第3章

But suddenly, in the privacy of his laboratory, a single fact arises from the test-tube in his trembling hand and confronts him! His brain reels; the glass torment falls upon the floor, and shatters into countless pieces, but he is not conscious of it, for he feels it thrust through his heart.When he recovers from the first shock, he can only ejaculate: 'Is it possible?' After a little he is able to reason.'I was fatigued,' he says; 'perhaps my senses erred.I can repeat the experiment again, and be sure.But if it overthrow those conclusions for which I have given my life?' he gasps.'My generalisation is firmly established in the minds of all - all but myself- no one will ever chance upon this particular experiment, and it may not disprove my theory after all; better, much better, that the floor there keep the secret of it all both from me and from others!' But even as he says this to himself he has taken a new tube from the rack and crawled - ten years older for that last ten minutes - to his chemical case.The life-long habit of truth is so strong in him that self-interest cannot submerge it.He repeats the experiment, and confirms his fears.The battle between his life and a few drops of liquid in a test-tube has been mercilessly fought, and he has lost! The elasticity of the man is gone forever, and the only indication the world ever receives of this terrible conflict between a human soul and its destiny is some half a dozen lines in Nature, giving the experiment and stating that it utterly refutes its author's previous conclusions.Half a dozen lines - the epitaph of a dead, though unburied, life!"My companion paused there, but I found myself unable to reply.Hehad spoken with such intensity, such dramatic fervour, that I was completely swept away by his eloquence; so much so, indeed, that it did not even occur to me to ask myself why he should have burst out in this peculiar strain.I have given you the incident in order that you may see the strange moods into which Maitland occasionally relapsed - at least, at that time.After a quick glance at me he continued, in a quieter vein: "All of us men of science have felt something, however little, of this, and I believe, as a class, scientists transcend all other men in their respect for absolute truth." He cast another one of his searching glances at me, and said quickly: "This is precisely why I am going to confide in you and rely upon your assistance in a matter, the successful termination of which would please me as much as the discovery of an absolute standard of measurement."He then made the confession which I have already given you, and ended by asking me to secure him an introduction to Miss Darrow.I cheerfully promised to bring this about at the first opportunity.He asked me if I thought, on account of his having met her so frequently, she would be likely to think it was all a "put up job.""I do not know," I replied."Miss Darrow is a singularly close observer.On the whole I think you had better reach her through her father.Do you play croquet?" He replied that he was considered something of an expert in that line.That, then, was surely the best way.John Darrow was known in the neighbourhood as a "crank" on the subject of croquet.He had spent many hundreds of dollars on his grounds.His wickets were fastened to hard pine planks, and these were then carefully buried two feet deep.The surface of the ground, he was wont to descant, must be of a particular sort of gravel, sifted just so, and rolled to a nicety.The balls must be of hard rubber, and have just one-eighth inch clearance in passing through the wickets, with the exception of the two wires forming the "cage," where it was imperative that this clearance should be reduced to one-sixteenth of an inch - but I need not state more to show how he came to be considered a "crank" upon the subject.