The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-06-11

ing, but only one, and when this sin
gle want is supplied the eonsumma-
ton will be shown to the world as the
grandest achievement of the age !"
"YOu may be assured" / replied,
"that l feel deeply interested in your
Invention"
"Yes,n he interrupted, with a nod
of appreciation.
"But 1 cannot go with you tonight.
Some other time perhaps"
'We may never meet again, and
your chance for share in the honor
Of the thing may be lost"
"Oh, / claim no share of the honor.
Wait until the one thing lacking is
supplied, and then take all the credit
and profit to yourself"
"Aye, the one thing lacking I;
there's the rub. 1t is something very
difficult to secure"
"May 1 ask what it is ?"
81 would be fool to tell You, and
thus reveal a secret that would enable
others to supplant me. But I might
do it il you would manifest confidence
and interest enough to go with me
and witness the invention. Then you
would comprehend my want and per-
haps be willing to supply it."
"No, no." I rejoined hastily; 81
credit myself with no such eapabiIity.
You must seek assistance elsewhere.
have no attention to spare from my
business nOW."
1 was growing somewhat uneasy at
my >companion's strange talk and
pertinacity, and wished to rid myself
Of him. To have a monomaniac
tackle himself to you is by no means
a comfortable situation, and 1 deter
mined to repel, If possible, any further
advances from him.
He sighed at my last words, and
said resignedIy: "Well, 1 will not
press you. You are cruelty indiffer-
ent, though, in regard to matter of
such vital Importance. 1t is so with
them all %
After this he relapsed into silence,
but seemed i'll at ease, looking hither
and thither, and frequently half rising
in his seat.
Finally, as an excuse to leave his
presence, said believe ] would take
little fresh air, and stepped out on
the platform of the car. This proved
to be q most unfortunate move. The
train was moving rapidly, and, yield
ing to the fascination of gazing at the
swiftly shifting scenery, illumined by
the pale beams of the moon, l lit a
cigar and remained in my position
for some time.
Suddenly 1 became aware that
somebody was standing behind me.
L turned and beheld, with some con-
sternation, my perpetual motion
friend. He must have opened and
closed the car-doOr very silently, for
had not heard his approach.
at thought 1 would take the fresh
air, too" he said, with a peculiar
smile. "I can circumvent anybody
who stands in my way; yes, any
body-nO matter who :" This was
with considerable vehemence. Then,
with an air of suavity, he remarked ::
''There is something very exhilarat-
ing in standing here in the breeze, in
listening to the rumbling of the noisy
wheels, almost under ones feet, and
gazing at the flying landscape and
moving lights in distant houses. Do
you not think so ?'
Ireplied that did. He came clos
er and bent over me, his strange,
black eyes glittering in the moonlight.
My position was anything but COM
Portable one. / was on one of the
steps, and he Immediately above me,
so that 1 could not ascend to the car
door without requesting him to move.
This / did not wish to do abruptly,
for if he was of unsound mind any
appearance of uneasiness or distrust
on my part might cause him to in
dulge IN some violent freak. l there
fore feigned to welcome his presence,
though in fact heartily wished N.Y.
self back in the car.
He drew closer to me and said:
81 have concluded to give you a de-
scripSion of my experimentation ma.
chine, for somehow / have taken a
singular fancy to you, and believe 1
can trust you"
"Don't be too sure of that" I re-
Joined jocosely; 81 may prove q wolf
in sleeps clothing, and betrsy your
confidence"
81 am not afraid" he replied; ST
am too good a physiognomist to be
thus imposed upon. But we trifie.
To come at once to the point, my
workshop is not great distance from
here. A road just on the outskirts
of the next station leads to it. AS
soon as the train arrives within a
mile of its stopping-plaee shall jump
off and repair directly to the spot. /
have already lost much time by an
unavoidable absence and must make
all haste to resume my task"
"YOu would not jump off while the
train is in motion ?"
"Yes, there is no danger"
"Pardon me; the practice is a very
dangerous one, and has frequently
resulted in loss of life."
''Do not contradict mel 1 shall
jump off, and so must you %
81 shall not" replied, "and I beg
of you not to risk your own life"
bah It's no risk at ali, l tell
you. I'd willingly try it now, fast as
we are going!n ...
L did not reply to his last remark,
but started to rise, saying 81 believe
will go in the car again"
But hand was laid heavily on my
shoulder with a nervous strength,
against which resistance would have
been futile. My strange aequaint-
ance said:
mo you don't-I am not through
with you yet"
''Let me pass ~ exclaimed, angri-
ly.
"I shall notI you are the man--n
81 shall call on the brakeman the
next time he steps out. You are TAX
ing an unwarrantable liberty"
''If you say word to the brakeman
will push youoff."
"Come-this is no time or place for
jesting. wish to enter the car"
"And L wish to remain here. AS
for jesting, nothing was ever further
from my thought"
1 was now fairly alarmed. The
man was undoubtedly a lunatic. And
he had me at an advantage, for, in |
our relative positions, he could easily |
launch me into eternity by an ener- |
getic push. l saw that the assump-
ton of defiance was of no avail, and
abandoned it at once for fear of pro-
voking him to an immediate fulfill
ment of his threat. He still retained
his hold of my shoulder with unre-
laxed vigor.
"Oh, we'll" said, "I'm not partic-
ulsr. But please finish your business
with me, and then allow me to re-
turn"
"My business with you cannot be
finished here" he said, gravely. "I
was about to repeat that you are the
man destined to assist me in the great
consummation of my life-work. And
/ must not lose sight of you, nor
permit you to escape. / remarked,
as you will recollect, that only one
thing was needful to complete my
invention. will now tell you what
it is. Tobegin with, my perpetual
motion machine is apparently moth
ing more nor less than an ordinary
looking wheel. But the hub and
other portions of it are hollow, and
herein lies the secret. The wheel is
filed with q fluid so closely resem-
bling blood that nothing but the most
skillful and exhaustive chemical tests
can descTy any difference. This fluid
eirculates through the wheel in such
manner as to keep it revolving for
long time, through the agencies of
momentum and gravity; but at the
end of a certain period the reVolu-