Who Was He? [pp. 304-309]

WHO WAS HE?
stumbled upon it. Since I have discovered it, I wonder that it is not found
out a thousand times every day. But,
gentlemen, are you aware that I doubt
whether I am really a pioneer in this
field? There are books, written thousands of years ago, which I read when
a boy, that have led me to believe that
this is one of the lost arts, though it was
known perhaps only to a favored few. I
feel sure-very sure-that the simple
law by which the attraction of gravitation is suspended was known in ancient
Peru, Arabia, and perhaps in Egypt also, and went down into oblivion with
other lost arts, in some general catastrophe. The same law I rediscovered
while working in a silver-mine, I,ooo
feet under ground, and my knowledge I
am ready to communicate, under the
conditions that I have named."
"But should you die in the meantime,
would not your discovery be again lost,
and the world be deprived of its benefits?"
"0, not at all. I have taken care of
that. Whether I live or die, or whatever may happen to me, within ten years
from the present time the world will be
fully informed upon this subject."
After some further consultation, a select committee was appointed, to meet
in three days, to fully investigate the secret, and take some action upon the
proposition of the stranger, who, after
reminding all present of their promise
of secrecy, departed-and was never
seen again.
Several months ago, a distinguished
gentleman, a resident of a great American city, received the following communication from a prominent solicitor in
London:
"No. -OLD BROAD STREET,
"London, September -, i873.
-, EsQ.-Dear Sir:-A short time since,
an Italian, who was the confidential clerk of one of
my much esteemed clients-Signor Suzzini, of the
house of Suzzini, Isola & Co., of London, Naples,
and France-died suddenly, leaving in writing the
statement which accompanies this letter. What transpired at St. George's Hall, in November, I866, concerning a subject of the most absorbing interest to
those present, has been kept a profound secret, under
a solenn pledge, but, owing to the strange circumstances of the case, and the almost certain death of
the remarkable stranger, supposed to be an American, whose re-appearance has been awaited with the
most intense anxiety for years, by those informed on
the subject, Signor Suzzini has considered himself
so far absolved from his obligation as to convey to
some trustworthy barrister in your city the information herein contained.
"All communications received from you will be
kept strictly secret; but, in any event, if you succeed
in discovering the bank, impress upon the managers
the supreme importance of carefully preserving, at
all hazards, the documents committed to their charge.
"I have the honor to remain, etc.,
" GEORGE MATHIOT MARSHALL."
The following is the statement of the
Italian clerk:
"In November, I866, a very important congregation came together in St.
George's Hall. Strange things were
seen. I was there. Much money was
to be gained. A young man-a Yankee-had a secret in his pocket. It was
a wire worth millions. He left the hall.
It was a dark night-fog and smoke,
thick and black. I followed him. Down
Regent Street, under the gas-lamps, he
went on foot. I followed him. Across
the Haymarket, across Leicester Square
-it was I I o'clock-and through a dark
and narrow alley toward St. Martin's
Lane. I could have done it there, but
others came by, and I shrunk back into
the gloom. Through St. Martin's Lane
to the Strand, down the Strand to the
turning to Waterloo Bridge, still I followed him. I saw he was going to cross
the bridge on foot. I crossed the street
and got ahead of him, and, in the middle
of the bridge, I hid myself behind the
parapet. By and by my man came along,
slowly walking, his hands behind him,
and his eyes bent upon the ground.
When near me he paused, and looked
toward St. Paul's, whose huge bulk
loomed up still huger as the moonlight
tried to struggle through the fog. I
308
[OCT.