V
WONDERS OF THE NEW METAL
Within a twelvemonth after the visit of President Boon and his fellowfinanciers to the mine in the Grand Teton a railway had beenconstructed from Jackson's Hole, connecting with one of the Pacificlines, and the distribution of the new metal was begun. All ofDr. Syx's terms had been accepted. United States troops occupied apermanent encampment on the upper waters of the Snake River, to affordprotection, and as the consignments of precious ingots were hurriedeast and west on guarded trains, the mints all over the world resumedtheir activity. Once more a common monetary standard prevailed, andcommerce revived as if touched by a magic wand.
Artemisium quickly won its way in popular favor. Its matchless beautyalone was enough. Not only was it gladly accepted in the form ofmoney, but its success was instantaneous in the arts. Dr. Syx and theinspectors representing the various nations found it difficult tolimit the output to the agreed upon amount. The demand was incessant.
Goldsmiths and jewellers continually discovered new excellences in thewonderful metal. Its properties of translucence and refraction enabledskilful artists to perform marvels. By suitable management a chain ofartemisium could be made to resemble a string of vari-colored gems,each separate link having a tint of its own, while, as the wearermoved, delicate complementary colors chased one another, in rapidundulation, from end to end.
A fresh charm was added by the new metal to the personal adornment ofwomen, and an enhanced splendor to the pageants of society. Gold inits palmiest days had never enjoyed such a vogue. A crowded receptionroom or a dinner party where artemisium abounded possessed anindescribable atmosphere of luxury and richness, refined in quality,yet captivating to every sense. Imaginative persons went so far as toaver that the sight and presence of the metal exercised a strangelysoothing and dreamy power over the mind, like the influence ofmoonlight streaming through the tree-tops on a still, balmy night.
The public curiosity in regard to the origin of artemisium wasboundless. The various nations published official bulletins in whichthe general facts--omitting, of course, such incidents as the singularexhibition seen by the visiting financiers on the wall of Dr. Syx'soffice--were detailed to gratify the universal desire for information.
President Boon not only submitted the specimens of ore-bearing rockwhich he had brought from the mine to careful analysis, but alsoappealed to several of the greatest living chemists and mineralogiststo aid him; but they were all equally mystified. The green substancecontained in the ore, although differing slightly from ordinarychrysolite, answered all the known tests of that mineral. It wasremembered, however, that Dr. Syx had said that they would be likelyto mistake the substance for chrysolite, and the result of theirexperiments justified his prediction. Evidently the doctor had gone astone's-cast beyond the chemistry of the day, and, just as evidently,he did not mean to reveal his discovery for the benefit of science,nor for the benefit of any pockets except his own.
Notwithstanding the failure of the chemists to extract anything fromDr. Syx's ore, the public at large never doubted that the secret wouldbe discovered in good time, and thousands of prospectors flocked tothe Teton Mountains in search of the ore. And without much difficultythey found it. Evidently the doctor had been mistaken in thinking thathis mine might be the only one. The new miners hurried specimens ofthe green-speckled rock to the chemical laboratories forexperimentation, and meanwhile began to lay up stores of the ore inanticipation of the time when the proper way to extract the metalshould be discovered.
But, alas! that time did not come. The fresh ore proved to be asrefractory as that which had been obtained from Dr. Syx. But in themidst of the universal disappointment there came a new sensation.
One morning the newspapers glared with a despatch from Grand Tetonstation announcing that the metal itself had been discovered byprospectors on the eastern slope of the main peak.
"It outcrops in many places," ran the despatch, "and many smallnuggets have been picked out of crevices in the rocks."
The excitement produced by this news was even greater than when goldwas discovered at the south pole. Again a mad rush was made for theTetons. The heights around Jackson's Hole and the shores of Jackson'sand Jenny's lakes were quickly dotted with camps, and the militaryforce had to be doubled to keep off the curious, and occasionallymenacing, crowds which gathered in the vicinity and seemed bent onunearthing the great secret locked behind the windowless walls of themill, where the column of black smoke and the roar of the engineserved as reminders of the incredible wealth which the sole possessorof that secret was rolling up.
This time no mistake had been made. It was a fact that the metal, invirgin purity, had been discovered scattered in various places on theledges of the Grand Teton. In a little while thousands had obtainedspecimens with their own hands. The quantity was distressingly small,considering the number and the eagerness of the seekers, but that itwas genuine artemisium not even Dr. Syx could have denied. He,however, made no attempt to deny it.
"Yes," he said, when questioned, "I find that I have been deceived. Atfirst I thought the metal existed only in the form of the green ore,but of late I have come upon veins of pure artemisium in my mine. I amglad for your sakes, but sorry for my own. Still, it may turn out thatthere is no great amount of free artemisium after all."
While the doctor talked in this manner close observers detected alurking sneer which his acquaintances had not noticed since artemisiumwas first adopted as the money basis of the world.
The crowd that swarmed upon the mountain quickly exhausted all of thevisible supply of the metal. Sometimes they found it in a thin stratumat the bottom of crevices, where it could be detached in opalescentplates and leaves of the thickness of paper. These superficialdeposits evidently might have been formed from water holding the metalin solution. Occasionally, deep cracks contained nuggets and wirymasses which looked as if they had run together when molten.
The most promising spots were soon staked out in miners' claims,machinery was procured, stock companies were formed, and borings werebegun. The enthusiasm arising from the earlier finds and theflattering surface indications caused everybody to work with feverishhaste and energy, and within two months one hundred tunnels werepiercing the mountain.
For a long time nobody was willing to admit the truth which graduallyforced itself upon the attention of the miners. The deeper they wentthe scarcer became the indications of artemisium! In fact, suchdeposits as were found were confined to fissures near the surface. ButDr. Syx continued to report a surprising increase in the amount offree metal in his mine, and this encouraged all who had not exhaustedtheir capital to push on their tunnels in the hope of finally strikinga vein. At length, however, the smaller operators gave up in despair,until only one heavily capitalized company remained at work.