The Moon Metal

o disastrous to innocent people, and at first he talked of legal proceedings. But, after thinking the matter over, he concluded that Syx was too powerful to be attacked with success,

that the best thing for him and his stockholders to do was to keep silent about their losses and await even

in making the suggestion, "and it

" asked the

o tell just yet

side tunnel to which he had appeared to attach so much importance, and I conc

invitation from Hall to accompany hi

o another mystery so dark and profound that I cannot see my way through it. I mus

adventure. Having extinguished our lamp, my companion opened the peep-hole, and a thin ray of ligh

pushing me into his place, "they are sti

unloading a car which has just come out of the side tunnel, and putting

hat are the

re, of

nothing signif

I exclaimed. "

ng his hand over my mouth; "don't ta

m the furnace-room, because the side tunnel t

ome back, it actually h

n you b

it leads to a secret apartment directly under the

hearing this avow

ious?" I ask

yx tunnel, I carefully cut out a section of the wall, making an aperture large enough to crawl through, and, when I knew the workmen were asleep,

is

ntents are ostentatiously poured into the furnace, or appear to be poured into it, really dropping into a receptacle beneath, to be carried back into the mine again. And then the doctor leads his gulled visitors around to the other side of the furnace and shows them the molten metal coming out in streams. Now what does it all mean? That's what I'd like to find out. What's his game? For, mark you, if

ed, "I fear I c

you can go to sleep over it, while I shall never get another go

will y

ut I've got a dim idea which

r some time; then

ch Dr. Syx entertained Mr. Boon and the members of the finan

n't think it was ever made public. T

not. Odd thin

though. He's always doing something to astonish somebody, withou

e in mind of it," repl

see the c

en you are dealing with Dr. Syx nothin

e entrance of the tunnel. After he had made everything secur

be best to keep this lates

tain

expose the worthlessness of the 'ore' might cause a panic. The public is a queer animal, an

and were separating

eve in alche

you," I replied. "I thought a

hen, you know, an explosion may sometimes be a kind of instanta