V
At ten o'clock one evening, shortly after the occurrences heretoforedescribed, an extraordinary conference occurred at the White House,probably the most remarkable ever held there or elsewhere. At the longtable at which the cabinet meetings took place sat six gentlemen inevening dress, each trying to appear unconcerned, if not amused. At thehead of the table was the President of the United States; next to himCount von Koenitz, the German Ambassador, representing the Imperial[1]German Commissioners, who had taken over the reins of the GermanGovernment after the abdication of the Kaiser; and, on the oppositeside, Monsieur Emil Liban, Prince Rostoloff, and Sir John Smith, therespective ambassadors of France, Russia, and Great Britain. The sixthperson was Thornton, the astronomer.
[Footnote 1: The Germans were unwilling to surrender the use of thewords "Empire" and "Imperial," even after they had adopted a republicanform of government.]
The President had only succeeded in bringing this conference about afterthe greatest effort and the most skilful diplomacy--in view of theextreme importance which, he assured them all, he attached to thematters which he desired to lay before them. Only for this reason hadthe ambassadors of warring nations consented to meet--unofficially as itwere.
"With great respect, your Excellency," said Count von Koenitz, "thematter is preposterous--as much so as a fairy tale by Grimm! Thiswireless operator of whom you speak is lying about these messages. If hereceived them at all--a fact which hangs solely upon his word--hereceived them _after_ and not _before_ the phenomena recorded."
The President shook his head. "That might hold true of the firstmessage--the one received July 19th," said he, "but the second message,foretelling the lengthening of July 27th, _was delivered on that day,and was in my hands before the disturbances occurred_."
Von Koenitz fingered his moustache and shrugged his shoulders. It wasclear that he regarded the whole affair as absurd, undignified.
Monsieur Liban turned impatiently from him.
"Your Excellency," he said, addressing the President, "I cannot sharethe views of Count von Koenitz. I regard this affair as of the moststupendous importance. Messages or no messages, extraordinary naturalphenomena are occurring which may shortly end in the extinction of humanlife upon the planet. A power which can control the length of the daycan annihilate the globe."
"You cannot change the facts," remarked Prince Rostoloff sternly to theGerman Ambassador. "The earth has changed its orbit. ProfessorVaskofsky, of the Imperial College, has so declared. There is somecause. Be it God or devil, there is a cause. Are we to sit still and donothing while the globe's crust freezes and our armies congeal intocorpses?" He trembled with agitation.
"Calm yourself, _mon cher Prince_!" said Monsieur Liban. "So far we havegained fifteen minutes and have lost nothing! But, as you say, whetheror not the sender of these messages is responsible, there is a cause,and we must find it."
"But how? That is the question," exclaimed the President almostapologetically, for he felt, as did Count von Koenitz, that somehow anexplanation would shortly be forthcoming that would make this conferenceseem the height of the ridiculous. "I have already," he added hastily,"instructed the entire force of the National Academy of Sciences todirect its energies toward the solution of these phenomena. UndoubtedlyGreat Britain, Russia, Germany, and France are doing the same. Thescientists report that the yellow aurora seen in the north, theearthquakes, the variation of the compass, and the eccentricities of thebarometer are probably all connected more or less directly with thechange in the earth's orbit. But they offer no explanation. They do notsuggest what the aurora is nor why its appearance should have thiseffect. It, therefore, seems to me clearly my duty to lay before you allthe facts as far as they are known to me. Among these facts are themysterious messages received by wireless at the Naval Observatoryimmediately preceding these events."
"_Post hoc, ergo propter hoc!_" half sneered Von Koenitz.
The President smiled wearily.
"What do you wish me to do?" he asked, glancing round the table. "Shallwe remain inactive? Shall we wait and see what may happen?"
"No! No!" shouted Rostoloff, jumping to his feet. "Another week and wemay all be plunged into eternity. It is suicidal not to regard thismatter seriously. We are sick from war. And perhaps Count von Koenitz,in view of the fall of Berlin, would welcome something of the sort as anhonourable way out of his country's difficulties."
"Sir!" cried the count, leaping to his feet. "Have a care! It has costRussia four million men to reach Berlin. When we have taken Paris weshall recapture Berlin and commence the march of our victorious eaglestoward Moscow and the Winter Palace."
"Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Be seated, I implore you!" exclaimed thePresident.
