now. Three days ago, I was telegraphed 
 for by Jane Backus. I arrived here this evening, and
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. I97 
 
 Senator Backus has agreed to our engagement — upon 
 one condition." 
 
 " I know what that is — I am to give him my vote. 
 Do you know what that may mean to me ? " 
 
 " Father, I think I know that you will have a bad 
 quarter of an hour; but you have so often, lately, 
 acted outside of your party, and have established such 
 a high reputation for unselfishness and honesty, that 
 you will be pardoned more easily than any other man. 
 Then, father, you know very well that Mr. Backus has 
 done no more than the average senator has done, or 
 would do, in a close fight. You know, father, in our 
 last election, you sent me down with a check for five 
 thousand dollars, to be given to Mr. Somers, your 
 agent, who telegraphed for help early in the morning. 
 What was that check for, father?" 
 
 Decidedly, the young man was not fortunate in his 
 arguments. It does not make us any more charitable 
 for the sins of others to be reminded of our own. My 
 heart hardened. Besides, I did not like old Backus 
 very well. Let my boy, Dick, look out for some other 
 girl. He was good-looking enough to get as good a 
 girl as Jane Backus, and he would never need her 
 money. Besides, my r determination was hastened 
 slightly by a seeming shadow in the mirror. I fancied 
 I saw the blue nose of my friend, Babbington, and 
 caught the eager glint of his eyes, gleaming with the 
 hope of an escape. 
 
 My son saw my refusal in my face, but he did not 
 give up. He left the room, without waiting for my 
 final word, but returned quickly with Jane Backus, who
 
 I98 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 had been waiting in the room below. They stood 
 before me. They attempted no theatrical pleading. 
 They stood there with hands locked, looking at me in 
 their pride and youthful passions, asking, like children, 
 to have their own way, not dreaming or caring for the 
 cost of the answer, so long as it was " yes." 
 
 Heavens, what a picture! He, tall, manly, dark, 
 olive-tinted, his black, crisp mustache shading his 
 mouth, his lips parting in eager anticipation ; she, a 
 foil to his darkness — a clear, wholesome blonde, show- 
 ing, in every line of her figure, manner and dress, the 
 result of careful training, of money lavishly spent by 
 cunning and skillful hands to produce that rare product 
 of modern society, a lady. Both stood as if a sentence 
 of life or death was about to be passed. The love that 
 radiated from the splendid, speaking eyes of Jane 
 Backus for my gallant boy touched me more than her 
 few low-voiced words for her father. 
 
 How do unworthy fathers come to have such chil- 
 dren ? Can I refuse my boy even temporary happi- 
 ness ? Can I shatter his loyal affection by refusing to 
 grant his wish ? Surely, a parent's love for a child is 
 something more than an extension of individual ego- 
 tism. As the boy looked at my hardened and silent 
 face, his head gave that toss of confidence and trust 
 which his mother used to give when she wished to ex- 
 press unusual faith in me. It was clear that I was, of 
 my own free will, to do something unselfish at last. 
 As I resolved to sacrifice my life in response to the 
 frank confidence of my boy, Dick, there came straight 
 to me a message from my absent friend in India :
 
 200 SENATOR STANLEY S STORY. 
 
 "Remember! If you fail in your public duty, you 
 may know what to expect ! " 
 
 Expect ! I could even now hear the shriek of the 
 mandrill. 
 
 " Dick, my boy," I exclaimed, with all the impetu- 
 osity of my early days, " if your happiness depends on 
 me, count on it, without fail. I consent to what you 
 have asked me."
 
 201 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FINAL FATE OF THE SENATOR. 
 
 I have been told by philosophers that every one has, 
 at some period in his life, one whole moment of perfect 
 happiness, to compensate him for the general misery 
 of existence. Well, when I saw those two young 
 people fairly mad with happiness, I had my moment. 
 Never mind the price. I would not go back upon my 
 decision, if I could. My only fear, at first, was that I 
 would not be allowed to play my part to the end, and 
 that my high-minded substitute might come back, and 
 make me false to my promise. But, when I had made 
 the decision, another message came : 
 
 " No ; you shall not be disturbed. I showed you the 
 way of duty in your relations to the public. After 
 that, with your eyes open, if you choose to let private 
 interest again influence you — and love of a son may 
 become as improper an influence as any other private 
 interest — then upon you must rest the consequence." 
 
 All right. I accept. I've closed the doors of the 
 library, and shall spend the night in writing. I know 
 I shall be permitted to finish my programme. I know 
 that, after the vote of to-morrow, to the world I shall 
 be dead. 
 
 I hasten to complete this narrative, so that there will 
 be left some reasonable explanation of the closing
 
 202 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 
 
 year of my life : that, while I played the part of the 
 philanthropist, I despised those whom I was forced to 
 benefit, and, to the last, I maintained, in spite of my 
 attitude in the Senate, my sturdy contempt for the 
 public or its wishes. 
 
 Those who may have an interest in my unfortunate 
 career will avoid my grave, but will rather come to 
 shed the pious tear of regret at cage No. 5, in the sec- 
 tion assigned the monkeys at the Zoo. You will rec- 
 ognize me by my blue nose, my red-striped face, and 
 the general worn-out appearance of my hairy garments. 
 
 The above narrative was found among the private 
 papers of the late Senator Stanley. Two newspaper 
 dispatches, sent out to the Associated Press upon the 
 day of his death, are of interest in connection with this 
 story. 
 
 First : 
 
 " WASHINGTON, January — . The famous Senator 
 Stanley died suddenly this evening. He was quite 
 alone at the time of his death. He had taken a part 
 in the Senate debates, and had made a great sensation 
 by voting with the opposition against the expulsion of 
 Senator Backus. His vote, alone, saved the latter. 
 Senator Stanley was made the subject of great recrimi- 
 nation, and was cut dead by every one of his associates. 
 His sudden death, which took place in his library, at 
 home, was attributed to heart failure. The scenes of 
 the day, undoubtedly, hastened his end." 
 
 Here followed nearly a page of the great man's 
 career, which it is not necessary to give.
 
 SENATOR STANLEY'S STORY. 203 
 
 The second dispatch to the Associated Press, in 
 another part of the paper, was as follows : 
 
 " WASHINGTON, January — . Murphy, the mandrill 
 kept in cage No. 5 at the National Zoo, died suddenly 
 this evening. It is feared that the mandrill has been 
 driven to suicide, as the monkey was found with his 
 skull crushed, evidently from a self-inflicted blow." 
 
 So, perhaps, the Senator, in spite of his forebodings, 
 was forgiven. In spite of his disobedience, he was 
 spared the torture of Murphy, the mandrill. It is to be 
 hoped that he was, in the end, forgiven for all his other 
 failures. 
 
