""And Mr. Gill said that you would set the case out on the landing if you had to leave the office before we got back. I"ll put the receipt under the door."
""I understand," I answered, carelessly. "Get yourself some cigars,"
and I slipped a half-dollar in the man"s hand. He thanked me and withdrew. I sat down and waited.
"The lid of the case was removable from the inside. I watched the screws fall one after another to the floor. Then the lid followed, and Dr. Magnus stood before me. His eyes, distorted horribly by the extra powerful lenses of his spectacles, fixed me with a steady look. He came close as though to a.s.sure himself that there was no mistake. His face almost touched mine. He put on his second and third pair of gla.s.ses, and again I felt like the fly under the microscope.
"We did not go through the farce of exchanging salutations. This was war and we should both know it. It was now nearly noon and the sun was rapidly approaching the zenith. I led the way into the rear room.
""Here are the securities," said Magnus. I looked them over and announced myself as satisfied.
""Kindly sit down and write me out an order on the safe-deposit company," he went on, in rather a petulant tone. He was standing by the big chair. He bent forward as though to turn it in my direction.
"The psychological moment had come, but the trick was even easier than I had antic.i.p.ated. Being in a stooping posture, he was partially off his balance. A sharp jerk at his coat-collar and he was seated in the big chair. He bit at my hand savagely as a dog snaps, but I had been too quick for him. Then a couple of turns of stout window-cord put everything secure.
"The man seemed dazed. He made no attempt to release himself. He did not even speak. But then his lips were dry. They opened and shut mechanically. His eyes, staring through their triple gla.s.ses, were turned towards the window. The sunlight, shining in full strength, was creeping steadily towards the row of bull"s-eyes on the right of the sash. It lay in a broad, golden band on the polished floor.
"A decrepit fly crawled out of a crack and made feebly for the welcome warmth. The prisoner"s feet were free and he advanced one of them slowly, stealthily towards the miserable insect, then smashed ruthlessly down upon it. In my turn I looked away, gazing steadily at the window and the sun beyond. A few minutes now and we would know.
"A little cloud no bigger than a man"s hand. It was travelling directly towards the sun"s disk. Suppose now that its veil obscured, at the final moment, the fatal ray. He saw it too. Together we watched it slowly drifting through the brilliant blue of the sky--a little cloud no bigger than a man"s hand.
"The currents of air in the upper regions first accelerated and then r.e.t.a.r.ded the progress of the vaporous island. It seemed to stop; then it hung for an instant directly on the lower limb of the great ball of light. A sensation of intolerable cold pervaded my entire body.
Involuntarily I shut my eyes.
"I forced myself to look. The cloud had disappeared. Its imponderable essence had been absorbed into the clear ether as a drop of water sizzles into nothingness on a red-hot stove. The sunlight, shining through the third bull"s-eye from the bottom, was instantly transformed into a single concentrated beam. The heat-ray impinged upon the boss of fusible metal. I saw the alloy begin to melt. I turned and ran into the other room.
"Twenty minutes of silence and then I re-entered. I was horribly afraid, but he sat there quiet and still. I unwound the cord and threw it out of the window. It was clouding over in earnest now. These March days are so changeable.
"It is close to two o"clock, and I must be getting ready to depart. I have set the clock-case out in the pa.s.sageway, and the lids and screws are in readiness. The expressman will doubtless be punctual. He will carry the case down-stairs and load it on his wagon. I shall be delivered in due course at my destination. What is it to be? Well, I shall have plenty of time in which to reflect upon the possibilities of the journey that lies before me.
"One moment in which to seal up these notes, together with the bundle of securities. Fortunately, I have a special-delivery stamp in my pocket, and I can post the packet in the mail-chute. Best wishes, my dear Thorp, for the future happiness of yourself and your charming wife. You have now given a hostage to fortune and will no longer care to sail on uncertain seas. But the Wanderl.u.s.t in my blood seems to be ineradicable. Again the gates of chance are opening before me and I am eager to enter in. Good-bye."
Here the record ends abruptly. And there has been no sequel. Not the slightest sound nor sign has been vouchsafed from the void. He who was Esper Indiman is gone, like a stone dropped into the gulf, and I have lost something that is not easily replaced--a friend. But since it is his wish, there is nothing more to be said. He may return--a message may come--
The gates of chance! Well, it is exactly a year and a day since that eventful afternoon when Esper Indiman"s visiting-card was thrust into my unconscious hand. I have travelled along some strange ways in the course of that twelvemonth, and henceforth I shall be content to trudge along the common high-road of life. The gates of chance--for me they are closed forever. But I look over at my wife"s dear face and know that it is better so.