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Page 94
"It is impossible to express my sense of your amazing goodness, or
my gratitude, or my admiration for your genius," declared Sir
Walter; but the other contradicted him.
"Genius is a great word to which I can lay no claim. I have done
nothing at all that you yourself might not have done, given the
same knowledge. As for gratitude, if indeed that is not too
strong an expression also, you can show gratitude in a very simple
manner, dear friend. I am a practical, old man and, to be honest,
I very greatly covet the Borgia bed and chairs. Now, if indeed
you feel that I am not asking too grand a favor--a favor out of
all keeping with my good offices on your behalf--then let me
purchase the bed and chairs, and convey them with me home to Rome.
It is seemly that they should return to Rome, is it not? Rome
would welcome them. I much desire to sleep in that bed--to be
where I am so sure Prince Djem lay when he breathed his last.
Yes, believe me, he received your bed as a gracious present from
Alexander VI. The Borgia were generous of such gifts."
"The bed and chairs are yours, my dear signor, and the rest of the
contents of the Grey Room, also, if you esteem them in any way."
"Positively I could not, Sir Walter."
"Indeed you shall. It is done, and leaves me greatly your debtor
still."
"Then be it so. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Nor
will I say that you oppress me with such extraordinary generosity,
for is it not more blessed to give than receive? Heavens knows
what dark evils the bed may have committed in the course of its
career, but its activities are at an end. For me it shall bring
no more than honest slumber. But the mattress--no. I do not want
the mattress. That will be a nice present for the museum of your
Royal College of Surgeons."
A week later the old man was sufficiently rested, and he returned
home, taking his treasures with him. But he did not depart until
he had won a promise that Sir Walter and Mary would visit him at
Rome within the year.
Experts again descended upon Chadlands, packed the source of
tribulation with exceeding care, and conveyed it to London for
examination. Those destined to make the inquiry were much alive
to their perils, and took no risk.
Six weeks later letters passed between England and Rome, and Sir
Walter wrote to Signor Mannetti, sending such details as he was
able to furnish.
"A thin, supple wire was found to run between the harmless flock
of the mattress and the satin casing," wrote Sir Walter.
"Experiments showed that neither the stuffing nor the outer case
contained any harmful substance. But the wire, of which fifty
miles wound over the upper and lower surfaces of the mattress
under its satin upholstery, proved infinitely sensitive to heat,
and gave off, or ejected at tremendous speed, an invisible, highly
poisonous matter even at a lower temperature than that of a normal
human being. Insects placed upon it perished in the course of a
few hours, and it destroyed microscopic life and fish and frogs in
water at comparatively low temperatures, that caused the living
organisms no inconvenience until portions of the wire were
introduced. A cat died in eight minutes; a monkey in ten. No
pain or discomfort marked the operation of the wire on unconscious
creatures. They sank into death as into sudden sleep, and
examination revealed no physical effects whatever. The wire is
an alloy, and the constituent metals have not yet been determined;
but it is not an amalgam, for mercury is absent. The wire contains
thallium and helium as the spectroscope shows; but its awful
radioactivity and deadly emanation has yet to be explained. The
chemical experts have a startling theory. They suspect there is a
new element here--probably destined to occupy one of the last
unfilled places of the Periodic Table, which chronicles all the
elements known to science. Chemical analysis fails to reach the
radio-active properties, and for their examination the electroscope
and spinthariscope are needful. With these the radio-chemists are
at work. The wire melted at a lower temperature than lead, but
melting did not destroy its potency. After cooling, the metal
retained its properties and was still responsive, as before, to
warmth. But experiment shows that in a molten state, the metal
of the wire increases in effect, and any living thing brought
within a yard of it under this condition succumbs instantly. Its
properties cannot be extracted, so far, from the actual composition
of the wire. They prove also that the emanation from the warmed
wire is exceedingly subtle, tenuous, and volatile. Save under
conditions of super-heat, it only operates at two feet and a few
inches, and the wire naturally grows cold very quickly. It is
almost as light as aluminium. A gas mask does not arrest the
poison; indeed, it evidently enters a body through the nearest
point offered to it and a safe shield has not yet been discovered.
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