Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-02-23

"'AS l seated myself and caught up
my pencil, he raised his white hands
and began 20 sign TO me:
"'"Show no fright a. whatever
say. Pretend TO take notes or YOU
viii betray yourself.
Acting on his suggestion, began
tracing dlsjointed sentences upon the
paper.
"'"This is no place for you. These
people are desperate characters, and il
they suspected what am saying might
injure you.
Again pause, during which
shaded my face with one hand, and
Scrawled Senseless marks over the pa
per with the other.
Apparently mother and son We're
satisfied with their security, for they
soon retired to the other end OF the
long room. As they went | heard her
murmur 10 Victor:
"'"Come, the old miser won't forget
his own flesh and blood. AT any rate
that girl shall stay in the house until
her notes are written out in plain Eng
lish and the experiments made. gave
that foolish teacher of hers wrong
address"
AS soon as they had withdrawn
to the farther end OF the room the in
valid FASTENED to communicate as rap
idly as possible the state OF affairs Of
this strange household. The woman,
Mrs. Westinghouse, was, so he sad,
Lis siSter-in-law, the widow of his
only Brother and Victor was, of
course, his nephew. About three
years ago, however, Victor, who had
acted as his brothers assistant in the
laboratory, had repaid his generosity
by attempting to steal from him the
secret which he had spent years III
perfecting. Failing in this, he had
forged his uncleS name for sum
amounting to large share of his for
tune, and had applied the proceeds to
the payment of gambling debts. Now,
when he was on his death bed, they
returned. unlimited, with the hope of
extracting from the sick man the only
wealth remaining to him-his recent
discovery.
He then dictated by means of the
sign alphabet what seemed like a tech
nical article. many words of which he
was obliged to spell for me, and in
Guiding the finest weights and meas
ures relating to metalurgy. After he
had completed it he suddenly signed;
hot NthI ~ m
paper to fall into the hands of Mrs.
Westinghouse and her SON
In my fright | took the oath.
"'"Now sit down ana take Il bogus
paper, which you must give to Mrs.
Westinghouse, But first conceal this
paper in your dress.
HE then dictated another paper
different in every way from the first
as to it's methods; and then motioncd
that must write out the second paper
as soon as possible, give it to Mrs.
Westinghouse, and then effect my es-
cape before the fraud was discovered,
LAS ! looked at him ooubtingly, he
added Trust me. | will provide
the way"
"'"But YOU" | asked.
He tried to laugh. Il shant live
twenty-four hours" he replied.
Hardly had he finished when the
door opened and the woman again en-
tered. | showed her the pages that |
had taken and penciled note, saying
that the formula was complete, out
~, : ho1
to write it out, as it contained many
unfamiliar terms for which | should
need to refer to a dictionary.
She led the way to a room open
ing out of her own, indicating that she
thought | might feel less lonely if |
were near her Later, | heard the key
turn softly on the outside of the door
leading from my room into the hall.
Early the next morning the wo
man unlocked my door, and after had
eaten a hasty breakfast, led me to a
library we'll equipped with reference
books, where, so she wrote, | was to
finish my work Then she left me,
locking me in once more.
haQ reached ABOUT tne mldule OF
the false formula when the door
opened and the woman entered in
great haste. Snatching up my pad, the
woman wrote, He is sinking fast,
The experiment must begin at once.
row much of the formula remains"
al Wrote, "Over one-half.'
"'Never mind" she wrote in re-
turn, Victor can begin with what you
have. Give me the papers. You may
finish the rest in my brothers room,
and bring it to us in the laboratory"
As we entered the invalids room
saw that the bridge that / had noticed |
the night before as connecting the
house and laboratory was approached |
from this window.
Hastily signifying that | must
cross the bridge in order TO bring her |
the remainder of the formula the wo-
man sent Victor ahead. and then /
turned to follow.
For the next two hours nothing |
was to pe heard in the room save the
IL.