CHAPTER XV. THE AUTOMATIC SHELL
In a large building, not far from the lens-house in which Roland Clewehad pursued the experiments which had come to such a disappointingconclusion, there was a piece of mechanism which interested its inventormore than any other of his works, excepting of course the photic borer.
This was an enormous projectile, the peculiarity of which was that itsmotive power was contained within itself, very much as a rocket containsthe explosives which send it upward. It differed, however, from therocket or any other similar projectile, and many of its features wereentirely original with Roland Clewe.
This extraordinary piece of mechanism, which was called the automaticshell, was of cylindrical form, eighteen feet in length and four feet indiameter. The forward end was conical and not solid, being formed of anumber of flat steel rings, decreasing in size as they approached thepoint of the cone. When not in operation these rings did not touch oneanother, but they could be forced together by pressure on the pointof the cone. This shell might contain explosives or not, as might beconsidered desirable, and it was not intended to fire it from a cannon,but to start it on its course from a long semi-cylindrical trough, whichwould be used simply to give it the desired direction. After it had beenstarted by a ram worked by an engine at the rear end of the trough, itimmediately bean to propel itself by means of the mechanism containedwithin it.
But the great value of this shell lay in the fact that the moment itencountered a solid substance or obstruction of any kind its propellingpower became increased. The rings which formed the cone on its forwardend were pressed together, the electric motive power was increased inproportion to the pressure, and thus the greater the resistance to thisprojectile the greater became its velocity and power of progression,and its onward course continued until its self-containing force had beenexhausted.
The power of explosives had reached, at this period, to so high a pointthat it was unnecessary to devise any increase in their enormous energy,and the only problems before the students of artillery practice relatedto methods of getting their projectiles to the points desired. Progressin this branch of the science had proceeded so far that an attack upona fortified port by armored vessels was now considered as a thing of thepast; and although there had been no naval wars of late years, it wasbelieved that never again would there be a combat between vessels ofiron or steel.
The recently invented magnetic shell made artillery practice against allvessels of iron a mere mechanical process, demanding no skill whatever.When one of these magnetic shells was thrown anywhere in the vicinityof an iron ship, the powerful magnetism developed within it instantlyattracted it to the vessel, which was destroyed by the ensuing contactand explosion. Two ironclads meeting on the ocean need each to fire butone shell to be both destroyed. The inability of iron battle-shipsto withstand this improvement in artillery had already set the navalarchitects of the world upon the work of constructing warships whichwould not attract the magnetic shell--which was effective even when laidon the bottoms of harbors--and Roland Clewe had been engaged in makingplans and experiments for the construction of a paper man-of-war, whichhe believed would meet the requirements of the situation.
When Clewe determined to follow Margaret Raleigh's advice and give upfor a time his work with the Artesian ray, his thoughts naturallyturned to his automatic shell. Work upon this invention was now almostcompleted, but the great difficulty which its inventor expected to meetwith was that of inducing his government to make a trial of it. Such atrial would be extremely expensive, involving probably the destructionof the shell, and he did not feel able or willing to experiment with itwithout governmental aid.
The shell was intended for use on land as well as at sea, against citiesand great fortified structures, and Clewe believed that the automaticshell might be brought within fifty miles of a city, set up with itstrough and ram, and projected in a level line towards its object,to which it would impel itself with irresistible power and velocity,through forests, hills, buildings, and everything, gaining strengthfrom every opposition which stood in the direct line of its progress.Attacking fortifications from the sea, the vessel carrying this greatprojectile could operate at a distance beyond the reach of the magneticshell.
Now that the automatic shell itself was finished, and nothing remainedto be done but to complete the great steel trough in which it would lie,Roland Clewe found himself confronted with a business which was veryhard and very distasteful to him. He must induce other people to do whathe was not able to do himself. Unless his shell was put to a practicaltrial, it could be of no value to the world or to himself.
In one of the many conversations on the subject; Margaret had suggestedsomething which rapidly grew and developed in Roland's mind.
"It would be an admirable thing to tunnel mountains with," said she. "Ofcourse I mean a large one, as thick through as a tunnel ought to be."
