IV
Now, the Mustapha is among the very swellest hotels of London; indeed I doubt if there is any place of public entertainment in the whole of Europe, which is more magnificent, or whose rates are more exorbitant; and when I found myself standing in one of its superb corridors, I naturally wondered why we had come.
In a few moments we were shown an apartment consisting of three large communicating rooms; two bed-chambers with a salon between and all furnished palatially.
"Do you think it will do?" inquired Torrence, looking around with a critical air of indifference.
"For what?" I inquired.
"For us."
"The devil!" I exclaimed.
"No, not for the devil but for you and me."
I looked at him in dumb amazement, and then without another word, my brother dismissed the attendant, saying that he thought the rooms would answer the purpose, and ordered our luggage sent up immediately. Was the fellow losing his head? I feared he had already lost it.
When left alone, we stood for a moment taking in the grandeur that surrounded us, from the gorgeous frescoes on the ceiling, to the sumptuous carpets beneath our feet; and then unable to contain myself, I asked Torrence if he were really going mad. The earnestness of my manner, and the dead serious look upon my face, made him laugh until he rolled over upon one of the Turkish divans.
"Yes! can't you see it?" he cried, "why don't you send for a doctor? But no, you couldn't afford the expense, find this is better than any asylum I'm sure. Don't fret, old boy; if I am mad there's a method in it, and a devilish good one too. Now you make yourself at ease, for your brother's madness will never hurt you. But it is rather neat, isn't it?" he added, getting up and looking around the room. "You know I searched all over London before I could find apartments to suit me exactly; and I'm glad you admire my taste!"
"Well!" I answered, drawing a long breath, "you certainly must be making a fortune, and rapidly, too; but all the same I don't approve of your extravagance. But tell me, have you paid for all this? and how much is it to cost us?"
"Us! I admire that, when you are my guest. Why it is to cost you nothing, of course! But wait here a few minutes, as it seems to worry you, I will satisfy your mind on the money question. I am going to the office, and will be back immediately."
While he was gone I interested myself in a further inspection of the rooms. The more thoroughly I went into their equipment, the more amazed I became at the lavish disregard for money displayed upon every hand. The beds were regal; the chairs and other furniture of the most costly type imaginable, and even the walls were adorned with paintings, which I saw at once were of a very high order of merit. The bathrooms, of which there were two, were on a scale of princely magnificence, and everywhere were mirrors, bronzes, and decorations which appeared to me quite too costly for a public house; indeed there could be few palaces more splendid.
Presently I heard Torrence returning, and as he entered the room he held a paper toward me.
"There now read this, and make yourself easy!" he cried.
It was a receipt in full for the rent of the rooms for two entire months in advance, three hundred pounds.
"Well!" I exclaimed, looking first at the paper, then at my brother, "wherever you got this money, I can't guess, but I will say, that although my fears for the immediate future are relieved, I consider it a wicked waste for people in our circumstances to throw away their means as you have done."
I was provoked and showed it.
"Wait, old man, until you know what you're talking about," was his only rejoinder.
"I suppose you've sold some interest in your air ship," I suggested doggedly.
"How absurd! I haven't even thought of such a thing."
He seemed to enjoy my perplexity, and walked about the room whistling.
"You have sold the invention out and out, then?" I persisted.
"Guess again, dear boy, for I shall never part with the air ship to any human being!"
"And will it ever be built?"
"Rather! I am working on it now. What did you suppose I'd been doing at Gravesend all this time? Courting old man Wetherbee's daughter, eh? Well, you're mistaken, for I've been doing nothing of the kind; but the air ship is begun."
I might as well have pumped the clerk in the office for information, and so decided to ask no more questions. But my resolution was short-lived, for in the next breath I inquired how long it would probably take to complete it; to which Torrence answered that he thought six weeks would probably suffice, and had therefore only taken our rooms for two months, but that the time required for such delicate workmanship as would be necessary on the air ship, was difficult to estimate, and he had therefore stipulated for the refusal of our apartments, should we need them longer, at the expiration of the term, as he did not wish to go in search of lodgings again. He rattled on about contracts he had signed for work upon the air ship, involving such large sums of money that I could only stand with my mouth open and gasp.
