Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-08-16

kiss that he gave her. It smote me
like q two-edged sword, and awoke me
TO action. All at once i made the dis
covery that what ! needed was n
scheme of revenge. The moment this
idea came TO me / felt that the vacuum
in me was partly filed. Every faculty
seemed to cry out that no glory could
equal that of mastering and furnishing
the man whose superiority had been
guaranteed by nature.
~ gave the whole of that night to
the elaboration of plan. But it was
not till week later that | hit upon u
feasible one. Like all great original
schemes, its inception was partly owing
to accident | was on the best of terms
with the clerk, Ellingher, and spent
good deal of time in the drugstore with
him when his master was away. / am,
as YOU know, a skilled chemist, and
Ellingher was not. 1t served my pur-
pose to help him in the laboratory.
About eight feet of the rear end of
the shop was cut off by high-railed
counter and desk, and behind this was
the little workshop where the pre-
scriptions were compounded.
~ was in there alone one afternoon
about four o'clock, fixing an infusion of
rhatanv to strain, when noticed that
the pine wood of one of the shelves that
ran across the partition was smoking.
/ discovered that large condenser or
lens which was fixed in brass frame
had been left on the projection of the
window-sash, and it brought the focus
of the SUMS rays upon the dry edge of
the pine shelf In an instant my mind
had formulated the scheme.
al looked at my watch. 1t was four
o'clock and nineteen minutes. l moved
the lens, and found that could throw
the focus into the middle of the shelf.
Ellingher would probably never notice
it. Then / examined the bottles on the
shelves. There were two large vessels
containing absolute alcohol one that
was half full of OLeum OiUG, and another
of terebin Mtnd. These jars were against
the partition of my room. The phos-
phorus was kept in the cellar, under
water, but there was rosin, Burgundy
pitch, and benzine under the shelves on
the floor.
"Now that definite plan of action
was formed became a new man. All
my old activity and skill revived. |
IllC
from my mother, and resolved to de-
vote the whole of it to carrying out my
dire revenge. And to the accomplish
ment of my purpose l bent all my in
telligence and subordinated all my
feelings.
"It took me three months. DO you
know what didP Let me tell you, as
briefly as possible. First of all, dis
sembled and won subordinate place
in Mays employ. He thought he could
trust me, and that knowledge gave me
Joy, for l felt that l was fooling desti-
ny. l learned his habits, studied his
weaknesses, and waited. On THURSDAYS
Ellingher had half holiday, and was
left in possession of the store. BY de-
grees l made just the disposition of the
inhammable materials in the laborato.
ry that answered my purpose. The ar
rangement was a most ingenious one
and | knew that if a flame ignited one
end of my train no human power coulC
prevent it from reaching the other end
/ calculated the SUMS apparent motion
southwark day by day. | experimental
with duplicate lens of the same pow
er in my room. Ihad a diagram of the
|
Of an inch where the sunlight would fal
at any hour in the afternoon.
Here interrupted Urquehardt. 81
seems to me, my friend,' said, "tha
you were taking extraordinary pains t.
become an incendiary, and might have
set fire to the store more directly anC
surely"
Yes" he replied, "but it was nc
part of my object--though it might be
of unavoidable consequence-to burr
his store"
"Ah, what then was your objectP"
I "You shall learn. Immediately oVel
my room was the chamber occupied by
Miss Addie. She was in the habit O.
sewing there in the afternoons. | coulC
hear the treadle of her sewing machine
for an hour at q time. On the flool
above that there was stOreroOm, sci
dom entered, and, as l found, wei
packed with refuse. Among othel
things it contained an oil cask, which
at some time had been brought up from
the cellar of the store to put under {
leak in the roof. Such was the struct
ure of the building that there was {
space of four inches between the plaster
and the bricks, reaching from that store
room to the ground floor on three side
of Adde'S room. | calculated tina
with rubber tube drawn up through
the space to the barrel l could pump
from my room noiselessly at least fortl
gallons of benzine in one night, ant
that when l was ready L could up
set the cask so that the intiammablt
fluid would flow down the aperture OF
three sides of her room, saturating tn,
lath and timbers, and, caught at m,
floor, would run across the boards t
the partition, and thus complete tn
, circuit of fire."
, "You do not mean to say that it wa
your purpose to"
"It was my purpose to roast tina
woman alive, to surround her with
to have her lover where | could poin
it out TO him, and tell him it was m,
: work. was willing to die for the sat
isfaction of bringing discontinue t,
him; of enjoying for one instant m.
power over him.
"Well," l said, ego on with you
narrative"
Everything happened fortuitously
The house, occupied only by an in
valid, girl, and one maid-servant
who slept in the basement, presente,
few obstacles to the accomplishment O
my purpose. When Addie was out
could roam all over it without disturb
ing Mrs. Prescott. l succeeded il
pumping fifty gallons of benzine int
the upper room, and to prevent it
evaporation and the consequent odor
' fitted a paper head to the cask, whic
| covered with an impervious coat @
! glue. l fixed upon a day and mad
| my arrangements.
. "I told May that l had come sud
denly into large fortune, and he ha
the effrontery to ask me to loan hir
Q quite large sum of money. told hir
t / would let him have it next Friday
= That was the day had fixed upOn fO