Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1894-1895, 1895-01-04
"'Pardon me for the unreasonable


hour at which 1 calf he said. in clear.
crisp tone, but l suppose doctors get
used to all sorts of calls
Certainly / replied, 1 fear some
what impatiently. as he had interrupt
ed me at the time when l did not like
to be disturbed. What can | do for
you"
"'Oh, / do not come for professional
assistance he FASTENED 10 say. evident
ly reading my thoughts. Mine is strict
~ business call. Are you at liberty
for Il few minutes?'
"'Ies. but the hour is late, so trust
you will be rs brief as possible
DIR. Barlow. how much are you
worth?
Enough to make life cOmforta BILE
for myself replied. If you have no
more important question than that our
interview might as we'll come to an end
at once
Pardon me- l will come to business.
AS | told you, | am a professor of
science and have made q discovery
which is worth millions. | need not
tell you of the anxious days and sleep
less nights it has cost me. No matter.
l have succeeded at last. And YOU are
the first man | have ever approached
with my secret. j did not do that until
| was satisfied that you were the safest
one l could find
AS he spoke he opened a small bag
that he carried and took out three or
four walls to place upon the table.
Education. based upon scientific re-
search, he remarked. has made a
startling advance within the last few
years. But no man has gone further
into the unfathomable depths than
myself. You have basin of water
there; pardon me if l appropriate it 10
my own use
Il bowed acquiescence, too much sur
prised to speak.
lie quickly unsealed one of the
walls and poured its contents into the
basin of water. Then from another
he slfted bluiSh-cOlored powder upon
the surface of the liquid. which no
sooner had it touched the other than it
began to hiss, foam, and sparkle. until
there came report like Il pistol shot.
and Il column of lurid flame leaped I'D
to the ceiling.
Il started back with Il cry OF ter
rOr.
Don't be alarmed he assured me.
with smile the water VIII soon burn
out
10
and to diminish in height, when it
finally died out altogether, and | saw
that the basin was empty.
"'How much do you think that Sc
crct is WORTH asked my visitor. still
showing white teeth between parted
lips.
What do you mean?" l cried.
Sit down and be compot ed and I
will quickly explain Then. "a: l sanl,
into the nearest seat, at Il loss what to
do or say, he continued:
Seeing is believing. so l have
shown TO you what can DO to impress
upon YOU more deeply the power /
possess. You have seen that basin of
water burn like so much oil, and now
you will believe me when | tell YOU
that | have unlocked one of natures
great secrets and that the key lies in
that small vial!'
His demoniacal smile as he spoke
made me shuddcr.'
~ do not understand YOU 1 falter-
ed. If you mean that you can burn
water
Haven't done it?' he cried. why.
man alive, don't you realize the impor-
lance of that secret? In those Walls
are held the component agents able TO
separate the constituent parts of water
and. freeing the same set them at war
with each other, which must result in
combustion and total humiliation.
Think of that, and realize that 1
hold in my hand the destiny of the
world. Let me throw ever SO little OF
those wonderful properties on the At
lantic, and dare you contemplate the
result? In one instant q nucleus of
fire would be formed to grow swiftly
in size, separating the gases of water
and feeding upon them until the
shores of Europe and America would
be wrapped in Il sheet of flame
"'No deluge that ever drowned the
world could eXtinguiSh the conilagra-
ton, but would rather transport the
fiery legions to the very pillars of the
heavens. And it would spread from
shore to shore and from ocean to
ocean until it had EMBODIED the globe
in its seething embrace. Every Great
ure OF the sea, the air, and the land
would perish-aye, the earth Itself
would melt into feryent heat
During this startling speech he had
worked himself into fearful frenzy.
to fix his intense gaze upon me as he
concluded with a light that burned into
my inmost being. felt l was in the
presence of mad man.
4" oh, WE'LL l said, with what calm
ness l could command, we won't an
ticipate so dreadful a catastrophe as
you so wildly describe, but it is evil
dent you have made a remarkable dis
coyorv I an apyio,Ic 10 Ipn,, i,,,t