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Earth Magnetism A Guided Tour Through Magnetic
Fields 2001 1st ed en 151s 1st Edition Wallace H.
Campbell Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Wallace H. Campbell
ISBN(s): 9780121581640, 0121581640
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Year: 2001
Language: english
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 Earth Magnetism
A Guided Tour through Magnetic Fields

Wallace Hall Campbell

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 A wonder of such nature I experienced as a child of 4 or 5 years, when my
father showed me a compass. That this needle behaved in such a determined
way did not at all fit into the nature of events, which could find a place in the
unconscious world of concepts (effect connected with direct 'touch'). I can
still remember--or at least I believe I can remember--that this experience
made a deep and lasting impression upon me. Something deeply hidden had
to be behind things.

Albert Einstein
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Contents

Foreword xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xxi

1 Nature's Magnetism 1
1.1 Finding the Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Historical Tour Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Compass Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Global Explorations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.3 Geomagnetism Patriarchs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Gilbert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Halley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Faraday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Gauss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Maxwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 Local Language Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.1 Earth Fields, Steady and Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.2 Forces at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3.3 Measuring Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.3.4 Locating the Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.3.5 Nature's Basic Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

ix
X Contents

Molecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Ions and Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.4 Our Tour of the Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2 Vistas of Lives in the Fields 25

2.1 Fields Making a Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1.1 Travel and Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1.2 Magnetic Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.1.3 Prehistoric Fields and Continental Drift . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.1.4 Field Mapping and Geologic Exploration . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.1.5 Sudden Field Changes in the Crust . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.1.6 Biomagnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.1.7 Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.1.8 Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.1.9 Magnetic Fields and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Destruction in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Interference with Communication and Navigation .... 47
2.1.10 Field Induction Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Earth Conductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Electric Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Long-Wire Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Pipeline Corrosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.2 T o u r to t h e B o u n d a r i e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.2.1 Establishing Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Statistical Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Double Blind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.2.2 Magnetic Correlations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Weather and Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
H u m a n Responses to Magnetic Fields . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.2.3 Pseudoscience, Old Wives' Tales, and Frauds . . . . . . . . 60
Magnetic Termites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Body Magnets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Water Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Water Witching or Divining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Focusing of Lightning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Bermuda Triangle and Oceanic Fields . . . . . . . . . 65
Earthquake Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Contents xi

Sailing the Magnetic Seas in Calm Winds 69

3.1 Inside Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.2 Pole M a r k e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.2.1 Magnetic Poles Galore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.2.2 IGRF Main Field Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.2.3 Geomagnetic Coordinate Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.2.4 Two Eccentric Axis Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.2.5 Locally Measured Dip Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.2.6 Satellite Evidence of Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.3 A Space of Quiet Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.4 Conducting Blanket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.5 Quietly F l o w i n g Currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.5.1 A Dynamo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.5.2 Solar-Quiet, Sq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5.3 Induction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.5.4 Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

U m b r e l l a for M a g n e t i c S t o r m s 97
4.1 Di s t u r b a n c e s in Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.1.1 On the Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.1.2 In the Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.1.3 Storms Overhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Earth Field Encounter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Glamorous Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.1.4 Agitation in the Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Storm Fingerprints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Storm Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.1.5 Measures of Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ] 15
A E Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Dst Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
K p Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Ap Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.1.6 Pulsations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Harvesting the Fields 121

5.1 Field Traces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.1.1 Early Record Keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.1.2 Modern Field Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.1.3 Do-It-Yourself Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Soda-Bottle Magnetometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Earth-Current Pulsation Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
xii Contents

5.2 Scientists at W o r k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

5.2.1 Dipole Field Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.2.2 Fluid Velocity at Core-Mantle Boundary . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.2.3 Magnetotellurics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.2.4 Polar Sector Currents 9 130
5.2.5 Dst Storm Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.2.6 Pulsations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.3 T r a c k and F i e l d R e c o r d s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.4 Space Weather Disturbance Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.5 Information Kiosk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.6 D i r e c t i o n s for F u r t h e r T r a v e l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Index 143
Foreword

This book is written by a world-renowned scientist. It provides a wealth of

scientific information about a relevant topic, magnetic fields, in a way that is
state-of-the-science, yet fun to read.
Dr. Campbell has authored several well-known books. His recent book,
Introduction to Geomagnetic Fields, is one of the most important references
in our field. He has also authored numerous articles published in scientific
journals in which his peers subject papers to critical review. In addition, na-
tional and international agencies and corporations routinely seek his advice.
Thus, Dr. Campbell is a respected leader in geophysics and space physics, not
just geomagnetism.
Dr. Campbell carries an unbridled enthusiasm for geomagnetism, which
he is willing and able to share with scientists and nonscientists alike. He
presents the state of the science in a wonderful and meaningful way. The rel-
evant principles and physics of magnetism are discussed in a complete, yet
easy-to-understand way. The Earth's main field and its origin and changes are
simply and clearly presented. Dr. Campbell discusses the effects of particles
and fields of solar, interplanetary, and near-Earth space origin on measure-
ments of the Earth's magnetic field. He presents these external currents as the
result of both normal and unusual solar emissions, including large solar flares
and coronal mass ejections spewing copious fluxes of charged particles with
their associated magnetic and electric fields. These events frequently cause
significant changes in the near-Earth space environment that have been named
magnetic storms and substorms. He presents this information with respect to
its impact on technology in space and on the ground, including telecommu-
nications, satellite operations, satellite drag, and radio propagation, and he
~ 1 7 6

XIII
xiv Foreword

relates these effects to events that occur in our daily lives. He also tackles the
controversial false science as it relates to geomagnetic fields.
Dr. Campbell has accepted the difficult task of talking to all of us about
a complex and difficult-to-understand part of our environment, the magnetic
field of the Earth, and he does so with superb clarity, simplicity, and practi-
cality.

Dr. Herbert W. Kroehl

General Secretary, International Association for
Geomagnetism and Aeronomy
Preface

The year 2000 ushered in a major sunspot maximum period. Occurring ev-
ery eleven years, spectacular sporadic solar outbursts of particles and fields
bombard our Earth's space and continue at a high level for several years. In
this time of majestic auroras and satellite-destroying magnetic storms, global
interest focuses upon the curious Earth magnetism that guides the solar parti-
cles, with fields that penetrate our environment and affect our lives.
Earth magnetism has been of public interest for centuries but with the re-
cent onset of the space age, the magnetic field study has become so scientific
that the general public often seems to have been excluded from the develop-
ments. To remedy this situation, I have written this book for the interested
nonscientist. Explanation of magnetism facts and study results will replace
mathematics. You will have a personal, guided tour through these Earth field
effects in just five chapters.
My purpose for Chapter 1 is to describe some historical details and to
refresh our definitions of a few science words that we will need to use in our
tour. (If you feel secure about the review topics in this first chapter, just start
with the second.) See Figure C.1.
Chapter 2 concerns the more exciting topic of magnetic applications in
today's world. Here I introduce you to the ways that natural magnetic fields
impact our daily lives~from navigation to high-tech satellites to communi-
cations and power supplies. We will discuss how correlations are established
and then debunk some popular misconceptions about magnetism. See Fig-
ure C.2.
XV
FIGURE C.1 I~. NATURE'S MAGNETISM: Guidebook in hand, a tourist starts out on
a path through Earth fields as indicated by the multitude of dipole magnetic-field flowers.
We see his route through the subject matter of the chapter: atoms, Chinese compass,
opposing fields, magnetic-dip instrument, helical windings, and ghosts of patriarchs rising
from their tombstones. In the distance are ships and satellites and the big-dipper
constellation, all involved in magnetic navigation. FishyStuff (Nonsense) is watching
nearby in the ocean, ready to misinterpret everything.

FIGURE C.2 I~ VISTAS OF LIVES IN FIELDS: Our tourist finds herself at the center
of the Earth's magnetic field effects--amazed by the consequences of magnetism (real
and imagined) upon her daily life. These chapter topics are seen dispersed about her on
the great Earth dipole field lines of force.
Preface xvii

FIGURE C.3 I~ SAILING THE MAGNETIC SEAS IN CALM WINDS: Under

conditions of calm solar winds, explorer-tourists are aboard ships sailing toward a variety
of north poles. Patterns on the successive sails follow the time evolution of the scientific
field models. Fishy Stuff (Nonsense) believes that a magnetic mountain exists at the pole,
and Bear Facts (Good Science) is worrying about the many pole positions. Both wish to
be involved in the trip.

In Chapter 3, our tour visits the deep-Earth source of the principal

magnetic field and its surface image. The five different representations of
the Earth's magnetic pole positions will be explained. We will also view
quiet-time daily variations that are regularly superposed on our main field.
Together, the quiet-time "everyday" variation levels and the main field form
a "bottom line" from which scientists measure the magnificent geomagnetic
storms. Our tour will also include an interesting quiet-time, Earth's polar-
region field that gives indirect evidence of the Sun's magnetic field direction.
See Figure C.3.
xviii Preface

FIGURE C.4 I~ UMBRELLAFOR MAGNETIC STORMS: Our tourist tries an

umbrella for protection from the bombardment of particles and fields that attend magnetic
storms. The destructive solar wind is driven from the Sun to the Earth's protective main
magnetic field.

