Part 31 (1/2)
”Sometimes,” said the professor, gently. ”And Goya said:
”'_It has come to my ears while in the lands of the Syachas that the Sphyx surely lives, as bolder and more curious men than I may, G.o.d willing, prove to the world hereafter_.'”
”But what is the Sphyx?” I insisted.
”For centuries wise men and savants have asked each other that question. I have answered it for myself; I am now to prove it, I trust.”
His face darkened, and again and again he stroked his heavy brow.
”If anything occurs,” he said, taking my hand in his left and Miss Barrison's hand in his right, ”promise me to obey my wishes. Will you?”
”Yes,” we said, together.
”If I lose my life, or--or disappear, promise me on your honor to get to the electric launch as soon as possible and make all speed northward, placing my private papers, the reports of Miss Barrison, and your own reports in the hands of the authorities in Bronx Park.
Don't attempt to aid me; don't delay to search for me. Do you promise?”
”Yes,” we breathed together.
He looked at us solemnly. ”If you fail me, you betray me,” he said.
We swore obedience.
”Then let us begin,” he said, and he rose and went to the steel cage.
Unlocking the door, he flung it wide and stepped inside, leaving the cage door open.
”The moment a single pie is disturbed,” he said to me, ”I shall close the steel door from the inside, and you and Miss Barrison will then dump the rosium oxide and the strontium into the tank, clap on the lid, turn the nozzle of the hose on the cage, and spray it thoroughly. Whatever is invisible in the cage will become visible and of a faint rose color. And when the trapped creature becomes visible, hold yourselves ready to aid me as long as I am able to give you orders. After that either all will go well or all will go otherwise, and you must run for the launch.” He seated himself in the cage near the open door.
I placed the steel tank near the cage, uncoiled the hose attachment, unscrewed the top, and dumped in the salts of strontium. Miss Barrison unwrapped the bottle of rosium oxide and loosened the cork. We examined this pearl-and-pink powder and shook it up so that it might run out quickly. Then Miss Barrison sat down, and presently became absorbed in a stenographic report of the proceedings up to date.
When Miss Barrison finished her report she handed me the bundle of papers. I stowed them away in my wallet, and we sat down together beside the tank.
Inside the cage Professor Farrago was seated, his spectacled eyes fixed on the row of pies. For a while, although realizing perfectly that our quarry was transparent and invisible, we unconsciously strained our eyes in quest of something stirring in the forest.
”I should think,” said I, in a low voice, ”that the odor of the pies might draw at least one out of the odd dozen that came rubbing up against my window last night.”
”Hus.h.!.+ Listen!” she breathed. But we heard nothing save the snoring of the overfed dog at our feet.
”He'll give us ample notice by b.u.t.ting into Miss Barrison's skirts,” I observed. ”No need of our watching, professor.”
The professor nodded. Presently he removed his spectacles and lay back against the bars, closing his eyes.
At first the forest silence seemed cheerful there in the flecked sunlight. The spotted wood-gnats gyrated merrily, chased by dragon-flies; the shy wood-birds hopped from branch to twig, peering at us in friendly inquiry; a lithe, gray squirrel, plumy tail undulating, rambled serenely around the cage, sniffing at the pastry within.
Suddenly, without apparent reason, the squirrel sprang to a tree-trunk, hung a moment on the bark, quivering all over, then dashed away into the jungle.
”Why did he act like that?” whispered Miss Barrison. And, after a moment: ”How still it is! Where have the birds gone?”
In the ominous silence the dog began to whimper in his sleep and his hind legs kicked convulsively.