Evening star., 1905-08-27

stout bearing, therefore. though her man
ner had shaken me more than l cared to
confess, l still shook my head, and declared
my intention of remaining where L was.
She about TO renew her entreaties
when a door slammed overhead. and the
sound of several footsteps were heard upon
the stairs She listened for an instant.
threw up her hands with a despafrnE ges-
ture. and vanished as suddenly and as
noseleSsly she had come.
The newcomers were Colonel Lysander
Stark and a short. thick man with chin
chlla beard growing out of the creases of
his double chin, who was introduced to me
as Mr. Ferguson.
said the colonel. BY the way, l was under
the impression that 1 left this door shut
just now. / fear that you have felt the
draught.'
" ON the contrary said l. opened the
door myself because l felt the room to be a
little close
He shot one of his suspicious looks at
me. Perhaps we had better proceed 10
business. then said he. Mr.. Ferguson and
I will take you up to see the machine
" I had better put my hat on. 1 sup
poser
"'Oh no, 1t is in the house
q" What, you dig fuller's earth in the
house?
mo no. This Is only where We COM
press 1t. But never mind that. All we wish
you to do is 10 examine the fndcnlne anu 10
let US know what Is wrong with It,
We went upstairs together, the colonel
first with the lamp. the fat manager and l
behind. 1t was a labyrinth of an old house.
with corridors, passages, narrow Wlndfng
staircases and little low doors, the thresh-
olds of which were followed out by the
generations who had crossed them. There
were no carpets and no signs of any furni-
ture above the ground floor, while the pias-
ter was peeling off the walls and the damp
was breaking through in green, unhealthy
blothes. I tried to put on as unconcerned
an air as possible, but | had not forgotten
the warnings of the lady, even though
disregarded them, and | kept keen eye
upon my two companions. Ferguson ap-
peared to be a morose and silent man, but
could see from the little he said that he
was at least fellow-cOuntryman.
Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last
before a low door, which he unlocked.
Within was small. square room, In which
the three Of US could hardly get at one time.
Ferguson remained outside, and the colonel
ushered me in.
I'VE are now.' said he. actually within
the hydraulic press, and II would be par
tcularly unpleasant thing for us II any one
were to turn 1t on. The ceiling of this
small chamber Is really the end OF the de-
scendng piston, and it comes down with
the force OF many tons upon this metal
floor. There are small lateral columns OF
water outside which receive the force and
which transmit and multiply II in the man.
ner which Is familiar to you The ma
chine goes readily enough. but there is
some stiffness In the working OF II. and 1t
has lost little of its force. Perhaps you
viii have the goodness to look it over and
to show us how We can set 1t right
II took the lamp from him and examined
the machine very thoroughly. 1t was in
deed a gigantic one and capable of exer-
cising enormous pressure. When l passed
outside, however, and pressed down Tue
levers which controlled 1t l knew at once by
the whishing sound that there was a slight
leakage which allowed a regurgitation of
water through one of the side cylinders.
An examination showed that one of the in
dia rubber bands which was round the head
of a driving rod had shrunk so as not quite
to fill the socket along which it worked.
This was clearly the cause of the loss OF
power and / pointed 1t out to my compan-
ions. who followed my remarks very care
fully and asked several practical questions
TO how they should proceed to set 1t
right When l had made it clear 70 them
/ returned to the main chamber of the ma
chine and took a good look at it to satisfy
my own curiosity. 1t was obvious at a
glance that the story of the fuiler's earth
was the merest fabrication, for IL would be
absurd to suppose that powerful an en-
gine could be designed for so inadeQute a
purpose. The walls were of wood. but the
floor consisted of a large iron trough, and
when I came to examine 1t l could see a
crust OF metallic deposit all over It.. l had
stopped and was scraping at this to see ex-
actly what 1t was when l heard q NUT
tered exclamation in German and saw the
cadaverous face of the colonel looking down
at me.
''What are you doing there? he asked.
Il felt angry at having been tricked by
so elaborate a story as that which he had
told me. I was admiring your fuller's
earth said l; L think that / should be bet
ter able to advise you as to your machine II