At 8 o'clock we sat down in our salon to such a dinner as could hardly be surpassed by the royal board itself. The table was loaded with flowers and silver, and lighted with candles. Two men were in attendance; one behind each of us. The wines were of the choicest; each course being accompanied by its appropriate beverage. Such Burgundies and Tokays, such champagnes and liquers, and all dispensed with the utmost prodigality, bottles being opened, merely tasted and set aside for a better vintage. I sat and ate and drank like one in a dream, and earnestly prayed that the money would not give out before we had settled this bill. For our credit, I will say that neither of us drank too much. Indeed the glory undermined my appetite, and I perceived that although there was quite an array of bottles and decanters, mere wasted material, Torrence was also extremely moderate.
After dinner the attendants were dismissed, while we continued to sit around the table, smoking and talking. Our cigars were of the finest, and our conversation consisted mainly of questions upon my part; some answers, and many evasions on Torrence's.
"And where have you located your workshop?" I inquired.
"The air ship is building in Wetherbee's barn; at least the parts, when completed, will be put together there under my supervision," answered Torrence.
"Do you expect to go to Gravesend every day to superintend the work? It strikes me as rather a long journey. Won't it take up a lot of your time?"
"It would under ordinary circumstances," he answered; "but you see I shall travel by private conveyance. In fact I have purchased a steam launch; she is very fast, so that I can run up and down without trouble."
"Oh!" I ejaculated, unable entirely to conceal my surprise even at this minor, and perhaps more reasonable extravagance.
"I suppose you will keep a crew on board then?"
"Oh, yes."
"And the thing will always be waiting for you?"
"Exactly!"
"Couldn't we have saved a lot of money by sleeping on her?" I asked.
"Probably; but I don't think it would have been so comfortable. Surely, Gurt, you're not dissatisfied with our quarters already?"
"Dissatisfied! Heaven forbid! I was only thinking of your purse."
"That, my dear boy, can take care of itself. By the by, do you know we ought to have more clothes, and a couple of men —valets, I mean; for whoever heard of people in our position, dressing themselves? I think I shall put an 'ad' in the Times to-morrow."
"I hope not," I answered; "for my part I should feel like a fool to have a fellow tinkering about me, holding my trousers while I stepped into them, and washing my face – why I understand that even the Prince of Wales puts on his own clothes!"
"That ought to settle it then," said Torrence; "but a greater variety of wearing apparel is necessary; for the servants that wait on us are better clad than we are."
I didn't offer any objection to the clothes, feeling that they were a tangible asset, which in the event of failure might be turned to some account. But the valets were quite superfluous, a money sink, as well as an affectation which I swore to eschew.
The transition from poverty to opulence had been so sudden, that it might have been unnerving were it not for my brother's extraordinary influence. I had always regarded him with unswerving confidence, and even now the relief from monetary anxiety quite outweighed any misgiving I might have felt concerning the manner of this suddenly acquired wealth. As it was, while my wonder was stimulated, my curiosity partook more of the nature of a child's toward a parent's resources, and my efforts to unravel the mystery being so successfully thwarted, I soon became, in a measure, satisfied to receive and ask no questions. I say, in a measure, for of course it was impossible at times to help thinking how this sudden change in our circumstances had been achieved.
After dinner I went down into the lower corridor of the hotel, and admired its superb finish, and elegant appointments, as well as the gay throng that constantly gathered there. Thence wandering into the reading room, I indited a number of letters to friends at home, feeling a peculiar satisfaction in using the gorgeous note paper with the words, Hotel Mustapha, engraved upon the top of each sheet. While I was writing Torrence amused himself in the billiard room, where he had already made acquaintances. When through with my letters, I joined the party, a bevy of fashionable men, who evidently looked up to Torrence as their leader. They were playing pool for stakes, and when the game was over, my brother, putting his hand in his pocket, pulled out a huge bundle of bank bills, and settled the score. The amount lost could not have been large, as he received several gold pieces and some silver back in change, out of a single bill. I marked this fact with interest, as it tended to show that Torrence was not gambling to any excess. He introduced me to the men as his twin brother; and then we went into the smoking room and drank some hot Scotches, and smoked very expensive cigars, my brother again paying the bill.
We soon became looked upon as the Yankee millionaires, no distinction being made between us, and being well supplied with funds myself, I was always able to appear as a gentleman.
