The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1894-10-26

Il
4 was chiefly anxious to get the machine
at work again, for seven or eight trains
had stopped midway in the stuffy tun-
nels of the electric railway. Azuma-zi
answering or misunderstanding the
questions of the people who had by
authority or impudence come into the
shed, was presently sent back to the
stoke-hole by the scientific manager.
| OF course crowd collected outside the
gates of the yard-a crowd, for no
known reason, always hovers for day
or two near the scene of sudden
death in London-two or three report
ers percolated somehow into the en-
gine-shed, and one even got to Azuma-
ri, but the scientific expert cleared
them out again, being himself an anna
teur journalist. Presently the body
was carried away, and public interest
departed with it. Azuma-zi remained
1 very quietly at his furnace, seeing
over and over again in the Goals fig
ure that riggled violently and became
still.
An hour after the murder, to anyone
| coming into the shed it would have
looked exactly as if nothing had hap
| pened. Peeping presently from his
engine-room the black saw the Lord
Dynamo spin and whirl beside his lit
tie brothers, and the driving wheels
were beating round, and the steam in
the pistons went thud, .thud, exactly
as it had been earlier in the evening.
After all, from the mechanical point
of view. it had been most insignifi-
cant incident-the mere temporary de-
Election of current, only now the
slender form and slender shadow of
the scientific manager replaced the
sturdy outline of Holroyd travelling
up and down the lane of lsght upon
the vibrating floor under the straps
between the engines and the dynamos.
Have l not served my Lord?" said
Azuma-zi, inaudibly, from his shadow,
and the note of the great dynamo rang
out full and clear. AS he looked at
the big whirling mechanism the
strange fascination of it that had been
little in allegiance since Holroyd's
death resumed it's sway.
Never had Azuma-zi seen man
killed so swiftly and pitilessly. The
big humming machine had slain its
victim without wavering for a second
from it's steady beating. 1t was in.
deed mighty god. The unconscious
scientific manager stood with his back
to him. scribbling on piece of paper.
His shadow lay at the foot of the mon
ster.
"Was the Lord Dynamo still hungry?
His servant was ready"
Azuma-zi made stealthy step for.
ward, then hesitated. The scientific
manager suddenly stopped writing
and walked down the shed to the end
most of the dynamos and began to ex-
anime the brushes.
Azuma-zi hesitated and then slipped
across noiselessly into the shadow by
the switch. There he waited. Pres
emily the managers footsteps could be
heard returning. He stopped in his old
position, unconscious of the figure
crouching ten feet away from him.
Then the big dynamo fizzled and in
another moment thick-set figure had
sprung out of the darkness upon him.
l. ne SCltuUlAC Will
Der all the details of that struggle
with the mad stoker so long as there
is life in him. First he was gripped
round the body and swung towards
the big dynamo, then, kicking with
his knee and forcing his antagonists
head down with his hands, he loos-
ened the grip on his waist and swung
round away from the machine; then
the black grasped him with his arms
again, putting a curly head against
ais chest, and they swayed and painted
as it seemed for an age or so. Then
the scientific manager was impelled
to catch black ear in his teeth and
bite furiously. The black yelled hid
eously. Suddenly they rolled over on
the floor, and the black, who had APP
parently slipped from the vice of the
teeth or parted with some ear-the |
scientific manager wondered which at
the time-tried to throttle him. The |
scientific manager was making some |
Intellectual efforts to claw something |
with his hands and to kick, when the |
welcome sound of quick footsteps |
sounded on the floor. The next mo-
ment Azuma-zi had left him and
da rted towards the big dynamo.
There was sputter amid the roar.
The officer of the company, who had
entered, stood staring as Azuma-zi
caught the naked terminals in his
hand, gave one horrible convulsion
and tn en- hung motionless from the
machine, his face violently distorted.
I'm jolly glad you came in when
you did," said the scientific manager,
still sitting on the floor.
He looked at the still quivering fig
ure. at is not nice death to die,
it is quick"
The ticket collector was still staring