The Meeting At The Queen's Hall

: The Blue Germ

The same night a vast meeting of medical men had been summoned at the

Queen's Hall, with the object of discussing the nature of the strange

visitation, and the measures that should be adopted. Doctors came from

every part of the country. The meeting began at eight o'clock, and Sir

Jeremy Jones, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, opened

the discussion with a paper in which the most obvious features of the

disease were briefly tabulated.



The great Hall was packed. Sarakoff and I got seats in the front row of

the gallery. Sir Jeremy Jones, a large bland man, with beautiful silver

grey hair, wearing evening dress, and pince-nez, stood up on the

platform amid a buzz of talk. The short outburst of clapping soon ceased

and Sir Jeremy began.



The beginnings of the disease were outlined, the symptoms described,

and then the physician laid down his notes, and seemed to look directly

up at me.



"So far," he said, in suave and measured tones, "I have escaped the Blue

Disease, but at any moment I may find myself a victim, and the fact does

not disquiet me. For I am convinced that we are witnessing the sudden

intrusion and the swift spread of an absolutely harmless organism--one

that has been, perhaps, dormant for centuries in the soil, or has

evolved to its present form in the deep waters of the Elan watershed by

a process whose nature we can only dimly guess at. Some have suggested a

meteoric origin, and it is true that some meteoric stones fell over

Wales recently. But that is far-fetched to my mind, for how could a

white-hot stone harbour living matter? Whatever its origin, it is, I am

sure, a harmless thing, and though strange, and at first sight alarming,

we need none of us alter our views of life or our way of living. The

subject is now open for discussion, and I call on Professor Sarakoff, of

Petrograd, the eminent bacteriologist, to give us the benefit of his

views, as I believe he has a statement to make."



A burst of applause filled the Hall.



"Good," muttered Sarakoff in my ear. "I will certainly give them my

views."



"Be careful," I said idly. Sir Jeremy was gazing round the Hall.

Sarakoff stood up and there arose cries for silence. He made a striking

figure with his giant stature, his black hair and beard and his

blue-stained eyes. Sir Jeremy sat down, smiling blandly.



"Mr. President and Gentlemen," began the Professor, in a voice that

carried to every part of the Hall. "I, as an Immortal, desire to make a

few simple and decisive statements to you to-night regarding the nature

of the Blue Disease, the germ of which was prepared by myself and my

friend, Dr. Richard Harden. The germ--in future to be known as the

Sarakoff-Harden bacillus--is ultra-microscopical. It grows in

practically every medium with great ease. In the human body it finds an

admirable host, and owing to the fact that it destroys all other

organisms, it confers immortality on the person who is infected by it.

We are therefore on the threshold of a new era."



After this brief statement Sarakoff calmly sat down, and absolute

silence reigned. Sir Jeremy, still smiling blandly, stared up at him.

Every face was turned in our direction. A murmur began, which quickly

increased. A doctor behind me leaned over and touched my shoulder.



"Is he sane?" he asked in a whisper.



"Perfectly," I replied.



"But you don't believe him?"



"Of course I do."



"But it's ridiculous! Who is this Dr. Harden?"



"I am Dr. Harden."



The uproar in the Hall was now considerable. Sir Jeremy rose, and waved

his hands in gestures of restraint. Finally he had recourse to a bell

that stood on the table.



"Gentlemen," he said, when silence was restored. "We have just heard a

remarkable statement from Professor Sarakoff and I think I am justified

in asking for proofs."



I instantly got up. I was quite calm.



"I can prove that Sarakoff's statement is perfectly correct," I said. "I

am Richard Harden. I discovered the method whereby the bacillus became a

possibility. Every man in this Hall who has the Sarakoff-Harden

bacillus in his system is immortal. You, Mr. President, are not yet one

of the Immortals. But I fancy in a day or two you will join us." I

paused and smiled easily at the concourse below and around me. "It is

really bad luck on the medical profession," I continued. "I'm afraid

we'll all have to find some other occupation. Of course you've all

noticed how the germ cuts short disease."



I sat down again. The smile on Sir Jeremy's face had weakened a little.



"Turn them out!" shouted an angry voice from the body of the Hall.



Sir Jeremy held up a protesting hand, and then took off his glasses and

began to polish them. A buzz of talk arose. Men turned to one another

and began to argue. The doctor behind me leaned forward again.



"Is this a joke?" he enquired rather loudly.



"No."



"But you two are speaking rubbish. What the devil do you mean by saying

you're immortal?"



I turned and looked at him. My calmness enraged him. He was a shaggy,

irritable, middle-aged practitioner.



"You've got the Blue Disease, but you're no more immortal than a blue

monkey." He looked fiercely round at his neighbours. "What do you

think?"