A few days after our arrival, I was informed that one of the best boxes at a neighboring theater was reserved for us. Torrence had taken it for the season. "Not that I expect to go there every night," he said, "but it is pleasant to have one's own corner to drop in upon, when one happens in the mood. To-night, for instance, I think it would be nice to take a peep at the ballet; don't you?"
I agreed that it would, and after our usual sumptuous dinner, we entered a very handsome closed carriage, and were driven away. There were two men upon the box in livery, and as we rolled noiselessly on upon rubber tires, I remarked that it was quite the swellest public rig I had ever seen. My observation was received with scorn.
"Public rig be blowed!" said Torrence; "surely you know better than to take this for a hackney coach!"
"What then?" I inquired.
"Private, of course. I bought the entire outfit, horses and all this morning. This is my maiden trip with them; and they – I mean the animals – are a pair of spankers, I can tell you!"
"And how much did the whole outfit cost?" I inquired, unable to restrain my curiosity on the money question.
"Eight fifty!" said Torrence, in an easy off-hand way, as if four thousand two hundred and fifty dollars were the merest bagatelle. I would have been stunned had I not been growing gradually accustomed to that sort of thing. As it was, I simply remarked that I couldn't see how he was going to find time to exercise his purchase.
"Oh, I'll leave that to you," he answered, "I don't want you to go about town in a manner unbefitting the role; savey?"
We were ushered into the theater with all the deference that could have been heaped upon her majesty, so I thought; and I half expected the audience to rise as we entered our box.
The play was one of those dazzling effects of lights and legs, as Torrence expressed it, with little or nothing beside, and I soon observed that a pretty little soubrette was the principal attraction. Before the second act was over, an attendant was summoned and despatched with a five pound bill, and an order for the prettiest basket of flowers to be bought, which at the first opportunity found its way upon the stage. At times it made me sick to see the money my brother wasted, but I was a more puppet in his keeping, and could do nothing to deter him. I fully expected he would be going to the green room after the performance for an introduction, but to my amazement he did nothing of the kind, and instead we got into our carriage, and driving to a fashionable restaurant, had supper.
"And why did you throw away your money on those flowers?" I asked him, lingering over a bottle of Pomard.
"Do you call that throwing money away? Why the poor little thing looked as if she needed all the encouragement she could get. I think of leaving an order with the florist to-morrow to send her half a dozen every night. Take them in from different parts of the auditorium, you know, so that she will never suspect they came from the same person."
"And you won't send your card?"
"Decidedly not!"
"And you don't want her to know it is you?"
"Decidedly not!"
"Have you taken leave of your senses?"
"Decidedly not! Why, Gurt, don't you know it would give her a lot more pleasure to think she was a general favorite than a special one?"
"Decidedly not!" I answered, taking up his cue, "any girl would rather – but no, on further consideration, I believe you're right." And it seemed to me that Torrence was always right.
Later we got into our carriage and were driven to the hotel. The night was wet and cold, and I was glad to find myself once more in the cheerful Mustapha. We had a game of billiards, followed by some hot Scotch and a cigar, and then went to our rooms, and to bed.
Once in the dark and alone I kept revolving in my mind the events of the day, and of the time since our change of fortune; and naturally fell to speculating as to the most probable manner in which all this wealth had been acquired. Nothing I could think of was satisfactory, and one idea after another was set aside as equally improbable. I suppose I must have fallen asleep when I began to wonder if the receipt he had shown me were genuine. It was an unreasonable doubt, and at variance with my faith in Torrence, and yet it took hold of me as sleeping thoughts some times will. Had I not seen his money? Why should he not have used it for hotels as well as anything else? And yet the thought annoyed me, so that I could not dismiss it; and finally I found myself sitting up in bed, brooding over it. Lighting my candle I walked quietly across the room and entered the salon. Listening at my brother's door for a moment, and making sure that he was asleep, I returned to my own room and dressed. The lights were still burning brightly all over the house, and looking at my watch, I saw that it was only a little past midnight. There could be nothing extraordinary in going to the hotel office and inquiring in a casual way if the rooms had been paid for. It would set my mind at rest to have the verbal assurance of the proprietor that they were. I could not help feeling that it was an underhanded advantage to take of my sleeping relative; but I was driven by a great fear, and after a moment's hesitation, I sped down the stairway into the lobby below. I sauntered into the billiard room, not so much to see if there were any players left, as to assume an appearance of merely lounging about the premises without definite purpose. Half a dozen men were still plying their cues, and I recognized the one to whom Torrence had introduced me. I was invited to join the game, but dread of being led into a carouse deterred me, and after looking on for a few minutes, I said good-night and wandered back toward the office. I walked up and down a couple of times with an unlighted cigarette between my teeth, as if merely seeking diversion, and then going up to the desk, asked some irrelevant questions about the arrivals during the day. My question answered, I turned carelessly as if about to depart, and then as though the thought had suddenly presented itself, looked back, and said:
"Oh! by the by; did I understand correctly that my brother, Mr. Torrence Attlebridge, had settled for our apartments?"