 THE END
 
 Napoleon Wolff 
 
 AND 
 
 His Newspaper of the Future 
 
 By T. C. CRAWFORD
 
 Copyright, 1894, by 
 AUGUSTA W. FLETCHER, M. D. 
 
 All Rights Reserved,
 
 2QJ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In 1876, Washington was the center of great political 
 excitement. The winter of that year, 1876-77, was a 
 very stormy one. The disputed electoral count, and 
 its attendant scenes, made up a picture of passionate 
 partisan disturbance, unsurpassed by any period fol- 
 lowing the war of the late rebellion. If the sturdy 
 common sense of the American people had not pre- 
 dominated, the government would have been over- 
 thrown, and this country Mexicanized. Washington, 
 at that time, was thronged with the individual captains 
 of special crusades. No city in the world is so noted 
 for its peculiar characters. Cranks of all classes seek 
 the capitol as the best theatre for the production of 
 their peculiar roles. I know of no odder character 
 who was prominent in that period than Napoleon 
 Wolff. 
 
 He came to Washington early in the days of the 
 excitement, and used to appear in the offices of the 
 Washington correspondents with great regularity and 
 persistence. His peculiar appearance might have made 
 him the object of ridicule, had not the grim ferocity 
 and energy of character made those who came in 
 contact with him hesitate before presuming to trifle 
 with a man who took himself so seriously. It was the
 
 208 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 claim of Napoleon Wolff that he was a reformer very 
 much in advance of his time. The world was all 
 wrong, from beginning to end ; every form of govern- 
 ment was a rotten nuisance, which should be abolished. 
 According to Mr. Wolff, there were very few honest 
 people in the world. I think I gathered from him, at 
 the period of his daily calls in my office of newspaper 
 correspondence, that there was, at that time, but one 
 honest man in Washington, and he allowed it to be 
 more than suspected that the name of that man was 
 Wolff. The ostensible object of his first visit was for 
 the purpose of offering articles for publication. These 
 articles were fearful denunciations of the dishonesty of 
 officials, with suggestions that the Government should 
 be pulled down and renovated under the direction and 
 leadership of the writer. He had seized upon this 
 troublesome time as the proper one for the presentation 
 of his views to the American public. He cared little 
 for the merits of the dispute then existing between the 
 Democrats and the Republicans. He said there had 
 been so much villainy perpetrated on both sides during 
 that election, that it was beneath the consideration of 
 an honest man to attempt to pass upon the question 
 of which set of knaves was entitled to office. If 
 Mr. Wolff had possessed the slightest trace of humor, 
 his conversation would soon have made him a nuisance, 
 but the solemnity and savage energy of the man, com- 
 bined with a certain intellectual ferocity, conspired to 
 make him an interesting character study. He had 
 much more than ordinary ability. His articles were 
 well written, in spite of their peppery character, and
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 20O, 
 
 very often what he said had much truth upon its side ; 
 yet his deductions were so sweeping, and his judgments 
 so relentless, that I knew of no publication of that 
 time that would have ventured to print the mildest of 
 the concoctions of Napoleon Wolff. 
 
 His personal appearance was as peculiar as his 
 mental make-up. He was spare, and of medium 
 height. He had the tireless energy people of unbal- 
 anced judgment nearly always possess. His face was 
 smooth-shaven, and very sharp in its lines. His nose 
 was very long and straight ; his mouth was a huge slit, 
 set in the firmest of straight lines. His eyes were 
 very dark, gleaming under pronounced eyebrows, and 
 encircled by black rings. The top of his head was as 
 smooth and as polished as an ivory ball, with not the 
 semblance or trace of hair upon its milk-white, 
 gleaming surface, until the extreme base at the back of 
 the neck was reached. Here, attached to the bump, 
 which the phrenologists love to call the bump of 
 amativeness, hung two tiny reddish-brown curls, almost 
 infantile in their silkiness and dainty form. Who 
 curled those two tiny remnants of hair under the base 
 of this gleaming dome of thought, often puzzled the 
 people who came in contact with Mr. Wolff ; for it 
 cannot be said that he had any friends, and he despised 
 mere acquaintances. He never spoke to any man 
 unless he had something to say to him, and never 
 wasted his time in bows or idle salutations. These 
 curls were the only sign of grace or softness about this 
 angular man. He had a voice sonorous, deep and 
 harsh. There was not a soft note in it. I do not think
 
 2IO NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 he could have whispered had he tried. He was in 
 such a constant state of fury over some new wrong 
 that he had discovered, that he was the terror of every- 
 one with whom he came in contact. He was passion- 
 ately fond of attending public meetings where social 
 questions were up for discussion. It was his proud 
 pleasure to arise, and tear to tatters any argument 
 advanced by any individual upon any subject which 
 happened to be before the meeting. He was never so 
 contented and cheerful as after being knocked over, 
 dragged out, and kicked down several flights of stairs 
 from some public meeting which he had nearly broken 
 up by his violent interruptions. It was then that his 
 nostrils were inflated with pride, as he said : " They 
 fear me. If such a man as I were allowed continued free 
 speech, the pillars of modern society would crumble." 
 
 He had reduced life to very simple lines. He said 
 that the majority of men wasted their entire time and 
 substance in the mad chase for something to eat. 
 " If eating could be abolished in the world," said he, 
 "then men would have time for intellectual improve- 
 ment and there would be some chance for the world to 
 rise." Yet he pretended to have no knowledge of 
 science and never sought to immortalize himself by any 
 suggestion beyond the fact that we all ate too much, 
 and that the only hope for the future civilization of 
 man lay along the lines of simple living. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that Mr. Wolff had very 
 much simplified the conditions of his own existence. 
 He rented a quiet room in a stable of a dairy in the 
 suburbs of the town. Every morning and every night
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 211 
 
 he helped milk the cows. For this he received his 
 compensation — the rent of the room and a certain 
 share of the milk. In his room he had a little cook 
 stove, and there he used to brew and prepare various 
 articles with milk and oatmeal. The dairy had a 
 hennery attached, and for occasional work in this direc- 
 tion Mr. Wolff received an egg to vary the items of his 
 daily bill of fare. At the time he at first visited me, 
 he claimed that he had reduced his expenses to the 
 modest sum of one dollar a month. After he had 
 made this remarkable statement, he added with per- 
 fectly savage ferocity : " Yet, in spite of all my care, my 
 energy and my intellectual ability in this vile society 
 as constituted to-day, I have as much difficult}' in rais- 
 ing that one dollar a month as the Secretary of the 
 Treasury had during the war in finding funds for the 
 enormous outlays of that time. Don't smile," he 
 added ; " I am sure I use up more gray matter on that 
 subject than ever did Secretary Chase." 
 
