Charles Beale - The Secret of the Earth

I could hear the rustling of papers.

"And this; and this. The society shan't never see one of 'em again – I'll let 'em rot first."

Then came Torry's voice.

"Of course if it's so, my brother Gurthrie will know all about it before long. Only I don't want to tell him yet. It isn't that I distrust you, Merrick, but naturally you can see for yourself what a laughing stock I should become if there should prove to be any mistake."

"Don't I know it? and without there bein' any mistake," answered the other.

"Precisely; and that being the case, I prefer to wait until the thing is proved to my own senses before announcing this most stupendous fact of history to anyone."

I was relieved. There was something in both the tone and words that convinced me there could be nothing criminal under consideration. And yet the mystery was deeper than ever. Here was no explanation of how the money had come; which was an assured fact, but dark innuendoes of problems yet unsolved. I continued to listen, absorbed with interest.

"Now, as to the matter o' beasts and birds, bein' no scholar, I can't prove nothin'. Thim you'll hev to study for your own self, and make your own deductions regardin' em. Nayther can I explain the how and wherefore of the light – but it's thar all the same, and you'll see it. I could a' give my notions to the society, but the cussed fools wouldn't listen to nothin', and they can go see for theirselves if they wants to, afore I'll tell 'em another word. Now, don't let that slip your mind, 'cause you're the only man, 'fore God a' mighty!"

"Now, about this belt," said Torrence, "how wide did you say it was?"

By the sound I imagined him to be tapping on the table with a pencil; but the words that followed were impossible to hear; and then the men had evidently got their heads together in poring over some document or paper which I could not see. Suddenly it occurred to me to stoop down and peep through the keyhole. Undoubtedly it was contemptible, but was it any more so than listening? "An eavesdropper is bad enough, but a peeper is worse," I thought, and yet my curiosity was so aroused it was impossible to help it, and I excused myself partly on the ground that it was right to be forearmed if I was not to be led blindly as an accomplice into a possible crime. And so I succumbed, and placing my eye against the opening, obtained a circumscribed view of my brother's apartment. To my amazement I immediately recognized the stranger as the man we had met upon the Thames boat, and afterward in the restaurant. He was the same dirty, unshaved sailor; at least his appearance indicated that he had followed the sea for a living, and I could not doubt that he had. The men were sitting on opposite sides of a table, upon which a pile of papers was heaped in confusion; and so far as I could judge some of these were the same that had come in the afternoon's mail.

"Give him as much time as he wants!" said the sailor, speaking again. "He won't believe it at first, and it ain't reasonable as how he should; but it 'ill come over him by degrees like. He's bound to believe it ef he studies on it – there ain't no other chance."

"No, not if it's so," answered Torrence, "and he won't be as hard to convince as you might suppose; perhaps no harder than I was, for I've half believed it myself, and talked about it before. You found me an apt scholar, didn't you?"

"The only one with any sense I ever had," snarled the man. "But I don't care now," he continued, "I haven't long to live nohow; but I did hate to die with that secret, 'case another million years might pass afore it was found out. I'm satisfied so long as you 'uns knows it, 'case the world's bound to get it. But as for them cussed fools – !"

The man rapped on the table with his clinched fist.

"Hush!" said Torrence, "you might wake him up!"

The sailor grinned and scratched his head.

"No harm done, I reckon ef I did," he replied.

"No, but I told you my reasons for keeping mum!"

"Precisely; I mind your word. And the proofs, you found them all correct?"

"Quite so; but tell me don't you want any yourself?"

"Hell, no. I'll send you up a trunk full to-morrow. I've got all the swag I want – a good bed, plenty o' company, and a place to die in; for I tell you I can't last long. It's taken the stuffin' out o' me – but the secret – the secret – Well, thank God, I shan't die with it, and that's all I wanted."

Of course, this talk might almost as well have been in Hindoostanee, for aught I could make out of it. At one moment my fear of evil was aroused to a terrible pitch, at the next, I felt nothing but idle curiosity. I was, however, surprised to find so little that was intelligible in what I heard. Presently the men began turning over bundles of papers, and Torry having moved his chair, it was impossible to see what these were, and this fact may have helped arouse the awful suspicion that suddenly seized me; a thought which I am sure would never have presented itself under any but the bewildering circumstances in which I had been so blindly plunged. Could it be possible that the money which my brother had thrown about so freely, was counterfeit? A moment's reflection convinced me that it was not possible, and yet a terrible distrust had taken hold of me. For a moment I hesitated. My first impulse was to call out and ask what was the matter. It would have been the frank and natural thing to do, had my suspicions not been aroused, but as they were, I felt that such a procedure would be silly and fruitless. A burning desire to know consumed me, and I walked about the room in an agony of unrest. Again I looked through the keyhole, and was relieved to see no plates, stamps, dies or machinery of any kind. I drew a long breath. Then I recalled that there had been nothing in the conversation to indicate any such business; and I drew another breath. Finally, unable to gain the slightest clew to the mystery, I returned to my room, and went to bed in a very uncomfortable frame of mind.

The next morning I awoke early, and resolved to go at once to Torrence's room and ask him to lend me a five pound note. It was my intention to have it examined by a banker in the city for its genuineness, hoping to relieve the anxiety which had so tortured me during the night. While my judgment was opposed to the counterfeiting theory as improbable, yet it was difficult to overcome the thought that it might be the correct one. The truth is, I was impelled to discover some plausible explanation of the mystery. I could not rest as the recipient of means which had no visible source, and especially when there appeared to be so much ground for doubting their legitimacy.

Torrence was already up, preparing for an early start, as I sauntered into his room.

"By the by, old fellow," I said, "have you a fiver about you? I think I might use one to advantage until I can get down to the bank with your check."

He took a roll of bills out of his pocket, and instead of one five, tossed me a couple of tens.

"Let it go for luck!" he called, as he hurriedly left the room on the way to his business.

We rarely breakfasted together, Torry being so full of enthusiasm about his work, that he would brook no chance of delay, and so it was understood that we should not meet until after his return from Gravesend. On this occasion, when he had left me, and after breakfasting alone, I ordered the carriage, and drove into the city. Taking my check at once to the banker upon whom it was drawn, I inquired if it were all right. The cashier smiled, and simply asked how I would have it. I told him I did not want it at all, but wished to place it to my credit.

"Oh!" said the man looking up, "I thought you were Mr. Attlebridge."

"So I am," I answered, "but not Torrence. I am his twin brother. We look very much alike."