"Hillo! who are you?"
"I am Elphinstone," came the instant and clear reply. "Is that the
_Flying Fish_?"
"Yes," answered von Schalckenberg. "We are now at the village, and we
thought it an excellent opportunity to test the telephones. They appear
to answer perfectly; for I can hear you as distinctly as though you were
at my elbow. Can you hear me fairly well?"
"Splendidly; quite as well as you can hear me, I should say," replied
Sir Reginald. "I congratulate you, Professor, upon the success of your
latest invention. It is a most useful instrument; and I can easily
imagine a number of circumstances under which it might prove of the
utmost value to us. An idea has just occurred to me. How would it do,
while we are about it, to ascertain the greatest distance at which it is
possible to communicate intelligibly with each other?"
"Excellent!" answered von Schalckenberg. "We will shut ourselves in,
ascend to a height of ten thousand feet, into the calm belt, and then
proceed at full speed directly away from you. Keep your finger on the
black button of your instrument, please, for our guidance; and when our
bell ceases to sound we shall know that we have lost touch with you."
"Right!" came the answer. And instantly all the bells in the ship again
started ringing.
At the same moment the professor closed the door and windows of the
pilot-house, and injected a strong jet of vapour into the air-chambers,
causing the ship to rise rapidly into the air. Then he sent the engines
full speed ahead, and pointed the ship's sharp snout on a compass
bearing that left the party on the beach directly astern of her.
For three-quarters of an hour the bells in the ship continued to ring,
at first strongly, and then gradually with diminishing strength; and
finally, when the ship had been running continuously at full speed for
fifty minutes, they became inaudible.
The professor's face, meanwhile, was a picture of ever-growing delight.
"If we can continue to hear the bell for a quarter of an hour I shall be
quite satisfied," he had remarked to Mildmay, as the ship first rose
into the air; "for by that time we shall be quite fifty miles distant
from the beach."
And when the quarter of an hour had elapsed with no perceptible
diminution in the volume of sound, his growing satisfaction had been
faithfully mirrored by the steadily expanding smile upon his expressive
features. Finally, when at length the bells ceased to ring, he
exclaimed--
"Well! who would have believed it? Here have I, a poor silly scientist,
been hoping that my little invention would prove effective for as long a
distance as fifty miles; and behold, at the distance of one hundred and
twenty miles from our friends we have only just lost touch with them.
Let us try back, my friend; turn the ship round, and we will then note
how far we have to run before we can speak clearly to each other."
Mildmay accordingly put the helm hard over, and when the compass showed
that the ship was once more pointing directly toward the spot on the
beach where the remainder of the party had been left, the professor drew
out his watch, and carefully noted the time. Almost immediately the
bells again began to tinkle, at first very faintly and intermittently,
but rapidly increasing in strength as the ship sped back over the ground
that she had traversed a few minutes earlier. By the time that she had
run ten miles on her return journey the bells were again ringing quite
strongly.
"Stop her!" commanded von Schalckenberg. "We are now one hundred and
ten miles from our friends, and I think we ought to be within speaking
distance of them. Let us try."
He touched the red knob of the instrument, and at the same time inserted
the end of the tube in his ear. Almost instantly a faint but quite
distinct shout came to him:
"Hillo, von Schalckenberg, where are you now?" he heard Sir Reginald's
voice inquire.
"We are just one hundred and ten miles distant from you," answered the
professor. "Can you hear me distinctly?"
"Yes, quite distinctly; although your voice does not sound quite so loud
as it did," came the reply. "It sounds as though you were about a
hundred feet away."
"Still, if you can hear me clearly enough to distinguish what I say, it
is good enough. You will hear me more distinctly as we shorten the
distance between you and ourselves. By the way, have you met with any
luck yet in your search for rubies?"
"Yes," answered Sir Reginald. "During these experiments of yours I have
been lying down on the beach, turning over the pebbles within reach, and
have found two rather fine stones that look like rubies. You will be
able to say whether they are or no when you see them."
"Which will be within the hour," answered the professor; "for we are now
about to return to you at full speed. Many thanks, my friend, for
giving so much time to my experiment. I need not now trouble you any
further; so get to work in earnest, and see how many more rubies you can
find by the time that we arrive."
It was exactly fifty-five minutes later that the _Flying Fish_, still at
a height of ten thousand feet above the sea-level, arrived over the
beach where the rest of the party were seen wandering slowly hither and
thither, and gently settled down in their midst.