In Chapter 4, our tour follows the spectacular field disturbances that

start as blasts of particle ejections from our active Sun. Although such
solar-terrestrial storms are of special interest to space scientists and satellite
users, these storms can affect the daily lives of all of us who live in mod-
ern developed countries. We will examine the storm impact at the Earth,
field appearances on magnetic records, and indices of such activity. See
Figure C.4.
Chapter 5 ends our tour with questions and answers for those tourists
who have developed a curiosity about how the fields are measured, what re-
searched is now in progress, how field records can be obtained, and what
books and electronic Web sites are recommended for further information. See
Figure C.5.
Preface xix

FIGURE C.5 II~ HARVESTING THE FIELDS: Seated at his desk, our tourist has
magnetic field questions that can be answered by a display of Web sites on the computer
screen or the supply of references on his bookshelf. A picture of Chapman, the modern
father of space magnetism, is prominently displayed. Fishy Stuff (Nonsense) has been
relegated to the position of a stuffed bookend. Bear Facts (Good Science) is away, waiting
for further discoveries by the next generation of researchers.

Now, let us start the tour. Have no fear, I will see that we stay clear of
mathematical equations and focus our time on the important ideas about our
Earth's magnetism.

W.H.C.
November 2000
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Acknowledgments

This small book began during a Wednesday hiking group. Walter Page and my
other nontechnical friends often asked questions about my lifelong specialty,
the natural magnetic fields of the Earth. I had to find ways to explain these
phenomena without equations and to answer types of questions that rarely
arise from my more scientific colleagues. I so enjoyed this regular Wednesday
challenge that this book developed quite easily.
Although most illustrations are of my own creation, I thank the many orga-
nizations that provided special figures for this book, in particular the National
Geophysical Data Center of NOAA, the Space Environment Center of NOAA,
the Geomagnetism Section of USGS, and the Goddard Space Flight Center of
NASA.
Finally, I thank my wife, Beth, for proofreading the manuscript and toler-
ating my time at the computer, away from household duties.

W.H.C.

xxi
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
I1 1 Chapter 1

Nature's Magnetism

We live on this Earth in a magnetic field environment that influences our daily
lives in a variety of ways. In this guided tour we will explore some of the sig-
nificant magnetic field effects and debunk some magnetic field myths. Along
the way, acting as your guide, I will point out and illustrate how the sources
of these natural magnetic fields change in time and place.

I1.1 I Finding the Fields

Although most of our knowledge of the magnetic field is acquired indirectly,
this is not an unusual route to understanding. Natural phenomena such as
wind or rain are sensed directly as the strong blast of air hits our face or the
soaking rain covers our head. But we also identify these familiar processes
indirectly as we look through a window and see a flag waving in the wind or
hear rain hitting the rooftop of our house. We know that there is a gravity field
because its magnitude and direction are sensed as it pulls us down the stairs
or restrains the weight we wish to lift. In contrast, we have no obvious body
sensors that can respond to magnetic fields to tell us its strength and direction.
The closest direct sensation of magnetic fields for us is the push or pull we
experience when we draw two magnets close together. Fortunately, indirect
indications of magnetic fields abound in nature--we examine that evidence in
our tour.
2 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

11.21 Historical Tour Markers

1.2.1 Compass Origin
The word magnet is thought to be derived from Magnesia, a place of natural
abundance for magnetic material in a region of ancient Macedonia. Plato
wrote of the magnetic attraction of certain rocks that was well known to
Greeks about 400 BC. Written records show that a Chinese compass, Si
Nan, had already been fabricated between 300 and 200 BE and used for the
alignment of constructions to be magically harmonious with the natural Earth
forces. The Chinese fashioned their magnetized rock into a ladle-like shape,
corresponding to our Big Dipper constellation (which the astronomers call
Ursa Major). For ages it had been known that the last two stars on the bowl,
opposite the handle of the Big Dipper, point toward the North Star. Similarly,
the Chinese designed their spoon compass so that the bowl's outer lip would
point in the horizontal northward direction (Figure 1.1). Then, the magnetic
spoon balanced on its heavy rounded cup so that the lighter handle pointed
toward a southward compass direction. Chu Yu, a Cantonese author of 1117,
told of Chinese ship pilots using a compass for steering their ships in overcast
cloudy conditions.

FIGURE 1.1 II~ The Chinese spoon compass was carved from magnetite to resemble the
Big Dipper constellation so that both bowls pointed in the northward direction.
Section 1.2 Historical Tour Markers 3

1.2.2 Global Explorations

Some unknown early Arabic or European merchant caravans returning from
China to Turkey along the famous Silk Road undoubtedly brought the com-
pass design to the eastern Mediterranean region mariners. Loadstone (or lode-
stone), an early word for "leading stone," was the name for the natural mag-
nets used as compasses, at least by the late-twelfth-century Mediterranean
seamen. Geologists now call this loadstone material magnetite. A Frenchman,
Pierre de Maricourt (better known as Padres Peregrinus), had apparently seen
the compass used in his ship travels to the Holy Land during (or immediately
following) the Seventh Crusade of 1248-1254. In 1269 he wrote about his sci-
entific investigation of pivoted magnets and a spherical loadstone. Peregrinus
described the pole locations, how the opposite magnetic poles of a compass
attract each other, and how similar poles repel (Figure 1.2). He found that
the magnetic poles always occurred in pairs of opposite signs (unlike electric
charges, for which the negative and positive charges can be separated). The
northward pointing pole has been named the magnet's north pole. That means
the Earth's pole in the northern Arctic region is really a magnet's south pole
because it attracts the compass magnet's north pole. But if it were given that
name, there would be even greater confusion.
By the early fifteenth century, the compass was a typical fixture on Span-
ish and Portuguese ships trading along the West African coastline. Christo-
pher Columbus's navigation experience came from such trips. The extensive
ship's log that Columbus kept of his 1492 westward voyage of discovery to
the Americas describes his curious observation of a growing misalignment
between the magnetic north direction and the North Star. For our Western
culture, this was probably the first documented observation of the change in

FIGURE 1.2 I~ Force must be used to overcome the attraction of opposite magnetic
poles. This force is a measure of the magnetic field strength and is the most direct
evidence of the magnetic field's existence.
4 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

FIGURE 1.3 I~ In the time of Columbus, the compass direction, when measured from
the west coast of Spain and Portugal, pointed slightly west of the geographic north.
Measured from the West Indies, the compass magnetic northward direction pointed
considerably east of geographic north. Along an agonic line, magnetic northward
coincides with the geographic northward.

declination (the angle between magnetic and geographic North Pole direc-
tions) with changing longitude.
We now know that the Earth's magnetic North Pole is offset from the
Earth's spin axis (geographic North Pole) by about a dozen degrees. It is
presently tilted toward eastern North America and is gradually circling west-
ward around the geographic pole, about once every two to three thousand
years. In Columbus's time, if one looked northward from the eastern Atlantic
Ocean, the two poles were essentially in alignment with the compass, point-
ing no more than a few degrees west of true north. That was fine for the Por-
tuguese and Spanish merchant ships plying a narrow longitude sector along
the west coast of Africa. However, as Columbus sailed to distant westward
longitudes, the angular difference in alignment of the two locations at first
went to zero, and then became greater, with the compass pointing drastically
east of north as he entered the Caribbean Sea (Figure 1.3). His log indicated so
much concern regarding this strange behavior that he fabricated excuses about
Section 1.2 Historical Tour Markers 5

FIGURE 1.4 I~ William Gilbert (1540-1603) produced the first scientific book about
magnets and the Earth's magnetic field.

the North Star (rather than magnetic pole) location to his crew. The seamen
were already distressed by the overdue landfall (Columbus's predicted Earth
circumference was much too small).
In those days everyone knew that the compass pointed northward to the
fixed north pole location of a "magnetic mountain." Now, after the year 2000,
due to the westward drift of the magnetic pole location, an alignment of mag-
netic and true north (agonic line) passes through eastern United States and
the western Caribbean Sea rather than the east Atlantic Ocean of Columbus's
time.

