THE DOOM BEGINS
The visitors found themselves in the laboratory, a large building lit by
means of its glass roof.
Sir William Gouldesbrough, dressed in a grey morning suit, received
them. He shook hands with one or two, and bowed to the rest; but there
was no regular greeting of each person who came in.
At one side of the laboratory were three long rows of arm-chairs, built
up in three tiers on platforms, much in the same way as the seats are
arranged for hospital students in an operating theatre.
The guests were invited to take their places, and in a minute or two had
settled themselves, the more frivolous and non-scientific part of them
whispering and laughing together, as people do before the curtain rises
at a play. This is what they saw.
About two yards away from the lowest row of seats, which was practically
on the floor level, the actual apparatus of the discovery began. Upon
specially constructed tables, on steel supports, which rose through the
boarding of the floor, were a series of machines standing almost the
whole length of the room.
Upon the opposite wall to the spectators was a large screen, upon which
the Thought Pictures were to be thrown.
Save for the strange apparatus in all its intricacy of brass and
vulcanite, coiled wire and glass, there was more than a suggestion of
the school-room in which the pupils are entertained by a magic-lantern
exhibition.
Marjorie Poole and her mother sat next to Lord Malvin, on either side of
him, while Donald Megbie, Sir Harold Oliver, and the Bishop of West
London were immediately to their right and left.
Gouldesbrough had not formally greeted Marjorie, but as he stood behind
his apparatus ready to begin the demonstration, he flashed one bright
look at her full of triumph and exultation. Megbie, who was watching
very closely, saw that the girl's face did not change or soften, even at
this supreme moment, when the unutterable triumph of the man who loved
her was about to be demonstrated to the world.
Amid a scene of considerable excitement on the part of the
non-scientific of the audience, and the strained tense attention of the
famous scientists, Sir William Gouldesbrough began.
"My Lord, my illustrious _confrères_, ladies and gentlemen, I have to
thank you very much for all coming here this afternoon to see the law
which I have discovered actually applied by means of mechanical
processes, which have been adapted, invented and made by myself and my
brilliant partner and helper, Mr. Wilson Guest."
As he said this, Sir William turned towards the end of the room where
his assistant was busy bending over one of the machines.
The man, with the large hairless face, was pale, and his fingers were
shaking, as they moved about among the screws and wires. He did not look
up as Gouldesbrough paid him this just tribute, though every one of the
spectators turned towards him at the mention of his name.
Truth to tell, Mr. Wilson Guest was, for the first time for many years,
absolutely bereft of all alcoholic liquor since the night before. For
the first time in their partnership Gouldesbrough had insisted upon
Guest's absolute abstention. He had never done such a thing before, as
he pointed out to his friend, but on this day he said his decision was
final and he meant to be obeyed.
The frenzied entreaties of the poor wretch about mid-day, his miserable
abasement and self-surrender, as he wept for his poison, were useless
alike. He had been forced to yield, and at this moment he was suffering
something like torture. It was indeed only by the greatest effort of his
weakened will that he could attend to the mechanical duties of adjusting
the sensitive machines for the demonstration which was to follow.
"I cannot suppose that any of you here are now unaware of the nature of
my experiments and discovery. It has been ventilated in the press so
largely during the last few days, and Mr. Donald Megbie has written such
a lucid account of the influence which he believes the discovery will
have upon modern life, that I am sure you all realize something of the
nature of what I am about to show you.
"To put it very plainly, I am going to show you how thought can be
collected in the form of vibrations, in the form of fluid electric
current, and collected directly from the brain of the thinker as he
thinks.
"I am further going to demonstrate to you how this current can be
transformed into a visible, living and actual representation of the
thoughts of the thinker."
He stopped for a moment, and there was a little murmur from his guests.
Then he went on.
"Before proceeding to actual experiment, it is necessary that I should
give you some account of the means by which I have achieved such
marvellous results. I do not propose to do this in extremely technical
language, for were I to do so, a large portion of those here this
afternoon would not be able to follow me. I shall proceed to explain in
words, which I think most of you will understand.
