Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-08-20

ficer, interrupting me in disagreeable tones
in the middle of choice extract from one
of my lectures. "Why, but you haven't
told me how it goes off. If the fire won'i
burst it, what in-(h )-wils"
told him if it were pressed, or anything
fell on it, it would explode.
'sPlacei it under tho crusher Of cider mill,
strike it with hammer, let weight fall
on it from a beight"-
"Yes," said the man, "and that rouses
its volcaner, does it?"
'I suppose, professor, that ere can would
make mighty big nose if allowed to ex
plode here all at once?"
sit would blow the entire building tc
atoms," said l, resuming the analysis oi
Mrs. Johnson's stomach.
"No?' I heard the policeman remark in
deliberate Yankee tones, ''you don't say
SOP"
The next moment I lay on MY back, 0
gag in my mouth. terribly frightened and
sick at heart. Over me stood the police
man and the first thing that functionary die
was-looking ne straight in the face-tc
take off his nose He then rid himself OF
his eyebrows, hair and cap, and became a
determined looking fellow, with the eyes Of
q fiend and the nose of Roman.
$50 you think" said the metamarphosed,
in the tones of gentleman, that nothing
can save Joe johnson from the ropee Pool
fellow! 1t does look it! But my dear pro-
fessor, Joe johnson is fortunate enough tG
have in me devoted friend as we'll as broth.
er. have undertaken to save him, and be
shall be saved. In order to accomplish this
end it will be necessary to remove from the
face of the earth not only the stomach ol
his miserable wife yonder, but also, my
dear professor am sorry to be obliged to
say it, for believe you were my brother't
teacher and friend-yourself as WE'LL"
saw that he was in deadly earnest.
"Your death must apparently result from
accident at least 30 it must seem to the au
thorities. My brother is in Jail and they
will not suspect him, and they certainly
will not suspect me-"
What terrible deed was in this brair
hatching-was he sgoing to murder mel
Was 1t myself who was to hang, instead ol
johnson?
No; yes. He placed the line pulley-like
over an arm of hanging chandelier. This
was altogether too slight d support even fol
one of my tender frame. 1t was not to be
hanging, then. Under the weight on the
floor he placed o can of nitro g]ycerine;
recognized the yellow string; it was fuse,
and it would burn in sixty minutes. 1t
would run across the marble slab; there was
no hope of igniting any substance that
would warn my friends.
'Do you begin to see through it?" asked
Joe Johnson's brother.
l believed l cursed him with my eyes.
could only breathe through my nostrils, and
great veins were swelling and growing hot
in my forehead. Drawing a mach from
his pocket he lighted and applied it to the
fGse; that little tyrant that gave man an
hour to live, to kill him at the end of it
that little irresponsible terror that, less mer-
ciful than Providence, told man the sec
ond be was to die, if fright and horror spar
ed him to himself. Slowly the flames
crept snake-like around the twine.
SIN one hour" said the prisoners broth
er, 'you will be in heaven or hell. l will
watch with you for half an hour, and the
other half you will spend alone"
He sat down some minutes in a chair
watching the fame Then he arose and
took piece of porcelain, with the murder
er's name thereon, from the table, and shook
his head gloomily.
81 am chemist enough to know it is
arsenic" he said. eyes,, those bright,
metallic eyes, betrayal of the guilty! Sci
ence, thou wouldst kill my brother-thou
shalt save him. Let me see in whose hands
thou art the most powerful, !"
The half hour wore slowly away. Oh,
heavens! What agony did 1 suffer! Not
for myself, but for my child. The fuse
burned ou-on. The half hour is up. The
brother of the murderer rises to go. Joy.
sCommit your soul to Gods keeping"
be said. "You hold the evidence Of my
brothers. guilt-nothing can save you
now."
With that he turned to take bis hat from
off the table covered with the crimson cloth
beneath which hid my priceless boy. Some
thing attracted his attention. He held out
his hands and reached forward. l thought
be had discovered my boy. No; he was
lifting something in either hand-the wires
of the electric battery. In another instant
my boy had leaped from under the table,
and was turning the crank fast and furious
ly.
The murderer's brother was in the power
of my boy. He could not drop the wires;
be was helpless. How my boy cried for
help! The old college rang with his voice.
my boys in his agony. In an instant great
iCuS SbA puihOu WoJ' AV WOoiu just A"oU II ~
minutes and no more.
sFather!" shouted my boy, "if no assist
ance comes this villain must die with us. l
dare not free him. Help! help! helpV'
Alasl could not answer him.
Thank God! But some one else did. The
fuse is burned up. The rope is on fire-the
nitro glycerinel The door opens; Tom
On midnight visit to the sick,
has heaId the cry; he comprehends all;
seizes the can in his hand, the weight de-
scends indeed. but not on the death dealing
oil. No; down it goes through the office
foor-down, down, like an evil spirit, to
give back dull metallic echo from the
stones of the cellar beneath.
We are saved.
Joe johnson, the prisoner, was hanged,
but his brother remains unpunished by the
law, for he stabbed himself with knife
and thus escaped the hangman's 70 te.-H.
II. IN ,ltlQntd Constitution.
DOC STAR.-It is difficult to conceive that
the beautiful dog-star is globe much larg
er than cur sun, yet it is fact that Sirius
is sun many times more mighty than our
own. This splendid star, which, even in
our most powerful telescopes, appears as
mere point of light, is in reality a globe
of obi