1.2.3 Geomagnetism Patriarchs

Gilbert
Let us pause now to talk about a few of the patriarchs of geomagnetism whose
brilliant scientific contributions have brought us to our present level of mag-
netic field knowledge. We will start with the English physician to Queen Eliz-
abeth I, William Gilbert (Figure 1.4), who is recognized as the father of the
6 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

FIGURE 1.5 I~ A dipole field pattern is superposed on Gilbert's picture of the Great
Earth Magnet of 1600 in which he shows how magnets would naturally arrange about the
surface.

science of magnetism. His book, De Magnete, published in 1600, is a sum-

mation of the knowledge of his time and of his own magnetic experiments.
He was the first to describe the Earth's main field as a giant magnet with a
horizontal field at the Earth's equator and with two oppositely directed ver-
tical fields at the Earth's poles. That is, the Earth had the field configuration
expected from a magnetized iron bar (Figure 1.5) that had a pair of north and
south magnetic poles separated by a fixed distance (the arrangement that we
now call a dipole).
The multiplication product of the strength of one of the poles times their
separation distance is what scientists call the dipole moment of a magnet.
Dipole moment values let us compare magnetized material, a small compass
needle or the giant Earth itself. Measurements over the last 400 years tell us
that the magnetic dipole moment of our Earth has been steadily decreasing
since Gilbert's time.
Section 1.2 Historical Tour Markers 7

Halley
Between 1697 and 1701, in a time of significant English maritime expan-
sion, Edmund Halley (more famous for his prediction of the return of the
large comet that now bears his name) was commissioned to captain the ship
Paramour in two voyages through the Atlantic Ocean, mapping the magnetic
field direction for navigational purposes. He produced the first chart of the
full magnetic direction pattern for a major region of the Earth (Figure 1.6).

=, Faraday
The next group of major discoveries in magnetism came from Michael Fara-
day (Figure 1.7), a self-educated son of a blacksmith who eventually became
the director of London's prestigious Royal Institution. He focused his sci-
entific curiosity on the relationship between magnetic fields and electric cur-
rents. In 1821, he developed the first electric motor. In 1831, he constructed
the first dynamo to generate electricity, the original design for our present
public electric power plants.

Gauss
My list of the patriarchs also includes three mathematical geniuses who
brought about a modern understanding of the magnetic processes. In 1838,
Carl Friedreich Gauss (Figure 1.8) of Goettingen, Germany, published a math-
ematical method to analyze the natural field observations and determine how
much of the magnetic field measured at the Earth's surface comes from sources
within the Earth. Gauss was also responsible for greatly improving the sen-
sitivity of observatory instrumentation. In addition, he established a major
cooperative international network of observers to confirm the global extent of
natural field disturbances.

Maxwell
By the middle of the nineteenth century many electromagnetic laws had been
discovered for describing the separate behaviors of electric charges, currents,
and fields. In 1893, all these relationships were brought together into a unified
representation by a Scotsman, James Clerk Maxwell (Figure 1.9). Maxwell's
mathematical equations for analysis and prediction remain to this day the best
physical description of electricity and magnetism.

Chapman
Finally, the present age of geomagnetism arrived with the long lifetime of
extensive publications by Sydney Chapman (Figure 1.10), who originally
worked in England, but spent much of his productive life in the United States.
8 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

FIGURE 1.6 I~ This 1701 chart of magnetic declination contours for the Atlantic Ocean
was produced by Edmund Halley, who is more famous for his prediction of the orbit for a
comet that bears his name. The plotted declinations are inaccurate because of the
difficulty in obtaining longitude at sea during the years of Halley's voyage.

Chapman became the father of space magnetism, applying Maxwell's mathe-

matics to the natural processes of the upper atmosphere and magnetic storms
originating from solar mechanisms. With help from the distinguished field
observer Julius Bartels of Germany, Chapman produced the first completely
modern two-volume textbook, Geomagnetism,in 1940.
Section 1.2 Historical Tour Markers 9

FIGURE 1.7 l~ Michael Faraday (1791-1867), who experimented with the relationship
of electric and magnetic fields, devised the first electric motor and electric current
generator.

FIGURE 1.8 II~ Carl Friedreich Gauss (1777-1855) used mathematical techniques to
distinguish between contributions to the surface magnetic fields from sources out in space
(external) and sources below (internal to) the Earth.
10 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

FIGURE 1.9 I~ James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) devised the mathematical

formulation for the physics of electricity and magnetism that is still in use today.

FIGURE 1.10 I~ Sydney Chapman (1888-1970) was an early space-science pioneer

and father of modern geomagnetic studies.
Section 1.3 LocalLanguageDictionary 11

FIGURE 1.11 I~ This is an early instrument for measurement of the Earth's main
magnetic field dip angle.

11,31 Local Language Dictionary

1.3.1 Earth Fields, Steady and Changing
Now, to become fully attracted to our magnetic subject, let us explore some
word meanings and mildly technical terms that we use in this guided tour. Let
us start with the meaning of geomagnetism. The prefix gee- is used to identify
our Earth combined with its following root word, as in geographic (related
to Earth mapping) and geophysical (related to the physical properties of the
Earth). Our tour has its focus on geomagnetism, the natural fields within
and around the Earth. However, when the context of a sentence is clearly
understood to relate to our planet, popular use has favored the shortened term
magnetism, as has been done for the magnetic pole location found on global
charts.
Because the Earth behaves as a great dipole magnet, the dipping angle
of a special compass needle that is freely suspended at its horizontal balance
location (Figure 1.11), points at different angles, out of or into the Earth, to
identify global north and south magnetic dip latitudes (see also Figure 1.5).
This feature is still used in paleomagnetic studies to interpret the apparent
12 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

Phase

-8

<

Time = I I
Period = 24 hours

FIGURE 1.12 II~ When the amplitude of a measurement oscillates in a regular fashion,
the time for one oscillation to occur is called its period. Examples of 12- and 24-hour
periods are shown. The position of the first maximum (measured in degrees with respect
to a 360 ~ full oscillation) is called the phase of the oscillation.

paleolatitude locations of ancient rocks that became magnetized at their time

of formation millions of years ago. The prefix paleo, meaning ancient, is used
in geophysics to indicate those distant prehistoric times.
The strongest part of geomagnetic fields varies so slowly over the years
that we call it the main or steady field. In contrast, a superposed natural
field of much smaller amplitude, but more dramatic appearance, is rapidly
changing. This variation field has some irregular amplitude-changing parts
of limited duration and some parts with prescribed periods of oscillation. But
what do the scientists mean by periods of oscillation? This is the time for
something that changes to complete one cycle--for example, the 24-hour os-
cillation period of daily temperature goes from a pre-dawn minimum to the
following post-noon maximum and back to the next day's minimum (Fig-
ure 1.12). The inverse of the period is the frequency, which is the number of
oscillations (cycles) in one unit of time. For example, we say that the daily
temperature frequency is 1 cycle per day or that some magnetic fields have a
frequency of 3 cycles per second.
Geomagnetic variation fields have durations or oscillation periods from
fractions of a second to many months. Researchers have found that the geo-
magnetic variation field amplitudes generally decrease in size as the charac-
teristic duration or oscillation period becomes shorter. Stronger fields usually
seem to be generated by sources that are spread over greater distances. In ad-
dition, the laws of physics require that the further we go away from a magnetic
field source, the weaker the effect of that field becomes.
Why does the field have a rapid variation part when we thought that there
was just a big dipole-like magnet that caused the Earth's field? Well, what we
measure with our field instruments is a summation of all the natural fields that
are at the place of measurement (Figure 1.13). As we shall see in our tour,
Section 1.3 Local Language Dictionary 13

m
I i I
MAIN FIELD LEVEL 12677 GAMMAS

~
<
O
Q

00 01 02 03
I 04
1 05
150 degrees West Meridian Time

FIGURE 1.13 I~ A disturbance field variation at the Fairbanks, Alaska, magnetic

observatory. The horizontal axis indicates the local time from midnight to 5 AM. The
irregular trace shows a magnetic field disturbance that varies over 1000 gammas
(magnetic field units) in size.

there are many different sources of magnetic fields. Scientists try to separate
these sources by special analysis techniques to determine where on our Earth
the fields are similar, to find out how special fields are tied to processes in
space or below the Earth's surface, and to discover what physical mechanisms
can cause the various periods of field oscillation to occur.

1.3.2 Forces at Work

A magnetic field can be defined by the control that is exerted on certain sub-
stances that invade a region near a magnet or a steady electric current. Of
course, the word "near" is relative to the strength of the magnet or current.
At the place where a field exists, this control is measured by the force, hav-
ing both a pushing (pulling) strength and a direction of the action, that can
move another magnet, iron, or iron-rich rocks. The strength of this mag-
netic field decreases with the cube of the distance from the magnetic source
(Figure 1.14). For example, at 2 inches from a magnet, the magnetic field is
one-eighth of the field at 1 inch. The effectiveness of this field, of course,
also depends on the special magnetic characteristics of the region in which
the field exists. The field effect of a magnet held in the air has a different
attraction on an intruding material if the magnet and material are submersed
in oil. Scientists call this regional environment characteristic the magnetic
permeability.
14 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

DIPOLE FILED DECREASE WITH DISTANCE

1.0

0.8
e,.

c
!.._
*.. 0.6
"o
It.
0.4
>
,1

1.

n- 0.2

0.0 ....
1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00
Distance to Dipole Center

FIGURE 1.14 I~ The strength of a field originating at a dipole magnet is shown to

decrease rapidly with distance away from the magnet.

