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Page 86
I must now make my last contribution to this chapter of our history,
which has to do with motives that presently influenced the Crown Prince
towards a startling decision. I came into possession of this knowledge as
a consequence of the part I played in rescuing Thomas A. Edison after his
abduction by the Germans.
One of the first questions Mr. Edison asked me as we escaped in a swift
automobile from the burning and shell-wrecked Virginia capital, had a
direct bearing on the ending of the war.
"Mr. Langston," he asked, "did the Committee of Twenty-one receive my
wireless about the airship expedition?"
"Yes, sir, they got it," I replied, and then explained the line of
reasoning that had led the Committee to, disregard Mr. Edison's warning.
[Illustration: "MY FRIENDS, THEY SAY PATRIOTISM IS DEAD IN THIS LAND.
THEY SAY WE ARE EATEN UP WITH LOVE OF HONEY, TAINTED WITH A YELLOW STREAK
THAT MAKES US AFRAID TO FIGHT. IT'S A LIE! I AM SIXTY YEARS OLD, BUT I'LL
FIGHT IN THE TRENCHES WITH MY FOUR SONS BESIDE ME. AND YOU MEN WILL DO
THE SAME. AM I RIGHT?"]
He listened, frowning.
"Huh! That sounds like Elihu Root."
"It was," I admitted.
For hours as we rushed along, my distinguished companion sat silent and I
did not venture to break in upon his meditations, although there were
questions that I longed to ask him. I wondered if it was Widding's sudden
death in the Richmond prison that had saddened him.
It was not until late that afternoon, when we were far back in the Blue
Ridge Mountains, that Mr. Edison's face cleared and he spoke with some
freedom of his plans for helping the military situation.
"There's one thing that troubles me," he reflected as we finished an
excellent meal at the Allegheny Hotel in Staunton, Virginia. "I wonder
if--let's see! You have met the Crown Prince, you interviewed him, didn't
you?"
"Twice," said I.
"Is he intelligent--_really _intelligent? A big open-minded man or--is he
only a prince?"
"He's more than a prince," I said, "he's brilliant, but--I don't know how
open-minded he is."
Edison drummed nervously on the table.
"If we were only dealing with a Bismarck or a von Moltke! Anyhow, unless
he's absolutely narrow and obstinate--"
"Oh, no."
"Good! Where are the Committee of Twenty-one? In Chicago?"
"Yes."
"And the Crown Prince too?"
"Yes."
"We'll be there to-morrow and--listen! We can destroy the German fleet.
Widding's invention will do it. Poor Widding! It broke his heart to see
America conquered when he knew that he could save the nation if somebody
would only listen to him. But nobody would." Edison's deep eyes burned
with anger. "Thank God, I listened."
It seemed like presumption to question Mr. Edison's statement, yet I
ventured to remind him that several distinguished scientists had declared
that the airship _America_ could not fail to destroy the German fleet.
"Pooh!" he answered. "I said the _America_ expedition would fail. The
radio-control of torpedoes is uncertain at the best because of
difficulties in following the guide lights. They may be miles away, shut
off by fog or waves; but this thing of Widding's is sure."
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