THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF BAILEY CATFORD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10105, 17 March 1911, Page 4

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF BAILEY CATFORD.

.'•fr*.-.. «•' . v 7' Ifr —— (By F. D'A. C. DE L'ISLE.)

£ No. 11. tHE ALFOGASTA REVOLU- ' TION. ; [All Rights Reserved.] it-is now a matter of history how Bailey Catford .established his lnnocence, ;and by means of the confession. * obtained from Lord St Byrex cleared his character of the awful accusation of murder. That lie had taken the into his own hands by committing -'an act of piracy on the high seas when .he boarded a British mail boat and > forcibly abducted one of its passengers '"was a matter that required a certain "''•mount, of diplomatic adjustment, ancl thanks to the generosity of the directorate this was made possible, especi- '* ally as it was preceded by a free pardon • from the Crown, Tho authorities did " not make too much fuss over the mail boat,incident. Primarily, probably, for the reason that a very much wronged. cltoK&lwas endeavouring to right hinTil&i ahdj secondly, because Catford was ffedt, ah ordinary personage. His career ,Sjs in. inyentor was of world-wide fame, rjaiidXsbitte of his scientific discoveries i Radicalised even the' most hardy of the • 'jraorWA fighting men to shudder with ;covert. apprehension. The rumour that IjCatfprd had invented, and was perfectelectric machine which, direoted 'Jtiy Hertzian waves, was capable of electrocuting an army at any distance from 'basic force was by no means as im/toosaible'"as' it appeared; at least, so ,'thought 'the men of influence and sci- ; ence. who knew Bailey Catford and his claimed such an inventor to be projpitiousT and since Catford had proved \how grievously his country had wronged Jiim y his Country showed by its clemency itowards him that it was fully aware of the shocking mistake, and was prepared ( to make amends t6 every extent in its , power. a.-Catford was received with acclamaand open arms to the bosom of society that had been ready to crucify him before, and once again lie , t «i9sabiished himself in England to con- ; ftinue those works of scientific investigation and research that had been inter- ' rupted •by the awful tragedy of Ina IJJineland's murder. But though society 1 Jvould 'have feted and made much of him/ more especially since it was known th«t Catford had gleaned fabulous •wealth from the bottom of the oceans, yet' he would hare none of it. He was a 'chaiiged man. To him- nothing in i society-was of any interest; and in his ■ ./laboratories he buried himself , working -with I .feverish and_ inexhaustible energy i'gt'a.-tliose' inventions that have since 1 tlirflled the world with terror over their • dreadful potentialities. In quick suc- ' &9Ssion he perfected half a dozen lethal weapons that were hideously diabolical slit's their crafty ingenuity. The Catford •»ij}eath Pill, though only a toy, carried more certain death with it than, the fangs of the cobra; the Oatford Needle Tube horrified mankind—it was deadlier