Not long ago I had an interesting personal magnetic field experience. I

had just purchased a new 6-foot grandfather clock for our home. To my dis-
may, the clock regularly stopped before the weight-winding system ran down.
When the manufacturer's representative came to investigate, he discovered
that magnetism was the problem. What I thought were large brass winding
weights to drive the clock mechanism were really just decorative brass cans
containing less expensive, heavy iron bars. Somehow, probably in shipping
when the delivery box was sharply jarred, the iron bars had been accidentally
magnetized. When the metal pendulum of the clock traveled near one of the
weights, the magnetic field of the iron bars exerted an attracting force on the
metal clock pendulum, slowing it to a stop. The clock problem was solved by
replacing the magnetized iron weights with unmagnetized ones. The stopping
of a clock pendulum had provided the indirect evidence of a nearby, strong
attracting magnetic field.
Science teachers illustrate these invisible magnetic fields using a simple
bar magnet placed just below a sheet of paper. A file is used to scrape an iron
nail so that some filings fall on the paper just over the spot where the magnet
is hiding. By gently flicking the paper, the newly magnetized filings align
with the magnetic field to display the dipole field pattern of the bar magnet
(Figure 1.15).
Direct (not oscillating) current through a wire that is wound into a helix (as
thread is wound on a spool) creates what is called an electromagnet. The field
Section 1.3 LocalLanguage Dictionary 15

FIGURE 1.15 I~ A magnetic field pattern is formed by iron filings on a sheet of paper
that covers a dipole magnet.

pattern from this winding has a dipolar form, similar to that of the bar magnet.
Giant, current-driven electromagnets have been manufactured with a reputed
capacity for lifting 75 tons--the weight of an entire train engine. The strong
fields that we examine in this book come from natural magnetized material,
from electric current sources deep within the Earth, and from currents in the
region of space above our planet.

1.3.3 Measuring Scales

Although the dipole moment lets us compare the field sources, we need some
units for measuring how strong a magnetic field can be at any place away
from the source. Space scientists confuse the public by using two equivalent
units for the field strength, gamma (y) and nanotesla (nT). In this book we
use the simpler Greek letter gamma (y) because it is older, it provides a con-
venient size for the natural fields that we examine, the Greek letter honors a
famous geomagnetician (Gauss), and y is more in use by the Earth magnetism
and space science communities. Nevertheless, the equivalent name, nan-
otesla (one-millionth of a Tesla equals 1 gamma), is the proper unit officially
16 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

100,000.
EARTH MAIN FIELD

10,000.

1,000. AURORAL ZONE MAGNETIC STORMS

CITY NOISE

100. MID-LATITUDE MAGNETIC STORMS

t~
E MID-LATITUDE QUIET-DAY CHANGES
E
r 10.

"o
1.0 GEOMAGNETIC PULSATIONS
.O
B

r-. HUMAN HEART

0.1
t~ TYPICAL MAGNETIC SENSOR

0.01

HUMAN BRAIN
0.001

0.0001

0.00001 SQUID MAGNETIC SENSOR

FIGURE 1.16 I~ The size of magnetic fields originating from various sources. Note that
the gamma (nanotesla) scale is logarithmic (meaning that each step upward is 10 times
larger than the step below).

assigned by an International System committee for standardizing the world's

scientific naming system, called SI Units. The Tesla units are preferred by
physicists and engineers. Another unit, the Gauss (1 Gauss =100,000 gam-
mas), is a convenient size for paleomagnetic studies.
The Earth's main field varies from about 60,000 gammas in polar regions
to about half this size near the equator. Quiet-time daily variations of the
field at mid-latitudes can be tens of gammas in amplitude. The Earth's natural
pulsation fields have been measured from about ten gammas to the tiny one-
thousandth of a gamma, with oscillation periods ranging from several minutes
to fractions of a second. Field variations from hundreds to several thousand
gammas in size, and lasting from hours to a full day or more, occur during a
geomagnetic storm. We will be visiting all of these phenomena in our tour.
The field sizes of these and other sources are compared in Figure 1.16.
Section 1.3 LocalLanguageDictionary 17

1.3.4 Locating the Fields

Geomagnetism is a global phenomenon that shows differing behavior at vari-
ous latitude regions (zones) of the Earth (Figure 1.17). These zones are spec-
ified by their relationship to a pair of principal regions: the auroral zone,
where the Northern Lights (or their Aurora Australis companion in the South-
ern Hemisphere) are most commonly observed; and to the equatorial zone,
where the Earth's main magnetic field is directed horizontally. Instead of de-
lineating exactly where in the 0 ~ to 90 ~ north or south latitude something
happens, geomagneticians use names of six latitude zones:
1. the polar caps, where the Earth's main field is nearly vertically aligned,

2. the auroral zones, regions of the most frequent northern and southern
auroras,

3. the high latitudes, near enough to the auroral zones to be greatly affected
during solar-terrestrial disturbances,

4. the equatorial region, within a few degrees around the magnetic dip
equator, where the Earth's horizontal field creates special upper-atmosphere
effects,

5. the low latitudes, just outside the equatorial region, and

6. the mid (middle) latitudes locations, between regions 3 and 5, where

many of the populated countries of the world are found.
Of course, although we have marked rather precise zones on the global map in
Figure 1.17, the boundary markers of these regions are, in fact, rather inexact.
For example, often the auroral zone activity expands into the polar cap, and
on rare occasions the auroras appear at the middle latitudes.

FIGURE 1.17 I~ Generalized locations of geomagnetic study regions.

18 Chapter 1 Nature'sMagnetism

1.3.5 Nature's Basic Particles

Atoms
To understand the magnetic fields on our Earth we also need a quick review of
the meaning of the words atoms, elements, molecules, ions, electric current,
and conductivity. Let us start with an early model for the building blocks of
all matter, often called the elements. This word clearly implies an inability
for something to be further subdivided into other substances. Because this
term appears in many nonscientific contexts, scientists use an equivalent but
more specific term, atom. All atoms have a heavy central, positively charged
part called the nucleus that carries almost all the weight and characteristic
properties of the atom. In the simplest model design, electrons orbit around
the nucleus. These electrons are small spinning particles, each carrying one
negative electric charge. The electron paths are somewhat like planetsthat
surround the Sun of our solar system; however, electron locations are not
restricted to a unique plane but, rather, occur at prescribed orbital shell dis-
tances. Depending on the number of electrons, up to seven specific shells can
be formed about the atom's nucleus.
The nucleus of all atoms is composed of neutrons that have no charge
and protons that are positively charged (except hydrogen, which has only one
proton and no neutrons). The number of protons is equal to the number of
electrons, so that the whole atom is electrically neutral (uncharged). Protons
and neutrons each have about the same weight, almost 2000 times the weight
of an electron. Scientists call the total number of protons and neutrons the
atomic weight of the specific atom.
The number of protons (or electrons) in each atom is called the atomic
number and fixes the sequential order of all the atoms" hydrogen = 1, helium
= 2, l i t h i u m - 3 . . . . . n i t r o g e n - 7, o x y g e n - 8 . . . . . s o d i u m - 11 . . . . .
chlorine = 17 . . . . . s i l v e r - 47 . . . . . gold = 79, . . . , lead = 8 2 , . . . , uranium
= 92, . . . , and so on (Figure 1.18). At present more than 100 distinct atoms
are known.
The term atom was taken from the Greek word for indivisible because
early studies implied that the atoms were the limiting segment of natural ma-
terials. We now know that there are radioactive atomic particles that are
not indivisible but, rather, spontaneously decay into other atoms. Also, nu-
clear physicists have further subdivided the atomic structure of the nucleus
using extremely complex techniques and a special mathematics of quantum-
mechanical modeling. Nevertheless, the three principal parts of the atoms
described here essentially define the chemical properties that we need as a
starting point in our tour.
The atom's electron shells are filled in order, starting with the innermost.
The first shell of an atom can hold only two electrons. The second shell
Section 1.3 Local Language Dictionary 19

FIGURE 1.18 I~ The hydrogen atom has just one proton and one electron. The oxygen
atom has eight protons, eight neutrons, and eight electrons. The water molecule has one
oxygen and two hydrogen atoms.

becomes full with eight electrons. The third shell is also full with eight elec-
trons, by may carry up to eighteen when another outer shell exists. The atomic
outer shells, after the first, are all considered full with eight electrons (but can
contain more on rare occasions). Atoms with full outer shells are quite stable
(they don't combine with other atoms). For example, helium has only two
electrons in a single orbit, and neon has two electrons in its inner shell and
eight in its second (outer) shell.