A babel of voices sounded in our ears.



Sir Jeremy Jones appeared perplexed. Someone stood up in the body of the

Hall and Sir Jeremy caught his eye and seemed relieved. It was my friend

Hammer, who had tended me after the accident that my black cat had

brought about.



"Gentlemen," said Hammer, when silence had fallen. "Although the

statements of Professor Sarakoff and Dr. Harden appear fantastical, I

believe that they may be nearer the truth than we suppose." His manner,

slow, impressive and calm, aroused general attention. Frowning slightly,

he drew himself up and clasped the lapels of his coat. "This afternoon,"

he continued, "I was at the bedside of a sick child who was at the point

of death. This child had been visited yesterday by a relative who, two

hours after the visit, developed the Blue Disease. Now----" He paused

and looked slowly about him. "Now the child was suffering from

peritonitis, and there was no possible chance of recovery. Yet that

child did recover and is now well."



The whole audience was staring at him. Hammer took a deep breath and

grasped his coat more firmly.



"That child, I repeat, is now well. The recovery set in under my own

eyes. I saw for myself the return of life to a body that was moribund.

The return was swift. In one hour the transformation was complete, and

it was in that hour that the child developed the outward signs of the

Blue Disease."



He paused. A murmur ran round the hall and then once more came silence.



"I am of the opinion," said Hammer deliberately, "that the cause of the

miracle--for it was a miracle--was the Blue Disease. Think, Gentlemen,

of a child in the last stages of septic peritonitis, practically dead.

Think again of the same child, one hour later, alive, free from pain,

smiling, interested--and stained with the Blue Disease. What conclusion,

as honest men, are we to draw from that?"



He sat down. At once a man near him got to his feet.



"The point of view hinted at by the last speaker is correct," he said.

"I can corroborate it to a small extent. This morning I was confined to

my bed with the beginnings of a bad influenzal cold. At midday I

developed the Blue Disease, and now I am as well as I have ever been in

the whole of my life. I attribute my cure to the Blue Disease."



Scarcely had he taken his seat again when a grave scholarly man arose in

the gallery.



"Gentlemen," he said, "I come from Birmingham; and it is a city of

miracles. The sick are being cured in thousands daily. The hospitals are

emptying daily. I verily believe that the Blue Disease may prove to be

all that Dr. Sarakoff and Dr. Harden claim it to be."



The effect of these speakers upon the meeting was remarkable. A thrill

passed over the crowded Hall. Hammer rose again.



"Let us accept for a moment that this new infection confers immortality

on humanity," he said, weighing each word carefully. "What are we, as

medical men, going to do? Look into the future--a future free from

disease, from death, possibly from pain. Are we to accept such a future

passively, or are we, as doctors, to strive to eradicate this new germ

as we strive to eradicate other germs?"



Sir Jeremy Jones, with an expression of dismay, raised his hand.



"Surely, surely," he exclaimed shrilly, "we are going too far. That the

Blue Disease may modify the course of illness is conceivable, and seems

to be supported by evidence. But to assume that it confers

immortality----"



"Why should we doubt it?" returned Hammer warmly. "We have been told

that it does by two responsible men of science, and so far their claim

is justified. You, Mr. Chairman, have not seen the miracle that I have

seen this afternoon. If the germ can bring a moribund child back to life

in an hour, why should it not banish disease from the world?"



"But if it does banish disease from the world, that does not mean it

confers immortality," objected Sir Jeremy. "Do you mean to say that we

are to regard natural death as a disease?"



He gazed round the hall helplessly. Several men arose to speak, but were

unable to obtain a hearing, for excitement now ran high and every man

was discussing the situation with his neighbour. For a moment, a

strange dread had gripped the meeting, paralysing thought, but it

passed, and while some remained perplexed the majority began to resent

vehemently the suggestions of Hammer. I could hear those immediately

behind me insisting that the view was sheer rubbish. It was

preposterous. It was pure lunacy. With these phrases, constantly

repeated, they threw off the startling effect of Hammer's speech, and

fortified themselves in the conviction that the Blue Disease was merely

a new malady, similar to other maladies, and that life would proceed as

before.



I turned to them.



"You are deliberately deceiving yourselves," I said. "You have heard the

evidence. You are simply making as much noise as possible in order to

shut out the truth."



My words enraged them. A sudden clamour arose around us. Several men

shook their fists and there were angry cries. One of them made a

movement towards us. In an instant calmness left us. The scene around us

seemed to leap up to our senses as something terrible and dangerous.

Sarakoff and I scrambled to our feet, pushed our way frantically

through the throng, reached the corridor and dashed down it. Fear of

indescribable intensity had flamed in our souls, and in a moment we

found ourselves running violently down Regent Street.