xnan T-ne aeatn aaaer. mn> wie apogee ( iDf. tWaJstrange man's Huge inventiveness WMvT'eacned when he communicated ' lo scientific world his pertli© Catford Death Ware, Ji mahenant combination of compressed air cells, wireless telegraphy and Hertzian wave contacts that was capable of ■ 'destroying an army, a city, town or ■Village at one fell swoop, as though the Angel had passed and levelled': all things living in his irresistible flight, .That one man should possess BUcH well-nigh superhuman powers of destruction staggered the whole wide worla'of "'mankind. ,f purchase, great and small, "Bowed ipi on Catford in countless thousands; attempts to steal the inventions (were 'made by the more desperate, but jail without success. He most resolutely (refused 1 -to _ place such powers in the __tiands vpf .his barbarous fellow-beings, pad' would only promise to place his freatept discovery at the disposal of his ing and country if such dire necessity Should lever arise as to warrant its use. i While-hard at work in his huge pre-; ; .raises at Streatham, Catford received occasional information of the outside worlds "When Jeanie, Marchioness of St jfljfrex, appeared in society again after •lghteen months of discreet widowhood • (the-fashionable columns of the daily pajpers conveyed that information to ' Bailey Catford, as well as the news that |Uie Count Antonio de Guzman di Cb-dara-of Alfogasta, in South America, •was her most devoted as well as constant attendant. Another paragraph, in the shipping news, also attracted his ' attention. It was to the effect that Count di Codara was on the look-out for a warship, ostensibly for the Govcrnjnent of the independent State of ' "'Alfogasta; and that it was probable thatlessrs Harland and Wolfe, of Bel- ■ fast, would negotiate the transfer of ? the new Chilian warship Aconcagua to tKe Count di Codara. These matters (Datfoid gathered promiscuously when fie stole a few minutes of relaxation from his very arduous labours. He Knew "that it was no uncommon thing lor. the: small South American republics lo be possessed of one or more warships. According to their financial status, so *was t their naval'> strength. But Alfoiasta/ the youngest and smallest of them, •was]as yet not in a financial position sufficiently strong to admit of the possession of a warship. The Republic of Carrena Cortez, who was its President,- was but an infant of sqme twentylive years' establishment; its population Scarcely numbered a hundred thousand, though its potential wealth, consisting Stf * nitrate, silver, copper and gold ' mines, gave promise of future greatBess. Still, Bailey Catford knew that jAlfogasta could not afford a million jterling to purchase a warship. He was #ot surprised, a few days later, to revive the Count di Codara's visiting ' 'card., .while in his laboratory. He lliras' ';then working on his model 'of-. : . "the: winged man, a flying Wajchine. apparatus that was to Bvollitiqnise the conquest of the air. any "other models stood about, all dispreptly covered up and hidden from ' !rfaw- | vQatford-glanced curiously at his secretary, who had brought in the card. 1/" Gentleman?" he queried. | .flTJie secretary shook his head. " Very very 6mart, very deferential, Q//iAn adventurer!" said Catford. "Well, I'll see him here. Tell fctierts.tp show him up." p: In a few minutes the laboratory door opened to admit the butler, who announced softly: "The Marquis di Cojdara," . I It would have required a man well (T®raed in diplomatic service to have discovered wherein the Marquis differed from a well-to-do gentleman and jwhere the adventurer in him commenced. He was accurately, stylishly, " but not showily dressed; his hair was -- ghort and neatly brushed, his black taoustache was pointed upward in the 1 Continental fashiun, and his oliveikinned complexion was bright and fecalthy. If anything, he might have deleted the magnificent single stone

diamond ring on his little finger from his walking costume; otherwise he looked irrex>roachable. He was short of stature, yet powerfully built. His eyes were largo, dark and piercing, but too close together to be honest or stiaight forward. He smiled genially, showing strong and even white teeth. " I have the honour to meet Mr Bailey Catford, the eminent scientist?" he asked, with the slightest possible accent, as he advanced with outstretched hand.

" The same," answered Catford, saluting him, and pointing to a chair; "I have no doubt, Marquis, that you come as a possible purchaser of my submarine, The Ravager!" The Marquis was taken aback, though lie was too clever to show it. " Perhaps, perhaps!" he replied, smiling gaily, as he seated himself leisurely. "If you would sell, Mr Catford, perhaps even I, the insignificant representative of Alfogasta, might find means to "become the purchaser. *We might- even be able to offer you a fabulous sum for one or more of your great secrets. Alfogasta is not poor; to be frank, I may state that we have in that so small a country more than one mountain of—silver! And gems! This single diamond on my finger, worth, so the specialists tell me, over live thousand pounds, came from the Codara diamond fields of Alfogasta!" "Testing my cupidity I" thought Catford, as he opened a safe and produced a miniature cabinet of ebony. 'Withdrawing a tiny key from his watch chain he opened it, and removed a drawer labelled "Diamonds." "Any one of these stones, I fancy, surpass the gem on your finger!" sa'itf Catford, as he placed the drawer before the Marquis. The South American's eyes gleamed with avarice. , "You got these from?" he queried curiously. "The sea!" said Catford 6oftly. " ' Full many a gem of purest ray serene the dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear!' " "Magnificent!" murmured the Marquis greedily. " I got those, and thousands of others, by mean of The Ravager and my compressed air cells batteries. Why, then, should I sell?" asked Catford. "Ah! money will not tempt, you, senor!" exclaimed the Marquis, with an impatient movement. " Still, there is one thing all this cannot conquer." " A'ncl that?" q>"~Tied Catford, as he replaced the box carefully in the cabinet. "Is death!" The Marquis leaped to his feet, and a gleaming revolver barrel flashed in Catford's face. "Fool!" exclaimed Catford sardonically. " You have risked death a hundred times since you drew that revolver! Have you cork soles to your boots? Are you safe from electricity. Look down ; you are standing on a floor of steel! By pressing tin's button under my finger I could, hurl you into eternity. Drop your hand at once. Checkmate, marquis 1" i , The coward trembled like a leaf. His : nerveless fingers unclasped, and the re- j volver clattered on the floor. " Por Dio! man, you are not human!" he stammered, with chattering teeth. '' Too human, since self-preservation must be my first law. I have to be ; 'prepared for encounters of this nature, i What did you hope to gain by this stupid exhibition?' j " I only wished to see if fear would j compel you to part with your secrets. ; I want some of them myself, and would go to any lengths to possess them," ex- j claimed Codara. i