The Russian and German ambassadors somewhat ungraciously resumed theirformer places, casting at each other glances of undisguised contempt.
"As I see the matter," continued the President, "there are two distinctpropositions before you: The first relates to how far the extraordinaryevents of the past week are of such a character as to demand jointinvestigation and action by the Powers. The second involves the cause ofthese events and their connection with and relation to the sender of themessages signed Pax. I shall ask you to signify your opinion as to eachof these questions."
"I believe that some action should be taken, based on the assumptionthat they are manifestations of one and the same power or cause," saidMonsieur Liban emphatically.
"I agree with the French Ambassador," growled Rostoloff.
"I am of opinion that the phenomena should be the subject of properscientific investigation," remarked Count von Koenitz more calmly. "Butas far as these messages are concerned they are, if I may be pardonedfor saying so, a foolish joke. It is undignified to take any cognizanceof them."
"What do you think, Sir John?" asked the President, turning to theEnglish Ambassador.
"Before making up my mind," returned the latter quietly, "I should liketo see the operator who received them."
"By all means!" exclaimed Von Koenitz.
The President pressed a button and his secretary entered.
"I had anticipated such a desire on the part of all of you," heannounced, "and arranged to have him here. He is waiting outside. ShallI have him brought in?"
"Yes! Yes!" answered Rostoloff. And the others nodded.
The door opened, and Bill Hood, wearing his best new blue suit andnervously twisting a faded bicycle cap between his fingers, stumbledawkwardly into the room. His face was bright red with embarrassment andone of his cheeks exhibited a marked protuberance. He blinked in theglare of the electric light.
"Mr. Hood," the President addressed him courteously, "I have sent foryou to explain to these gentlemen, who are the ambassadors of the greatEuropean Powers, the circumstances under which you received the wirelessmessages from the unknown person describing himself as 'Pax.'"
Hood shifted from his right to his left foot and pressed his lipstogether. Von Koenitz fingered the waxed ends of his moustache andregarded the operator whimsically.
"In the first place," went on the President, "we desire to know whetherthe messages which you have reported were received under ordinary orunder unusual conditions. In a word, could you form any opinion as tothe whereabouts of the sender?"
Hood scratched the side of his nose in a manner politely doubtful.
"Sure thing, your Honour," he answered at last. "Sure the conditions wasunusual. That feller has some juice and no mistake."
"Juice?" inquired Von Koenitz.
"Yare--current. Whines like a steel top. Fifty kilowatts sure, and maybemore! And a twelve-thousand-metre wave."
"I do not fully understand," interjected Rostoloff. "Please explain,sir."
"Ain't nothin' to explain," returned Hood. "He's just got a hell of awave length, that's all. Biggest on earth. We're only tuned for athree-thousand-metre wave. At first I could hardly take him at all. Ihad to throw in our new Henderson ballast coils before I could hearproperly. I re
ckon there ain't another station in Christendom can gethim."
"Ah," remarked Von Koenitz. "One of your millionaire amateurs, Isuppose."
"Yare," agreed Hood. "I thought sure he was a nut."
"A what?" interrupted Sir John Smith.
"A nut," answered Hood. "A crank, so to speak."
"Ah, 'krank'!" nodded the German. "Exactly--a lunatic! That is preciselywhat I say!"
"But I don't think it's no nut now," countered Hood valiantly. "If he isa bug he's the biggest bug in all creation, that's all I can say. He'sgot the goods, that's what he's got. He'll do some damage before he getsthrough."
"Are these messages addressed to anybody in particular?" inquired SirJohn, who was studying Hood intently.
"Well, they are and they ain't. Pax--that's what he callshimself--signals NAA, our number, you understand, and then says what hehas to say to the whole world, care of the United States. The firstmessage I thought was a joke and stuck it in a book I was reading,'_Silas Snooks_'----"
"What?" ejaculated Von Koenitz impatiently.
"Snooks--man's name--feller in the book--nothing to do with thisbusiness," explained the operator. "I forgot all about it. But after theearthquake and all the rest of the fuss I dug it out and gave it to Mr.Thornton. Then on the 27th came the next one, saying that Pax wasgetting tired of waiting for us and was going to start something. Thatcame at one o'clock in the afternoon, and the fun began at three sharp.The whole observatory went on the blink. Say, there ain't any doubt inyour minds that it's _him_, is there?"