 It was upon this occasion that I won his heart by 
 buying of him two articles moulded with the rigidity 
 of cast-iron, and sweeping and fierce in their phrase- 
 ology. I paid this philosopher three dollars for them. 
 It was the first large money he had seen for a long 
 time. " Now," said he, " I am a capitalist and for 
 three months I am no man's man." Why I bought 
 those articles, I do not know to this day, as Mr. Wolff 
 never made any appeal to one's sympathies, and he 
 would have denounced me as a vile hypocrite had I 
 made this purchase through any motives of kindness 
 towards a fellow man. Yet, that financial transaction
 
 212 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 established a certain relation between us. While, 
 apparently, one of the most perfect materialists living, 
 chopping logic with a closeness and vigor of a man 
 correctly educated, with no mercy for any church, or 
 any form of religion, he was yet one of the most 
 superstitious persons I ever saw. His credulity was 
 confined entirely to subjects which generally provoked 
 incredulity, while his incredulity followed the same 
 reverse process. 
 
 When not engaged in building up some plan for 
 reforming society, and in changing over the govern- 
 ments of the earth, he occupied himself with the dark 
 mysteries of astrology. He believed that there was 
 no science in the wcrld that could compare with that 
 of astrology. Spiritualism, with all its possibilities, 
 had once captured him, and held him enthralled ; but 
 now that his mind had matured, astrology contained 
 all that was necessary to satisfy the mystic element in 
 his nature. He was always casting horoscopes of his 
 career, and predicting for himself a future of greatness 
 and power. He once said to me, in a very patronizing 
 way: " If I ever do arrive at that position, I intend to 
 make society rock and tremble before me." 
 
 I was curious at that time to learn Mr. Wolff's plan 
 for making society rock and tremble. I asked him : 
 " Do you intend to employ dynamite or the poisoned 
 dagger in your attempt to weed out the corrupt 
 leaders of modern civilization ? " 
 
 " The only objection I have to you," he said, with a 
 hoarse roar, as he turned to me and smote my desk 
 with his mighty hand, " is your tendency to sneer at
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 213 
 
 the possibilities of a brilliant future for a man who has 
 arrived at middle life, and who has not yet reached 
 the sure income of twelve dollars a year. I must 
 confess that, from your point of view, you are, perhaps, 
 justified ; but, at the same time, if you had any real 
 sense, you would see, in me, the coming man. I am 
 simply passing through a stage of development." 
 
 " But you have not answered my question." 
 
 " Its very form was an insult and that's the reason I 
 did not answer it. I am too intellectual a man to ever 
 dream of using dynamite or anything so coarsely 
 brutal as that. I know something more powerful than 
 dynamite." 
 
 "And what is that?" 
 
 " Oh, just a daily newspaper, that's all." 
 
 " But I should think that, after twenty years attempt- 
 ing to secure admission to the columns of the various 
 newspapers of the country without any very marked 
 success, you would select some other engine of re- 
 prisal and reform." 
 
 " No, I adhere to the daily newspaper. I suppose 
 you will laugh when I tell you that I mean to own 
 one." 
 
 "Well." 
 
 But before I could say anything more, he drew out a 
 sheet of paper and showed me a horoscope in which he 
 calculated that, being born under Mars, he — Napoleon 
 Wolff — was naturally of a combative disposition and 
 that he was born for conquest. The unfortunate con- 
 junction of Mars with the sign of Capricornus, at an 
 early period in his life, had marked him for much
 
 214 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 suffering, but a lateral sidereal connection along the 
 lines of Jupiter, which was to occur late in life, meant 
 for him great wealth and great power. 
 
 I am not exactly certain that I am giving the true 
 and correct scientific summary of this horoscope ; but 
 the interesting point was that Mr. Wolff, in spite of his 
 many combats and many defeats, was as confident of 
 his having a great fortune through the magical inter- 
 vention of some happy circumstance, wholly outside of 
 his control, before his death, as if he had the money 
 actually on deposit in the bank, subject to his check. 
 
 " The moment that fortune is in my possession," said 
 he, " I shall found, in the cities of New York, London 
 and Paris, a great daily newspaper which shall be the 
 newspaper of the future. It will contain more original 
 ideas than any ever published ; it will be more honestly 
 managed and will have a larger staff of brilliant writers 
 than any daily newspaper ever known before in this 
 world." 
 
 " But, my dear Mr. Wolff, you said you were going 
 to make your paper original." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I did." 
 
 " But did you not know that there was not a single 
 newspaper published to-day but claims to produce all 
 the merits which you are so confidently setting up as 
 the basis for the reputation of what you are pleased to 
 call the newspaper of the future ? Is not each one 
 more honest, more original, more brilliant than the 
 others? " 
 
 At this, my friend, Mr. Wolff, burst out into violent 
 denunciation of the lying newspapers and of their dis-
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 21 5 
 
 honesty in always siding with the most corrupt ele- 
 ments in politics. " Let me once arrive at my position 
 of power," said he, "and I'll force them to mount to 
 the high standard of excellence which I will set for 
 them." 
 
 Here he turned towards me with great excitement as 
 he pointed to a small black bag which he always car- 
 ried with him. " Do you know," said he, " what is in 
 that bag? " 
 
 " No, I am sure I haven't the slightest idea." 
 
 Mr. Wolff's face now fairly blazed with excitement. 
 " If I were to open that bag," said he, " and let forth 
 its secrets, I do not believe this Government would last 
 twenty-four hours. What do you say to that? " 
 
 "Well, if the consequences surely will be as dis- 
 astrous as that, I advise you to keep them as ' scoops ' 
 for the newspaper of the future." 
 
 To this flippancy he made no reply. He buttoned 
 up his coat very tight ; slouched his black hat fiercely 
 over his eyes ; walked out of the room without saluta- 
 tion, and I never saw him again until a little over a 
 quarter of a century after, and then his newspaper pro- 
 ject was brought before me once more under most 
 extraordinary and peculiar circumstances.
 
 2l6 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Three years ago, I was in Berlin. I was there as the 
 representative of a New York banking house. The 
 occasion of my visit was the placing of certain railroad 
 bonds. While there, I made the acquaintance of a 
 German officer of high standing, who had been, for a 
 long time, on the staff of Prince Bismarck. This 
 German officer was a nephew of the banker with 
 whom I transacted the greater part of my business 
 during my visit to Berlin. Count Ernst was a most 
 agreeable companion. He had been in America, and 
 was very much interested in our affairs. He was a 
 scientist of profound rank, and, although still in the 
 army and attached to the imperial household, devoted 
 the greater part of his leisure to study. 
 
