The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1899-06-23

portance to the cause. The first is that
this man Withers is q dangerous spy,
and that his acquaintance with us has
been an official trick which in . few
minutes we shall repay heavily" t,,g
He paused, and then continues:
The second thing have discovered
Is this: that at nine o'clock tonight
the house will be raided, and every man
OF us present arrested" f mi
A hoarse cry rose from the men, and
could not repress slight glance of
amazement. Menskoff understood NV
expression, for he came towards me,
and striking me in the face said, wasp
ishly: ~. &SsR6R
"Aha, then, my good Mr.. Withers,
you do not know, evidently, that we
also have our spies among the police
force even as you have yours among
ourselves. Our own informers are as
watchful and as clever as yours, and by
their" agency has all this knowledge
come to me. What think you of it, my
friend; what think you of it, hey?" -
He struck me again, very brutally.
The malignity of his glance and. the
harsh, set faces of the other men showed
me only too plainly that I had small
mercy to expect.now. ~ =. =:
Slips OF paper were handed round the
table, and each member.w directed to
1nscribe thereon what should be nv
punishment. Then the slips were hand
ed to Menskoff, who glanced at them
with CLEAN of satisfaction on his face.
Edward Withers,' he said, address
ing me, after pause, "the sentence
written by each member of this meet
ing consists of one word, Death Make
ready; your time is short
The anarchist went to the corner of
the room where he had deposited his
portmanteau. Hastily opening the
bag, he took from it small bomb with
a clockwork apparatus attached, also
a tiny clock of common appearance.
Having deposited these on the table be-
side me, he addressed hiscomrades.
my good brothers," he exclaimed,
talking in quick, excitable tone, ''now
that you have pronounced the sentence
of death, it is but right that you should
be Informed how your sentence will be
carried into effect. Behold,
then, this bomb. I obtained it at our
factory at Edinburgh, together with
the clockwork gear by: which the time.
OF explosion can be regulated. With
this little bomb shall blow our friend
to pieces, and it will be we'll now if you
bid him .adieu and leave us together.
You will also do we'll to keep in hiding
until the present activity on the part of
our kind friends, the police, is some
what abated.'' 49,.
Obedience to this man seemed newt
able. One by one, the whole crowd rose
and slowly left the house, each man
giving me look of hatred as he went.
I perfectly understood Menskoff's
design in resolving to destroy. me by
means of the bomb instead of taking up
his revolver and dispatching me then
and there. The, explosion would bring
the house%to the ground, damage ad-
joining property, and would be in every
way the best ''advertisement" that the
cause could obtain, whilst at the same
time all other informers would tremble
when they learned the horrible fate of
one of their body. Verify, fiend's de-
vice, and worthy of him who devised it,
When the last footsteps of the re-
treating men had died away, the an
arch;st leaned over the table where the
deadly apparatus was placed and SLOW
ly adjusted it: Theft turning to me, he
q IoI cd 0r,+
which was as brutal as blow: j..
''See here, my good friend, see here.
I have left the bomb and the clock in
such position that you are bound to
see both, and as the hands of the clock
creep on, you will have the felicity of
knowing that each minute is carrying
you nearer to the, end. And now, shall
l tell you, my friend, at what hour, nay,
at what minute, L have timed this lit
tie plaything to explode?"
1t was impossible for me to convey
my desire to know, for could not move
my head or open my lips. However,
Menskof appeared to consider an an
swer superfluous, for, after a minutes
interval, he laughed again and cried:
81: have set it to explode at ten min
utes to nine. -. Why not before,
Simply because, good Mr.. Withers, it
will add tenfold to your. torture to re-
member that had ten minutes more
been given you, you would have been
rescued by your friends from Scotland
Yard. {. Aha! I see you change color.
You appreciate the tenderness of. NV
little plan"
The fend spoke the truth. The ter
rible cruelty of his scheme burned into
my brain. It was hard; Enthusiastically
hard, to be done to death at all-with
many hours elapsing between myself
and possible rescue. -. but to know
that ten minutes would mean life, and
the absence of them death. H.: ah.,
that was refinement of agony Which a
man must be in my place to thoroughly
and properly appreciated j
The anarchist gave one more glance
at the apparatus to see that it was all in
order, and then turned toward the door.
He returned, however, to where I was
bound, and greeted me with mocking
smile. :,
"You are admiring my little clock, are
you not?" he asked, grinning so wide
ly that his black gums rsickened my,
sight. ':Well, it may interest you to
know, good Mr.. Withers, that you and
I;are the only two persons in the world
who shall have had any use forit. 49,
I, bought it in Edinburgh only this
morning, little thinking that its career
would end SO soon." j%rf 49,
Then, tapping the timepiece gently,