PLASMO THE SECOND .sx " YOU are extremely calm , sir .sx " " Oh , I don't know , " I said .sx It had been only a very minor accident the front wheels of the engine thrown off the track ; on such occasions a hardened traveller does little more than grouse a bit at the delay .sx But the queer foreigner in the opposite corner of my compartment had quite taken the affair to .sx heart .sx I watched with some amusement the relief which spread across his face ( it was about the colour of new harness-leather ) and showed in his bright brown eyes as we got under way again .sx " I feared to be late , " he went on , in good English except for a sort of stiffness in his choice of words .sx " I have put an advertising in The Times ; now I go to see who answer .sx " " Oh ?sx " I said , encouragingly .sx I am a sociable man , and the conversation of an Asiatic in a soft hat , a three-inch collar , and boots made of felt , is better than none at all ; besides , a railway accident , however minor , is a great loosener of tongues .sx Yes ; unless I am accommodated before I reach London .sx Excuse one .sx " He opened the thick green overcoat which enveloped him from the collar to the boots , produced from an inner pocket a machine made in the form of a watch , and began to turn the cogs .sx I happen to be familiar with most makes of mechanical calculator , and it seemed to me that he was moving the dials to and fro rather aimlessly .sx Perhaps the little display was for my benefit ; anyhow , after a while he nodded to himself , frowned , closed the metal case , and turned his eyes on me again .sx " You do not know who I am ?sx " I shook my head .sx " I'm sorry " .sx " And the reason ?sx I am in disguise .sx But I will trust you , sir , for we may do business together .sx Here , then , is my card my real card .sx " He gave me , from his pocket-book , a very large visiting card which was slightly yellowed as if by age .sx " PROFESSOR POLINIQUE , World-Shaking Inventor .sx " " And this .sx " Before I had fully grasped what was on the first card , he thrust another into my hand , a smaller one .sx It read :sx " PLASMO , .sx The Mechanical Man .sx Child of the Brain of Polinique .sx " " Now you know ?sx Ah , you are young , of course ; perhaps you are wise also , but you may yet learn a great many things .sx Listen ; I will tell you " .sx And this is what he told me :sx Many years ago , before there was talk of your Robots , I came to London on a big ship ; from where , it does not matter .sx With me on the ship I had my great steel case , padded inside , with air-holes and a little covered window where one could look in .sx You will know how I felt when I saw the crane spying that case high above the wharf ; for there , within , was .sx something that had taken all my life to make perfect my Plasmo , a man of rubber and steel who would obey his master in all things .sx " Be careful , " I said to those men who unloaded ; but they were not , and when I said that Plasmo was inside , they even laughed .sx Then came one in a gold cap , carrying papers , and queried me if the papers told the true contents of the case " one mechanical figure , life size .sx " Another man who accompanied with a notebook was very interested , and asked many questions ; he was a newspaper writer , and he said he would insert about me and Plasmo in his pages to-morrow , if there was not too many news .sx I did not mind this ; for I wished my wonderful work to be known in England , and I had already written to such persons as Civil Engineers and Encyclo Brit without reply .sx We reached a hotel by taxi .sx At first the driver demurred that Plasmo was too heavy , but I offered him much money , and helped him to raise the case to the roof of the car .sx The hotel proprietor , too , wished to see money before he would let me take the box to a room upstairs .sx It was very necessary that I should keep Plasmo near me , for he required certain attentions each day to maintain him in working order .sx In addition , I knew that many would endeavour to steal my secret ; the very first night , did I not see a chambermaid seeking to raise the cover that was over the little glass window ?sx However , I kept careful watch , saying only that I was Polinique , and that they should know of Plasmo in due time .sx And this was true , for next day there was a long writing in the paper , telling of my landing and of the high claims I made for my invention .sx Those were busy days then .sx I will not trouble to speak of how other news-men came to see me ; of how I assured them that this wonder could move , walk , and act just as they did ; of how to one , more polite than his fellows , I granted a peep at Plasmo lying in the case .sx There is not time to tell of how the papers fought each other for a picture of the machine-man with his master , or how I withheld so resolutely from all the secret of his motive power .sx I had letters and callers in plenty , who made the hotel prosperous ; but I will pass on to that time when I gave the first demonstration .sx There had come several managers of meeting-places and halls of entertainment who were anxious that I should appear with Plasmo upon their platforms ; and I reasoned that in such places , where people gather once or even twice per night , I should become more widely known than in your Royal Societies , whose congress is held when the moon is blue .sx I therefore negotiated with Mr. Conquest , the manager of the Hirsoleum , and he requested that I show him what my Plasmo could do .sx It was late at night , after the evening's exhibition , when I caused the steel case to be brought on to his stage .sx The hall was dark , and there were few persons about , but I demanded that all should withdraw save Mr. Conquest before