After this Syx's apparitions rapidly increased in frequency, followed
in each instance by the announcement of another productive artemisium
mill. He appeared in Germany, Italy, France, England, and finally at
many places in the United States.
"It is the old doctor's revenge," said Hall to me one day, trying to
smile, although the matter was too serious to be taken humorously.
"Yes, it is his revenge, and I must admit that it is complete. The
price of artemisium has fallen one-half within six months. All the
efforts we have made to hold back the flood have proved useless. The
secret itself is becoming public property. We shall inevitably be
overwhelmed with artemisium, just as we were with gold, and the last
condition of the financial world will be worse than the first."
My friend's gloomy prognostications came near being fulfilled to the
letter. Ten thousand artemisium mills shot their etheric rays upon the
moon, and our unfortunate satellite's metal ribs were stripped by
atomic force. Some of the great white rays that had been one of the
telescopic wonders of the lunar landscapes disappeared, and the face
of the moon, which had remained unchanged before the eyes of the
children of Adam from the beginning of their race, now looked as if
the blast of a furnace had swept it.
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