TORPEON, after receiving the signal that Miriam wished to speak with him, was on his way down the main staircase of the castle when he met a servant hurrying in the opposite direction. The man, at the sight of him, stopped and made his obeisance. He was panting and evidently frightened.
“Well,” said Torpeon, with a note of stern interrogation.
“Gracious prince,” faltered the man, “it has fallen into the river!”
Torpeon was silent for a moment, frowning upon the messenger. “What is this?”
“No. 19, Supreme One! The bank fell in and the laboratory went with it!”
It may be observed that the castle stood on a high point of ground on the broad delta between the two largest rivers that emptied into the Bitter Sea. On streets radiating from it were the houses of the capital city of Tor; they were of uniform design and moderate size; each enclosed a central court, in which the inhabitants spent their days and pursued their occupations; the rooms were used for sleeping only. All the dwellings were connected by a system of vibratory transmitters, centering in a receiving-station in the basement of the castle, enabling Torpeon to issue orders to any household or to obtain information of its activities when he pleased. Beyond the circumference of the city proper, which was of no great area, were the laboratories, twenty-seven in number, constructed along the banks of the two rivers, and isolated from the approach of any person not employed in them. They were carefully guarded, and the nature of the industries carried on in them was never allowed to transpire. The precautions taken made any intrusion upon the workers, or interference with their operations, practically impossible. So, at least, Torpeon had believed.
Of these laboratories No. 19 was at this time engaged in an important part of the complicated scheme which Torpeon was prosecuting. Outwardly, it had the aspect of a dome, or hemisphere, of steel, with foundations in the solid rock. Such strength was required, not so much for protection against attack from without, as to secure it against disturbance from the experiments carried on within. Some of these would have shaken to pieces any building of ordinary design and materials.
“You know the penalty for false reports?” said Torpeon quietly.
The man’s teeth chattered. The form of torture referred to was searching enough to deter the most reckless liar. But he stuck to his story.
“It is truth, Mightiness,” he quavered. “The rock was undermined, and—”