 When I came to return to London he was, by chance, 
 my traveling companion. He was the bearer of 
 dispatches from the foreign office in Berlin to the 
 German Ambassador in London. We occupied the 
 same compartment in the railway train, and, as I had 
 always found him very congenial, we remained together 
 during the journey. 
 
 Count Ernst was a close observer, and, if I may use 
 the word, a most excellent reporter. He had the real 
 love for news which constitutes a high-class gossip.
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 217 
 
 He knew everything that was going on in the court 
 circles. His experiences were told in very concise 
 language, while his observations upon men and things 
 were very shrewd and expressed in careful language, 
 which had running through it a thread of satire, sug- 
 gestive to a stranger of malice. No capital of the 
 world has so much gossip as Berlin, and in no city is 
 there so much criticism of people in high place. This 
 criticism, however, is only permitted by those who 
 occupy the inner circle. Let a stranger or an outsider 
 attempt to criticise those in power in the presence of 
 even the most malicious of the court gossipers, and he 
 will only find an indignant objection where he might 
 have expected approval. 
 
 Naturally, the conversation in time drifted to the 
 severed relations of Prince Bismarck with William II. 
 This officer, who had been very closely attached to 
 Prince Bismarck, was, however, too much of a courtier 
 not to know how to save himself at the time of the 
 Prince's downfall. Of all the interesting stories told 
 by him concerning his experiences with the Prince, I re- 
 call, now, nothing more curious than one which excited, 
 to the highest degree, his scientific curiosity. 
 
 He premised his story by saying : "I do not ex- 
 pect you to believe this story, and I shall not be 
 at all offended if you disbelieve it. I can only say 
 this : that Prince Bismarck himself will vouch for the 
 correctness of the incident as I shall relate it to you, 
 and that three other officers of the Prince's staff were 
 present and were eye-witnesses of the incident in 
 question."
 
 2l8 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 The story, as the officer told it, was this : " One 
 year before Prince Bismarck's retirement he was in his 
 ministerial bureau, surrounded by his staff officers, 
 receiving visitors. It was not a public reception, but 
 his hour for receiving those who were properly pre- 
 sented to him or who had business of sufficient import- 
 ance to warrant their coming to him without too much 
 formality. In other words, it was his hour of general 
 audience. 
 
 " Towards the close of the hour the uniformed mes- 
 senger stationed in the ante-room came in and saluted, 
 and said that a stranger desired to be admitted. 
 
 " ' What is his name ? ' brusquely demanded the 
 Prince, ' and what is his business ? ' 
 
 " The messenger replied that the stranger had 
 declined to give his name, because it was wholly un- 
 known to the Prince and could, therefore, furnish him 
 no information. He had declined to state what was 
 his business to anyone except Prince Bismarck himself. 
 He had added that the affair which he wished to call 
 to the attention of the Prince was one of the greatest 
 importance and of the greatest possible interest to the 
 German Government. He came alone and unintro- 
 duced because he had no friends. 
 
 " One of the officers suggested that the man be seen 
 by some one of their number before admitting him. 
 Berlin is full of Socialists, and a mysterious stranger 
 seeking audience of a high personage is naturally to be 
 regarded with distrust. 
 
 " The Prince said, with a smile, that he thought that 
 he could risk the admission of one stranger into a
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 219 
 
 room filled with officers, and so rejected lightly the 
 suggestion of precaution. 
 
 " The visitor was now shown in. He seemed to be a 
 man of the humble class, although his face bore evi- 
 dence of education and refinement. His pale, sallow- 
 face was set off by long, dark hair, while a mustache 
 and short beard concealed the lower part of a very 
 pale, resolute-lined face. His dark eyes flashed with 
 the somber light of an enthusiast. His manner, how- 
 ever, was very deliberate and free from all excitement. 
 He bowed very profoundly when the Prince said : 
 
 " ' Well, sir, what is it you want ? ' 
 
 " The visitor brought his heels together with the 
 regulation military click, and saluted stiffly as he 
 said : 
 
 " ' Herr Prince, I have a secret which I wish to sell 
 to the German Government.' 
 
 " ' Oh, oh ! a secret ? And what, pray, may be its 
 nature ? ' 
 
 " ' Sir,' said the man, ' I am an inventor.' 
 
 " At the sound of this word the Prince frowned, as 
 he said with great impatience : 
 
 " ' Oh, yes, yes. You have some gun or some new 
 war machine, or some new kind of powder or explo- 
 sive. I never bother myself with those things. You 
 should go to the War Office, and if you have anything 
 of value, they will tell you there all about it. Good 
 morning.' 
 
 " But the inventor stood his ground and did not ac- 
 cept his dismissal. He again saluted, as he said : 
 
 " ' Herr Prince, just one word. My discovery does
 
 220 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 not belong to the class you have just mentioned. You, 
 perhaps, are the only one in Germany who could truly 
 and properly appreciate the importance of this dis- 
 covery of mine, which will revolutionize the whole 
 world, and instantly change the systems of power now 
 recognized by science as practically final in the range 
 of their accomplishments.' 
 
 " Something in the man's earnestness and simplicity 
 caught the Prince's attention. He had a very keen 
 flair for a new sensation, and nothing attracted him 
 more than the possibility of something new." 
 
 "'Well, my good man,' said he, 'what is your 
 wonderful secret ? ' 
 
 "'Sir Prince,' said he, 'it can be told in a very few 
 words. I have discovered the law which will enable 
 any one to overcome the attraction of the law of gravi- 
 tation.' 
 
 " The Prince burst out into a roar of contemptuous 
 laughter. 
 
 " ' And so that is your discovery,' said he. 
 
 " Before he could add another word, the man, fired 
 by the attitude of contempt, said with fiery earnestness : 
 
 " ' I came to you as a patriotic German to offer this 
 discovery to my own government. Through the knowl- 
 edge of this secret, sir, you can instantly construct 
 machines of war which will navigate the air and domi- 
 nate the other nations of the earth as you will.' 
 
 " The Prince continued to laugh as if he regarded 
 him as an amiable lunatic, and then turned away im- 
 patiently as if life were too short for very much amuse- 
 ment of this kind, but his indifference and impatience
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 22 1 
 
 were changed in a second by the action of his visitor. 
 
 " The latter ran to an enormous model of a steel 
 Krupp gun, which rested upon strong iron supports at 
 one side of the room. This model weighed nearly a 
 ton. His visitor said, as he reached the gun : 
 
 " ' I will demonstrate to you, Sir Prince, with or with- 
 out your permission, the truth of the declaration I have 
 made to you. This discovery is so simple in its char- 
 acter that, at once, when it becomes known, you will 
 wonder that it had not become the common property 
 of all, long and long ago. It w r as on account of this 
 simplicity that I made my demand for compensation 
 in advance of its disclosure. But I will here give you 
 the proof. If I cannot lift this cannon with my little 
 finger, then everything I have said is a lie, and all that 
 I have claimed is worse than a delusion.' 
 
