The Mystery of the Green Ray Part 30

"What is it?" we both demanded at once.

"The Secret of the Green Ray is ours, and ours alone. Hilderman has admitted that the reason why they did not clear it out at the first sign of suspicion was that, in their final calculations, they were unsure of their figures. That means, put popularly, that though he knew what he was trying to do, and how he meant to do it, the actual result was something of a fluke. It very often is with inventors. They had no drawings that they could rely on to make another searchlight by, so they were bound to take the whole thing back with them. They could send no figures, because the relative distances and other quant.i.ties baffled them. They could not take the searchlight back in pieces, because if any piece had been broken they might not have been able to reconstruct the proportions with critical accuracy, as we say.

So what was to have been Germany's hideous weapon of war is now ours.

We have a searchlight which acts as a telescope, which will pierce the deepest fog, and which will dispel the most unG.o.dly poisonous gases ever invented. You can see for yourself that no gas could make headway against the atmosphere you encountered the other day. Armies and navies will be absolutely powerless to advance against it. The green ray is the fourth arm of military power. So you see what you've done for your country, you lucky dog!"

"_I!_" I cried. "I like that! I've had less to do with it than anyone. What about you, eh?--coming running up with a gunboat at the critical moment. How did you manage that?"

"Well," he replied, "as soon as I was in the train on my way back I solved the problem of the fateful hour--with your help, of course. You pointed out that only then was the whole of the gorge flooded with suns.h.i.+ne. Now, it struck me that, if it were not electricity, it would be heat or some other form of light. Then it flashed into my mind that if it were done from a searchlight possessed of some devilish properties the light would not be visible, but the properties would continue to act. _Voila!_ Then I had already--also with your help--had some doubt of von Hilder; and the hut was _the_ place from which a searchlight would operate on the river. As soon as I got out of the train I taxied to my naval chief, under whom I am working throughout the war, and simply paralysed him with the whole yarn. I pitched him such a tale that he got through to the gunboat to stand by at Mallaig.

They were at Portree, nice and handy. I rushed and got the gla.s.ses done for the men, picked up the destroyer at Mallaig, and made round here to find out what was happening. Then we sighted Miss McLeod and Angus, and you know the rest. Miss McLeod refused to take the shelter the wars.h.i.+p offered, and Angus refused to leave her, so I stayed with them. We acted as pilot-boat, and there you are. That's the lot! Are you satisfied?"

"I'm satisfied, old man," I said, holding out my hand. "Some day I'll try and tell you _how_ satisfied."

"Oh, that's all right," he laughed, and left us in great spirits to return to the searchlight.

And so I was left alone with Myra, who a month ago became my wife. For my services rendered in connection with the remarkable affair I received an appointment in the Naval Intelligence Department, while many of our recent successes on land and on sea have, though the truth has been withheld from the public, been due to the employment of The Green Ray.

THE END.