P, M o l e c u l e s
Molecules are special combinations of atoms that have become bonded to-
gether. One important way that this bonding occurs is by the sharing of elec-
trons so that a full outer shell of electrons is formed while the molecule it-
self remains electrically neutral. Hydrogen (atomic number 1) with just one
electron in its single shell is ready to react with other atoms. A hydrogen
atom can share its electron with another hydrogen, forming a hydrogen gas
molecule and completing the two-electron first shell for each. The oxygen
atom (atomic number 8), with two electrons in its first shell and only six in
its outer shell, is ready to take up two electrons. A water molecule has two
20 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

O+O ~ 02
Two oxygen atoms form oxygen gas

N+N ~ N2
Two nitrogen atoms form nitrogen gas

2 1 % 0 2 + 7 8 % N 2 + 1% other gases = air

Molecular oxygen and nitrogen gases make up atmospheric air

H+H+O ~ H20
Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom form water

Na+Cl~ NaCI
One sodium atom and one chlorine atom form table salt

FIGURE 1.19 I~ Composition of air and some examples of atoms that combine to form
molecules.

hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. That combination allows the com-
pletion of both two-electron and eight-electron shared orbits to be formed
(Figure 1.18).
Two oxygen atoms can join to share two electrons of their outer shells
and form an oxygen gas molecule. Nitrogen (atomic number 7) can share
an outer electron with another nitrogen to form a nitrogen gas molecule. A
sodium atom (atomic number 11) with just one electron in its third shell read-
ily shares this with a chlorine atom (atomic number 17), which has just seven
electrons in its third shell, to form sodium chloride, the molecule of table
salt. Our atmosphere near the Earth's surface (excluding considerable water
vapor) is mainly a mixture of almost 78% molecular nitrogen and 21% molec-
ular oxygen (Figure 1.19). There is only a relatively small amount of other
molecules (such as argon, carbon dioxide, neon, and helium) in the smog-free
air we breathe.

Ions and Current

Atoms and molecules sometimes are broken into parts that are no longer elec-
trically neutral. These parts are called ions. The negatively charged elec-
trons can be stripped away, leaving a positive ion. Molecules can be split into
groups of positively and negatively charged ions or into electrons and positive
ions. For example, the Northern Lights (auroral displays) occur when the air
molecules of nitrogen and oxygen have been ionized after being bombarded
with incoming particles (Figure 1.20).
Section 1.3 Local Language Dictionary 21

..~.p e"

e"

FIGURE 1.20 II~ A bombarding electron (e-) from a solar disturbance hits a nitrogen
molecule (N2) of the high atmosphere. An electron is stripped from the outer shell of the
N2 making it an excited ion (N+*) and doubling the number of electrons in the region.
+,
The N2 releases its excited energy as auroral light (hv) in colors characteristic of N2+.
Similar ionizations occur from bombardment of the atmospheric oxygen molecules,
producing other characteristic auroral colors.

When a stream of either all-negative or all-positive charged particles move

together in a specific direction, the flow is called an electric current. By con-
vention, the current direction is taken to be the direction that the positive ions
would flow. This convention means that negatively charged electrons flowing
to the right would be called a current flowing to the left. How easily the cur-
rent flows in a medium naturally depends on some special characteristics of
that flow region, called its conductivity. For example, the conductivity of air
is a lot less than that of ocean water, the conductivity of rain water is less than
that of the wet Earth, and the conductivity of copper wire is greater than all of
these.
The current in a metal wire consists of electrons that are pushed along by
a battery or other power source, and the specific type of metal determines the
conductivity for that wire current. We are interested in the conductivity of
the ionized high atmosphere. In that gaseous region, the conductivity also de-
pends on the direction of the current with respect to the Earth's local magnetic
field. This is because the moving charges, ions or electrons that compose the
current, can have their direction diverted by a magnetic field.
All electric currents of moving charged particles produce their own mag-
netic fields. These fields flow around the axis of the current direction in a fash-
ion that is called the right-hand rule. If you think of the fingers of your right
hand as surrounding the current flow, with the thumb pointing in the direction
of the electric current, then the fingers of your hand point in the direction of
the magnetic field that circles the current. That is why the helical winding of
the electromagnet, described earlier, produces a strong one-directional field
through the central region of its wire windings (Figure 1.21).
22 Chapter 1 Nature's Magnetism

FIELD

ELECTROMAGNET
current
out

current
in

FIELD

FIGURE 1.21 I~ Electric currents flowing in a wire cause a magnetic field that circles
the wire. The magnetic field can be concentrated in a single direction by a toroidal
winding of the wire.

In a gas of energetic charged particles that are moving together in a strong,

generally linearly directed magnetic field, the charges will form tight spirals
about the field lines and be guided along in an overall forward direction as a
field-aligned current. Such behavior is often visible in auroras as field-aligned
luminosity excited by the bombarding electrons that hit the air molecules,
causing them to glow (e.g., Plate 5) and marking the Earth's main field exten-
sion into space.

11.41 OurTour of the Fields

In our guided tour I will not trouble you with the special studies of physics
laboratories, nor with the magnetic fields that concern engineers working in
electronic information storage and transfer. Rather, I will describe the natural
magnetic fields found in our everyday environment. The sources of such fields
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knocked and rang, and then, getting no answer, went and hid in the
undergrowth in the wood close by, and remained watching the
house. While he was watching, Stothert arrived and was met by a
girl who, my friend says, is employed by Stothert secretly, and the
two went into the house. When the fellow who had lain concealed in
the wood—​and been himself watched by my friend—​went back to
Uckfield, my friend followed him on a bicycle, and finally shadowed
him back to London and to an hotel—​Cox’s in Jermyn Street. But,
though afterwards he made inquiries at the hotel, he was unable to
find out who the fellow was.”
“George Blenkiron, when in town, generally stays at Cox’s,”
Preston said reflectively.
“Does he? Then he may know who the man is, and his name. I’ll
write to him to-morrow. It is such a small hotel.”
Hopford had also a good deal to say about Mrs. Timothy
Macmahon and her intimacy with the late Lord Froissart; about
Marietta Stringborg and her husband; about Fobart Robertson,
whose whereabouts, he said, he was likely soon to discover; and
about Alphonse Michaud, proprietor of the Metropolitan Secret
Agency at the house with the bronze face. One important fact he
had already established—​Michaud was intimately acquainted with
Jessica and Stapleton. Yet at the Royal Hotel in Dieppe, Preston had
told him, Jessica, Stapleton and La Planta had openly stated that
they knew Michaud only by name.
“Which confirms the suspicion I have for some time entertained,”
Hopford went on, “that Jessica and her friends are in some way
associated with the house with the bronze face.”
“There I can’t agree with you,” Preston said. “In view of all that
has happened, such a thing seems to me incredible. Why, we used
to consult the Secret Agency concerning Jessica and her past history,
don’t you remember? And they found out for us several things about
her.”
“Several things, yes, but not one of the things they ‘found out’
was of importance. It is the Agency’s business, to my belief, to hunt
with the hounds and run with the hare, and they do it successfully.
Surely you recollect Mrs. Hartsilver’s telling us how she and Miss
Hagerston had been shown by Stothert what he declared to be the
actual pearl necklace belonging to Marietta Stringborg, and saying
the necklace stolen from her at the Albert Hall ball and afterwards
found in Miss Hagerston’s possession, was made of imitation pearls?
Well, I can prove that on that occasion, as well as at other times,
Stothert intentionally lied.”
“Then what is your theory?”
“That in some way, yet to be discovered, Jessica and her gang—​
for they are a gang—​and the Metropolitan Secret Agency, are
playing each other’s game and have played it for a long time.
Incidentally I have found out, too, that La Planta once represented
an insurance company in Amsterdam, of which Lord Froissart was
chairman or director, and that—​—”
“Forgive my interrupting you, Hopford,” Preston cut in, “but what
you say reminds me that I too was told, by a Major Guysburg I met
in Dieppe. He is a man you ought to meet; he was leaving for
America when we parted, but ought soon to be back, and he
promised to look me up in town on his return. And he can tell you a
lot about Alphonse Michaud, who, he assured me, at one time ran a
most disreputable haunt in Amsterdam.”
Hopford produced his notebook.
“How do you spell the major’s name?” he asked quickly, and
Preston told him.
“And where does he stay when in town?”
“At Morley’s Hotel, I believe,” and Hopford wrote that down too.
“Now for heaven’s sake don’t say ‘how small the world is,’
Preston,” Hopford observed lightly as he replaced his notebook in his
pocket, “because that is a platitude which makes me see red. I must
see Guysburg directly he arrives in London. Certainly we are getting
on. I suppose Guysburg didn’t speak about a diamond robbery in
Amsterdam from a merchant living in the Kalverstraat, which took
place some years ago? The thief was never caught.”
Preston laughed.
“The very thing he did tell me,” he answered. “The stones had
been insured by Michaud, to whom the insurance money was paid
under protest because the idea had got about that Michaud himself,
or some person employed by him, had stolen them.”
Hopford turned to the French woman-detective, and raised his
eyebrows.
“You hear that?” he said to her in French. “Isn’t it strange how
small—​no, I won’t say it! Mademoiselle was employed,” he
addressed Preston again, “on that very case in Amsterdam, and feels
as convinced to-day as she did then that Michaud, aided by La
Planta, spirited away the stones. Yet nothing could be proved. There
were not even sufficient clues to justify the arrest of either of the
two men. By the way, I am trying to get mademoiselle to return to
London with me, and she hopes she will be able to. Also I have
forgotten to tell you that Idris Llanvar is a famous mental specialist
practicing here in Paris—​isn’t that so, Llanvar? Years ago he was
Johnson’s locum tenens in Shanghai, when Johnson practiced in
Hong Kong. It was Johnson who kindly gave me an introduction to
him, when he and I met in Jersey. Aren’t you glad, Preston, that
Johnson is going to marry Mrs. Hartsilver? I think she is such a
charming woman, though I don’t know her very well. But I met the
late Henry Hartsilver once or twice—​a typical profiteer, and, I
thought, a most offensive person. She was well rid of him. Did you
know Sir Stephen Lethbridge?”
Preston looked at Hopford oddly.
“What makes you suddenly ask that?” he said. “What was your
train of thought?”
“I had no train of thought, so far as I am aware,” Hopford replied.
“But there is a vague rumor in London that someone, a woman, a
friend of Stothert’s, holds certain letters written by Mrs. Hartsilver to
Sir Stephen Lethbridge, or by Sir Stephen to her, and that this
woman is trying to sell them to Mrs. Hartsilver. Incidentally, Preston,
your name has been whispered in relation to the affair, which leads
me to suspect that Mistress Jessica may not be wholly unassociated
with this latest attempt at blackmail. Llanvar had a letter from
Johnson yesterday, who is still in Jersey, and in it he alluded to the
rumor, but in very guarded language.”
Preston did not answer. His lips were tightly closed. Then, as if to
distract attention from what Hopford had just said, he produced his
cigar case and passed it round.

