But soon I shall strike."
CHAPTER XVI
THE PROFESSOR'S EXPERIMENT
Throughout all this excitement Percy Darrow did absolutely nothing. He
spent all his time, save that required for meals and the shortest
necessary sleep, in a round-armed wooden chair in the wireless station of
the Atlas Building. Jack Warford sat with him. Darrow rarely opened his
mouth for speech, but smoked slowly a few cigarettes, and rolled many
more, which he held unlighted in the corner of his mouth until they
dropped to pieces. He watched quietly all that went on; glanced through
such messages as came in from Monsieur X, read the papers, and dozed. To
reporters he was affable enough in his drawling slow fashion, but had
nothing to say.
"Eldridge is doing this," he said to them; "I'm only in the position of an
interested spectator."
Eldridge had taken hold in a thoroughly competent way. Back of the cold
precision of his undoubted scientific attainments lurked, unexpected by
most, a strong ambition and a less admirable hankering for the lime-light.
His opportunity to gratify all these appetites--science, advancement, and
fame--was too good not to cause him the deepest satisfaction.
"I have determined," he told the reporters, "that this particular
instrument alone receives the messages from the unknown perpetrator. Our
investigations must be initiated, therefore, in this apartment."
"How do you explain it?" asked one of the reporters.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106