Von Koenitz looked cynically round the room.
"There is not!" exclaimed Rostoloff and Liban in the same breath.
The German laughed.
"Speak for yourselves, Excellencies," he sneered. His tone nettled thewireless representative of the sovereign American people.
"Do you think I'm a liar?" he demanded, clenching his jaw and glaring atVon Koenitz.
The German Ambassador shrugged his shoulders again. Such things wereimpossible in a civilized country--at Potsdam--but what could youexpect----
"Steady, Hood!" whispered Thornton.
"Remember, Mr. Hood, that you are here to answer our questions," saidthe President sternly. "You must not address his Excellency, Baron vonKoenitz, in this fashion."
"But the man was making a monkey of me!" muttered Hood. "All I say is,look out. This Pax is on his job and means business. I just got anothercall before I came over here--at nine o'clock."
"What was its purport?" inquired the President.
"Why, it said Pax was getting tired of nothing being done and wantedaction of some sort. Said that men were dying like flies, and heproposed to put an end to it at any cost. And--and----"
"Yes! Yes!" ejaculated Liban breathlessly.
"And he would give further evidence of his control over the forces ofnature to-night."
"Ha! Ha!" Von Koenitz leaned back in amusement. "My friend," hechuckled, "you--are--the 'nut'!"
What form Hood's resentment might have taken is problematical; but asthe German's words left his mouth the electric lights suddenly went outand the windows rattled ominously. At the same moment each occupant ofthe room felt himself sway slightly toward the east wall, on whichappeared a bright yellow glow. Instinctively they all turned to thewindow which faced the north. The whole sky was flooded with anorange-yellow aurora that rivalled the sunlight in intensity.
"What'd I tell you?" mumbled Hood.
The Executive Mansion quivered, and even in that yellow light the facesof the ambassadors seemed pale with fear. And then as the glow slowlyfaded in the north there floated down across the aperture of the windowsomething soft and fluffy like feathers. Thicker and faster it cameuntil the lawn of the White House was covered with it. The air in theroom turned cold. Through the window a large flake circled and lit onthe back of Rostoloff's head.
"Snow!" he cried. "A snowstorm--in August!"
The President arose and closed the window. Almost immediately theelectric lights burned up again.
"Now are you satisfied?" cried Liban to the German.
"Satisfied?" growled Von Koenitz. "I have seen plenty of snowstorms inAugust. They have them daily in the Alps. You ask me if I am satisfied.Of what? That earthquakes, the aurora borealis, electrical disturbances,snowstorms exist--yes. That a mysterious bugaboo is responsible forthese things--no!"
"What, then, do you require?" gasped Liban.
"More than a snowstorm!" retorted the German. "When I was a boy at thegymnasium we had a thunderstorm with fishes in it. They were everywhereone stepped, all over the ground. But we did not conclude that Jonah wasgiving us a demonstration of his power over the whale."
He faced the others defiantly; in his voice was mockery.
"You may retire, Mr. Hood," said the President. "But you will kindlywait outside."
"That is an honest man if ever I saw one, Mr. President," announced SirJohn, after the operator had gone out. "I am satisfied that we are incommunication with a human being of practically supernatural powers."
"What, then, shall be done?" inquired Rostoloff anxiously. "The worldwill be annihilated!"
"Your Excellencies"--Von Koenitz arose and took up a graceful positionat the end of the table--"I must protest against what seems to me to bean extraordinary credulity upon the part of all of you. I speak to youas a rational human being, not as an ambassador. Something has occurredto affect the earth's orbit. It may result in a calamity. None canforetell. This planet may be drawn off into space by the attraction ofsome wandering world that has not yet come within observation. But onething we know: No power on or of the earth can possibly derange itsrelation to the other celestial bodies. That would be, as you say here,'lifting one's self by one's own boot-straps.' I do not doubt theaccuracy of your clocks and scientific instruments. Those of my owncountry are in harmony with yours. But to say that the cause of all thisis a _man_ is preposterous. If the mysterious Pax makes the heavensfall, they will tumble on his own head. Is he going to send himself toeternity along with the rest of us? Hardly! This Hood is a monstrousliar or a dangerous lunatic. Even if he has received these messages,they are the emanations of a crank, as, he says, he himself firstsuspected. Let us master this hysteria born of the strain of constantwar. In a word, let us go to bed."
