A NEW FORCE.
"SIR,
"I have read your article on the possibility of travelling to the
other members of the Solar system with much interest. It is a
problem at which I, myself, have been working for a great many
years, and I believe that I have now discovered a means of solving
it in a practical manner. If you would care to see my experiments,
and will do me the honour of coming here, I shall be glad to show
them in confidence any time you may appoint.--Yours truly,
"NASMYTH CARMICHAEL."
The above letter, marked "Private," was forwarded to me through the
editor of _The Day After To-morrow_. The writer of it was a total
stranger to me, even by report, and at first I did not know what to make
of it. Was the man a charlatan, or a "crank?" There were no signs of
craziness or humbug in his frank and simple sentences. Had he really
found out a way of crossing the celestial spaces? In these days it is
better not to be too sceptical as to what science will accomplish. It
is, in fact, wise to keep the mind open and suspend the judgment. We are
standing on the threshold of the Arcana, and at any hour the
search-light of our intellect may penetrate the darkness, and reveal to
our wondering gaze the depths of the inner mechanism of Nature.
I resolved to accept his invitation.
A few days later I presented myself at the home of my unknown
correspondent. It was a lonely little cottage, in the midst of a wild
flat or waste of common ground on the outskirts of London. I should say
it had once been the dwelling of a woodman engaged in the neighbouring
forest. A tall, thick hedge of holly surrounded the large garden, and
almost concealed it from the curiosity of an occasional wanderer on the
heath.
Certainly it did not look the sort of place to find a man of science,
and the old misgivings assailed my mind in greater force than ever. Half
regretting that I had come, and feeling in a dubious element, I opened
the wicket, and knocked at the door.
It was answered by a young woman, in a plain gown of some dark stuff,
with a white collar round the neck. In spite of her dress I could see
that she was not an ordinary cottage girl. Pretty, without being
beautiful, there was a distinction in her voice and manner which bespoke
the gentlewoman. With a pleasant smile, she welcomed me as one who had
been expected, and ushered me into a small sitting-room, poorly
furnished, but with a taste and refinement unusual in a workman's home.
A large piano stood in one of the corners, and a pile of classical music
lay on a chair beside it. The mantelpiece was decorated with cut
flowers, and the walls were hung with portraits and sketches in crayons
and water-colour.
"My father will be down in a moment," she said, with a slight American
accent. "He is delighted to have the pleasure of meeting you. It is so
kind of you to come."
Before I had time to respond, Mr. Carmichael entered the parlour. He was
a man of striking and venerable presence. His long white locks, his
bulging brow, pregnant with brain, his bushy eyebrows and deep blue-grey
eyes, his aquiline nose and flowing beard, gave an Olympian cast to his
noble head. Withal, I could not help noticing that his countenance was
lined with care, his black coat seamed and threadbare, his hands rough
and horny, like those of a workman. If he appeared a god, it was a god
in exile or disgrace; a Saturn rather than a Jove.
"Now to the matter," said he, after a few words of kindly welcome.
"Evidently the question of inter-planetary travel is coming to the
front. In your article you suggest that a locomotive car, that is to
say, a car able to propel itself through what we, in our ignorance, call
empty space, though, in reality, it is chock-full, and very 'thrang' as
the Scotch say, might yet be contrived, and even worked by energy drawn
from the ether direct. When I read that, sir, I sat up and rubbed my
eyes."
"Your spectacles, father," said Miss Carmichael.
"Well, it's the same thing," went on the old man. "For like many another
prophet, sir, you had prophesied better than you knew."
"How do you mean?" I inquired, with a puzzled air.
"If you will step with me into the garden I will show you."
I rose and followed him into a large shed, which was fitted up as a
workshop and laboratory. It contained several large benches, provided
with turning lathes and tools, a quantity of chemicals, and scientific
apparatus.