 " The extraordinary attitude of the man and the 
 character of his claims chained, instantly, the attention 
 of all. He turned his back to his audience, made some 
 sort of an adjustment under the gun, and, to the con- 
 sternation and surprise of everybody, he was seen to 
 lift the great mass of steel as if it were a feather. He 
 held it aloft, balanced for a moment on the middle 
 finger of his right hand, as he exclaimed : 
 
 " ' Behold the proof! ' and in another second he had 
 restored the gun to its position. 
 
 " What happened after this occurred in a briefer 
 period than the time it requires to describe it. The 
 man now turned to the Prince and said : 
 
 " ' You have rejected me with your eyes closed. You 
 have insulted me by doubting my words, without per-
 
 222 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 mitting me to first give you a proof. Now, I intend 
 to leave this country and go to America, where I know 
 I will be better received.' 
 
 " With this, he darted out of the room. The Prince 
 was so overwhelmed by the demonstration that, before 
 he could regain his self-command to give an order for 
 the arrest of the man, to hold him for examination, the 
 stranger visitor had left the building. 
 
 " The entire resources of the Berlin police were 
 directed to find traces of him. His name was dis- 
 covered, but little more than that. He had lived for a 
 long time alone in the suburbs of Berlin, in a little 
 park, isolated from neighbors. His name was Moritz 
 Schlager. 
 
 " He was traced to Bremen, where he took passage 
 upon the ill-fated ship 'Wien,' which went down in 
 mid-ocean, leaving behind no trace and no survivors." 
 
 " But," I asked, " do you mean to tell me that you 
 could find no better ending for your story, Herr Count, 
 than to drown such an inventor as that ? Such a dis- 
 covery, made by a man intelligent enough to reach the 
 result named by you would surely be guarded better 
 than that. He would not leave all to be staked upon 
 the chance of a sea voyage." 
 
 " There is a rumor in Berlin," said my friend, " that 
 Herr Schlager did leave a sealed package in the hands 
 of a distant relative, with instructions to have it for- 
 warded, within five years after his death, should any 
 accident befall him, to the head of the American 
 Government."
 
 223 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Last spring I was at Chubbs' Hotel in London. I 
 had been in London for nearly a year. I had given 
 myself a vacation, and had, during this vacation-time, 
 occupied myself with the study of processes for repro- 
 ducing illustrations for periodical work. 
 
 One day, in the office of the Illustrated News, its 
 editor, who was a personal friend, handed me over a 
 series of illustrations from Australia, with a character 
 study of a most remarkable man who had made a great 
 discovery of diamonds. As this story has since been 
 reproduced in all the American newspapers, it is not 
 necessary to more than recapitulate, briefly, its main 
 points. The editor, in handing me the story, said : 
 
 " Perhaps some of your financial friends in the city 
 will be interested in the extraordinary information con- 
 tained in this article." 
 
 This publication was held back for some time in the 
 office of the Illustrated News, and it is only quite 
 recently that its main features have appeared in the 
 American journals. The article related to the most 
 extraordinary discovery of diamonds ever made in the 
 history of diamond hunting. A certain prospector, of 
 the name of McGregor, an old man over seventy years 
 of age, had taken up a lot of vacated diamond claims,
 
 224 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 and by persistence and energy, had dug out enough to 
 purchase a vast tract covering nearly all of the best 
 portions of this, then comparatively valueless, diamond 
 field. This old man was of a rude and vigorous 
 physical type, who had a thorough knowledge of dia- 
 mond digging. He had a theory that there was a 
 large diamond reef to be found by tunneling along 
 certain lines of the fields. He worked alone nearly 
 two years in making these tunnels. His strength 
 and extraordinary skill were shown in his capacity in 
 doing what several men would have regarded as diffi- 
 cult in working together. At the end of his two years' 
 work, he uncovered a reef of diamonds of very pure, 
 and valuable quality. It was estimated by the most 
 conservative judges in the diamond fields that the reef 
 contained at least a ton of high-class diamonds. The 
 report of this find was sent on to London and a syndi- 
 cate was at once formed to buy the claims. The 
 large diamond interests of Europe were represented in 
 this syndicate, as it was held to be of the utmost 
 importance to keep such a deluge of diamonds off the 
 market and to regulate their production and sale so as 
 not to endanger existing values. In the account 
 handed to me by the Illustrated News editor, it was 
 declared that the syndicate had offered the lucky 
 miner the sum of two million pounds sterling, or, in 
 round numbers, $10,000,000, for his mine, and that it 
 had been refused. 
 
 I was so interested in the story, with this strange 
 turn of fortune which lavished untold gold upon a 
 humble toiler near the end of his career, that I turned
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 225 
 
 in time to look at the slight sketch of the miner him- 
 self. It appears that he had come to Australia from 
 America, and that, while he had a Scotch name, he had 
 neither the accent nor the manner of a Scotchman. 
 As I read this sketch, the editor took out of his drawer 
 several photographs and handed them to me. 
 
 Where had I seen this face before ? I was at once 
 struck by the fact that he was a former acquaintance. 
 In the first photograph, the owner of the Monte Cristo 
 mine had a hat slouched over his eyes. In the second 
 photograph, he was hatless. The gleaming, bare skull 
 of the miner restored at once the chain of memory. 
 The quarter of a century which had passed had not 
 changed the lines of this grim face. This was the por- 
 trait of my former reformer friend, Napoleon Wolff. 
 It was not possible that there were two such faces in 
 the world. Never had I seen any one so perfectly and 
 completely bald as Wolff, and this grim, determined 
 old man answered to every feature of the photograph 
 in my memory of my former Washington acquaintance. 
 To make sure, I said : 
 
 " Have you a picture of him in profile ? " 
 
 "You may be sure we have," said the editor. "With 
 his money and power, he will be the professional 
 beauty of London for the remaining years of his life." 
 
 He handed out a profile view, and there, at the base 
 of the skull, were still the two tiny curls, as luxuriant 
 and as carefully tended as ever, and affording the same 
 absurd contrast of delicacy and care to the gleaming, 
 smooth surface of this most vigorous and dogmatic 
 old man.
 
 226 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 There was something, after all, in his theory. At 
 least, there had been a happy coincidence that justified, 
 apparently, all the horoscopes he had worked out con- 
 cerning the closing chapter of his life. 
 
 As I thought of Wolff and his mine of diamonds, 
 my memory ran back to the time when he had further 
 predicted that he would, one day, found a daily news- 
 paper, and cause society to tremble before him. I 
 think the thought of what such a man could do with 
 unlimited means amused me much more than the 
 chapter of accidents which had led his persistent 
 hands through weary tunneling to the locked-up bank 
 of inexhaustible treasures.
 