"My illustrious _confrères_ in Science will follow me and understand the
technical aspect of what I am going to put into very plain language, and
to them especially I would say that, after the actual experiment has
been conducted, I shall beg them to examine my apparatus and to go into
the matter with me from a purely scientific aspect.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin.
"That light is transmitted by waves in the ether is abundantly proved,
but the nature of the waves and the nature of the ether have, until the
present, always been uncertain. It is known that the ultimate particles
of bodies exist in a state of vibration, but it cannot be assumed that
the vibration is purely mechanical. Experiment has proved the existence
of magnetic and electric strains in the ether, and I have found that
electro-magnetic strains are propagated with the same speed as that of
which light travels.
"You will now realize, to put it in very simple language, that the
connection between light and what the man in the street would call
currents, or waves of electricity, is very intimate. When I had fully
established this in my own mind, I studied the physiology of the human
body for a long period. I found that the exciting agents in the nerve
system of the animal frame are frequently electric, and by experimenting
upon the nerve system in the human eye, I found that it could be excited
by the reception of electro-magnetic waves.
"In the course of my experiments I began more and more frequently to ask
myself, 'What is the exact nature of thought?'
"You all know how Signor Marconi can send out waves from one of his
transmitters. I am now about to tell you that the human brain is nothing
more nor less than an organism, which, in the process of thought, sends
out into the surrounding ether a number of subtle vibrations. But, as
these vibrations are so akin in their very essence to the nature of
light, it occurred to me that it might be possible to gather them
together as they were given off, to direct them to a certain point, and
then, by means of transforming them into actual light, pass that light
through a new form of spectroscope; and, instead of coloured rays being
projected upon a screen through the prism of the instrument, the actual
living thought of the brain would appear for every one to see.
"This is, in brief, precisely what I have done, and it is precisely
what I am going to show you in a few minutes. Having given you this
briefest and slightest outline of the law I have discovered and proved,
I will explain to you something of the mechanical means by which I have
proved it, and by which I am going to show it to you in operation."
He stopped once more, and moved a little away from where he had been
standing. Every one was now thoroughly interested. There was a tremulous
silence as the tall, lean figure moved towards a small table on which
the shining conical cap, or helmet of brass, lay.
Sir William took up the object and held it in his right hand, so that
every one could see it distinctly. From the top, where the button of an
ordinary cap would be, a thin silk-covered wire drooped down to the
floor and finally rose again and disappeared within a complicated piece
of mechanism a few feet away.
"This cap," Sir William said, "is placed upon the head of a human being.
You will observe later that it covers the whole of the upper part of the
head down to the eyes, and also descends behind to the nape of the neck
and along each side of the neck to the ears.
"A person wearing this cap is quite unconscious of anything more than
the mere fact of its weight upon his head. But what is actually going on
is, that every single thought he secretes is giving off this vibration,
not into the ether, but within the space enclosed by the cap. These
vibrations cannot penetrate through the substance with which the cap is
lined, and in order to obtain an outlet, they can only use the outlet
which I have prepared for them. This is placed in the top of the cap,
and is something like those extremely delicate membranes which receive
the vibrations of the human voice in a telephone and transmit them along
a wire to the receiver at the other end of it."
He put down the cap, and looked towards his audience. Not a single
person moved in the very least. The distinguished party, tier upon tier,
might have been a group of wooden statues painted and coloured to
resemble the human form. Sir William moved on.
"Here," he said, "is a piece of apparatus enclosed in this box, which
presented the first great difficulty in the course of the twenty years
during which I have been engaged upon this work. Within this wooden
shell," he tapped it with his fingers, "the thought vibrations, if I may
call them so, are collected and transformed into definite and separate
_electric_ currents. Every single variation in their strength or quality
is changed into a corresponding electric current, which, in its turn,
varies from its fellow currents. So far, I have found that from between
3,000 to 4,000 different currents, differing in their tensity and their
power, are generated by the ordinary thoughts of the ordinary human
being.