Yootha was very anxious to see, as she put it, “everything in Paris
worth seeing,” from the Bastille to the Ambassadeurs and the
Cascade, and from the Louvre to the Palais de Versailles, so during
the next few days Preston devoted himself to her entirely. The art
galleries in particular appealed to her, also the Quartier Latin with its
queer little streets of cobble stones and its stuffy but picturesque
old-world houses of which she had so often heard. Exhibitions like
the Grand Guignol and the Café de la Mort, on the other hand, she
detested.
Hopford and Llanvar had dined with them once, and afterwards
Hopford’s friend on Le Matin had piloted them all to various
interesting night-haunts of which English folk visiting Paris for the
most part know nothing. He had also taken them into curious
caverns below the Rue de la Harpe and streets in its vicinity, and
shown them the houses there propped up from below with
enormous wooden beams where the arches built over those old
quarries have given way.
“But how come there to be quarries here at all?” Yootha had
asked in surprise.
 The representative of Le Matin had evidently expected the
question, for at once he had entered into a long explanation about
how, when Paris was first built, stones for building purposes had
been quarried out in the immediate neighborhood; how the City had
gradually reached the edge of those quarries, and how, in order to
be able to continue to extend the City, it had been necessary to arch
the quarries over and then erect buildings on the arches themselves.
“Of course the good folk who live in those houses above our
heads,” he laughed as he pointed upward, “have no idea that their
houses are propped up from below, and some day they may get the
surprise of their lives by finding themselves and their houses
suddenly swallowed up in the bowels of the earth.”
It was late when finally they had all separated. Then Hopford, on
arriving at Rue des Petits Champs, had found a blue telegram
awaiting him. It came from his chief, who said Hopford must return
at once.
“I have most important news for you,” the message had ended.
 CHAPTER XXX.

BLENKIRON’S NARRATIVE.
London was now almost full again, after its two months of social
stagnation, for October was close at hand. Already announcements
were appearing in the newspapers of balls and dances, receptions
and dinner parties, and other forms of entertainment with which
people with money to spend and no work to do endeavor to kill
time. And among the social receptions largely “featured” was one to
be given by Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson at her house in Cavendish Place
in the third week in October.
Johnson and Mrs. Hartsilver were back in town, so were Captain
Preston and Yootha Hagerston, and George Blenkiron was staying at
Cox’s Hotel, but none of the five had been invited to Jessica’s
reception. The leading London newspapers had been asked to send
representatives, however, and at his request Harry Hopford had
been detailed by his chief to attend.
Among the visitors at Morley’s Hotel, in Trafalgar Square, was a
dark man, obviously a foreigner, with black, rather oily hair and a
carefully waxed moustache, a florid complexion and a tendency to
obesity. Hopford noticed his name in the visitors’ book when he went
to inquire for Major Guysburg who, Preston had told him, had just
arrived there from America. The foreigner’s name was Alphonse
Michaud.
“Major Guysburg is dining out,” Hopford was told.
He lit a cigarette, paused in the hall for a moment, then decided
to look up Blenkiron, whom he had not seen since his return to
town, but who was staying at Cox’s Hotel in Jermyn Street. On his
way he called at a flat in Ryder Street, and found a friend of his at
home and hard at work writing. It was the friend who had, at his
request, watched Stapleton’s “cottage,” The Nest, near Uckfield,
while he, Hopford, had been in Paris.
“I am on my way to see a friend at Cox’s Hotel,” Hopford said,
when the two had conversed for some moments, “quite a good
fellow, name of Blenkiron. Would you care to come along? You might
run across the person you shadowed from The Nest to Cox’s that
day, you never know.”
Blenkiron was in, Hopford was told, and a messenger took his
card. A few minutes afterwards he was asked “please to come up.”
“’Evening, Blenkiron,” he said, as he was shown in. “Hope I am
not disturbing you, eh? Tell me if I am, and I’ll go away. I have
brought a friend I should like to introduce,” and he stepped aside to
let his friend advance.
Silence followed. In evident astonishment Hopford’s friend and
Blenkiron stared at each other.
“Haven’t we met before?” the latter said at last. “Surely on the
road from The Nest to Uckfield—​—”
The other smiled.
“Yes,” he replied. “And I followed you back to town, and to this
hotel. Afterwards I tried to find out your name, and who you were,
but failed. I hope you will forgive me, Mr. Blenkiron; but I should like
you to know I followed you at Hopford’s request.”
The three burst out laughing.
“So you, Blenkiron,” Hopford exclaimed, “are the rascal whose
identity has so puzzled us! Really, this is amusing.”
Whisky was produced, and soon all three were on the best of
terms.
“Have you heard the latest about the house with the bronze
face?” Blenkiron asked presently.
 “No, what?” Hopford answered eagerly.
“Alix Stothert, Camille Lenoir, and a girl of quite good family, and
well-known in Society—​I am not at liberty to tell you her name—​and
several others were arrested there about six o’clock this evening for
being accomplices in attempted blackmail. In connection with the
blackmail charge any number of people we know are likely to be
involved. The names of three you will, I expect, guess at once.”
“J. and Co.”
Blenkiron nodded.
“By Jove, how splendid!” Hopford exclaimed. “Who told you all
this, George?”
“The Commissioner of Police himself, so the information is
accurate enough.”
Hopford sprang to his feet.
“May I use your telephone?” he asked, as he walked quickly
towards the door. “Come and stand by me and I’ll dictate the whole
story through right away!”
“Hopford, sit down!” Blenkiron shouted imperatively, pointing to
the chair from which the lad had just risen. “Not a word of what I
have told you is to appear in the press until I authorize it. Not a
word! Do you understand?”
“But the other papers will get it,” Hopford exclaimed, with his
hand on the door handle.
“They won’t. That I promise you. The Commissioner of Police, an
intimate friend of mine, told me while I was dining with him to-night
that the whole affair is to be kept out of the papers until the entire
gang has been arrested. If you print a line now you will defeat the
ends of justice by warning the unarrested accomplices, and so,
probably, enabling them to escape. I mean what I say, Hopford.
Preston, Miss Hagerston, Johnson and Mrs. Hartsilver will be here
soon—​I telephoned asking them to come as I had, I said, something
important to tell them. There will be supper, so you and your friend
had better stay.”
Hopford reflected.
“Have you room for yet one more at supper?” he asked suddenly.
“Major Guysburg, a friend of Preston’s, is at Morley’s—​just come
from America. He knows a lot about a man, Alphonse Michaud, who
is the mainspring of the Metropolitan Secret Agency, and is also at
Morley’s. I have not yet met Guysburg, but Preston has explained to
him who I am, and the major is greatly interested in the movements
of J.’s gang. He should, in fact, be able to throw further light on
some of the curious happenings of the last two years.”
“Then by all means ring him up and ask him to come along,”
Blenkiron answered. “But you are mistaken about Michaud’s being at
Morley’s, Hopford, because he was one of those arrested this
evening at the house with the bronze face.”
“Michaud arrested? Good again! But what was he arrested for?”
“Attempted blackmail—​same as the others. But in Michaud’s case
there is a second charge. Michaud, the Commissioner tells me, turns
out to be a regular importer, on a big scale, of a remarkable drug
you have already heard about, which is made and only procurable in
Shanghai, Canton, and Hankau. The secret of this drug belongs to
one man—​a Chinaman.
“Now, sixteen years ago Michaud served a sentence of five years’
imprisonment in a French penitentiary for attempted blackmail;
became, on his release, a greater scoundrel than ever, and finally
succeeded in becoming naturalized as an Englishman. Then he went
out to the East, set up in business in Canton, and eventually scraped
acquaintance with a Shanghai wine merchant named Julius
Stringborg, who introduced him to Fobart Robertson, Timothy
Macmahon, Levi Schomberg, Alix Stothert, Stapleton, and several
others, including, of course, Angela Robertson.
“Months passed, and then one day Michaud turned up in London
again. None suspected, however, that he was now engaged in
secretly importing the strange drug, for which he soon found a ready
sale at a colossal profit. Some of the properties of the drug you
already know, but it has other properties. Then, after a while he
started systematically blackmailing many of his clients, for to be in
possession of the drug, without authority, is in England a criminal
offense. Not content with that, however, he now decided, in order to
be able to extend his operations, to take into his confidence one or
two of his friends. Among those friends were Marietta Stringborg
and her husband, Angela Robertson and Timothy Macmahon. Those
four formed the nucleus of a little gang of criminals which has since
increased until—​—”
The arrival of Preston and Yootha Hagerston, followed almost
immediately by Johnson and Cora Hartsilver, put an end to
Blenkiron’s narrative. All were now greatly excited, and eager for
information concerning the house with the bronze face and what had
happened there; so that when Major Guysburg was announced he
found himself ushered into a room where everybody seemed to be
talking at once.
 CHAPTER XXXI.