 527 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The story now moves up to a very recent time. It 
 was only a few months ago that McGregor, the dia- 
 mond millionaire, arrived in London. I called upon 
 him at the Savoy Hotel. I was curious to see if this 
 new hero was really Napoleon Wolff. I found him in 
 a long suite of rooms filled with clerks and secretaries 
 at work. I was shown directly into his room, where 
 he received me alone. It was Wolff. He said to me, 
 the moment I entered the room : 
 
 " The fates are kind to me. You are the very man 
 of all others whom I wanted to see. Sit down and 
 answer a few of my questions before you ask me any. 
 First, are you free from all engagements ? " 
 
 My reply to this was that I was just finishing my 
 vacation and was about to return to New York. For 
 the moment, I was absolutely idle and free from every 
 business engagement. 
 
 " Good," said he. " My time is short and I want to 
 get to business at once. I am seventy-five years old 
 to-day, and I do not believe I have over twenty more 
 years to live. In fact, the horoscope which I have 
 been casting, lately, warns me I shall be cut off before I 
 am one hundred. I am feeling as if I could live a 
 thousand years. I have never wasted my vitality in
 
 228 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 dissipation ; I have never been a stuffer of foods and 
 drink, and now I have my reward — a buoyant, vigor- 
 ous, splendid old age. If it were not for the cursed 
 sign of Capricornus, which comes into conjunction 
 with my star after I am ninety-five, I should have 
 hopes of reaching the hundred-mark. But one can't 
 have everything in this world. But I have plenty of 
 time and plenty of power to turn the entire world 
 upside down, and revolutionize this rotten modern 
 society and establish in its place a clean civilization." 
 
 " You still adhere to your original idea, then ? " I 
 said. 
 
 " Napoleon Wolff never changes." 
 
 "Why have you used the name McGregor? It 
 seems to me that that is a change." 
 
 " I mean in ideas, sir. When I left America, I was 
 bowed down with shame and despair. I had fairly 
 gnawed my fingers to the quick with my impatience 
 to throttle the evils which overspread society. If it 
 had not been for the comforts of astrology, I should 
 have committed suicide. An inspiration directed me 
 to Australia. In that distant country I shook off 
 everything of my former life, including my name. 
 What does a name signify ? One label is as good 
 as another for a man like me. I have founded no 
 family and have no ties. You can call me Wolff 
 or McGregor, just as you please, and I will respond 
 to either." 
 
 " And are all the stories about your tremendous dis- 
 covery of diamonds true ? " 
 
 " The truth has not been half told. I have received,
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 229 
 
 in bonds and securities, the sum of ten millions sterling 
 — fifty millions of dollars, and still own a half interest 
 in the mine." 
 
 " And now what do you propose ? " 
 
 " I propose to found, at once, a great daily newspaper, 
 whose management shall be honest and upright, and 
 which shall be an unswerving foe to all that is wrong, 
 and a sworn ally to everything that is right. You will 
 see that in my prospectus, which is now being prepared 
 in the next room." 
 
 " Can't you think of anything more original to put 
 into your prospectus than that ? Every newspaper 
 claims that now." 
 
 " I have no time for light discussions. I want you 
 to bear that in mind in dealing with me. I am seventy- 
 five years old and must get on. I want you with me, for 
 the reason that you are the only man I ever met in 
 America who had the faintest traces of appreciation of 
 me and my work. If you like, you can be the editor 
 of this paper, and I will pay you any salary you like. I 
 haven't any time to stop to bargain. If you have any 
 suggestions to make, I shall be glad to listen to them ; 
 but when I have once made up my mind about any- 
 thing, you will save me trouble and loss of time by not 
 seeking to change me. I haven't time now, at my 
 period of life, to deviate for one second from a marked 
 course. I intend to have this paper appear in every 
 one of the capitals of the world. I shall make my first 
 appearance in the city of New York, and branch out 
 just as soon as I get my newspaper well going there." 
 
 " Have you selected the name yet ? "
 
 230 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 " Yes, I have. I propose to call it the Daily Dia- 
 mond. I think that name will attract attention. It 
 suggests, at first, brilliancy and light. These are the 
 first requisites of my newspaper. I propose, in the first 
 place, to employ every reasonably honest man in jour- 
 nalism. I intend to make a corner in good men. It 
 is possible that I may meet with some slight opposition 
 at the start, because I intend to publish the truth 
 about every one. I intend to expose every hypocrite 
 in sight, large or small. Libel suits I sha'n't care any- 
 thing about. I have got money enough to float me by 
 anything of that kind. In other words, I propose to 
 stir up things. Now, in reality, I have no confidence 
 in any one, not even in you. I have made a careful 
 study of the New York newspapers, and they have 
 some good features. It's possible that I shall go 
 beyond them, however, in some of these particular 
 features that I admire. Now, I don't want any one to 
 think he can, by any service, gain with me any hold or 
 attachment. I am utterly without human sympathies. 
 I was born into the world as an emissary of retribution 
 for a wicked and misguided society. It is probable 
 that, for a long time, until I get my hand in, I shall be 
 obliged to discharge, every day, my entire staff, from 
 the office boy up, in order to have my ideas perfectly 
 carried out. I will make an exception in your behalf, 
 and even give you the benefit of a written contract, for 
 I shall never forget your purchase of my manuscript a 
 quarter of a century ago. It was not the money that 
 you gave me, but it was the appreciation of my essays 
 that made me resolve to show you, some day, how you
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 23 1 
 
 pierced through the hide of Napoleon Wolff and 
 touched his grim heart." 
 
 During this interview, I had only a brief sketch of 
 this newspaper of the future, but I was impressed with 
 some of its original features. He surely had money 
 enough to produce any kind of newspaper. He seemed 
 to have certain ground notions, however, that promised 
 well ; although, if he was to follow up his theory of 
 publishing the truth about everybody as fast as he 
 could gather it in, he would certainly need all the 
 revenues from his diamond mines to protect him from 
 personal vengeance and financial loss. 
 
 I faintly suggested something of this thought to 
 him, when he said, with an air of satisfaction : " I've 
 arranged for all that, and in a way that you possibly 
 will conceive to be good. Now, I don't propose to 
 start a New York newspaper and edit it from Europe 
 by cable. That's worn out. I don't propose to imi- 
 tate any one. I propose to edit my newspaper from 
 a balloon. Who can interview or get at me in a 
 balloon ? " 
 
 " But a balloon has to come down some time. I 
 believe the longest record of suspension of any balloon 
 has never reached the limit of twenty-four hours. 
 This very society which you propose to crumble, by 
 the exposure of its hidden vices and hypocrisies, might 
 take a turn at pulverizing you." 
 
