The age-herald., 1900-02-04


 that dll accorded with the passionate ten derness Of the words. It sent a shiver down my back and caused the drous to start on my forehead. With an effort pulled myself together and drew near to look into the room. It had evidently been Mr. Bellvflle's laboratory for there were bottles and retorts and instruments stand ing about. Mrs. Bellville stood near a large fiat top desk, at which sat a man in revolving chair. One arm was streched out, as af he was searching for something among the litter of books and papers: an odd looking instrument stood beside him on the desk, and the light from a shaded lamp fell full upon his face. I could just catch a glimpse of the delicate clear cut profile So icy, so mmobile. 1t might have been face of wax for all the suggestion of life or movement it gave. I was too much astonished to form conjecture as ito the nature of what I saw, but stood spellbound, my eyes fastened upon the motionless figure.
 Presently Mrs. Belville spoke again wearily, and as if she was repeating some thipg said many times before. .s
 We can laugh at death, you and l. He cannot take you from me nor silence your beloved voice. nor mar your dear form--' There was no responsive movement in the rigid figure of the man and the quiet lips moved not. She waited with her hand lightly touching the instrument at his side ~n 9--AS1ail OSdl WIuly dS l HSIe0e0. At last that human, yet unhuman, voice spoke again:
 Do not let us talk of death lo-" a sud- den pause. A long drawn "Ah!" from Mrs. Bellville-"we." the voice continued. '1et us ra-" and died away in a tumble of dis ccrdant sounds.
 Mrs. Bellville stood silent with dilated eyes, great horror gathering in her face would have gone to her then and tried to take her from the room and her strange companion, but a nameless horror had taken possession of me and I could only stand and gape.
 My Godl" she burst out at last "worn out so soon-worn out-worn out Ah, Ru- dolph, Rudolph, speak to me,'
 With strange inconsistency. instead of-ad- dressing the man, she seemed rather to be appealing to the instrument at his side, with which she fumblod aimlessly. Then, with a sudden impulse she threw herself upon the breast of the motionless figure, sobbing hyster,cally. Still I stood and gaped. The chair turned with the pressure of her body and the arm that was out stretched among the papers turned with it. Nearer and nearer Ito the lamp. It touched ithe stand and forced 1t to the edge of the table. And now the face of the man was three-quarters toward me-ffll toward me. There was a crash. The lamp had fallen! A sudden glare. and I saw-oh, horrible-the face, as I had seen it many times in his portrait. only waxen white and rigid-the face of MT. Be1lvillei
 Terror-stricken, I stood while the flames played among the papers on the table, and stretched their red. fct-ked tongues down over the sides to lick the floor. Then sud- den realization of danger. My heart, which had stopped beating, began ito knock against my ribs with terrible energy. saw the flames darting angr.ly at the figures in tine chair The spell was broken. I ran forward and tried with might and main to stifle the fire-with my hands-with the hearth rug-but ito mo purpose Then with a strength of which I had never dreamed myself capable I tore Mrs. Bellville away and half dragging. half carrying her through the binding. suffocating smoke reached the door into the hall I remember opening 1t and staggering out-closing it be- hind me-feeling Mrs Bellville slip from my grasp to the f1oor-the odor of -smoke-the roaring cracking sound behind the closed door; and I can hear asain my own wild cry as I sank down, overcome by a deadly faintness.
 After this. a blank of I know not how long; and my next memory Is of being car ried down stairs in someone's arms-of looking up into Jack Raymond's face and of having it blurred out of sight by the clouds of smoke that rolled between us. -
 The destruction of Mrs. Rellvil1e's house marked new era fin her ex stence. Whether 1t was the shock she sustained, or her forced removal from the midst of painful associations, I know not; but her health and spirits began to improve from that time. It was not for weeks afterward that I heard from her nephew, in whom she had confided. the true history of the scene I had witnessed in the laboratory and which. to be candid, had caused me much anxious wonder.
 It seemed that some of MT. Bellvil1e's val uable time had been snerit in making cer- tain exreriments relative to the preserva- tion of the body from decay and death A pursuit which, his wife asserted was born of their passionate devotion and the fear each had of losing sight of the oIher. He succeeded at last in con'hinine certain chemicals in such a way that dead body treated with them was rendered impcrvous to decay for almost indefinite period After tbts he made a siliv c0rnnHNt win his wife to the effect t1'ei' whichever died first should he ernba'nled wi'a, this devirsh de,eoction and the body p'aced tn the labo- ratnry. where the survivor could visit it at will.
 Aftcr her hueherds deof'l. in pursuance of this agreement. Mrs Bel'vilie had an un- dentaker come frcrn N. and paid him a fabulous price to treat the hodv in accord- ance With the dire-tiors left bv MT. Bell ville The funeral was attended by only immediate members of the family who were not permitted to see the doceased: and the burial service was read over someth hing that net. MT. zBellville. by the joint efforts of his wife, Brooks and the under taker. had been placed in the laboratory. as I saw him. For months Mrs Bellvil'e vis- ited the room daily: but fancving at last that she was exciting foolish suspicion. with foolish. morbid cunning shut herself up in her room and paid only nocturnal vis- its to the laboratory. She confessed that these visits had become painful in the eX- treme. for w9ith all his learning. her hus- band had not been able to invest his com pound with power to preserve responsive ness and intelligence to the soulless body. But here broke in solemnly upon Jacks story with
 1T heard him speak, though! Can she ac- count for that?
 "You heard his voice; but you did not hear him speak-'!
 "What do you mean?"
 That MT. Bellvilie. to lend touch of naturalness to the situation. set to work to perfect an ordinary phonograph."
 '"rhen the instrument saw upon the ta- ble vas"
 "What he called a Misunderstanding more nor less than highly perfected pho- nograph-in which he had recorded few
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