"Oh, I say, now, Mr. Edestone, those cow-boy methods don't go here in London, and if you cannot behave a bit more like a gentleman, I'll have you shown to the street."

"We have more important matters on our hands just now, Mr. Underhill, than whether or not I am a gentleman," snapped the American, his face set and serious as he with nervous fingers laid the gla.s.s on the table.

Rolling the cannon-ball to him, he lifted it very gently on to the gla.s.s plate, and then taking a key from his pocket he appeared to wind up on the inside of the instrument some mechanism which gave off a buzzing sound. Next he drew on a pair of rubber gloves with vulcanized rubber finger tips, and moistening with his lips the ends of the two platinum wires, pressed them to either side of the ball, first the one and then the other. A spark was given off when the second contact was made, and the room was filled with a pungent odour as of overheated metal which caused both men to cough violently.

Following this, with great care, and using only the tips of his fingers, he lifted the gla.s.s plate with the ball on it. When he had raised it his arm's length above the table, like a plum pudding on a platter, he took the gla.s.s away, leaving the ball hanging unsupported in the air.

He sat down and smiled across the table into the astonished, almost incredulous, face of his companion.

"And now, Mr. Underhill, I hope you will pardon my rudeness," he apologized lightly; "but I get so interested in these little tricks of mine that sometimes I forget myself. If you will permit me, I shall, when I go to Paris, order from Cartiers's a more befitting frame for His Majesty, and shall beg you to accept it from me as a little souvenir of our meeting today."

Underhill made no reply. His whole attention was riveted on that amazing ball, and Edestone, a trifle mischievously, added: "If you have a perfectly good heart, and think you can stand a bit of a shock, touch that ball lightly with your finger."

"My heart's all right, and I am prepared for anything," Underhill surrendered, as he reached up and touched the innocent looking rusty old cannon-ball, whose only peculiarity seemed to be its willingness to remain where it was without any visible means of support.

The room was suddenly filled with a greenish light, as if someone had just taken a flash-light photograph. Underhill was thrown violently back into his chair, and the ball crashed down on the table, splitting it from end to end.

Without moving a muscle of his face, and taking no notice of the gestures of pain made by Underhill as he sat rubbing his arm and shoulder, Edestone resumed:

"Mr. Underhill, I will not take any more of your valuable time to show you my drawings and photographs, but I beg you to say to Sir Egbert Graves that you do not think with Lord Rockstone that the American Secretary of State has been deceived, and that you hope he will, when he sees me tomorrow, try to forget for a while that he is an Englishman and be a little bit human. You know, Underhill, confidence and pigheadedness are not even connected by marriage; much less are they blood relations. By Jove," he grinned, "you can tell him I'll stick him up against the ceiling if he insists upon handling me with the ice tongs and leave him there until you take him down; that is, if you care to take another little shock."

Underhill, although he might have thought at another time that it was his duty to resent such light and frivolous reference to the heads of His Majesty's Government, was now, however, occupied with more serious reflections, and overlooked the offence.

"I am sure," he said, rousing himself, "that if Sir Egbert is convinced that you are working for the sake of humanity he will be most happy to make use of your talents."

"That is exactly what I want him to do," returned Edestone, "but not in the way in which you mean. I wish to be given authority to open negotiations for peace with the Emperor of Germany. Now, Mr. Underhill, do we understand one another?"

He rose to leave with this, but Underhill, stepping quickly forward, laid a hand upon his arm.

"You don't suppose for a moment, Mr. Edestone, that we will allow you to leave England and go to Germany to sell them your invention and have it used against us?"

"You have my word, Mr. Underhill, and that of the American Secretary of State, that it is not my intention to sell to any government. With that a.s.surance, unless your Ministry wishes to risk the chances of war with the United States, I think it will allow me to leave England and go anywhere I please. Good-morning, Mr. Underhill. I am sorry to have taken up so much of your valuable time, even more sorry to have broken His Majesty's beautiful old oak table."

CHAPTER VII

DIPLOMACY WINS

Underhill, left alone, sat for some moments looking from the broken table to the cannonball and then back again. Finally he picked up a fragment of gla.s.s, for the Royal face protector had likewise been broken, when the good old English oak had met its defeat at the hands of this Hun of the world of science, and with it, very gingerly, he tapped the iron ball--this rusty old barbarian which had set at naught the force of gravity, had violated all the established laws of nature, and had like the Germans in Belgium smashed through.

Finding that nothing happened, he hesitated for a moment, and, then, bracing himself against the shock, he touched his finger gently to this rude old paradox. There was no shock, and, rea.s.sured, he leaned across the table and tried with both hands to lift the cannon-ball.

"That part is genuine there is no doubt," he granted. "That old cannon-ball must have been here since--?" He gave a start as his eyes caught the inscription pasted upon it, which was:

"A freak cannon-ball, made at the Forge and Manor of Greenwood, Virginia, 1778.

Presented in 1889 to Lord Roberts by General George Bolling Anderson, Governor of the State of Virginia."

"How extraordinary!" he exclaimed. "These Americans are popping up at every turn."

He pa.s.sed out into the large outer office, and, glancing at his watch, summoned an undersecretary.

