Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-08-22

volver ready IN my pocket aha sho'eu
him off with that"
"Shoot him?"
"No; what was the use, poor rogue?
He was only paid tool earning his
dirty pay, and. besides, | didn't want
70 get riysclf into row with the po-
lice. Nice snug place to spend the even
ing in, this. McII!mn!c, isn't it? Don't
You think you'd better 60 and sleep
at the ho.e!. lik, :, sane Christian?
81 do. most distinctly. And I'll 80 II
you'll comc with me-"
"Eo. | wont. thanks. Luck on the
hotel. for on" !!;lg And, besides, I'm
goin: to &c? it CT. here. TIl not going
to l,t those scoint,gels think they've
sc:rc, me. OF course they deny all
krcwicagc of these outrages, and 1t
wouli be impossible to father them on
Hatton Garden. Indeed. Levenstein
has IL this moment libel suit pending
ag.i.lst r!c fer an open letter l wrote
to him on the subject. But there's not
tho smallest doubt that that's what
they're after"
But, my good fool, they've oceans
of money. and IL they go on long
enough they're bound to bag you at
last"
"My dear McHinnie, they won't go
on. They'll get my ultimatum tomor-
row morning. That points out that the
working details of my invention are
written upon paper and bestowed in
safe keeping elsewhere. In the event
of my death that pithy MS. will be
forwarded to Printing House square
and form column of very interesting
reading in the Times newspaper next
morning. To every one above the grade
Of costermonger that disclosure would
be the sensation of the century"
"Quite so. What figure do you charge
for leaving things as they We're"
"a pension of 100000 a year so long
as l keep the recipe to myself. Tomor-
row morning they'll know Of this and
the conditions, and they'll be bound to
accept. Tonight they don't know, and
so assassination still strikes them as
sound business. But, as say, tomor-
row there'll be meeting of the availa-
BILE chiefs Of the ring. and they'll snap
up my terms. I'm dirt cheap ut the
price. They'll have to screw that f20O,-
600 per annum out of the diamond buy
ing public for good many years to
come yet. You see, they wouldn't cut
short the pension by Staying me, be-
cause, ipso facto, they would smash
their own trade by doing 1t. AS very
necessary life insurance | naturally
stick to the publication clause In the
newspaper on the day of my death. So
l fancy, McHinnie, I've got that dia-
mond ring as nicely on toast as ever
yet blackmailer"-
A crash and binding explosion cut
short Macdonald's sentence. The far
ther wall Of the place swept bodily to-
ward us in a whIrlwlnd of smoke and
flames, and as the blast smote me on
the head life appeared to tear itself
away with jolt and jerk.
1t was by very marvel Of marvels
that in that moment we were not
transmitted to the clay whereof our
corporal bodies were formed. Moth
ing but the tank had saved us. But the
advancing breath Of the explosion had
driven us over the brink, and the wa
ter had acted as a cushion against the
shock. So violent had been the power
of the bomb thrown against 1t that of
the building nothing remained but a
scattered mound of dusty rubble.
BY their agents the diamond ring had
lifted their hands against Macdonald
with lust to slay, and by their agents
the same coterie drew his unconscious
form and mine also out Of the chilly
haven of that water tank. BY curl
Gus irony Mr.. Levenstein was the first
person to bring US assistance. He had
1ust arrived in Burton by special train
to say that the demand for the f2OO,O 600
annuity was agreed to. l have never
seen any one SO effusively genial and
civil as Mr.. Levenstein made himself
while he attended to our physical needs
after that explosion.
The process of blossoming out into
man of means was one | did not see,
as the French were going up to Tim-
buktu Just then, and / wanted to go
with them to see whether the place
really existed or whether it was only
magnitied joke. AS it turned out,
the neighborhood proved intensely in
terestng, so I stayed there longlsh
time, and when l got back to England
again Macdonald had quite settled
down to the new order of things.
That tank, the only creature comfort
of his working days, was forerunner
of what IS the mans abiding place now
that he has come into enormous wealth.
On the flank Of his more stable resi-
dence he has built him huge house or
glass and filled it with palms and Da-
nanas and palmettos and other tropical
foliage plants and ferns. There is no
method or order in their placing, nor
are there concrete walks about the
place. Some of the floor Is soft short
grass the rest water winding in deep,
narrow channels in and out OF the
islets of foliage. The temperature stays
in the eighties.
Here Conrad Macdonald, in the garb
that nature gave him, basks and swims
and dives for six hours Of the day aud
meditates over an airship built Oh nat
ural principles. He studies the flights
of birds and butterflies and insects
which skim and hutter in the warm
air around him, but till now he has
made no practical effort to put his OBJ
servations into shape. Yet l think he
will make that airship.
If you don't know Macdonald and do
| not believe this tale, go round to Hat
ton Garden and ask any diamond mer-
chant there how much he pays toward
Conrad Macdonald's pension. He may
wax eloquent, but the odds are he re.
| Trains from giving civil reply.
An Art Critic.
"What do you think Of our new oil
painting" asked Mrs. Newrich.
"Well," answered Mr.. Newrich, III
sooms cood enough from the front, but