 "We'll come to that in a minute, and you'll see that 
 I have overcome that difficulty. I propose to carry 
 modern journalism to its logical conclusion and abolish 
 any such contemptible thing as privacy in life. When
 
 232 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 people are kept constantly bared to the cold gaze of 
 public censors, then, and then only, will they be 
 honest. According to my notion, we will never have 
 a pure administration until every transaction is made 
 in the light of open day. No act of any public official 
 would be free from instant inspection of anybody." 
 
 He paused for a moment in his eloquence, and then 
 I said : 
 
 " My dear Mr. Wolff, I think you have adopted 
 altogether too mild a name for your newspaper. I 
 should call it, at least, the Daily Earthquake. If you 
 insist upon your programme, I have no doubt that 
 society will roll and tremble before you. But I am no 
 longer young, and I do not yearn for the excitement 
 of editing your distinguished journal of reform. I 
 know of no bomb-proof that could be constructed 
 strong enough to protect me ; and I think, if it is all 
 the same to you, I shall prefer to be a reader of your 
 newspaper rather than its editor." 
 
 He looked at me coldly, as he said : " I always sus- 
 pected you had a weak streak in you. But, as you 
 have the technical knowledge required to publish these 
 newspapers, and as I have more confidence in you than 
 in any one living, I propose to waste a little of my 
 precious time in showing you the advantages of your 
 acceptance of my offer. In the first place, I will settle 
 upon you $100,000 for each dollar you paid me years 
 ago. That will make $300,000. Then I will give you 
 $25,000 a year for life; and here, take this as a 
 memento of my esteem for the only man who ever 
 touched the heart of Napoleon Wolff " ; and he tossed,
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 233 
 
 lightly, across the table a diamond, about the size of the 
 Koh-i-noor, sparkling with light and brilliance. Before 
 I could stammer out my acceptance of so much mag- 
 nificence, he continued, with great rapidity : " I think 
 I have used arguments which are unanswerable ; but I 
 will add one thing more which will leave you without 
 a leg to stand on. Your precious life will at no time 
 be in danger during your employment." 
 
 The sensations of shock and surprise at the fantastic 
 liberality of Napoleon Wolff and the possibilities of 
 this reckless man's future, with so much wealth at his 
 command, made me dumb. My power to ask ques- 
 tions was, for the moment, at an end. 
 
 But he seemed to anticipate my question, for he 
 said : " I am the owner of a new flying machine which 
 is perfect. I can go up and stay in it for years if I like 
 and go where I like. It's large enough to carry 
 supplies for any time that I may wish. I'll take you 
 with me." 
 
 Now I knew that Wolff was mad, and I didn't 
 wonder that even his sturdy brain, after a long life of 
 toil and disappointment, should give away under the 
 rapturous strain of such unparalleled fortune. 
 
 He saw the shadow of this thought in my face, as 
 he said : 
 
 " I hope you are without prejudices. It's such an 
 awful waste of time to have to explain things to a man 
 who is loaded up with prejudices. Last week I con- 
 cluded a bargain with an inventor, who has made one 
 of the greatest discoveries of his or of any time. This 
 inventor has discovered the law of force that sustains
 
 234 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 the stars in their course, and which, in action, suspends 
 the law of gravitation." 
 
 I started to my feet. " Do you mean Moritz 
 Schlager ? " 
 
 "Yes. That's good. You've heard of him; that 
 saves time." 
 
 "But Schlager was lost on the 'Wien.' " 
 
 " No, he wasn't. Do you believe in God Almighty ? " 
 
 " I suppose so." 
 
 " Well, do you suppose God Almighty would create 
 such an inventor as that and permit him to make such 
 discoveries and then take him out of the world before 
 any use had been made of them ? " 
 
 Then, without waiting for any answer to this, he 
 continued : " Schlager, insulted and rejected by the 
 German Government, as you possibly know, if you 
 know anything about him at all, resolved to escape 
 from the country and evade the police. He took 
 passage on the 'Wien,' but he did not depart on that 
 vessel. Re made his way out of Germany unobserved 
 and came to London. He had thought of going to 
 the United States ; then — not knowing that country 
 very well — and fearing that, owing to its isolation, it 
 might not be in haste to control a power which it 
 could, under no circumstances, employ against other 
 nations, he came to London and remained in hiding. 
 He was bitterly resolved to make no more experimental 
 offers to any one until he was sure of his man. When 
 I came to London, with more revenues at my disposal 
 than any government could have for a private purpose, 
 he came to me. He found in me that appreciation
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 235 
 
 which he could have found nowhere else. I tested the 
 principle of his discovery and found it to be correct. I 
 have been very prompt. Yesterday I closed a contract 
 with him, and this morning I rented a large estate in 
 Surrey for a private experimental station. We will 
 have our flying machine ready in a month. We will 
 mount into space and come down when and where we 
 please. Before we go, we'll establish a perfect system 
 and a chain of agents all over the world. We can 
 drop dispatches of instructions to our various agents 
 wherever we happen to be. We will take with us at 
 least $5,000,000 in coin and bills, for the payment of 
 orders, dispatches, and what not. We will provide for 
 a line of stations to flash back to us answering mes- 
 sages by the heliograph system. If everything goes 
 well, we will never come down until a regenerated 
 society begs us to come and offers us the presidency of 
 the world." 
 
 Napoleon Wolff now called in Moritz Schlager and 
 introduced him to me. He answered perfectly to the 
 description of him given me by my friend, Count 
 Ernst. Schlager confirmed every detail of that story, 
 as related by Count Ernst. 
 
 Before my departure, Napoleon Wolff gave me one 
 more beautiful thought concerning his newspaper of 
 the future. "I propose," he said, " to eliminate, abso- 
 lutely, from my newspaper the word modesty. My 
 paper shall be the best ; my editors shall have the 
 largest brains that money can buy. All the talents, 
 and graces, and virtues of the world shall be purchased 
 by my money, and paraded in the columns of my
 
 236 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 newspaper. Every man connected with my staff shall 
 be required to have printed upon his card the detailed 
 statement of his special excellence and qualities. For 
 instance, if you were to live on terra firma as my 
 responsible agent, I should require you to have printed 
 on your card : 'Henry Osborn, the largest-brained and 
 broadest-minded editor in the universe.' The editor 
 of my religious department should be required to have 
 a similar decoration. So on, throughout the entire 
 range of my service. The foolish people, who think a 
 newspaper should be conducted upon the lines of con- 
 duct that govern the life of a private gentleman, are 
 laboring under a delusion. I prefer, however, to 
 widen the field of our claims, by extending it from the 
 newspapers which I shall create, to the men employed 
 upon them. I think, in this way, we will make a much 
 deeper impression upon society." 
 