"You may take it from me, as I shall presently show my scientific
brethren, that within this box Thought Vibrations are transformed into
_electric_ currents."
He passed on to a much larger machine, which was connected by a network
of wires covered with crimson and yellow silk, to the mahogany box which
he had just left.
The outside of the new piece of apparatus resembled nothing so much as
one of those enormous wine-coolers which one sees in big restaurants or
hotels. It was a large square case standing upon four legs. But from the
lid of this case rose something which suggested a very large
photographic camera, but made of dull steel. The tube, in which the lens
of an ordinary camera is set, was in this case prolonged for six or
seven feet, and was lost in the interior of the next machine.
And now, for the first time, the strained ears of the spectators caught
a note of keen vibration and excitement in Sir William Gouldesbrough's
voice. He had been speaking very quietly and confidently hitherto; but
now the measured utterance rose half a tone; and, as when some great
actor draws near in speech to the climax of the event he mimics, so Sir
William also began to be agitated, and so also the change in tone sent a
thrill and quiver through the ranks of those who sat before him.
"Here," he said, "I have succeeded in transforming my electric currents
into light. That is nothing, you may think for a moment, the electric
current produces light in your own houses at any moment; but you must
remember that in your incandescent bulbs the light is always the same in
its quality. Light of this sort, passed through the prism of a
spectroscope will always tell the same story when the screen presents
itself for analysis. My problem has been to produce an infinite variety
of light, so that every single thought vibration will produce, when
transformed, its own _special_ and _individual_ quality of light, and
that," he concluded, "I have done."
Sir Harold Oliver, who had been leaning forward with grey eyes so
strained and intent that all the life seemed to have gone out of them
and they resembled sick pearls, gave a gasp as Sir William paused.
Then Gouldesbrough continued.
He placed his hand upon the thing like a camera which rose from the lid
of the larger structure below it.
"Within this chamber," he said, "all the light generated below is
collected and focussed. It passes in one volume through this object."
He moved onwards, as he spoke, running his fingers along the pipe which
led him to the next marvel in this stupendous series.
"I have now come," he began again, "to what Mr. Guest and myself might
perhaps be allowed to think as our supreme triumph. Here is our
veritable Thought Spectroscope within this erection, which, as you will
observe, is much larger than anything else I have shown you. The light
which pours along that tube is passed through, what I will only now
designate as a prism, to keep the analogy of the light spectroscope, and
is split up into its component parts.
"You will see that, rising out of this iron box," he ran his hand over
the sides of it as if he loved it, "the lens projects just like the lens
of a bioscope. This lens is directed full upon that great white screen
which is exactly opposite to you all; and this is my final demonstration
of the mechanism which I am now about to set in motion to prove to you
that I have now triumphed over the hitherto hidden Realm of Thought.
From this lens I shall pour upon the screen in a minute or two for you
all to see, without doubt and in simple view, the thoughts of the man or
woman on whom I shall place the cap."
He ceased. The first part of the demonstration was over.
Lord Malvin rose in his seat. His voice was broken by emotion.
"Sir," he said, "I know, none better perhaps in this room, of the
marvellous series of triumphs which have led you to this supreme moment.
I know how absolutely and utterly true all you have told us is, and I
know that we are going to witness your triumph."
He turned round to the people behind him.
"We are going to see," he said, "the human soul laid bare for the first
time in the history of the world."
Then he turned once more to Sir William, and his voice, though still
full of almost uncontrollable emotion, became deep and stern.
"Sir William Gouldesbrough," he said, "I have to salute you as the
foremost scientist of all time, greater than Newton, greater than
Darwin, greater than us all. And I pray to God that you have used the
great talent He has given you in a worthy way, and I pray that, if you
have done this, you will always continue to do so; for surely it is only
for some special reason that God has allowed you this mastery."
He ceased, and there was rustle and hum of movement among all the
people, as this patriarch lifted his voice with almost a note of
warning and menace in it.