"I am going to do a thing that I have never done in my life before,"
said Mr. Carmichael, in a sad and doubtful tone; "I have kept this
secret so long that it seems like parting with myself to disclose it,
to disclose even the existence of it. I have fed upon it as a young man
feeds on love. It has been my nourishment, my manna in the wilderness of
this world, my solace under a thousand trials, my inspiration from on
High. I verily believe it has kept my old carcase together. Mind!" he
added, with a penetrating glance of his grey eyes, which gleamed under
their bushy brows like a pool of water in a cavern overhung with
brambles, "promise me that whatever you see and hear will remain a
secret on your part. Never breathe a word of it to a living soul. You
are the only person, except my own daughter, whom I have ever taken into
my confidence."
I gave him my word of honour.
"Very well," he continued, lifting a small metal box from one of the
tables, and patting it with his hand. "I have been working at the
subject of aerial navigation for well-nigh thirty years, and this is the
result."
I looked at the metal case, but could see nothing remarkable about it.
"It seems a little thing, hardly worth a few pence, and yet how much I
have paid for it!" said the inventor, with a sigh, and a far-away
expression in his eyes. "Many a time it has reminded me of the mouse's
nest that was turned up by the ploughshare.
"'Thy wee bit heap o' strae and stibble
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble.'
Of course this is only a model."
"A model of a flying machine?" I inquired, in a tone of surprise.
"You may call it so," he answered; "but it is a flying machine that does
not fly or soar in the strict sense of the words, for it has neither
wings nor aeroplane. It is, in fact, an aerial locomotive, as you will
see."
While he spoke, Mr. Carmichael opened the case of the instrument, and
adjusted the mechanism inside. Immediately afterwards, to my
astonishment, the box suddenly left his hands, and flew, or rather
glided, swiftly through the air, and must have dashed itself against the
wall of the laboratory had not its master run and caught it.
"Wonderful!" I exclaimed, forgetting the attitude of caution and reserve
which I had deemed it prudent to adopt.
The inventor laughed with childish glee, enjoying his triumph, and
stroking the case as though it were a kitten.
"It would be off again if I would let it. Whoa, there!" said he, again
adjusting the mechanism. "I can make it rise, or sink, or steer, to one
side or the other, just as I please. If you will kindly hold it for a
minute, I will make it go up to the ceiling. Don't be afraid, it won't
bite you."
I took the uncanny little instrument in my hands, whilst Mr. Carmichael
ascended a ladder to a kind of loft in the shed. It only weighed a few
pounds, and yet I could feel it exerting a strong force to escape.
"Ready!" cried the inventor, "now let go," and sure enough, the box rose
steadily upwards until it came within his grasp. "I am going to send it
down to you again," he continued, and I expected to see it drop like a
stone to the ground; but, strange to say, it circled gracefully through
the air in a spiral curve, and landed gently at my feet.
"You see I have entire control over it," said Mr. Carmichael, rejoining
me; "but all you have seen has taken place in air, and you might,
therefore, suppose that I have an air propellor inside, and that air is
necessary to react against it, like water against the screw of a
steamboat, in order to produce the motion. I will now show you that air
is not required, and that my locomotive works quite as well in a
vacuum."
So saying, he put the model under a large bell-jar, from which he
exhausted the air with a pump; and even then it moved about with as much
alacrity and freedom as it had done in the atmosphere.
I confess that I was still haunted by a lingering suspicion of the
machine and its inventor; but this experiment went far to destroy it.
Even if the motive power was derived from a coiled spring, or compressed
air, or electricity, in the box, how was it possible to make it act
without the resistance offered by the air? Magnetism was equally out of
the question, since no conceivable arrangement of magnets could have
brought about the movements I had seen. Either I was hypnotised, and
imposed upon, or else this man had discovered what had been unknown to
science. His earnest and straightforward manner was not that of a
mountebank. There had been no attempt to surround his work with mystery,
and cloak his demonstration in unmeaning verbiage. It is true I had
never heard of him in the world of science, but after all an outsider
often makes a great discovery under the nose of the professors.
"Am I to understand," said I, "that you have found a way of navigating
both the atmosphere and the ether?"
"As you see," he replied, briefly.
"What the model has done, you are able to do on a larger scale--in a
practical manner?"
"Assuredly. It is only a matter of size."
"And you can maintain the motion?"
"As long as you like."