"Count von Koenitz," replied Sir John after a pause, "you speakforcefully, even persuasively. But your argument is based upon aproposition that is scientifically fallacious. An atom of gunpowder candisintegrate itself, 'lift itself by its own boot-straps!' Why not theearth? Have we as yet begun to solve all the mysteries of nature? Is itinconceivable that there should be an undiscovered explosive capable ofdisrupting the globe? We have earthquakes. Is it beyond imagination thatthe forces which produce them can be controlled?"
"My dear Sir John," returned Von Koenitz courteously, "my ultimateanswer is that we have no adequate reason to connect the phenomena whichhave disturbed the earth's rotation with any human agency."
"That," interposed the President, "is something upon which individualsmay well differ. I suppose that under other conditions you would be opento conviction?"
"Assuredly," answered Von Koenitz. "Should the sender of these messagesprophesy the performance of some miracle that could not be explained bynatural causes, I would be forced to admit my error."
Monsieur Liban had also arisen and was walking nervously up and down theroom. Suddenly he turned to Von Koenitz and in a voice shaking withemotion cried: "Let us then invite Pax to give us a sign that willsatisfy you."
"Monsieur Liban," replied Von Koenitz stiffly, "I refuse to place myselfin the position of communicating with a lunatic."
"Very well," shouted the Frenchman, "I will take the responsibility ofmaking myself ridiculous. I will request the President of the UnitedStates to act as the agent of France for this purpose."
He drew a notebook and a fountain pen from his pocket and carefullywrote out a message which he handed to the President. The latter read italoud:
&n
bsp; "_Pax_: The Ambassador of the French Republic requests me to communicate to you the fact that he desires some further evidence of your power to control the movements of the earth and the destinies of mankind, such phenomena to be preferably of a harmless character, but inexplicable by any theory of natural causation. I await your reply.
"THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES."
"Send for Hood," ordered the President to the secretary who answered thebell. "Gentlemen, I suggest that we ourselves go to Georgetown andsuperintend the sending of this message."
Half an hour later Bill Hood sat in his customary chair in the wirelessoperating room surrounded by the President of the United States, theambassadors of France, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia, and ProfessorThornton. The faces of all wore expressions of the utmost seriousness,except that of Von Koenitz, who looked as if he were participating in anelaborate hoax. Several of these distinguished gentlemen had never seena wireless apparatus before, and showed some excitement as Hood madeready to send the most famous message ever transmitted through theether. At last he threw over his rheostat and the hum of the rotaryspark rose into its staccato song. Hood sent out a few V's and thenbegan calling:
"PAX--PAX--PAX."
Breathlessly the group waited while he listened for a reply. Again hecalled:
"PAX--PAX--PAX."
He had already thrown in his Henderson ballast coils and was ready forthe now familiar wave. He closed his eyes, waiting for that sharpmetallic cry that came no one knew whence. The others in the group alsolistened intently, as if by so doing they, too, might hear the answer ifany there should be. Suddenly Hood stiffened.
"There he is!" he whispered. The President handed him the message, andHood's fingers played over the key while the spark sent its singing notethrough the ether.
"Such phenomena to be preferably of a harmless character, butinexplicable by any theory of natural causation," he concluded.
An uncanny dread seized on Thornton, who had withdrawn himself into thebackground. What was this strange communion? Who was this mysteriousPax? Were these real men or creatures of a grotesque dream? Was he notdrowsing over his eyepiece in the meridian-circle room? Then asimultaneous movement upon the part of those gathered round the operatorconvinced him of the reality of what was taking place. Hood waslaboriously writing upon a sheet of yellow pad paper, and theambassadors were unceremoniously crowding each other in their eagernessto read.
"To the President of the United States," wrote Hood: "In reply to yourmessage requesting further evidence of my power to compel the cessationof hostilities within twenty-four hours, I"--there was a pause fornearly a minute, during which the ticking of the big clock sounded toThornton like revolver shots--"I will excavate a channel through theAtlas Mountains and divert the Mediterranean into the Sahara Desert.PAX."
Silence followed the final transcription of the message from theunknown--a silence broken only by Bill Hood's tremulous, half-whispered:"He'll do it all right!"
Then the German Ambassador laughed.
"And thus save your ingenious nation a vast amount of trouble, MonsieurLiban," said he.