Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-07-24
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But how was IL possible that the two
leaders of the gun club had disappeared
without leaving any trace behind them?
How could they have sent away the
material and assistants which were
necessary to such am operation without
any one seeing them? A hundred rail-
road cars, if it was by rail; hundred
vessels, if it was by water,
would not have been more than suf-
ficient to transport tne loads Of metal, of
coal and of meli-me tonite. 1t was en-
tirely incomprehenaible how this de-
parture could have been made incognito.
However, it was don@. And still more
serious it appeared when it was known
after inquiry that 70 orders had been
sent to the gun foandries or powder
factories, or the factsries which produce
chemical products lis either of the two
continents. How ihexplicable all this
was! Without doubt il would be ex-
planned some day.
At any rate, if President Barbicane
and Captain Nicholl who had mysteri-
ously disappeared, were sheltered from
any immediate danger, their colleague,
Mr.. Maston, was under lock and key,
and had to face all the public indigna-
tion. Nothing could make him yield,
however. Deep at She bottom of the
cell which he occupied in the prison of
Baltimore the secretary of the gun club
gave himself up more and more to
thinking of those distant associates
whom he was not able to follow. He
pictured the vision OF President Barbi-
cane and his associate, Captain Nicholl.
preparing their gigantic operation at
this unknown point of the globe, with
nothing in their way. He saw them
build their enormous device, combine
their meli-melonite, molding the pro-
iectile which the sun would so soon
count as one of its small satellites This
new star was to have the charming name
''Scorbetta." in gallant acknowledge
ment of the love and esteem felt to-
wards the rich capitalist widow of New
Park. j. r. Maston calculated the days
which would elapse before the one on
which the gun would be fired.
1t was already the beginning of April
In two months and half the meridian
star, after having Stopped on the Tropic
of Cancer, would go back towards the
Tropic of Capricorn. Three months
later it would traverse the equatorial
line at the fall equinox.
And then these seasons, which have
appeared annually for millions of years.
and which have changed so regularly,
will be brought to al end. For the last
time in 1S9- the sphere would have sub
mitted to this succession of days and
nights. Truly, this was a magnificent
work, superhuman, even divine. j. /.
Maston forgot the Arctic region and the
exploration of the coal mines around
the Pole, and he only saw, in his minds
eye, the cosmographic consequences Of
the operation. The principal object of
the association was now to make those
changes and displacements which were
to remodel the face OF the earth.
But that was just the point. Did the
earth wish TO change her face at all?
Was she not still young and charming
with the one which God had given her
at the first hour of her creation?
Alone and defenseless in his prison
cell, nothing could induce Mr.. Maston
to speak about the matter, no matter
what plan was tried. The members of
the inquiring committee urged him
daily to speak and visited him daily,
but they could obtain nothing. 1t was
about this time that John PRESTIGE had
the idea of using an influence which
might possibly succeed, and this was
the aid of Mrs Evangelina Scorbitt
Every one knew what feelings the gener-
Gus widow entertained for Mr.. Maston,
how devoted she was to him and what
unlimited interest she had in this
celebrated calculator. Therefore, after
deliberation of the committee. Mrs,
Evangelina Scorbitt was authorized to
come and 60, visiting the prisoner as
much as she liked.
Was she not threatened just as we'll
as any other person on this earth by the
recoil of this monster cannon? Would
her palace at New Park be spared any
more than the smallest hut of the In
dian? Was not her very existence just
as much in doubt as that of the savage
living on the furthest isle Of the Pacific
Ocean? That is what the president Of
the inquiry committee gave her TO un-
derstand and for this reason she was
begged to use her influence with the
mathematician. II be would consent to
speak and would say at what place Pres
ident Barbicane and Captain Nicholl
were, and how many people they had
with them to accomplish their ends, it
would yet be time to go and stop them
and put an end to their project, and thus
save humanity from this most danger
Gus catastrophe which threatened the
world
Mrs. Evangelins Scorbitt was there
fore admitted to the prison whenever
she wished it. She was most DESTROYS
Of seeing J. T. Maston again after he
had been taken from his comfortable
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