"I part with nothing, Marquis, untii another brain, which must be greater than mine, comes along and conquers me. If you still hope to carry out that rebellion in Alfogasta, you will have to do so without my assistance!" "Let me go!" cried Codara despairingly. " You are too strong for me to conquer ; and your information is wonderful!"

"You may go, Marquis. My timo is too valuable to allow in© to bother with police court proceedings. But let mo tell you that you are not the man to succeed. You hare not that inflexible courage and determination thab make the conquerer. That steel plate on which you are standing is harmless at present. I foolishly forgot to conneot the wires to the "battery. Nevertheless, I mark the king! Catford 1 smiled grimly as he possessed himself of the revolver. "I sliall keep this as a souvenir of a bloodless duel!" " Peste!" exclaimed the furious Marquis. '' You are marvellous. With you on my side we could conquer the world!" "1 doubt it!" remarked Catford drily. '' You nerve would fail at some critical moment, and. we should be ruined. Good morning; let the preposed rebellion rest, it is better for you." The Marquis reached trie door before he turned with a scowl on Catford : ''We shall see!" he remarked. "You m-b not omnipotent!" He was gone ere Catford could reply to him. It was exactly one week after this strange interview that Bailey Catford received a visiting card that roused his sleeping fires of memory with volcanic force. It was inscribed—" Jeannio, Marchioness St Syrex, Bamboro, and Park Lane," and hastily scrawled in pencil underneath: "For heaven's sake, see me at once." As Catford looked back on the pages of time a rustling of skirts was heard, and in another moment the library was filled with the pregnant perfume of Haveneta, as a tiny, "ragiie doll of a woman,' exquisitely gowned in halfmourning fell at his feet with the strange cry: "You alone can save me!" He stooped, raised her, tenderly seated her in a comfortable armchair, before he asked : "Indeed, my lady. And how? ''With your submarine!" she exclaimed tremulously, and a torrent of words poured from her; " Codara has my fortune; every penny I have in the world! He tempted me with his talea of the mountains of gold in Alfogasta. _ I agreed to help him to get possession of them. He promised me a half-share. I lent him all my money, nearly a quarter of a million, with which to purchase the gunboat Aconcagua. He ha 3 betrayed me, for yesterday he sailed in her, and has left mo behind. Read this!" She produced a coroneted letter from her reticule, and handed it to Catford. "Pretty fool," it began,—"Thanks to your sweet folly I shall effect the revolution in Alfogasta that I hare so long planned. Pray for my success, because as there are no mountains of gold in Alfoga.sta, I can only recoup you if I become President. If I fail, the warship that represents your fortune will become the property of the victors. But I shall hot fail, and some day, pretty one, you shall queen it as the wife of Alfogasta's great President. Farewell, and pray for the success of Codara. "You have been badly, nay, cruelly —deceived," said Catford as he returned the letter; "it was womanlike to be duped by the fascinating coward. You wish me to follow him? What then?" " You robbed me once, sir; you took

my huband from me by the most brilliant coup ever effected by a submarine ! Could you not secure this war vessel? I might resell it again, and so get my money back!" cried the demented beauty.

