"This is what I call the irony of fate," said he in a morose tone. "And then, on top of it all, to be called a thief!"
He leaned his bare elbows on his knees and dropped his face in his hands.
"How did this happen, Mr. Meigs?" asked the professor gently.
"Happen!" cried Meigs, lifting his head with a jerk and glaring at Quinn. "It would never have happened but for you!"
"Have you seen Gilhooly?" went on the professor, ignoring the reproach.
"Poor Gilhooly!" sighed Meigs. "He has become a power in the traction interests of the country. The last I saw of him he was hauling trains throughout the kingdom."
"We know that much already. How about Popham and Markham?"
"Alas!" groaned Meigs. "Popham is working like a galley-slave in a coal mine; and Markham—well, these little fiends are slowly starving him to death. All Markham does is to wander about the kingdom with a plate and a paddle begging food enough to keep body and soul together. Think of it! And the great Augustus Popham, owner of a controlling interest in all the great anthracite and bituminous fields of Earth, delving in the mines of this planet—no better than a two-dollar-a-day miner!"
"Coal fields!" I exclaimed. "What do they need of coal in these underground kingdoms?"
"They use the coal in the kingdoms of Baijinkz and Baigossh, which are situated at the poles," explained the professor. "During the long nights in those countries a certain degree of cold must prevail. But"—and here Quinn turned again to Meigs—"tell us what happened to you and the other two gentlemen during the storm which separated us."