The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-07-26

your drafts 70 ehs oxtsnt Of u, 900, and
will SEQ you tomorrow. Wberef"
"At my ofnos, II you please, 1880 ISa'
ington avenue"
"0ood dsy, Doctor" And I found my
self In tho street, wondering whether
was ohump' sn ass, Or both.
Tho time passed rapidly until tho 22d,
and II seemed once aE though our instru-
mcnt would not be placed mt R. on tho
desired day, 30 many unforeseen difhoul-
tiss arose 10 delay us.
But DIR. Murray was as energetic ~ no
was enthusiastic, and the night Of the 2lst
found us installed on the top floor of the
Hotel Irving and tho instrument placed In
. temporary observatory erected on tho
roof.
DIR. Murray and had small interest In
anything els. We were thinking with all
our energies Of tho experiment tomorrow
and Its result. What would IL bes
But tomorrow became today, and slowly
the forenoon dragged itself through until
IL lacked but 10 minutes Of tho appointed
time to begin our experiment. And what
would we learn II Murray . discovery wcrc
right?
What wonders would that great golden
orb yield to our inquisitiye eyesY
Somehow i felt strangely opprcsaed az
paced up and down tho hall outside our
rooms, IN with some impending evil, and
to quiet my nerves Lighted another cigar.
As I did 40 Murray came up TO me, and l
was startled To note how strangely pale he
was, but before could speak he stopped
mo with gesture.
"HoffmaB, he said, 1--WE pre- all ready
noun tn nh C,,, diaco, ar., t< $bo t.at What
IL will prove cannot say, but feel that
something aran.N and terrible is about to
happen. don't doubt that the telescope
will work, that my discovery will prove
successful, but am certain that what 10
will reveal will DO far beyond our I'm
| asination."
"But, doctor, you cer''-I interrupted.
"No, no, Hoffman, let US not talk about
1t. Let us 60 and see. But FIRST promised
that on the day we made this experiment
would reveal the formula Of my disoov-
cry, and will do SO now.'
"Never mind that now, doc. Wait till
| We see II II works. Let us go up to the OBJ
servatory," and I led the way up the
stairs, Murray quickly following.
As we stepped Oh the roof glanced at
my watch. 1t lacked but five minutes, and
| strolled over to the telescope and began
carefully examining it's Adjustments for
| at least the hundredth time.
As did so was startled by the loud
clang Of the fire alarm and cries Of Fire!
Fire' in the street below.
/ turned toward Murray, but he was
hurrying toward the edge Of the roof fac
ing the street, and started to follow, only
to be stopped before could take half q
dozen steps by Murray, who had been
leaning over the edge Of the roof, and now
turned to me with blanched face and ex
claimed:
| "Good heavens, Hoffman, 1t Is the no.
tel, and 1t is one mass of flames"
He turned again to the street, and as he
did SO q cry Of horror escaped my lips, fol
in his excitement he leaned farther out
than he thought, and as made q wild.
| foolhardy reach for him he plunged head.
long into the street below.
| leaned, horror struck, over the root
and gazed into the street, only to be con.
fronted by seething mass Of flames and
great, eddying clouds of smoke, which
seemed to pour from every window In the
building, while from the opposite side Of
the street could see men excitedly run.
ming to spot directly beneath where
stood.
Then the peril Of my position burst
more fully upon me and ran for the
stairway.
| AS passed the telescope an uncontroll.
| able desire to take ono look at the sun,
now almost overhead, possessed me, and
| turned back.
It was but the work of an instant to ad-
| just tho lenses and turn the instrument
| on that great golden orb. Then l pressed
| my eye to the tube, only to pinch myself
to make sure 1 was awake
At once all thought of fire and the aw-
full fate of Murray left my mind. I could
see nothing, know nothing but the scene
spread before my eye.
The scene on the glass seemed divided
| into two parts, one dark, cold and forbid.
ding, the other bright, sparkling, blind.
| ing. AS my eye became more accustomed
| to the glass could see that the two parts
| of the picture were divided by broad
| stream of water that flowed with swift,
| raging current, and the scene on the right,
| which had appeared to glow with the
brilliance of raging flames, was a city of
magnificent size surrounded by gigantic
| wall, and tho material of which the wall
and buildings were constructed glowed
| with IA phosphorescent quality equal to
mllllOUS VI lHCuuuesCeHt laIlipS.
The scene on the left was broad and
bare, only wide, rough plains Of jagged,
cumbersome rocks and dark, deep assures,
| backed with mighty mountain peaks,
standing brown and ugly In the clear at.
mosphere.
AS studied tho surface more closely
discovered an object moving rapidly to.
ward the river.
Eagerly, feverishly, I screwed up the
adjustments until the figure of a man
stood out plainly.
Carefully examined him, then rubbed
my forehead In bewilderment. Was
crazedY Had gone stark madp Horrors!
| I sprang from the instrument in terror
and fell unconscious to the floor.
They tell me lay In wild delirium OF
brain fever for weeks, but all I know Is
that when came to myself was in the
R. hospital, too weak almost to speak,
with gentle, white capped nurse at my
| side.
tried to speak, but she stopped me
with a ppsturp and dropped off In eleop