"Marvellous! And how is it done?"
"Ah!" exclaimed the inventor, "that is my secret. I am afraid I must not
answer that question at present."
"Is the plan not patented?"
"No. The fact is, I have not yet investigated the subject as fully as I
would like. My mind is not quite clear as to the causes of the
phenomena. I have discovered a new field of research, and great
discoveries are still to be made in it. Were I to patent the machine, I
should have to divulge what I know. Indeed, but for the sake of my
daughter, I am not sure that I should ever patent it. Even as it stands,
it will revolutionise not merely our modes of travel, but our
industries. It has been to me a labour of love, not of money; and I
would gladly make it a gift of love to my fellowmen."
"It is the right spirit," said I; "and I have no doubt that a grateful
world would reward you."
"I wouldn't like to trust it," replied Mr. Carmichael, with a smile and
shrug of the shoulders. "How many inventors has it doomed to pine in
poverty and neglect, or die of a broken heart? How often has it stolen,
aye stolen, the priceless fruits of their genius and labour? Speaking
for myself, I don't complain; I haven't had much to do with it. My
withdrawal from it has been voluntary. I was born in the south of
Scotland, and educated for the medical profession; but I emigrated to
America, and was engaged in one of Colonel Fremont's exploring
expeditions to the Rocky Mountains. After that I was appointed to the
chair of Physical Science in a college of Louisville, Kentucky, where my
daughter was born. One day, when I was experimenting to find out
something else, I fell by accident upon the track of my discovery, and
ever since I have devoted my life to the investigation. It appeared to
me of the very highest importance. As time went on, I grew more and more
absorbed in it. Every hour that I had to give to my official and social
duties seemed thrown away. A man cannot serve two masters, and as I also
found it difficult to carry on my experiments in secrecy, I resigned my
post. I had become a citizen of the United States, but my wife was a
Welshwoman, and had relations in England. So we came to London. When
she died, I settled in this isolated spot, where I could study in peace,
enjoy the fresh air, and easily get the requisite books and apparatus.
Here, with my daughter, I live a very secluded life. She is my sole
companion, my housekeeper, my servant, and my assistant in the
laboratory. She knows as much about my machine, and can work it as well
as I do myself. Indeed, I don't know what I should have done without
her. She has denied herself the ordinary amusements of her age. Her
devotion to me has been beautiful."
The voice of the old man trembled, and I fancied I could read in his
hollow eyes the untold martyrdom of genius.
"At last," he continued, "I have brought the matter into a practical
shape, and like many other inventors, for the first time I stand in need
of advice. Happening to see your article in the Magazine, I resolved to
invite you to come and see what I have done in hopes that you might be
able to advise and perhaps help me."
"I think," said I, after a moment's reflection, "I think the next thing
to be done is to make a large working machine, and try it on a voyage."
"Quite so," he replied; "and I am prepared to build one that will go to
any part of the earth, or explore the higher regions of the atmosphere,
or go down under the sea, or even make a trip to one of the nearer
planets, Mars or Venus as the case may be. But I am poor; my little
fortune is all but exhausted, and here, at the end of the race, within
sight of the goal, I lack the wherewithal to reach it. Now, sir, if you
can see your way to provide the funds, I will give you a share in the
profits of the invention."
I pondered his words in silence. Visions of travel through the air in
distant lands, above the rhododendron forests of the Himalayas, or the
green Savannahs of the Orinoco, the coral isles of the Pacific; yea,
further still, through the starlit crypts of space to other spheres were
hovering in my fancy. The singular history of the man, too, had touched
my feelings. Nevertheless, I hesitated to accept his offer there and
then. It was hardly a proposal to decide upon without due consideration.
"I will think it over and let you know," said I at length. "Have you any
objection to my consulting Professor Gazen, the well-known astronomer?
He is a friend of mine. Perhaps he will be able to assist us."
"None whatever, so long as he keeps the affair to himself. You can
bring him to see the experiments if you like. All I reserve is that I
shall not be asked to explain the inner action of the machine. That must
remain a secret; but some day I hope to show you even that."
"Thanks."