But President Boon paid no attention except to the singular card, which he continued to turn over and over, balancing it on his fingers and holding it now at arm’s-length and then near his nose, with one eye squinted6 as if he were trying to look through a hole in the card.
At length this odd conduct of the presiding officer drew all eyes upon the card, and then everybody shared the interest of Mr. Boon. In shape and size the card was not extraordinary, but it was composed of metal. What metal? That question had immediately arisen in Mr. Boon’s mind when the card came into his hand, and now it exercised the wits of all the others. Plainly it was not tin, brass7, copper8, bronze, silver, aluminum—although its lightness might have suggested that metal—nor even base gold.
The president, although a skilled metallurgist, confessed his inability to say what it was. So intent had he become in examining the curious bit of metal that he forgot it was a visitor’s card of introduction, and did not even look for the name which it presumably bore.
As he held the card up to get a better light upon it a stray sunbeam from the window fell across the metal and instantly it bloomed with exquisite9 colors! The president’s chair being in the darker end of the room, the radiant card suffused10 the atmosphere about him with a faint rose tint11, playing with surprising liveliness into alternate canary color and violet.
The effect upon the company of clear-headed financiers was extremely remarkable12. The unknown metal appeared to exercise a kind of mesmeric influence, its soft hues13 blending together in a chromatic14 harmony which captivated the sense of vision as the ears are charmed by a perfectly15 rendered song. Gradually all gathered in an eager group around the president’s chair.
“What can it be?” was repeated from lip to lip.
“Did you ever see anything like it?” asked Mr. Boon for the twentieth time.
None of them had ever seen the like of it. A spell fell upon the assemblage. For five minutes no one spoke16, while Mr. Boon continued to chase the flickering17 sunbeam with the wonderful card. Suddenly the silence was broken by a voice which had a touch of awe18 in it:
“It must be the metal!”
The speaker was an English financier, First Lord of the Treasury19, Hon. James Hampton-Jones, K.C.B. Immediately everybody echoed his remark, and the strain being thus relieved, the spell dropped from them and several laughed loudly over their momentary20 aberration21.
President Boon recollected22 himself, and, coloring slightly, placed the card flat on the table, in order more clearly to see the name. In plain red letters it stood forth23 with such surprising distinctness that Mr. Boon wondered why he had so long overlooked it.
“DR. MAX SYX.”
“Tell the gentleman to come in,” said the president, and thereupon the attendant threw open the door.
The owner of the mysterious card fixed24 every eye as he entered. He was several inches more than six feet in height. His complexion25 was very dark, his eyes were intensely black, bright, and deep-set, his eyebrows26 were bushy and up-curled at the ends, his sable27 hair was close-trimmed, and his ears were narrow, pointed28 at the top, and prominent. He wore black mustaches, covering only half the width of his lip and drawn29 into projecting needles on each side, while a spiked30 black beard adorned31 the middle of his chin.
He smiled as he stepped confidently forward, with a courtly bow, but it was a very disconcerting smile, because it more than half resembled a sneer32. This uncommon33 person did not wait to be addressed.
“I have come to solve your problem,” he said, facing President Boon, who had swung round on his pivoted34 chair.
“The metal!” exclaimed everybody in a breath, and with a unanimity35 and excitement which would have astonished them if they had been spectators instead of actors of the scene. The tall stranger bowed and smiled again:
“Just so,” he said. “What do you think of it?”
“It is beautiful!”
Again the reply came from every mouth simultaneously36, and again if the speakers could have been listeners they would have wondered not only at their earnestness, but at their words, for why should they instantly and unanimously pronounce that beautiful which they had not even seen? But every man knew he had seen it, for instinctively37 their minds reverted38 to the card and recognized in it the metal referred to. The mesmeric spell seemed once more to fall upon the assemblage, for the financiers noticed nothing remarkable in the next act of the stranger, which was to take a chair, uninvited, at the table, and the moment he sat down he became the presiding officer as naturally as if he had just been elected to that post. They all waited for him to speak, and when he opened his mouth they listened with breathless attention.
His words were of the best English, but there was some peculiarity39, which they had already noticed, either in his voice or his manner of enunciation40, which struck all of the listeners as denoting a foreigner. But none of them could satisfactorily place him. Neither the Americans, the Englishmen, the Germans, the Frenchmen, the Russians, the Austrians, the Italians, the Spaniards, the Turks, the Japanese, or the Chinese at the board could decide to what race or nationality the stranger belonged.
“This metal,” he began, taking the card from Mr. Boon’s hand, “I have discovered and named. I call it ‘artemisium.’ I can produce it, in the pure form, abundantly enough to replace gold, giving it the same relative value that gold possessed41 when it was the universal standard.”
As Dr. Syx spoke he snapped the card with his thumb-nail and it fluttered with quivering hues like a humming-bird hovering42 over a flower. He seemed to await a reply, and President Boon asked:
“What guarantee can you give that the supply would be adequate and continuous?”
“I will conduct a committee of this congress to my mine in the Rocky Mountains, where, in anticipation43 of the event, I have accumulated enough refined artemisium to provide every civilized44 land with an amount of coin equivalent to that which it formerly45 held in gold. I can there satisfy you of my ability to maintain the production.”
“But how do we know that this metal of yours will answer the purpose?”
“Try it,” was the laconic46 reply.
