The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-25

the rock, as was supposed, but the secret OF It's
source is still unknow;. DIR. Syx reduces the
supply, general dissatisfaction prevails. and a
MOB attacks his mine, but is repulsed by the
guards. Hall. still pursuing his investigation
Teton, and light is thrown on the profound mys-
terry of DIR. SsX's wonderful mine. Hall discovers
that the mines engines only while the
moon Is above the horizon. He begins expert
ments and tries to produce artemisum himself
XIIT-THE LOOTING OF THE MOON.
Il have set it upon a point about 100
miles north of Tycho, where the Yerkes
photographs show a great abundance of the
white substance" said Hall.
Then we waited A minute elapsed. A
bird, fiuttering in the opening above. for a
second or two, wrenched our strained
nerves. Halls face turned pale.
They had better keep away from here,
he half whispered. with a CHASTITY smile.
Two minutes! 1 could hear the beating
of my heart. The engine shook the floor.
Three minutes. Halls face was wet with
perspiration. The bird blundered in and
startled US again.
Four minutesi We were like statues,
with all eyes fixed on the polished ball
of silver, which shole in the brilliant light
concentrated upon it by the mirror.
Five minutes! The shining ball had be-
come confused blue, and violently wink
ed to clear my vision.
AT last! Thank God. Look! There it
isl"
1t was Hall who spoke, trembling like an
aspen. The silver knob had changed color.
What seemed miniature rainbow sur
rounded it, with concentric circles OF blind
ing brilliance.
Then something dropped flashing into
an earthen dish set, beneath the ball! An
other glittering drop followed, and, at
shorter interval, another!
Almost before word could be uttered
the drops had coalesced and become tiny
stream, which, as it fell. twisted itself into
q bright spiral, cleaning with 100 shifting
hues, and forming on the bottom of the
dish a glowing, interlacing maze OF viscid
rings and circlets, which turned and twined
about and over one another. until they had
blended and settled into a button shaped
mass of hot metallic jelly. Hall snatched
the dish away, and placed another in its
stead.
This will be about right for watch
charm when it cools.' he said, with
return of his customary self-conmand.
Il promised you the first specimen LII
catch another for myself"
But can it be possible that We are
not dreaming" exclaimed do you
really believe that this comes from the
moon?"
Just as surely as rain comes from the
Clouds" cried Hall. with all his old i'm
patience. Haven't 1 just shown you
the whole process?'
Then / congratulate you. You viii
be as rich as DR.. Syx."
Perhaps" was the unperturbed re-
ply, but not until / have enlarged my
apparatus. At present 1 shall hardly do
more than supply mementoes to my
fr;n puf eli hQ s..
tablished the rest is mere detail"
Six weeks later the financial centres
of the earth were shaken by the news
that new supply Of artemisium was
being marketed from mill which had
been secretly opened in the Sierras OF
California. For time there was al
most q Sanic II Hall had chosen to do
20 he might has precipitated serious
trouble But he Immediately entered
into negotiations with Government rep
resertatives, and the inevitable result
was that, to preserve the monetary sys-
tenn of the world from upheayal, DR..
Syx had to consent that Halls mill
should share equally with his in the pro-
duction of artemisium. During the nego-
tiations the doctor paid visit to Halls
establishment The meeting between them
was most dramatic Syx tried to blast
his rival with glance but knowledge IS
power, and my friend, faced his mystic
rious antagonist, whose deepest secrets
he had penetrated, with an unfiincning
eye. 1t was remarked that DIR. SyI be-
came changed man from that moment.
His masterful air seemed to have de-
serted him. and it was with something
resembling humility that he assented TO
the arrangement which required him to
share his enormous gains with his con-
queror.
OF course, Halls success led to an i'm
mediate recrudescence of the efforts to ex-
tract artem:sium from the Syx ore, and,
equally OF course, every such attempt fall
ed. Hall, while keeping his own secret, did
all he could to discourage the experiments.
but they naturally believed that he must
have made the very discovery which was
the subject of their dreams and he could
not, without betraying himself, and up
setting the finances of the planet, directly
undeceive them. The consequence was that
fortunes were wasted in hopeless expert,
meDtation, and, with Halls achievement
dazzling their eyes, the deiuded fortune
seekers kept on in the face of endless dis
appoiL tment and disaster.
And presently there came another TRACE
dy. The Syx mill was blown up! The
accident although many people refused
to regard 1t as an accident, and asserted
that the doctor himself, in his chagrin had
applied the ma.ch-:he explosion, then, oc-
CURED about shutdown, and its effects were
awful. The great works. with everything
pertaining to them, and every rail that
they contained, were blown to atoms. They
disappeared as IL they had never existed.
Even the twin tunnels were involved in the
ruin, vast cavity being left in the noun
tain side where SyX's ten acres had been.
The force Of the explosion was SO great
that the shattered rock was reduced to
dust. To this fact was owing the escape OF
the troops camped near. While the noun
tain was shaken to its core, and enormous
parapets of living rock were hurled down
the precipices Of the Teton, no missiles OF
appreciabIe size traversed the air, and not
a man at the camp was injured. But Jack
cons hole, filled with red dust looked for
days afterward like the mouth Of a tre-
mendous volcano just after an eruption. Dr.
Syx had been seen entering the mill a few
minutes before the catastrophe by a SEN
tlnel who was stationed about quarter OF
q mile away, and who, although he was
felled like an OK by the shock. and had his
eyes, ears and nostrils filled with flying
dust, miraculousiy escaped with his life.
After this new arrangement was made
whereby Andrew Hall became the sole
producer of artemisium, and his wealth
began to mount by leaps Of millions to-
ward the starry heights Of the billions.
About year after the explosion OF the !
Syx mill a strange rumor got about. 1t |
came first from Budapest, in Hungary, |
where it was ayerred several persons of |
credulity had seen DR.. Max Syx. Millions |
had been familiar with his face and his |
personal peculiarities. through actually |
meeting him, as well as through photo
graphs and descriptions. and, unless there 1
was an intention to deceive, it did not 1
hit scto - rO,r1A ho