Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-08-16

made good his retreat. l saw Winder-
spin, his mouth twitching more than
ever, behind one of the other benches.
As soon as we got chance we both
followed the EXAMPLE of the rest and
scuttied out upon the landing. A small
bottle of hydrochloric acid caught
Wilderspin in the neck, made him
yell dismally and turned his coat
bright red forthwith.
There was method in the anarchists
madness. He threw nothing more so
soon as he had gained possession of
the laboratory, but proceeded to race
round and collect together all the bot
ties of acid, corrosive sublimate, lunar
costic and so forth, upon the bench
nearest the window. He clearly meant
to invest his arrest with peculiar diff
Guilty. But Smith was still equal TO
him. He had run into the store-room,
and re-emerged with a jar of that I'M
endurable gas, sulphuretted hydrogen.
''Take out the bung and fling it in"
he said-'quick"' and returned for the
pungent virtues of ammonia. We fol-
lowed this up with carbov of hydro
chloric acid and ammonium sulphide,
a gas only rivalled in it's offensiveness
by sulphuretted hydrogen. The enemy
scarcely grasped our import until these
vapors spread towards him, and mere
ly lodged behind a bench. In thirty
seconds there was as unpleasant a con-
fiict of chemical odors in that room as
one can we'll imagine, and the air was
dense with white clouds of ammonium
| chloride. The enemy soon discovered
our aim and tried charge. AS the jar
of ammonium sulphide went in and
smashed on the floor, l saw small
bottle fly towards me through the
reek, but it missed the doorway and
knocked the blackboard over.
Stand out of the way!" shrieked
the anarchist, looming up through the
rising fog aud stencil. but we slammed
the door and shut him and his atmos-
phere in together. He tugged furious
ly at the handle, and hammered madly
at the panel. 1 heard him yell for
mercy and fall a-coughing. 1 thought
we had beaten him, and would have
opened the door had not Smith, fear
ing rush, restrained me. The an
| archist's footsteps reiterated and there
was silence. We expected another
rush at the door. Presently a bottle
smashed against it, and after min
utter or 50 another. Then there was
an interval of silence. Possibly three
minutes passed. Askin was attending
to Wilderspin in the storeroom, the
rest of US were grouped about the
| landing. He must have fallen down
suffocated," said Porch. 1.-The win
dow!'' exclaimed Smith, suddenly, The
| must have got out by the window. j
never thought of the window. Has
anyone heard the windows go? You
three menr-he indicated myself, and
Porch and Mason-''stop by the door. i"
The rest clatt cred down stairs with
| Smith. We heard the front door open
and their voices from the little court
yard in front of the house. Then we
ventured to open the laboratory door
again, and saw the end window open
and clear air beating in through the
mist. The anarchist had escaped us.
Smith had been little too intellectual
in his treatment of the case. and
scarcely vigorous enough. AFTER that
thumb mark" said he when the class
| next morning amid the debris of the
| aboratory-"after that thumb mark
he ought to have surrendered at once.
There was not a loophole left for him.
Logically, at any rate, he was hope
lessly cornered. For him to start to
] throw acids about gentlemen! 1t was
| thing did not anticipate. Most I'M
| fair of him. This kind of thing robs
detective work of all its intellectual
charms-"-H. C. Wells, in Pail Mall
Budget