CONCLUSION.
The two-column article which appeared in only one London
morning newspaper created a profound sensation. Quoted in part in
the evening newspapers throughout the country, it became the
principal topic of conversation in the clubs and in the streets, but in
particular in social circles over the whole of the United Kingdom.
That the most important secret information agency in London, an
organization which had come to be looked upon as the most
enterprising and trustworthy there had ever been in the Metropolis,
and which half the peerage, to say nothing of the ordinary
aristocracy, had at one time and another consulted in confidence,
should suddenly be discovered to be nothing more than the
headquarters of a nest of rogues and blackmailers, dealt Society a
terrible blow.
The blow was all the harder because clients of the so-called
Metropolitan Secret Agency knew they had poured into the ears of
the benevolent-looking old man who called himself Alix Stothert,
secrets about themselves, their relatives, and their friends, which
they would not for untold gold have related had they dreamed such
secrets might ever be revealed. And now, to their horror, it seemed
that at least a dozen well-known Society people, or rather people
well-known in Society and believed to be the “soul of honor,” were,
and had been all the time, active members of the “Agency Gang,” as
it was now termed, prominent among them being Mrs. Mervyn-
Robertson, Aloysius Stapleton, handsome young Archie La Planta,
and the rich retired tradesman and his wife, Julius and Marietta
Stringborg, to name only a few.
 No wonder the Metropolitan Secret Agency had always known so
much about the intimate affairs of everybody in London who
“mattered,” and about the secret concerns of rich county folk
throughout the country! The knowledge possessed by the notorious
Bertha Trost of Clifford Street, who during the war had been quietly
pushed out of the country as an “undesirable alien” had been
insignificant by comparison, people said. And the Agency’s “methods
of procedure” had been extremely simple. One of their plans had
consisted in worming out of useful clients as much private
information as possible of a compromising nature, not only about
themselves, but about their acquaintances and friends, piecing it all
together, and then, at a later date, instructing some accomplice to
approach or write anonymously to the prospective victims,
threatening them with public exposure if they refused to pay heavily
for secrecy. And so cleverly was this always done that the Agency
invariably safeguarded itself against risk of discovery.
Another method of procedure, equally effective, consisted in
selling secretly, at an enormous profit, the strange Chinese drug
smuggled into the country by Alphonse Michaud, and accomplices
would then threaten with exposure persons having it in their
possession.
In addition to this, Michaud and other members of the Agency
Gang would administer the drug in a particular way themselves, so
that it deadened their victims’ memory from a time prior to the
period of unconsciousness which it produced. It was, the newspaper
article declared, a most extraordinary compound, and, being
colorless and devoid of all smell, could be administered without
arousing the least suspicion of its presence. For which reasons, no
doubt, some members of the gang had gone so for as to dope other
members with it, when they saw that by doing so they could
themselves benefit.
That had happened, it seemed, on the occasion when Archie La
Planta had been called out of the box at the Alhambra whilst
attending a performance of the Russian Ballet. On that night he had
met a friend in the foyer, a member of the gang, who had suggested
his joining him in a drink in his rooms, which were close by, in
Charing Cross Road. La Planta, of course, all unsuspecting, had
walked across to his friend’s rooms, yet when he had recovered
consciousness in his own chambers in Albany, all recollection of his
having gone to those rooms in Charing Cross Road and afterwards
being conducted back to his own chambers by his “friend,” had
completely faded from his memory.
And the reason he had been doped that night and in that way—​
this the man who had doped him confessed afterwards under cross-
examination—​had been to keep him away from Mrs. Mervyn-
Robertson’s supper party, a few hours later at her own house, where
the same ruse had been employed by the same man, with a woman
accomplice, who unseen had then taken from her the key of her
safe, which they had then rifled, taking not only the valuables it
contained, but inadvertently a packet of letters which proved to be
the letters Cora Hartsilver had written to Sir Stephen Lethbridge, and
those he had written to her. These documents Jessica had obtained
some time before, by bribery, from servants dismissed by Cora and
by Sir Stephen for inefficiency, and she had been holding them with
a view to using them some day as levers to extort money from Cora;
but the woman who had stolen them from the safe had taken that
step herself and sent Cora the anonymous letter which had reached
her when in Jersey.
And all through it was the same. To right and left clients of the
house with the bronze face and intimate friends of Jessica, of
Stapleton, of La Planta’s, of Mrs. Stringborg and her husband, and of
other members of the Agency Gang, had been secretly pilloried and
made to pay, while from time to time members of the gang had
themselves been victimized by one or other of their own traitorous
accomplices, generally through the medium of the Chinese drug.
Levi Schomberg, though not a member, had by accident been made
aware of the existence of the gang, its ramifications and its
methods, a client to whom he had once advanced a considerable
sum having promised to reveal what he called “the whole
organization of an extraordinary secret society of criminals operating
in this country and on the Continent” if Levi would cancel a portion
of the debt. This the moneylender had, after some demur, agreed to
do, with the result that afterwards he had been himself able to
extort money from Jessica and Stapleton, and other members, under
threats of exposure, in precisely the same way that they levied
blackmail on their victims.
“And La Planta,” Hopford said, as he and others were talking the
case over in the reporters’ room some time after his article had
appeared. “La Planta admits that he drugged Levi Schomberg in the
box at the Albert Hall on the night of the ball, though he swears it
was not his intention to poison him. Either he mistook the dose he
administered in the whisky and soda, he says, or else Levi must
have had a weak heart—​Doctor Johnson will probably have
something to say about that. La Planta declares, too, that he gave
the drug on the advice of Stapleton, who handed him the actual
dose, saying it was the right amount. Whether it was or not, I
suppose we shall never know, though Stapleton has yet to be cross-
examined. And another thing we shall probably never know is why
Levi Schomberg disliked Mrs. Hartsilver so intensely. He never
missed an opportunity of maligning her when her back was turned.
Can he at one time or another have tried to extort money from her,
and failed? Or have tried to make love to her, and been turned
down? Or can he have had some reason for fearing her?”
“Talking of that, Hopford,” his colleague said, after a pause, “do
you remember the night you stood up so stoutly for Mrs. Hartsilver,
the night I told you that you must be biased in her favor because
you knew her socially? What, after all, was the truth about those
rumors concerning her and concerning Captain Preston? Did you
ever find out? I tried to, but I heard nothing more.”
“Why,” Hopford answered, “that was more of the Agency Gang’s
dirty work. They invented a scandalous story, which they put up to
Preston when he was in his house-boat during Henley week. The
story would take too long to tell—​George Blenkiron got it at first
hand from the Commissioner of Police, and retailed it to me
practically word for word. The upshot was that Preston would have
either to abet—​assisted by Miss Hagerston, whom, I see, he is to
marry next week—​an attempt to blackmail Mrs. Hartsilver, or himself
be ruined financially, which of course would have ended his army
career. Members of the gang, Blenkiron tells me the Commissioner of
Police assures him, were the originators of those unwholesome
rumors which, you remember, were common talk in clubland.”
“But how could they ruin Preston? What had he ever done to give
the gang an opening?”
“Nothing dishonorable, of course; I don’t believe he could be
dishonorable if he tried. But it seems that years ago he backed two
bills for a brother officer whom he looked upon as a friend. The
fellow turned out to be a scoundrel; was cashiered, later became
one of the gang’s ‘creatures,’ and actually faked the bills into bills for
much larger amounts. And those faked bills were, if Preston refused
to help in the plot against Mrs. Hartsilver—​it had to do with some