"Money, money, ever and always!" murmured Catford; "why can we not exist without the greed of gold? Very well, I will do my best to help you. The Republic of Alfogasta shall recoup you if I can arrange it so. Do you care to accompany me in the chase?" " Oh, sir," exclaimed the Marchioness tearfully; "may I really?" " A cabin is at your disposal. I will wire all instructions. Be ready to leave by the midnight mail. "We start to-morrow before daylight." " The blessings of heaven " " Hush ! You can thank me afterwards. Let me see you to your carriage. You have little time to prepare for your journey. Do not burden yourself with too much luggage. My submarine, though larger than the usual 'run of that class of vessel, is only a small boat after all."

When the now more cheerful visitor had gone, Catford returned and busied himself over his preparations. He made especial provisions in his outfit for his invention of the negative Hertzian electric waves; a system of electric forces that was to play a prominent part in his attempt to recover the Aconcagua from the Marquis di Codara.

It was a misty morning when The Ravager stole silently out of Portsmouth Harbour, and rapidly disappeared towards the south-eastern horizon. On board of her was Catford's trusty crow of twenty officers and men, with the inventor himself, and his solitary guest, Jeannie, Marchioness St Syrex. Even the of her maid or the protecting presence 'of a chaperone had to be dispensed with, since every possible space available was loaded with the materials necessary for the manipulating of the negative Hertzian wave apparatus. When the voyage vas well under way and The Ravager tarring away under the sea at a speed of forty knots, Bailey Catford met his beautiful guest in < the state cabin of his vessel, and there unfolded bis plans. " The Aconcagua can barely steam iwenty-two knots. In view of the scarcity of coal round and about /vliogasta I surmise that the commander of the gunboat will hot use more coal than is absolutely necessary. Ho w'll probably steam at from twelve to fourteen knots, and I feel sure they do not dream of pursuit. We shall reach Al- - well ahead of the warship, r.r.d after I have interviewed the piesent President we can lie in wait for Codara, and take him by surprise v/hen he arrives. Come, let me sbtiw you some of the marvels of my wonderful submarine.' 1 He led her .to a trap-door, from which a ladder descended to the null of the vessel. When they had got down. Catford touched a lever, and the steel frame of the submarine opened outwards on both sides, and the Marchioness found that she was standing on an iron grating framed with plate glass. Touching another lever, Catford turned on powerful electric lights, and the depths of the sea shone beneath their feet. "Oh! how wonderful 1 How be-au-ti-ful I" gaspod the lady, as all the marvellous beauties of the sea flashed by beneath her; "what a delicious scene I And you really invented all this?" ' l l invented some, and copied others of the ideas from authorities, ancient as well as modern," replied Catford. '' W© will slow down for a brief fifteen minutes, and you shall see for yourself what wondrous things inhabit the sea. Later on, when we have settled with Codara, I will run you round the coast of South America, and will show you the beauties of Santa Catalina." The submarine slowed down, and for fifteen minutes the vivacious ex-vaude-ville artiste was thrilled and horrified in turns by the wonderful flora and fauna that gathered under the gliding glass keel and round the glass sides of the Ravager. In that brief period a chance came over that pair of voyagers that was to effect a most startling influence in their future lives Lady St Syrex found, for the first time in her narrow, frivolous life, what a strong, powerful and brainy man was like; and Catford was captivated by the childish simplicity and naivete of this butterfly of the stage and Bohemia. Henceforward the voyage was pregnant with interest for them both, and the lady in particular was not too well pleased when the express of the underseas glided into the tiny harbour of Alfogasta. The magical appearance of the submarine caused quite a considerable flutter of excitement and apprehension in the city; nor was the feeling diminished when Catford met the President in council assembled, and informed that portly and august personage of the clanger that threatened him. The President, a fat little bourgeois, who had risen to eminence owing to his practical business abilities and acumen, was not a fighting man. The dashing Mexican adventurer, the Marquis de Guzman di Cbdara, was the generalis-