"Well, my friends, what luck, so far?" demanded the professor, as he and
Mildmay emerged from the ship's diving-chamber, and joined Sir Reginald
and Lady Olivia on the beach.
"That is for you to say," answered Sir Reginald, with a laugh. "I have
found another likely looking stone since I last spoke to you; and Lady
Olivia, here, has a whole pocketful, but most of them, I am afraid, are
rather more than doubtful."
"May I be permitted to see them?" asked von Schalckenberg, holding out
his hand, with a smile.
"Of course," answered Lady Olivia, detaching from her belt the little
leather bag in which she usually carried her handkerchief, scent-bottle,
and other odds and ends. "_I_ think that several of them are quite
good; but my husband declares that they are not worth the trouble of
picking up."
"And he is quite right, so far as this one, at least, is concerned,"
remarked the professor, as he drew forth a stone and held it up to the
light for a moment. "This also," as he drew forth a second, looked at
it, and threw it away. "Ah!" he exclaimed, as he produced a third,
"this looks more promising."
He examined the stone very carefully--it was about the size of a
plover's egg--and presently said, as he handed it back--
"My dear lady, permit me to congratulate you. You have been fortunate
enough to secure an exceptionally magnificent stone, without doubt. It
is, of course, somewhat difficult to judge of the precise value of a gem
in its rough, uncut state, but I should say that you have there a stone
that will prove almost unique, not only as to size, but also for its
perfect colour. Have you any more like it?"
Further investigation proved that Lady Olivia had another that was
almost, if not quite, the equal of the first, as well as three others of
somewhat smaller size, but equal beauty of colour; and when, presently,
the professor proceeded to examine Sir Reginald's find, it became at
once apparent that the rubies to be found in this particular locality
were likely to prove exceptionally valuable from their extreme richness
of colour.
"And these," exclaimed von Schalckenberg, enthusiastically, "are the
results of but a few hours' search! Surely there must be a ruby mine of
almost fabulous richness somewhere close at hand. Now is the time for
me to acquire a little of that wealth of which I am in such urgent
need."
And, raising his hat to Lady Olivia, he turned away. But it was
presently noticed that, instead of examining the pebbles on the beach,
as the rest were doing, he went straight to the foot of the low cliff at
the upper edge of the beach, scrutinising its face very closely, and
foot by foot, as he passed slowly along it. When last particularly
noticed, he was seen to be apparently digging into the soil of the
cliff-face, here and there, with his pocket-knife.
At length the sound of a gong beaten on board the _Flying Fish_ gave
notice that afternoon tea was ready for whosoever chose to partake of
that refreshment; and the two ladies and little Ida--all three of whom
held the institution in great respect--at once gladly turned their steps
toward the ship, for they were fatigued and hot with their unwonted
exertions, and felt that a cup of tea was precisely what they needed for
their restoration. The men of the party, also, had by this time drifted
almost insensibly into the habit of joining the ladies at this function;
thus it came to pass that within the half-hour the entire party had
gathered beneath the awnings, and, ensconced in comfortable basket
chairs, were leisurely sipping the fragrant cup that is said to cheer
and certainly does not inebriate, while they discussed in desultory
fashion their afternoon's experiences, and compared their finds. All,
that is to say, with the exception of von Schalckenberg, who, in his
usual absent-minded way, was to be seen, about a mile distant, still
prodding and poking at the cliff-face as industriously and with as deep
an absorption as though so important a function as afternoon tea was
quite unknown to him.
"Let us call the beggar up with one of his own telephones," said
Lethbridge, in response to some remark of Lady Olivia's anent the
professor's absorption. "If we don't he will stay there until darkness
falls, and then wonder how the dickens he got there. Here, Ida, come
you and call up the professor, sweetheart; he will perhaps listen to
you, though it is very doubtful whether he would to me." And, drawing
his telephone from his pocket, he pressed the button, while Ida--with
whom the ex-colonel was a great favourite--came and stood obediently by
his side. As usual, everybody else's telephone, as well as all the
bells in the ship, at once started ringing.
"Now," continued Lethbridge, gravely, "that is the fault that I have to
find with these otherwise wonderfully clever contrivances of von
Schalckenberg's. You want to communicate with a certain person by means
of your own instrument, and you at once attract the attention of
everybody else who happens to possess one. I must remember to ask the
worthy man if he cannot remedy that defect. Ah, there he is," as the
bells ceased for a moment to tinkle. "Now then, Ida, put this in your
ear, and then tell the professor, through that mouthpiece, that
afternoon tea is on."