The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-09-29
"Cerebal disorder. eh ?"

What ?" asked the man.
Brain disorder, I mean; some
thing wrong here"
I touched my forehead, and so die
he, as he said:
"Aye; and I thought I'd drop ir
and tell you if you was going to the
station tomorrow to take q look anG
see if its post morten1 or not. Besides
I wanted to see where I could always
find you in case of need"
I bowed, and attributed his visit to 9
feeling of curiosity. He sat on the
sink, one rubbered foot thrown ovel
the other, and wiped his nose with @
dirty handkerchief several times,
while is eyes wandered about like
Christopher Columbus after discov.
veries. Finally he spoke, like one
who thought himself called on to say
something,
professor, there has been an acci.
dent this afternoon terrible, too."
"Ah !n said I.
lawful % said he.
"What was it?n
"Nitro-glycerine explosion up in
the iron mills-a hundred fellow-mor.
tails busted?"
"Sadw
Effecting very.n Here he rubbed
his mouth with the back of his hand.
Professor what is that nitro-glyc-
erine?n
at is very dangerous article,n
answered, happy to display my
knowledge. at has nearly twice the
destructiveness of gunpowder, but,
unlike it, does not explode on the ap-
plication of heat. A red-hot coal
dropped into it will not explode it. 1t
will freeze; it is yellow and greasy.
Its symbols in our nomenclature are
C3. HIS. (No 81 8, o."
You don't mean to say so said
the officer, interrupting me in disa-
greeable tones in the very middle of a
choice extract from one of my lectures.
"Why, but you hain't told me how
it does 90 off. If fire won't bust it,
what in-(hem)-willW
1 told him if it were pressed or any,
thing fell on it, it would explode.
"Place it under the crusher of a
cider mill, strike it with q hammer,
let weight fall on it from a height
eyes" said my man, "and that
rouses it volcaner, does it? How does
it come, Perfessor?"
"In little cans-why, like these?n
said I, discovering that there was a
little can of it on the marble sink,
which I had carelessly neglected to
replace in the cellar. I then took
little of the glycerine, spread it on
an anvil and struck it with hammer.
A slight explosion and flame burst
from the paper.
mo, really" said the policeman,
starting back; "I suppose, Professor,
that there can would make mighty
noise if allowed to explode in here all
at once?"
sIt would blow the entire building
to atoms,n said /, resuming the anal
ysis of Mrs. Johnson's stomach.
"No!" 1 heard the policeman re-
mark, in deliberate Yankee tones;
"you don't say SOP"
The next moment I lay on my back,
a gag in my mouth, terribly frighten-
ed and sick at heart. Over me stood
the policeman, and the first thing
that functionary did was looking me
in the face-to take off his
nose! He then rid himself of his
red eyebrows, hair, cap, and became
a determined looking fellow, with the
eyes of fiend and the nose of a Ro-
man.
$50 you think" said the metamor-
phosed, in the tones of gentleman,
THAT nothing can save Joe Johnson
from the rope? Poor fellow! it does
look like it. But my dear Professor,
Joe johnson is fortunate enough to
have in me a devotedlfIiend, as wellas
brother. l have undertaken to save
him, and he shall be saved! In order
to this end it will be necessary to re-
move from the face of the earth not
only the stomach of his miserable wife
but also, my dear professor
Pm sorry to he obliged to say it, for
| believe you were my brothers
teacher and friend-yourself as well.
saw that he was in deadly earnest.
"Your death must apparently re-
suit from accidental least, so it must
seem to the authorities. My brother
is in Jail, and they will not suspect
him, and they certainly will not sus-
pect me-"
What terrible deed was on his brain
Matching? Was he going to murder
me? The hard-earned knowledge of a
score of years would have given for
power to utter one single cry.
He took me in his arms and placed
me in chair, and bound me to 1t,
and then from side pocket be pro-
duced another rope.
Was it myself who was to hang in
stead of Johnson?
No; yes. He placed the line pulley
like over an arm of the hanging chan
delier. This was altogether too slight
a support even fer one of my slender
frame. 1t was not to be hanging
then?
To one end of the rope he attached
a weight, and raised it by pulling the
other six or eight feet from the floor.
The loose end he secured to the sink.
Was he mad? Did he mean to draw
me under this weight, and send me
out of the world in q novel way by
letting it fall and dashing my brains
out?
To the sink end he attached long
yellow string.
Under the weight on the floor he
placed the can of nitro-glycerine! l
recognized the yellow string; it was
fuse, and it would burn across the
marble slab-there was no hope of its
igniting any substance that would
warn my friends.
"Do you began to see through it?'
asked Joe Johnson's brother.
l believe / cursed him with my
eyes. could only breathe through
my nostrils, and great veins We're
swelling and growing hot in my fore
head.
Drawing q match from his pocket
he lighted and applied it to the fuse,
that little tyrant that gave a man an
hour to live, and killed him at the
end of it-that little irresponsible ter
ror that, less than merciful Providence,
told q man the second he was to q
if fright and horror spared him to
itself!
Slowly the flame crept, snake-like,
around the twine.
'In one hour,n said the prisoners
brother, "you will be in heaven or
hell. 1 will watch with you for half
an hour, and the other half you will
spend alone"
He sat down some minutes in
chair watching the flame. Then he
arose and took the piece of porcelain
with the murderer's mark thereon
from the table and shook his head
gloomily. :.
az am chemist enough to know it
is arsenic,n he said. "Yes, those
bright, metallic eyes, a betrayer of
the guilty! Science, thou wouldst
kill my brother! Thou shalt save him.