The clerk did not have to refer to his books, but answered promptly with a pleased smile:
"Oh, yes, sir. Everything is settled for in full. Your brother has paid in advance for two months. He has our receipt for the amount – three hundred pounds. They are our very best apartments, sir; decorated by LeBrune, and furnished by Haltzeimer entirely regardless – I hope Mr. Attlebridge finds everything satisfactory!"
I assured him that everything was just as we desired and went away comforted, with the exception of wishing that I had the money instead of the rooms. But such thoughts were idle; I was in Torrence's hands.
After loitering about the smoking room for a few minutes, I returned to my room, and to bed.
V
When I got up in the morning Torrence had gone. He had left without disturbing me, as he said he should, the journey to Gravesend requiring an early start.
I determined to put in the day writing, having evolved some ideas which I thought might suit a certain American journal; but it is astonishing when the necessity for work has been removed, how indifferent we become to it. Every effort seemed absolutely futile, and after an hour, I put away my writing materials and went out for a drive in the park. I could see that my brother's new outfit was greatly admired, and I leaned back upon the satin cushions, conscious that I was looked upon as an important person – possibly a duke. I lunched at a fashionable restaurant near the marble arch, and then, after a drive along Edgeware road, returned to the hotel.
The mail was just in, and there was a large batch of letters and papers for Torrence. Some of these were unsealed; presumably advertisements, and as such I examined them. But the examination was disappointing, only serving to whet my interest, and enhance my wonder. For what was here? Unaccountable scribbling – such extraordinary charts and figures – such attempts at drawing of birds and unknown animals – such efforts at natural scenery – and withal such crude and childish explanations, in such outlandish chirography, that it was quite impossible to say whether the work was that of a madman or not. Indeed I was by no means sure what any one of the designs was really intended to mean. I pored over these papers for more than an hour, in the very ecstasy of wonder, and then without having reached a single conclusion, put them back in the envelopes to await the owner's arrival.
I tried to believe that the drawings referred to some of the more intricate parts of the air ship; although it was impossible to help feeling that this was absurd.
About an hour before dinner Torrence arrived, cheery as ever. I gave him his mail, and then seating myself near the window, watched him open it. It is not always easy to interpret the emotions by the expression of the face, but on my brother's countenance I was sure that a comprehensive wonder, a wonder that grasped the meaning of what he saw, was clearly depicted. At one moment he would smile with infatuation; a paroxysm of delight; at the next he would frown, and look frightened at the paper before him, and once he passed his arm roughly across his eyes, as if wiping away a tear. If the papers themselves were mysterious, Torrence's behavior was even more so. When through, he put them carefully together and carried them into his own room.
"Anything important?" I inquired, with an assumed indifference, when he returned to the salon.
"Nothing," he answered, glancing at me, as I thought, with a slight look of suspicion, "nothing only a lot of detailed drawings about the work going on at Gravesend."
I did not answer, but felt sure that he had not told me the truth. Then he went on to speak of various contracts, which he hoped would soon be under way, and which were to be delivered at Gravesend within a month, and of others that would take longer to complete, and all of which were to be put together at Wetherbee's barn as soon as possible. He was afraid the vessel would be longer building than he had at first been led to believe, but concluded that it would not matter very much after all, as the season was not propitious for a trial.
"No," I answered, "I should imagine that warm weather would be better, but then your expenses here would be running on fearfully!"
