The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-18
Copyright. 1904.
By
Harper 8 Brothers


god, the executioner in the cast of our
] drama Well, have made my prep
arations to counter check. Tomorrow
| we snail See what We shall see.
March II. have still an hour be-
Iore the expressman will come for the
CLOCK case, and I must take the ep-
pertunity to finish my notes. The dead
man SITS opposite me at the table, but
that does not matter. There is plenty
I Of room for US both.
| Ihe day dawned clear and fine, and
at 10 O'Clock the sun was shining
/ brightly. He will come then.
| At IL / began to wonder how DR..
| Aagnus proposes to witness my last
/ agonaes without risk OF suspicion at
/ taching to hts precious self. If he is
/ seen entering and leaving my room this
/ morning he may be called upon for an
explanation later. One cannot be too
careful in playing the delicate role OF
1 the amateur assassin
But | have Wronged my excellent
| friend He has foreseen the difficulty
and provided against it. At precisely
/ II 80 couple of expreSsTnen delivered
what pHrperted to be clock case at
| my outer Office. 1t was addressed to
/ me and reeeipted for it without hesi-
| tation.
understand that we are to call
for 1t again at o'clock said one OF
| the men. ''ThatH give you time to
pack the other clock?'
/ Very good said +
And Mr.. Gil said that you would
! set the case out on the landing if you
had to leave the office before we got
back. I'll put the receipt under the
1 door a
understand answered, carelessly.
| Get yourself some CIGARS and 1 slip
| ped half-dollar in the mans hand.
He thanked me and withdrew. 1 sat
| down and waited.
The lid Of the case was removable
| from the inside. I watched the screws
| fall one after another to the floor. Then
| the lid followed, and DR.. Magnus stood
| before me. His eyes, distorted horri-
| Oily by the extra powerful lenses of his
| spectacles, fixed me with a steady look.
| He came close as though to assure
1 himself that there was no mistake. His
| face almost touched mine. He put on
! his second and third pair of glasses.
| and again 1 felt like the fly under the
| microscope.
I'VE did not go through the farce of
/ exchanging salutations. This was war
| and we should both know It. 1t was
now nearly noon and the sun was
/ rapidly approaching the zenith. / led
1 the way into the rear room
Here are the securities, said Mag
| nus. looked tnem over and announced
myself as satisfied.
| Kindly sit down and write me out
an order on the safe deposil company
| he went on, in rather a petulant tone
| He was standing by the big chair. He
1 bent forward as though to turn it in
| my direction.
/ The psychological moment had
| come, but the trick was even easier
| than I had anticipated. Being in
4 Ct nTiF he Toll oft
| his balance. A sharp jerk at his coat
| collar and he was seated IN the big
| chair. He bit at my hand savagely
! as a dog snaps, but l had been toe
| quick for him. Then couple of turns
of stout window cord put everything
| secure.
"The man seemed dazed He mads
no attempt to release himself He
! did not even speak. But then his lips
| were dry. They opened and shut me-
| chanically. His eyes, staring through
their triple glasses, were turned
| towards the window. The sunlight.
shining in full strength, was creeping
steadily towards the row of bulls-eyes
| on the right of the sash. 1t lay in
broad, golden band on the polished
| floor.
ga decrepit fly crawled out Of
crack and made feebly for the welcome
warmth. The prisoners feet were free
and he advanced one Of them slowly,
stealthily towards the miserable in
sect. then smashed ruthIessly down
| upon it. In my turn l looked away,
gazing steadily at the window and the
sun beyond. A few minutes now and
we would know.
"a little cloud, no bigger than a
mans hand, was travelling directly
| towards the suns disk Suppose now
| that its veil obscured, at the final mo-
ment, the fatal ray. He saw it too.
together we watched it slowly drifting
| through the brilliant blue of the sky
little cloud no bigger than a mans
hand.
'"The currents of air in the upper
regions first accelerated and then re-
tarded the progress of the yaporous
island. 1t seemed to stop; then 1t
hung for an instant directly on the
lower limb of the great ball Of light.
A sensation of intolerabIe cold per-
vaded my entire body. Involuntarily
I shut my eyes.
81 forced myself to look The cloud
had disappeared. Its imponderable
essence had been absorbed into the
clear ether as a drop of water sizzles
into nothingneSS on a red-hot stove.
The sunlight, shining through the
third bulls eye from the bottom, was
instantly transformed into single
concentrated beam. The heat-ray i'm
pinged upon the boss Of fusible metal.
I saw the alloy begin to melt.
turned and ran into the other room.
Twenty minutes of silence and then
I re-entered. I was horribly afraid,
but he sat there quiet and still.
unwound the cord and threw 1t out or
the window It was clouding over In
earnest now. These March days are
SO changeable.
'It is close to 2 o'clock, and must
be getting ready to depart. have set
the clock case out in the passageway.
and the lids and screws are in readi-
ness. The expressman will doubtless
be punctual He will carry the case
downstairs and load it on his wagon.
/ shall be delivered in due course at
my destination. What is it to be? Well
I shall have plenty of time in which to
reflect upon the possibilities Of the
Journey that lies before me.
"One moment In which to seal up
these notes, together with the bundle
of securities Fortunately, / have a
special delivery stamp in my pocket.
and I can post the packet in the mall
chute. Best wishes, my dear Thorp.
for the future happiness of yourself
and your charming wife. You have
now given a hostage to fortune and
will no longer care to sail on certain
seas. But the Wanderlust in my blood
seems to be ineradicable. Again the
gates of chance are opening before me
opd am aapnr fo anfar in. Good hive"