simo of the standing army of Alfogasta ; ! a noisy, ill-mannered rabble of cigarsmoking muleteers, soma five thousand strong, that would sooner die than do a hard day's -work, but who were eminently fitted for the sansculottism oi warfare in Alfogasta. When the President heard of the approaching crisis, and the tell-tale faces of his council accentuated the information, he nearly had a fit. But the resolute bearing of Bailey Catford reassured him, and upon promise of the complete help of the inrentor and his marvellous submarine the trembling head and front of Alfogasta signed an agreement in which Alfogasta and its Government promised to pay a quarter of a. million sterling to the Marchioness of St Syrex for the .varship Aconcagua when delivered safely and soundly into their hands. On the following day Bailey Catford set his negative Hertzian wave batteries in position. Th© ) little harbour was scattered over, at "a distance of half a nile from the shore, with a semicircle of what appeared to be butter-boxes anchored on the waves. On the beach a tall steel flagstaff, surmounted by a similar butter-box, stood unobtrusively by the side of a small palvanised iron hut. That was all. The Ravager, leaving a working gang in the hut, disappeared from view, dropped down the harbour and out to sea. In. Alfogasta there was trembling and apprehension, while, the barracks, hotels and market places seethed with incipient revolution. On the following day smoke on the distant horizon proclaimed tho advent of the Aconcagua, and in a few hours the gunboat steamed into the harbour and dropped anchor a couple of miles from the shore. From her stern floated the red flag of revolution, at her peak was the gaudy red, blue, green and .vhite flag of Alfogasta. A motley crew oi brown and bearded mlf-castes jumped into her launch and :arried,the coming conqueror's message ;o the President. It was brief and to the point. '' Surrender yourself and the town, or I will blow you off the face of the earth.—Codara." The generalissimo of Alfogasta was not a little disappointed, and certainly very furious, when the answer reached him, couched in the true spirit of transpontine melodrama: " Blow and be to you!" it ran. Promptly the gunboat was cleared for action, and a tentative shot was plumped into the National Assembly building. But something went wrong with the works. The shell, after soaring magnificently into the air with a jubilant scream and whizz, suddenly lost its momentum about ha,lf a mile from the shore and fell harmlessly into the water in the vicinity of one of the butterboxes. Another, and another, and another shell was tried, with the same strange result; then the sights were raised, trajectories altered, and a volley was poured upon the hapless Alfogastans. But not a shell reached the land; each 'and all of them plopped into the water around one or another, of the butter-boxes. For two hours the gunboat rained shells on the beleaguered city, and, not a missile ever reached its destination. Night came on, and still the futile bombardment continued at irregular intervals, which went to prove that the gun crews on the warship were fiddling with their machinery tj see what the dickens was wrong with their guns. At midnight the firing ceased altogether. Cedar a was at his wits' end. The garrison on shore were all quiet; there had been no rising of the army as arranged. His plans had failed miserably owing to those cursed guns or the defective ammunition. He resolved to wait until the morning; then they would see if anything could be done to remedy the defect in the guns. It was scarce half-past one in the morning, but, with the exception of the solitary man on watch, every manjack of the. gunboat's crew was sleeping the sleep of the absolutely deadtired man. Even the lookout dozed now and again. From one of these temporary relapses he was ■ rudely snatched by rough hands, gagged, bound, and securely lashed to the stanchion adjacent. The Ravager was alongside, and Bailey Catford had possession of the Aconcagua. ■ Everything was done so silently that only about six o'clock the next morning did the mongrel crew of the belligerent gunboat recognise that they were battened down securely under hatches. The Marquis rose early, and, hearing signs of work upon deck, dressed himself leisurely and ascended to the salooD. He was so completely paralysed to find the President and part of the council of Alfogasta awaiting him that he forgot even the ordinary politeness of the usual salutation. He could only gasp an inarticulate oath when he was surrounded by armed guards and marched to the foot, of the long dining-table. They have a blunt way of conducting their court-martials in South America, la five minutes the Marquis was bundled overboard, taken ashore, and hanged in the public square opposite the House of National Assembly. They would have hanged him from the yardarm of his ill-gotten warship but that Bailey Catford pleaded for consideration of the presence of a lady on board. The President and what remained of his council after the traitors had joined the body of their generalissimo promptly paid the purchase money for the Aconcagua out of the public treasury, praised Catford for his mafvellous invention and superb victory, loaded Lady St Syrex with presents, and ordained that day a day of universal jollification. The Ravager gathered up the negative Hertzian wave apparatus, and amid platoons of very ancient, musketry firing and much waving of bunting, glided away due south on a trip to the Californian coast. Thanks to Bailey Catford and his submarine the revolution in Alfogasta was as dead as its late generalissimo and his satellites.