The morning times., 1895-08-07

was the original OF warmers photo!
on a more hldeous spectacle human eye
! has never rested Covering, perhaps, a
third of the field of view, it stood, or
rather floated. half erect, like the figure
/ of man; but there all human resemblance
ended
Imagine a decapitated body. From the
| headiess shoulders, swathed with down
ward hanging hair, conceive dozen
/ waving, haUdless arms, outstretched hori-
zontally like the rays of a starfish, the
lower part of the body terminating abruptly
in spiral rings or coils by way of limbs
and you have some FAINT idea OF the out
line of this ghastly thing. Itcareened slowly
around on its axis, now rising, now falling,
III concert nth the motions OF itsSpiral coils.
so appalling was this sudden apparition
that ! shuddered.
Slowly il gyrated in the field of view,
aimlcssly sinking and rising, like mote
| dancing in The sunbeam; but always with
! these pitiless arms Outstretched, rs If iii
blndfo!ded search OF something.
In heavens Eame!' ! cried, breaking
| the silence, what is this hideous thing?"
THE object in view," replied Dr. Bond
] quietly, lis the living germ OF dread dis
! easel Most diseases result from the attacks
! ofsuchmiCroscopicau icauimals-livingp parasites,
! which swarm in the air and seek home in
the human body Most of these microbes,
! however, are insignificant IN size and IN
! ferior III Ylrulence compared with this
| Asiatic scourge. Besides, this specimen
has been artiTiciaIly cultivated along with
! his companions In the same tank, and has
/ grown larger i'll consequence.
As he spoke several smaller forms of the
saIue type slowly appeared at the margin of
the ring.
This is the germ Of the veritable black
pla que, or black death, of Asiatc Russia,
! ne went on. Il procured the germs from
..n.r a a
! at great risk, for if the contents of this
/ tank were to escape. however slightly, the
! consequences would be dreadful. Partly
| chemically fed and partly supplied with
carrion-on which such organ isms feed
and multiply-the necessary change OF
atmosphere, etc, in the case OF the microbes
! is only effected 10y means of intricate ap-
pliances Of my own invention. Chlorine
/ fumes will kill most microbes such as those
! in the other cases, for example; but THIS
feuow-'Ki ing Pest rs we call him-iS not
! sensibly affected by any known agent.
by no one in this country continued
DR. Bond. has reproduction on the scale
which you now see, been hlthert" at
| tempted The lenses / use were specially
/ made in vienna Hitherto these germs
/ have been very imperfectly examined
! Nv object, of course, is to experiment IN
! various methods for their destruction.
Another quick change OF the lenses, and
! a further vision was disclosed;
/ Hitherto King Pest aud ms lesser COM
paulpus alone had been visible, but this
! further power revealed the whole llelu
! Of view rs literally teeming with still
| lower forms OF all conceivable shapes
| these lesser organisms joslted each othtr IN
| their may course, so thiCkly ConEregateu
were they-a motley crew! But supreme
| in their midst, IN all his hldeous ma ajeSty-
] Kip. Pest pursued his way. ! noticed that
4 n
| freqtlcntIy came in contact with their more
powerful companions. Apparently he dis
regarded them: but, on looking closer I
discovered that those who thus touched
him. more especially in the region OF the
ten1acles, paid a penalty for doing so.
The monster was literally all mouth, and
absorbed everything coming in contact with
him.
Lesser microbes" remarked Or. Bond,
more or less associated with the same
disease"
Even as he spoke the supreme microbe
slowly descended toward the lower part
OF the field. First the spiral cords dis
appeared. then the swaying, slnu"us BODY;
lastly, only the trUuCated neck and hand
less arms remaiued in sight. Hideous to
the last, and with the uplifted tentacles
now forming a CorOnal above him, he
gradually sank from view.
III
King Pest and his companions haunted
my sIumber that night. Suddenly awoke.
What was that-a cry for help? listened
intently. Yes, there II was again The
CIV seemed 10 come from some remote
part of the building.
Striking a light and hastily dressing, ran
to WaIner's room
He was already astir, having also heard
the alarm We rushed down stairs to-
getheI. guided in our course along the pas
sageE by the ever continued criesfor help.
AT last we reached the picture gallery
Dick bust open the door and l followed.
DT Bond, pale as death. was pressing
with all his might against partition of one
Of the glass cases-thc one. Isaw at a glance,
which contained King Pest and his tIibei
quick" cried our host eXcitedly. Come
here quickly, for heavens sakei The glass
has been accidentally Shattered and fear
il is giving way!'
Rushing TO his side, we endeavoIed to
support the huge crystal pane, which was
evidently badly fractured. a long lateral
crack extended across it, and the whole
side Of the case Threatened TO bulge outward
as if fIOm some internal pressure, probably
that Of compressed air.
None ofus spoke We all knew too well
my companions even better than + the
imminent danger against which we were
]
crystal partition Itself tended TO make our
! task more difficult, and, to my dismay, /
saw that the fisSure crossing II was gaping
slightly Already a sickening odor of car
| rion filled the air / knew instinctvely
what that neant-we were face TO face
| with death in one of its most awfulformSl
Its OF DO use, we can do no more" cried
/ Or Bond franticany, the perspiration pour
liz down his face the side is bound to
giye-and the air is escaping! Quick, both
of you, TO the door, while hold this mean
while Keep the door open till | make a
run for it, after letting go. 1t is our only
Chancei'
We did as he directed We watched him
still pressing against the glass, then when
he saw that the way was clear for his es-
cape, he released his hold and made for
the door. AS he did so the massive pane
swaycd for moment. then fell heavily
outward with a crash on the floor. We
| locked the door Of the DEATH chamber and
fled along the passages. King Pest was
loose.
".
We had q hurried consultation down
stairs 1t seemed that the glass ha d been
accidentally broken by t!-2 doctor falling
/ against il while carrying some heavy
metal vessel from the room. Our host
was quite imperative as to what was now
! to be done.
Seeing that the deadly germs had escaped,
/ there was no. alternative but TO quit the
/ premises at once. A milder form of con-
/ iagiOn might well enough have been isolated
/ i'm the room. or, at all events, in that quarter
! Of the building, uutilsuitable measures were
used TO destroy it. In the present case,