 I, here, very feebly suggested that, if he adhered 
 rigidly to the line of policy he contemplated, he 
 need not worry for fear he would not produce a pro- 
 found enough impression. I added that I feared 
 there would be a great loss of life connected with 
 the publication of his journal, and that he might find 
 some trouble in recruiting members for the various 
 staffs. 
 
 He made light of this. 
 
 " I may, at first, lose a few of my faithful employees," 
 said he, " but I am prepared for that kind of thing. 
 Money will supply me with more. If society is too 
 troublesome in its retaliation, I shall select a few con- 
 spicuous examples, and drop a bomb or two around
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 237 
 
 them as a gentle reminder that the editor of the 
 Diamond is not a man to be trifled with." 
 
 A few moments afterwards, I was abruptly dismissed 
 by my new chief. He said that he had wasted all the 
 time he intended to upon me. For the next two or 
 three weeks he expected to be busy with Herr Schlager. 
 I was to come down to Elmhurst upon the 30th of 
 that month — two weeks later. That was the day fixed 
 for the trial of the first flying machine, and if every- 
 thing worked well. Napoleon Wolff intended to make 
 a short voyage with the inventor, to test fully the 
 merits of the new discovery.
 
 238 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 It was on the 30th of November, 1 893, that I took a 
 train out of Waterloo station to run down to Elmhurst. 
 During the intervening time I had been busy carrying 
 out Wolff's orders. I made one financial arrangement 
 after another, all relating to the publication of the new 
 paper to come out, early in the year, in the city of 
 New York. We had cabled over for presses, and 
 found that we could have a dozen ready about the 1st 
 of April. A good site for a building had also been 
 arranged for, and I was to cross by the first steamer, 
 after the experiment at Elmhurst, to take charge of 
 the local organization and to complete the details of 
 organizing the vast domestic machinery and system 
 necessary for the successful production of a modern 
 newspaper in the great metropolis of New York. I 
 was very contented with my work. I steadfastly 
 refused to follow along the line of logical conclusion 
 outlined by Mr. Wolff for his newspaper, trusting con- 
 fidently, in my happy-go-lucky nature, to the trend of 
 circumstances to mould the order of things more in 
 accordance with reasonable lines. There is no pleasure 
 so keen in the world as that of spending other people's 
 money ; and, as I was given perfect freedom by my 
 employer, I, to use a good American phrase, fairly
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 239 
 
 made things hum in my preparations for this great 
 publication. I arrived at Elmhurst late in the after- 
 noon. The long twilight of an English fall day makes 
 it light until nearly nine in the evening. 
 
 I found that, through the magical influence of 
 money and the skill of Herr Schlager, a most satis- 
 factory flying machine, strong enough to house, com- 
 fortably, at least fifty people, had been constructed. It 
 was not a large apparatus, and had something of the 
 appearance of a yacht, with the exception that, instead 
 of high masts and sweeping sails, it had, at the sides, 
 lateral platforms in the shape of wings. I descended 
 to the cabin, which was fitted up with substantial com- 
 forts, and there I met Mr. Wolff and the inventor. Mr. 
 Wolff said : 
 
 " It is not necessary, for the moment, for you to ex- 
 amine this machine to gain any technical knowledge 
 concerning it. The engine which generates the power 
 that opposes and renders negative the law of gravita- 
 tion, is so simple, that you will be surprised, upon its 
 examination, that a stupid world has not found out its 
 principle long ago. The moment you concede that 
 principle to be established, then a flying machine is as 
 practical as any vehicle now employed for transporta- 
 tion on terra firma. All really great discoveries are 
 simple. We have stocked this machine for three 
 months. It is possible that I may wish to make a tour 
 of discovery and observation before actually beginning 
 my work in New York. I will be much obliged to you 
 if you will cross directly by steamer and await our 
 arrival in New York.
 
 240 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 
 
 "But," said I, in surprise, "you do not mean that 
 you are going to set off on so long a voyage without 
 first making some experiments as to the power of this 
 new force ? " 
 
 " We have already made these experiments. We 
 have been up during the last few nights, and have been 
 able to maintain a speed, going in any direction we 
 please, of one hundred miles an hour. What more 
 would you want than that ? You must remember my 
 time is short. Never forget that. I have only called 
 you down here for my final instructions. I have placed 
 $1,000,000 to the credit of the new newspaper in New 
 York, and you, as my official director, will have 
 authority to draw upon its funds. Go ahead, and take 
 the next steamer, and await our arrival there." 
 
 " But shall I not remain here and see you depart ? " 
 
 " Oh, if you like. You have more time than I. You 
 can afford to gratify your curiosity, I suppose. When 
 is the next fast steamer for America? " 
 
 " The ' Paris ' will leave Southampton to-morrow 
 afternoon." 
 
 " Well, if you can make that steamer, stay. We 
 leave in exactly an hour." 
 
 The impatience of the two men to be away was 
 great. The few men who had been employed upon 
 the flying machine had long ago been dismissed ; and 
 as experiments of this kind are not uncommon in 
 England, no great attention had been concentrated 
 upon the work of these men, upon the lonely farm near 
 Elmhurst, leased by Napoleon Wolff. 
 
 All of the work relating to the new discovery had
 
 NAPOLEON WOLFF. 241 
 
 been done by Herr Schlager himself. At midnight I 
 left the house, accompanied by the two men. I was 
 the only witness of the departure of the " Monte 
 Cristo," Mr. Wolff having given the vessel the same 
 name as the one given to his mine. I was not permitted 
 to enter the vessel after their arrival. It was supported 
 lightly upon the right and left by staves. Herr Schlager 
 entered the vessel first, climbing a little ladder placed 
 there for the purpose. Then Napoleon Wolff mounted 
 and the ladder was pulled up after him. Leaning over 
 the rail of this graceful yacht-shaped vehicle, he called 
 out to me: "My friend, the work of regenerating 
 society is about to begin. Be faithful to the trust I 
 have reposed in you and go ahead. Await orders in 
 New York." 
 
 These were his last words. The vehicle rose like a 
 bird, and sailing upon a graceful curve, mounted with 
 the greatest rapidity, and, in a few seconds, vanished 
 like the shadow of a dream. 
 
 I arrived in New York just before Christmas. There 
 is still no word of Napoleon Wolff and his flying 
 machine. There has been no message dropped. I am 
 still confident, however, that two such great men, 
 carrying with them the principle of such a discovery, 
 cannot be lost. But, until I have some positive news, 
 I do not dare to go ahead with the full preparations of 
 the publication of the Daily Diamond. 
 
 THE END.
 
 WHITE CROSS LITERATURE. 
 
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