It was all so unusual, so unexpected--why did this strange prophetic
note come into the proceedings? What was hidden in the old man's brain?
Every one felt the presence, the unseen presence of deep waters and
hidden things.
Marjorie Poole had bowed her head, she was absolutely motionless. There
was a tension in the air.
Sir William Gouldesbrough's head was bowed also, as he listened with
courteous deference to the words of one whose name had been chief and
most honoured in the scientific world for so many years. Those who
watched him remarked afterwards that he seemed to be stricken into stone
for a moment, as words which were almost a veiled accusation pealed out
into the great room.
Then they saw Sir William once more himself in a swift moment. His eyes
were bright and there was a look of triumph on his face.
"I thank you, Lord Malvin," he said, in a voice which was arrogant and
keen, "I thank you for your congratulations, your belief, and for your
hopes for me; and now my lord, ladies, and gentlemen, shall we not
proceed to the actual demonstration?
"I am going to ask that one of you come down from your seat and allow me
to place the cap upon your head. I shall then darken the laboratory,
and the actual thoughts of the lady or gentleman who submits herself or
himself to the experiment will be thrown upon the screen."
There was a dead silence now, but most of the people there looked at
each other in doubt and fear.
It might well be that, confronted for the first time in their lives with
the possibility of the inmost secrets of their souls being laid bare,
the men and women of the world would shrink in terror. Who of us,
indeed, is able to look clearly and fairly into his own heart, and
realize in very actual truth what he is! Do we not, day by day, and hour
by hour, apply the flattering unction to our souls that we aren't so
very bad after all; that what we did last week, and what,
sub-consciously we know we shall do again in the week that is coming, is
only the result of a temperament which cannot be controlled in this or
that particular, and that we have many genial virtues--not exactly
specified or defined--which make it all up to a high level of conduct
after all?
Yes! There was a silence there, as indeed there would have been in any
other assembly when such a proposal was made.
They were all ashamed, they were all frightened. They none of them dared
submit themselves to this ordeal.
And as they looked at their host they saw that a faint and mocking
smile was playing about his mouth, and that the eyes above it flamed and
shone.
Then they heard his voice once more, and the new and subtle quality of
mockery had crept into that also.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am waiting for one of you to give me an
opportunity of proving all that I have told you."
"My lord, will not you afford me the great privilege of being the first
subject of the new experiment?"
Lord Malvin looked very straightly and rather strangely at Sir William
Gouldesbrough.
"Sir," he said, "I am not afraid to display my thoughts to this company,
but shall I be the first person who has ever done so? Of course not. You
have had other subjects for experiment, whether willing or unwilling--I
do not know."
Once again the guests saw Sir William's face change. What strange and
secret duel, they asked themselves, was going on before them? How was it
that Lord Malvin and Sir William Gouldesbrough seemed to be in the twin
positions of accuser and accused?
What was all this?
Lord Malvin continued--
"I am ready to submit myself, Sir William, in the cause of Science. But
I would ask you, very, very earnestly, if you desire that the thoughts
that animate me at this moment should be given to every one here?"
Gouldesbrough stepped back a pace as though some one had struck him.
There was a momentary and painful silence. And then it was that the
Bishop of West London rose in his place.
"Sir William," he said, "I shall be highly honoured if you will allow me
to be the first subject. I shall fix my thoughts upon some definite
object, and then we shall see if my memory is good. I have only just
come back from a holiday in the Holy Land, and it will give me great
pleasure to sit in your chair and to try and construct some memories of
Jerusalem for you all."
With that the Bishop stepped down on to the floor of the laboratory, and
sat in the chair which Sir William indicated.
The spectators saw the brass cap carefully fitted on the prelate's head.
Then Sir William stepped to the little vulcanite table upon which the
controlling switches were--there was a click, shutters rolled over the
sky-lights in the roof, already obscured by the approach of evening, and
the electric lights of the laboratory all went out simultaneously. The
darkness was profound. The great experiment had begun.