"It is now just a quarter after twelve," he said, "and the Cabinet lunches at Buckingham Palace at two. Present my compliments to Lord Rockstone and Sir Egbert Graves, and say that I should like to see them both here for a few minutes on a matter of the greatest importance, and that much as I regret to trouble them it is absolutely necessary that this meeting be held in my office and before they go on to the Palace."

To another attendant who, moved by curiosity, was going in the direction of the smaller room, he said: "Place a sentry at that door when I leave. No one is to be allowed to enter that room until I give further orders."

A telephone orderly came in a few minutes later to say that his message had found Lord Rockstone and Sir Egbert Graves together, and that they both would be with him within the half-hour.

Underhill was now fully convinced that Edestone possessed some wonderful invention or discovery which the United States intended to use as a final argument for peace, and, with the aid of this discovery, render untenable any position in opposition to its will taken by England or any of the other Powers. Had he dreamed that the United States was as ignorant as to the nature of this invention as he himself was, the history of the world might have been changed.

When Graves and Rockstone arrived, he greeted them with serious face and at once drew them into private conference.

"Gentlemen," he said, "I am sorry to have to trouble you to come to me, but I am confident that you will forgive me when you understand my reasons for insisting upon a meeting here." Keeping both men still standing he continued: "I have a strange story to tell, so strange in fact, that you gentlemen would be justified in doubting not only my word but my sanity, had I nothing to show you in corroboration."

Both men stood like graven images; one like a soldier at attention; the other, his hat and cane in his right hand and the tips of his two first fingers resting lightly on the table behind which Underhill was standing, his thin, clean-shaven, mask-like face as expressionless as if it belonged to a head that had been stuck on the end of a pike and shoved out across the table for Underhill to look at, instead of to one well placed on his broad athletic shoulders. They both knew that Underhill was young and had inherited from his beautiful American mother a nervous and temperamental disposition. They also knew that this was tempered by the crafty cleverness of the blood of the hero of Blenheim. They had come prepared for one of his excitable outbursts, although they knew he would not have been so insistent had there not been good cause.

"Will you be so kind as to walk into this room with me?" He pointed toward the door of the small room.

Still with that show of utter imperturbability the two complied, continuing to gaze stolidly as their a.s.sociate, closing the door behind them, called their attention to the cannon-ball and broken table.

"Exhibits A and B"; he waved his hand toward the two objects. "I wanted you to see these in order to convince you that I have neither been dreaming, nor am I the victim of an aberration."

Then with great care and endeavouring to maintain a semblance of self-possession, he described his recent experience, omitting no single detail that he could recall. He showed them exactly where and how he had been sitting, and followed every movement made by Edestone, even to the ripping of the gla.s.s from the portrait of the King, until finally, as if overcome by the strain that he had put upon himself to appear perfectly calm, he ended with a nervous little laugh.

"Will you look at the inscription on that blooming old cannon-ball? It really seems quite spooky."

Graves moved forward and thoughtfully examined the split table and the rusty old relic of Valley Forge, but Rockstone did not offer to stir.

With what was almost a sneer on his face he met the challenging glance of his younger confrere.

"I would not have believed, Underhill," he said impatiently, "that you with your experience with the fakirs of India could have been taken in by so old a trick." He half-closed his eyes as if to indicate that for him at least the incident was closed.

Underhill frowned. "You are wrong, Rockstone," he exclaimed impulsively. "This man is no faker, nor am I so easily imposed upon as you seem to think. I tell you that we are called upon to deal with a new agency that can neither be disputed nor sneered away, and unless we can contrive some way to oppose it, the United States will step in and force a peace upon us--a peace that will leave Europe exactly where it was before the war--and keep it so, while she herself can go ahead unchecked and take possession of the whole Western Hemisphere. Don't you see the scheme?"

"Where is this extraordinary individual?" inquired the Foreign Minister, completing his inspection of the table. "What has become of him?" His thin voice was as evenly modulated as if he were asking where he had put his other glove.

"Oh, probably at Boodle's or Brookes's lunching with some of his friends," Underhill answered indifferently. "He left here only a short time ago. And you need not be afraid, Sir Egbert," with a significant glance. "A very careful eye is being kept upon his movements. We can get him at any moment if we want him."

Graves nodded, and then went on meditatively.

"It is of course entirely irregular," he said, "but from what both of you gentlemen tell me as to the nature of his credentials, there can be little doubt that the man is here with the approval of his Government, if not as an authorized representative. The sole question, therefore, is whether or not he does possess such an invention or discovery as he claims----"

"But can you doubt that?" demanded Underhill hotly.

"And whether," proceeded Sir Egbert without change of tone, "granting that the contrivance is of value, the United States will permit its purchase for use in the present war.

"On the first proposition, I can only say that if he has this invention, as my young friend of the Navy stands so firmly convinced, it is tantamount to admitting that the United States has a new and terrible instrument of war, in which case it would be most unwise to offend her. If he has not, there certainly can be no objection to allowing him the opportunity of offering to our enemies something that is of no value. Therefore, that seems to settle the question as to the advisability of detaining him, as has been suggested. I should strongly favour letting him go when and where he pleases.