The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-07-31
My Lady'S
Strange Girdle.
BY Lucy Cleveland.

a flash illuminating his fine features.
81 haze been at it all night. l have
seen the interior of the captains locked
box. He allowed me to photograph it.
HAL Caithness and l exclaimed in
the same breath and looked at each 9TH
er. But u eyes met in a start and an
amaZement the next moment, for as we
turned to shake our congratulations in
to the fellows hand my foot knocked
up against something in the half dark
on the deck. 1t was my lady's strange
girdle. A waltz had shaken it from her
waist.
/ believe in one moment my whole
plan was formulated in my brain.
Ipicked up the girdle and gave CATH
ness an immense look. Neither of us
spoke.
81 have an interesting thing here, /
said coolly. knowing that the German
professor who staid SO much to him
self had not heard the ships buzz Of
talk about the belt. Twill you photo
graph its interior for me?'
"Why, certainly" he said courteous
ly. Come with me to my stateroom
now, gentlemen. l think the tubes are
in good working order"
We followed him down the compan-
ionway. He had a large stateroom aft,
but his travelling paraphernalia was all
tucked away to make room for the ap-
paratus for Roentgen photography
placed on a large table. He explained
it to MS with the hurried interest of the
enthusiast. On a clamp support was
the Crookes tube, of approximately
spherical shape and the type originally
used by Professor Crookes to show the
dependence upon the negative pole of
radiant state phenomena. The excita-
ton was furnished by IN induction coil,
the primary Of which was excited by a
five cell storage battery, and the second
airy was taken as giving 200, 900 volts
potential, corresponding roughly"
says the professor. "to a spark length
Or distance between electrodes of two
Or three inches of air. Wires from the
secondary wore connected to the termi-
nails of the Crookes tube, the negative
wire to the upper electrode.
"Where is the sensitized platter" 1 ex-
claimed, hoi~ing in my hand the girdle
that in a magnetic manner bound me to
the lovely woman. And yet there was
something hard and knotty within it.
Love letters?" said my tormented
brain.
Contained in this ordinary plate
holder" says the professor, answering
my question. ~ believe yet greater
methods will be invented" (The world
had not yet had news of Edison's de-
velopments.) lyon will place the Cir
die OF its slide of ebonite, gentlemen,
under the Crookes tube. It will neces-
state five to ten minutes exposure. I
shall develop the plate or image with
eikonogen. The development will be
slow. The image does not appear at all
for a relatively long time and comes up
slowly. We wan to bring out all there
is in the picture. But therein is the in
terest. The shadowgraph Of the IN
known, as it appears, is something SO
marvellous"
We waited. The bleak daylight was
Frightening through the portfolio.
Caithness said afterward there was q
red spot working OH my cheek like my
lady's very own.
The tube was excited for some min
utes. The professor removed the plate
and darkened the portfolio. 1 began to
feel a queer tremor go all over me, and
I'm no any more nervous than the
short horns of a California steer.
The silence was very painful as the
professor bent over the very slowly de-
veloping plate. The darkness was a
weird one, with only that red eye of
the lantern over there watching US. ]
thought of the black night and the spi.
raj of shaking color and the movement
gain along the black. l thought OF
that low, red, awful eye of sunset
watching us off Gibraltar, a drop as
from some giant wound in heaven. ]
thought of the thick crimson smear OF
sea beneath it. And between it, among
it all, fluttered the red spark on my la
dy's cheek and tho round RID pomegran.
ate blossoms breathing t, warm love
breath across the whorl O. .~-usic, breath
ing it up to me as l held her in that
rhythmic meter of souls-for there wal