CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| I. | THE UNIVERSE A MISTAKE! | [1] |
| II. | A STRANGE EXPERIMENT | [10] |
| III. | "IT IS GOOD TO BE ALIVE" | [21] |
| IV. | GEORGE DELANY—DECEASED | [32] |
| V. | THE MURDER CLUB | [41] |
| VI. | A TELEPATHIC TELEGRAM | [51] |
| VII. | GUILTY! | [62] |
| VIII. | THE WOKING MYSTERY | [72] |
| IX. | CUI BONO? | [81] |
| X. | FORCE—A REMEDY | [93] |
| XI. | MORITURI TE SALUTANT | [104] |
| XII. | "NO DEATH—SAVE IN LIFE" | [111] |
| XIII. | MISS METFORD'S PLAN | [123] |
| XIV. | ROCKINGHAM TO THE SHARKS | [133] |
| XV. | "IF NOT TOO LATE" | [146] |
| XVI. | £5000 TO DETAIN THE SHIP | [160] |
| XVII. | "THIS EARTH SHALL DIE" | [174] |
| XVIII. | THE FLIGHT | [184] |
| XIX. | THE CATASTROPHE | [197] |
| XX. | CONCLUSION | [208] |
THE CRACK OF DOOM
CHAPTER I.
THE UNIVERSE A MISTAKE!
"The Universe is a mistake!"
Thus spake Herbert Brande, a passenger on the Majestic, making for Queenstown Harbour, one evening early in the past year. Foolish as the words may seem, they were partly influential in leading to my terrible association with him, and all that is described in this book.
Brande was standing beside me on the starboard side of the vessel. We had been discussing a current astronomical essay, as we watched the hazy blue line of the Irish coast rise on the horizon. This conversation was interrupted by Brande, who said, impatiently: