The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1899-06-23
events which the night was destined t
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events which the night was destined "a
I'm Tss 's s'sel point.a.o $40. Showing
that thswhole dread scene through
which I Had passed that evening had
consumed barely Is minutes, though
naturally the space Of time had seemed
like hours. Eight-thirty. -. In 90
minutes more, the inexorable clock
ticking out the minutes so patiently
would have broughtiits minute hand
round to the fatal stroke, the bomb
would explode and then. -. A feel
ing of nausea rose in my throat al the
hideous reality beat its horror into my
brain, and stroye with all my might to
shut out the black thoughts which over
Whelmed me. sia8fs 1874 4Eff 8
1T, For the firstten minutes the agony 81
waiting was softened somewhat BY the
hope that something might happenl to
save me. But when the ten minutes
had passed. my soul grew sick, and a
dull feeling of resignation took hold OF
my being. Ny time had come; ny
course was run; my hour was at hand
Let me faceEdeath like man., for lin
spite of my profession, I retained some
OF the instincts of manhood, and<I fe-
solved to. meet the end as quietly las
though . thousand eyes watched my
exit. h9fta,is 81 l,.ij33 -! H.. Z
Fifteen minutes to nine. = ), .-.3.I The
minute. hand seemed to- linger q long
time, and q sudden hope raced through
my mind that prechance the, clock
might stop. But second, later'I saw
with a pang that my fancy: had de-
ceived nae, for the cruel hand moved on,
and now, O, Heaven, another minute
was registered J., ;t!:cij-~i, II, %,
Thirteen minutes to nine! An icy
feeling shivered through my body my
tongue clave to the roof of my mouth
nausea seized me with a mighty grip.
In, three more minutes the explosion
would occur, and should have gone out
to the great mystery, which laps the
shores of this world s life. Three min
utes more! ,,..,...
MY: eyes began to swim, a red Iii ht
was in them, burning them like, live
Goals "a thousand fiendish voices
buzzed in my ear-but above them all
there rang out the tick-tick of the
clock, every second bringing me nearer
and nearer to the end. > T..
I tried to grasp prayer, but my lips
we're parched and could not have moved
even If the gag had not held them rigid;
l tried to frame silent supplication to
the Almighty for deliverance, but my
mind could not work coherently, and
the .entreatyklanguished runmade. A
feeling of measureless despair envol-
oPed my soul, and then; as the minute
hand of>the tiny clock glancedttowards
the fatal. figure,Na Ifaintness clutched
my being, white mist was in my eyes,
and uncoasciousness mercifully claimed
my senses. ~-
When I recovered, the room was full
of policemen, and; Inspector Grierson,
one of my best pals, was ykneeling beside
me, holding some liquid to my lips. His
fat, honest face was full of sympathy
as he. exclaimed, tcheerily: a'ss'' :.
Drink that, Mi. Darlington, and
don't try and talk till &ou:feela bit bet
ter. There!" he added, encouragingly,
as. the raw brandy brought back a sem
blance of life to my cheeks-"you're
looking livelier already. v. By
George! you've had the narrowest
squeak that man ever had in this bust
ness"
''The bomb, the bomb, asked, faint
ly, where is it?. What has become of
it? Why didn't it explode?" :;
The inspector pointed to a bucket of
water in the corner of the ROOM:
''The bomb is there" he answered,
quietly, land can do no harm now. The
rascals have escaped, bad luck: to them.
Did they tell you at what time they had
set that little bit of machinery to ex-
plode?' ..- -
''Most certainly they did, made an
swer, as slowly raised myself from
the floor; "at ten minutes to nine pre-
cisely."'
"Then your escape is all the more in
explicable,' returned the inspector,
''for we did not arrive here until.ni
o'clock exactly, as arranged with YOU
II am as amazed as you are;" said l.:
''surely the clock could not have been
It was quite new, for the man
Menskoff told me he had purchased it
only this morning in Edinburgh
On, hearing these words, Inspector
Grierson uttered low whistle, and an
Illuminating intelligence :shone in his
face.
Great Scott" he. exclaimed, slapping
his knee, II see it all!''
''See what?' shouted, mad with ex-
"See what?'' l. ), Ill -.
''Why, the explanation of your saliva
ton. You say that clock was bought in
Edinburgh. Well, you may not know55it,
but it so happens that Edinburgh time
is just 10 minutes behind the London
hour, and to that fact, Mr.. Darlington,
you owe your life this evening""
And so it was.-Tit-Bits.
An Effective Preacher. -
How to interest and hold the atten-
ton of an audience is often source
of much, work and thought. but the
following incident astonished me. by
its power and; effectiveness, The ma
jority of those who worship in my con-
gregation are as attentive as any au-
dience in the west. Indeed, Ithink they
are exceptional in this respect Last
Sunday morning I preached a sermon
on ''The! Good Fl ht of Faith. p oAsl /
got warmed up my hands kept pace
with mystongues The attention was
far beyond tn; ordinary; every eye was
fixed q, on the preacher frqm start to
finish. And I-7please DO not:aceuse me