The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-25
THE NONPAREIL MAN

Well. neither do l. wholly, but that's
the best can explain it"
Say, you go to thunder with your old
voodoo. You got me hyppy. You were
sitting there all the time
Sure, but not In the way you think
your senses. Now you come over to my
office and I'll show you the practical
workings Of this valuable knowledge.
l followed Snithson out of the building
IN a kind of a daze. At his office there
was an insurance man sitting in his chair
waiting to see him.
How do?" said the insurance man.
How do, said Smithson.
Now, regarding that matter of pro-.
lection for your family in case of death
of which Twas speaking to you yester-
day." said the insurance man, Il wanted
to lay before you a little proposition
which is not being offered by any other
company at the present til why, what
|in--Where's he gone-What the devil
Smithson had faded.
leaned against the partition and looked
fxedly at the chair.
t'Where'd he go to-"
The insurance man had arisen to his
feet and was looking at the empty chair
''Where'd who go to? 2"
''Why, that man Smithson.
Say, my friend you ought to take the
cure. You're seeing things"
1.-THE trouble is I'm not seeing things"
The insurance man whipped out lit
| tie pocket thermometer and took his tenn
perature It was fairly normal. Then he
| felt his pulse.
well, this gets me-
| He put up his notebook and went out
| of the door, AS / looked out of the office
window, I saw him making for the Medi-
| cal block. When looked around Smith
| son was in his chair.
| Say, wish you'd explain this monkey
work.
| 'I've already explained it the best I
can. If you don't like my explanation,
you get one of your own that hits it
| better"
| "Can you move away from that chair
when you Observation-Disclosures
well. to some extent. haven't mas
tered the art fully vet. If I get too far
away it's harder to get back, so I haven't
experimental much yet"
Say, If you couldn't get back at all,
you d be in the position Of a turnip.''
J well 1t would certainly be case of
mysterious disappearance for your paper. .
| "And if I explained it in print, why
| I'd
Eyes, they'd have you doing a turn at
| st. Peter In fifteen minutes"
when you're-there' II hesitated
for a word, 'can you see things 'here'?"
!, well, not exactly; only as I see them
| thru your consciousness of them.
"Can you affect what we call matter?
Can you pick up a pen, for instance?"
/ 81 never tried it,
"Give it a try. See if you can move
that PEN
| "All right
Smithson did the gray mystery act and
then was gone. kept my eyes fastened
L Ia ~, 1,vfx, 4
polished oak of a roll top desk. After g
few moments it stirred the merest triae
After that there was no movement. Pretty
soon Smithson was back again.
"Crickets! That was the hardest WORK
ever tried to do in my life. It was al
I could do to get back. I'm not going tt
try any of this monkey work till I ge
the way blocked out a little better. There
comes that iceman's collector with bill
Now, you watch his surprise"
The bill collector smiled, said ''goo6
evening" and drew out his little yellow
slip. When he looked up, Smithson was
not there.
"Why, what the
/ The collectors mouth was open in aston
ishment and his eyes were standing ou1
about an eighth Of an inch.
.sWhere'd he go to-"
! .@@who?'
"snithson."
what Smithson?"
/ 80, I beg pardon, I thought Smithsor
was here. I'll call again"
AS he went out I watched him make g
quick run for Mr.. "Murphy's place,
which pays the city 1000 a year license
When Smithson came back he said:
/ ''You see, this disappearance business
has it's practical side.''
IF you were falling off an eight-story
building couldn't you disappear in mid
ARP
/ 81 don't know why not. Still, if
couldn't get the knack quite in time, T6
light pretty hard don't think I'll try
/ that experiment.
I went home considerably stirred an6
haven't fully recovered yet. If people
can mysteriously quit in this summary
way, the detective business of the future
is going to be immensely complicated
/ "A. J. r.