The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-02


me after which he came and stood al my
feet. folded his arms. and stared at me
do you think ] am going 20 he an OUT
cast from society for nothing he Kissed.
Think you have spent whole year IN
making this thing for nothing No. No.
I viii be revenged on someone, and why
not on you Besides. ] hate you. for what
have YOU done7 7 have waited long for
a subject but al last ! can operate, and
on you. No. no. don't invent things for
nothing not l."
With a horrible chuckIe he left me.
Again I struggled fercely 10 free myself;
but, no, those horrible mittens held me.
After awhile he returned.
You have just half an hour 70 live; 70 is
half-past II now, on the stroke Of u ]
complete the circuit and you viii fzzle up.
AGAIN ne left me, prey TO horrible
thoughts Was there no way TO escaDe2
Would no one come in time2 And the time
passed on The best Of us don't care 10 die
before our time, and had not been any or
the best-and what a horrible death had
10 die, More than this. I loved Madge-
1 wanted TO live for her, and this mad
man would make me die for her The time
was almost up, and Clisby returned. He
was all smiles; he asked me II / had any
wish he might carry out for me / shook
my mead He offered me brandy, and
gulped il down. and more. and 7 drank
that also. Then he began TO mutter and
laugh 10 himself until he worked himself
up INTO frenzy. and danced and raved
round me like a fury
one minute more" he yelled. 'and I
send you 10 Jericho"
He walked towards the su,itob 20 YIN
me-and ! sat there looking at him. could
not remove my eyes, / was fascinated And
then l saw saw his feet catch in the
wires that led from the switch TO nv hands
ana ne fell. As he did so he clutched at the
air, and both his hands came down on the
switch contacts. A dreadful scream broke
from his lips, and he bounded up quite six
feet In the air. and then fell backwards
Ilsnt INTO the middle OF large fiat distri-
button table. Then / saw a quick success
sion OF blue ashes and a thin column of
steam ascended to the roof Immediately
aIter this the band came off the dynamo
puily and the humming ceased.
by this time the brandy began to act
nut IN a remarkable way; my head and
body felt as though they were on fire. but
my brain was perfectly clear I looked
again at the corpse on the table Seei II
was moving. After the cessation OF the
current, reaction had set in. The corpse
continued 10 contract until II looked like
bundle OF singed rags: 1t shivered for
moment, and then the arms followed by the
legs shot out straight. and the body stiff
fened in this position
rection Of the turbines Something was
wrong evidently. for the offside bearing of
one of them was literally red-hot; the gov
ernor was wrecked, and the wheel was
racing away and increasing In speed every
moment. 1t was not long before some
thing happened. There was a loud snap
and then a crash and | saw the steel cas-
ing ripped up like paper. and the water
came pouring into the room thousands of
gallons (tf rtr1,. cut.
by's death and my escape II / was to be
drowned like rat in a trap?
Slowly the water rose until. when IL was
about six feet deep. the lights went out
! was floating about in tho chair. but |
was anchored to the switchboard by the
wires. The water continued to rise though
very slowly. as it had to fill all the other
rooms and passages Beneath me | could
still hear the unchanged turbine thrash
Ing away, and I rose until my head. or
rather the top Of the chair. was scraping
the roof when suddenly felt that / was
falling, and l was carried rapidly towards
the door.
The wires held for a moment, but tho
jerk snapped them. and I rolled along the
passage. through the hattery-room. and
out into the open. where, after being
whirled round a few times, / was left high
and dry till the morning The weight Of
the water had burst open the outer door
hence my sudden exit / was rescued from
my unpleasant position by Cameron him
self, who had come to look for me- We
found poor, mad Clisby quite close to
where he had died, tangled up in some
wire, and the same CHASTITY smile was on
his face.
No one but Cameron ever knew what
had really happened on that awful night
We told the girls that an accident had
happened, and that the hermit was dead.
When | look back on the concentrated
horror of those long hours, / marvel that
kept my reason. For a week | lost the
proper use of my limbs. owing to my
cramped-up state when in that chair Of
his but before l left Clinton, Madge and
l found time TO finish our picture, and
to arrange a little matter that is to come
off in the summer.