Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-08-28
TOMS SECRET.
How It Was Told to One Who
Already Knew It.

Already Knew It.
Tom Douglas was young, good-looking,
and would some day be well-to-do; but above
all things he was scientific. His passion
for science first became noticeable when
he began to learn chemistry in the Fourth
Form at Halstone School Tom and all his
class fellows were deeply taken by the
weird and unearthly odors, the terrifying
explosions, and the miraculous bursts of
subaqueous fire which appeared at the viii
Of Mr.. Stubbs, the science master. Indeed,
they endeavored persistently to emulate
their tutors exploits; but even the tutors
performances were presently quite eclipsod
by those of his promising pupil Tom. The
boy had perfect genius for explosions, so
that It soon became customary among the
others, during the two or three hours
which they spent each week in the labora-
tory, to give up any little enterprises of
their own and simply keep an eye on Toms
movements. 1t was usually worth their
while, for he rarely failed to do something
marvellous.
When the end of term came and the youth
arrived at his home in Dulberry, he set OF
at once on a tour of inspection round the
home promises. A small building, which be-
longed to the gardener, and was used by
him as a storehouse for seeds, flower pots,
and other things appertaining to his craft,
struck his fancy. He found no Difficult
ty in Persuading his too complaisant pa
rents to make this room over to him;
and Notwithstanding the murmurs of Sandy
the gardener, it was forth with emptied Of
its horticultural contents, fitted with
benches, shelves and a fireplace, and gen.
orally rendered habitable. Chemicals also,
Ill l,f, Ii, oc ,.,A
from London. Had his parents not been
altogether ignorant Of the science of chem
stry, they would have noticed that the
chemicals which Tom ordered, and for
which they blindly paid, were chiefly of the
kind which 20 to make up explosions. AL
most as soon as the laboratory had been
fitted up, the goods arrived from London.
On the first day nothing worthy of note
was seen or heard, Tom being too busily
engaged in the arranging and admiring his
treasures to begin experimenting with
them. Soon, however, the household began
TO listen with mild liberation TO the loud ex-
plosions which, at intervals of about an
hour, were constantly heard from the
direction of Toms laboratory. They were
not quite so tractable, however, when the
embryo chemist grew tired for the moment
Of noises and turned his attention to the
then the boy was quite safe from inter-
ruption. They were not likely to attempt to
approach the source of odors by which
they were already almost stfled; whereas
Tom reveled in the malodorous products of
his experiments, and behaved, in an at
mosphere reeking with the most abominable
gases, az if he were once more
breathing his native air after a long and
painful period of exile.
His love of science grew stronger, If
good deal more rational, as years passed by.
At last, when he went up to Oxford, another
room was added to his den. This was fur
nished after the manner Of the under grad
uate's rooms, and here he kept his personal
property and did most of his reading. Like
most science-men, he was fond of novels,
and OF these this room soon contained an ex-
tensive and catholic collection. But the
course of true love never did run smooth,
and at last Tom Douglas discovered that
there was one thing which, struggle as he
might to ignore it, was beginning to inter
est him far more than any of the sciences
to which he had hitherto devoted himself
His fathers brother had many years ago
emigrated to Australia. Almost immedi-
ately he had married; but after a few
years Of hard struggle against poverty his
wife died, leaving him a little daughter
Dora. Tom Douglas was in his fourth year
when he heard from homo that his unknown
uncle was dead. His father had received a
letter some months before, saying that
Dora would soon be alone in the world. She
would be rich-for success had come to her
father when it was too late to save his wife
and now the dying man begged his broth
er to become her guardian and offer her a
home. Mr.. Douglas had at once consented /;
and Dora arrived in England shortly be-
fore the commencement of Toms last long
vacation; so that when he arrived at Dull
berry she had already been there for week
or two. The cousins became very good
friends; and it was the image of sweet
girlish face, blue-eyed and a little sad,
which occupied Toms mind and caused him
| TO neglect his science-work almost entirely.
At the end of the ''long" he went up to
Oxford once more, in order to take leave of
his friends and formally to take his degree,
for at the end of the previous term he had
gained first" In Honors Chemistry.
This brief absence from Dora was so utterly
painful to him that he became aware of the
fact that he really was very much in love
| with her. OF course, he ought to have
known it before; perhaps he had done so,
| but at least he had never acknowledged it
| to himself. At any rate he made haste to
get back TO his home.
When he returned to Dulberry he carried
withanxious solicitudc q box, which appeared
TO contain something at once very fragile and
! inestImably valuable Dora had taken a
| great interest in his scientific studies-or
rather, he had revived for her benefit his
boyish interest IN explo ions. After lunch,
therefore, he told her that during his alb
sence he had spent a few days in town and
there had secured scientific wonder,
winch she must examine. He took the box
under his arm, and they went together to
his sanctum in tho garden. Arrived there,
he opened the. box and took out a piece OF
mechanism which, he said, was a phono-
| graph. He showed Dora how thin plate
| OF mica, moving with the air-vibrations
caused by the voice, set in motion a small
] SsyIus OF steel, and how this stylus marked
out ats vibrations on a thin cylinder OF
! smooth wax, which, by screw arrange
ment was caused to. move at once in
! the direction of its length and around
its axis. Then he shifted back the
cylinder into its original position, so that
the point OF the stylus rested at the begin.
ming Of the little channel which it had al
ready marked out on the wax Finally,
turning the screw again. he set the CYL
/, tnderln motion: and the STYLUS. travelling