compromising letters she had written—​to be presented for payment
this month. Poor chap! No wonder he has been looking so dreadfully
ill of late. It would be interesting to know how many suicides the
Agency Gang has been responsible for directly and indirectly. Since
that night at Henley Preston has always carried a loaded pistol in his
pocket, and he vowed he would shoot that former brother officer of
his dead if ever he met him again. And he would have done it, too,
and have chanced the consequences.
“As for that robbery of Marietta Stringborg’s necklace at the ball
at the Albert Hall, the whole thing was a bluff. The pearls were not
real, and it was Stringborg himself who took them from his wife at
supper and slipped them into Miss Hagerston’s bag. Jessica Mervyn-
Robertson had become furious at Yootha Hagerston’s determination
to find out all about her, furious, too, with Mrs. Hartsilver, and the
others who were making the same attempt—​she had heard about
these attempts from Stothert, because Preston, Mrs. Hartsilver and
Miss Hagerston had several times consulted the Metropolitan Secret
Agency—​and she had made up her mind to ruin them financially and
socially, and indeed that, her first attempt to disgrace Miss
Hagerston, might well have been accomplished.
“Really,” he continued, “there would seem to be no end to the
machinations to which the Agency-Gang have had recourse within
the past few years. We shall never know one-tenth of the crimes
they committed or tried to commit. Several of the gang’s members
were actually staying with Sir Stephen Lethbridge at his place in
Cumberland, Abbey Hall, as his guests, when he shot himself. By the
way, I hear that Fobart Robertson has at last been discovered, living
in a garret in Lyons, and that he is being brought over to give
evidence against his wife and Stapleton and others regarding the
secret exportation of the Chinese drug from Shanghai long ago. He
ought to prove a useful witness.”
And so the clouds which had so darkened Yootha’s and Cora’s
happiness, the happiness also of Preston and of Johnson, had at last
almost rolled away. The four had arranged to be married towards
the end of the month, and already were busy buying trousseaux,
acknowledging letters of congratulation and the receipt of presents,
and attending to the many other matters which so engross
prospective brides and bridegrooms. George Blenkiron had promised
to act as best man to his life-long friend, Charles Preston, and the
latter had decided to send in his papers at an early date, for, though
an excellent soldier, the monotonous life of an officer in peace time
would, he knew, bore him to extinction.
Harry Hopford had asked Johnson to allow him to be his best
man, “in return,” as he put it, “for services rendered, and the way I
helped to bring about your engagement!” Johnson suspected, and
Cora knew, that Hopford himself had been greatly attracted by “the
beautiful widow,” as she was commonly called; and perhaps had the
lad not had sense enough to realize that for him to hope to marry
Cora when almost his sole source of income consisted of the salary
he was paid by the newspaper to which he was attached, and the
payments he received from miscellaneous other journals to which he
contributed, was hopeless, he might have felt tempted to press his
own suit.
True, he had once gone so far as to think the matter over
seriously, carefully weighing the pros and cons, but the decision he
had come to was that Cora did not care for him sufficiently to be
likely to accept him even should he have the audacity to propose to
her. The thought that if he did propose to her and she accepted him
he would, after the marriage, be in a position to abandon his
profession and live thenceforward on her income, of course, never
entered his mind.
“I pity any woman who marries a journalist or a literary man,” he
said mentally, as he considered possibilities one night over a cigar.
“We writing folk may have our good points, but I think our chronic
irritability more than outweighs them, to say nothing of our
inconstancy where women are concerned, our ‘sketchiness,’ and our
lack of mental balance. If I were a woman I would any day sooner
marry a lawyer or a stockbroker than a man who earns his livelihood
by his pen. Such people at any rate give their wives a sporting
chance of being able to live with them in peace, whereas we news
seekers and scribblers—​—”
He shrugged his shoulders, and smiled as he mixed himself a
brandy and soda. Yet even then he could not wholly dispel from his
imagination the picture of Cora Hartsilver. Suddenly his telephone
rang, and he unhooked the receiver.
A fire had broken out in Smithfield and was making rapid
headway—​a big fire—​steamers hastening to it from all directions—​
yes, half a column, but a column if possible—​yes, not later than
midnight—​—
He picked up his notebook and thrust it into his pocket, switched
off the light and went downstairs. A taxi was passing as he reached
the street, and he hailed it.
“Yes,” he said, as he passed swiftly along Oxford Street, “a
journalist’s wife must have a dog’s life!”
 Some days later the newspapers contained an interesting “story,”
regarding a theft of diamonds some years previously in Amsterdam
from a well-known diamond merchant whose place of business had
then been situated in the Kalverstraat. The arrest of Archie La Planta
in London in connection with the Agency Gang crimes had, it
seemed, attracted the attention of the Amsterdam police, and
among the people in England with whom they had communicated
was a certain Major Guysburg. Eventually, the story ran, Major
Guysburg had been called upon to identify two men still residing in
Amsterdam, one of whom, it then transpired, had shared lodgings
with La Planta at the time of the robbery, and had now turned King’s
evidence, while the other had once been Alphonse Michaud’s
secretary. After a good deal of legal quibbling, Michaud was proved
actually to have stolen stones which he had himself insured, and for
which, after the robbery, he had been paid his claim in full.
On the night before their wedding—​for finally Cora and Johnson
and Yootha and Preston had decided to get married in London on
the same day—​the two happy couples with their best men, Hopford
and Blenkiron, sat at supper in the grill of the Piccadilly. Not too near
the band played the inevitable “Dardanella”; around them supper
parties chattered and laughed loudly; waiters carrying dishes and
wine hurried hither and thither as though their lives depended upon
rapidity of action.
Presently the manager approached, a broad smile on his pleasant
face. He came up to Preston.
“At the request of Mr. Hopford,” he said, “I have just informed six
officers of the Devon Regiment, who are dining in a private room
upstairs, that you and these ladies and gentlemen are dining here;
and on Mr. Hopford’s instructions I have given them other
information.”
His smile widened.
“And the officers present their compliments and wish to say they
hope you and your friends will join them in their room at your
convenience.”
“What are their names?” Preston asked.
The manager told him.
“Good heavens!” Preston exclaimed. “It’s my dear old C.O., and
five of the very best—​we were all in France together about the time
of the first attack on Thiepval. I haven’t seen them since.”
He turned and addressed the manager:
“Will you please say that we accept the kind invitation, and will be
up shortly? Harry, you rascal, how did you find out about these
officers dining here?”
“Quite by accident, when I was prowling in search of news this
morning. My first idea was to look up your old C.O. at once. Then I
decided it would be better, because less formal, if I sprang the news
on him to-night, while they were at dinner, that you were to be
married to-morrow, and that we were all here to-night. I knew they
would be glad to see you again.”
He looked at Yootha.
“Is anything the matter?” he asked, for she was suddenly looking
sad.
“Nothing at all,” she replied with a forced smile, though her moist
eyes belied her words. “I was thinking of my brothers, both still in
Mespot, and apparently likely to remain there. I have not seen either
for over two years, and to-night I feel a longing to have them here.
Their presence would complete my happiness.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Hopford answered with twinkling
eyes. “News came through to the office this evening, just as I was
leaving, that your brothers’ regiment has been ordered home, so
probably you will find your brothers awaiting you on your return to
London from your honeymoon unless,” he smiled mischievously,
“they go direct to Cumberland to stay with your father and your
stepmother!”
THE END.
 Transcriber’s Note:
Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent
hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged. Obsolete
and alternative spellings were retained. Misspelled words were
corrected. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and
abbreviations were added.
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