In less than a day Clewe had perfected an idea which he believed mightbe of practical service. For some time there had been talk of a newrailroad in this part of the State, but one of the difficulties in theway was the necessity of making a tunnel or a deep cut through a smallmountain. To go round this mountain would be objectionable for manyreasons, and to go through it would be enormously expensive. Clewe knewthe country well, and his soul glowed within him as he thought thathere perhaps was an opportunity for him to demonstrate the value of hisinvention, not only as an agent in warfare, but as a wonderful assistantin the peaceful progress of the world.
There was no reason why such shells should not be constructed for theexpress purpose of making tunnels. Nothing could be better adapted foran experiment of this kind than the low mountain in question. If theshell passed through it at the desired point, there would be nothingbeyond which could be injured, and it would then enter the end of asmall chain of mountains, and might pass onward, as far as its motivepower would carry it, without doing any damage whatever. Moreover, itscourse could be followed and it could be recovered.
Both Roland and Margaret were very enthusiastic in favor of this trialof the automatic shell, and they determined that if the railroad companywould pay them a fair price if they should succeed in tunnellingthe mountain, they would charge nothing should their experiment be afailure. Of course the tunnel the shell would make, if everythingworked properly, would not be large enough for any practical use; butexplosives might be placed along its length, which, if desired, wouldblow out that portion of the mountain which lay immediately above thetunnel, and this great cut could readily be enlarged to any desireddimensions.
Clewe would have gone immediately to confer with the secretary of therailroad company, with whom he was acquainted but that gentleman was atthe sea-side, and the business was necessarily postponed.
"Now," said Clewe to Margaret, "if I could do it, I'd like to take arun up to the polar sea and see for myself what they have discovered.Judging from Sammy's infrequent despatches, the party in general must begetting a little tired of Mr. Gibbs's experiments and soundings; but Ishould be intensely interested in them."
"I don't wonder," answered Margaret, "that they are getting tired; theyhave found the pole, and they want to come home. That is natural enough.But, for my part, I am very glad we can't run up there. Even if wehad another Dipsey I should decidedly oppose it. I might agree that weshould go to Cape Tariff, but I would not agree to anything more. Youmay discover poles if you want to, but you must do it by proxy."
At this moment an awful crash was heard. It came from the buildingcontaining the automatic shell. Clewe and Margaret started to theirfeet. They glanced at each other, and then both ran from the office atthe top of their speed. Other people were running from various partsof the Works. There was no smoke; there was no dust. There had been noexplosion, as Clewe had feared in his first alarm.
When they entered the building, Clewe and Margaret stood aghast. Therewere workmen shouting or standing with open mouths; others were runningin. The massive scaffolding, twenty feet in height, on which
the shellhad been raised so that the steel trough might be run under it, lay insplinters upon the ground. The great automatic shell itself had entirelydisappeared.
For some moments no one said anything; all stood astounded, looking atthe space where the shell had been. Then Clewe hurried forward. In theground, amid the wreck of the scaffolding, was a circular holeabout four feet in diameter. Clasping the hand of a man near him, hecautiously peered over the edge and looked down. It was dark and deep;he saw nothing.
Roland Clewe stepped back; he put his hands over his eyes and thought.Now he comprehended everything clearly. The weight of the shell hadbeen too great for its supports. The forward part, which contained thepropelling mechanism, was much heavier than the other end, and hadgone down first, so that the shell had turned over and had fallenperpendicularly, striking the ground with the point of the cone. Thenits tremendous propelling energy, infinitely more powerful than anydynamic force dreamed of in the preceding century, was instantlygenerated. The inconceivably rapid motion which forced it forward likea screw must have then commenced, and it had bored itself down deep intothe solid earth.
"Roland, dear," said Margaret, stepping quietly up to him, tears on herpale countenance, "don't you think it can be hoisted up again?"
"I hope not," said he.
"Why do you say that?" she asked, astonished.
"Because," he answered, "if it has not penetrated far enough into theearth to make it utterly out of our power to get it again, the thing isa failure."
"More than that," thought Margaret; "if it has gone down entirely out ofour reach, the thing is a failure all the same, for I don't believe hecan ever be induced to make another."