I opened .sx I must explain that those elements which controlled the movements of Plasmo were operated by a light pressure upon certain spots about his shoulder-blades , each tiny spot corresponding with a given motion of a given limb or joint ; and by making combinations of pressures some minutes beforehand , the movements , when they afterwards occurred , .sx were made to appear spontaneous .sx When , therefore , I threw the case open , Plasmo at once rose to a sitting posture , stretched his arms , and stood upon his feet .sx It was a triumphant moment .sx I had dressed my wonder-man in shining steel , and given to his face the semblance of a handsome youth , so that there in the small light he looked a worthy son to me .sx Mr. Conquest , when he saw , was astounded and awe-struck ; he clutched me by the arm , speaking words to himself like " marvellous " and " uncanny .sx " Then I made Plasmo march round the stage , run , leap from the ground , and return to his home ; and Mr. Conquest did not recover from his excitement until he had drunk from a small flask .sx " How is it done ?sx " he said many times ; but I replied , " Ah , how ?sx That is for them to ask " and I waved my hand to all the empty seats .sx Then we talked of money , and it was arranged that for so much I should demonstrate twice per night for the Hirsoleum .sx I may say that our first public exhibition was a most stupendous success .sx Other attempts had been made , but no figure answering so closely to the movements of the human being was ever before witnessed .sx The scene had been rehearsed with utmost care .sx When I had made a short speech the curtain raised itself , trumpets were sounded , and Plasmo rose from his couch , came to my side , and bowed to the audience .sx He walked , ran , and jumped , and then sat himself on a chair while I rested my hand lightly upon his shoulder , arranging the next series of actions .sx As I did this , I made pretence of asking him questions , for him to nod or shake his head .sx The great crowd of people , who had been awe-struck and curious , began to laugh now at the droleness of his ways ; for he told which man amongst them liked beer , and which was fondest of the young girls ; or , again , he would draw the long nose at the leader of the orchestra .sx Next I remarked :sx " See , this is how Plasmo keep himself fit ; I can assure you he suffers not from pain or ache of any sort " and I made him do the Swedish drill ; one , two , one , two , moving every part of his body .sx Then he must sit and rest again , until I had arranged for his fingers to tie knots in a piece of rope ; and the final thing was , that he walked to a piano which had specially wide keys , and played " God Save the King .sx " At the conclusion , how that great concourse of people shouted for Plasmo , and for me , Polinique , his master !sx I was pleased , Mr. Conquest was pleased , all were pleased save those platform-managers whom I had been forced to reject .sx My first concern was to see that Plasmo was safely housed on the premises , with a guard before his case , who would dismiss himself whenever I wished to attend to Plasmo's wants .sx This I did from the contents of a locked leather bag which never left my side ; for if that bag had been seen to open , my secret would have been revealed at once .sx Next day , as one may imagine , there was much discussion of the happenings at the Hirsoleum .sx Many explanations of the movements of Plasmo were offered chemical cells , wireless telegraph , spirit-forms , personal magnetism , even reincarnation , said some foolish ones ; but still Polinique was silent .sx The newspaper writers swarmed about , eager for .sx knowledge ; when Mr. Conquest could tell them nothing , they came to me with their smiles and their notebooks .sx I replied to their questions with discreetness .sx One desired to pass a night with Plasmo in his habitation ; this I could impossibly allow , and caused another guard to be set .sx But the demonstrators of dancing and singing , and the attendants about the place they were more sporting , as you say ; or it may be by the orders of Mr. Conquest that they left Plasmo a broad berth .sx It is in my belief that many were actually afraid of the wonder-man .sx So for a few nights we had great success , Plasmo and I ; but there was jealousy , and there was the fickleness of the public to account with .sx The journals soon tired of their speculations , and passed to matters of no importance ; the audience became not so large , and those who attended began to quibble amongst themselves and to make ridiculous demands .sx " Let us inspect closely , feel , touch , " they said ; as though one might learn Plasmo's inner constitution by the pressure of a finger upon the steel which covered him !sx I was scornful , knowing what suspicion was in their minds .sx One night a man , pushed forward by his companions , leaped to the stage and seized Plasmo by the hand , staring meanwhile straight into his eyes .sx Ah , those eyes !sx They were a triumph ; so calm , so unmoving , and yet so human that many averred they had seen them blink .sx The hand , too , was encased in rubber , cold to the touch ; soon the nerve of the intruder failed , and he turned from Plasmo and fled , while his fellow mockers laughed .sx Still , those ignorants were not satisfied , though I made a new programme of demonstrations for each night .sx Mr. Conquest , too , wished that their vulgar demands should be granted .sx " Let Plasmo descend into the hall , and walk among them , " he requested .sx " They will not touch him ; their fear will be too great .sx " I demurred , thinking of the damage beyond repair that might be done by rough un-sciencelike hands ; but the man was without reason .sx