Torrence sneered at the suggestion. Expense was always the thing he seemed to think of last.
We dined sumptuously again, and after dinner drove to a music hall. Here the usual extravagance was repeated, indeed it exceeded all bounds. Not only did he buy flowers in vast heaps, which he distributed upon the stage; but later went into the green room, and disbursed considerable money among the actresses. His prodigality was so absurd and unmeaning that I finally left him in disgust, returning to the hotel alone. It was quite late when he came in, and I met him in rather angry mood:
"Well, you have made a fool of yourself!" I exclaimed, as he threw himself upon a large Persian musnud to finish his cigar before retiring.
"How?" he asked, quite innocently.
"By throwing away your money among a lot of sharpies, who wouldn't lend you a copper to save your soul!"
Torrence roared, as if he thought it the best joke imaginable.
"Now, look here, old boy," he said in another minute, "don't lose your temper, because it doesn't pay. What's the use of money if not to give pleasure? That's my way of enjoying myself, and I don't either ask or expect any favors in return. As you see, it takes a lot of money to buy my pleasure, but I can afford it!"
"If you have such an income that you can't spend it," I replied, "suppose you give a little of it to me. You might be glad some day if you found that I had saved a few pounds for you!"
The speech would have been contemptible, considering the amount of money Torrence had already given me, were it not for the fact that I intended it for his good as well as my own, hoping to save at least a part of a fortune, which was being squandered so shamefully under my eyes.
"Why, certainly," he answered good naturedly, and half-rising from the lounge, "how much do you want?"
"Anything you have to spare!"
Without another word he got up, and going to the writing table, signed a blank check and handed it to me.
"There! fill it out for yourself!" he exclaimed.
"For how much?"
"Anything you please," he replied, with a look of utter indifference.
"But you must say," I persisted.
"Really, I don't care, Gurt," he answered, striking a match to relight his cigar. "My bankers will pay anything you put on it, I fancy."
"Have you as much as a thousand pounds with these people?"
He laughed outright.
"I should hope so!" he shouted; "but if that is all you want, I have probably as much about me, for you must remember that I am a business man now, and am conducting costly experiments in connection with the air ship, which I intend shall be the most perfect thing on earth!"
"I suppose then it will cost you more than the twenty thousand dollars you thought?"
"Well, rather! If I get off with as many pounds I shall be lucky!"
I gasped but said nothing.
"Why don't you fill out your check?" he continued, observing that I was standing idly by the table, my mouth open in astonishment.
"Shall I put down a thousand?" I asked, not knowing what to say.
"Yes, and two of them, if you wish. I really don't care."
I filled out the cheek for an even thousand, not being able to overcome my horror at the thought of a larger figure, for notwithstanding all the evidence to the contrary, I was unable to overcome a certain fear that the check might be refused. I showed it to Torrence, whose only remark was that he couldn't see why I had not doubled it. I was determined to save this much for a rainy day, and resolved to go at once to the banker's when my brother had gone back to Gravesend and cash it. I also determined to find out, if possible something about his affairs, as the mystery of all this sudden wealth was preying on my mind. I had quite relinquished the hope of learning anything from Torrence himself, and should now apply to other sources.
That night we retired early, as my brother said he was fatigued with the work of the day, and not knowing what else to do, I followed his example, fully resolved to cash my check and investigate matters on the morrow.
After a couple of hours of restlessness, and finding it impossible to sleep, I got up to go into the adjoining room for a glass of water. I did not take a light, knowing exactly where to find it, but imagine my surprise, when half-way across the floor of our salon, at seeing thet the light in my brother's room was still burning brightly and shining through the keyhole and under the bottom of the door. Scarcely had I observed this, when I caught the sound of low voices issuing from the room, as of two people talking in an undertone. I stepped noiselessly up to the door and listened.
"There is no danger; he is asleep!" said one of the voices, which I thought was Torry's; and then some whispering followed, impossible to understand. At this moment a horrid thought flashed upon me. Had Torrence embarked in any crime, which he was trying to conceal? The mere suspicion sickened me. I could not believe it.
"It's for you to say," remarked the other; "for my part, I don't care a damn who knows it, provided the news don't come from me. Now look at this."
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?"