“There is another difficulty,” pursued the president. “People will not accept a new metal in place of gold unless they are convinced that it possesses equal intrinsic value. They must first become familiar with it, and it must be abundant enough and desirable enough to be used sparingly in the arts, just as gold was.”
“I have provided for all that,” said the stranger, with one of his disconcerting smiles. “I assure you that there will be no trouble with the people. They will be only too eager to get and to use the metal. Let me show you.”
He stepped to the door and immediately returned with two black attendants bearing a large tray filled with articles shaped from the same metal as that of which the card was composed. The financiers all jumped to their feet with exclamations47 of surprise and admiration48, and gathered around the tray, whose dazzling contents lighted up the corner of the room where it had been placed as if the moon were shining there.
There were elegantly formed vases, adorned with artistic49 figures, embossed and incised, and glowing with delicate colors which shimmered50 in tiny waves with the slightest motion of the tray. Cups, pins, finger-rings, earrings51, watch-chains, combs, studs, lockets, medals, tableware, models of coins—in brief, almost every article in the fabrication of which precious metals have been employed was to be seen there in profusion52, and all composed of the strange new metal which everybody on the spot declared was far more splendid than gold.
“Do you think it will answer?” asked Dr. Syx.
“We do,” was the unanimous reply.
All then resumed their seats at the table, the tray with its magnificent array having been placed in the centre of the board. This display had a remarkable influence. Confidence awoke in the breasts of the financiers. The dark clouds that had oppressed them rolled off, and the prospect53 grew decidedly brighter.
“What terms do you demand?” at length asked Mr. Boon, cheerfully rubbing his hands.
“I must have military protection for my mine and reducing works,” replied Dr. Syx. “Then I shall ask the return of one per cent, on the circulating medium, together with the privilege of disposing of a certain amount of the metal—to be limited by agreement—to the public for use in the arts. Of the proceeds of this sale I will pay ten per cent. to the government in consideration of its protection.”
“But,” exclaimed President Boon, “that will make you the richest man who ever lived!”
“Undoubtedly,” was the reply.
“Why,” added Mr. Boon, opening his eyes wider as the facts continued to dawn upon him, “you will become the financial dictator of the whole earth!”
“Undoubtedly,” again responded Dr. Syx, unmoved. “That is what I purpose to become. My discovery entitles me to no less. But, remember, I place myself under government inspection54 and restriction55. I should not be allowed to flood the market, even if I were disposed to do so. But my own interest would restrain me. It is to my advantage that artemisium, once adopted, shall remain stable in value.”
A shadow of doubt suddenly crossed the president’s face.
“Suppose your secret is discovered,” he said. “Surely your mine will not remain the only one. If you, in so short a time, have been able to accumulate an immense quantity of the new metal, it must be extremely abundant. Others will discover it, and then where shall we be?”
While Mr. Boon uttered these words, those who were watching Dr. Syx (as the president was not) resembled persons whose startled eyes are fixed upon a wild beast preparing to spring. As Mr. Boon ceased speaking he turned towards the visitor, and instantly his lips fell apart and his face paled.
Dr. Syx had drawn himself up to his full stature56, and his features were distorted with that peculiar mocking smile which had now returned with a concentrated expression of mingled57 self-confidence and disdain58.
“Will you have relief, or not?” he asked in a dry, hard voice. “What can you do? I alone possess the secret which can restore industry and commerce. If you reject my offer, do you think a second one will come?”
President Boon found voice to reply, stammeringly59:
“I did not mean to suggest a rejection60 of the offer. I only wished to inquire if you thought it probable that there would be no repetition of what occurred after gold was found at the south pole?”
“The earth may be full of my metal,” returned Dr. Syx, almost fiercely, “but so long as I alone possess the knowledge how to extract it, is it of any more worth than common dirt? But come,” he added, after a pause and softening61 his manner, “I have other schemes. Will you, as representatives of the leading nations, undertake the introduction of artemisium as a substitute for gold, or will you not?”
“Can we not have time for deliberation?” asked President Boon.
“Yes, one hour. Within that time I shall return to learn your decision,” replied Dr. Syx, rising and preparing to depart. “I leave these things,” pointing to the tray, “in your keeping, and,” significantly, “I trust your decision will be a wise one.”
His curious smile again curved his lips and shot the ends of his mustache upward, and the influence of that smile remained in the room when he had closed the door behind him. The financiers gazed at one another for several minutes in silence, then they turned towards the coruscating62 metal that filled the tray.
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1
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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7
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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10
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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12
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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13
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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chromatic
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| adj.色彩的，颜色的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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16
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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17
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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18
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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21
aberration
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| n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差 | |
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22
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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24
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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25
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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26
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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27
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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32
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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33
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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34
pivoted
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| adj.转动的，回转的，装在枢轴上的v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的过去式和过去分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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35
unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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38
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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39
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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40
enunciation
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| n.清晰的发音；表明，宣言；口齿 | |
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41
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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42
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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43
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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44
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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46
laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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47
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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48
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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49
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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50
shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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52
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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53
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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54
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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55
restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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56
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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57
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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58
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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59
stammeringly
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| adv.stammering（口吃的）的变形 | |
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60
rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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61
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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62
coruscating
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| v.闪光，闪烁( coruscate的现在分词 ) | |
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