Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1904-07-02

is mine. This evening | shall be bora
again-born into eternity"
II tell you / was bit taken aback
I'd been 50 used to see him messing
found without much to show for it that
I'd always looked on the business as a
sort of play. Even now | thought the
cid boy had made mistake somewhere.
But | could see he didn't think there
was any mistake. 1t took him Il good
five minutes to get upstairs, and on the
top landing he had to put his hand TO
his heart and suck in air.
Il followed him into his room, and
10 first thing ! came across was a bum
die of closely written papers These.
he said, to me, contain minute accounts
of the processes | have followed in my
search for the vital principle of life.
Were | to publish these | should create
world of immortals. But that | viii
not do; / alone must pass the gates that
divide time from eternity. Yet MOI
You also, my friend if You have courage,
may share this precious gift with me.
These papers must then be destroyed
He led the way to one of his cup-
boards and opened it. Standing in the
cupboard was a letort about half fun Of
know the sort of thing; yellow in 6fie
light, green in another there's word
for it. only I've forgotten it. The top Of
the cupboard was of glass, and the thing
looked uncommonly pretty III the light
As for the old chap, when he clapped
eyes on il | thought he'd Lave a fit.
Behold it, he said The Elixir of Life
Friend. mark me, this time | have mace
.t.,l-
my calculations. There before You
stands the fluid one draught of which
will give you life forever. 1t has but
now left the furnace BY this evening
! it will have cooled, and there will then
/ be virtue in it. Return at that hour, if
/ You will and partake with me in the
/ privilege of Immortality. And now 60
60 l-y friend | feel that | have over
excited myself in talking; it does me
harm. have pain here (sort of
clutching at his chcst; / must rest.
| Coz but return at 3.
! Il went off in a funny state of mind.
| can tell you. If you see a man very
much in earnest about anything, it sort
/ of makes You serious about it. even if
/ you know il to be rot. And | knew the
old chap knew an awful lot about chem
/ iStry.
"iou bet | turned up at s. | hadn't
made up my mind whether / was going
/ to drink any of that fluid. but | wanted
badly to see him drink it, His house
keeper let me in. He's upstairs. rest
/ ing She said; he wasn't to be disturbed
until YOU came
81 Went upstairs and into his room.
/ He had drawn his chair round to face
/ the cupboard, and he sat in it-dead.
/ His eyes We're self,opencd and fixed ON
the retort. He looked sort of peaceful.
/ "Rummy thing, wasn't it," said the
Secdy man He sat there dead. with
I his elixir in front of him. 1t had only
/ got to cool and settle, and he couldn't
wait for it. Deuccd rummy thing, | cali
lit"
/ He broke Off; he crammed more tobac-
co into his pipe, His hand shook, but
not altogether with drink. ! discreetly
avoided looking at it,
You didn't taste the elixir?" | in
quired
Il did not. sir" said the seedv man.
Il don't mind telling you that. when it
came to the point. didn't seem to have
as much use for immortality as | thought
! | should. You think it over and see if
you'd like to live until you could look
on Methuselah as chicken. ANYHOW.
didn't touch it. And when came back
next day the retort was broken. Whether
his hoG>ekeeper had been messing round.
or whether the thing had simply cracked.
can't say. His housekceper, think.
for she'd tidied up his room and burned
all has loose papers
There was pause. nodded Thank
You, | viii have another" said the seedy
mani Sackyille Martin in the Sketch